HOW TO MAKE THE BEST HORSE IN SPAIN? A SYNTACTICAL CHALLENGE (Cómo producir el mejor caballo de Espana? un desafio para la teoria sintáctica)

The paper discusses some theoretical aspects of the superlative constructions of the type 'el mejor caballo de Espana', in particular their discontinuous character both within immediate constituents grammar and dependency grammars. An alternative analysis is proposed, according to which the structures in question are derived from constructions of the form of 'elegir el mejor caballo de todos los caballos de Espana', with obligatory haplology. The analysis also accounts for the alternative (specific and non-specific) readings of such phrases and shows how superlative constructions maintain their attributive character throughout the entire derivation.