Grammaticalization of the spatio-temporal expressions in Spanish: the case of periphrases of verbs of motion

Abstract

This paper has two main objectives. On the one hand, it aims to present the complex and widespread process of space-time metaphorization, which we – according to many eminent anthropologists – inherited from our ancestors: we perceive time using spatial metaphors. On the other hand, we will apply this mechanism in semantic-syntactic analysis to periphrastic constructions with verbs of motion ir (<ir a + infinitive>; <ir + infinitive>), venir (<venir a + infinitive>, <venir + infinitive> and <venir de + infinitive>) in medieval and classical Spanish to see more clearly the reasons of their grammaticalization and their later degrammaticalization, both driven primarily by subjectivity and pragmatic context. The selection of of the two auxiliaries lies in the different conceptualization of time. With the help of a relatively rich corpus covering the major texts of medieval and classical Spanish literature, the author will try to analyze the reasons for their formal and semantic creation. Thus we seek to demonstrate that this semantic-syntactic change involving periphrastic verbs of motion is embedded in space-time metaphorization. Further, we will attempt to show the reason behind the disappearance of some of the meanings which were distinctive for this period of Spanish.