Light Verb Constructions with -ada Nominals in Non-standard Argentine Spanish: Semantics, Syntax, and Pseudo-incorporation
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Abstract
Light verb constructions are more or less lexicalized patterns in which a verb with little semantic content combines with a noun that, due to its lexical weight and regular eventive denotation, functions as the predicational core and projects a thematic-argument structure. This paper analyzes a distinct pattern of such constructions, of considerable productivity in Argentine Spanish: complex predicates formed by verbs like mandarse, pegar(se), and comerse, and a deverbal noun ending in -ada with a determiner, such as una (cagada/ puteada/ patinada/ goleada). The aim is to identify the semantic and syntactic properties of these predicates in order to propose a tentative explanation of how they are derived in Spanish. Following López’s (2012) model of semantic composition, it is argued that the -ada nominals display attributes commonly associated with pseudo-incorporation into verbs. In terms of meaning, they yield readings of indefiniteness, non-specificity, and obligatorily narrow scope. Formally, they show constraints related to pluralization, separability of the sequence, the extraction of the noun by means of interrogatives, and passivation.
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