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Part of
Historical Linguistics 2017: Selected papers from the 23rd International Conference on Historical Linguistics, San Antonio, Texas, 31 July – 4 August 2017
Edited by Bridget Drinka
[Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 350] 2020
► pp. 81–106

‘Liking’ constructions in Spanish

The role of frequency and syntactic stimulus in constructional change

This study examines the diachronic change in argument structure in Spanish psych-verbs of ‘liking’, with emphasis on the change from nominative-experiencer gustar ‘to like’ to dative-experiencer gustar. While previous studies have looked at factors pertaining to frequency and semantics, this change must also be studied taking into account certain syntactic factors, and especially the evolution of prepositional finite clauses introduced by functional prepositions. Results suggest that the subcategorization properties of the preposition are grammatically relevant in determining the linguistic encoding of the arguments of Spanish ‘liking’ constructions. This study offers an extensive corpus study of ‘liking’ verbs, spanning the 13th to the 17th centuries, and adopts a constructionist usage-based view of syntactic productivity.

Keywords: argument structure, complementizers, morpho-syntax, psych-verbs, construction grammar, Spanish language
Article outline
  • 1.Previous accounts of argument structure change in Spanish psychological verbs
  • 2.Data collection and methodology
  • 3.A survey of liking verbs and constructions in the history of Spanish (13th–17th c.)
  • 4.Stimuli of ‘liking’ constructions: An analysis of their syntactic properties
    • 4.1A diachronic account of clausal complementation in Spanish
      • 4.1.1The diachrony of infinitival clauses
      • 4.1.2The diachrony of subordinate finite clauses
    • 4.2‘Liking’ constructions in Spanish and their subcategorization properties
      • 4.2.1‘Liking’ constructions in early medieval Spanish
      • 4.2.2‘Liking’ constructions in late medieval Spanish
      • 4.2.3Experiential liking constructions in Spanish: The Golden Age
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
  • Appendix
Published online: 9 July 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.350.05moj
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