Indefinite Article + Possessive + Noun in Spanish: A Case of Refunctionalization?
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Application of the Term and Interest in the Construction
- (1)
- Is it a case of syntactic borrowing? The answer is no, since it is not documented exclusively in areas with either a strong indigenous language influence or a high index of bilingual speakers. García Tesoro (2011, p. 206), in the only work that has been concerned with Maya speakers, demonstrates that the structure under study “shows itself with a similar frequency of utilization both in monolingual and bilingual speakers” (author’s translation).
- (2)
- Is the value in medieval and modern Spanish the same? The answer is also no—a new communicative purpose is attested in modern Spanish (Central America varieties). As we know, possession is culturally determined; it is a ‘biocultural’ domain (Carlson and Payne 1989; Seiler 1983). Nowadays, it is the appreciation that the speaker makes of a specific situation that determines the use of the construction, which places the possessee on focus and marks it as a relevant syntactic constituent: a pragmatically and perceptively relevant entity. That is, the construction moves from a textual meaning to a discursive meaning (Company Company 2005; Palacios Alcaine 2004) as we will see.
3. Some Remarks about the Construction
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- Is documented in all Mesoamerica, from Southern Mexico to Panama.
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- Is not a stigmatized construction in those varieties.
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- Is not a trait exclusive to popular level.
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- Is neither exclusive nor specific of indigenous (autochthon) speakers.
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- Is part of the standard register within Central American Spanish.
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- May be explained without having to appeal to ‘contact’ or ‘convergence’ between Spanish and Maya languages (Company Company 1995, 2005; Martin 1985; Pato 2002).
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- There are not studies that have delimited its sociolinguistic profile (and the differences within the different communities) yet cf. (Pato 2002).
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- Is attested throughout the whole history of the Spanish language.
4. Different Values of Indefinite Article + Possessive + Noun Construction
4.1. Partitive Value
- (1)
- a. El lombardo adoleçió de dolençia mortal, et un su amigo que había, desque lo vio en la muerte, consejol que se confesase en Sancto Domingo [D. Juan Manuel, El Conde Lucanor, Ex. XIV, c. 1335, in (Pato 2002)].“The Lombard man suffered from a fatal illness, and his friend that he had, when he saw him in death, advised him to confess his sins in Santo Domingo”b. A las diez preguntas dijo este testigo que sabe lo contenido en ella porque un su hermano se lo dijo [«Información de méritos y servicios de Miguel Sánchez de Guido», CORDE, Costa Rica, 1566].“To those ten questions this witness said that he knows what is contained in it because his brother told him”c. E: ¿Ha corrido alguna maratón? I: Yo tengo un mi hijo que tiene como vicio correr y participa en todas las maratones, y yo era su único fanático [«D frente», Francisco M. Martínez, Prensa Libre (Guatemala) 04-10-2004].“E: Have you ever run a marathon? I: I have my son whose vice is to run and participates in all marathons, and I was his only fan”d. Soñaba el entierro de mi abuelito, y que cuando abrían el cajón no era mi abuelito el que estaba, era un mi tío, en realidad fue el que se murió después… [Belizean Spanish, English and Creole Corpus, M-35, West, in (Fuller Medina 2016)].“I dreamed my grandfather’s funeral, and when they opened the drawer it was not my grandfather who was in it, it was my uncle, actually he was the one who later died…”
4.2. Iterative Value
- (2)
- a. Clemente siempre andaba con los huesos de su hijo en una su bolsa [H-20, ladino, monolingüe, in (Pato 1999, 2002)].“Clemente was always with the bones of his son in his bag”b. «El caso de un fantasma (espanto) que regala dinero». Pues eh… dicen que antes, por allí por la… por allí por los Ucaliptos, era la… el lugar donde tenía [el espanto] un su sitiecito [C. A. Lara Figueroa, Cuentos y consejas populares de Guatemala, 1990, p. 70, in (Palacios Alcaine 2004)].“The case of a ghost (fear) that gives money away’. Well, uh… they say that earlier, over there by the… over there by the Eucalyptus, that was the… the place where it [the ghost] had its place”
4.3. Emphatic Value
- (3)
- a. A don Límbano le encargamos unos nuestros cotorritos, cuando tengan cría los que compró, que nos tome en cuenta porque nos gusta mucho los pajaritos [«Las Comadres». Diario de Comitán (Chiapas, México), 06-09-2005].“We ask Don Límbano for a few small parrots, when the birds that he bought breed, he should take us into account because we love little birds”b. El papá… este… le regaló unos centavos al niño pobre y la mamá le regaló unos sus centavos al niño rico. Agarraron camino… Pero en eso el rico le dice: –Mirá, yo cargo bastante dinero. –Yo no tengo, contestó el pobre… [C. A. Lara Figueroa, Cuentos populares de encantos y sortilegios en Guatemala, 1992, p. 67, in (Palacios Alcaine 2004)].“The dad… mm… he gave some pennies to the poor kid and the mother gave a few cents to the rich kid. They started their way… But the rich kid says: –Look, I carry enough money. –I do not have any, answered the poor kid…”
4.4. Discursive-Pragmatic Value
- (4)
- a. Ella que iba a preguntar a una casita que había allí con una su ventanita, cuando vio por la ventana, estaba el príncipe. Pero él le dijo que si ella no entraba por la ventana entonces no lo volvería a ver nunca, entonces ella saltó la ventana y allí agarró al príncipe y se abrazaron y vivieron felices [C. A. Lara Figueroa, Cuentos populares de encantos y sortilegios en Guatemala, 1992, p. 37, in (Palacios Alcaine 2004)].“She was going to ask [something] in a little house that was over there, with its window, when she saw through the window that the prince was there. But he told her that if she did not come through the window then she would not see him ever again, so she jumped through the window and grabbed the prince and they hugged and they lived happily”b. Eran muy pobres, tenían una su vaquita que ordeñaban… m… d‘eso vivían, de su lechita [C. A. Lara Figueroa, Cuentos populares de encantos y sortilegios en Guatemala, 1992, p. 130, in (Palacios Alcaine 2004)].“They were very poor, they had a cow that they milked… m… they made a living out of that, of its milk”c. No será, Don Estuardo, que usted lo que busca es un su puestecito en el gobierno, por eso habla mucho, por eso anda criticando todo, por eso critica a la misma ‘cobardía chapina’. Tenga cuidado, no hable mucho, porque lo van a acusar de a saber ni qué, y usted está patojo. Si en Guatemala las cosas no van a cambiar, hombre [Estuardo Zapeta, «¡Viva la cobardía chapina!», La Hora (Guatemala), 21-04-2003].“It would not be, Don Estuardo, that you are looking for a small position in the government, that’s why you talk so much, why you criticize everything, why you criticize the ‘Chapina cowardice’. Be careful, do not talk a lot, because they will accuse you of who knows why, and you are still a kiddy. Things are not going to change in Guatemala, man”
5. Final Considerations and Conclusions
Funding
Conflicts of Interest
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1 | Other terms that have been employed are exaptation (Lass 1990, 1997; Norde 2002; Vincent 1995), capitalization (Pountain 2000), regrammaticalization of desemanticized forms (Greenberg 1991), functional renovation of old forms (Brinton and Stein 1995), degrammaticalization (Heine 2003; Norde 2002, 2009), hipoanalysis (Croft 2000), etc. These different terms illustrate the terminological confusion that exists, since they do not refer to different types of change (Narrog 2007). |
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Pato, E. Indefinite Article + Possessive + Noun in Spanish: A Case of Refunctionalization? Languages 2018, 3, 44. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages3040044
Pato E. Indefinite Article + Possessive + Noun in Spanish: A Case of Refunctionalization? Languages. 2018; 3(4):44. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages3040044
Chicago/Turabian StylePato, Enrique. 2018. "Indefinite Article + Possessive + Noun in Spanish: A Case of Refunctionalization?" Languages 3, no. 4: 44. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages3040044