Revue Romane. Langue et littérature. International Journal of Romance Languages and Literatures - Volume 55, Issue 1, 2020

Abstract

The goal of this article is the analysis of the empirical properties of change of state verbs which do not specifiy lexically the dimension where change operates – such as aumentar ‘increase’, reducir ‘reduce’, acrecentar ‘increase’ –, and also to examine the theoretical consequences that this class has for our understanding of argument structure, the distinction between light and non-light predicates and the interconnection of structural and conceptual semantics. We will show that these verbs, which we label ‘adimensional predicates’ are sharply different from prototypical change of state verbs, and we argue that their existence supports a distinction between the syntactic structure of a verb of change of state and the conceptual operation that anchors the change to a specific cognitive domain.

Abstract

The morphemes such as the French au or the Italien nel are designed by different terms in grammars of Romance languages, which shows that it is difficult to identify the lexical category of this type of fusional morpheme. The aim of this paper is to propose a detailed analysis of these contracted forms. I suggest that the fusion occurs during a secondary grammaticalization. This process involves, on the one hand, the definite article, i.e. a grammatical element, and, on the other hand, some prepositions which, semantically, can be functional or lexical but which function syntactically as grammatical elements. The analysis shows that case inflection of nominals has been transferred to the preposition while the other categories appear in the article which merged with prepositions. Therefore, the fusional forms can be considered as prepositions marked by the grammatical categories of gender, number and definiteness.

Abstract

This study investigates the diachrony of the Italian expression non c’è problema ‘no problem’ when used as a response marker (e.g., Tottie 1991; Ward 2006) to establish if it represents a case of language change (Milroy, 1992: 171). If on the one hand, the expression was indeed reported to be a neologism by Radtke in 1990, a careful exploration of the relevant literature on the other has revealed that a diachronic, quantitative and pragmatic investigation of its distribution has not been conducted yet. Methodologically, the study conducts lexicographic, quantitative and qualitative analyses over a range of historical and contemporary dictionaries and corpora and it performs statistical significance tests, such as the Log Likelihood and the Fisher’s exact test. The results will reveal not only that this marker started to be used in 1977, but also that today, it is the response marker preferred by language users, thus qualifying as a case of language change. Furthermore, by analysing the diachronic distribution of no problem in English, the article will also explore the possibility that English may have been the source language for such change.

Abstract

For the first time, we analyze in detail the reading that Pedro Salinas makes of a series of relevant anthologies for the history of contemporary Spanish poetry: the two anthologies of Gerardo Diego (1932–1934) and the anthologie of Federico de Onís (1934), among others. Also, we study his theoretical reflection about this genre, which is always supported in these “criticism with simpathy” that he claims.

Abstract

This article investigates the role of translation and rewriting in Julián Ríos’s first novel Larva. Refusing to be read in a linear manner, including thousands of plays-on-words and more than 20 languages besides Spanish, Larva breaks many linguistic, literary and discursive codes. It also displays close links with translation as it constantly moves from one language to another. The influence of translation and rewriting in the novel is analyzed from contemporary approaches to Ríos’s views on literature (e.g. Kristeva, Riffaterre) with an aim of understanding how they shape Larva’s main narrative structures and writing processes. Finally, the case of Larva leaves the door open for questioning the principles of originality and creation in (heterolingual) literature.

Abstract

This paper aims at reading Hergé’s major work in the light of Sloterdijk’s theory of spheres and Agamben’s reflexions on adventure in order to examine the place and function of the island in the adventures of Tintin, a hero without insulation. Much attention is given to the boundery topology of adventure in our discussion of the ontological transitions (human, animal) taking place on the threshold between in and out and of their anthropogenetic significance. We defend that every adventure story is a variation on the anthropogenetic one, and that Hergé and Sloterdijk diverge on the matter of island and insulation.

This article reviews Los autores como lectores. Lógicas internas de la literatura española contemporánea

This article reviews Le français en diachronie. Dépendances syntaxiques, morphosyntaxe verbale, grammaticalisation