From semantics to grammar

Lexical substitution in the evolution of verbal periphrases haber / tener + infinitive

Mar Garachana Camarero | University of Barcelona

Axel Hernández Díaz | National Autonomous University of México

The main aim of this paper is to analyze the rise of the Spanish verbal periphrases tener de/que + inf and investigate the relevance of analogy and lexical semantics for these changes. We demonstrate that the constructions haber de/que + inf acted as supporting constructions motivating the rise of the synonymous pair tener de/que + inf (De Smet & Fischer 2017). The analogical process between the two constructions was due to the synonymy between the lexical verbs haber and tener expressing possessive meanings.

Keywords: historical syntax, construction grammar, verbal periphrases, supporting constructions, analogy

Published online: 02 April 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/ivitra.25.04gar