PT Journal
AU Wiesinger, E
TI ¿Esto se echa para atras? An approach to verb-particle constructions in European Spanish based on a corpus study of [V para atras]
SO Romanica Olomucensia
PY 2020
BP 201
EP 230
VL 32
IS 1
DI 10.5507/ro.2020.010
DE verb-particle construction; constructional idiom; Construction Grammar; Collostructional Collexeme Analysis; para atras
AB This contribution deals with what are called 'verb-particle constructions' in today's Peninsular Spanish. From the perspective of Construction Grammars, verb-particle constructions correspond to constructional idioms, which occupy an intermediate position in the continuum between lexicon and grammar. Until now, the existence of verb-particle constructions in Spanish has been controversial, since this language is mainly considered to feature verb-framed patterns. However, this question has not yet been investigated empirically. On the basis of data from the Corpus del Espanol del Siglo XXI, this study examines the instantiations of [V para atras] as candidates for this type of construction. Although these are generally classified as 'non-normative' in the existing literature, they are found in both spoken and written language. Moreover, both the statistical frequency analysis and the semantic and syntactic study reveal a small network of micro-constructions formed by dar/echar/ir/mirar/tirar/volver para atras. The latter qualify as lexicalized verb-particle constructions which are mainly characterized by their metaphorical use and less by a specific syntactic behaviour. For today's Peninsular Spanish, we thus cannot assume a closed category of verb-particle constructions. Instead, they form a continuum, together with the concrete, spatial uses of [V para atras], that ranges from more syntactic constructions to phraseological units showing different degrees of entrenchment.
ER