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Keywords = verbal periphrases

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27 pages, 14062 KB  
Article
Again on the Existence of Causative Periphrases in Spanish: The Case of “enviar/mandar a + Infinitive”
by Carlos I. Echeverría
Languages 2026, 11(5), 90; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages11050090 (registering DOI) - 6 May 2026
Viewed by 356
Abstract
The concept of verbal periphrasis has historically been a controversial one in Romance linguistics, especially in the Hispanic context, where there has been disagreement as to what multiverbal constructions should be considered periphrastic. One of the points of contention has been the class [...] Read more.
The concept of verbal periphrasis has historically been a controversial one in Romance linguistics, especially in the Hispanic context, where there has been disagreement as to what multiverbal constructions should be considered periphrastic. One of the points of contention has been the class of infinitive causatives. This article revisits the controversy by focusing on Spanish “enviar/mandar a + infinitive” structures and drawing on historical corpus data. The analysis of various examples leads to the conclusion that strictly periphrastic instances of this constructional class are present across all main stages of the history of Spanish. Additionally, a series of quantitative analyses reveals what appear to be two distinct grammaticalization processes and a degrammaticalization process. These findings are discussed in connection with broader themes in the field, such as syntactic ambiguity and the concept of analyzability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Romance Historical Syntax: Special Issue on Syntactic Analyzability in Diachrony)
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25 pages, 498 KB  
Article
Different Degrees of Analyzability—The Case of the Spanish Verbal Periphrasis [Tardar en + Infinitive]
by Dorien Nieuwenhuijsen
Languages 2026, 11(4), 74; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages11040074 - 9 Apr 2026
Viewed by 384
Abstract
In research on verbal periphrases, analyzability constitutes a central parameter, both for describing the grammaticalization processes to which these constructions are subject and for defining their categorical status. This paper focuses on a specific verbal periphrasis: [tardar en + infinitive]. Its historical [...] Read more.
In research on verbal periphrases, analyzability constitutes a central parameter, both for describing the grammaticalization processes to which these constructions are subject and for defining their categorical status. This paper focuses on a specific verbal periphrasis: [tardar en + infinitive]. Its historical development is examined, along with the recent emergence of a dative of interest in this construction, drawing on quantitative data from various digital corpora. The findings show that over time en became the predominant linking element between the auxiliary and the infinitive and that the order of the components of the periphrasis gradually became fixed. The data also reveal that the new pattern with the dative of interest occurs more frequently in informal written language and colloquial registers, where the object pronoun contributes to clarifying the construction’s potentially opaque meaning. We argue that grammaticalization has reduced the syntactic analyzability of the construction, whereas the incorporation of the dative of interest points to speakers’ perception of tardar as an independent verb, thereby reflecting increased analyzability. This case study illustrates that the analyzability of a construction is not necessarily unidirectional, but may fluctuate over time, shifting in different directions at distinct historical stages. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Romance Historical Syntax: Special Issue on Syntactic Analyzability in Diachrony)
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25 pages, 3299 KB  
Article
Combinatorial Productivity of Spanish Verbal Periphrases as an Indicator of Their Degree of Grammaticalization
by Mar Garachana and María Sol Sansiñena
Languages 2023, 8(3), 187; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages8030187 - 7 Aug 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3006
Abstract
Studies on the constitution of the Spanish periphrastic system show that there is a great ease with which verbal periphrases admit different lexical items in the second verb slot as they go through their grammaticalization process. However, it has not been sufficiently explored [...] Read more.
Studies on the constitution of the Spanish periphrastic system show that there is a great ease with which verbal periphrases admit different lexical items in the second verb slot as they go through their grammaticalization process. However, it has not been sufficiently explored whether the evolution of combinatorial patterns in near-synonymous periphrases follows similar grammaticalization paths. Adopting a constructionist, usage-based approach, we investigate the evolution of the so-called near-synonymous periphrases dejar de + inf and parar de + inf, as in Deja de/Para de gritar, ‘Stop shouting.’ More specifically, we discuss the semantic areas they cover, the functional distribution between the two throughout time, their evolution in terms of collostructional patterns, and their realized and potential productivity, paying special attention to the Aktionsart of the predicates in the Vinf slot. All tokens in the corpus were extracted from CORDE and analyzed in terms of morphosyntactic and semantic-pragmatic parameters, as well as contextual elements. We conduct a distinctive collexeme analysis to investigate which lexemes are strongly attracted or repelled by the Vinf slot in each construction. This analysis shows that the evolution of parar de + inf is not parallel to that of dejar de + inf and that there is a clear distribution of labor between the two constructions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Grammaticalization across Languages, Levels and Frameworks)
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19 pages, 893 KB  
Article
Bailando, me paso el día bailando y los vecinos mientras tanto no paran de molestar. Parar de + inf as an Interruptive Verbal Periphrasis in Spanish
by Mar Garachana
Languages 2021, 6(4), 171; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages6040171 - 18 Oct 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3015
Abstract
The main aim of this paper is to describe the Spanish construction parar de + inf, an aspectual verbal periphrasis which expresses the interruption of the event referred to by the infinitive in affirmative clauses, and the continuity and repetition of this [...] Read more.
The main aim of this paper is to describe the Spanish construction parar de + inf, an aspectual verbal periphrasis which expresses the interruption of the event referred to by the infinitive in affirmative clauses, and the continuity and repetition of this event in negative clauses. Parar de+ inf is a verbal periphrasis whose consolidation in Spanish occurred in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The study on this structure is therefore associated with recent linguistic changes. Parar de + inf is a verbal periphrasis characteristic of the colloquial language, which has complicated the study of the real use of parar de + inf. The language used in situations of communicative proximity is under-represented in the corpora. Thus, estimates of the frequencies of use of linguistic forms associated with colloquial language forms should be taken with caution, as frequency of use may differ significantly across discourse traditions. In this regard, it is important to think about the role of frequency data in historical studies of language. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Key Aspects of 21st Century Informal Interactions: Socio-Pragmatic and Formal Features)
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