The cognitive mechanisms of temporal expression: linguistic changes in historic Spanish

Authors

  • Maria Rosa Vila Pujol
  • Eva Martínez Díaz

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4312/vh.20.1.411-429

Keywords:

"estar", preposition, infinitive, time, space, modality

Abstract

Linguistic change, which in the framework of the theory of subjectivity is attributable to the attitudes, beliefs or evaluations of the speaker, is explained by reference to the speaker’s subjectivity in the coding of their own statements, resulting in the extension of the pragmatics of some lexical items and some grammatical structures. Following these principles, the objective of this paper is to examine how the syntactic-semantic structure [estar + preposition + infinitive V], which had a strictly temporal function in historic Spanish, developed from a spatial one. In other words, the more objective the sense of place, whether in terms of location or direction, gradually attains more abstract functions, whether pragmatic, lexical and/or grammar items, with the temporal sense one of key meanings. Also, from a Cognitive Grammar perspective, this study focuses on the analysis of the verb estar with prepositions de, en and a, and the aspectual function of the infinitive, looking at its formation and evolution, the semantic representation of its components, associated with both the lexicon and the syntactic composition process of the parts and sentence syntactic units, whether compositional or contextual linguistic sentences. The grammatical categories enumerated above and their combinatorial syntax are where you can discover the semantic values of representation of an event that is seen at a particular point of their development, or with more abstract and subjective values that highlight even a modal dimension.

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Author Biographies

Maria Rosa Vila Pujol

Maria Rosa Vila Pujol es catedrática de Lengua Española y directora del Departamento de Filología Hispánica de la Universidad de Barcelona, ha impartido clases –licenciatura, grado, máster y doctorado– sobre cuatro
materias docentes: Gramática de la lengua española, Historia de la lengua española, Variación lingüística en territorios bilingües del español peninsular y Gramática del español en la enseñanza como lengua extranjera. Su participación en congresos nacionales e internacionales le ha permitido publicar artículos y capítulos de libro sobre estas cuestiones teóricas e históricas (el género, el
número, la persona, la impersonalidad, el modo, las oraciones de relativo, las perífrasis verbales); sobre la variación en el español de Cataluña y sobre el
español en la enseñanza como segunda lengua.

Eva Martínez Díaz

Eva Martínez Díaz es profesora colaboradora permanente del Departamento de Filología Hispánica de la Universidad de Barcelona, ha impartido clases de licenciatura, grado y máster sobre las siguientes materias docentes: Gramática
de la lengua española, Sociolingüística y Pragmática de la lengua española. Su dedicación docente, junto a la participación en proyectos dedicados tanto al estudio sincrónico como diacrónico de la lengua española, le ha permitido publicar artículos y participar en capítulos de libros dedicados al estudio del verbo, a los fenómenos de variación lingüística motivados a través del contacto
de lenguas, al análisis pragmático de la lengua y al enfoque de la lengua española como lengua extranjera.

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Published

31.12.2012

How to Cite

Vila Pujol, M. R., & Martínez Díaz, E. (2012). The cognitive mechanisms of temporal expression: linguistic changes in historic Spanish. Verba Hispanica, 20(1), 411–429. https://doi.org/10.4312/vh.20.1.411-429

Issue

Vol. 20 No. 1 (2012)

Section

Linguistics

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