The present study constitutes an exploratory analysis of the use of the Catalan constructions anar ('to go') + adjective and estar ('to be') + adjective in writing during the 19 th and 20 th centuries. In modern Catalan, anar and estar can be used before an adjective as copulas, with an identical or similar meaning (e.g., en Joan va begut, en Joan està begut 'John is drunk'). Both constructions show evidence of being highly grammaticalized and are apparently found in free variation rather than complementary distribution. However, a closer approach seems to reveal certain underlying linguistic factors that might be informing such contrast, specifically within the semantic-pragmatic sphere. This is here explored using the narrow theory of grammaticalization (Hopper & Traugott 2003), a multistage process by which lexical (i.e., contextual) items eventually become functional (i.e., grammatical) over time. A corpus-based search was conducted using the electronic version of the Corpus Textual Informatitzat de la Llengua Catalana (CTILC), which comprises literary and non-literary texts published between 1833 and 1988. Anar + adjective and estar + adjective tokens were obtained from a sample of Isogloss 2020, 6/7 Marc Gandarillas 2 texts, then sorted into four different groups corresponding to century halves. The search results from the corpus were randomly sorted in terms of genre and date and, from these, the top 250 tokens on the list of results for each construction were selected and subsequently analyzed. Whereas few instances of both constructions are found overall in the first half of the 19 th century, estar already prevails over anar when followed by an adjective. During the first half of the 20 th century, however, this trend starts to be reversed. This suggests the possibility that anar and estar might have traditionally been found in free variation in a number of contexts, with 19 th century texts showing a clear preference for estar.
El presente ensayo pretende explorar el verdadero alcance de los fenómenos de convergencia y transferencia en el español en contacto. El estudio se enmarca en el debate actual entre los partidarios de una visión más amplia del concepto de cambio lingüístico y los que propugnan restringir el uso del mismo. A partir de una breve selección representativa de fuentes del ámbito de la fonología (Aaron y Hernández, 2007; Alvord y Rogers, 2014), la morfosintaxis (Heine y Kuteva, 2003; Muntendam, 2013) y la pragmática (Livert y Otheguy, 2010; Torres Cacoullos y Travis, 2010, 2015), procedemos a analizar los fenómenos de convergencia y transferencia que podrían estar afectando al español en contacto y, en la medida en que nos es posible, aventuramos hasta qué punto dichos fenómenos podrían estar propiciando y/o consolidando cambios estables (esto es, potencialmente irreversibles o, al menos, con cierta voluntad de permanencia en el tiempo). A continuación, se analizan algunos ejemplos representativos (es decir, potencialmente generalizables a la lengua española y a la teoría lingüística) extraídos de la selección bibliográfica, en un intento de arrojar luz acerca de la presunta inevitabilidad de la convergencia y los factores que podrían condicionarla. A modo de conclusión, elaboramos una descripción contrastiva —así como potencialmente generalizable— a fin de ilustrar cómo se comportan la fonología y la morfosintaxis ante situaciones potenciales de cambio por contacto. Según la evidencia recabada, el cambio por contacto no parece tan común como de entrada se podría asumir.
This paper delves into the question of the potential addresses of ancient Greek novels. After shedding some light on the matter (based on ancient sources which account for the sociocultural underpinnings of the new genre), a classification is established in an attempt to provide a deeper understanding of alleged homogeneity in readership. The entire bibliography demonstrates a discontinuation in the conception prevalent decades ago, which, based on subjective and anachronistic interpretations, would find reinforcement in the silence of ancient sources. To make matters more intricate, the surviving information regarding how the novel was viewed in ancient times appears not to point to a prestigious status thereof. All things considered, should these presumptions alone lead us to consider the novel as a low-quality genre in terms of literary and stylistic standards? Ancient Greek novel might well be one of those cases in which literary or cultural creations have called for reassessment and revaluation several centuries following their conception.
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