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Diverse Scenarios of Syntactic Complexity
Edited by Albert Álvarez González, Zarina Estrada-Fernández and Claudine Chamoreau
[Typological Studies in Language 126] 2019
► pp. 53–83

Constructional grounding in emerging complexity

Early comp-que constructions in Spanish acquisition

| Universidad Nacional Autónoma de | Instituto de Investigaciones Filológicas

A constructional grounding view to emerging complexity is based on the assumption that components of complex constructions may be used as free clauses before they are integrated into a complex frame. In child language development, constructional grounding has already been tested with positive results for some simple frames: passives and existential constructions. This chapter extends this view to complex sentence formation in early acquisition of Spanish. The analysis focuses on data pointing to a possible grounding relation between main clauses with lexical uses of future complement-taking verbs, and free, insubordinated clause constructions marked by comp-que. Children have access to and may learn these independent frames from parental models. Evidence of constructional grounding is presented: Chronological, distributional and functional results point to a grounding relation between free uses of these components and complex sentences that integrate them. The paper adds to synchronic and diachronic analysis of emerging complexity, and brings developmental evidence on how children integrate earlier and independently learned clausal construction frames.

Keywords: complex constructions, constructional grounding, insubordination, free comp-que constructions, complement-taking verbs
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Antecedents
    • 2.1Constructional grounding in acquisition
    • 2.2Spanish antecedents
  • 3.Method
    • 3.1Data selection
    • 3.2Data presentation
  • 4.Analysis
    • 4.1Overview of early complex sentences: ctv + comp-que constructions
    • 4.2On verbs that will take comp-que constructions: Developing a construction inventory
    • 4.3Looking at free comp-que constructions
    • 4.4Development of ctv frames and comp-que constructions
    • 4.5Bridging the gap. Dialogical support and on-line integration
  • 5.Concluding remarks
  • Acknowledgement
  • Abbreviations
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 4 July 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.126.03nie
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Álvarez González, Albert
2019. From discourse to syntax. In Diverse Scenarios of Syntactic Complexity [Typological Studies in Language, 126], ► pp. 217 ff. DOI logo

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