Startseite Chapter 10. A constructional analysis of digo yo in peninsular Spanish
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Chapter 10. A constructional analysis of digo yo in peninsular Spanish

  • Montserrat Martínez Vázquez
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Constructions in Spanish
Ein Kapitel aus dem Buch Constructions in Spanish

Abstract

This paper examines the variable functions of the clausal construction digo yo (DY) ‘I say’ in contemporary Peninsular Spanish. A corpus-based analysis shows pendulation between a communicative DY, which introduces past quotes, and a metacommunicative DY, which functions as a comment clause. In initial position, DY resembles a matrix clause, however, its subject-verb inversion produces a backgrounding effect which renders the conjunction que (‘that’) unnecessary and favours a parenthetical analysis of DY. In medial and final positions DY is an evidential/epistemic comment clause which overlaps with other epistemic comment clauses (e.g. creo yo ‘I believe’, pienso yo ‘I think’). In order to provide a unified account of the different uses of DY, a constructional approach is taken. In line with Van Bogaert (2010) and Kaltenböck (2010, 2013), the formal and functional features of DY are explained through a constructional network. A hierarchical network captures its links to the communicative construction, while its analogical connections to other epistemic constructions are captured in a horizontal network (Traugott, 2018).

Abstract

This paper examines the variable functions of the clausal construction digo yo (DY) ‘I say’ in contemporary Peninsular Spanish. A corpus-based analysis shows pendulation between a communicative DY, which introduces past quotes, and a metacommunicative DY, which functions as a comment clause. In initial position, DY resembles a matrix clause, however, its subject-verb inversion produces a backgrounding effect which renders the conjunction que (‘that’) unnecessary and favours a parenthetical analysis of DY. In medial and final positions DY is an evidential/epistemic comment clause which overlaps with other epistemic comment clauses (e.g. creo yo ‘I believe’, pienso yo ‘I think’). In order to provide a unified account of the different uses of DY, a constructional approach is taken. In line with Van Bogaert (2010) and Kaltenböck (2010, 2013), the formal and functional features of DY are explained through a constructional network. A hierarchical network captures its links to the communicative construction, while its analogical connections to other epistemic constructions are captured in a horizontal network (Traugott, 2018).

Heruntergeladen am 3.10.2025 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1075/cal.34.10mar/html?lang=de
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