Publications
Publication details [#8489]
Omori, Hiroko. 1997. Ambiguedad en las construcciones con 'se' (Ambiguity in constructions with 'se'). 16 pp.
Publication type
Article in journal
Publication language
Spanish
Keywords
‘se’ | agency | ambiguity of construction | cognitive semantics | construction type | divided-person metaphor | grammaticalization and metaphor | impersonal | intentionality | Lakoff (1996) | loss of control | middle voice | passive voice | reflexive pronoun | reflexivization | semantic role | Spanish | subject participant | unaccusative
Abstract
From a cognitive perspective, it is argued that the meanings of ambiguous constructions containing the Spanish reflexive pronoun 'se' are interrelated and derive from the basic meaning of the reflexive. Five functions of 'se' are addressed as a type of grammaticalization in the order (1) reflexive, (2) unaccusative, (3) middle voice, (4) passive voice, and (5) impersonal. The divided-person metaphor of George Lakoff (1996) is applied to the subject participant in each construction type to show that (1) relates to (2) by loss of the intentionality aspect of agency without loss of control; in (3), further aspects of agency are lost, but the subject is viewed as an instigator; and in (4) and (5), all properties of agency are lost by the subject participant, although an agent is tacitly presupposed in (4).
(LLBA, Adapted from the source document, Accession Number 9812220)