Chapter 3
Lexical reduplication in Spanish and Italian
A constructional approach
The aim of the article is to analyse the
mechanism of lexical reduplication in two Romance languages: Spanish
and Italian. Since the study is based on a constructional approach,
the repetition of a lexical unit within one phrase is considered to form a
construction that presents some specific semantic and pragmatic
meanings. Based on the examples from oral corpora of Spanish and
Italian, the article presents a pragmatic interpretation of
reduplicative constructions. Although Spanish and Italian lexical
reduplications seem to share a range of characteristics, the study also
focuses on meanings and interactive functions that
differentiate these two languages.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Studies on lexical reduplication in Spanish and Italian
- 3.Construction Grammar and the reduplication phenomena
- 4.Hypothesis
- 4.1[XX] → [semantic meaning: prototype; pragmatic
interpretation: argument strengthening]
- 4.2[XX] → [semantic meaning: contrast; pragmatic interpretation:
argument strengthening]
- 4.3[XX] → [semantic meaning: precision; pragmatic
interpretation: facilitating comprehension]
- 4.4[XX] → [semantic meaning: iteration or continuity; pragmatic
interpretation: to impress the hearer]
- 4.5[XX] → [pragmatic interpretation: politeness
strategy]
- 4.6[XX] → [semantic meaning: lexicalized construction; pragmatic
meaning: strengthening the speaker’s or hearer’s point of
view]
- 5.Conclusions
-
Notes
-
References
-
Corpora