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Part of
Constructions in Spanish
Edited by Inga Hennecke and Evelyn Wiesinger
[Constructional Approaches to Language 34] 2023
► pp. 224–254

Chapter 9
Que conste/sepas and como si
constructions in Spanish

| University of Sevilla
| University of Córdoba

The purpose of this chapter is twofold. First, it explores the discursive functioning of two constructions in Spanish: [que conste/sepas (que) + clause] and [como si + subjunctive clause]. Second, it proposes, to this end, to extend the concept of “construction”, originating in Construction Grammar, towards a theoretical-methodological instrument necessary to explain discourse syntax, focusing on the description of the phenomena and their evolution. So far, the existing theoretical models on the architecture of discourse have determined and described categories (discourse markers) and functions (connection or modalization, among others). In macro-syntax or thetical grammar, even peripheral functions related to a proposition have been mentioned. But the existence of sentence patterns that acquire a discursive function in terms of a “construction”, and develop procedural meaning as a whole, has not been considered. Their analysis must take into account various factors, since the procedural meaning carried by the construction arises from the combination of open and fixed slots. These constructions are usually inserted into the syntactic scheme of the sentence or represent suspended statements that operate in reactive interventions. They represent a type of syntax different from the one traditionally considered, which confirms the need to use this extended concept of “construction” in the syntax of discourse as a methodological tool with great potential to explain all the diversity it contains.

Keywords: Spanish, pragmatics, discourse-syntax, Construction Grammar
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Constructions in discourse grammar
    • 2.1The need for constructions in discourse syntax
    • 2.2Our concept of construction
  • 3.Constructions and operators in a discursive approach
  • 4.[Que + knowledge verb (subjunctive)] constructions in Spanish
    • 4.1A non-prototypical directive construction
    • 4.2The formation of a new construction
      • 4.2.1Reinforcement of assertions
      • 4.2.2Focalisation of information
    • 4.3A new construction as a constituent of the utterance: Recategorisation
  • 5.The [como si + subjunctive clause] construction
    • 5.1The construction [como si + clause]
    • 5.2[Como si + sentence] as independent reactive turn
    • 5.3Construction [como si + indicative]: assertive distance
    • 5.4Como si as pragmatic marker: recategorisation
    • 5.5Final remarks
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 18 July 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/cal.34.09fue
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