Event plurality in peruvian Spanish: Frequentative Constructions pasarse + Gerund, and parar + Gerund

Paredes V.A.M. · Forma y Funcion (2020) · DOI: 10.15446/fyf.v33n2.79645

Resumen

The article describes the syntactic and semantic behavior of two very common verbal forms in Peruvian Spanish: parar+gerund and pasarse+gerund. It is very interesting that, despite being almost homophonous, these forms display different syntactic structures. The former is a raising verb, and the latter a control verb. However, their common frequentative value produces a plurality reading of the accompanying verbal complement: whereas parar functions as an auxiliary operator of the verb, pasar coerces or forces a plural reading because of its lexical content. On the other hand, we will show that both verbal forms are in a process of grammaticalization i.e. loss of lexical content and gain of functional features, although, in its auxiliary function, parar has advanced more in this process.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos