AN INVESTIGATION OF THE CONSTRUCTION "VERB+PREPOSITION+INFINITIVE" IN SPANISH
by MAURICE DAVID INGRE B.A., U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h Columbia, 1 9 6 3
A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS
i n t h e Department of HISPANIC AND ITALIAN STUDIES
We a c c e p t t h i s t h e s i s as c o n f o r m i n g t o t h e required standard
THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA April, 1 9 7 2
In p r e s e n t i n g
t h i s t h e s i s i n p a r t i a l f u l f i l m e n t of the requirements f o r
an advanced degree at the U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h Columbia, I agree t h a t the L i b r a r y s h a l l make i t f r e e l y
available f o r reference
and
study.
I f u r t h e r agree t h a t p e r m i s s i o n f o r e x t e n s i v e copying of t h i s f o r s c h o l a r l y purposes may by h i s r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s .
be granted by
g a i n s h a l l not be
permission.
Department o f
H i s p a n i c and I t a l i a n
The U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h Vancouver 8, Canada
Department or
I t i s understood t h a t copying or p u b l i c a t i o n
of t h i s t h e s i s f o r f i n a n c i a l written
the Head of my
thesis
Columbia
Studies
allowed without
my
ABSTRACT The tion,
i n t e n t o f the t h e s i s , as explained
Introduc-
i s t o examine t h e d e v e l o p m e n t a n d u s e o f t h e v e r b + p r e -
position+infinitive tion
i n the
serves
tion.
That
t o present
in Castilian.
The
Introduc-
the problem and t o suggest an e x p l a n a -
i s , the postulation
meaning w i t h i n many
construction
o f an i n i t i a l
the c o n s t r u c t i o n ,
prepositional
which has s i n c e
been l o s t i n
cases. C h a p t e r One d e a l s w i t h
construction,
several accepted
quent
t e r m s employed
i n the
and i n d i c a t e s the p o s s i b l e a m b i g u i t y o f each
term, and t h e c o m p l e x i t y
tionship
the three
inherent
within
i t s use.
I t examines
d e f i n i t i o n s o f t h e terms and o f t h e i r
t o one a n o t h e r , a n d s e e k s t o r e s o l v e
several
relaconse-
problems. C h a p t e r Two c o n s i s t s o f a s t u d y o f t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f
the
construction
from L a t i n t o O l d Spanish.
deal b r i e f l y with various sequent
Latin constructions
i n f l u e n c e , and t r i e s
i n the Spanish
construction
I t attempts t o and t h e i r
t o show how many o f them under
sub-
resulted
consideration.
C h a p t e r T h r e e e x a m i n e s a number o f e x a m p l e s o f t h i s construction pretation
i n Old Spanish.
of these quotations
preposition+infinitive strate Old
I t presents
a possible
i n the context
construction,
how a n d why t h e y o c c u r r e d ,
inter-
o f the verb+
a n d a t t e m p t s t o demon-
comparing and c o n t r a s t i n g
and modern u s a g e . Chapter Four
Modern S p a n i s h ,
i s an examination o f the s i t u a t i o n of
i n t e r m s o f t h e same c o n s t r u c t i o n .
a t a number o f v e r b s i n t h e l a n g u a g e , mology b r i e f l y ,
and p o i n t s
out various
I t looks
indicates their
ety-
comparisons and c o n -
11
t r a s t s w i t h modern F r e n c h . f o l l o w s , with the i n t e n t thesis.
A discussion
o f c o r r o b o r a t i n g t h e o r i g i n a l hypo-
The C o n c l u s i o n ^ , c o n s i s t s
mation gained
of these forms
i n the course
o f a summation o f t h e i n f o r -
of the study.
TABLE
OF
CONTENTS
abbreviations
page
iii
"
1
"
9
Chapter I , Footnotes
"
25
Chapter I I
"
23
"
50
Chapter I I I
"
52
Chapter I I I , F o o t n o t e s . . .
"
77
C h a p t e r IV
"
79
"
110
I n t r o d u c t i o n . . Ii. Chapter I
..
Chapter I I , Footnotes..... —
....
Chapter IV, Footnotes Conclusion Bibliography
.....
:.
11
"
111 114
LIST OF TABLES Table I
Verbs Requiring
the P r e p o s i t i o n "a"
Table I I
Verbs R e q u i r i n g
the P r e p o s i t i o n d e "
Table I I I Verbs R e q u i r i n g
n
Other P r e p o s i t i o n s
page 82 "
86
"
90
Table IV
V e r b s R e q u i r i n g Wo P r e p o s i t i o n
"
95
Table V
S t a t i s t i c a l A n a l y s i s o f Verb L i s t s
"
97
ABBREVIATIONS
The both these
following abbreviations w i l l
text
and
be
used
throughout
f o o t n o t e s t o d e s i g n a t e the works
l a t t e r may
be
found
sub
verba
indicated;
i n the b i b l i o g r a p h y .
Academia
: R e a l Academia E s p a n o l a , lengua espafiola.
Gramatica
Allen
: A l l e n and
Fisionomia
: C r i a d o de V a l , F i s i o n o m i a d e l espanol
Gramatica
: T o r o y Gomez, M i g u e l de, G r a m a t i c a de l a lengua c a s t e l l a n a segun l a Academia EspaHola
Hescott
: H e s c o t t , R., E l D e s a r r o l l o de l a s p r e p o s i c i o n e s en e l e s p a H o l m e d i e v a l
Linguistica
: P o t t i e r , Bernard, logia hispanica
Lopez
: L o p e z , M a r i a L u i s a , P r o b l e m a s y metodos e l a n a l i s i s de. p r e p o s i c i o n e s
Sintactica
: Martin Alonso, espanol
G r e e n o u g h * s New
:
Latin
Linguistica
de l a
Grammar
idioma
moderna y
Evolucion sintactica
del
filoen
INTRODUCTION
The
i n t e n t of t h i s
v e l o p m e n t and types of
use
of
infinitive
paper w i l l
constructions not
usage o f t h e s e p a r t i c l e s ,
be but
to
part
A p e r s o n s p e a k i n g h i s own
that
language.
tions,
He
or turns
that
i t "sounds r i g h t " .
l a n g u a g e , however, mercurial
short
period
sounds r i g h t " w i t h i n a Those u t t e r a n c e s slang,
are
selves
i n t o any
ditions
of the
of the
modifying After
the
recollection
immediate
likewise,
"feeling"
often
"what
yet'these
criterion
utterances
thus the
of the
and
are
to
themthan
often
changing
the con-
most l u m i n o u s i n d i c a -
speakers of the
" f e e l i n g " f o r t h e i r mother course,
vernacular
change.
in introducing
grammatical
most r e p r e s e n t a t i v e
of
single
within-a
" f e e l i n g " of
most u n s u c c e s f u l
l a n g u a g e , and
of
construc-
s p e e c h community a l s o t e n d s t o
And
some t i m e ,
grammar
certain open
be
each i d e o l e c t m a i n t a i n s
more g e n e r a l
manner i n w h i c h t h e
their
the
itself;
more d e f i n i t i v e
"what s o u n d s r i g h t " . most c o l o u r f u l ,
of the
w h i c h p e r t a i n more t o t h e
u s u a l l y the
light
grammatical
a r a t h e r ambiguous and
p e c u l i a r to the
of
"sounds r i g h t " w i t h i n a
Generally,
of time,
documented
language tends to
through the
r a t h e r by
the
basic
speech.
c e r t a i n forms,
What
is itself
criterion.
c r i t e r i a which are
tors
but
The
them i n t h e
intricacies
of phrase, not
o f some g o v e r n i n g r u l e ,
of
native
- of the
utilizes
consider
termed a k i n d
previously " f e l t "
unaware - c o n s c i o u s l y
trace
de-
certain
in Castilian..
merely to
o f what m i g h t more r e a d i l y be of a
t o examine t h e
certain prepositions within
p u r p o s e , however, w i l l
vestige
be
language
are
tongue.
many u t t e r a n c e s
which
had
.2
o r i g i n a l l y appeared
i n a language
through
attempts
c r e a t e n o v e l images, t o make e x p r e s s i o n s more or
to a v o i d the
nyms, a r e f u l l y language's tete
from
resulted
colourful,
c o n f u s i o n o f w o r d s w h i c h have become homoa c c e p t e d w i t h i n the f o r m a l framework o f
lexicon
or syntax.
TESTA, f o r example.
S u c h was
the
Similarly,
case w i t h
semantic
i n t h e g e n e r a l Romance L a n g u a g e s ' a d o p t i o n
CABALLUS w i t h t h e g e n e r a l m e a n i n g o f h o r s e ; a n type
o f phenomenon r e s u l t e d
which caused
mouth r a t h e r t h a n
a person
t o be
And
own
language,
his
l e a r n e d and
w h i c h he influence
i n any
analogous
encounter
one
of
- viex^s h i s own emotional
language,
the way
"feels"-
inferences with
r e l e v a n t t o t h e way..in
change i n h i s m o t h e r t o n g u e ?
What i s t h e be
upon t h e m e t a m o r p h o s i s c o n s t a n t l y i n
language?
Such t h i n g s as h y p e r c o r r e c t i o n a r e
connotation applied corrections
influence,
to such to the
condemned p r o n u n c i a t i o n s s u c h " a s Similarly,
of
"correct",
stemming f r o m
the
effect
f o r example t h e
e r r o r s as bacalado, commonly h e a r d habla*o,
but
canta'o,
hum-
Bilbado, officially
etc.
o f r e g u l a r i z a t i o n , w h i c h has
had
strong
on t h e f o r m a t i o n o f many S p a n i s h v e r b s , h a s
not
been
forceful and
of
To what e x t e n d i s t h e
c o n f u s e s h i s own
often manifestations of t h i s
effect
extension
o f a g r o u p ' s s u p p o s e d memories o f what i s t o
considered
erous
h e r e vie
conditioned reflexes,
effects a
French
e . t c , w i t h the meaning
considered.
- a n a t i v e speaker
his
play
cheek.
the
i n the t r a n s f e r e n c e o f meaning
BUCCA t o g i v e b o c a ,
prime.questions
to
enough t o i n c l u d e f o r m s s u c h a s * r o m p i d o ,
* v o l v i d o , w h i c h have n o t
fallen
*decido,
subject to regular patterns.
3 One
fact
should permanently
be b o r n e
pite
i t s seemingly obvious nature:
tive
and
ficial de
proscriptive
creations
facto
grammars a l i k e
- the Real.Academia
palse,
for.example
- do
they too are originated
t o t a l l y unconcerned both substrata patterns of
Gallic ary
lished
and
E s p a n o l a o r the Academie F r a n -
e x p e d i t e o r impede change in effect
by a m u l t i t u d e o f s p e a k e r s
superstrata,
The
such as
fact
The
tradition,
of C a s t i l i a n
various Iberian
the d i v e r s e
i s an
the
juncture, from the
tion
other
of both
liter-
over a p r e v i o u s l y
estab-
example
o f how
Such i s a l s o
derivations;
interference
"odd
the man
one
dialect
case w i t h
the
o u t " amongst
though
be
justified
h e r e , t o o , one
o f , s u c h phenomena a s a n a l o g y ,
p o p u l a r etymology,
etc.
( F o r example,
" c o m b i n a t i o n " o f ASTRUM and
influence
builders
the
dialects.
many o t h e r s r e t a i n i n g by
of
speech
that F r a n c i e n superceded
- the l i n g u i s t i c
case of l e x i c a l
tices
almost
the t r u e
P u r e l y e t y m o l o g i c a l e x p l a n a t i o n s may the
with
influences
P r o v e n p a l , by f o r c e
becomes a p r e s t i g e , tongue'. rise
and
s o c i o - p o l i t i c a l ascendency literary
in a
dealing a posteriori
with "correctness".
criteria.
dialects,
and
arti-
authoritative
of i n d i v i d u a l s a r e , i n a sense,
speech
prescrip-
a r e the r a t h e r
Although supposedly
bodies
a language
descriptive,
des-
o f p e o p l e a t t e m p t i n g t o comment upon a
situation.
language,
i n mind,
o f c e r r a r f r o m VERUCULUM.)
of caiques i n t o a language,
article; With
the
no-
faulty
estrella
STELLAM; a l g o d o n
the A r a b i c d e f i n i t e
in
and
cerrojo introduc-
etymological explanation
c a n become i n c r e a s i n g l y t e n u o u s , interpretation. French
phraseology,
m o l o g y may a
the
when one
s h o u l d be
s o l u t i o n must be Similarly,
t o be
some s o r t
that
their
of the
does one
Why
is it.correct
cuento
con v e r l e
phonetic like
language,
but seen
on a mass pursued.
dealt with
between c e r t a i n v e r b s
in Castilian.
here and
F o r example,
t o s a y empiezan a l e e r but leer?
instead
What a c c o u n t s
why
Two; r a t h e r o b v i o u s
s o n i n g w i t h r e g a r d t o an a n s w e r a p p e a r that
the usage
grammatical
is entirely
can m e r e l y attempt
not
What
i n sueno c o n t i g o , types of
immediately.
d e p e n d e n t upon l o n g
c o n v e n t i o n s and
en
f o r the
of cuento a v e r l e ?
choice of p r e p o s i t i o n
r a t h e r t h a n sueno de t i ?
one
their
o f u t t e r a n c e t o be
infinitives
the reason f o r the
blished
That i s
means t a k e n .
o f " s u b j e c t i v e " s o l u t i o n must be
e m p i e z a n l e e r o r e m p i e z a n de
state
a
within
say voy a h a c e r l o r a t h e r than voy h a c e r l o or voy
hacerlo?
locution
solved.
analogous
i n d i v i d u a l s approach
the type
ety-
a t hand i s one w h i c h seems t o r e -
p r e p o s i t i o n used
dependent
sought
i f morphological, a
i f syntactic,
syn-
explanation of
phonetic points,
developed;
i f the problem
Basically,
Or
The
i s , a'*"..subjective, t y p e o f c r i t e r i o n ,
scale,
is
diachronically,
than h e l p .
concerns
found;
s i d e more i n t h e way that
exclusive
to explain
phenomenon, o f c o u r s e , s h o u l d be
i f the matter
explanation
attempts
e s p e c i a l l y viewed
c o n f i n e s of the type of problem
to say,
is
And
be more h i n d r a n c e
particular
a s an
( F o r example, t h e f o r m a t i o n o f h i d a l g o , a n d
plut.au ciel.)
t a x and
at least
t h e r e f o r e t o be
reaOne
can
estaobserved.
t o a n s w e r t h e q u e s t i o n "why?" w i t h
5 the panaceic (but f a c t u a l l y right
t h a t way".
invalid)
Both supposed
p l a c e b o s , a n d p r o p o s e no' r e a l but the k i n d
of a posteriori
t i o n e d , which
i n effect
unfortunately, tion,
that
Neither,
begs
"because
answers
i t sounds
are, of course,
information.
The f o r m e r i s
p r o n o u n c e m e n t a l r e a d y menthe question.
tends, t o answer a s l i g h t l y
And t h e l a t t e r , different
o f "what i s u s e d ? " r a t h e r t h a n t h a t
ques-
o f "why?".
then, i s s a t i s f a c t o r y a c c o r d i n g t o the problem
presented. Another tack often taken i s t o describe stances would
l e a d i n g up t o t h e p r e s e n t s t a t e
e n t a i l a more o r l e s s
situations, without vation.
of. work a l s o
tant
sense.
o f past
prescription,
o f impetus
or moti-
s t u d i e s have b e e n made o f t h e
tends t o s k i r t
The " d e v e l o p m e n t "
the issue
i n question
And i t t e n d s t o n e g l e c t ,
plane.
But t h i s
i n a most isstill
as w e l l ,
That i s t o say, t h e language
as an e n t i t y unto
itself.
fact,
f o r moulding
And
This
imporalong
o f "what h a s h a p p e n e d " r a t h e r t h a n "why. h a s i t
happened". tive"
listing
o f Spanish p r e p o s i t i o n s from L a t i n .
type
lines
comprehensive
or, d e l i b e r a t i o n
Several excellent
development
the
of a f f a i r s .
l e a d i n g up t o modern g r a m m a t i c a l
investigations
the circum-
responsible
the "subjec-
d i d not develop
The p e o p l e s p e a k i n g i t w e r e , i n i tinto
t h o s e p e o p l e , a s we have m e n t i o n e d ,
i t s present state. d i d not generally
govern themselves by grammatical concepts, but by p e r s o n a l choice.
How e l s e
the d i f f e r i n g
c a n one g i v e
state
of a f f a i r s
comprehensive
explanation of
t o be f o u n d i n t h e d i f f e r e n t
6 Romance l a n g u a g e s ,
taking
types
such as
of c r i t e r i a ,
though
these, too, r e l a t e
whims).
Why,
prefers
valence
amis?
And
commencer de f a i r e
does p l a y an
taken as.the
still
important
prime
to follow a
source
certain
b e r o f f a c t o r s must be integral
T h e r e f o r e , we bilities
Perhaps
part
le faire?
i n contrast
Why
does
to French
example m i g h t
role.
But
be
the
an
Latin
was
a
a solution
considered.
seldom
certain
accounts to
be
rightly
basic
question
preposition
utilized
t o the problem, The
usage
i n question
to e s t a b l i s h this this
the
Latin.
proba-
source, but b e a r i n g type of
of t h e t r a n s i t i o n a l :
an a n a l y s i s
a num-
d e r i v e d c h i e f l y from
I b e r i a n Romance w i l l
a l s o attempt
The
ambi-
verb?
o f a language
examination
What
.j'ai
quelque-
i t cannot
o f change.
should t r y i n i t i a l l y
V u l g a r L a t i n and c a n
de
o f d i r e c t ..development f r o m
i n mind t h a t
We
individual's
Analogy w i t h i n a language,
In o r d e r t o attempt
i s an
of the
quelquechose.
remains' u n a n s w e r e d : why
chosen
idea
amigos,
a vivid
f o r these d i f f e r e n c e s ?
be
t o the
superstrata ( a l -
i n modern F r e n c h between commencer a. f a i r e
and
sure,
s u b s t r a t a and
.j'ai promis
S p a n i s h s a y sone' con m i s songe* a mes
of course, a l l other
f o r example, does S p a n i s h s a y p r o m e t i h a c e r l o ,
while French
chose
into account,
prove
of the verb
construction.
period more
including fruitful.
- that
i s to
say,
w i t h r e g a r d t o i t s m e a n i n g - w h i c h seems t o have d i s p l a y e d affinity itive.
for a
certain
Within this
as a n a l o g y
p r e p o s i t i o n b e f o r e a dependent
frameworky.we must
c o n s i d e r such
an
infinfactors
- b o t h amongst v e r b s and w i t h r e f e r e n c e t o a d j e c -
7 t i v e s and tioned.
s u b s t a n t i v e s a s w e l l - and
S u c c e s s i v e grammarians a l s o a r e
influence,
as
i s the
T h e r e must be literary
an
style,
regulating effect
involvement
not
the h i s t o r y o f the
it
following.
Not
of
Academia.
exigencies of
the
spontaneity of
been c o n t i n u o u s
and
What a r e
i s p o s s i b l e to view the
position?
the
men-
the
throughout
language.
o f t h e most i m p o r t a n t the
sources
o f the R e a l
only with
but w i t h
s p o k e n word, whose i n f l u e n c e has
One
sure
just
whose d e v e l o p m e n t u n e r r i n g l y e f f e c t s m o d i f i -
c a t i o n s w i t h i n a language,
must be
concept,, a s
o n l y the
crucial considerations
t h e v a r i o u s ways i n w h i c h
definition
explicit
and
(and
f u n c t i o n of a
occasionally
pre-
implicit)
roles
i t . h a s b e e n a s s i g n e d b y grammars, b u t t h e manner i n
which
i t can be
t h e use
o f the
languages,
c o n c e i v e d and
interpreted
p r e p o s i t i o n s p r e a d and
of connotations
as h a v i n g been a t t a c h e d t o these i l y admitted
t h a t the
f o r the f a t e
it
must be
en
l a ciudad,
one
For
Romance
o f t h i s word t h a n
are
the
preposition f u l f i l l s
i t does i n se d i v i r t i o
the
t o any
o f t e n more
i t s denotation.
a
as se
completely
r a t h e r a s a mere g r a m m a t i c a l
tool,
without
any
resAnd
divoLrtio
en v e r l a c i u d a d .
i n the l a t t e r
word,
different
p r e p o s i t i o n d e m o n s t r a t e s some k i n d o f
conceptual function, while
Latin
i t i s read-
attributes
function,
As
hypothesized
remembered t h a t i n . an u t t e r a n c e s u c h
f u n c t i o n than
pendent
can be
particles?
connotations
whatever i t s p u r e l y grammatical
the former,
grew i n t h e
owing i n l a r g e p a r t t o the breakdown o f the
d e c l e n s i o n s , what k i n d s
ponsible
by a s p e a k e r .
In inde-
i t serves
obvious,
funda-
m e n t a l p a r t t o p l a y i n t h e meaning o f t h e p h r a s e . do we a c c o u n t and
both f o r the a c t u a l
f o r the p a r t i c u l a r
verb
retention
tion
i n another
preposition,
choice of the p r e p o s i t i o n
en a f t e r t h e
en i n t h i s
situation,
were t h e y a p p r o a c h i n g
That
o r no p r e p o s i t i o n a t a l l - how
t h e meaning?
D i d they perhaps tend t o
ing
because o f a
real
b e i n g c o n s i d e r e d i n h e r e n t i n i t s use?
i s t o s a y , were t h e s e
speakers
"initially"
context - or another p r e p o s i -
t h i n k of the p r e p o s i t i o n as being important prepositional function
then,
of a
d i v e r t i r s e ? . When I b e r i a n Romance s p e a k e r s
decided to u t i l i z e
How,
c o n s t r u c t i o n s formed a t f i r s t
v i e w i n g t h e p r e p o s i t i o n a s a word w i t h a v i t a l
by mean-
o f i t s own, a s r e l e v a n t a n d a s n e c e s s a r y t o c o n v e y i n g t h e
sense
o f the sentence
By a t t e m p t i n g
as that
to confront t h i s
o f a n y o t h e r word w i t h i n i t ? type
o f p r o b l e m , we
can per-
h a p s d e a l w i t h t h e q u e s t i o n "why d i d i t h a p p e n ? " , r a t h e r t h a n "What h a p p e n e d ? " .
CHAPTER I
The
initial.step
i n the attempted
the v e r b + p r e p o s i t i o n + i n f i n i t i v e should perforce It
is entirely
be a n
construction
and
He
may
as
"A v e r b
i s a part
"A
or group
cursory
w i t h o u t any
seeming
"prep-
difficulty.
of speech which expresses a c t i o n
o f words' n o t and,
The
i s a v e r b a l noun".
of customary
presents an•unfortunate explanation
o f one
y e t . a n o t h e r , and
so
"Most o f u s " , o f words r a t h e r 'cucumber*
says Louis
promiscuously
difficulty: part
we
An
cognate
i s interpreted
i s couched
i n terms
(not.words
" t o s s about
and
of
a
or *parakeet*,
i t will
have had
number
on t h e o r d e r o f but
*rights') without
* peace*, ever have
a n y a t a l l ; and, i f
to t u r n to our f a v o r i t e d i c t i o n a r y tell
us what we
have b e e n m e a n i n g a l l
i d e n t i c a l s i t u a t i o n i s l a r g e l y true
i n s o f a r as
i s accustomed t o i n t e r p r e t the meaning o f " v e r b " ,
osition",
of
defin-
what r e f e r e n t s o r d e f i n i n g q u a l i t i e s we
are l i k e l y
i n t h e hope t h a t
the
of speech
Salomon,
*justice*,
i n mind, o r e v e n w h e t h e r we challenged,
B.
or 'glass*
* freedom*,
r e a l l y examining
Even a
on.
or 'tennis*
*democracy*,
the
d e f i n i t i o n s of the p a r t s
t e r m s o f a n o t h e r , whose d e f i n i t i o n
along."1
such
or
c o n t a i n i n g a verb to the r e s t of
"An. i n f i n i t i v e
examination
ition.
one
t h e words " v e r b " ,
p r e p o s i t i o n i s a p a r t o f s p e e c h w h i c h l i n k s a word
sentence";
in
speaker
be aware o f d e f i n i t i o n s common t o grammar b o o k s ,
state";
speech
concepts.
probable that a f a i r l y w e l l educated
"infinitive",
of
i n Spanish
i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f t e r m s and
of Spanish or E n g l i s h would u t i l i z e osition",
clarification
"infinitive".
Though t h e t e r m s a r e
"prep-
discussed
10 w i t h f r e q u e n c y and
apparent f a c i l i t y ,
and
their
employed n e c e s s a r i l y i n a l l e v e r y d a y s p e e c h , plexity yet,
of t h e i r
i t must be
majority
of the
identity s t i l l admitted, - t h i s
or p r e j u d i c i a l ,
members o f
that
Despite very
an
important
full
com-
seems h i g h l y e l u s i v e .
And
ignorance
on
s p e e c h community p r o d u c e s ho
beneficial
on
the
lives
the
the
gencies be
part
ostensible negative consideration.
of the
individual
appearance,
Unaware o f a n y
this
one's
by.some k i n d
of s u b j e c t i v e
t h a n by. t h e
supposed
"correctness"
employed
educational
system.
I f o f one
speaking the of the
unable
diver-
to
same l a n g u a g e , . o n l y
one
s i g n i f i c a n c e of t h e i r
thousand are terminology,
convictions
on
r e m a i n i n g n i n e h u n d r e d and
ninety-nine
thousand
whelming m a j o r i t y
of the
speak t h e i r - l a n g u a g e grammatical r u l e s . deed, t h e
Their
speech w i l l
of
grammars people
truly but
cog-
these
others, - the
community - w i l l
communicate by
the • over-
continue
i t , unconcerned
gradually
aware t h e y a r e
p r o s c r i p t i p n , the
with
change; i n -
of grammatical
more r a p i d t h e
to
changes
pre-
are
be.
I n a s e n s e , we analogy to
and
less consciously
s c r i p t i o n and to
speech
the
will
aesthetic
million
impose t h e i r
likely
language,
i n t h e . s p e e c h o f t h e "community; one's i d e o l e c t
considerations
are
is a
categorical
r e m a i n s r e l a t i v e l y unaware o f g r o w i n g
i n an
the
community.
much more i n f l u e n c e d
nizant
of
tangible effects,
d e f i n i t i o n s w h i c h have b e e n somehow imposed on one.naturally
referents
part
can
of the
use
this hypothetical
linguistic
s i t u a t i o n as
h i s t o r y of the
Romance
an
orb
il of western Europe. communication
Until
on a l a r g e
all
times,
s c a l e was unknown between
p h i c a l l y ' or'- p o l i t i c a l l y tively
comparatively recent
separated- a r e a s .
inter-
geogra-
Also u n t i l a
rela-
s h o r t time ago, t h e v a s t m a j o r i t y o f t h e p o p u l a c e o f
a r e a s was i l l i t e r a t e .
T h e y spoke
a s t h e y chose, and t h e y :
were u n c o n s t r a i n e d b y a n y knowledge o f " c o r r e c t c a n be s u r m i s e d t h a t t o t h e a v e r a g e u n e d u c a t e d m e d i e v a l Romance l a n g u a g e ,
grammar";.
It
speaker of a
L a t i n was a l m o s t a s i n c o m p r e h e n s i -
b l e a s a n o t h e r Romance l a n g u a g e
might
have been.
And s o , a s
we d i s c o v e r t h a t t h e r e a s o n s f o r t h e c h o i c e o f p r e p o s i t i o n i n t h e s t r u c t u r e s we plained
s o l e l y through d i r e c t
the s i g n i f i c a n c e and
s h a l l be i n v e s t i g a t i n g
of the f o l l o w i n g
t h e way t h e y t h o u g h t ,
ded r i g h t " , strongly
uncurbed
influenced
symbol
t h e growth
a t any g i v e n time
do w i t h i t a t t h a t t i m e . " 2
the
c o n s t a n t changes Applying this
infinitive
to formalized
"what
spoke soun-
grammar, o f the verb+
"The s t a n d a r d m e a n i n g o f a i s what t h e u s e r s o f
This w i l l
be t r u e
pronouncements,
concept d i r e c t l y
the,symbol
regardless of
a n d i s m a n i f e s t e d by'
o b s e r v a b l e i n a language
c o n s t r u c t i o n , we
s h a l l see
The way p e o p l e
and development
locution.
a p o s t e r i o r i grammatical
idea.
t o L a t i n , we
t h e way t h e y a p p r o a c h e d
by adherence
preposition+infinitive verbal
reference
c a n n o t be e x -
such as Spanish.
to the verb+preposition+
can conclude t h a t ,
i n fact, i t
does
not r e a l l y matter
de",
p r o v i d e d one i s a b l e t o communicate t h e a p p r o p r i a t e c o n -
cept w i t h s u f f i c i e n t community.
i f one h a s a r r i v e d a t t h e f o r m
clarity,
The i n i t i a l
"empezar
t o the m a j o r i t y of the speech
c h o i c e o f a word i n a g i v e n e n v i r o n -
1.2 merit b y t h e s p e a k e r s o f a l a n g u a g e
i s unimportant
i n most
c a s e s , a s l o n g a s t h e symbol , i s a c c e p t e d b y a l l , o r a t l e a s t b y a "quorum" f o r c o m m u n i c a t i o n . One grows, space
can thus p o s t u l a t e the f o l l o w i n g : as a
i texists
over a g i v e n time space.
- l e t us take t h e a r b i t r a r y f i g u r e
years - each.generation w i l l on t o i t s p r o g e n y . slight
changes
noticeable pen,
i n the language,
of five
o f the speech
What w o u l d
community?3
hap-
t o make-a I f they
i n m a k i n g t h e change f a i r l y unanimous, a n d
could
i n some way r e t a i n
their
elders as well,
r e l a t i v e l y good c o m m u n i c a t i o n
t h e change c o u l d e a s i l y become
This type o f m o d i f i c a t i o n u s u a l l y
s p o n t a n e o u s l y and - i n a sense
- unconsciously.
p l e s a r e t h e i n s t a n c e s o f new s l a n g w h i c h
"rip
hundred
but d i f f e r e n c e s a r e o f course
t h e n , i f one g e n e r a t i o n d e c i d e d u n a n i m o u s l y
i n the language.
spring
with "normal"
occurs
Good examinto
common
i n a n y l a n g u a g e , .such a s "hang-up" a n d "up t i g h t " a n d o f f " i n English.
Once t h e y a r e f a i r l y
common a n d w i d e -
spread,
t h e y become i n t e l l i g i b l e , t o most o f t h e s p e e c h
munity;
a f t e r remaining i n t h e language
come t o be c o n s i d e r e d a p a r t in English,
one c o u l d
com-
f o r some t i m e a n d
a f t e r h a v i n g g a i n e d more u n i v e r s a l a c c e p t a n c e , t h e y
nally
time
each g e n e r a t i o n e f f e c t
on a n i n d i v i d u a l l e v e l a s w e l l .
were s u c c e s s f u l
usage
Within that
l e a r n the language and pass i t
Not. o n l y does
change i n t h e l a n g u a g e
language
usually
of the "formal" l e x i c o n .
p o i n t t o t h e m u l t i t u d e o f terms
Again, origi-
coined as neologisms by such authors as Shakespeare,
words w h i c h
now f o r m p a r t
of "standard English".
13 An a n a l o g o u s attempting preposition in
Spanish.
type, o f i n t e r p r e t a t i o n
t o e x p l a i n t h e emergence, o f some o f t h e i n the v e r b + p r e p o s i t i o n + i n f i n i t i v e As
the L a t i n
p r e p o s i t i o n s developed
case system
rapidly.
As
t h e w o r d s t h e y were c r e a t i n g , a n d inventing, fully,
to express
themselves
o r more p r e c i s e l y .
word o v e r a n o t h e r may ation.
The
broke
people
o r may
speakers might
have e s t a b l i s h e d
or e x i s t i n g ambiguity; longer
because
d i f f e r e n c e s not
of a desire
t h e y might
i n common use a n d : d e c i d e d
one explan-
t o a v o i d what now
sound
they r e -
syntax;
previously
they
necessary seemed:an a
term:no
"to r e p l a c e i t w i t h one
f o r " a e s t h e t i c " reasons alone,
v i n g us w i t h an u n e x p l a i n e d modern enigma o f are thus f o r c e d
used
colour-
by the
have m i s t a k e n l y i n t e r p r e t e d
c u r r i n g more f r e q u e n t l y ,
We
more
have t h o u g h t certain
to c o n s i d e r the problem
of
t h e y were
a rational
have b e e n a t t r a c t e d
a
they
f o r choosing
n o t have had
membered h a v i n g b e e n t a u g h t t o use
construction
spoke,
more c l e a r l y ,
Their reasons
choices of
down, t h e u s e
the l o c u t i o n s
of a g r o u p i n g o f words, o r t h e y might
might
i s valuable i n
oclea-
phraseology.
not
o n l y from
narrow e t y m o l o g i c a l p o i n t
o f v i e w , .but f r o m a much
encompassing semantic.and
human i m p l i c a t i o n s a s
a
wider.one,
well.
"Nos vemos o b l i g a d o s " , s a y s P o t t i e r , " p a r a o b r a r de buena f e , a r e c u r r i r a l a s u s t a n c i a semantica. Y no h a y p o r qu6 a v e r g o n z a r s e . Los e s t u d i o s r e c i e n t e s e x c l u s i v a m e n t e f o r m a l e s han d e m o s t r a d o con s u f r a c a s o que l a l e n g u a e s a l g o muy d i s t i n t o de un s i m p l e mecanismode c o m b i n a ciones. E l mecanismo e x i s t e , e i n c l u s o es f u n d a mental. Y, desde l u e g o , t i e n e s u r a z o n de s e r : l a n e c e s i d a d p o r p a r t e d e l hombre de a p r o v e c h a r a l m&xirno ( m e d i a n t e l a s d i f e r e n c i a c i o n e s d e l d i s c u r s o ) un r e d u c i d o numero de c u a d r o s s i m p l e s de
14 p e n s a m i e n t o ( l a s r e p r e s e n t a c i o n e s de l a l e n g u a ) que l e p e r m i t a n de e s t a ,manera, y con un mfnimo de e s f u e r z o , e x p r e s a r l a m u l t i p l i c i d a d de s u s a c t i v i d a d e s mentales. Q u i e r a s e o no, l a l i n g - ' u i s t i c a es una c i e n c i a humana."^-
In
order
to
i n d i c a t e the' c o n f u s i o n
concepts normally quivocal, three
l e t us
considered
attempt
articulate,
examine some p o s t u l a t e d
p a r t i c l e s with
preposition,
simple,
w h i c h may
w h i c h we
are
and
the
infinitive.
to point
out
discrepancies,, contradictions,
and,
hopefully,
development of the i n modern
so
doing,
verb,
and
ficulties,
une-
d e f i n i t i o n s of
concerned, the While
underlie
some c o n c l u s i o n s
we
the shall
dif-
concerning
verb+preposition+infinitive
the.
the
construction
Spanish.
Lenz says the
following:
" . . . p a r a l l e g a r a una d e f i n i c i d n d e l v e r b o debemos d i s t i n g u i r dos c a s o s : 1) E l v e r b o e n c i e r r a • en s i l a e x p r e s i o n c l a r a d e l surjeto p r o n o m i n a l , como en l a t i n y c a s t e l l a n o ; e n t o n c e s e l VERBO. es una p a l a b r a que p o r s i s o l a e x p r e s a t o d o un j u i c i q i n d e p e n d i e n t e ( s u j e t o y p r e d i c a d o ) y f o r m a una o r a ci6n. 2) Se e x i g e , como.eh f r a n c o s , i n g l e s y a l e m£n, l a expresi6*n separacia d e l s u j e t o ; e n t o n c e s e l VERBO es una p a l a b r a que a n a d i d a a un s u j e t o , exp r e s a con e l un j u i c i o c b m p l e t o e i n d e p e n d i e n t e y i
forma una o r a c i 6 n . " 5 .
His attempt-to;resolve sion
difficulty
of s e v e r a l languages f a l l s
example, L e n z t h i n k s insufficient; t i o n s and intent ever,
the
.,
even t h i s
c o n s e q u e n t l y he
exceptions.
on a v o i d i n g what can we
any
One
i n c u r r e d by
prey to other rather
complex
make o f h i s use
of the
restricis
properly
or ambiguity. term
For
definition
m i g h t t h u s s u p p o s e he confusion
inclu-
problems.
proceeds to d i s c u s s
possible
the
How-
"palabra"? .
15 Only c e r t a i n tenses o f the verb other languages to
interpret
i n which
i n Spanish - not t o mention
- a r e composed o f a s i n g l e w o r d .
O r are. we
" p a l a b r a " a s m e a n i n g "word o r g r o u p
o f words",
c a s e do we n o t e n c o u n t e r t h e p r o b l e m
of attempting
t o d e t e r m i n e what e x a c t l y c o n s t i t u t e s t h e v e r b ( g r a m m a t i c a l l y a s w e l l a s m e a n i n g f u l l y ) i n a f o r m s u c h a s "Nunca s e me h a podido d e c i r l o " ?
What, t h e n , i s t h e e x a c t s i g n i f i c a n c e o f
"verb"? M i g u e l de T o r o y Gomez a t t e m p t s a much s i m p l e r d e f i n i tion.
"YERBO", he s a y s , " e s una p a r t e de l a o r a c i o n que
designa
esencia,
siempre
c o n e x p r e s i 6 n de t i e m p o
because
o f i t s v e r y vagueness
tion
o f Lenz.
" a g r i o " - which
dicates
indicates
- which
pasion, o estado,
y de p e r s o n a . " ^
and i m p r e c i s i o n ,
B u t how does
indicates
"existencia",
"locamente"
and
accion,
i s n o t s u b j e c t t o t h e same s o r t
against that as
existencia,
this
levelled such
"eterno" - which i n indicates
"accion",
" p a s i o n " , o r "cansado"
- which
"VERBO", i f t h e e x p r e s s i o n o f t i m e
p e r s o n i s n o t n e c e s s a r i l y one o f t h e d e f i n i n g
istics
defini-
i t d i s t i n g u i s h words
" c a r r e r a " - which
"estado", from
Perhaps
of c r i t i c i s m
"esencia",
indicates
casi
character-
of a verb.
What a b o u t
the i n f i n i t i v e ?
"Modo i n f i n i t i v o " ,
says
Toro
y Gomez " e s e l que a n u n c i a e n a b s t r a c t o l a i d e a d e l v e r b o s i n e x p r e s a r numero n i p e r s o n a . " 7 "infinitivo" three
A c c o r d i n g t o Lenz,
i s a "substantivd verbal",
"verboides d e l castellano".
d e f i n e s a s " a q u e l l a s formas
though, t h e
a n d i s one o f t h e
The t e r m
" v e r f e i d e s " he
v e r b a l e s que no e n c i e r r a n en s i
16 la
e x p r e s i o n . d e l a p e r s o n a d e l s u j e t o y que,
a un
nominativo
sujeto-, no
f o r m a n con
61
s i se
una
agregan
proposicion
s e p a r a b l e , -aunque c o n t e n g a n t o d o s l o s e l e m e n t o s de
un
completo."3
mention
of the
The
most i m p o r t a n t
term " s u b s t a n t i v o
aspect
verbal".
shows a n a t t e m p t . t o r e l a t e
this
here
The
i s the
following
juicio
quotation
i d e a to t h a t of the
prepo-
sition. 9 "De l o s t e r m i n o s r e l a c i o n a d o s p o r l a p r e p o s i c i o n , e l p r i m e r o puede' s e r un s u b s t a n t i v o , un a d j e t i v o o un v e r b o , y t a m b i e n un pronombre o un a d v e r b i o . y ' h a s t a una i n t e r j e . c c i o n ; p e r o e l s e g u n d o ha de s e r s i e m p r e un nombre s u b s t a n t i v o o p a l a b r a o l o c u c i o n de s i g n i f i c a c i o n e q u i v a l e n t e . Equival e n t e s en s i g n i f i c a c i o n a l s u b s t a n t i v o sabemos que s o n : e l pronombre, e l i n f i n i t i v o , que es l a f o r m a s u b s t a n t i v a d a d e l v e r b o , una o r a c i o n s u b s t a n t i v a y • l o s a d v e r b i o s de l u g a r y de t i e m p o , que no s o n mas que l o s pronombres d e m o s t r a t i v o s de l o s nombres que denotan dichas i d e a s . " The
import
the
infinitive
i s always t h a t of a s u b s t a n t i v e .
the
infinitive
i s i n e v i t a b l y t o be
should
o f t h i s a r g u m e n t seems t o be
i t not
cases?
But
g o v e r n no
behave
h e r e we
One
leccion". ditional
see
one
preposition before
p r e p o s i t i o n before der".
i n the
says
considered
same way of the
t h a t the
as
the
a
substantive,
latter
c a s t d o u b t on
the
basic
grammatical d e s c r i p t i o n which maintains
pendently?
i s o n l y a v e r b a l noun, and
does n o t
which
require
f o r example
"Aprendo a h a c e r e l t r a b a j o " , b u t not
in a l l
anomalies of verbs
infinitive,
of
However, i f
a noun, b u t w h i c h do
a dependent
Does t h i s
infinitive
identity
a
"apren-
"Aprendo l a idea
of
that
the
behave
tra-
inde-
17 "PREPOSICION", says Toro y Gomez, "es una p a r t e i n d e c l i n a b l e de l a o r a c i o n que s i r v e para d e n o t a r e l regimen o dependencia que t i e n e n e n t r e s i dos p a l a b r a s o c l a u s u l a s .-*n
(
T h i s i s s l i g h t l y d i f f e r e n t from t h e d e f i n i t i o n a f f o r d e d us by Lenz, who once a g a i n , i n h i s a t t e m p t t o be t h o r o u g h and comprehensive, i n c l u d e s t o o much m a t e r i a l and t h u s o t h e r problems.
creates
He o f f e r s t h e f o l l o w i n g d e f i n i t i o n :
"La PREPOSICION es una p a l a b r a i n v a r i a b l e que s i r v e para t r a n s f o r m e r un s u b s t a n t i v o en a t r i b u t o o complement© de o t r o elemento de l a misma p r o p o s i c i d n . S i e l t e r m i n o no es v e r d a dero s u b s t a n t i v o , a l menos f u n c i o n a como t a l . . . De l a s formas v e r b a l e s , e l i n f i n i t i v o , que es s u b s t a n t i v o v e r b a l , con f a c i l i d a d e x t r a o r d i n a r i a admite en c a s t e l l a n o c u a l q u i e r p r e p o s i cion..."11 The d i f f i c u l t y ,
i t i s a p p a r e n t , i s t h e same e n c o u n t e r e d above
i n the i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of the f u n c t i o n of the i n f i n i t i v e . two
But
p o i n t s do appear from t h e above: f i r s t , t h a t t h e prepo-
s i t i o n i n d i c a t e s some s o r t o f r e l a t i o n between two e l e m e n t s , and
t h a t i t s r e l a t i v e p o s i t i o n i s a l s o o f importance. These concepts have e v o l v e d t h r o u g h t h e course o f cen-
t u r i e s o f g r a m m a t i c a l i n t e r p r e t a t i o n , and, w i t h t h e e x c e p t i o n o f t h e i n t e r j e c t i o n , modern c l a s s i f i c a t i o n o f t h e p a r t s o f speech, i n c l u d i n g t h e p r e p o s i t i o n , can be t r a c e d back t o t h e Greeks.12
A very b r i e f h i s t o r y of p r e p o s i t i o n a l d e f i n i t i o n
can be o b t a i n e d from t h e f o l l o w i n g l i n e s . "Las p r e p o s i c i o n e s f u e r o n c o n s i d e r a d a s como p a l a b r a s de e n l a c e , j u n t o con l a s c o n j u n c i o n e s , por l o s e s t o i c o s , que s e n a l a r o n t a m b i l n s u c a r a c t e r de prepuestas...Fue D i o n i s i o de T r a c i a q u i e n s e p a r d l a s p r e p o s i c i o n e s d e l grupo que formaban con l a s c o n j u n c i o n e s , y d e f i n i o l a p r e p o s i c i d n como l a p a r t e
18
'
•
de l a o r a c i 6 n que se c o l o e a d e l a n t e de l a s o t r a s p a r t e s en combinaciones s i n t a c t i c a s y en f o r m a c i d n de p a l a b r a s . . . E n l a s e s c u e l a s de Europa, durante toda l a a n t i g u e d a d y l a Edad Media, l a g r a m a t i c a c o n c i b i o , pues, l a p r e p o s i c i d n desde e l punto de v i s t a de l a l o g i c a , como...un t e r m i n o de u n i o n , que se oponia a l a s p a l a b r a s c o n c r e t a s como l o s norabres o l o s pronombres...Sint&ctieamente, se d e f i n i o l a p r e p o s i c i d n como un t e r m i n o *colocado d e l a n t e * . . . A l l l e g a r a l Renacimiento, l a d e f i n i e i o n de, l a Gramcitica Cast e l l a n a de N e b r i j a . . . n o r e p r e s e n t a nada nuevo: •Una de l a s d i e z p a r t e s de l a o r a c i o n , l a c u a l se pone d e l a n t e de l a s o t r a s p o r a i u n tamiento o por composicidn*. Y senala b i e n que l a s p r e p o s i c i o n e s s i r v e n para demostrar l a s i g n i f i c a c i o n de l o s casos...Mas o r i g i n a l es l a d e f i n i c i d n . . . d e V i l l a n d n : *La l e n g u a c a s t e l l a n a t i e n e p a l a b r a s que e l l a t i n l l a m a p r e p o s i c i o n e s porque se proponen a l nombre o a l v e r b o en l a c l a u s u l a para m a n i f e s t a r mas e l a f f e c t o humano d e l que l a p r o n u n c i a * . . . S c a l i g e r o e s t u d i a ampliamente l a s p r e p o s i ciones y rechaza todas l a s d e f i n i c i o n e s t r a d i c i o n a l e s . Las p r e p o s i c i o n e s s i r v e n para i n d i c a r e l l u g a r , e l movimiento y e l r e p o s e . . Despues de m u l t i p l e s t e n t a t i v a s de d e f i n i e i o n , l l e g a m o s a l a c d l e b r e Gramatica de P o r t - R o y a l , plenamente s a t i s f a c t o r i a : 'Es e l exponente de una r e l a c i d n c o n s i d e r a d a de una maner-a a b s t r a c t a y g e n e r a l , e i n d e p e n d i e n t e de t.odo t e r m i n o a n t e c e d e n t e y consecuente*. D e f i n i e i o n completamente a l d i a , y que esta* en l a base de l a t e o r i a de V i g g o B r ^ n d a l , que d e f i n e l a s prepos i c i o n e s como p a l a b r a s cuya f u n c i o n es e x p r e s a r una r e l a c i d n , pero una r e l a c i d n pura s i n c o n s i d e r a c i o n e s d i r e c t a s a l o s objetos- o a l a s situaciones."13 T h i s l a s t d e f i n i t i o n , and t h a t o f P o r t - R o y a l , i n s i s t on the f u n c t i o n o f t h e p r e p o s i t i o n , r a t h e r t h a n i t s own i n d e pendent i d e n t i t y .
That i s t o s a y , i t would appear t o t a k e a t
l e a s t a p a r t o f i t s meaning from what precedes and what f o l lows i t .
Born d i r e c t l y from t h i s i d e a i s t h e q u e s t i o n o f
whether t h e p r e p o s i t i o n demonstrates a meaning of. i t s own, or i s i t merely a connector?14
A b i t c o n t e n t i o u s seems t h e
R e a l Academia*s
definition:
"Esta p a r t i c u l a , llamada
impropiamente p a r t e de l a o r a c i o n , no t i e n e v a l o r de por s i en e l h a b l a ; es un element© de r e l a c i d n , cuya s i g n i f i c a c i d n depende no s o l o de e l l a , s i n o d e l v a l o r de l o s v o c a b l o s por e l l a r e l a c i o n a d o s . " 1 5 One such r e l a t i o n s h i p would o c c u r i n a sentence such as "Me abstengo de fumar
demasiado",
i n w h i c h a p p a r e n t l y t h e p r e p o s i t i o n "no t i e n e v a l o r de p o r s i en e l h a b l a " , s i n c e t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p o f " a b s t e n e r " t o "fumar" i s t h a t o f t h e s i m p l e i d e a "No fumo demasiado", " P r e f i e r o no fumar demasiado".
or
However, s i n c e the concept
of a b s t e n t i o n can be f i g u r a t i v e l y c o n s t r u e d as one o f w i t h d r a w a l , the p r e p o s i t i o n "de" may have been chosen t o b e t t e r v i s u a l i z e t h i s idea.
A f u r t h e r e x p l a n a t i o n can be found i n
an a n a l o g y w i t h s e n t e n c e s such as "Abstengo d e l v i n o cuahto puedo", i n w h i c h t h e p r e p o s i t i o n has l i k e l y been d e r i v e d from the
use o f a p r e v i o u s g e n i t i v e .
Note a l s o t h i s comment o f
Salomon, w h i c h , though here r e l a t i n g t o a d v e r b s , c o u l d a l s o be a p p l i c a b l e t o p r e p o s i t i o n s : "...(W)e have some compound v e r b s ( i n E n g l i s h ) i n w h i c h "words" a r e i n t e r c h a n g e a b l e w i t h t h e i r a p p a r e n t o p p o s i t e s : when you e n t e r d a t a on a r o u t i n e form o r q u e s t i o n n a i r e , you a r e f i l l i n g i t i n ( o r o u t ) ; v/hen you reduce the speed o f y o u r c a r , you a r e s l o w i n g up ( o r down), and so f o r t h . I f t h e s u b s t i t u t i o n o f out f o r i n , down f o r up_, produces no change i n t h e meaning o f the whole e x p r e s s i o n , t h i s a t l e a s t r a i s e s a q u e s t i o n as t o whether t h e s e words ( i n such e x p r e s s i o n s ) have what we s h o u l d c a l l meaning. "16 A s i m i l a r t y p e o f phenomenon can be s a i d t o be observed i n Spanish.
A l t h o u g h t h e p r e s e n t " g r a m m a t i c a l i t y " o f t h e ex-
p r e s s i o n would s u f f e r , would i t have caused
unintelligibility
.20
f o r t h e f u t u r e i f " c o n t i n u a r de h a c e r l o " had developed i n p l a c e o f " c o n t i n u a r a h a c e r l o " , " f i j a r s e de a l g o " , and t h e like?
Or i f "empezar a h a c e r l o " had remained a s "empezar
de h a c e r l o " , a s i t had been i n O l d S p a n i s h ?
I t i s interes-
t i n g t o o b s e r v e , i n c i d e n t a l l y , t h a t i n terms o f g e n e r a l semantic meaning, de i s t h e d i r e c t o p p o s i t e o f a , and p e r haps i n some way, one c o u l d c o n c e i v e
o f t h e absence o f a
p r e p o s i t i o n as being s e m a n t i c a l l y contrary t o the incidence of any p r e p o s i t i o n , i n d i c a t i n g - w i t h no f a c e t i o u s i n t e n t whatever - t h a t " n o t h i n g " may be a s i m p o r t a n t
o r a s unnece-
s s a r y a s "something" when d e a l i n g w i t h s e m a n t i c s .
Similarly,
one
can sense a n a l o g i e s between "empezar a h a c e r / p o d e r h a c e r "
and
" b e g i n tp_ do i t / c a n do i t " . What c o u l d we c a l l t h e
"meaning f u n c t i o n " o f t h e E n g l i s h p r e p o s i t i o n a l i n f i n i t i v e marker, i f n o t t h e same a s t h a t o f t h e S p a n i s h p r e p o s i t i o n , t h i s same "empty form", even w i t h o u t a t t e m p t i n g
t o equate
t h e normal concept of. " i n f i n i t i v e marker" i n S p a n i s h w i t h that of English? A c o n t r a s t i n g b u t d e f i n i t i v e view i s t a k e n b y P o t t i e r , who s a y s : "Hasta se ha podido. d e c i r que hay p r e p o s i c i o n e s . que
l l e g a n a no t e n e r s i g n i f i c a c i d n (a p r o p d s i t o d e l *de
f
f r a n c o s ) , l o que no se puede j u s t i f i c a r : s i e x i s t e un morfema en una l e n g u a , desempena un pa p e l
esta este condicionado en l a * e s t r u c t u r a
f
y por l o tanto
de l a l e n g u a . "17 i f ,
t h e n , a p r e p o s i t i o n must have a . d e f i n i t e meaning, must convey some k i n d o f i n f o r m a t i o n independent o f t h a t g r a n t e d by the words w h i c h s u r r o u n d i t , what form may t h i s "meaning"
;21
t a k e when viewed i n t h e c o n t e x t o f t h e v e r b + p r e p o s i t i o n + i n f i n i t i v e construction?
Does "meaning" i n t h i s
sense
m e r e l y i n d i c a t e some k i n d o f " g r a m m a t i c a l c o n v e n t i o n " a s the
p l e o n a s t i c ne has become i n c e r t a i n comparison
t u r e s i n French?
struc-
Or i s "meaning" r e q u i r e d t o have some
type o f s e m a n t i c j u s t i f i c a t i o n a s w e l l ?
The f o r m e r b y i t -
s e l f would be unworkable, s i n c e i t o b s c u r e s t h e d i s t i n c t i o n between sense and form.
Thus one can p o s t u l a t e , a s p r e v i o u s
l y mentioned, t h a t t h e r e once e x i s t e d a p r i o r "meaning" (now lost) attached t o the preposition.
I n t h i s way can one ex-
p l a i n the occurrence o f the v a r i o u s p r e p o s i t i o n s i n t h e i r v a r i o u s environments: a t t h e time o f f i r s t u t i l i z i n g
this
p a r t i c l e , t h e s p e a k e r s " f e l t " a need f o r i t i n o r d e r t o communicate t h e i r i d e a s .
Such a t h e o r y would, i n f a c t , t i e
t o g e t h e r t h e i m p l i c a t i o n o f t h e R e a l Academia and t h e p r o nouncement o f P o t t i e r : t h e word was n e c e s s a r y and e x i s t e d t o f i l l a s e m a n t i c need; i t s importance was g r a d u a l l y , l o s t t o the
c o n s c i o u s n e s s o f t h e s p e a k e r s , b u t has remained a s a
g r a m m a t i c a l v e s t i g e , w i t h o u t w h i c h t h e phrase would n o t "sound r i g h t " t o t h e n a t i v e , even i f i t s meaning d i d n o t change.
x
I t has become u n i m p o r t a n t b u t a t t h e same time
n e c e s s a r y , b o t h m e a n i n g f u l and " p a l a b r a v a c i a ? . 1
I n terms o f how we a r e t o u n d e r s t a n d t h e f u n c t i o n o f the
preposition, i t i s of interest to consider s t i l l
another
remark o f Lopez, i n h i s d i s c u s s i o n o f t h e grammarian Vendryes:
22
"Por s u p a r t e , Vendryes ha rechazado l a s p r e p o s i c i o n e s
de
l a s p a r t e s de l a o r a c i o n porque son s i m p l e s morfemas; e l p a p e l que
desempefian puede r e p r e s e n t a r s e
por un p r o c e d i m i e n t o m o r f o l d g i c o
muy
en o t r a s l e n g u a s
distinto.
Asi, e l
e s p a n o l d i c e * e l l i b r o de. Pedro*, donde e l l a t i n , Petri*."19
I s h i s p o i n t , however, v a l i d ?
L a t i n , p r e p o s i t i o n s had
Even i n C l a s s i c a l
t h e i r u s e s , q u i t e d i s t i n c t and
nomous f r o m the semantic m a n i f e s t a t i o n o f the system.
And
*liber
auto-
morphological
s u r e l y , the f a c t t h a t S p a n i s h has a l l b u t done
away w i t h t h e case system cannot be c o n s i d e r e d a good r e a s o n f o r e x c l u d i n g p r e p o s i t i o n s from g r a m m a t i c a l d e s c r i p t i o n . I n f a c t , k e e p i n g i n mind, what N e b r i j a had s a i d w i t h r e gard t o the d e f i n i t i o n o f p r e p o s i t i o n s 2 0 piece of information presented
}
j.et us examine a
by the R e a l A c a d e m i a ! : 2
Es t a n i n t i m a l a c o n e x i d n e n t r e l a p r e p o s i c i d n y e l nombre que j u n t o con e l l a s i r v e de complemento a o t r o v o c a b l o , que e l e n t e n d i m l e h t o l a c o n c i b e como f o r mando un s o l o concepto m e n t a l con d i c h o nombre, y a l e x p r e s a r l o . l o haee como s i l a s dos p a l a b r a s , es d e c i r , l a p r e p o s i c i d n y e l nombre, f u e s e n una s o l a ; y a s i , decimos *de c a s a , a c a s a , por c a s a * , s i n d a r v a l o r p r o s d d i e o a l a s p a r t i c u l a s *de, a, p o r * , y pronunc i a n d o l a s como. s i se e s c r i b i e s e *decasa, a c a s a , p o r casa*. Por e s t a r a z d n son p r o c l i t i c a s t o d a s l a s p r e p o s i c i o n e s , y en e s t e s e n t i d o b i e n podemos d e c i r que e l c a s t e l l a n o t i e n e una * d e c l i n a c i d n p r e p o s i c i o n a l * en compensaeion de l a - p e r d i d a d e c l i n a c i d n l a t i n a que l a s l e n g u a s romances han s u b s t i t u i d o por l a s p p r e p o s i c i o n e s y e l nombre, a s i como en l a t i n l a s d e s i n e n c i a s no f u e r o n en s u .origen o t r a cosa que p a r t i - • c u l a s que i b a n d e t r a s de l o s mismos nombres." I n the c o n t e x t o f the v e r b + p r e p o s i t i o n + i n f i n i t i v e c o n s t r u c t i o n , t h i s concept would not r e a l l y be f u n c t i o n a l , q u i t e a p a r t from the d i f f i c u l t i e s o f a t t e m p t i n g prehensively .for substantives.
t o d e s c r i b e such a system comThe
c h o i c e o f the p r e p o s i t i o n
•23 i n t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n we a r e concerned w i t h , t h e n , depends n o t on t h e i n f i n i t i v e f o l l o w i n g , b u t on t h e p r e c e d i n g v e r b , and, a t t i m e s , upon t h e c o n t e x t u a l meaning, when more t h a n one p r e p o s i t i o n may f o l l o w a c e r t a i n v e r b . i s here c l e a r l y n o t a p r o c l i t i c
The p r e p o s i t i o n , t h e n ,
of the i n f i n i t i v e .
An i n t e r e s t i n g h y p o t h e t i c a l system c o u l d be c o n c e i v e d , however, analogous though o p p o s i t e i n d i r e c t i o n t o t h a t s u g g e s t e d by t h e Academia.
I n such a system - s p e a k i n g p a r t i -
c u l a r l y of the v e r b + p r e p o s i t i o n + i n f i n i t i v e c o n s t r u c t i o n - the p r e p o s i t i o n c o u l d become, i n f a c t , a v e r b a l e n c l i t i c ,
com-
p l e t i n g a k i n d o f d e c l e n s i o n a l system o f t h e v e r b , o r , i n o t h e r words, e s t a b l i s h i n g y e t a n o t h e r c l a s s w i t h i n t h e conj u g a t i o n a l system now e x i s t i n g .
Thus, t h e v e r b would be con-
j u g a t e d t h r o u g h t e n s e and v o i c e ; i t s forms f o r mood would i n c l u d e i n d i c a t i v e , s u b j u n c t i v e , i n f i n i t i v e , and one f i n a l form, c a l l e d , perhaps, t h e " e n c l i t i c
mood".
The
postclitic
p r e p o s i t i o n s ' a , 'de', e t c . , would be a t t a c h e d t o t h e v e r b 1
t o form t h i s mood ( s i m i l a r i n c o n c e p t , one might s a y , t o . t h e Portuguese p e r s o n a l i n f i n i t i v e ) , whenever t h e v e r b d i r e c t l y preceded a n i n f i n i t i v e .
A " z e r o f o r m " would be r e c o g n i z e d t o
d e a l w i t h t h o s e v e r b s w h i c h govern a dependent without, p r e p o s i t i o n .
infinitive
But i t would t h e n be n e c e s s a r y t o c l a s s -
i f y v e r b s w h i c h can govern a v a r i e t y o f p r e p o s i t i o n s , t h o s e w h i c h r e q u i r e a p r e p o s i t i o n b e f o r e an i n f i n i t i v e b u t n o t a s u b s t a n t i v e , and t h o s e w h i c h t a k e a ' p r e p o s i t i o n e x c e p t b e f o r e a pronoun o b j e c t ( f o r example,
contestar).
Such a system o f
c l a s s i f i c a t i o n , o f c o u r s e , would be even more u n w i e l d l y and
-24
problematic ployed
t h a n the r a t h e r cumbersome one
to describe Spanish.
presently
em-,
However, i t s h y p o t h e t i c a l
v a l i d i t y s h o u l d be e q u a l l y d i f f i c u l t t o r e f u t e .
And
con-
s i d e r i n g i t s h o u l d p o i n t out t h a t , as s t a t e d e a r l i e r , common terms such as " p r e p o s i t i o n " , can e a s i l y prove t o be ambiguous, d i f f i c u l t , and e x t r e m e l y complex, t h e i r everyday s t r u c t u r e s .
when examined i n many o f
FOOTNOTES, CHAPTER I 1) Salamon, L o u i s B., Semantics & Common Sense, H o l t , R i n e h a r t and W i n s t o n , I n c . , N.Y.,
1966, p.
49
2) I b i d , p. 23 3) T h i s t y p e o f experiment was a t t e m p t e d by M u s s o l i n i , a l though i t must be a d m i t t e d t h a t no " g e n e r a t i o n d e c i d e d unanimously" t o abandon " L e i " i n a l l d i s c o u r s e . The r e a s o n s f o r the f a i l u r e o f t h i s experiment a r e l i k e l y e x t r e m e l y c o m p l i c a t e d , and would i n v o l v e f a c t o r s such as the n a t u r a l u n w i l l i n g n e s s o f the people t o change t h e i r speech h a b i t s o f g e n e r a t i o n s , the d i f f i c u l t y o f t h o r o u g h communication and comprehensive e d u c a t i o n a l , changeovers, and - p r o b a b l y most i m p o r t a n t o f a l l - t h e f a c t t h a t t h i s change was f o r c i b l y imposed, r a t h e r t h a n f r e e l y chosen. P o t t i e r , B e r n a r d ; L i n g u i s t i c a moderna y f i l o l o g i a h i s p a n i c a , v e r s i o n e s p a n o l a de M a r t m B l a n c o A l v a r e z , E d i t o r i a l Gredos, S.A., M a d r i d 1968, p. 143 Lenz, R u d o l f o , La O r a c i o n y sus p a r t e s , E s t u d i o s de g r a m a t i c a g e n e r a l y c a s t e l l a n a , M a d r i d , 1935, p. 392 G r a m a t i c a , p.
57
7
I b i d , p. .59
8
Lenz, p. 396..'.
9
Academia, p.
G r a m a t i c a , p. 189
11
Lenz, p. 509/520
12
Lopez, p. 13
3
14
I b i d , p.
'
207
10
1
•- V ]
.
15/16
" . . . E l g r a m a t i c o sueco Nat Beckman...pone p r e p o s i c i o n e s y c o n j u n c i o n e s j u n t a s b a j o l a i n d i c a c i d h comun de *conect o r e s * ( * B i n d e o r d ) , y d e c l a r a que l a p r i n c i p a l t a r e a de l a p r e p o s i c i d n es e s t a r * c o n e c t a d a a un s u s t a n t i v o , con e l p r o p o s i t o de f o r m a r un a t r i b u t o , y que l a p r i n c i p a l t a r e a de l a s c o n j u n c i o n e s es de u n i r f r a s e s . " L6pez, p. 19 t
T
15) Academia, p. 16) Salomon, p.
206 8/9
17) L i n g i i l s t i c a , p. 145P o t t i e r i s c r i t i c i z i n g the i d e a o f t h e "empty word", the
26 p a r t i c l e w h i c h i s used g r a m m a t i c a l l y , b u t whose e x i s t e n c e cannot a p p a r e n t l y be j u s t i f i e d by semantic means, and w h i c h i s t h e r e f o r e c o n s i d e r e d t o be e n t i r e l y s u p e r f l u o u s . He e l a b o r a t e s h i s argument a s f o l l o w s : " E l h i s t o r i a d o r de l a l e n g u a , acostumbrado t r a d i c i o n a l m e n t e a b u s c a r e l d e t a l l e , e l ejemplo m a r g i n a l , se s i e n t e p r o c l i v e a pensar que un morfema como ' a ' o 'de*, que parece que s i g n i f i c a n l o que uno q u i e r a , acaban, en c o n s e c u e n c i a por no s i g n i f i c a r nada p r e c i s o . Y de a h i l a d e s a s t r o s a denominacidn de " p a l a b r a v a c i a " , v e r d a d e r o monstruo l i n g u i s t i c o . P o r e l hecho de e x i s t i r c i e n v a r i e d a d e s de azul
p r o v i d e d f o r an a c c e p t e d r e g u l a r i z a t i o n o f S p a n i s h , i n form almost
i d e n t i c a l to t h a t of the present
One
day.
o f the most i m p o r t a n t f a c t o r s i n the development o f
S p a n i s h t o be c o n s i d e r e d here i s the f o l l o w i n g . case system was
b r e a k i n g down.
The
Latin
The d i s t i n c t i o n between the
v a r i o u s cases o f a d e c l e n s i o n became u n r e c o g n i z a b l e i n speech; words f r o m one d e c l e n s i o n s h i f t e d t o a n o t h e r ,
"adapting" t h e i r
form a c c o r d i n g l y ; 3 L a t i n f o u r t h and f i f t h d e c l e n s i o n words were a s s i m i l a t e d i n t o the o t h e r t h r e e d e c l e n s i o n s .
New
means
o f communicating i d e a s became r e q u i s i t e ; o l d d i f f e r e n c e s were l o s t and t h u s produced c o n s i d e r a b l e c o n f u s i o n ; what was a language now
once
c o n s i d e r e d one o f the most p r e c i s e , a r t i c u l a t e
and l o g i c a l , was
f a s t becoming something t o t a l l y d i f f e r e n t -
a k o i n e o f f a i r l y n o n d e s c r i p t c h a r a c t e r , a t l e a s t i n the o f any comparison w i t h i t s p a r e n t tongue.
But one
cannot
light
31 s u r m i s e t h a t t h e s p e a k e r s o f t h i s language, somewhere between what i s c a l l e d V u l g a r L a t i n and what i s r e f e r r e d t o as Romance, were a t any time u n a b l e t o converse a r t i c u l a t e l y . D e s p i t e t h e f r a g m e n t a t i o n w h i c h was
i n p r o g r e s s , and the i n -
c r e a s i n g d i v e r g e n c e o f t h e speech o f one community from t h a t o f a n o t h e r , making i n t e r c o m m u n i c a t i o n more and more d i f f i c u l t , the people themselves c o n t i n u e d t o use t h e i r language w i t h t h e f l u e n c y o f any n a t i v e s p e a k e r o f any tongue.
I t must be r e -
membered t h a t t h e y themselves were r e s p o n s i b l e f o r the changes w h i c h w e r e . o c c u r r i n g ; t h e y themselves were m o d i f y i n g t h e i r speech h a b i t s and m o l d i n g t h e i r means o f communication.
What
"sounded r i g h t " t o them was a c c e p t a b l e , w i t h o u t t h e i n t e r f e r ence o r c r i t i c i s m o f " a u t h o r i t a t i v e " p r e s c r i p t i o n o r p r o s c r i p tion.
T h e i r own l i n g u i s t i c c o n s c i o u s n e s s s e r v e d them as
needed t o communicate w i t h t h e i r f e l l o w s , even though
their
l i v e s and t h e i r s o c i e t y c o u l d l i k e l y s u p p o r t a l e s s complex communication
p a r a p h e r n a l i a t h a n i s now a p p a r e n t l y n e c e s s a r y .
The l o s s ' o f the case system o c c u r r e d a l o n g w i t h a dependence on s y l l a b i c s t r e s s r a t h e r t h a n v o c a l i c l e n g t h d i s t i n c t i o n - a phenomenon w h i c h was, Vulgar Latin.
i n e f f e c t , a l r e a d y the r u l e i n
A t t h e same t i m e , t h e r e grew up a more and
more a n a l y t i c s i n t a c t i c system t o r e p l a c e t h e s y n t h e t i c w h i c h had l o s t i t s communicative a b i l i t i e s .
one
M a r t i n Alonso
s t a t e s : ^ "La f l e x i c o n n o m i n a l p r a c t i c a m e n t e d e s a p a r e c e , y para s u p l i r l a se i n t r o d u c e n , en e l l e n g u a j e p o p u l a r mas l i t e r a r i o , l a s preposiciones f l e x i v a s . se h i z o cada vez mas
restringido.
que en e l
E l uso de l o s casos
Aun en l o s mismos a u t o r e s
32 t a r d i o s , como en PETRONIO, se produce una v e r d a d e r a en l a s d e c l i n a c i o n e s . " f o r we
confusion
T h i s f a c t i s o f extreme i m p o r t a n c e ,
see here the i n t i m a t i o n s of a new
an i n c r e a s i n g dependence on p r e p o s i t i o n s .
syntax which The
acquired
p r e p o s i t i o n , or
r a t h e r , p r e p o s i t i o n a l l o c u t i o n s , c o u l d no l o n g e r be a m a t t e r o f s t y l e o r emphasis, as f o r example, between "exeunt Roma", and
"exeunt de Roma", but r a t h e r the o n l y a v a i l a b l e means o f
i n d i c a t i n g b a s i c r e l a t i o n s h i p s o f k i n d s p r e v i o u s l y shown w i t h i n the d e c l e n s i o n a l system. I t must be s t r e s s e d t h a t t h e development o f t h e s i t i o n and
o f i t s usage was
b e i n g undergone. modified; was
The
but one
phonetic
prepo-
o f the numerous changes
system i t s e l f was
the morphology o f v e r b s as w e l l as o f
becoming substantives
b e i n g r a d i c a l l y a l t e r e d ; the d e f i n i t e a r t i c l e was
becoming
r e c o g n i z a b l y d i s t i n c t from a d e m o n s t r a t i v e a d j e c t i v e .
The
importance o f the p r e p o s i t i o n a l development must not be
under-
estimated,
f o r t h i s p a r t i c u l a r p r o c e s s can be seen as one
the l i n k s between t h a t w h i c h would be c o n s i d e r e d mar"
of
p a r t o f "gram-
by t h e B l o o m f i e l d i a n s c h o o l , and t h a t w h i c h w o u l d be
c l a s s e d as s e m a n t i c s , w h i c h t h e y l a r g e l y i g n o r e d s i n c e t h e y d i d not seem a b l e t o d e f i n e i t i n the same k i n d of terms g o v e r n i n g the langue and As people began t o use
absolute
parole d i s t i n c t i o n s of Saussure.
p r e p o s i t i o n s t o convey b a s i c mean-
i n g s , t h e y must i n e v i t a b l y have come t o " u n d e r s t a n d " them i n a d i f f e r e n t way
from b e f o r e .
T h e i r " f e e l i n g " f o r the
prepo-
s i t i o n s grew out of the semantic c o n t e n t o f t h e i r e n t i r e speech p a t t e r n s .
And
t h i s would seem a m a t t e r o f
greater
33 s i g n i f i c a n c e than the mere " j o i n i n g t o g e t h e r words i n the s e n t e n c e " : t h e r e was
o f two
no o t h e r k i n d o f
other juncture
p o s s i b l e ; and y e t t h e number o f p r e p o s i t i o n s a v a i l a b l e and u t i l i z e d has always been s m a l l e r than the number o f p o s s i b l e r e l a t i o n s h i p s e x i s t i n g between o t h e r words.
The
result
was
t h a t each p r e p o s i t i o n i n common usage a c q u i r e d more t h a n one
type of meaning, depending upon the c o n t e x t
d i v i d u a l word r e l a t i o n s h i p , and, w h i c h i t formed a p a r t .
And
o f the i n -
o f t e n , o f the l o c u t i o n o f
upon the u t i l i z a t i o n o f prepo-.
s i t i o n s i n dependent i n f i n i t i v e c o n s t r u c t i o n s , one must a s sume t h a t somehow the v e r y people who p a r t i c l e s independently, in this function.
had been u s i n g
the
imputed s i m i l a r meanings t o them
That i s t o say, the p r e p o s i t i o n w h i c h
came t o be used a f t e r a c e r t a i n v e r b t o i n t r o d u c e an n i t i v e would i n some way
infi-
be thought o f as n e c e s s a r y , whether
f o r the purpose o f e x p r e s s i v e n e s s ,
emphasis, o r v a r i e t y .
would somehow seem u n l i k e l y t h a t p r e p o s i t i o n s g r a d u a l l y q u i r e d such a f u n c t i o n f o r no r e a s o n whatever, and
the
It ac-
like-
l i h o o d o f semantic causes r a t h e r t h a n " g r a m m a t i c a l " ones appears g r e a t e r , s i n c e s c a r c e l y any h i s t o r i c a l
explanation
f o r the l a t t e r can be found i n terms of L a t i n o r i g i n .
There-
f o r e , -we must suppose t h a t t h i s f u n c t i o n o f the
preposition
was
t o speak the
the " i n v e n t i o n " o f the people who
changing Romance o f the t i m e s , and need, however i l l u s o r y t o us
now.
continued
f u l f i l l e d a communicative
34 I t i s i n t e r e s t i n g t o b e a r i n mind t h a t , a l t h o u g h t h e f u n c t i o n s imposed upon p r e p o s i t i o n s , caused by t h e i n c r e a s i n g need t o r e p l a c e
" r e l a t i o n s h i p markers" l o s t through the
d e g e n e r a t i o n o f t h e d e c l e n s i o n a l system o f L a t i n , were, f o r the most p a r t , w i t h o u t l i n g u i s t i c p r e c e d e n t i n t h e l i n g u a f r a n c a o f Romance, t h e a c t u a l words chosen were a l l e i t h e r d i r e c t d e r i v a t i v e s o f L a t i n p r e p o s i t i o n s , o r compounds formed from them.
T h i s i s t o s a y t h a t no t r u l y
forms were c o n s t r u c t e d ;
original
no t o t a l l y new a d d i t i o n s were made
t o t h e l e x i c o n a s a means o f a l l e v i a t i n g a d i f f i c u l t y n o t previously evident.
The d e r i v a t i o n o f common modern S p a n i s h
p r e p o s i t i o n s . i s r e l a t i v e l y s i m p l e and d i r e c t .
Those w h i c h
a r e most o f t e n connected w i t h t h e s t r u c t u r e o f verb+prepos i t i o n + i n f i n i t i v e a r e as f o l l o w s : LATIN
to
SPANISH
AD
a
CUM DE IN
con de en
pora < p o r + a
para
PER
por
SINE
sin
SUPER
sobre
I t s h o u l d be n o t e d t h a t L a t i n A, AB, ABS d i d n o t succeed i n maintaining
a place
e a s i l y explained..
i n t h e language.
The r e a s o n s a r e f a i r l y
W i t h t h e l o s s o f t h e case system, t h e de-
velopment o f t h i s p r e p o s i t i o n t o " a " , a s would be r e g u l a r , would l e a d t o i n e v i t a b l e homonymic c o n f u s i o n w i t h " a " from
35 AD,
a s i t u a t i o n i n t o l e r a b l e under the l i g h t of t h e i r con-
t r a r y meanings.5 We
have seen, t h e n , t h a t the perhaps most cogent r e a s o n
f o r the r a p i d development o f the p r e p o s i t i o n was
to
fulfill
the f u n c t i o n s p r e v i o u s l y c a r r i e d out by the case system o f Latin.
What t y p e s o f f u n c t i o n s were t h e s e , and by what were
they i n f a c t A) THE
replaced?
GENITIVE
6
1) I n C l a s s i c a l L a t i n , one
o f the f u n c t i o n s o f
g e n i t i v e case i n v o l v e d a k i n d o f a p p o s i t i o n a l
the
explanation
o r m o d i f i c a t i o n o f the noun, but not i n d i c a t i n g normal possession. e.g.
" V i r summae v i r t u t i s " (Un hombre de g r a n v a l o r ) 2) I t may
i n d i c a t e a " t r u e g e n i t i v e " ; t h a t i s , a pos-
s e s s i v e g e n i t i v e , commonly shown i n E n g l i s h by the. use o f possessive e.g.
the
inflection.
" A l e x a n d r i c a n i s g r a n d i s e s t . " ( E l p e r r o de
Alejandro
es grande) 3) I t i s used t o show the complement o f c e r t a i n i n t r a n s i t i v e v e r b s , such as those o f remembering. e.g.
"Memini semper n o m i n i s v e s t r i . " (Me acuerdo siempre de
vuestro
nombre.)
4) I t i n d i c a t e s the noun w h i c h i s the complement o f copula e.g.
verbs.
"Non
e s t h o m i n i s f o r t i s l u g e r e d o l o r i b u s . " (No es
hombres f u e r t e s l l o r a r en l a s d e s g r a c i a s . )
de •
36 5) I t i n d i c a t e s t h e s p e c i f i c a t i o n o f a c c u s a t i o n o r fault.
...
"; •'>=
e.g. "Arguo t e p a t r i a e l e s a e . " (Te acuso de o f e n s a a l a patria.) 6) I t i s used t o show esteem o r g i v e an e s t i m a t i o n . e.g. " Q u a n t i t i b i hoc e s t ? " $En cuento e s t i m a s e s t o ? ) 7) I t r e p l a c e s a f i n a l d a t i v e i n c e r t a i n e x p r e s s i o n s . e.g. " D o c t o r h o n o r i s c a u s a " ( D o c t o r h o n o r a r i o - . ' p a r a honra*)
Both t h e f i r s t and second examples have been r e p l a c e d by "de" p l u s a n o b j e c t i n S p a n i s h .
A l t h o u g h t h e meaning o f
each c o n s t r u c t i o n i s d i f f e r e n t , t h e a c t u a l form o f b o t h i n v o l v e d t h e g e n i t i v e , and c o n s e q u e n t l y underwent velopment. ing
common: de-
T h i s s h o u l d n o t , o f c o u r s e , be t a k e n a s s u g g e s t -
t h a t from a l l s i m i l a r c o n s t r u c t i o n s i n L a t i n were d e r i v e d
s i m i l a r constructions i n Spanish.
F o r example, t h e A c c u s a -
t i v e i n "Vado a d Romam" produces t h e analogous "voy a Roma", whereas t h a t o f t h e e p i t h e t "me miserum!" i s r e p r e s e n t e d by the
a p p a r e n t g e n i t i v e o f "pobre de m i " .
However, t h e d i s -
t i n c t i o n between numbers 1) and 2) can a l s o be o b s e r v e d i n common modern E n g l i s h usage, w h e r e i n t h e f i r s t n o r m a l l y r e q u i r e s t h e p r e p o s i t i o n " o f " , t h e second n o r m a l l y demonstrating
t h e a p o s t r o p h e o f p o s s e s s i o n . The d i f f e r e n c e i s neces-
s a r i l y a semantic one, s i n c e i n t h e f o r m e r example, one c o u l d not s u b s t i t u t e the l a t t e r * s c o n s t r u c t i o n w i t h o u t r a d i c a l l y
37 a l t e r i n g t h e meaning, and v i c e v e r s a . The
t h i r d case p r o v i d e s a p o s s i b l e d e r i v a t i v e e x p l a n a -
t i o n o f c e r t a i n verb c o n s t r u c t i o n s i n Spanish.
The a n a l o g y
from "me acuerdo de mi promesa" t o "me acuerdo de h a b e r l o prometido" i s f a i r l y obvious.
Both i n v o l v e t h e same k i n d
of d e s c r i p t i o n , o r f u r t h e r explanation o f the verb, that i s t o say,
i t s complement.
S i n c e a g e n i t i v e c o n s t r u c t i o n was
the r e s u l t o f t h e f o r m e r , the. l a t t e r i d e a a l s o c o u l d most e a s i l y be i n t e r p r e t e d by s p e a k e r s i n t h e same way, l e a d i n g t o t h e i d e n t i c a l p r e p o s i t i o n a l usage. The
i d e a c o n t a i n e d w i t h i n t h e f o u r t h example, c o u p l e d
w i t h a f u r t h e r use o f t h e g e n i t i v e w i t h a d j e c t i v e s , such a s "insons
culpae",
h e l p t o e x p l a i n t h e e v o l u t i o n o f modern
S p a n i s h c o n s t r u c t i o n s s u c h a s "Es f a c i l de h a c e r " , "bueno de",
" l i b r e de", and "breve de".
However, a l o c u t i o n s u c h
as " l e n t o a " , o r "primero a " and i t s v a r i a n t " p r i m e r o en", a r e n o t so e a s i l y e x p l i c a b l e , e x c e p t by r e f e r e n c e
to a dif-
f e r e n t L a t i n c o n s t r u c t i o n , t h a t o f t h e D a t i v e used w i t h
cer-
t a i n a d j e c t i v e s , f o r example " n a t u r a e aptum", " c a s t r i s i d o neus l o c u s " , and t h e sentence "sedes h u i c n o s t r o non importuna s e r m o n i " .
On t h e o t h e r hand, t h e l o c u t i o n " n i h i l
dif-
f i c i l e a m a n t i p u t o " does n o t p r o v i d e us w i t h a r e a d y d e r i vatory
construction.
Number 5) can f a i r l y e a s i l y be i n t e r p r e t e d i n t h e same way a s number 3)«
The p r o g r e s s i o n
from "me d i s c u l p o de l a
f a l t a " t o "me d i s c u l p o de f a l t a r " i s a s i m p l e u n d e r s t a n d a b l e i n semantic t e r m s .
one, and q u i t e
33 M a r t i n A l o n s o a l s o i n f o r m s us? t h a t i n the V u l g a r of the I b e r i a n P e n i n s u l a , the g e n i t i v e was
often replaced
o t h e r c o n s t r u c t i o n s , i n p a r t i c u l a r by the use Ablative,
Latin
of "de"
by
plus
the
e.g.
" C l e r i c i DE i p s a e c c l e s i a " ( C l e r i g o s de l a misma i g l e s i a ) " P o s s e s o r DE p r o p r i a t e r r a " (Poseedor de su As w e l l , the g e n i t i v e c o n t i n u e d t i o n s , as i t o f t e n was e.g.
tierra)
t o be used i n p a r t i t i v e
construc-
in Classical Latin.
" A l i q u i d habet DE v e r e c u n d i a d i s c i p u l i " (Tiene a l g o
de
l a verguenza d e l d i s c i p u l o . ) He adds t h a t the G e n i t i v e c o n s t r u c t i o n began t o l o s e a b l e ground towards the b e g i n n i n g
consider-
o f the t h i r d c e n t u r y
A.D.•
However, i t must be r e c a l l e d t h a t the G e n i t i v e has
survived i n
modern S p a n i s h i n c e r t a i n words.
"possessive"
Examples o f the
G e n i t i v e can be seen i n words l i k e "martes" and
"jueves",
coming from " d i e s mart i s " and. " d i e s . j o v i s " , r e s p e c t i v e l y .
The
d e s c r i p t i v e G e n i t i v e shows i t s presence i n " a g r i c u l t u r a " from " a g r i c u l t u r a " , a Genitive-Nominative From the f o r e g o i n g ,
compound from L a t i n .
i t can be seen t h a t a t l e a s t i n some
measure, i t i s p o s s i b l e t o e x p l a i n a number o f the verb+prepos i t i o n + i n f i n i t i v e c o n s t r u c t i o n s - o f modern S p a n i s h by a
devel-
opment from the l o s s o f the G e n i t i v e case d i s t i n c t i o n and
the
s u b s t i t u t i o n of p r e p o s i t i o n s . ' A l s o o f i m p o r t a n c e , though, a r e some o f the usages o f the D a t i v e
i n L a t i n , and t h e i r consequent
development i n t o Spanish.$ B) THE
DATIVE
1) As the i n d i r e c t o b j e c t o f a v e r b . e.g.
" S i b i regnum p a r a b a t . " (Preparaba para s i e l mando.)
39 2) As the complement o f c e r t a i n i n t r a n s i t i v e e.g.
verbs.
" P r a e t o r e x e r c i t u i p r a e e r a t magno." ( E l p r e t o r e s t a b a a l f r e n t e de un g r a n e j e r c i t o . ) 3) As the complement of c e r t a i n nouns o r a d j e c t i v e s . 9
e.g.
" H o s t i s e s t quoque i n i m i c u s s i n g u l i s n o b i s . " ( E l enemigo de l a p a t r i a es tambien enemigo de cada uno de
nosotros.)
4) To e x p r e s s the agent o f a p r e d i c a t e i n the p a s s i v e . e.g.
"Signum tradendum e s t v i c t i s m i l i t i b u s . " (La bandera ha de s e r entregada por l o s s o l d a d o s
vencidos.)
5) As a complement i n d i c a t i n g s p a c i a l and t e m p o r a l
re-
lationship. e.g.
"Exeuntibus del
campamento, hay una t o r r e muy a l t a . )
6) The e.g.
ex c a s t r i s t u r r i s a l t i s s i m a e s t . " ( A l s a l i r
"possessive
Dative"
"Sunt n o b i s m i t i a poma." (Tenemos d u l e e s manzanas.)
A l o n s o mentions as -we
nip t h a t the D a t i v e remained i n f a i r l y
common usage i n the I b e r i a n P e n i n s u l a f o r a l o n g e r p e r i o d t h a n did
the G e n i t i v e .
However, he p o i n t s out t h a t even around the
time o f P l a u t u s , i t became f r e q u e n t t o r e p l a c e i t by the A c c u s a t i v e preceded by the p r e p o s i t i o n "ad". e.g.
"Ad me magna n u h t i a v i t .
'(Me a n u n c i d grandes cosas.)
" S i pecunia AD i d templum data e r i t . . . "
( S i f u e r e dado
d i n e r o para e s t e templo...) "Ait
AD me."
(Me d i j o . )
As i s the case w i t h the G e n i t i v e , however, c e r t a i n v e s t i g e s o f the d a t i v e case remain i n modern S p a n i s h , f o r example the i n -
40 i
d i r e c t o b j e c t pronouns " l e " and "me"
from " i l l i "
and
"mini"
r e s p e c t i v e l y , and the r e l a t i v e "cuyo" from "cuites . 11
T h i s i n f o r m a t i o n can a l s o be u s e f u l i n b e g i n n i n g
to
a c c o u n t f o r some v e r b s i n modern S p a n i s h w h i c h govern the p r e p o s i t i o n " a " b e f o r e an i n f i n i t i v e .
F o r example, number 1)
can be a p p l i e d by a n a l o g y t o the c o n s t r u c t i o n s " p r e p a r a r s e "acostumbrarse a", " a t r e v e r s e a", e t c .
a",
This i s e s p e c i a l l y
s i g n i f i c a n t i n c o n s i d e r a t i o n : o f the D a t i v e b e i n g r e p l a c e d
by
AD p l u s the A c c u s a t i v e , t h u s " g i v i n g d i r e c t e t y m o l o g i c a l r e a s o n i n g as w e l l .
P r o b a b l y more i m p o r t a n t , however, i s the
lowing assumption.
One
cannot ignore' the a l m o s t i n e v i t a b l e
c o n c l u s i o n t h a t t o t h e s p e a k e r s o f L a t i n , the D a t i v e an u n d e r s t o o d and
" f e l t " meaning.
t h a t the l a t t e r d i d not i n some way
gra-
I t i s inconceivable
perpetuate
the s e m a n t i c
i n the minds o f the people, who
i n f a c t changing t h e i r own to
carried
T h i s c o n s t r u c t i o n was
d u a l l y r e p l a c e d by t h a t of A D / A c c u s a t i v e .
f o r c e of i t s predecessor
were
language, but o b v i o u s l y i n t e n d i n g
r e t a i n f u l l communicative a b i l i t i e s w i t h each o t h e r
and
hence not w i s h i n g t o o b l i t e r a t e meanings and d i s t i n c t i o n s p o r t a n t t o them.
im-
Thus, t h e y would tend t o " f e e l " the prepo-
s i t i o n l i n k i n g the two v e r b s o f a sentence such as "Cum i s ad bibere"-'-!.
fol-
I f t h e y had not c o n s i d e r e d
it a
vener-
necessary
p a r t o f the l o c u t i o n , t h e y would s u r e l y have abandoned i t ; o r i n o t h e r words, t h e y would not have o r i g i n a t e d i t i n the
first,
p l a c e i f i t were of no importance t o the meaning of the sentence f o r them, i n a c c o r d a n c e w i t h how uage.
I t i s e v i d e n t now,
they " f e l t " t h e i r lang-
however, t h a t t h i s s t r o n g and
direct
41 p r e p o s i t i o n a l f u n c t i o n e v e n t u a l l y became l o s t o r o b s c u r e d , but the o c c u r r e n c e o f the p r e p o s i t i o n i t s e l f i n such l o c u t i o n s i s e v i d e n c e and v e s t i g e o f the o l d e r "meaning group" o f w h i c h i t t h e n formed such a n e c e s s a r y part..
42 I f we were t o assume t h a t t h e t y p e o f c o n s t r u c t i o n t h a t we .are concerned w i t h d e r i v e d d i r e c t l y from L a t i n , i t s h o u l d be e a s i l y demonstrable t h a t a v a s t number o f one t o one
cor-
respondences between C l a s s i c a l L a t i n c o n s t r u c t i o n s and t h o s e of modern S p a n i s h e x i s t , on w h i c h t o v e r i f y t h i s
hypothesis.
However, as we s h a l l see, t h i s does n o t seem t o be the c a s e . L a t i n tended t o use a s u b j u n c t i v e c o n s t r u c t i o n preceded by UT i n t h e a f f i r m a t i v e , NE i n the n e g a t i v e , t o handle most clausal locutions.
I t i s i n t e r e s t i n g t h a t o f the major Romance
languages, the o n l y one w h i c h has r e t a i n e d t h i s type o f s t r u c t u r e i s Rumanian, w h i c h i n t r o d u c e s n o n - r e l a t i v e c l a u s e s whether a change o f s u b j e c t from the p r i n c i p a l c l a u s e e x i s t s o r n o t - w i t h the p a r t i c l e s a p l u s a s u b j u n c t i v e .
I t i s most
l i k e l y t h a t t h i s phenomenon d e r i v e s i n l a r g e p a r t from t h e t a r d y i n f l u e n c e o f l i n g u i s t i c changes w i t h i n the c e n t r a l Empire upon t h i s r a t h e r remote r e g i o n .
L y i n g on the p e r i p h e r y o f the
Roman sphere o f power, t h o s e changes e f f e c t e d by s p e a k e r s o f the language towards the a x i s - Rome - would r e q u i r e l o n g p e r i o d s o f time t o be t r a n s m i t t e d and a c c e p t e d by t h e i n h a b i t a n t s of D a c i a .
However, A u r e l i a n ' s r e c a l l o f t h e Roman L e g i o n s
from t h i s o u t l y i n g p r o v i n c e , around 270 A.D.,
resulted i ni t s
complete i s o l a t i o n from the r e s t o f t h e Empire.
Linguistic
changes occurring l a t e r s i m p l y n e v e r r e a c h e d D a c i a , w h i c h t h e n continued
an independent development, but r e t a i n i n g some " a r -
chaic" features. A n o t h e r anomaly a p p e a r s , however.
F o r a l o n g t i m e , the
v a r i o u s a r e a s now w i t h i n the c o n f i n e s o f modern day
Spain,
43 F r a n c e , and I t a l y , were i n o n l y s c a n t y communication w i t h one another.
I n t e r c h a n g e o f language became s l i g h t , and t h e v a r -
i o u s a r e a s grew i n d e p e n d e n t l y i n l a r g e measure.
And y e t i t
i s an o b s e r v a b l e f a c t t h a t a l l t h r e e a r e a s - a t l e a s t i n terms o f t h e " s t a n d a r d l a n g u a g e " a s s o c i a t e d w i t h each - have d e v e l oped analogous c o n s t r u c t i o n s .
The i d e a o f c e r t a i n v e r b s r e -
q u i r i n g c e r t a i n p r e p o s i t i o n s .before a n i n f i n i t i v e i s as•common t o t h e I t a l i a n o r t o t h e Frenchman a s i t i s t o t h e S p a n i a r d . From a common o r i g i n i n L a t i n , w h i c h had no such tendency - o r a t l e a s t shows o n l y s c a t t e r e d examples o f v e r b s f o l l o w e d by AD b e f o r e an i n f i n i t i v e - t h e v a s t m a j o r i t y o f Romance tongues have a c c e p t e d t h i s a s an i n t e g r a l n e c e s s i t y o f speech.
That
the b a s i s o f a common approach e x i s t e d , cannot, t h e n , be i g nored, since the m u l t i p l i c i t y o f i n f l u e n c e s - s u b s t r a t a , supers t r a t a , l i t e r a t u r e , t h e c o u r t , etc.. - w h i c h e x e r t e d themselves d i f f e r e n t l y upon t h e p e o p l e s o f t h e d i f f e r e n t r e g i o n s c o u l d not have p e r m i t t e d t h i s k i n d o f homogeneity t o be b o r n o f i t self.
I t seems probable' that; t h e impetus was r e c e i v e d from t h e
same breakdown o f t h e L a t i n d e c l e n s i o n a l system and r e s u l t a n t growth and importance o f p r e p o s i t i o n s w h i c h has a l r e a d y been mentioned.
T h i s phenomenon was most d e f i n i t e l y a u n i v e r s a l
one amongst a l l Romance s p e a k e r s , and i t s e f f e c t s were, a g a i n , among t h e most f o r c e f u l o f t h o s e w h i c h e f f e c t e d t h e appearance o f Romance and i t s subsequent
development.^
2
L e t us now examine some o f t h e L a t i n c o n s t r u c t i o n s w h i c h p r o v i d e comparison and c o n t r a s t w i t h t h o s e o f modern S p a n i s h ,
44 and a t t e m p t t o d i s c e r n what c o n c l u s i o n s can be drawn from them. G e n e r a l l y s p e a k i n g , L a t i n , a s mentioned, used c l a u s a l c o n s t r u c t i o n s r a t h e r t h a n dependent i n f i n i t i v e s . c e r t a i n l o c u t i o n s c o u l d govern t h e i n f i n i t i v e ,
However, principally
substantive clauses or t h e i r variants.13 1) V e r b s w h i c h have t h e meaning o f admonish, a s k , b a r g a i n , command, d e c r e e , d e t e r m i n e , p e r m i t , persuade, r e s o l v e , u r g e , and w i s h may use.an i n f i n i t i v e c o n s t r u c t i o n i n p l a c e o f a dependent c l a u s e , b u t do so most f r e q u e n t l y i n p o e t r y .
Such
v e r b s i n c l u d e caveo, cogo, concedo, c o n s t i t u o , euro, d e c e r n o , edico, f l a t i g o ,
h o r t o r , impero, i n s t o , mando, moneo, persuadeo,
p e t o , postulo,. p r i n c i p i o , p r o n u n t i o , quaero, r o g o , s c i s c o , t i m e o , v i d e o , v o l o , e t c . , Observe t h e f o l l o w i n g two examples of each c o n s t r u c t i o n : •
.
i ) h o r t a t u r eos ne animo d e f i c i a n t ( l e s urge que no se 'desanimen) i i ) h i s u t i c o n q u i r e r e n t i m p e r a v i t ( l e s mando que buscaran) i i i ) ne quaere d o c e r i (no busques que t e l o digan) i v ) temptat p r a e v e r t e r e ( i n t e n t a v o l v e r s e ) I n t h e f i r s t example, S p a n i s h sees no d i f f i c u l t y i n f o l l o w i n g the
structure of Latin.
I n t h e second, however, " l e s mando
b u s c a r " would be o f e q u a l a c c e p t a b i l i t y . the
The t h i r d case shows
use o f t h e p a s s i v e i n f i n i t i v e o f L a t i n , a form l o n g l o s t
t o Romance; c o n s e q u e n t l y , S p a n i s h must use a s u b j u n c t i v e , c o n s t r u c t i o n , a s i s g e n e r a l l y common when a s u b j e c t change i s i n volved.
The f o u r t h example shows no such change, and demon-
45 s t r a t e s i d e n t i c a l s t r u c t u r e , w i t h the exception t h a t utilizes a reflexive
Spanish
verb.
2) Some v e r b s i n L a t i n , f o r example iubeo and v e t o ,
nor-
m a l l y t a k e an i n f i n i t i v e , w i t h i t s s u b j e c t i n t h e a c c u s a t i v e case.14
F o r example:
i ) Labienum iugum m o n t i s a s c e n d e r e i u b e t ( l e manda a Labieno s u b i r a l a cumbre. i i ) ab opere l e g a t e s d i s c e d e r e v e t u e r a t ( l e h a b i a prohir; bido a l teniente dejar e l trabajo) i i i ) vetuere los
(bona) r e d d i ( p r o h i b i e r o n que se d e v o l v i e r a n
bienes)
A s u b j u n c t i v e c l a u s e would perhaps be more common i n modern Spanish
i n t h e f i r s t example: " l e manda a L a b i e n o que suba...".
I n number i i ) a s i n number i ) , a s u b j u n c t i v e c o n s t r u c t i o n would be e q u a l l y v a l i d i n S p a n i s h : que d e j a r a . . . " .
" l e habia prohibido a l teniente
And a s i n ' t h e p r e v i o u s s e t o f examples, number
i i i ) c a n n o t be t r a n s l a t e d d i r e c t l y because o f i t s use o f t h e passive r e d d i . 3) E i t h e r t h e i n f i n i t i v e c o n s t r u c t i o n o r t h e s u b j u n c t i v e i s permissible with verbs of wishing. S p a n i s h , when no
As o f t e n o c c u r s i n
s u b j e c t change o c c u r s , an i n f i n i t i v e i s
commoner; when t h e s u b j e c t o f one c l a u s e d i f f e r s from t h a t o f the o t h e r , a s u b j u n c t i v e c o n s t r u c t i o n i s p r e f e r r e d . i ) augur f l i e r i v o l u i ( q u e r f a hacerme augur) ii)
c u p i o v i g i l i a m meam t i b i t r a d e r e (deseo e n t r e g a r t e mi vigilia)
iii)
i u d i c e m me e s s e , non doctorem v o l o (no q u i e r o s e r p r o -
46 f e s o r , sine- j u e z ) i v ) me C a e s a r i s m i l i t e m d i c i v o l u i ( q u i e r o que me
llamen
s o l d a d o de Cesar) v) c u p i o me esse clementem / G e n e r a l l y : c u p i o clemens
esse/
( q u i e r o s e r clemente) vi)
omnes homines, q u i sese s t u d e n t animalibus
praestare c e t e r i s
(todo hombre que q u i e r a s u p e r a r
l o s demas
seres) v i i ) v o l o t e s c i r e ( q u i e r o que sepas) v i i i ) v i m volumus e x s t i n g u i (queremos que se suprima l a violencia) ix)
t e t u a f r u i v i r t u t e cupimus (deseamos que r e c i b a s l a recompensa de t u v i r t u d )
x) v u p i o u t i m p e t r e t xi)
:
(espero que e l l o c o n s i g a )
numquam optabo u t a u d i a t i s (nunca e s p e r a r e
que
oigas...)
The f i r s t s i x s e n t e n c e s i n v o l v e no change o f s u b j e c t i n t h e L a t i n ; t h e f o l l o w i n g f i v e do change. the L a t i n p a s s i v e i n f i n i t i v e reflexive.
N o t i c e i n number i ) t h a t
c o n s t r u c t i o n i s r e p l a c e d by a
The use o f t h e r e f l e x i v e i n S p a n i s h ,
i t might be
n o t e d , i s one o f t h e d i s t i n g u i s h i n g f e a t u r e s o f t h e language. I n number i v ) , however, t h i s p e r i p h r a s i s i s n o t f e a s i b l e , and S p a n i s h must r e s o r t t o a s u b j u n c t i v e c o n s t r u c t i o n , s i n c e a change o f s u b j e c t does o c c u r between " q u i e r o " and The same t h i n g i s t r u e o f sentence number v i i ) .
"llamen".
And here i t
s h o u l d be n o t i c e d t h a t whereas L a t i n can u t i l i z e an
infinitive
c o n s t r u c t i o n , d e s p i t e t h e s u b j e c t change, S p a n i s h i s unable t o do s o .
This i s observable
i n a l l the remaining
examples above.
47
4 ) Verbs w h i c h convey the i d e a o f p e r m i s s i o n can govern c o n s t r u c t i o n s w i t h an i n f i n i t i v e
or a s u b j u n c t i v e .
i ) p e r m i s i t u t f a c e r e t ( l e p e r m i t i o hacer) ii)
concedo t i b i u t ea p r a e t e r e a s
(concedo que
pases por
a l t o a q u e l l o s asuntos) iii)
t a b e r n a c u l a s t a t u i passus non e s t (no p e r m i t i o
que
acamparan) .iv)
vinum i m p o r t a r i non s i n u n t (no d e j a n que
se
importe
vino) Number i ) , of c o u r s e , que
l o h i c i e r a " ; number i i ) as " t e permito
i i i ) as "no "no
c o u l d a l s o be expressed
l e s p e r m i t i o acampar".
as
"permitio
pasar...";
number
To express number i v ) as
l e s d e j a n i m p o r t a r v i n o " , however, would d e t r a c t from the
impersonal
i d e a i n h e r e n t i n the
Latin.
5) S i m i l a r c o n s t r u c t i o n s are p o s s i b l e w i t h v e r b s w h i c h express
determination, decree,
r e s o l v e , and the
i ) c o n s t i t u e r a n t u t L. B e s t i a q u e r e r e t u r . minado que
L u c i o B e s t i a se
like. (habian
deter-
quejara)
i i ) p r o e l i o s u p e r s e d e r e s t a t u i t (se d e c i d i o a
rehusar
batalla) i i i ) de b o n i s r e g i s quae r e d d i c e n s u e r a n t (de l o s b i e n e s del
r e y , l o s c u a l e s se h a b i a d e c l a r a d o que
se d e v o l -
vieran) O n l y i n the second example can S p a n i s h a v o i d a s u b j e c t change and
consequent s u b j u n c t i v e c o n s t r u c t i o n .
A g a i n one
sees i n
number i i i ) the v a l u e of the p a s s i v e i n f i n i t i v e , w h i c h p r e c l u d e s the i n v o l v e d and awkward dependent c l a u s e i n S p a n i s h .
L8 . Subjunctive iv)
c l a u s e s a r e seen c o m p a r a t i v e l y
d e c e r n i t u t i consules los
consules
i n the f o l l o w i n g :
d i l e c t u m habeant (ordena
que
hagan l e v a ) .
v) e d i c t o ne q u i s i n i u s s u pugnaret (habiendo d i c t a d o
que
ninguno l u c h a r a s i n drdenes) 6) V e r b s w h i c h e x p r e s s c a u t i o n o r e f f o r t g e n e r a l l y employ c
the s u b j u n c t i v e c o n s t r u c t i o n * w i t h UT, a dependent
but CONOR u s u a l l y t a k e s
infinitive.
i ) cura u t quam primum i n t e l l e g a m (hazme s a b e r cuanto antes)
.
i i ) dant operam u t habeant (se e s f u e r z a n iii)
tener)
conatus e s t Caesar r e f i c e r e p o n t i s (Cesar t r a t d
de
r e c o n s t r u i r e l puente) Note t h a t a l l these examples u t i l i z e the dependent i n Spanish,
infinitive
and t h a t number i i i ) e v i d e n c e s the v e r b + p r e p o s i -
t i o n + i n f i n i t i v e structure i n question.
Thus we
have seen t h a t a g r a m m a t i c a l c o n v e n t i o n
need not produce a s i m i l a r one
i n Spanish.
in Latin
Hence, the
idea
of d e r i v i n g c o n s t r u c t i o n s e t y m o l o g i c a l l y i n the same way
as
i t i s most o f t e n p o s s i b l e t o do w i t h l e x i c o n , i s f r e q u e n t l y not a v a l i d p r o c e d u r e . the most i m p o r t a n t
Once a g a i n , i t must be m a i n t a i n e d
f a c t o r t o be c o n s i d e r e d
i n the
that
explanation
of a phenomenon i s the v e r y f a c t t h a t the s p e a k e r s o f a l a n g uage e f f e c t changes w h i c h t h e y d e s i r e t o make.
Their
reasoning
i s not n e c e s s a r i l y l o g i c a l , but more o f t e n dependent upon "what sounds r i g h t " t o them.
As l o n g as t h e y a r e a b l e
to
49 convey i d e a s , d i s t i n g u i s h nuances, and e x p r e s s t h e m s e l v e s t o o t h e r members o f t h e i r l i n g u i s t i c community, t h e i r language c o n t i n u e s t o be " c o r r e c t " and " a c c e p t a b l e " t o them; and t h e i r f e e l i n g f o r t h e i r n a t i v e speech i s n o t t o be h i n d e r e d o r e x p e d i t e d by what may have gone b e f o r e .
FOOTNOTES, CHAPTER I I 1)
S i n t a c t i c a , p.
11
2)
I t i s i n t e r e s t i n g t o n o t e , however, t h a t C a t a l a n uses men.jar from manducaffe, i l l u s t r a t i n g one o f t h e many f e a t u r e s i t s h a r e s i n common w i t h Gallo-Romance.
3)
Cuando desaparece e l l a t i n v u l g a r f u n d i d o en l a s l e n g u a s de l a Romania, s a l v o en l o s pronombres p e r s o n a l e s , quedaban en D a c i a t r e s c a s o s , y en e l r e s t o d e l I m p e r i o , dos: un n o m i n a t i v o y un a c u s a t i v o . La forma d e l p l u r a l es o t r a de l a s c a r a c t e r i s t i c a s . La ' s ' f i n a l l a t i n a se c d n s e r v a en l a Romania o c c i d e n t a l . En l a o r i e n t a l se e l u d i e r o n l a *s* y l a 'm' f i n a l e s y l a 'u' y & l a o sonaron l o mismo. No h a b i a medio de d i s t i n g u i r .•portam* de * p o r t a s * . S i n t & c t i c a , p.17, Note. ?
r
4)
I b i d , p.
17
5)
More w i l l be s a i d about t h i s f e a t u r e on page 101-2 , in terms o f p r e p o s i t i o n a l p r e f i x e s and independent p r e p o s i t i o n s .
6) Adapted i n p a r t from S i n t a c t i c a , p. 17, 7)
e t . seq.
I b i d , p. 18
8) Adapted i n p a r t from l o c . c i t . 9) C f . see p . 37 ; the e x p l a n a t i o n o f t h e f o u r t h example of The G e n i t i v e . •' 10)
S i n t a c t i c a , p. 18
11)
Loc. c i t .
12)
L e t i t n o t be f o r g o t t e n t h a t F r e n c h r e t a i n e d a two-case system f o r a g r e a t l e n g t h o f t i m e ; t h a t Rumanian s t i l l e v i d e n c e s the N o m i n a t i v e - A c c u s a t i v e case as d i s t i n c t from the G e n i t i v e - D a t i v e , and has s e p a r a t e V o c a t i v e forms f o r some words, i n the modern language; even modern E n g l i s h , whose s p e a k e r s o f t e n t h i n k o f t h e i r language as a l m o s t comp l e t e l y a n a l y t i c , has v e s t i g e s o f a case system: he/him, she/her, who/whom, e t c . However, the v e r y f a c t t h a t word o r d e r has assumed such s e m a n t i c importance i n t h e modern Romance languages i s e v i d e n c e o f the monumental e f f e c t caused by the d e s t r u c t i o n o f t h e L a t i n d e c l e n s i o n a l system.
13)
Adapted from A l l e n , pps. 363
14)
Observe t h a t t h i s f e a t u r e of L a t i n has been i n c o r p o r a t e d i n t o E n g l i s h grammar; one s a y s , f o r example, " I o r d e r e d him t o buy the book", i n w h i c h "him", a c c u s a t i v e c a s e , i s the s u b j e c t o f t h e i n f i n i t i v e "buy", w h i c h i s i n t u r n the d i r e c t
.
,
e t seq.
51
object of the verb "ordered". Note a l s o t h a t i n F r e n c h , one s a y s , f o r example, "Je l * a i f a i t p a r l e r " , i n c o n t r a s t t o "Je l u i a i f a i t d i r e l a p h r a s e " . But due t o t h e l a c k o f d i s t i n c t i o n between d i r e c t and i n d i r e c t o b j e c t pronouns i n S p a n i s h , no such c o n t r a s t can be found between " l e .nice h a b l a r " and " l e h i e e d e c i r l a f r a s e " .
CHAPTER I I I W i t h t h e appearance o f an i d e n t i f i a b l e Romance s t a n d a r d w i t h i n the I b e r i a n Peninsula,
t h e use o f p r e p o s i t i o n s t o i n t r o -
duce i n f i n i t i v e s a f t e r v e r b s became, a s we have seen, a r e c o g n i z a b l e phenomenon.
We may now a t t e m p t t o d i s c e r n what i n -
f l u e n c e s were a t work t o m a i n t a i n and d e v e l o p i t .
R. H e s c o t t
t e l l s us r a t h e r c a t e g o r i c a l l y - s e e m i n g l y t o o much so i n v i e w of the complexity of the.problem - t h a t t h i s c o n s t r u c t i o n d e s a r r o l l d en e l l a t i n t a r d i o como c o n t i n u a c i o n vulgares
de p r e p o s i c i o n
n
se
de l o s g i r o s
con g e r u n d i o r i g i e n d o un complemento. "-*-
He a l s o p r o v i d e s us w i t h examples o f i n f i n i t i v e s governed by the p r e p o s i t i o n s a d , de_, p e r , p r o , and t h e compound p e r a d , as e v i d e n c e d i n Roman S p a i n .
2
And he makes a p o i n t o f t e l l i n g us
the meaning e x p r e s s e d by each p r e p o s i t i o n : ad shows t h e n e c e s s i t y o f t h e a c t i o n o f t h e i n f i n i t i v e ; de seems t o l a c k meaning f o r him, and i s n o t e w o r t h y o n l y by i t s s c a r c i t y ; p r o i n d i c a t e s t h a t t h e a c t i o n o f t h e i n f i n i t i v e remained u n r e a l i z e d and i s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f Spanish3 - h o p e f u l l y , he does n o t w i s h h i s a p p a r e n t c o r o l l a r y t o be i n t e r p r e t e d as meaning t h a t u n r e a l i z a t i o n o f a c t i o n i s a S p a n i s h c h a r a c t e r i s t i c ; t h e same prepos i t i o n can a l s o i n d i c a t e f i n a l i t y o r d e s t i n a t i o n , he s a y s , as can p e r , and t h e compound, p e r ad. A)
i ) "uendimus ad t i b i Ienneco p r e s b i t e r t e r r a n o s t r a p r o p i a que abes ad d e b e d i r e cum S a r r o z i n o " ,
173, ii)
2,
965,
(Cardefia,
162)
" s i a l i q u i s homo ad d i s r e p e n d u n v e n e r i t . . . t u n c a b i a t i s
ad prendere de nos i p s a e r e d i t a t e " , (San V i c e n t e , 32,
11,
53 1037,
B)
162)
i ) "de rompere i l l d s m o n t e s . . . t a l e p o e t i o n e abeat r e g u l a de S a n c t i J u k i a n i " , ii) 49,
C)
(Cardena, 363, 40, O 6 4 , 1 6 9 )
"non habuerunt f u e r o de h o r a i c i d i o p e c t a r e " , (San M i l l a n , 3 8 , 996-1020,
1 6 9 ) ''
i ) " e t de i p s o p r e c i o non r e m a n s i t debitum p r o d a r e " , (Cardena, 6 0 , 8 0 / 9 1 2 , 1 7 0 ) ii)
" s c a l d a qiiarn u e l p r o s c a l i d a r e " ,
1028,
iii)
(San V i c e n t e , 3 0 , 3 4 ,
170)
"Ego Radanius q u i s a i o n f u i t . p e r mandatus i u d i c i s p r o
ipsa u i l l a absoluere", (Santa M a r i a , 2 , 6 6 , 0 2 7 , 1 7 1 ) i v ) " s i venit...homo
u i l l a n o pro pignos saccare per f o r c i a " ,
(San M i l l a n , 4 9 , 15, 9 5 5 , 1 7 1 ) D)
i ) " e t i l l o s montes p e r l i g n a t a g g a r e a u t p a s c e r e " , (Cardena, ii)
363,
38,
9 6 4 , ' 1 7 1 )
" f u i ad casa de F r e d l n a n d o cum F r i o l a e t rogauimos
i l i u m p e r cartam t r a s l a t a r e de u t n i a . . . e t t r a n s l a t a u i t . . . ipsam c a r t a n " , (Santo T o r i b i o , E)
6 6 , 6, 9 6 2 , 1 7 1 )
i ) "non donem v o b i s i l i a aqua p e r ad u e s t r a n e c e s s a r i a a d i m p l i r e " , (Cardena, 5 4 , 1 5 , 9 5 6 , 1 7 2 )
T h i s i n f o r m a t i o n i s u s e f u l and i n t e r e s t i n g i n t h a t i t i l l u s t r a t e s the v a c i l l a t i o n which c h a r a c t e r i z e d the developing, language, and shows t h e b e g i n n i n g s o f n e o l o g i s m s , such as p r o , and t h e usages i m m e d i a t e l y a s c r i b e d t o them.
However, once
a g a i n , i t does n o t h i n g t o i n d i c a t e t h e r e a s o n f o r i n i t i a l c h o i c e , u n l e s s , perhaps, i n d i r e c t l y .
I t must be remembered t h a t " a "
54 d e r i v e s from a p r e p o s i t i o n i n d i c a t i n g d i r e c t i o n towards somet h i n g , an i d e a e a s i l y a s s o c i a b l e w i t h t h a t o f n e c e s s i t y , i n the sense o f p r o g r e s s i o n towards t h e c o m p l e t i o n Hescott
o f an a c t i o n .
p r e s e n t s us w i t h a d e s c r i p t i o n o f t h e use o f
p r e p o s i t i o n s w i t h i n f i n i t i v e s i n Old Spanish,
g i v i n g again the
meaning o f t h e p r e p o s i t i o n w i t h i n i t s c o n s t r u c t i o n .
L e t us
examine h i s c o n c l u s i o n s i n o r d e r t o d e c i d e whether some k i n d of s e m a n t i c a s s o c i a t i o n can be a s c e r t a i n e d ; t h a t i s , l e t us see whether a "why" can be f o u n d , c o r r e s p o n d i n g
t o h i s "what".^-
I . The p r o p o s i t i o n " a " The i n f i n i t i v e w i t h " a " denotes d i r e c t i o n towards, and t h u s t h e purpose o f an a c t i o n . 1) I t can i n t r o d u c e t h e d i r e c t o b j e c t o f a t r a n s i t i v e v e r b such a s a y u d a r , comecar, empecar, p e n s a r o r conpecar: ' "e ruego a San Peydro que me ayude a r o g a r " ( C i d , 363) "Conpiepan a r e c i b i r l o que e l f i d mando", ( I b i d , 25§5) :
2) W i t h v e r b s o f m o t i o n , i t i n d i c a t e s t h e g o a l o r o b j e c t o f t h e a c t i o n : "Do s o p i e r o n que e r a v e n i e n r o n l o a v u s c a r " , ( F e r n . G l e z . , 1 1 9 ) ; "Abaxaron l a s l a n c a s y f u e r o n a f e r y r " ( I b i d , 308); "e t o r n o s a s o n r r i s s a r " , . ( C i d , 1266) 3) " a l " w i t h i n f i n i t i v e i n d i c a t e s s i m u l t a n e i t y , o r a c t i o n i m m e d i a t e l y p r i o r t o t h a t o f t h e v e r b : " a l e x i r de S a l o n mucho ovo buenas a v e s " , ( C i d . 859)5 " a l c a r g a r l a s a r e a s - v e r i e d e s gozo t a n t o " , ( I b i d , 170) 4) W i t h haber ( a v e r ) , i t i n d i c a t e s n e c e s s i t y o r f u t u r i t y : "ca a mouer ha mio p i d " , ( C i d . I69) ; c a s t i g a r - l o s he como a b r a n a f a r " , ( I b i d , 229); " o u i e r o n t e a l a u d a r e " , ( I b i d , 335) t 5
5) Used w i t h s e r , i t s i g n i f i e s t h e p a s s i v e e q u i v a l e n t o f . haber a o r haber de: " f i r m e m i e n t r e s o n e s t o s a e s c a r mentar", ( C i d , 1121);."tales g a n a n c i a s t r a e n que son a a g u a r d a r " , ( I b i d , 1823). The
f i r s t two cases p r e s e n t no a p p a r e n t problem.
The f a c t
t h a t a has been chosen t o i n t r o d u c e a d i r e c t o b j e c t was l i k e l y the r e s u l t o f m e n t a l a s s o c i a t i o n w i t h t h e use o f AD p l u s ACCUSA-
55 TOTE, w h i c h developed, as b o t h d i r e c t and i n d i r e c t o b j e c t identifier.
Note the use o f the modern S p a n i s h " p e r s o n a l a".
S i m i l a r l y , AD i n d i c a t e d movement and d i r e c t i o n towards a p l a c e o r person o r o b j e c t ; the a n a l o g y i s o b v i o u s , s i n c e the a c t i o n i n h e r e n t i n the i n f i n i t i v e i s r e a d i l y c o n c e i v e d o f as b e i n g an object.5
The
case o f number 3) can perhaps be e x p l a i n e d i n
the l i g h t o f a s s o c i a t i o n w i t h such. L a t i n i d i o m s as "ad tempus", "ad l a t e r a " , "ad hunc modum", and "ad diem", where the rence o f p o s i t i o n i s t r a n s f e r r e d t o a concurrence Number 4) might
:
concur-
of time.
be viewed as.a d i r e c t development from
the
p r e v i o u s L a t i n c o n s t r u c t i o n o f HABERE AD, w h i c h , though n o t g e n e r a l l y employed w i t h i n f i n i t i v e , was
not unknown, and
from
the c o n s t r u c t i o n o f some v e r b s , a l s o i n c l u d i n g HABERE, t a k i n g AD p l u s the gerund o r g e r u n d i v e , f o r example " c o r p o r a i n s u e t a ad onera portanda".6
However, we must c o n s i d e r t h i s w h i l e
b e a r i n g i n mind the modern usage o f "haber de" c o e x i s t i n g w i t h "hay
(< haber) que",
t h e - l a t t e r p r o b a b l y owing i t s d e r i v a t i o n
t o "que" h a v i n g been i n t e r p r e t e d as a s u b s t a n t i v e on the
one
hand, and as a s u b o r d i n a t e c o n j u n c t i o n on t h e o t h e r , as b o t h f u n c t i o n s a r e a l s o commonplace i n modern S p a n i s h .
I n the
case, number 5 ) , one can a g a i n see two f o r c e s a t work.
last
Analogy
w i t h "haber a" must s u r e l y have c o n t r i b u t e d t o the c h o i c e o f " a " t o be used w i t h " s e r " , . s i n c e , as H e s c o t t mentions,
the
i d e n t i t y o f t h e l a t t e r can be c o n s t r u e d as a p a s s i v e r e n d e r i n g o f the f o r m e r .
As w e l l , " a " b e i n g " f e l t " and thought o f i n
terms o f "an approach
t o w a r d s " something,
t h e i d e a o f the i n -
f i n i t i v e ' s a c t i o n comprehended as the d e s t i n a t i o n would a l s o
56 be e a s i l y c o n s t r u e d i n the mind o f t h e s p e a k e r s , who
were
responsible f o r t h i s choice of l o c u t i o n . I I . The p r e p o s i t i o n " a n t e s " .
T h i s p r e p o s i t i o n e x p r e s s e s the
n o t i o n o f p r i o r i t y : "E y r e a. l a c o r t - en a n t e s de
iantar",
( C i d , 3045). T h i s example p r o v i d e s us w i t h an i n t e r e s t i n g c o n t r a s t .
Where-
as the use o f " a " w i t h the i n f i n i t i v e can, as we a r e a t t e m p t i n g t o v e r i f y , be c o n c e i v e d as t h e r e s i d u e o f a m e a n i n g f u l segment o f a c o n s t r u c t i o n , now
l i t t l e more t h a n a g r a m m a t i c a l
c o n t r i v a n c e , a p r e p o s i t i o n such,as a n t e s de, f a l l s i n t o - a n o t h e r category altogether.
The compound o f Mantes" found i n t h e
q u o t a t i o n above (from w h i c h the p r e s e n t day p r e p o s i t i o n " d e l a n t e de" i s d e r i v e d ) , need prove no impediment: here i s meaning, n o t appearance.
the crux
The d e r i v a t i o n o f " a n t e s "
from ANTE c o n t i n u e s t h e concept o f p r i o r i t y ; w i t h i n t h e cons t r u c t i o n o f v e r b + p r e p o s i t i o r i + i n f i n i t i v e , t h i s concept has remained i n t a c t t o the p r e s e n t day.
This i s indeed d i f f e r e n t
from the case o f b o t h " a " and "de" i n t h i s f u n c t i o n , whose o r i g i n a l p r e p o s i t i o n a l meaning-load has been removed a l m o s t totally. I I I . The p r e p o s i t i o n "de".
I n t h e M i d d l e Ages, s a y s H e s c o t t ,
t h i s p r e p o s i t i o n was g r e a t l y p r e f e r r e d o v e r " a " b e f o r e an i n f i n i t i v e , and he quotes B e a r d s l e y as s a y i n g t h a t "De mas
e l i n f i n i t i v o es l a mas
p o p u l a r de t o d a s " . 7
i m p o r t a n t f a c t a p p e a r s , though, when we c o n s i d e r the
An
57 statement o f Lenz, t h a t "...en c a s t e l l a n o , e l uso d e l i n f i n i t i v e con de r e t r o c e d e , pues en vez de "'me
cumple
de f a z e r , olvidabaseme de e s c r i b i r * , e t c . , hoy se p r e f i e r e e l i n f i n i t i v o s i n p r e p o s i c i d n . T h u s we t h a t a r a d i c a l change seems t o have o c c u r r e d .
observe This, i n
t u r n , can be compared t o t h e f a c t t h a t t h e p r e p o s i t i o n " d i " i s t h e most f r e q u e n t l y employed i n t h e c o r r e s p o n d i n g c o n s t r u c t i o n i n modern I t a l i a n , and t h a t "de". seems t o be g a i n i n g some ascendency i n modern F r e n c h . 1) I t may be used w i t h i n f i n i t i v e as t h e s u b j e c t o f " s e r " , w i t h a s u b s t a n t i v e , a d j e c t i v e , o r adverb: "de d a r e q u i t a r e l es e l f a c e d o r " , ( F e r n . G l e z . , 4 4 1 ) ; "Venida es l a hora de p r e n d e r l a s o l d a d a " , ( M i l de N t r a . S r a . , 1 3 6 ) . S i m i l a r l y , i t may i n t r o d u c e an i n f i n i t i v e w h i c h i s t h e p r e d i c a t e o f t h e c o p u l a : "pensemos de y r n u e s t r a v i a , e s t o sea de v a g a r " , ( G i d , 3&); "La obra d e l p a l a c i o non es de o l v i d a r " , ( L i b . de A l e x . , 1956). 2) I t may govern an i n f i n i t i v e used as a d i r e c t o b j e c t o f v e r b s such as comencar, empecar, c e s a r , prometer: "moros e moras - compeparon de l l o r a r " ,
( G i d , 8 5 6 ) ; " j u n t o s con sus
mesnadas - compepos l a s de l e g r a r " , ( I b i d ,
1083).
3) S i m i l a r t o t h i s , H e s c o t t s a y s , i s t h e use o f "de" p l u s i n f i n i t i v e t o e x p r e s s a n o n - a b s o l u t e i d e a , used w i t h v e r b s such as t h o s e mentioned
i n 2 ) , and w i t h . o t h e r s l i k e p e n s a r , asmar,
dudar, f i n c a r , d e x a r , e t c .
" B e a r d s l e y l a l l a m a *de r e l a t i v a * ,
58 he t e l l s u s , and "Menendez P i d a l d i c e que t i e n e e l s e n t i d o i n c e p t i v o de d i s p o n e r s e a u ocuparse en"9: " S u e l t a n l a s r i e n das e p i e n s s a n de a g u i j a r " , ( C i d , 16) ; "e l o s mediados g a l l o s p i e n s a n de c a v a l g a r " , ( I b i d , 3 2 5 ) . 4) I t can be used w i t h an i n f i n i t i v e
t o express
cause,
means, and s e p a r a t i o n : " p o r amor de a c a b a r l o non se p o d i a d a r v a g a r " , ( F e r n . G l e z . 3 8 5 ) ; "Nos f a r t a n de c a t a r l e quantos ha en l a c o r t " , ( C i d , 3406); " e l abbat don Sancho t o r n a n de c a s tigar",
(Cid, 384).
5) The c o n s t r u c t i o n can m o d i f y a s u b s t a n t i v e : "En l o s d i a s de v a g a r " , ( C i d , 2963). 6) I t i s used w i t h aver.(modern " t e n e r " ) p l u s a
substan-
t i v e , i n d i c a t i n g d e s i r e , f e a r , e t c . : " v i n i e s s e a mio p i d que a s a b o r de c a v a l g a r " , ( C i d , 1190). 7) The c o n s t r u c t i o n o f de_ p l u s i n f i n i t i v e may a l s o m o d i f y an a d j e c t i v e : "Sabet que e s t a es una de l a s cosas d e l mundo rnas grave de poner so una r e g l a g e n e r a l " , ( L i b . E n f e n i d o , .125) . 8) Haber de-plus- the i n f i n i t i v e ' e x p r e s s e s
t h e same n e c e s -
s i t y o r f u t u r i t y as t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f h a b e r a: "en l a f e de don C r i s t o que avyan de creexj", ( F e r n . G l e z . , 1 4 ) ; "Para siempre jamas non l o s ha de p e r d e r " ,
( L i b . de Buen Amor, 1 5 1 ) .
I n g e n e r a l , we can i n t e r p r e t t h e usage o f de w i t h t h e i n f i n i t i v e a s b e i n g t h e r e s u l t o f two c o n c e p t s ,
that of the
g e n i t i v e , and t h a t o f t e m p o r a l o r s p a t i a l s e p a r a t i o n , t h e l a t t e r
60 b e i n g , i n g e n e r a l , t h e c o n t r a r y o f a , w h i c h showed t e m p o r a l or s p a t i a l approach.
However, t h e element o f n e c e s s i t y o r
f u t u r i t y , a l s o shown by t h i s c o n s t r u c t i o n would more r e a d i l y be e n v i s a g e d a s a d e r i v a t i o n from t h e L a t i n gerund o r g e r u n dive.
F o r example, i n number 1 ) , we can see a g e n i t i v e i d e a
i n t h e f i r s t s e c t i o n , a g e r u n d i v e concept i n t h e second.
Now,
the i d e a o f n e c e s s i t y can a l s o be thought o f i n terms o f " p o s s e s s i o n " : when something i s n e c e s s a r y , i t b e l o n g s t o t h e absolute order of destiny or p r a c t i c a l i t y .
When something i s
c o n t a i n e d i n t h e i d e a o f f u t u r i t y , i t must l i k e w i s e form p a r t o f what i s t o come.
One might e a s i l y t h i n k o f s p e a k e r s " f e e l -
i n g " t h a t t h i s " b e l o n g i n g " r e q u i r e d some k i n d o f i d e n t i f i e r , and, c o u p l e d w i t h t h e c o n s t a n t i n f l u e n c e o f a n a l o g y , u n d e r t a k e u n c o n s c i o u s l y t o f u l f i l l t h i s r o l e by t h e u t i l i z a t i o n o f t h e i r g e n i t i v e marker, t h e p r e p o s i t i o n "de". When one t h i n k s o f something, t h e g e n i t i v e i d e a i s a g a i n clear.
However, what o f c o n c e p t s such a s d o u b t i n g , l e a v i n g ,
and p r o m i s i n g ?
When one doubts t h e e x i s t e n c e o f something,
one i s r e t r a c t i n g t h a t t h i n g from t h e r e a l m o f f a c t ; when one l e a v e s something, o r ceases t o do something, one i s removing o n e s e l f from t h a t concept and e s t a b l i s h i n g a f i g u r a t i v e
dis-
tance between o n e s e l f and t h a t i d e a ; when one promises t o do something, one i s f a i r l y e a s i l y a b l e t o v i s u a l i z e t h i s a c t a s a v o l u n t a r y s u r r e n d e r o f one's freedom o f c h o i c e t o do o t h e r w i s e , t h a t i s , one w i t h d r a w s o n e s e l f . f r o m t h e a r b i t r a r y . A l l these may t h e r e f o r e be e x p r e s s e d b y t h e concept o f de, s i g n i f y i n g "away from".
61 The
cause and means o f number 4)
genitive idea.
are again c l e a r l y a
The s e p a r a t i o n concept o f t h e same number i s ,
n a t u r a l l y enough, an example o f f i g u r a t i v e r e t r a c t i o n .
Both,
t h e r e f o r e , use de w i t h o u t p r e s e n t i n g a problem o f u n d e r s t a n d i n g the c h o i c e o f p r e p o s i t i o n .
The case o f number 5),
obviously,
i s t h a t o f a n o t h e r k i n d o f g e n i t i v e , t o be c o n s t r u c t e d
with
t h a t p r e p o s i t i o n w h i c h e x p r e s s e s t h i s concept.
The same i s
t r u e o f number 6).
can once more
An e x p l a n a t i o n o f number 7)
be couched i n terms o f c o n t i n u i n g a g e n i t i v e c o n s t r u c t i o n . Whereas i n C l a s s i c a l L a t i n , o n l y c e r t a i n a d j e c t i v e s r e g u l a r l y governed t h e g e n i t i v e c a s e , l a t e r usage p e r m i t t e d
the g e n i t i v e
w i t h a g r e a t number o f them, t h u s p r o v i d i n g t h e framework o f meaning and u n d e r s t a n d i n g w h i c h l e d t o
verb+de+infinitive.1°
IV• The p r e p o s i t i o n "en". H e s c o t t t e l l s us t h a t t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n verb+en+infinitive
c a r r i e s t h e same meaning a s would
the c o n s t r u c t i o n w i t h o u t t h e p r e p o s i t i o n .
B u t , he says
t h a t i t answers t h e q u e s t i o n s where? and how? w i t h v e r b s and a d j e c t i v e s , errados",
"que siempre t e t r a b a i s en s a l v a r l o s
( M i l . de N t r a . S r a . , 289);
"Ovyeron g r a n
en p a s a r a q u e l vado", ( F e r n . G l e z . , 356);
rrebato
"Senores, punad
en f a s e r buerias o b r a s " , (La Danza.de l a M u e r t e , 41);
"en
v i s i t a r enfermos non e r a enbargado", (Santo Domingo, 116) . 1
I f t h e meaning o f t h e phrase were e x a c t l y t h e same w i t h o r w i t h o u t t h e p r e p o s i t i o n , and i f a t t h e time t h a t t h i s cons t r u c t i o n - t h a t u s i n g en - became a c c e p t e d , no d i f f e r e n c e were t o be imputed by t h e s p e a k e r s , does i t r e a l l y seem l i k e l y
62 t h a t t h e y would have e v o l v e d place?
the c o n s t r u c t i o n i n the
first
I s i t not more l i k e l y t h a t the o r i g i n a l i d e a o f the
p r e p o s i t i o n IN - b o t h t h a t o f IN p l u s a c c u s a t i v e and
IN
plus
a b l a t i v e - was
s t i l l m a i n t a i n e d i n the minds o f the s p e a k e r s ?
The f i g u r a t i v e
i d e a o f p l a c e w i t h i n o r movement i n t o , as w e l l
as the o c c a s i o n a l l i t e r a l one locution,
contained
i s e a s i l y recognizable.
t i o n s - how
and where - ,1s r e a d i l y
The
i n the meaning o f the a n s w e r i n g o f b o t h ques-
conceived
i n terms o f
A n d thus i t would seem r e a s o n a b l e t o assume a g a i n
"place".
t h a t the " f e e l i n g " t h a t the s p e a k e r s had f o r t h e i r language, especially
s i n c e t h i s language was
s t a t e o f f l u x , was
still
in a
considerable
r e s p o n s i b l e f o r the development o f t h i s con-
struction. V. The
p r e p o s i t i o n " p a r a " , o r "pora", and
the p r e p o s i t i o n "por".
Both p r e p o s i t i o n s , when used w i t h an i n f i n i t i v e , the i d e a o f purpose. usar",
express
"Pero, s i l a s q u e r i a para con
( L i b . de Buen Amor, 48); "Vos
f u e r a d e s pora
e yo pora m o r i r maest", ( C a n t a r de R o n c e s v a l l e s , rando l a s t i e r r a s para sembrar pan", 223)5 "Los
que
"ar-
(La Danza de l a Muerte,
"Cruzaronse romeros por i r en
( M i l . De N t r a . S r a . , 102);
bivir,
89);
son por v e n i r p l a z r a l i s de o i l l a " ,
N t r a . S r a . , 215);
ellas
( M i l . de
ultramar",
" e s t a s se adoban por i r con e l
Canpeador", ( C i d , ,1997) . Once a g a i n , the c o n t i n u a t i o n o f a meaning and a concept appears r e s p o n s i b l e f o r the development o f t h i s Both PER
and PRO,
construction.
w h i c h are the etymon o f b o t h por and
para,
63 i n d i c a t e d e i t h e r l i t e r a l o r f i g u r a t i v e purpose, even when e x p r e s s e d by t h e i d e a o f " t h r o u g h " .
Since the l a t t e r L a t i n
p r e p o s i t i o n - w h i c h c a r r i e d much emphasis o f purpose f i g u r a t i v e d i r e c t i o n - was
and
the more i m p o r t a n t i n the d e r i v a -
t i o n o f the' S p a n i s h p r e p o s i t i o n s , the r e s u l t a n t
conceptuali-
z a t i o n o f the c o n s t r u c t i o n i s even more u n d e r s t a n d a b l e . V I . The p r e p o s i t i o n " s i n " .
T h i s i n d i c a t e s the l a c k o f r e a l i -
z a t i o n o f the a c t i o n o f the i n f i n i t i v e w h i c h i t precedes: "Non ay syn noche d i a , n i n s e g a r syn sembrar, n i n ' r e y r s i n llor|.r"/Sem. Tob.,
156).
No d i s c r e p a n c y o c c u r s h e r e , e i t h e r .
The i d e a c a r r i e d t h r o u g h
from t h a t o f SINE remains c o n s t a n t .
The e x p r e s s i o n i s c l e a r ,
and the meaning i s conveyed; *the c o n s t r u c t i o n ' s
origin is
s u r e l y e a s i l y envisaged. A f i n a l note t o be t a k e n i s t h a t i n a l l t h e s e cases shown, the i n f i n i t i v e , has o b v i o u s l y been thought o f as a and has behaved a c c o r d i n g l y . and n a t u r a l t o be o f w o r t h . ter
I,
substantive,
T h i s might w e l l seem t o o o b v i o u s However, as we have seen i n Chap-
t h i s i s not the case.
An i n f i n i t i v e
does not a l -
ways f u n c t i o n i n a f a s h i o n i d e n t i c a l t o t h a t o f a
substantive.
64 The m a t e r i a l p r e s e n t e d t h u s f a r might seem t o i n d i c a t e t h a t o n l y two c r i t e r i a need be c o n s i d e r e d t o determine t h e reasons f o r t h e development o f t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n
verb+prepo-
s i t i o n + i n f i n i t i v e : t h e i d e n t i t y o f t h e i n f i n i t i v e and i t s meaning, and t h e i d e n t i t y and meaning o f t h e p r e p o s i t i o n , i n terms, o f c o u r s e , o f t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p e x i s t i n g between t h e s e two.
T h i s , however, would be t o l e a v e o u t t h e t h i r d
control-
l i n g v a r i a b l e , the i n i t i a l verb o f the c o n s t r u c t i o n , t o which o n l y i n d i r e c t a t t e n t i o n has been g i v e n i n t h e f i r s t s e c t i o n o f t h i s chapter.
L e t us now f o c u s a t t e n t i o n on t h i s element, and
t r y b e t t e r t o r e a l i z e i t s importance. F o l l o w i n g i s an e x a m i n a t i o n o f t h e uses o f v e r b s w i t h p r e p o s i t i o n s and i n f i n i t i v e s i n O l d S p a n i s h , from t h e p o i n t of view o f s e e i n g w h i c h v e r b s governed w h i c h p r e p o s i t i o n s . H Some two hundred
examples have been found i n f o u r main s o u r c e s ,
and t h e y c o v e r , i n g e n e r a l , t h e p e r i o d o f time from t h e t e n t h through t h e f i f t e e n t h c e n t u r i e s .
The f i r s t • i s t h e s e c t i o n
d e s i g n a t e d Documentos C a s t e l l a n o s , a s found i n Menendez './ P i d a l ' s C r e s t o m a t f a d e l e s p a n o l m e d i e v a l , Tomo I.12
The i d e n -
t i f i c a t i o n o f these q u o t a t i o n s w i l l be t h e number 1,
indicating
1
t h i s s e c t i o n , folloxved by t h e number c o r r e s p o n d i n g t o t h e subs e c t i o n , a s l i s t e d w i t h i n t h e Grestomatxa, number.
The s u b - s e c t i o n s comprise t h e f o l l o w i n g documents:13
1) A n o 921
2)
f o l l o w e d by t h e l i n e
Afio
- Cardena
(Burgos)
937 - Cardena .
3) A n o 939 - V a l p u e s t a , p a r t . j u d . de V i l l a r c a y o
4)
Afio
967 - C a s t i l l a d e l Norte
(Burgos)
65 5)
Afio
971 - Ibeas de J u a r r o s (Burgos)
6) Ano 978 - C o v a r r u b i a s (Burgos) 7) Ano 993 - C a s t i l i a d e l Norte 8) Afio 1011 - V a l p u e s t a , p a r t . j u d . de V i l l a r c a y o 9) H a c i a e l ano 1030 - C l u n i a o Coruna d e l Conde 10) Afio 1039 - V a l p u e s t a j p a r t . j u d . de V i l l a r c a y o
(Burgos) (Burgos) (Burgos)
11) Afio 10ZJ.4 - San M i l l a n de l a C o g o l l a , p a r t , de N a j e r a , (Logrono) 12) Afio 1047 - Santona 13) Afio IO63 - Ona
(Santander)
(N. de
Burgos)
A l l t h e s e , t h e n , a r e C a s t i ' . l i a n documents, and a r e t h u s most r e l e v a n t t o our s t u d y .
The second s o u r c e i s the e d i t i o n o f
the C i d , a l s o found i n t h e same Crestomatfa- ^• 1
This w i l l
be
i d e n t i f i e d by the i n i t i a l number 2, f o l l o w e d by the l i n e number. The t h i r d s o u r c e i s t h e Generaciones y Semblanzas, e d i t i o n o f R.B.
the
critical
Tate- -^, w i t h q u o t a t i o n s t a k e n from t h e s e c t i o n s 1
c o m p r i s i n g pages 1 t h r o u g h 13.
These w i l l be d e s i g n a t e d by
the r e f e r e n c e Tate, f o l l o w e d by the page and l i n e number.
The
f o u r t h s o u r c e i s the P r o l o g o , and T i t o l I t h r o u g h IV o f L i b r o r
_ °f E l Fuero v i e .jo de C a s t i l l a . -
6
Those q u o t a t i o n s t a k e n
from t h i s source w i l l be i d e n t i f i e d by the word Fuero,
fol-
lowed by the page number. I t i s recognized t h a t three d i f f e r e n t e d i t o r s are respons i b l e f o r the t e x t s chosen, and t h a t t h e many v a r i a n t s encount e r e d w i t h i n the m a n u s c r i p t s upon w h i c h t h e y based t h e i r e d i t i o n s , are often c o n t r a d i c t o r y .
However, f o r t h e purposes o f
t h i s i n v e s t i g a t i o n , no i m p o r t a n t problem s h o u l d a r i s e t h e r e f r o m .
66 I n most c a s e s , the use o f p r e p o s i t i o n s i s f a i r l y u n i f o r m , and the o c c a s i o n a l d i s c r e p a n c i e s w h i c h might a r i s e s h o u l d s e r v e o n l y t o i n d i c a t e the s t a t e o f f l u x w i t h i n the language during those c e n t u r i e s .
Furthermore, f o r our purposes, i t
i s i m p e r a t i v e t o e s t a b l i s h a base, and t h i s must be a r e c o g n i z e d e d i t i o n o f o l d t e x t s , s i n c e p a l e o g r a p h y i s n o t i n quest i o n here.
That i s t o say,, the "word" o f the e d i t o r has had
t o be a c c e p t e d v e r b a t i m , and h i s e f f o r t s a r b i t r a r i l y c o n s i d e r e d authoritative. The number o f t e x t s chosen, and the q u o t a t i o n s d i s c e r n e d from them^ i s n o t i n any way
i n t e n d e d t o be thorough o r com-
p r e h e n s i v e , but r a t h e r i l l u s t r a t i v e . number o f examples
Such a r e l a t i v e l y s m a l l
could never purport t o c a t e g o r i c a l c o n c l u -
s i o n s ; however, v a l u a b l e i n d i c a t i o n s o f the l i n g u i s t i c
state
o f a f f a i r s o f the t i m e s can be g l e a n e d from such a s e l e c t i o n , , i n t h e same s o r t o f way as a random s a m p l i n g o f a community can p o i n t out o p i n i o n t r e n d s .
And-the e x i s t e n c e o f t r e n d s
towards t h e use o f v e r b + p r e p p s i t i o n + i n f i n i t i v e
constructions
i s r e a l l y the g i s t o f t h i s d i s c u s s i o n . One f i n a l p o i n t : the graphy " f " has c o n s i s t e n t l y been t r a n s c r i b e d here as " s " ; the graphy Z n
" has been w r i t t e n "e";
the v e r b s a r e l i s t e d a l p h a b e t i c a l l y - t h o s e w h i c h have e a s i l y r e c o g n i z a b l e modern forms a r e shown under t h i s d e s i g n a t i o n , f o r example " a v e r " w i l l appear under "haber", " f a z e r " under " h a c e r " , e t c . , whereas v e r b s such as "compecar" a r e l i s t e d independently.
acogerse a c o i e n s e a andar de d i a e de noch (2,2690) adelinar a d e l i n a n a p o s a r 'pora f o l g a r e s s a noch (2,2857) apartarse
- ,
se a p a r t a v a a v e r sus .fechos ( T a t e , 6, 8) a t e n d e r (modern meaning -" e s p e r a r ) non deve a t e n d e r a pagar, n i n a d e j a r penos a l t e r c e r d i a ( F u e r o , 10) ayudar f a s t a 4uel*ayuden a ganar s e n o r (Fuero 13) e Ruego a s a n Peydro que me ayude a Rogar (2,363) bastar b a s t a r a d e z i r t a n t o que... ( T a t e , 11, 7) menos seso e e s f u e r c o l e s b a s t a para r e g i r ( T a t e , 5> 26) cansar canssados son de f e r i r e l l o s amos a dos (2,2745) comenzar comenzd a r e i n a r ( T a t e , 5.11) compepar l a sena t i e n e en mano, conpecd de e s p o l o n a r (2,705) E s s o r a l e s conpiepan a d a r ( l o s ) ; y f a n t e s de C a r r i o n
(2,2735)
c u r a r (modern meaning - c u i d a r ) non euro de l o e s c r i v i r (Tate,11,19) dar s i e l Rey da a l g u n d c a s t i e l l o a t e n e r a a l g u n o (Fuero,6) deber non l a s deve d a r a ningund hombre (Fuero,4) c6mmo l o deuedes f a r (2,315)
68 en un espejo se deven m i r a r (Tate,10,11) non debent i b i pascere (1,11,11) debent r e f e r i r e (1,11,7) Non l a s deuieraos tomar p o r v a r r a g a n a s , s i non f ( o ) s s e m o s •Rogados (2,2759/60) debent u e n i r e ad u i l l a m e a c c i p e r e f i d i a t o r e m (1,11,5) J
;
de.jar non se dexen governar..a o t r o s ( T a t e , 5,29) a l o s i u d i o s t e dexeste prender (2,347) entremeterse algunos que se entreraeten de e s c r i v i r e n o t a r l a s a n t i g u e d a d e s i (Tate,1,10) se entreraetan de t u r b a r (Tate,10,13) enviar devenle
i m b i a r a d e c i r . . .que ;.. (Fuero,17) ;
e l r e y enbio a l a s o c o r r e r a s u c o n d e s t a b l e imbianvos p e d i r merced
(Tate,7,10)
(Fuero,l6)
escribir Por l o s c o n p l a z e r e l i s o n j a r o p o r temor de l o s e n o j a r , e s c r i v e n mas... (Tate,2,20) esperar non deve a t e n d e r a p a g a r . . . n i n e s p e r a r de q u i t a r l o s ( F u e r o , l l ) estar devel'estar a amistat
(Fuero,25)
grave s e r i a grave de c r e r ( T a t e , 6 , l 8 ) cosas muy grandes e graves de c r e r ( T a t e , 1,13). haber quando muere e l v a s a l l o . . . a a d a r a suo Senor... ( F u e r o , l l ) a l a d a r t r e i n t a d i a s (Fuero,14) se a v i e r a d e s l i n d a r (Fuero,23) e c o n s e i a r o n l e en toda l a C o r t e , que l o a v i a a f a c e r (Fuero,8) a s s i l o an todos ha f a r (2,322) o u i e r o n ( t ) e a l a u d a r e (2.335) en e l monumento ( o v i s t e a) R e s u p i t ( a r ) (2,358) E quando o v i e r e l R i c o orae a s a l i r (Fuero,14) e a a t o m a r l a a m i s t a t (Fuero,25) T
69 ...e
de l o que ha de a v e r
e l Sefior d e l v a s a l l o p o r N u n c i o (Fuero,11) e s t o s c a v a l l o s , que e l a v i a de a v e r ( F u e r o , 1 2 ) mucho aueraos de a n d a r (2,321) l a v i l l a f u e t a n t o a q u e x a d a que s e ovo de a p l a z a r ( T a t e , 7 , 2 1 ) v o l u n t a d i^ue e l a v i a de c o n t i n u a r ( T a t e , 1 2 , 1 9 ) q u e l * a n de f a c e r d e r e c h o ( F u e r o , 2 6 ) que non a y a de f a c e r e l Rey pecho ( F u e r o , 5 ) e a l o de m o s t r a r a F i j o s d a l g o ( F u e r o , 2 4 ) c a d a uno a v i a de r e g i r ( T a t e , 1 1 , 2 2 ) como a de v e n i r e l de l a B e h e t r i a ( F u e r o , 1 0 ) l a s manos s e ouo de u n t a r (2,354) e e l S e n o r non l e a que demandar
(Fuero,11)
hacer l a poca conversacidm f a z e a l . p r x c i p e s e r temido (Tate.6,1) ^uando o y n o s p a r t i m o s , en v i d a n o s f a z i u n t a r (2,365) f a g o v o s s a v e r que... ( F u e r o , 2 1 ) ir deben i r c o n e l a g u a r d a r l e ( F u e r o , 1 3 ) e y r e a l a c o r t e n a n t e s de y a n t a r (2,3051) E l C i d a dona Ximena 'yuala a b r a c a r (2,368) ...a D i o s s e ( f o ) acomendar (2,411) dona Ximena a l p i d l a manol v a b e s a r (2,369) E l Rey don A l f o n s s o :• a T o l l e d o v a e n t r a r (2,3053) y u a n l o s f e r i r de f u e r t e s c o r a p o n e s (2,718) Vo m e t e r l a u u e s t r a s e n a e n aque11a mayor a z (2,707) s o b r e Nauas de P a l o s e l Duero u a p a s s a r (2,401) l a manol b a n b e s a r (2,298) a l a F i g u e r u e l a myo p i d i u a p o s a r (2,402) A l a s i e r r a de H i e d e s e l l o s y u a n p o s a r (2,415) hyua R e p e b i r a don E l u i r a e a dona S o l (2,2817) a l a l m o f a l l a s e u a n t o r n a r (2,694) l a c a l p a d a de g u i n e a y u a l a t r a s p a s s a r (2,400) M i n a y a ua u e e r s u e s p r i m a s do s o n (2,2858). mandar Con a q u e s t o s p i e n t o que a d o b a r mandd (2,3101) mandan f i n c a r l a t i e n d a y f a n t e s de C a r r i 6 n (2,2701) mando j u n t a r t o d a s s u s g e h t e s ( T a t e , 8 , 1 9 ) que e l mando m a t a r ( F u e r o , 2 3 ) e r e x G a r s i a mandauit peggare, e serna a p r e c i a r e e peggare
(1,11,23) m a n d a r o n l e y r a d e l a n t e (2,276,6) a s o s c a u a l l e r o s mand6los t o d o s i u n t a r (2,312) Mandaron c a r g a r l a s a z e m i l a s c o n a u e r e s (2,2705) mandedes e n s e l l a r (2,317) M a n d 6 f a z e r c a n d e l a s y p o n e r en e l a l t a r (2,3055) 1
70 Mando e l Rey a myo Cid' (a) a g u a r d a r (2,308) necesario n e c e s a r i o es de s e r muy r i c o (Tate,6,14) osar Non uos o s a r i e m o s a b r i r n i n coger p o r nada (2,44) conbidar...mas ninguno non osaua (2,21) ca n o l osan d e z i r nada (2,30) non l e o s a r i e n uender a l menos d i n a r a d a (2,64) pensar A l i i " p i e n s s a n de a g u i i a r (2,10) d e z i l d e s que prendan R a s t r o . y p i e n s s e n de andar (2,389) pense* de e s c r i v i r (Tate,^,5) pensemos de y r n u e s t r a v x a , e s t o sea de v a g a r (2,380) p i e n s s a n de a n d a r (2,391) O t r o d i a manana p i e n s s a de c a u a l g a r (2,394) Myo p i d eon l o s sos v a s s a l l o s pensso de c a u a l g a r (2,376) penssemos de c a u a l g a r (2,320) O t r o d i a manana p i e n s s a n de c a u a l g a r (2,413) a l o s mediados g a l l o s p i e n s s a n de e n s e l l a r (2,324) Penssad, sefior, de e n t r a r en. l a pibdad (2,3046) placer a mas l e s p l a z e r e l a t a r cosas e s t r a f i a s (Tate,1,11) poder Ca en yermo o en poblado podernos han a l c a n p a r (2,390) nos l a s pueden camear ca e l p i d b i e n l a s connospe (2,3183) l a u t i l i d a d e provecho que d e l l o se l e s p o d i a s e g u i r (Tate,2,8) se puede l l a m a r t r u f a (Tate,1,17) N o l pueden c a t a r de yerguenpa y f a n t e s de C a r r i o n (2,3126) q u i l o s p o d r i e c o n t a r (2,699) t a n t o son de t r a s p u e s t a s que nada d e z i r non pouden (2,2784) A q u e l Pero Vermudoz non l o pudo e n d u r a r (2,704) non p o d r i e e s c a p a r (2,310) d a n l e grandes c o l p e s , mas n o l pueden f a l s s a r (2,713) Hya non pueden f a b l a r (2,2747) a l g u n b i e n uos pueda f a r (2,302) Buen casamiento p e r d i e s t e s , m e i o r podredes ganar (2.2867) No l o podemos n e g a r , ca dos espadas nos d i o (2,3172) e l o s p o d r i e p e r d e r (Fuero,6) en s u t i e r r a l p u d i e s tomar (2,309) iiun veamos e l d i a que vos podamos vengar (2,2868) que a v i a poder de esaminar (Tate,1,20)
71 querer s i a l g u n d R i c o ; ome.. .se q'uier e s p e d i r d e l e de non s e r suo v a s a l l o (Fuero,12) e t non q u e s i e r u n t y n f a n t j o n e s d e S p e l i a suo mandato f a c e r e . (1,9,10) non l o q u i s i e r o n f a z e r (Tate,7,27) nunca e l l o q u i s o f a z e r (Tate,9,31) d'aquesta g u i s a q u i e r o y r a l a c o r t (2,3078) Nos q u i s o l e u a n t a r e l Grespo de Grandn (2,3112) comigo non q u i s i e r o n a u e r nada y p e r d i e r o n mi amor (2,3157) ya q u e r i e n c a u a l g a r (2,367) s i a l g u n d R i c o ome...se q u i e r e s p e d i r d e l e de non s e r suo ^ v a s a l l o (Fuero,12) d£rgelas queremos d e l l a n t estando uos (2,3174) e q u i e r e n c r e b a r a l b o r e s (2,235) d a r uos q u i e r o u u e s t r a p a r t (2,314) d e p o r t a r se q u i e r e n con e l l a s a todo s u s a b o r (2,2711) l a noch q u e r i i e n t r a r (2,311) essa noch myo p i d T a i o non q u i s s o p a s s a r (2,3044) ante Roydo de atamores l a t i e r r a q u e r i d q u e b r a r (2,696) por t a l l o f a z e e s t o que Recabdar q u i e r e todo l o so (2,3098) todo ome, que se q u i s i e r s a l v a r (Fuero,9) no g e l o q u i s o tomar, mas mucho g e l o g r a d i d (2,2850) non l e s q u e r i e n t o r n a r p a l a b r a (2,21) retraerse se r e t r a e r i a n de f a z e r obras
(Tate,3,25)
saber toda n u e s t r a Rencura sabremos c o n t a r n o s (2.2862b) l o s c a s t e l l a n o s s u p i e r o n v e n e e r (Tate,12,9) salir R e c e b i r l o s s a l e (2,297) ser s i o t r o omo
f u e r a d e s a f i a r (Fuero,19)
a q u e l l a s que f u e s e n de enmendar (Fuero,2) e n t r e todas l a s v i r t u d e s l a s que mas f u e r o n e n . e l de l o a r f u e r o n . . . (Tate,9,19) Y i e n i e n d o a l a p r i m e r a , que es guardar f i d e l i d a d suficiente
'
e r a s u f i c i e n t e a r e g i r e governar
(Tate,5,25)
(Tate,11,1)
72 *temare p r o f e r r e t e m a u e r i (1,3,4) tener non son tenudos de i m b i a r l e mas ninguna cosa (Fuero,17) t o r n a r (modern meaning v o l v e r ) e t o r n a r o n s e a armar (2,695) E e l a l a s nirias t o r n o l a s a c a t a r t o r n o s a s o n r i s a r (2,298)
(2,371)
.
A l abbat don Sancho t o r n a n de c a s t i g a r
(2,383)
traba.jar t r a b a j a n l o s m a n i f i c o s r e y e s e p r x n c i p e s en f a z e r g u e r r a s . . . (Tate,3,9) usar maguer que e l Rey non use a p o s a r en e l l a (Fuero,8) usaban a n s i de d a r e l suo c a v a l l o (Fuero,12) venir non q u i s o v e n i r , a f a c e r l e derecho (Fuero,22) s i a l g u n d L a b r a d o r de F i j o d a l g o v e n i e r sb e l Rey a morar . . (Fuero,5) t r e s Reyes de A r a b i a t e v i n i e r o n a d o r a r e (2.336) e s t a t e r c e r a a Toledo l a v i n f e r oy (2,3131) v e n i d a c a s e e r comigo, Campeador (2,3114b) V i n o myo C i d y a z e r a S p i n a z de Can (2,393) ver v e r i e d e s armarse moros, a p r i e s s a e n t r a r en az (2,697) v^uando l o v i e r o n e n t r a r a l que en buen o r a n a p i d (2,3107) S i v i e r e d e s y e n t e s v e n i r p o r connusco y r , abbat (2,3$$) , V x o l o s v e n i r e o d i d una Razdn (2,2772) f a s t a que v i e s s e v e n i r sus primas amas a dos (2,2770) V e r i e d e s t a n t a s l a n c a s premer e a l p a r , t a n t a adagara f o r a d a r e p a s s a r , t a n t a l o r i g a f a l s s a r e desmanchar, t a n t o s pendones b l a n c o s s a l i r vermejos en s a n g r e , t a n t o s buenos c a u a l l o s s i n sos duenos a n d a r (2,276-80) ^volere legamenta i n e r v a r e v o l v e r i t
(1,1,4)
v o l u n t a d (as i n d i c a t i o n o f * v o l e r e )
73 a v i a grande v o l u n t a d de h o r d e n a r s u f a z i e n d a
(Tate,6,3)
Of e s p e c i a l i n t e r e s t i n the above s e t o f examples a r e the f o l l o w i n g p o i n t s .
The
v e r b compepar i s shown b o t h w i t h
the p r e p o s i t i o n a' and the p r e p o s i t i o n de, whereas i t s cognate comenzar o n l y w i t h a, and the modern v e r b empezar i s c o n s t r u c t e d w i t h a as w e l l .
One
might a l s o mention t h a t the F r e n c h
cognate, commencer. n o r m a l l y t a k e s the p r e p o s i t i o n a, an a m b i v a l e n c e s i m i l a r t o t h a t w i t n e s s e d i s now
w i t h i n Old S p a n i s h
o c c u r r i n g i n F r e n c h , w i t h the c o n s t r u c t commencer de
becoming f r e q u e n t l y h e a r d . one
although
When one b e g i n s t o do something,
i s f i g u r a t i v e l y a p p r o a c h i n g i t - a concept e x p r e s s e d
the p r e p o s i t i o n a r a t h e r t h a n de, and was the mind o f the s p e a k e r s .
The
by
l i k e l y foremost i n
o c c u r r e n c e o f the de
construc-
t i o n i s most p r o b a b l y t h e r e s u l t o f a n a l o g y and the commonness o f t h a t l o c u t i o n , as mentioned e a r l i e r ; i t i s w o r t h y o f note t h a t i t i s no l o n g e r a c c e p t a b l e
in
Spanish.
A s i m i l a r i d e a would be s u r m i s e d t o e x p l a i n the °f e n v i a r a, of w h i c h two
examples a r e q u o t e d .
The
incidence construc-
t i o n of e n v i a r plus i n f i n i t i v e
without
p r e p o s i t i o n would
tend
t o i n d i c a t e two t h i n g s : i t was
f e l t t h a t the i d e a o f d i r e c t i o n
was
t o o remote t o e f f e c t r e t e n t i o n o f the a, and t h a t meaning
did
not change, nor was
c o n f u s i o n caused, as i s p r e s e n t l y the
case i n the n o - p r e p o s i t i o n c o n s t r u c t i o n o f the modern language. I l l u s t r a t i o n s are shown f o r a l l t h r e e c o n s t r u c t i o n s w i t h the v e r b haber: use o f a, use o f de, and use o f que.
An
ex-
p l a n a t i o n f o r these l o c u t i o n s has a l r e a d y been s u g g e s t e d above.
74 But n o t e t h a t w i t h t h e v e r b i r , t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n w i t h o u t the p r e p o s i t i o n a i s much more' commonly e n c o u n t e r e d t h a n t h a t of t h e modern language. , I t i s a l s o i n t e r e s t i n g t o compare t h e old
c o n s t r u c t i o n w i t h t h a t o f modern F r e n c h , w h i c h l i k e w i s e
s a y s a l l e r f a i r e quelque chose, w i t h o u t r e c o u r s e tion.
to a preposi-
However, t h e c o n t r a s t i n g case o f mandar shows g r e a t e r
a f f i n i t y w i t h modern S p a n i s h .
Once more, t h e i d e a o f d i r e c t i o n
l o s e s ground a s a c o n s c i o u s c o n c e p t , and f i n a l l y w h i l e w i t h i r , t h i s i d e a remained c o n s t a n t c l u d i n g the l o s s of the p r e p o s i t i o n w i t h i n
disappears,
and p o w e r f u l ,
pre-
the.construction.
The usage o f pensar de c a r r i e s t h e i d e a o f t h e g e n i t i v e . However, t h e modern d i s t i n c t i o n between pensar de and pensar en would seem a r e s u l t o f t h e f o l l o w i n g c o n c e p t u a l
distinction.
When c o n s i d e r i n g t h e commission o f an a c t - t h a t i s , b e i n g about t o c a r r y i t o u t , r a t h e r t h a n r u m i n a t i n g
upon i t - t h e
i d e a o f p r o c e d i n g towards i t and e s t a b l i s h i n g c o n t a c t w i t h i t i s a f a c i l e one.
Thus, en, d e r i v i n g from IN p l u s
accusative,
was a l o g i c a l semantic c h o i c e t o d i s t i n g u i s h t h i s concept f r o m t h a t o f i n d i c a t i n g what t h e q u a l i t i e s o f t h e " p e n s a r " a c t u a l l y are. I n t h e case o f poder, t h e l a s t example i s i n c l u d e d m e r e l y t o i n d i c a t e t h a t when t h e i n f i n i t i v e i s used s u b s t a n t i v e l y , i t r e q u i r e s a g e n i t i v e concept t o f o l l o w , a g a i n f o r t h e purposes of q u a l i t y d e s c r i p t i o n , whereas when t h e i n f i n i t i v e i s used v e r b a l l y , a s i n t h e o t h e r examples, no p r e p o s i t i o n a l f o r c e was ever f e l t . The f i r s t and l a s t examples o f t h e use o f q u e r e r a r e t h e
75 same q u o t a t i o n ; b u t t h e r e p e t i t i o n i s t o emphasize t h a t i n the f i r s t i n s t a n c e , t h e p r e p o s i t i o n d_e i n t r o d u c e s t h e second i n f i n i t i v e , s e r , whereas t h e second i n s t a n c e i s i n a c c o r d w i t h a l l t h e o t h e r examples, showing no p r e p o s i t i o n b e f o r e t h e i n f i n i t i v e espedir.
The use o f t h e de i n t h e one case was l i k e l y
caused by an e r r o r o f a t t r a c t i o n from t h e " d e l " * s p r e c e d i n g , r a t h e r t h a n b e i n g a use j u s t i f i a b l e
by meaning.
The examples o f s e r p l u s a, s e r p l u s de., and s e r p l u s the i n f i n i t i v e a l o n e , a r e most l i k e l y analogous t o t h e t h r e e usages o f haber, e x c e p t i n g t h e l a s t case, i n w h i c h p r e p o s i t i o n a l meaning i s f e l t when t h e i n f i n i t i v e guardar
i s used a s
the s u b j e c t i v e complementjof t h e c o p u l a . S i n c e when one does something a g a i n , one " r e t u r n s t o do i t " , a s i s t h e l i t e r a l meaning o f t o r n a r ( o r modern v o l v e r ) , the use o f a b e f o r e t h e i n f i n i t i v e i s most r e a s o n a b l e and i t i s a l m o s t
indeed,
c e r t a i n t h a t t h e p r e p o s i t i o n was o r i g i n a l l y
employed t o convey a t h e n v e r y n e c e s s a r y meaning, and has been k e p t t o t h i s day.
The c o n t r a s t i n g t o r n a r de most proba-
b l y o c c u r r e d through a n a l o g y t o t h e common usage o f t h i s p r e p o s i t i o n a t the time,
i i n analogous e x p l a n a t i o n c o u l d be s u r -
mised f o r t h e c o n f l i c t i n g usage o f u s a r , s i n c e when one i s accustomed t o something, one i n c r e a s e s one*s p r o x i m i t y t o i t , figuratively
speaking.
The use o f v e r p l u s an i n f i n i t i v e i s , i n one sense, t h e same t y p e o f c o n s t r u c t i o n a s those g o i n g b e f o r e .
However, i t
must be a d m i t t e d t h a t i n some way, t h e " d e e p - s t r u c t u r e " meaning i s of a d i f f e r e n t category;
The i n f i n i t i v e f o l l o w i n g v e r
76 must n e c e s s a r i l y be the d i r e c t o b j e c t o f the v e r b , and mustshow i t s own s u b j e c t .
An i d e n t i c a l s i t u a t i o n w i l l o c c u r f o r
t r a n s i t i v e v e r b s w h i c h e x p r e s s the r e c e i p t o f a s e n s o r y a c t i o n , f o r example, o f r , o r s e n t i r .
AS
mentioned i n i t i a l l y , t h e f o r e g o i n g does n o t p r e t e n d
to be a comprehensive a n a l y s i s o f o l d usage, n o r does i t p u r p o r t t o e x p l a i n t h o r o u g h l y the r e a s o n s f o r t h e growth o f t h i s usage.
R a t h e r , i t i s d e s i g n e d t o s e r v e as an
illustra-
t i o n o f b o t h , and an i n d i c a t i o n o f how t h e t o p i c can be approached, n o t from a s t r i c t l y d i a c h r o n i c , o b j e c t i v e v i e w p o i n t , but from one i n w h i c h t h e i n d i v i d u a l s p e a k e r s sense and 7
ing
feel-
f o r h i s own language would have appeared t o p l a y a major
r o l e , and i n w h i c h i d e a s - the p r e p o s i t i o n a l concept i n p a r t i c u l a r - a r e r e s p o n s i b l e f o r word and s t r u c t u r e c h o i c e , and i f and when t h i s i d e a i s no l o n g e r f e l t , the c o n s t r u c t i o n i s l i k e l y t o change as w e l l .
CHAPTER I I I - FOOTNOTES 1) H e s c o t t , p. 37 2) I b i d , pps. 37/38. The r e f e r e n c e s t o t h e m a n u s c r i p t s a r e h i s , and a r e i d e n t i f i e d on pps. 3$/39 °f H e s c o t t . 3) " P o r medio de e s t e g i r o se expresa l a f a l t a de c u m p l i m i e n t o de a c c i d n d e l i n f i n i t i v o . Ya eso es c a r a c t e r i s t i c o d e l p r o p i o e s p a r t o l . " H e s c o t t , p. 37.. 4) The m a t e r i a l i s adapted from H e s c o t t , pp. 77 e t seq.; t h e uses o f t h e p r e p o s i t i o n s and t h e q u o t a t i o n s c i t e d are. h i s , and a r e i d e n t i f i e d on h i s p. 85. 5) "Se uso mucho e l a c u s a t i v o como complemento de v e r b o s t r a n s i t i v o s : Unctionem hanc u t e b i s . Y P e t r o n i o e s c r i b e : P e r suadeam t e (por t i b i ) • . . ( E ) l d a t i v o se c o n s e r v d ma's tiempo que e l g e n i t i v o . S i n embargo, ya desde PLAUTO se t i e n d e a • s u s t i t u i r l o p o r e l a c u s a t i v o con ad: AD me magna n u n t i a v i t . . . D e t r a s de l o s v e r b o s de movimiento se ponia~ad o i n con a c u s a t i v o : Eamus IN forum." S i n t a c t i c a , pps. 18/11?. 6) A l l e n ,
p. 291
7) A S c i t e d by H e s c o t t , p. 79,
(23).
8) Lenz, R., La O r a c i d n y sus p a r t e s , Centro h i s t d r i c o s , M a d r i d , 1935., p. 403.
de E s t u d i o s
Compare a s w e l l t h e r e l a t i v e n u m e r i c a l s u p e r i o r i t y o f " a " t o "de", a s seen i n C h a p t e r I Y , page 96. 9) H e s c o t t , p. 80. 10) "The p o e t s and l a t e r w r i t e r s use t h e g e n i t i v e w i t h a l m o s t any a d j e c t i v e t o denote t h a t w i t h r e f e r e n c e t o w h i c h t h e quality exists (Genitive of s p e c i f i c a t i o n ) : -""Callidus r e i m i l i t a r i s " , "pauper aquae", "notus a n i m i p a t e r n i " , " f e s s i rerum", " i n t e g e r v i t a e s c e l e r i s q u e purus". The G e n i t i v e o f S p e c i f i c a t i o n i s an e x t e n s i o n o f t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n w i t h a d j e c t i v e r e q u i r i n g an o b j e c t o f r e f e r e n c e , (those) d e n o t i n g d e s i r e , knowledge, memory, f u l n e s s , power, s h a r i n g , g u i l t , and t h e i r o p p o s i t e s . . . " A l l e n , pps. 216/17. 11)
A number o f v e r b a l a d j e c t i v e s have a l s o been i n c l u d e d , since the construction- v e r b a l a d j e c t i v e + p r e p o s i t i o n + i n f i n i t i v e i s analogous t o the c o n s t r u c t i o n verb+prepositidn+inf i n i t i v e , w i t h w h i c h we a r e p a r t i c u l a r l y concerned. A v e r y t h o r o u g h t r e a t m e n t o f t h i s i s s u e can be found i n B e a r d s l e y , W.A., I n f i n i t i v e C o n s t r u c t i o n s i n O l d S p a n i s h , A M S P r e s s I n c . , New-York, .1966. Dr. B e a r d s l e y has made a comprehensive i n v e s t i g a t i o n i n t o b o t h t h e documented usages o f v e r b p l u s p r e p o s i t i o n p l u s i n f i n i t i v e , and t h e r e l a t i v e
78 frequency of these occurrences. I t s h o u l d a l s o be p o i n t e d out, however, t h a t a l t h o u g h h i s s t i p u l a t e d i n t e n t i s t o " s e r v e n o t o n l y as a s y s t e m a t i c r e c o r d o f t h e f a c t s i n t h e case, but a l s o and e s p e c i a l l y as an a i d i n the comprehension of modern phenomena i n t h e l i g h t o f t h e i r o r i g i n and h i s t o r i c a l r e l a t i o n s " ( p . x i ) , and a l t h o u g h i t would seem t h a t he has d e f i n i t e l y r e a l i z e d h i s aim, he a l s o i s concerned w i t h t h e "what" r a t h e r t h a n t h e "why". He does n o t r e a l l y attempt t o a s c e r t a i n the semantic, p s y c h o l o g i c a l , o r other p o s s i b l e reasons i n t h e minds o f t h e p e o p l e , w h i c h would have l e d t o t h e k i n d o f l i n g u i s t i c s i t u a t i o n p r o d u c i n g t h e various l o c u t i o n s evidenced. 12) See B i b l i o g r a p h y , sub verbum. 13) Men. P i d a l , pps. 12 e t s e q . 14) I b i d , pps. 32-50. 15) See B i b l i o g r a p h y , sub verbum. 16) See B i b l i o g r a p h y , sub verbum.
CHAPTER. IV H a v i n g l o o k e d b r i e f l y a t v a r i o u s usages o f v e r b s w i t h p r e p o s i t i o n p l u s i n f i n i t i v e i n t h e o l d e r f o r m o f t h e language, l e t us now c o n s i d e r t h e s i t u a t i o n o f modern S p a n i s h , and attempt t o a n a l y s e o u r f i n d i n g s i n t h e l i g h t o f t h e c o n t r a s t . The m a j o r i t y o f t h i s i n f o r m a t i o n w i l l be p r e s e n t e d i n t h e form o f a paradigm, upon w h i c h some d i s c u s s i o n w i l l
follow.
The t a b l e a t t e m p t s t o i l l u s t r a t e a v a r i e t y o f p o i n t s , 1 a r r a n g e d i n f o u r major s e c t i o n s , each c o n t a i n i n g f o u r
columns.
The s e c t i o n s show r e s p e c t i v e l y , v e r b s w h i c h n o r m a l l y t a k e t h e p r e p o s i t i o n " a " , t h o s e w h i c h r e q u i r e "de", t h o s e f o l l o w e d by some o t h e r p r e p o s i t i o n - "con", "en", " p a r a " , " s i n " , o r "sobr.e", o r by "que" - and those w h i c h govern an i n f i n i t i v e
directly,
w i t h o u t t h e use o f a p r e p o s i t i o n . The l e f t - h a n d column shows t h e p r e p o s i t i o n a l p r e f i x i n herent w i t h i n the verb.
This information w i l l serve t o point
out some c o n t r a s t s w h i c h "occur when a p r e f i x d e r i v i n g from one c a t e g o r y o f p r e p o s i t i o n , forms p a r t o f a v e r b w h i c h uses a d i f f e r e n t t y p e o f p r e p o s i t i o n b e f o r e an i n f i n i t i v e ; i t a l s o i l l u s t r a t e s a n o t h e r use o f t h e s e p a r t i c l e s w h i c h has s u r v i v e d i n a d i f f e r e n t environment from t h a t o f t h e independent preposition.
F o r t h e purpose o f f a c i l i t a t i n g t h i s c o n t r a s t , t h e
p r e f i x e s w i l l n o r m a l l y be shown i n t h e f o r m o f t h e S p a n i s h p r e p o s i t i o n t h a t t h e y have become, and w i l l appear i n l o w e r case; e x c e p t i o n s a r e t h o s e w h i c h have no d i s t i n c t
derivative
i n t h e p r e p o s i t i o n a l l e x i c o n o f t h e modern language, f o r example, OB, and AD> a t o d i s t i n g u i s h i t f r o m AB; t h e s e w i l l be w r i t t e n i n upper case.
80 The
second column g i v e s an a l p h a b e t i c a l l i s t i n g
of
v e r b s r e q u i r i n g the p r e p o s i t i o n s p e c i f i e d a t the head of each s e c t i o n , l i s i n the p r e v i o u s
c h a p t e r , a few v e r b a l a d j e c -
t i v e s a r e i n c l u d e d , i n o r d e r t o note analogous c o n s t r u c t i o n s of i n t e r e s t .
T h i s l i s t p r e t e n d s o n l y t o be exemplary: i t i s
not t o be viewed as a complete o r t h o r o u g h c o m p i l a t i o n o f Spanish
A great
grammar r e l a t i n g t o v e r b s and p r e p o s i t i o n s . 2
many more i n s t a n c e s might have been i n c l u d e d , but the number chosen s u f f i c e s f o r the purpose. t o the v e r b l i s t :
One
f i n a l point with
p r e p o s i t i o n s enclosed w i t h i n
regard
parentheses,
f o l l o w i n g the v e r b , i n d i c a t e a l t e r n a t e c o n s t r u c t i o n s , t o be found under the a p p r o p r i a t e s e c t i o n j an
(x) a l l u d i n g t o the
s e c t i o n o f v e r b s r e q u i r i n g no p r e p o s i t i o n . The
t h i r d column c o n s i s t s of e t y m o l o g i c a l i n f o r m a t i o n
concerning
the v e r b s .
i n d i c a t i n g the
LATIN
Etymons shown are f o r the purpose o f to Spanish
composition
o f the words,
u s u a l l y with p a r t i c u l a r i n t e r e s t to p r e p o s i t i o n a l p r e f i x p l u s r o o t word.
No a t t e m p t has=been made t o i l l u s t r a t e a l l
s t e p s i n the d e r i v a t i o n o f the S p a n i s h words, f o r which.one .v s h o u l d r e f e r t o Corominas, D i c c i o n a r i o , as i n the b i b l i o g r a p h y . V e r b s whose p r e f i x c o n s i s t s o f a form o f the p r e p o s i t i o n DE t e n d t o m a i n t a i n the meaning o f the p r e p o s i t i o n i n the f i x , t h a t .is, e i t h e r i n i t s s t a t i c or k i n e t i c aspect r a t i o n or pseudo-genitive, However,- the c o m b i n a t i o n
pre-
of sepa-
f o r example d e c i d i r , depender.
.of DE and EX i n some way,
t o form a
p r e f i x , conveys the i d e a o f n e g a t i o n o r r e f u t a t i o n , f o r example d e s p r e n d e r s e , d i s c u l p a r s e .
The
p r e f i x IN- s i g n i f i e s
the
81 negation and
or r e f u t a t i o n o f the root
i s written
form
i n upper
case
t o which i t i s attached,
to d i f f e r e n t i a t e i t from the
IN > e n w h i c h i n d i c a t e s p o s i t i o n . The
fourth
whenever t h i s demonstrate Following analysis
column c o n t a i n s
word i s c o g n a t e
t h e many
the four
the French equivalents
ito t h e S p a n i s h - i n o r d e r
interesting contrasts
sections
o f the l i s t
which
will
be. a
o f t h e forms
cited.
these
as w e l l , ' examples o f v e r b a l
to
occur. statistical
Note:{In taking
prepositions
discussed tions
tables
are occasionally
lustrate
S i m i l a r l y , as
i n C h a p t e r I T , page 104-, some o f t h e v e r b a l
shown a r e f o l l o w e d
finitive.
cited.
adjectives
Both these
by a s u b s t a n t i v e
constructions
the development
rather
locu-
than an i n -
have been i n c l u d e d
to i l -
o f analogous usage i n the language.
82
TABLEI - VERBS- REQUIRING THE PREPOSITION "a" a AD AD XAD
AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD
abalanzarse abandonarse acoeder acercarsa acertar (cos) aconodarse acostumbrarse adelantarse adorar (en) aficionarse (de) agarrarse (de) agaardarse ajustarse alcanzar alentar (para) allanarse animarse antic iparse aplicarse aprender apresurarse arriesgar arrojarse asistir aspirar atinar atreverse autorizar (para) avenirse • aventurarse avezarse ayudar bastar (para) caer ceder
afcbalanzar c VjL. *BILANCIA Fr. < Frankish bandon (+a=AD) ACCEDERE < AD+CEDERE AD+G_)RCA AD+CERTIS+Basque influence AD+COHMODUS AD+CONSUETUDINE AD+DE+IK+AKTE ... AD+ORARE
AD+AFFICERE
a'abandonner £ acceder a s'accomoder de s'accoutuner a s'avancer vers adorer
AD+GARFA:, A 1
AD+Y/ARDON
AD+*JTJXTARE AD+*IHCALCARE *ALENITARE < AHHELARE AD+PLANUS AN IMA ANTICIPARE AD+PLICARE AD+PREHENDERE :
AD+PRSSSTJRA
AD+RESECARE AD+RUSSEUS ASSISTERE < AD+SISTERE ASPIRARE < AD+SPIRARE • DESTHAREtio(n"a^"orbv"aea ")pparent contradicAD+TRIBUERE SIBI *AUCTORICARE ADVENTUS AD*VEHTURA AD+VITIUM ADJUTARE < AD+JDVARE •EASTARE CADERE CEDERE '
antic iper s'appliquer a. apprendre a, s'empresser de risquer de assister a aapirer a. autoriser. a. s'aventurer a aider a ceder a
COM COM CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON DE DE DE,EX,AD DE DE en en en EX EX EX EX
33 : cogerse COLLIGERE < CUM+LIGERE corneasar *COMINITHRE c con+INITIARE comparar (con) COMPARARE < CUM+PARARE comprometerse con+PROMITTERE! condenar con+DAMNARE confiar (en) •CONFIDAEE sM
PRAE
alentar (a). cf. alentar a autorizar (a) cf.autorizar a bastar (a) • cf.bastar a bueno (de) of.bueno de convidar (a) cf. convidar a destinar (a) ' cf. destinar a esforzarse (a,por) .• cf. esforzarse a estar. (por) ' STARE invitar (a) cf. invitar a luchar- (por), ' LUCTARI necesario (a) cf. necesario a NUMERARE presto (a) cf! presto a . propio (a,de) cf.propio a
autoriser a , bon "a inviter a d e 3 t i n e r
a.
s'efforcer de 3tre pret a. inviter a. lutter pour necessaire a nommer a pret a. propre a
93
pronto (a) pugnar (por) quedarse (a,en,por) sentarse (a) servir (de,x)
cf. pronto a PUGNARE cf. quedarse a cf. sentarse a cf. servir de
acabar (de,con) afanarse (en) apurarse conoluir (de) deoidirse (a,x) deshacerse (de) desvivirse diseulparse (de) ' esforzarse (a,para) estar (para) hacer (de,x) impacientarse incomodarse (de) inquietarse (con,de) interesarse (en) luchar (para) mirar morirse optar preguntar (x)
cf'. acabar de . cf. afanarse en a + PDRU cf. concluir de cf. decidirse a cf. deshacerse de des + vivir
