Building locations from directional prepositions
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Eugenia Mangialavori Rasia
Abstract
This paper discusses divergent distributional patterns drawn by spatial prepositions in Spanish. We focus on constructions in Mexican Spanish (MS) where the copula estar ‘be’ and a prepositional phrase predicate headed by a directional boundary preposition (hasta ‘until’) are productively combined in a distinct, complex spatial predicate with additional semantic implications. This combination is (i) not found in standard Spanish; (ii) unpredicted according to general (cross-language) principles on spatial prepositions and stative verbs. Yet, we observe that these instances - along with a putative semantic conflict between a stative verb and a directional preposition - are readily accommodated under a general condition on directional prepositions bearing on endpoint interpretation. We argue that important distributional divergences are due to the fact that, in varieties like MS, the grammar systematically allows for non-trivial preposition alternations (estar en/hasta ‘be at/be at [from here]’) which produce sufficiently different constructions with consequent asymmetries in semantic complexity (e.g., location vs perspectival location). This leads to a contrast in the possibility to encode simple vs relative location with respect to a reference object, potentially involving distance/route.
Abstract
This paper discusses divergent distributional patterns drawn by spatial prepositions in Spanish. We focus on constructions in Mexican Spanish (MS) where the copula estar ‘be’ and a prepositional phrase predicate headed by a directional boundary preposition (hasta ‘until’) are productively combined in a distinct, complex spatial predicate with additional semantic implications. This combination is (i) not found in standard Spanish; (ii) unpredicted according to general (cross-language) principles on spatial prepositions and stative verbs. Yet, we observe that these instances - along with a putative semantic conflict between a stative verb and a directional preposition - are readily accommodated under a general condition on directional prepositions bearing on endpoint interpretation. We argue that important distributional divergences are due to the fact that, in varieties like MS, the grammar systematically allows for non-trivial preposition alternations (estar en/hasta ‘be at/be at [from here]’) which produce sufficiently different constructions with consequent asymmetries in semantic complexity (e.g., location vs perspectival location). This leads to a contrast in the possibility to encode simple vs relative location with respect to a reference object, potentially involving distance/route.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Convergence and divergence in Ibero-Romance across contact situations and beyond 1
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Part 1: Convergence and divergence in contact situations in the Iberian Peninsula
- Gender loss in accusative clitics in Basque Spanish 25
- Exploring historical linguistic convergence between Basque and Spanish 55
- Structural convergence of two Ibero-Romance varieties 87
- Language contact on the Spanish- Portuguese border 115
- Portuguese as a contact language in Galicia 147
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Part 2: Convergence and divergence across Ibero-Romance varieties outside Europe
- Linguistic perceptions on Spanglish discourse settings 179
- Building locations from directional prepositions 209
- Discourse structure, constructions and regional variation 245
- Impersonal se constructions in the Portuguese of East Timor 281
- Index 307
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Convergence and divergence in Ibero-Romance across contact situations and beyond 1
-
Part 1: Convergence and divergence in contact situations in the Iberian Peninsula
- Gender loss in accusative clitics in Basque Spanish 25
- Exploring historical linguistic convergence between Basque and Spanish 55
- Structural convergence of two Ibero-Romance varieties 87
- Language contact on the Spanish- Portuguese border 115
- Portuguese as a contact language in Galicia 147
-
Part 2: Convergence and divergence across Ibero-Romance varieties outside Europe
- Linguistic perceptions on Spanglish discourse settings 179
- Building locations from directional prepositions 209
- Discourse structure, constructions and regional variation 245
- Impersonal se constructions in the Portuguese of East Timor 281
- Index 307
