Universal Sentence Structure
－A Realization in Spanish－
（English version of SAKAI Yuuko, Yojigen ninshiki no bun kouzou－Supeingo no baai－,
Tokyo: Liber Press, 2006）
Special thanks to Liber Press for the consent to show this work on Web.
SAKAI Yuuko
Tokyo University of Technology
School of Media Science
15 May, 2008
Contents
Contents…………………………………………………………………………..…………i
Preface………………………………………………………………………………………vi
Chapter 1
Cognition and Language……………………………………………………..1
Chapter 2
Cognition of Space-Time and Sentence Structure………….......………….3
Chapter 3
Components of a Sentence….………………………………………………..6
3.1 Subject
3.2 Direct Object
3.3 Indirect Object
3.4 Verject
Chapter 4
Latent Components………………………………………………………….12
4.1 Latent Subjects
4.2 Latent Direct Objects
4.3 Latent Indirect Objects
4.4 Latent Verjects.
4.5 Multiple Latency
Chapter 5
Parts of the Sentence………………………………………………………….23
5.1 Nouns…………………………………………………………………………….…...23
5.1.1 Proper and General Nouns
5.1.2 Physical and Mental Nouns
5.1.3 Qualifier Morphemes
5.1.4 Quantifier Morphemes
5.1.5 Locator Morphemes
5.1.6 Nominals
5.2 Adjectives…………………………………………………………………………….32
5.2.1 Physical and Mental Adjectives
5.2.2 Qualifier Adjectives
5.2.3 Quantifier Adjectives
5.2.4 Locator Adjectives
5.2.5 Morphemes of Adjectives
5.2.6 Pre-Nominal and Post-Nominal Adjectives
5.2.7 Adjectivals
１
5.3 Ad-Adjectivals…………………………………………………………………..……40
5.4 Verbs…………………………………………………………………………….……44
5.4.1 Physical and Mental Verbs
5.4.2 Dynamic Verbs
5.4.3 Static Verbs
5.4.4 Transitive and Intransitive Verbs
5.4.5 Time Locator Tense
5.4.5.1 Simple Tense
a. Present
b. Past: Point Past
: Line Past
c. Future
5.4.5.2 Perfect Tense
5.4.6 Qualifier Tense
5.4.7 Indicative and Subjunctive Qualifier
5.4.7.1 Simple Tense
5.4.7.2 Perfect Tense
5.4.8 Subject Markers
5.5 Adverbs……………………………………………………………………….….……69
5.5.1 Physical and Mental Adverbs
5.5.2 Qualifier Adverbs
5.5.3 Quantifier Adverbs
5.5.4 Locator Adverbs
5.5.5 Morphemes of Adverbs
5.5.6 Adverbials
5.6 Ad-Adverbs……………………………………………………………………….……81
5.7 Prepositions…………………………………………………………………….………83
5.8 Clause Markers………………………………………………………………..….....…85
5.9 Conjunctions……………………………………………………………………………87
5.10 Relation among the Parts of the Sentence…………………………………….………90
Chapter 6
Substitutes of the Parts…………………………………………………...…….92
6.1 Referential Substitutes…………………………………………………………….……92
6.1.1 Referential Pronouns
6.1.2 Referential Pro-Adjectives
6.1.3 Referential Pro-Ad-Adjectives
6.1.4 Referential Pro-Verbs
6.1.5 Referential Pro-Adverbs
6.1.6 Referential Pro-Ad-Adverbs
6.1.7 Referential Pro-Complements
ii
6.2 Interrogative Substitutes……………………………………………………………..104
6.2.1 Interrogative Pronouns
6.2.2 Interrogative Pro-Adjectives
6.2.3 Interrogative Pro-Ad-Adjectives
6.2.4 Interrogative Pro-Verbs
6.2.5 Interrogative Pro-Adverbs
6.2.6 Interrogative Pro-Ad-Adverbs
6.2.7 Interrogative Pro-Complements
6.3 Relative Substitutes……………………………………..……….……………………109
6.3.1 Relative Pronouns
6.3.2 Relative Pro-Adjectives
6.3.3 Relative Pro-Ad-Adjectives
6.3.4 Relative Pro-Verbs
6.3.5 Relative Pro-Adverbs
6.3.6 Relative Pro-Ad-Adverbs
6.3.7 Relative Pro-Complements
6.3.8 Omission of Antecedents
Conclusion…………………….……………………………………………………………….120
Notes……………………….….……………………………………………………………..…122
Abbreviations……………….………………………………………………………………....133
References………………….………………………………………………………………..…135
iii
Preface
The goal of this study is to present in outline a linguistic theory based on the view that the nature
of language is to express cognition, especially in relation to sentence structure. The hypothesis that
language is a natural product of cognition and reason, both of which characterize human beings, is
neither novel nor original but has been accepted extensively. For example, Johann Gottfried Herder
insisted as follows.
“Precisely the understanding, through which the human being rules over nature, was the father
of living language, which it abstracted for itself from the sounds of resounding beings as
characteristic marks for distinguishing!” (1772: 99)
“The human being is a freely thinking, active being, whose forces operate forth progressively.
Therefore let him be a creature of language!” (op. cit.: 127)
However, as far as I know, this hypothesis has not yet been explained in relation to concrete
language in spite of various efforts in the long history of linguistic study.
In ancient Greece Plato attempted to explain the form of language through its content in his
Cratylus. But he could only find incidental relations between concrete form and content –
'etymology' at the level of words and 'sound symbolism' at the level of sounds. He failed to abstract
all phenomena and merely noted some characteristics of his native language. Learning from Plato's
failure Aristotle ignored the relation between the form and content of language, and dedicated
himself to studying the form of language in poetics and rhetoric (he also studied the content of
language in logic and categories, but as an elaboration from the form of language). And he took the
lead in the formal study of language, an approach which is still predominant not only in traditional
grammar but also in structural and generative linguistics.
Those who studied Aristotle's categories and logic, which did concern the content of language,
carried on Plato's attempt. These attempts included the speculative grammar of the Scholastics such
as the grammar of Thomas of Erfurt (1350), and the logical grammar of Port Royal (Arnauld, C.,
and Lancelot, A. 1660). The intention of speculative grammar was to expound the form of language
in correspondence with Aristotle's categories. But as these categories are based on the classification
of predicates, speculative grammar involved the contradiction of explaining language with language
(later, Émile Banveniste (1966) repeated the same attempt and ended up facing the same
contradiction). Logical or rational grammar resorts to the formal logic of Aristotle, but logic is also
derived from the formal classification of predicates. Therefore, logical grammar involved the same
contradiction as speculative grammar.
After the age of great exploration, and the attendant observation of the many types of language of
the world, Wilhelm von Humboldt (1836) attempted to account for the formal variety of language
based on the variety of minds or the mind’s contents. He thought that a superior mind generated a
superior language. On that account, his theory took the form of linguistic discrimination setting the
iv
Greek at the top of the hierarchy. After Humboldt, Hermann Paul (1880) proposed to explicate the
variety of language on the axis of time based on evolutionism. But his proposal led to nothing more
than the historical enumeration of languages as various phenomena.
Against Paul's temporal enumeration of languages Ferdinand de Saussure (1916) insisted on the
synchronic study of language in Europe. The same proposal was presented also in America by
Edward Sapir (1921) against the evolutionism of Humboldt and for the cultural anthropology of
Franz Boas (1964). As both Saussure and Sapir regarded language rather as a given means of
communication, they did not try to explain language as a product of mental activity but to describe
language as it is at present. And they developed the formal and structural linguistics of Aristotle.
Aware of the limits of descriptive linguistics, Noam Chomsky (1964) reevaluated the
explanatory goals of logical grammar and of Humboldt. He proposed to construct a theory which
explains all languages in their universality. It may be the case that the form once organized begins
to prescribe the content, as Sapir and Benjamin L. Whorf (1956) said. However, form itself should
have been prescribed by content in the first place. Sapir and Whorf's remarks are a matter of
secondary concern after the generation of language. In the process of generation content takes
logical precedence over form. Consequently, a linguistic theory should explain phenomena or forms
in relation to contents which prescribe forms. Chomsky (1965) included a semantic component,
which was excluded in Chomsky (1957), accepting in part the logical claim of generative semantics
that content precedes form. But content was merely additional even in the revised theory, in which
the semantic or interpretative component is secondary to the syntactic or formal component.
Inverting the logical order of content and form, Chomsky's theory never explains linguistic
phenomena but only describes them with the simplest symbolization. Because his symbols are no
more than a form of rewriting, as he himself correctly describes it, of concrete elements, we cannot
find any abstract reason there. No matter in what form his theory consists, Chomsky's grammar is a
simple description of a given language, which never comes to explain the generation of that
language.
Nevertheless, if we want to explain language scientifically, we cannot renounce Chomsky's goal
inherited from Plato. As all phenomena are caused and guided by their essence or nature, the
beginning and origin of logic must be the essence. For example, any explanation of the chemical
phenomenon of water is to be based on its essential definition as a chemical compound of hydrogen
and oxygen: H2O. The essence or what it is, prescribes the phenomenon or how it is. In order to
clarify the reason for the generation of language, we have no other ground than the essence. This
leads us to suppose that the essential definition of language is as an expression of cognition. Some
may say that the essential definition of language is as a means of communication. However, from
the point of view of the generative process of language, a language is formed when it expresses
cognition. As a language consists of both meaning and form, it comes into existence when they are
combined. Therefore, we have to start from cognition however difficult it may be to capture.1
In the first chapter we will look at the relation between cognition and language
starting from the standpoint of cognition. We will look back at how language has been
generated by physiological processes. In Chapter 2 we will see how cognition prescribes
v
language, namely, what the form of cognition should be. In Chapter 3 we will see how
the concrete structure of a sentence relates to the structure of cognition. Though our
focus is on Spanish in this thesis, our intention is not to describe Spanish grammar but
to examine the nature of the structure of sentences realized in Spanish as an example.2
In Chapter 4 we try to explain the variety of sentences based on the structure of
cognition. Chapter 5 deals with what kinds of parts are necessary to compose a
sentence, particularly a Spanish sentence. Additionally, we account for the Spanish
parts of speech. In Chapter 6 we explicate the notion of substitutes. There we see the
reason why Spanish sentences need substitutes and show how substitution is realized.
Finally, we conclude with some prospects for future research. *
* I express my sincerest thanks to my colleague Christopher Paul Brocklebank, who
has corrected my Japanese English patiently and generously. Without his help I could
not submit this paper. All remaining inaccuracies are the author's.
vi
Chapter 1
Cognition and Language
While empiricists say that we cannot know without seeing, rationalists say that we can know
without seeing if only we think. Though they both have good reasons for their points of view, the
question we need to ask relates to logical order. This ancient problem is to be solved by observing
carefully the process of cognition.3 Physiology tells us that the only entrance from the outer world
to our mind is, as the empiricists tell us, the senses. However, as we can look at a thing without
knowing what it is, simple perception by the senses does not necessarily lead to cognition.
Information perceived all over the body is synthesized to reconstruct the object in the mind. The
reconstruction of the object is not sufficient for cognition, because we can imagine an object as a
whole without knowing what it is. At this moment we can call the object by a proper name, which
does not distinguish one thing from another. For example, we can give a proper name to a strange
animal without knowing its species. So, we can give the same proper name either to a man or to a
dog. Proper names can be devised infinitely, or at least as many as the number of persons or things.
Consequently, proper names cannot be regarded as a part of language that expresses cognition.
When an object is categorized as a member of the same species according to its distinctive
features, we come to know what it is. To know a thing is to classify it or place it in a finite set,
which means to evaluate it in relation to others. To keep infinite things under control, we should
name them by enclosing them in a finite domain. Given a common name, the object can survive in
the memory and be ready to be taken out on demand.
We form cognition after a dialogue with another ego or its equivalent in our mind, which means
reflection or consideration. Thus, cognition presupposes the existence of two persons in one's mind,
because to have objectivity one needs another to see oneself from outside.4 And to talk with the
other, we need common names between the two. The names formalize and approve cognition. In
this sense, we may say that language is a product of reflexive dialogue by means of reason. If
communication is deeply entwined with the generation of language, it is not a matter of
communication between speaker and hearer after the generation of language, but between ego and
another ego inside the speaker. While not all language is communication, all language should be
considered word by word, even though it may appear that we are speaking without thinking.
Language is indispensable for conceptualizing things and we cannot think without language. From
this it follows that language is the realization of cognition. As content requires a form to exist in
this world, cognition takes the form of language.
With regard to the way of cognition Georg W. F. Hegel (1817, §46) says as follows.
To be cognizant, however, means nothing else but the knowledge of an ob-ject according to
its determinate content. A determinate content, however, contains a manifold connection within
itself and is the basis for connections with many other ob-jects.
1
To recognize a thing is to determine a thing in ‘a manifold connection within itself,’ which ‘is the
basis for connections with many other ob-jects.’ Of this manifold connection we can distinguish
two kinds: syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations, using Saussure’s terms. The former is the
relation with other co-occurrent members, and the latter with no co-occurrent or alternative
members. And these cognitive relations necessitate grammar and lexicon in a language. The
grammar makes explicit the role of a word in a sentence or the inner relation of a sentence. The
lexicon presents another possibility for a sentence or the outer relation of a sentence. Both
grammatical and lexical relations are indispensable for recognizing a thing, because a thing exists
in relation to both tangible and potential members. The categorization needed to reduce infinite
things to a finitude is based on repetition, which makes the use of syntagmatic rules unavoidable.
And based on the rules, things are categorized paradigmatically in the lexicon. Because to
recognize means to categorize, language has rules for categorization and the categorized stock of
words.
Out of physiological necessity language is expressed in sounds. Our physiological contact with
the outer world is controlled by voluntary muscles for respiration and digestion, which are highly
developed through adaptation to our outside environment. A human being, as an animal, cannot live
without interacting with nature, not only in the physical sense but also mentally. Before holding
matter in his hands, man captures the surroundings in his mind, which is cognition expressed in
language in the form of sound utilizing the same voluntary muscles. Without using any other
special organs we develop our muscles to make various sounds, the production of which does not
impede other activity with the hands or labor.
Other animals can also communicate necessary, life-preserving information to members of their
society in sounds or in some another way. However, these sounds are not linked to cognition but
are passive and dependent responses caused by outside stimuli. A human speaks as a result of
cognition, which amounts to a positive and autonomic grasp of nature in his mind. Remaking
another world in his own mind, a human being takes possession of the whole world. Cognition is
another name for the labor of capturing or dominating nature, including his or her own instinct. As
the conquest of instinct signifies reason, rationalists may well say that we know through reason. So
then, we may say that language is a product of reason, in the sense of a fight against instincts.
Therefore, we may say that language is properly human and distinguishes humans from other
animals. An animal which begins to walk on its two legs comes to capture and dominate nature not
only in its hands but also in its mind. An animal which is poorer at living according to nature
chooses a way against nature to live on its own account. In the fight against nature language
emerges as evidence of the victory, freedom and independence of human beings. Language is not a
passive and inorganic imitation of the world but a positive and organic product of the human mind.
Thus we say that language is a necessary process of reflection by reason, which is properly human.
What causes language is nothing more than the very human activity of cognition. This is the reason
why we should begin a theory of language not with the form of language but with cognition.5
2
Chapter 2
Cognition of Space-Time and Sentence Structure
We recognize a thing after seeing a real thing. We can even think of things which we have never
perceived. However, cognition of unknown things depends on analogy with things which we have
experienced. Based on reality, cognition may be far from reality, because it develops from reality.
Development free from reality characterizes the human mind in its fight against nature. Therefore,
cognition cannot be a perfect copy of reality. But cognition can be faithful to reality, and this is
called truth, whereas cognition far from reality is called falsehood. An unintentional falsehood is an
error, a falsehood with ill intentions is a slander and a falsehood with good intentions is a
euphemism.
A falsehood is a deformation of reality rather than a total invention. Whatever may be the
relation between cognition and reality, all cognition is based on perception of the outer world. We
may say that all cognition starts with perception of a thing, and it follows from this that the
structure of cognition must reflect what the thing is in the outer world. To know the structure of
cognition we need to observe the structure of the physical world.
In present-day science it is generally assumed that in our perceptible world a thing exists in
four-dimensional space-time. That is to say, a thing occupies three-dimensional space and
one-dimensional time. If time forms a line, it has two extremes; the beginning and end. As time is
invisible, the two extremes are recognized as two things, without either of which we can neither
qualify nor quantify time. For example, when we see a boy a few years after previously seeing him,
the two present and past figures enable us to recognize time. As time goes by, things change. When
it does not change, it is also a static state of change. In this meaning time is a synonym of 'change.'
We recognize a change by making a comparison between two things, before and after the change.
The two things at both ends of time or change are axial parties in the structure of the four
dimensions. When there are parties concerned, there must be a third party, in distinction from
which the parties concerned stand out. As a matter of course a change causes interests, both
advantageous and disadvantageous, which always arise in the third party. The four dimensions
cannot be a simple addition of three and one but a whole structure in which time relates the three
things, the two parties concerned and the third party. Specifically, these three things, which each
occupy three-dimensional space, are linked and related by one-dimensional time or change, which
begins at the first party and ends at the second party.
Space and time, the beginning and end, the parties concerned and the third party, all these in
antithesis presuppose the existence of each other. Neither of them is recognized without the other.
To recognize a thing means to relate it with the other things in four-dimensional structure.
Therefore, all cognition should be composed of this complete four-dimensional structure, which can
be represented as in FIGURE 1.
3
FIGURE 1
The Four-Dimensional Structure of Cognition
S2
S1
T
S3
S1：Thing in Space at the Beginning of Time
S2：Thing in Space at the End of Time
T：Time or Change
S3：The Third Thing in Space
This four-dimensional structure may be expressed as a line such as that in Formula 1. But no
special order is observed here, because the four-dimensional structure is captured as a whole in
relativity and there are many ways to project it as a line (The same can be seen in all the following
Formulas 1-5, because they are based on four-dimensional relativity).
FORMULA 1
Cognition of the Four-Dimensional Structure
Cognition = S1 + T + S2 + S3
If a thing is composed of quality and quantity and situated in space-time, all the attributes of a
thing should belong to the quality, quantity or location in space and time. Therefore, the attributes
are QUALIFIERS or QUANTIFIERS, or what may be called spatial and temporal LOCATORS. As a change
is realized in a thing, the same can be seen in the attributes of a change or time, which are also to be
ascribed to quality, quantity, and spatial and temporal location. Consequently, all components of
the four-dimensional structure, the three things and time, have extension of quality and quantity in
spatial and temporal locations.6
4
FORMULA 2
Analysis of the Four-Dimensional Elements
S1/S2/S3/T=Quality + Quantity + (Spatial + Temporal) Location
When language expresses cognition, we will be able to find a correspondence between the units
of cognition and language. While cognition or a thought is expressed in a sentence, the unit of
cognition and language should be a sentence. A word picked up at random from a dictionary does
not express a thought, if it is not a part of a sentence. One word can be a sentence provided that it
can be restored to its original sentence. As a word is a part of a sentence, it does not make sense
when its role is not determined. When language is expression of cognition, consisting of four
dimensions as a whole, the minimum unit of language is nothing more than a sentence. Minor
classes such as words, morphemes, syllables, sounds etc. are merely parts of language.
Consequently, the structure of cognition should correspond to that of sentences. The first thing
recognized at the beginning of time, S1, is expressed in the subject. The change or time, T, is
expressed in the verb, using the traditional term. But when the verb is a part of speech the same as a
noun, adjective, adverb etc., the logical category requires another name, for example,
VERJECT. The
end of the change, S2, is expressed in the direct object and the third party, S3, in the indirect object.
According to the structure of cognition symbolized in Formula 1, the structure of sentences can
be represented as in Formula 3 (we will look at predicative complements later in 5.5.6.).7
FORMULA 3
Expression of the Four-Dimensional Structure
Sentence = Subject + Verject + Direct object + Indirect object
The subject, direct object and indirect object are expressed as nouns, and the verject as a verb.
Then nouns and verbs are extended as modifiers based on Formula 2. In other words, all the
modifiers of both nouns and verbs are attributed to the four elements.
FORMULA 4
Expression of the Analysis of the Four-Dimensional Elements
Noun/Verb=Modifiers of Quality
+ Modifiers of Quantity
+ Modifiers of (Spatial + Temporal) Location
5
Chapter 3
Components of a Sentence
The sentence structure shown in Formula 3 and its extension shown in Formula 4 are deduced
from the necessity of cognition. These formulas should be present in any language, as far as
language is an expression of cognition, and they should be induced from all languages. A theory is
an attempt to explain reality, which proves and develops the theory. However, in this short paper
our intention is to sketch the theory, and as an example we will try to explain some Spanish
sentences with these formulas.
3.1 Subject
In (1a) the subject 'I' initiates the change 'watch.' The subject in (1b) 'you' begins a static state
without change. As a standstill is a state of motion at zero degree, changelessness is also a state of
change. Therefore, although the degree is zero, the change also starts with the subject 'you.' Even
when the change is reactive, that which initiates the change is a subject (1c).
(1) a. Yo miro las revistas viejas. (HF: 85)
I watch the reviews old
'I watch the old reviews.'
b. Es usted un hombre extraordinario. (ZA: 102)
are you a man extraordinary
'You are an extraordinary man.'
c. Bautista recibió a Fermín riéndose. (AL: 471) Note８
Bautista received to Fermín-ACC laughing-himself-ACC
'Bautista welcomed Fermín laughing.'
One might say that a passive sentence has two subjects: grammatical and logical. However, when
grammar expresses logic, and as there can neither be grammar without logic nor logic without
grammar, grammatical and logical subjects must be identical. In (2a) the so-called logical subject
with 'by' is not a component of the sentence but a qualitative modifier of the verb, which appears
second. In the passive the change, which has already been completed, causes the subject to attain
the quality of a static attribute expressed as a past participle. The change is dynamic in active
sentences (2a), and static in passive sentences (2b). The passive sentence indicates no change after
a change, which may be expressed by the corresponding active sentence. As the active and passive
sentences are based on the same reality, they are composed of almost the same words.
Notwithstanding, they are different sentences because they express different cognitions from
different points of view. When cognition and language are inseparable, logic and grammar are also
inseparable. Consequently, a sentence has only one subject, which is grammatical and logical at the
6
same time.
(2) a. El personero era nombrado por el consejo municipal. (MH: 79)
the procurator was named by the council municipal
'The procurator was named by the municipal council.'
b. El consejo municipal nobraba el personero.
the council municipal named the procurator
'The municipal council named the procurator.'
All these examples show that time or change begins with the appearance of a subject, which is a
component that initiates time or change and the whole cognition. The subject precedes all the other
components, it does not have any preposition and it is marked in the suffix of the verb. These
formal characteristics also bespeak the primacy of the subject in a sentence.9
3.2 Direct Object
In (3a) the change 'open', which began at the subject Pura, ended at the direct object 'the
wardrobe.' In the same way, the change 'took off' and 'brought', which began also at Pura, ended at
the direct object 'a coat hanger.' In (3b) the thought that 'we have to eat,' which did not exist before
the change 'say,' emerges and ends with the change 'say.' Clauses with the same appearance can also
be seen with verbs like contar 'to tell,' preguntar 'to ask,' pedir 'to beg' etc. Similarly in (3c) the
immanent change 'think,' which begins at the subject, gives rise to 'that he had gone to Vietnam,'
which was absent before 'I thought.' Changes such as 'to tell,' 'to ask,' 'to think' etc. emerge from
nothing. Meanwhile, the direct object of (3d) 'a room' is present before the change 'they-showed',
and the room itself apparently does not change after being shown. Yet the room after being shown
becomes 'the room shown by them' and obtains a new quality. After being shown, a new relation
arises between the room and the subject 'they,' and this relation is a new quality of the room. In like
manner, the direct object of (3e) 'a letter' does not change after being received. However, the letter
now is 'the received letter' and it gains a new quality through having a relation with the subject.
(3) a. Pura abrió el armario, descolgó una percha y la trajo hasta la cama. (FI: 15)
Pura opened the wardrobe took off a coat-hanger and it brought to the bed
'Pura opened the wardrobe, took off a coat-hanger and brought it to the bed.'
b. Y yo te digo que tenemos que comer (ND: 244)
and I to-you say that we-have that to eat
'And I tell you that we have to eat.'
c. Yo creí que sí había ido a Vietnam. (ME: 32)
I thought that yes he- had gone to Vietnam
'I thought that he had certainly gone to Vietnam.'
d. A Silvestre le señalaron un cuarto con una cama. (FV: 63)
to Silvestre him they-showed a room with a bed
7
'To Silvestre they showed a room with a bed.'
e. Recibí una carta de Elvira. (EV: 94)
I-received a letter from Elvira
'I received a letter from Elvira.'
When the change is partial, the thing indicated by the direct object exists from the beginning. For
example, in (4a), at the moment when the subject el médico 'the doctor' indicates the beginning of
the time, the direct object caballo 'horse' is already there. On the other hand, when the change is a
total production of something, it does not exist until the end of the change. In (4b) the direct object
un bocinazo 'a honk' does not exist till the change da 'gives' is accomplished. To wit, the existence
of the direct object at the beginning of the time depends on whether the change is partial or total. 10
(4) a. El médico ató su caballo a un castaño (NR: 99)
the doctor tied his horse to a chestnut
'The doctor tied his horse to a chestnut tree.'
b. El chófer da un bocinazo (CN: 111)
the driver gives a honk
'The driver sounds his horn.'
In short, a direct object indicates the end of the time whatever may be its lexical meaning. The
change initiated by the subject does not go farther than the direct object, which undergoes the
change. Looking at the form, the direct object comes after the verb, because it is the end of the
change. Except for animate direct objects with the preposition a 'to' to distinguish them from the
subject, direct objects come after subjects without prepositions, because they present the secondary
thing of a sentence.
3.3 Indirect Object
The change may be advantageous for the indirect object as in (5a), disadvantageous as in (5b) or
indefinite as in (5c). When the indirect object is identical with the subject, it is not worth uttering
because the interest is naturally that of the subject itself. Nevertheless, when the redundant
reflexive indirect object is realized, the interest, whether advantageous or disadvantageous, of the
subject is emphasized as in (5d).
(5) a. ¿No me podría abrir esas cortinas? (ZA: 81)
not for me you-could open those curtains
'Could you open those curtains for me?'
b. ¿Te he hecho daño? (FI: 89)
to you I-have made harm
'Have I harmed you?'
c. Me han dicho que tienes grandes projectos. (SV: 15)
8
to-me they-have said that you-have big projects
'They have told me that you have some big projects.'
d. Los mosquitos se
han
llevado la carne.
the mosquitos for-themselves have taken
the flesh
The mosquitos have bitten the flesh. (AI: 353)
Most of the indirect objects are animate, because the interest is usually most marked when it
arises in the person as we have seen in (5a-d). However, we can also come across inanimate
indirect objects, whose interest is indefinite, as in (6a-b).
(6) a. Los chavales le estarán sacando brillo al puchero. (AL: 248)
the lads it-DAT will-be getting-out glint at-the cooking-pot
'The lads will be making the cooking pot shine.'
b. Le
puse
un forro al
it-DAT I-put-p. PAST a
jacket
libro.
to-the book.
I put a jacket on the book. (YY: 424)
When the direct object moves in space, the interest accrues at the starting or arrival point. In this
case, the indirect object is similar to the spatial locator adverb. In (7a) the direct object su manta
'his blanket' moves from subject (Zito) to indirect object position. Therefore, the indirect object
indicates not only the interest caused by the donation of the blanket but also the place where the
advantageous interest arrives. Conversely, in (7b) the indirect object indicates the starting point and
the interest is disadvantageous. The distinction depends not only on the meaning of the sentences in
(7a-b) but of the preceding sentences in (7c). In (7c) the indirect object te may mean 'from you' or
'for you' as in both cases the indirect object may have the interest. But in this particular case it
means the former in the context of the preceding sentences.
(7) a. Zito le echó su manta. (AL: 251)
Zito to-him threw his blanket
'Zito threw his blanket to him.'
b. Federico le quitó el cubilete. (EV: 153)
Federico from-him removed the dice-box
'Federico took the dice box from him.'
c. Te compro el caballo. (NR: 164)
from-you /(for-you)-DAT I-buy the horse
'I’ll buy the horse from you/ (for you).'
When the interest is the topic, the indirect object is indispensable and usually repeated with
pleonastic pronouns, as in (8a-b) below. In particular, when the direct object is absent, the indirect
object linked directly with the subject stands out as the only animate thing with free will in the
9
sentence (8b).
(8) a. No me interesan esas cosas. (HE: 40)
not me-DAT interest those things
'Such things don't interest me.'
b. A ella se le ocurrió ir a Villabona, (ZA: 83)
to her itself-ACC to-her-PLEO.DAT it-occurred to-go to Villabona
'She took it into her head to go to Villabona.'
When time is one dimensional, there is no room for anything else besides the two parties
concerned. In this case, though influenced by the change, an indirect object is the third party. The
indirect object comes after all the other components and always with a preposition different from
the subject and direct object, because it indicates the third party of the sentence. One may also note
the diversity of the prepositions it occurs with: a 'to,' para 'for,' de 'from,' suggests its marginality.11
3.4 Verject
The logical category verject is exclusively expressed in verbs. Therefore, the characteristics of
the verject are identical with those of verbs, as we will see later in 5.4. In this section we will look
at the verject mainly in relation to other components. In (9a) the change expressed in the verject is
in spatial location, which is generally called movement. The verject moví 'I-moved' indicates a
movement begun at the subject 'I' and ended at la cabeza 'the head'. In (9b) the change is in mental
activity. The verject miraba 'was-watching' indicates a mental change, which begins at Luis Colina
and ends at el periódico 'the newspaper'.
(9) a. Moví
la
cabeza en sentido negativo. (ND: 73)
I-moved the head
in sense negative
'I shook my head.'
b. Luis Colina miraba el periódico. (EV: 153)
Luis Colina was-looking the newspaper
'Luis Colina was looking at the newspaper.'
The verject, whose substance is a verb, always implies the person and number of the subject.
And it may combine with the direct and indirect object pronouns in the affirmative imperative
(10a), in the infinitive (10b) and in the gerund (10c). This agglomeration of all components in a
verb shows the centrality of the verb in a sentence:
(10) a. Díselo a su mujer, (CN: 39)
you-say-to-her-it to your wife
'Tell it to your wife.'
b. Me cuesta explicárselo. (ME: 177)
10
to-me costs to-explain-to-you-it
'It is difficult for me to explain it to you.'
c. El torero se tomó el chato de vino brindándoselo a Juan Rodrigo. (AL: 143)
the bullfighter for-himself had the glass of wine toasting-to-him-it to Juan Rodrigo
'The bullfighter drank the glass of wine in a toast to Juan Rodrigo.'
As it links the subject and direct object, the verb may be restricted by them. There are certain
verbs whose subjects are restricted: ladrar 'to howl,' balar 'to bleat', croar 'to croak' etc. Being the
other extreme of the time, the direct object may also restrict the verb: anclar: echar anclas 'to
anchor,' hojear: pasar las hojas 'to turn the pages', cenar: tomar la cena 'to dine' etc. But we do not
see any verbs restricted by the indirect object, because this is the third party of the change.
The change which begins at the subject and ends at the direct object is expressed in a verject
which relates and mediates all the three substantive components. When the three-dimensional
things have some relation with one another, it should be in the fourth dimension called time, which
is expressed in the verject. That is to say, the verject is the only component in a sentence to express
time, change or relationship in the four-dimensional structure.12
11
Chapter 4
Latent Components
If the four dimensions are correlative and inseparable, every sentence ought to have the complete
structure mentioned above. Neither space without time nor time without space can be recognized.
In the same way, the beginning and the end of time, the parties concerned and the third party, and
the quality and the quantity cannot be recognized without the existence of each other. As all these
oppositions presuppose the existence of each other, they consist only in relativity.
When we find the same relativity in a sentence, it must not lack any of the components. Every
sentence should be provided with all the components.13
Nevertheless, a sentence with all components is rather rare and most sentences lack some of
them. A sentence adds new information to old. Therefore, a sentence contains some old repeated
parts, which are to be omitted. When we speak, we make use of all the perceptible things around us.
It is somewhat theatrical to nominalize a visible thing, whose expression is also to be omitted.
Furthermore, for its subtlety and accuracy language may be the best way to express cognition, but it
is not the only way. There is no reason why we have to express all cognition in language. When we
think and express cognition with full use of the whole body, we do not bother to pronounce
unnecessary words. On that score, it is quite natural that a sentence does not always show the
complete structure. A complete sentence is redundant, unnatural, and troublesome, and so it may
not be frequent. When a sentence lacks some component, there must be some reason for this lack,
and it is this that we shall look at in the next section.
4.1 Latent Subjects
In a sentence the speaker and hearer are always determined, even when they are definite.
Consequently we always refer to them with pronouns, which is akin to omission. Moreover, as
Spanish verbs have six kinds of conjugation (three persons, each in the singular and plural) the
subject in first and second persons is redundant and emphatic in Spanish. In (11a) the subject yo 'I'
need not be expressed by a pronoun, as it is expressed in the suffix of the verb -o in Quiero. If a
subject is the same as that of the antecedent sentence (like Emilio in (11b)), it may not be repeated
even by a pronoun. In contrast to English the absence of a subject does not indicate an imperative
but is a characteristic of repetition in Spanish. Also in this case the conjugation, by expressing the
person and number of the subject, always facilitates ellipsis. Even if the subject is not expressed in
words, it may be latent with the help of the actual senses or memory. The subjects of Spanish
imperatives are of four kinds: second or third person, singular or plural. Because of this, when we
know the subject through the conjugation and by situational clues, it is latent as in (11c).
(11) a. Quiero decir que es un amigo, (AM: 66)
I-want to-say that he-is a friend
12
'I mean that he is a friend.'
b. Emilio no decía nada, había bajado los ojos. (EV: 125)
Emilio not said nothing he-had lowered the eyes
'Emilio didn't say anything; he had lowered his eyes.'
c. Olvídalo. (MH: 174)
you-forget-IMPER-2nd PERS-SING-it
'Forget it.'
Secondly, the subject disappears when the choice of a possible subject is limited, and able to be
supposed without any previous information. As que 'that' nominalizes the following sentence, we
can easily substitute the sentence for a conceptual noun according to its content. When the
conceptual nouns have low semantic contentl, such as la verdad 'the truth', el caso 'the fact', lo que
pasa/ocurre 'what happens' etc., they tend to be latent as in (12a-b).
(12) a. (La verdad) Es que son matrimonio. (FI: 25)
(the truth) is that they-are married-couple
'The truth is that they are a married couple.'
b. (El caso) Es que los ratones más chiquititos se llevan el queso (MH: 23)
(the case) is that the mice most tiny for-themselves bring the cheese
'The fact is that the tiniest mice make off with the cheese.'
Thirdly, when the subject is indefinite, we do not presume to express a provisional subject. The
subject is not recovered but suggested by the conjugation (13a-b). When the subject is definite, we
use the verb tener as in Tenemos grandes puertas. 'We have big doors.' or Tengo que saberlo. 'I
have to know it'. But, when the subject is indefinite, we use haber 'to have,' which is unusual as a
main verb (13c-d). To mark the impersonality of the subject, we make use of the synonymous verb.
(13) a. Llovía, hacía frío (ZA: 91)
it-was-raining it-was-making cold
'It was raining, it was cold.'
b. Llamaron al tetéfono (FI: 116)
someone-PL-called at-the telephone
'The telephone rang.'
c. Hay grandes puertas, todas cerradas. (AL: 510)
one-has big doors all closed
'There are big doors, all closed.'
d. Hay que saberlo. (EV: 104) 14
one-has that to-know-it
'One has to know it.'
13
Fourthly, there are cases in which the latent subject overlaps with the verb. For example, as the
subject of the verb ventear 'to blow' is always el viento 'the wind', it is always latent as in (14a). The
same can be supposed also in llover 'to rain' such as in (13a) or similarly with nevar 'to snow' and
tronar 'to thunder' etc., because, for example, the subject of llover appears only when it is not the
rain as in (14b).
(14) a. Afuera... (el viento) venteaba. (ZA: 86)
outside (the wind) was-blowing
'Outside… the wind was blowing.'
b. Aquel año llovieron los problemas en mi casa. (LR: 1024)
that year rained the problems in my home
(literally) 'That year the problems rained in my home.'
The subject of the verb hacer 'make,' whose direct object indicates the time, is a clause marked
with the conjunction que 'that' (15a). The
CLAUSE MARKER
que, whose absence makes ambiguous
the grammatical relations, is hardly ever latent in Spanish. Nevertheless, the exclusive and
characteristic use of the verb hacer in this construction admits the omission of the unstressed
marker at the beginning of the sentence (15b). Therefore, as the verb and direct object resemble an
adverb phrase, the verb accepts a solecistic preposition (15c), and the subject is lost in the phrase
(15d).
(15) a. Hace dos días que ha regresado de Málaga. (AL: 380)
it-makes two days that he-has returned from Málaga
'He has returned from Málaga two days ago.'
b. (que) Manolo Grande se cayó a un pozo hace un par de semanas, (DC: 56)
(that) Manolo Grande himself-ACC fell into a well it-makes a couple of weeks
'(that) Manolo Grande fell into a well a couple of weeks ago.'
c. (que) Sonaron disparos hasta hace poco. (MH: 216)
(that) sounded shots until it-makes little
'The shots sounded until a short while ago.'
d. Villarrubias de hace dos años. (AL: 394)
Villarrubias of it-makes two years
'Villarrubias of two years ago'
4.2 Latent Direct Objects
The direct object is latent, when it is understood by the actual senses or in the memory. In (16a)
the thing to be opened is known in the situation. Also, when a pronoun is understood, it is inclined
to be omitted, as in (16b).
(16) a. No querían abrir (la puerta). (FV: 104)
14
not they-wanted to-open (the door)
'They didn't want to open (the door).'
b. No (lo) sé. (MH: 123)
not (it) I-know
'I don't know (it).'
Mathematically there can be two kinds of relation between two things: the two are identical or
not. As we recognize things according to their distinctive features, identity is as well the base of
cognition or classification of things. And we can naturally find these fundamental relations between
the two extremes of time, or between the subject and the direct object. Therefore, verbs should be
classified into two types based on this distinction. In some verbs the subject and direct object are
not identical and in the others they are identical. Traditional grammar classifies verbs into two
types: transitive and intransitive. We cannot find any reason to think that the traditional
classification of verbs has nothing to do with the mathematical relations between the subject and
direct object.
The direct object of a transitive verb is never identical with the subject. On the other hand, we
cannot find any intransitive verbs which have a direct object not identical with the subject. And we
can recognize as intransitive verbs reflexive verbs whose direct object is identical with the subject.
However, some intransitive verbs do not have direct objects. Nevertheless, provided that every
sentence has a direct object, we can find the mathematical dichotomy in the distinction of the
transitive and the intransitive, whose direct object can be latent for some reason. More specifically,
we can suppose that in the transitive the change initiated by the subject affects the non identical
direct object, and in the intransitive the change works on the identical direct object even though it is
latent. The intransitive tends to lose its direct object because being identical with the subject it is
redundant. Meanwhile, the transitive tends to express it because it is neither redundant nor identical
with the subject. The presence and absence of a direct object is a superficial distinction caused by
an essential distinction, one which lies in the identity of the subject and direct object. So then, the
transitive may not have the direct object, while the intransitive may have it as the occasion
demands.
If a verb may be both transitive and intransitive, the direct object is necessary to make explicit
the distinction. In (17a) the direct object surfaces because without it we cannot recognize the direct
object as being different from the subject. In (17b) the direct object is obligatory because without it
we cannot know that it is identical with the subject. The former can be omitted according to the
situation, as in (16a-b), but the latter cannot be omitted because it must be distinguished from the
former.
(17) a. Natalia levantó un poco el visillo. (EV: 13)
Natalia raised a little the short-curtain
'Natalia raised the short curtain a little.'
b. Martín ... se levantó de la mesa (ZA: 102)
15
Martín himself-ACC rose from the table
'Martín got up from the table.'
But, if a verb is exclusively intransitive, the direct object is non-obligatory because of its identity
with the subject (18a), and the presence of the redundant direct object emphasizes the end of the
change and the change itself. Therefore, the exclusively intransitive verbs with direct objects, many
of which indicate autonomous or self-affecting movement, are emphatic. We can utilize this
emphasis to derive another verb with a slightly different shade of meaning. For example, in (18c)
the subject is presupposed to return some time, but not in (18d) (for further discussion of transitive
and intransitive verbs see 5.4.4).
(18) a. Mi autobús sale dentro de unos minutos. (CN: 12)
my bus departs within of some minutes
'My bus departs in a few minutes.'
b. me salí a saltos del portal. (EV: 188)
myself-ACC I-left at jumps from-the porch
'I jumped off the porch.'
c. Hoy voy, mañana me quedo. (DC: 19)
today I-go tomorrow myself-ACC I-stay
'Today I'll go, tomorrow I'll stay.'
d. Oye, yo también me voy. (AL: 521)
listen I also myself-ACC go
'Listen, I'll also go away.'
Secondly, when the choice of possible direct objects is limited and easily understood, it need not
be expressed. As something written for someone is nothing more than a letter, it is not expressed in
(19a). As we ordinarily assume what is to be paid is money, it is not expressed in (19b).
(19) a. ¿Pero no te escribe (la carta)? (EV: 199)
but not you he-writes (the letter)
'But he hasn't written you (the letter)?'
b. Martín pagó (el dinero) al posadero, (ZA: 122)
Martín paid (the money) to-the innkeeper
'Martín paid (the money) to the innkeeper.'
Thirdly, the direct object is lost when it is indefinite. It is not worth expressing a direct object
which does not indicate a specific thing. Due to the lack of a direct object the verbs in (20a-b) are
regarded as intransitive verbs in traditional grammar. However, because a knife never cuts itself
and a wind never blows itself, they are transitive verbs which affect something that is not identical
with the subject. Consequently, the essential difference of (20a-b) from (20c-d) is not in the
16
disappearance of the direct object but in the identity of the direct object with the subject.
(20) a. Estos cuchillos cortan (cualquier cosa) demasiado. (LR: 401)
these knives cut (any thing) too (well)
'These knives cut (any thing) too well.'
b. Sopla el viento (todas las cosas) (CN: 67)
blows the wind (all the things)
'The wind blows (all the things).'
c. Los dedos le responden seguros cuando corta los billetes. (AL186)
the fingers to-him respond sure when he-cuts the tickets
'The fingers surely respond to him when he cuts the tickets.'
d. Sopla el polvo de la mesa. (SM: 1486)
he-blows the dust of the table
'He blows the dust from the table.'
Fourthly, the direct object is non-obligatory when it overlaps with the verb. For example, in
(21a-b), as the direct object has a common stem with the verb, a repetitive direct object is
redundant. However, when the direct object is limited by some modifiers, it appears because the
verb by itself is not enough to express the limitation (21c):
(21) a. Alguien cantó (una canción). (RC: 60)
someone sang (a song)
'Someone sang (a song).'
b. porque no vivimos (la vida) en la Edad Media. (AL: 529)
because not we-live (the life) in the Age Middle
'because we don't live in the Middle Ages.'
c. ¡Yo quiero vivir mi vida! (UH: V-12, 141)
I want to-live my life
'I want to live my life!'
4.3 Latent Indirect Objects
First, the indirect object is latent when it is understood by the actual senses or in the memory. In
occasional circumstances it is recognized, as in (22a-b).
(22) a. Diga (me). (FI: 147)
you-tell-IMPER (me)
'Tell (me).'
b. Pregunto por los talleres (a alguien) (CN: 48)
I-ask for the workshops (to someone-DAT)
'I ask (someone) about the workshops.'
17
Second, when the indirect object is limited and easily supposed, we do not express it, as may be
seen in (23a-b):
(23) a. Mosén Millán (me) parecía muy fatigado. (RC: 38)
Mosén Millán (to-me-DAT) seemed very tired
'Mosén Millán seemed very tired (to me).'
b. ¿Damos unas manos (a él)? (DC: 73)
we-give some hands (to him)
'Shall we help (him)? '
Third, when the indirect object is indefinite, it is not worth uttering. In (24a) the indefinite direct
object indicating the inhabitants is implicit on account of the presence of space locators such as allí
'there', aquí 'here' and en Madrid 'in Madrid', which suggest their inhabitants. The same can also be
seen in the space locator en el pueblo 'in the village' in (24b).
(24) a. Allí nunca tuve miedo (a todos), pero aquí, en Madrid ... (AL: 578)
there never I-had fear (to all) but here in Madrid
'There I was not afraid (of everybody), but here, in Madrid...'
b. En el pueblo, el rasgo de don Anselmo causó una feliz impresión (a todos), (NR: 14)
in the village the look of don Anselmo caused a happy impression (to all)
'In the village, the looks of Don Anselmo caused a happy impression (on all),'
As we have already seen in (5d), the indirect object identical with the subject is redundant.
Therefore, reflexive indirect objects seldom appear except for emphasis. However, indirect objects
are indispensable when they are with direct objects indicating a part of or an attachment of the
body. Such indirect objects tell us explicitly whom the change affects and to whom the direct object
belongs, as in (25a-b).
(25) a. Se limpió la nariz irritada por el insecticida. (MH: 45)
for-himself he-cleaned the nose irritated by the insecticide
'He wiped his nose, which had been irritated by the insecticide.'
b. Se quitó las gafas. (FI: 42)
from-herself she-removed the glasses
'She took off her glasses.'
Unlike the subject and direct object the indirect object does not overlap with the verb, because it
is the third party outside of the line of time. The indirect object appears less frequently than the
subject and direct object, also because it is the third party, to which less attention is paid.
Additionally, and possibly for the same reason, the indirect object has less motivation to be omitted
18
than the subject and direct object. This facility for disappearance means at the same time the facility
for appearance. Therefore, we hardly ever find sentences which never accept the indirect object.
Even a static and changeless sentence such as (26a) may have an indirect object. The same facility
causes duplication of the indirect object. That is, there are sentences which allow two kinds of
indirect object, while the same is never seen with the subject or direct object. The example sentence
(26b) has another indirect object phrase para ti 'for you' besides the dative pronoun me 'to me'. The
former indicates the receptor of the interest and the latter, similar to the spatial locator adverb,
locates the direct object. Also in (26c) the first dative al pan del pobre 'at the bread of the poor',
which is pleonastically repeated in the pronoun le 'to it', locates the direct object mordiscos 'bites'
and the second dative se 'for themselves' indicates the receptor of the interest.
(26) a. ¿No te es simpático? (EV: 129)
not to-you-DAT he-is nice
'Isn't he nice to you?'
b. ¡Padre me ha dado dinero para ti! (HE: 71)
father to-me-DAT has given money for you
'Father has given me money for you.'
c. Al pan del pobre no se le dan mordiscos (AL: 248)
to-the bread of-the poor not for-themselves to-it-PLEO-DAT they-give bites
'They don't take a bite at the bread of the poor for themselves.'
4.4 Latent Verjects
First, when the same verject is repeated, the second is usually latent. In (27a) the parallel
construction of the two sentences leads to the absence of the same verb.
(27) Estuvieron en la terraza interior, él (estuvo) en la hamaca. (MH: 106)
they-were on the terrace interior he (was) in the hammock
'They were on the interior terrace, he (was), in the hammock.'
Second, the verject is latent when it is limited. Copulative verbs, which express the static and
changeless state of things, need not be expressed given a noun with or without modifiers as in
(28a). In (28b) the main verb deseo 'I want' is dispensable, because the clause marker que 'that' and
the subjunctive verb venga 'to come-SUBJ' presuppose its existence (this omission leads to a form
identical with the imperative as we see later in 5.4.7.1).
(28) a. (Eso es) Buena idea. (ME: 225)
(that is) good idea
'(That is) a good idea.'
b. Y (deseo) que se venga rápido. (FI: 112)
and (I-want) that yourself-ACC you-come-SUBJ quickly
19
'And (I want you to) come quickly.'
As time is not perceptible directly, it is impossible to understand the verject through our actual
senses. The verject cannot be indefinite, because it defines the whole change. On that score, the
negation of the verject implies the negation of the whole sentence. Being the only synthetic
temporal expression and, therefore, having the least motivation to be omitted, the verject is the most
persistent of all the components.15
4.5 Multiple Latency
Combination of omissions may bring about one word sentences. In contrast to single words
picked at random from a dictionary, the one word left in a sentence suggests all the other parts of
the sentence. There are many one verb sentences in Spanish because their conjugation always
indicates the subject. Furthermore, affirmative imperative verbs may carry all the other
components, as we have seen in (10a). Minimally, one word sentences may consist of various parts
of speech: not only verbs (29a), but also nouns (29b), adjectives (29c), adverbs (29d) and
conjunctions (29e). However, as prepositions are required to distinguish following nouns, they
cannot be found as one word sentences.16
(29) a. ¡Vamos! (ZA: 78)
we-go
'Let's go! '
b. (es) Verdad. (DC: 41)
(it-is) truth
'Of course.'
c. (es) Cierto. (ME: 43)
(it-is) certain
'Certainly.'
d. Adelante. (FV: 70)
ahead
'Come in.'
e. ¿Entonces? (NR: 144)
then
'So?'
Our observations so far suggest to us the following Formula 5 to capture the latency of a
sentence.
20
FORMULA 5
Sentence = (Conjunction)
+ (Subject) + (Modifiers)
+ (Verject) + (Modifiers)
+ (Direct object) + (Modifiers)
+ (Indirect object) + (Modifiers)
Condition: Each element can be latent, but at least any one of them must be expressed.
That is, in every sentence, big or small, the maximum sentence is understood, but each element
can be latent depending on necessity. However, at least any one of the elements must remain to
show the existence of the sentence. Thus, we can regard all sentences from the essential point of
view that a sentence expresses four-dimensional cognition. Apparent possible sentences are as
follows.
TABLE 1
Apparent sentences
Full components
1. S V
DO
IO
(+Modifiers)
3 Patent Components
2. (S) V
DO
IO
(+Modifiers)
3. S
(V) DO
IO (+Modifiers)
4. S V （DO） IO (+Modifiers)
5. S V
2 Patent Components
6. (S) (V) DO
7. (S) V
(DO)
8. (S) V
DO
9.
DO)
S
10. S
1 Patent Component
(
(V
(V) DO
(DO
(IO)
IO
IO
(+Modifiers)
(+Modifiers)
(+Modifiers)
(IO) (+Modifiers)
IO
(+Modifiers)
(IO) (+Modifiers)
IO) (+Modifiers)
11. S
V
12. S
(V
DO
IO) (+Modifiers)
13. (S) V
(DO
IO) (+Modifiers)
14. (S
0 Patent Components
DO
V) DO (IO) (+Modifiers)
15. ( S V
DO ) IO (+Modifiers)
16. ( S V
DO
IO) +Modifier(s)
) : Latent Component
The word order of the full sentence is based on order in Spanish. However, not all of the word
order types above are basic, because verbs in Spanish sentences sometimes come at the beginning
before the subject. For this reason, SV (in 11.) is less frequent than VS, and in 5. VSDO or VDOS
are also frequent, especially when S or DO consists of many syllables. In addition, the interrogative
substitutes come first of all, whatever the component may be. Furthermore, word order is variable
in each particular language, languages being classified in some instances such as SVO languages, in
21
others as SOV languages etc. This variety of word orders is attributed to the variety of ways of
projecting a four-dimensional structure to the one-dimensional (temporal) line of language.
Components may be distinguished by two principle means, either spatial or temporal. The
temporal means to distinguish the components is word order. As we utter the words on the temporal
line, the order is a matter of time. On the other hand, the spatial distinction refers to what we
pronounce in space, which may be words or morphemes with cases, inflections, prepositions,
postpositions etc. The combination of morphemes is in turn related to time. In short, what and when
we pronounce them distinguishes the components. From this it follows that language or sentences
are variable within the limits of space-time both in substance and in form.
22
Chapter 5
Parts of the Sentence
In order to appropriate the infinite world in our finite minds, the world must be crushed, using
Hegel’s terms, into parts, which enable recyclable and productive reconstruction of the world.
Thus, as the four-dimensional cognitive structure is composed of parts, so should a sentence, which
expresses cognition, be composed of parts as well. The articulation of cognition requires the
articulation of language, which means that language consists of finite syllables and words to
produce infinite sentences. When form is prescribed by content, the parts of the sentence should be
explained by the four-dimensional structure. It is these relations that I should like to consider in this
chapter.
The parts of the sentence in this study are nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, clause
markers (see 5. 8) and conjunctions, with the additional modifier parts,
AD-ADVERBIALS.
AD-ADJECTIVALS
and
We do not count interjections and articles as parts for the following reasons.
Conventionally an interjection is related to cognition, but the relation is not categorical. For
example, ah 'ah' may express not only 'I am happy' or 'I am surprised' but also 'I am angry', 'I am
sad' or 'I am disappointed'. They are passive responses to external stimuli common to all animals,
but not the active cognition characteristic of human beings. We can exclaim without knowing what
caused us the sensation. It seems for that reason that interjections do not take part in the structure of
cognition but are separated from it. An interjection is not a part of the sentence, if it is does not
substitute for some part.
Though articles modify nouns, they do not express certain quality, quantity or location. Because
of this, articles do not have proper meaning but their meaning depends on the preceding adjectives.
Accordingly we regard them as substitutes, which we will look at further in 6.1.2. Therefore, it is
proper to recognize six fundamental parts of the sentence, with the two additional parts of
ad-adjectivals and ad-adverbials.
5.1 Nouns
When a sentence expresses the four-dimensional structure outlined in previous chapters, it should
have a part to express a three-dimensional thing. In Spanish, as in many other languages, this is the
noun.17
When a thing consists of quality and quantity and occupies a space and time, a noun should
consist of quality, quantity and spatial and temporal location. For example, the noun manzana
'apple' contains qualities such as red, round, sweet, acid etc., it has an adequate quantity as an apple
and it is located in some space-time. The noun pueblo 'people' requires the feature of a certain
quantity, the cima 'top,' that of the spatial location and the noche 'night,' that of the temporal
location. Thus, all the distinctive features of a noun should be ascribed to these four elements. But a
noun does not have any part used to locate itself relative to present time, which a verb has as a
23
tense. Because of this, we may say that a noun expresses a three-dimensional thing without location
in relative time.
5.1.1 Proper and General Nouns
Among nouns we can distinguish
PROPER
and
GENERAL NOUNS.18
Excluding incidental cases, a
proper noun refers to only one thing or person, and this means that proper nouns identify concrete
things but do not classify or relate them to other things. On the other hand, the members of a set
indicated by a general noun are infinite, and general nouns do not identify but classify and relate
things in abstraction. For instance, we can call a man Paco as well as a dog. We can call him by
name but the name does not tell us what he is. The name indicates the thing as a whole on a given
occasion. If we gave proper nouns to each thing, there would be so many accidental nouns beyond
the capability of our memory. Conversely, a general noun evaluates a thing according to difference
and similarity. Things referred to by the same proper noun may have nothing to do with one
another, but things of the same general name are of the same class. We abstract a general concept
from concrete and proper things in the form of language. While proper nouns indicate concrete and
real entities, general nouns indicate general concepts abstracted from concrete things. Things are
concrete and proper, some of which are named by proper nouns because of intimacy, but language
is abstract and general. Abstraction and concreteness are not separated categorically but abstraction
generalizes and includes all the concrete and proper things; for example, the general noun persona
'person' implies all the proper names Juan, María, Pedro etc. Consequently, all the proper nouns
are concrete nouns, and all the general nouns are abstract nouns. This generalization is just what we
do in language and that is cognition. Consequently, to classify or recognize a thing, the noun must
be general, which implies all the things that meet the features. While proper nouns indicate directly
each concrete thing, general nouns express cognition abstracted from concrete things. And because
of the absence of abstraction, generalization or cognition, we cannot regard proper nouns as
language.
A proper noun can be a part of language only when it is substitutable for a general noun. If we do
not know whether the proper noun indicates a man or town or river, the thing is not recognized and
not expressed in language.19
5.1.2 Physical and Mental Nouns
As all the things we perceive through our five senses are real entities, all general or abstract
nouns are based on reality. For example, we cannot express the color of ultraviolet rays. Even
concepts like paz 'peace' are abstracted from real things: laughing children, singing birds, flowers in
bloom etc. From this it follows that language presupposes the real world and all nouns are based on
reality.
According to the process of cognition, at first nouns are based on physical perception, and these
we may call
PHYSICAL NOUNS.
Then physical nouns may develop into
MENTAL NOUNS,
which are
introduced by mental activity.
Proper nouns are physical, because they directly indicate concrete and unique things including
24
persons. Also, general nouns like manzana 'apple' are physical, because they generalize directly
perceptible things. But general nouns like paz 'peace' are mental, because they are developed from
physical perception by mental activity. To be precise, so called concrete nouns are physical and
abstract nouns are mental.
Traditionally physical nouns are called concrete nouns, and mental nouns, abstract nouns.
Notwithstanding, both 'apple' and 'peace' are abstract and conceptual, as far as they are items of
language. At the same time, as concepts are obtained from concrete reality, we may say both of
them are based on the concrete things. On that score, their distinction does not lie on the choice of
concreteness or abstraction but on the development of cognition, i.e. from the physical to the
mental.
A noun consisting of only one attribute is mental, because the generalization does not indicate
each physical thing with the attribute. For example, the qualifier nouns such as blanqueza
'whiteness,' dulzura 'sweetness, claridad 'clarity' are mental without indicating any particular thing.
Also, quantifier nouns like mitad 'half,' quarto 'quarter,' par 'pair' are mental, because the
generalization is beyond physical entities. Negative or zero quantity nouns like nada 'nothing,'
nadie 'nobody' are also mental, because absence is developed from existence. In a similar vein,
space locator nouns like vecindad 'neighborhood,' centro 'center,' margen 'margin' etc. are also
mental, and as time locator nouns, which are mental as well, we can count hoy 'today,' futuro
'future,' the names of the four seasons etc. Mental nouns like libertad 'liberty,' justicia 'justice,'
amabilidad 'kindness,' etc. are complex. As complex mental nouns such as construcción
'construction' or socorro 'help' presuppose directly the existence of certain physical entities, they
are closer to physical things.
Having developed from physical nouns, mental nouns may convert to physical nouns. For
instance, a physical noun cabeza 'head' comes to be a mental noun (tener mucha) cabeza ' (to have
much) head = brightness.' On the other hand, a mental noun licencia 'license' comes to mean a
physical document.
5.1.3 Qualifier Morphemes
Every word is composed of morphemes or minimally significant sets of sounds, which
economize vocabulary and make meaning analytic and explicit. Morphemes save words by merely
changing attachments of words; we are saved from producing totally new words. As things consist
of quality and quantity and occupy space-time, the morphemes of nouns are qualifier, quantifier
space locator, time locator or compounds of these.
In Spanish all nouns are male or female, whose gender is mostly expressed in the qualifier
morphemes.20 In the pair hermano 'brother' and hermana 'sister' the gender distinguishes the sex.
But the genders, which cannot have sex, characterize qualities other than sex. For example, in the
pairs naranjo 'orange tree'/naranja 'orange,' aceituno 'olive tree'/aceituna 'olive' etc., they
distinguish the tree and its fruits, and in barco 'ship'/barca 'boat,' ventano 'small window'/ventana
'window' etc., the size. In the pair puerto 'port'/puerta 'door' what we can find in common is that
they are both entrances. Whatever may be the common point, the morphemes of gender roughly
25
reduce the size of the vocabulary by half. Therefore, the morphemes of gender symmetrize the
vocabulary according to some kind of quality.21
Also, diminutives and augmentatives are qualifier morphemes indicating mainly the quality of
size. They also differentiate other kinds of quality as in señora 'lady'/ señorita 'young or unmarried
lady,' sala 'room'/ salón 'lounge.' The distinction between caja 'box' and cajón 'drawer' is not in the
size but in the function. The pair fruta 'fruit'/fruto 'nut, result' avoids ambiguity and the pair cuenta
'count'/cuento 'story' distinguishes two derivations of the polysemous verb contar 'to count, to tell'
etc. And Juanito 'Johnny' is not always bigger than Juan 'John.' Furthermore, an augmentative may
signify a diminution; isl-ote 'small island.' From this it follows that diminutives and augmentatives
are qualifier morphemes which halve the vocabulary.22
Qualifier morphemes such as -ción/-sión/-tión '-sion/tion,' -tad/dad '-ty,' -mento/-miento '-ment'
indicate conceptualization. As nouns with -ción/-sión/-tión and -tad/dad are female and nouns with
-mento/-miento are male, they also show gender. For example, in the pair médico/médica
'man/woman doctor' the qualifier morphemes indicate only the gender, but in the pair
medicación/medicamento 'medication/medicament' their gender distinguishes the meaning. Prefixes
such as auto-, bio-, sico- 'psycho-' or suffixes such as -ría in librería 'book shop,' -logía '-logy,'
-ísmo '-ism,' which stand for words, are more complex qualifier morphemes. Even an independent
word may be a complex qualifier morpheme in combination with other morphemes or words, e.g.
ferrocarril 'railway' < ferro- 'iron' + carril 'rail.'
5.1.4 Quantifier Morphemes
The plural marker -s '-s' is a quantifier morpheme, which appears as -es after consonants or
accented vowels to avoid the succession of two consonants. Singularity is not expressed by
morphemes, but by their absence. Singular nouns are unmarked, probably because from the form of
singular nouns we develop plural nouns in the process of cognition. Therefore, we may say that
absence is a zero degree of existence and that they are continuous. An absence may have some
meaning connected with the existence of something in a sequence.
Some nouns appear with the plural marker -s, and others do not. Jespersen called the former
COUNTABLE
and the latter UNCOUNTABLE. However, nothing is countable even when we count it as
one. It is not uncountable but it is counted as an undivided whole thing. The distinction is not
countable and uncountable but
DIVIDED
and
UNDIVIDED.
When we seldom use a noun in plural, it is
not because we cannot count it, but because we count it as one for some reason or by convention.
When a thing is composed of quality and quantity, we cannot recognize it without judging its
quantity. If we recognize things within certain limits, things are first divided. And when we
recognize the impossibility of division, those things may be undivided in the second place. For
example, when we recognize iron, it is always a piece of iron, and it is from this that we imagine
the undivided material.
If we want, every thing can be divided, because there is nothing which does not accept division
into units. Even conceptual nouns like dificultad 'difficulty' or ser 'being' can be divided, if we
establish some division: muchas dificultades 'many difficulties, los seres humanos 'the human
26
beings'. We say in Spanish dos cafés 'two coffees' as well as mucho café 'much coffee' and muchas
personas 'many persons' as well as gente 'people.' And even the collective noun gente may be
divided and plural (30a). As the division may change shape and quality, the divided nouns may
realize different meanings: agua 'water'/aguas 'drops of water,' cielo 'sky'/cielos 'heaven,' resto
'rest'/restos 'remains.' Conversely, if we remove the division, even gatos 'cats' or personas 'persons'
may be used as collective nouns like gente: (30b-c). This shows that plurality does not depend on
the thing itself but on our cognition of the thing. Cognition is not always constrained by the natural
world, because it is evidence of the conquest of the nature.
(30) a. En cada pueblo encontraría gentes parecidas. (CN: 121)
in every village I-would-find peoples similar
'In every village I would find similar peoples.'
b. Compramos a peso todo gato que nos lleven. (MH: 97)
we-buy by weigh all cat what us they-might-bring
'We buy by weight all cats that they might bring us.'
c. Poesías varias, indispensables para toda persona que haya de alternar en sociedad.
(AL: 85)
poems various indispensable for all person what may-have to associate in society
'Different poems, indispensable for all that may have to associate in society.'
When singularity means just one and plurality more than two, how can we express zero quantity?
Absent things are recognized by the memory, because we cannot say that an unknown thing is not
there. They are always recognized by comparison with present things. For that reason, the
quantifier morphemes of absent nouns are analogous to those of present nouns. As familia 'family'
is only one, it is singular even when it does not exist (31a). But usually there may be many
camiones 'trucks' or carros 'carts,' so these absent nouns are plural (31b). `Pincers' (31c) and 'teeth'
(31d) in memory are plural, and an undivided quantity is always singular, whether present or absent
(31e).
(31) a. El señor Feliciano no tiene familia que mantener como tu padre. (AL: 373)
the mister Feliciano not have family what to-maintain like your father
'Mister Feliciano doesn't have family to maintain like your father.'
b. Como el domingo no hay camiones, ni carros, sigo los consejos del barbero. (CN: 56)
as the Sunday not one-has trucks nor carts I-follow the advices of-the barber
'As on Sunday there aren't trucks or carts, I follow the advice of the barber.'
c. Dirá que no tiene pinzas, (MH: 67)
you-will-say that not he-has pincers
'You will say that he doesn't have pincers.'
d. boca sin dientes (AL: 246)
mouth without teeth
27
'mouth without teeth'
e. Por supuesto que en la mesa no hay alcohol (BM: 193)
for supposed that on the table not one-has alcohol
'Of course there isn't alcohol on the table.'
Also morphemes like mono-, bi-, tri- are quantifiers which count parts of things, while the plural
-s indicates the number of whole things: monólogo 'monologue,' bicicleta 'bicycle,' tricornio
'three-cornered hat.'
5.1.5 Locator Morphemes
As space locator morphemes we can supply enre- in entrecejo 'space between the eyebrows,'
infra- in infraestructura 'infrastructure', and tele- in teléfono 'telephone' etc. In the case of sub- in
subproducto 'by-product,' the space locator morpheme comes to be interpreted as a qualifier
morpheme.
Pre- in preguerra 'prewar' and pos- in posguerra 'postwar' are time locator morphemes. While
ante- in antevíspera 'two days before' is a time locator, ante- in anteojos 'before eyes=glasses' is not
a time locator but a space locator. On the contrary the space locator ex- may be a time locator in
ex-alcalde 'former mayor.' Thus, it can be quite natural for the location of physical
three-dimensional space to shift to the location of mental one-dimensional time.
5.1.6 Nominals
Besides the simple nouns, we can also count infinitives and clauses among the nominals.
An infinitive is a male noun with a male definite article in Spanish as in (32). And there are
nouns that have the same form as the infinitive, such as el poder 'the power', los deberes 'the
duties=homework', los quehaceres 'the what-to-do-PL=tasks' etc.
(32) Le puede costar muy caro a usted el engañarme. (ND: 185)
to-you-PLEO-DAT may to-cost very expensive to you-DAT the-M-SING to-deceive-me
'It may cost you dear to deceive me.'
For instance, the infinitives subir 'to ascend' and bajar 'to descend' may be substituted by the
conceptual nouns subida 'ascent' and bajada 'descent.' Accordingly we can regard an infinitive as a
conceptual noun. When the change expressed by verbs is mental, infinitives of verbs should be
mental nouns, and infinitives may convert to physical nouns just like other mental nouns, e.g. los
seres humanos 'the human beings.'
When the subject of an infinitive is the same as that of the main sentence, the subject is not
expressed (33a). But being different from that of the main verb, the subject of an infinitive is not
expressed in (33b), because we can easily suppose what it is.
(33) a. Siento no poderle llevar más lejos (CN: 111)
28
I-am-sorry not can-INF-you-ACC to-bring more far
'I'm sorry I can't bring you any further.'
b. Me parecía sentir entonces la mano de mi padre agarrando la mía, (EV: 50)
me seemed to-feel then the hand of my father seizing the mine
'It seemed to me that I then felt my father's hand seizing mine.'
Infinitives may have subjects (34a), or direct and indirect objects (34b). When infinitives are
modified, they may be, so to speak, infinitive phrases. While conceptual nouns are modified by
adjectives, e.g. transpiración abundante 'abundant transpiration,' infinitives are modified by
adverbs, e.g. (34c). And infinitives may also express a perfect tense (34d).
(34) a. Dejó de pensar en las ratas, en las codornices y en los gorriones al sonar el silbo del
(tubo) acústico (AL: 469)
he-stopped from to-think of the rats of the quails and of the sparrows at-the to-sound the
whistle of-the acoustic (tube)
'He stopped thinking of the rats, of the quails and of the sparrows when the whistle of the
speaking tube sounded.'
b. Usté (=ustd) podría prestárnosla por dos meses. (CN: 99)
you would-be-able to-lend-us-DAT-it-ACC-F.SING for two months
'You could lend it to us for two months.'
c. La caminata me ha hecho transpirar abundantemente (CN: 88)
the long-walk me has made to-transpire abundantly
'The long walk has made me perspire abundantly.'
d. Se arrepentió de haber preguntado. (AL: 567)
herself-ACC she-repented of to-have questioned
'She repented of having asked the question.'
Thus, infinitives are closer to verbs and able to relate other elements just like verbs. And this
similarity to verbs makes significant the existence of the conceptual nouns called infinitives.
If a sentence expresses cognition, a whole sentence or a clause is equivalent to the conceptual
noun 'cognition,' which may be substituted by the pronoun eso 'that' or other conceptual nouns such
as verdad 'truth' etc. (35). Therefore, we can say that not only infinitives but also clauses are
conceptual nouns.
(35) No sé por qué dices eso - se lamenta la mujer.
not I-know why you-say that herself-ACC laments the wife
'I don't know why you say that – laments the wife.'
–Porque es verdá (=verdad). (CN: 45)
because it-is truth
'Because it's true.'
29
In contrast to infinitives, verbs conjugate in clauses. With the conjugation a clause may have a
different subject and time from those of the main verb. When the subject of a nominal is the same
as that of the main sentence, we use an infinitive because we need not show the subject in
conjugation as in (36a). But when the subject is different from that of the main verb, we use a
clause to express the subject in the conjugation as in (36b). Notwithstanding, if we can distinguish,
the subject of an infinitive may be a different form from that of the verb. In (36c) we can know that
the subject of the infinitive is identical with the indirect object of the main verb, because the verb
has an imperative meaning. Infinitives expressing natural phenomena, whose subjects are
impersonal and different from the main verb, are nominalized as plurals (36d).
(36) a. Quiero saberlo. (SV: 25)
I-want to-know-it
'I want to know it.'
b. Yo quiero que tú vivas, maestro. (AF: 71)
I want that you live-SUBJ master
'I want you to live, master.'
c. A ése lo mandó fusilar Lizárraga. (ZA: 143)
to that him-PLEO-DAT he-commanded to-shoot Lizárraga
'He commanded that man to shoot Lizárraga.'
d. Las ratas tienen su hora al atardecer…los atardeceres de invierno. (AL: 355)
the rats have their hour at-the to-dusk
the to-dusks-PL of winter
'The rats have their time at dusk… the dusks of winter.'
However, to make explicit that the subjects are identical we do not use infinitives but clauses.
(37) El magnate entonces dice que él se va. (BM: 231)
the magnate then says that he (=the magnate) himself-ACC goes
'The magnate then says that he goes away.'
In short, not only clauses but also infinitives and noun phrases may express the subject, direct
and indirect objects and adverbial modifiers as we see in the following roughly synonymous
nominals (38a-c):
(38) a. la construcción de la escuela para los niños por los aldeanos en la colina este año
the construction of the school for the children by the villagers on the hill this year
'the construction of the school for the children by the villagers on the hill this year'
b. el construir los aldeanos la escuela para los niños en la colina este año
the to-construct the villagers the school for the children on the hill this year
'the villagers’ constructing of the school for the children on the hill this year'
c. que los aldeanos construyen la escuela para los niños en la colina este año
30
that the villagers construct the school for the children on the hill this year
'that the villagers construct the school for the children on the hill this year'
Roles of noun phrases are distinguished by prepositions, which may cause ambiguity. For
example, the preposition de 'of' precedes the subject in (39a), the direct object in (39b) and the
modifier of the original verb in (39c). They are distinguished on the basis of lexical meaning, which
may be ambiguous.
(39) a. la construcción de los aldeanos
the construction of the villagers
'the villagers’ construction'
b. la construcción de la escuela
the construction of the school
'the construction of the school'
c. la construcción de este año
the construction of this year
'this year’s construction'
In order to avoid this ambiguity infinitives have fewer numbers of prepositions, distinguishing
subjects and direct objects by means of word order (38b). But the distinction is less clear than that
of clauses, in which subjects are marked in conjugation. While infinitives do not have any way to
locate time, with the exception of the possibility of expressing perfect tense, clauses locate time
explicitly with conjugated verbs. The disadvantageous complication of conjugation in clauses is, at
once, advantageous for precision. Free from complicated conjugation, noun phrases need many
prepositions, but this causes other complications and ambiguity. And infinitives are intermediate
between noun phrases and clauses.
When present cognition also deals with unrealized affairs based on past memory, the cognition
may contain other cognition beyond space-time. Infinitives and clauses are conceptual nouns used
to express such cognition beyond space-time more precisely than simple conceptual nouns.
Consequently, we may say that Spanish nominals develop from physical nouns to mental nouns,
which do not express time, to infinitives, which express time in certain conditions, and to clauses,
which express time explicitly with conjugation.
As outlined above, nouns can be classified as follows.23
31
TABLE 2
Nouns
nouns physical proper nouns
nouns
general nouns
divided nouns: Paco 'Paco'
divided nouns: manzana 'apple'
undivided nouns: oro 'gold'
mental
divided nouns: problemas 'problems'
nouns''
undivided nouns: paz 'peace'
verbal
undivided nouns: subida 'ascent'
derivations
divided nouns: acciones 'actions'
infinitives
divided los seres 'the beings'
clauses
nouns: que vienes 'that you come'
Proper nouns are all concrete and physical, because they indicate only real limited things, which
are individual and divided. A set of proper nouns with general features comes to have the same
name, which is a general noun. The nouns developed from proper nouns are also physical and
divided. But the extension of individuality permits removal of the unit and the physical nouns may
be undivided. As iron is recognized, for instance, in a stone, any material is recognized first as an
individual thing. We cannot recognize an infinite thing, but we find it in a finite thing. Therefore,
we may say that undivided physical nouns are developed from divided physical nouns. Expressing
general attributes of some physical things, mental nouns are above physical things. Consequently,
mental nouns are fundamentally undivided. However, as they have developed from physical things,
it may be quite natural for mental nouns to convert to physical nouns which are to be divided. From
the examples of los deberes 'the duties=homework', los quehaceres 'the what-to-do-PL=tasks' etc. it
follows that Spanish infinitives are divided mental nouns, and, being apposed to the noun el hecho
(que) 'the fact (that),' clauses are also regarded as divided mental nouns.
When a noun expresses cognition of a thing, which consists of quality, quantity and space-time
location, a noun cannot be classified regardless of these elements. The distinction between physical
and mental nouns is based on quality. The distinction between proper and general nouns is based on
the quality of particularity. The distinction between divided and undivided nouns is based on
quantity. Though the distinction among nominals, infinitives, verbal derivations and clauses are
formal, the form prescribes their contents. If a thing may be located in any space-time, then
space-time location can hardly be said to distinguish nouns. However, as far as quality and quantity
are correlative, we should mention both quality and quantity in every noun even when they are
implicit.
5.2 Adjectives
When a thing is attributed to quality, quantity and space-time location, there must be some parts
which express these attributes; these are adjectives in Spanish. Adjectives enable the destruction
and construction of an object at will. We can construct an infinite number of noun phrases with
finite attributes based on perception, and construction means to grasp the outside world in our own
32
mind. When adjectives take a noun apart, a noun is a bundle of adjectives. Therefore, it seems
proper to say that adjectives are not added to nouns but come from nouns.24
We may say that adjectives are independent forms of morphemes, of which nouns consist. If a
bare noun is not enough to express all the attributes, the noun has some adjectives outside it. For
instance, tigra 'female tiger' may be expressed with an adjective (tigre) hembra 'female' and casón
'big house', with an adjective (casa) grande 'big.' Thus, the extraction of attributes in adjectives
produces noun phrases. An analytic denomination like viento del nort 'wind from the north' is more
productive than the synthetic bóreas 'boreas' because of its articulation. But semantically the former
can be more unambiguous than the latter because of the polysemy of prepositions. It follows that
the productivity and ambiguity of analytic expressions and the particularity and accuracy of
synthetic expressions are correlative.
An adjective may modify features of a noun. For example, in manzana 'apple' the color roja 'red'
is generally understood. But, in manzana amarilla 'yellow apple' the common color of the apple is
rewritten by the adjective. Thus, a noun is taken to pieces by adjectives, which modify parts of a
noun. Moreover, when an attribute characterizes the thing, the adjective may become a noun with
omission of the nuclear noun. For instance, chico 'boy' is a noun converted from an adjective
(hombre) chico 'little (man).' The modifier may distinguish and represent the whole noun by even
going as far as deleting it. Thus the modifier adjective may even take over the modified noun.
Attributes of things have degree, which is
QUANTITY,
CONNOTATIVE QUANTITY,
in contrast to
DENOTATIVE
which we call simply quantity. While one plus one makes two in terms of denotative
quantity, one plus one is one in terms of connotative quantity. For example, while a glass of water
plus a glass of water makes two glasses of water, water of one degree plus water of one degree is
also water of one degree.
It seems that when the connotative quantity of things is not remarkable, adjectives are not
required. For example, though every suitcase has heaviness, we say maleta pesada 'heavy suitcase'
only when the heaviness is remarkable. And a minus number of connotative quantity comes to
mean its opposite attribute. Thus, nada grande 'not big at all' converts to mean pequeño 'little.' That
is, the opposite attributes are not separated categorically but are continuous symmetrically on both
sides of zero. So it is quite natural that buena 'good' in ¡Buena es ésa! 'That’s bad!' has its
antonymous meaning, because both attributes are on the same line and can be converted to each
other.
5.2.1 Physical and Mental Adjectives
Like nouns, we can distinguish physical and mental adjectives. While adjectives of color, shape,
touch, temperature, taste etc. are physical, adjectives of subjective evaluation; bueno 'good,' limpio
'clean,' alegre 'happy' etc. are mental. Physical adjectives are directly connected with physical
perception, and mental adjectives are developed from physical perception, because mental
evaluation is constrained to be based on some physical entities. For example, the physical quality of
color blanco 'white' develops into the mental quality of cobarde 'coward' in Spanish. As we cannot
evaluate without any physical objects, invisible and mental attributes should be rooted in physical
33
and perceptible attributes.
However, this distinction is not always categorical. For instance, the mental adjective buen 'good'
in buen tiempo 'good weather' always means sunny weather, though good weather is rainy weather
in a drought. This goes to show that physical and mental adjectives may be closely related and
sometimes convertible.
In expressing the attributes of a thing, adjectives are reduced to quality, quantity and spatial and
temporal locations. Therefore, like nominal morphemes adjectives may be classified into qualifier,
quantifier, space locator and time locator.
5.2.2 Qualifier Adjectives
A thing is composed of many kinds of qualifier such as color, shape, taste, feeling, evaluation
etc., which are extracted from a noun in the form of qualifier adjectives. As a thing is not
distinguished by its quality or location but by some qualities, qualifier adjectives are full of variety.
Among them we can find an analogy called 'synaesthesia' or metaphor in adjectives, which enriches
expression economically. For instance, in voz dulce 'sweet voice' the sense of taste is transferred to
the sense of hearing and in el hecho claro 'the clear fact' the sense of sight to a mental adjective.
Conversely, a mental adjective may be that of taste: melocotón rico 'delicious peach.' It seems that
the variety of qualifier adjectives may allow such transference among the five senses.25
While adjectives of color, shape, feeling etc. are static, many adjectives with -ble, -ante etc. are
verbal derivations, indicating 'how it will be' concerning the quality of future change: comestible
'able to eat,' andante 'walking,' frágil 'fragile,' eficaz 'effective' etc. Adjectives like rápido 'quick' or
lento 'slow' are qualifiers concerning the velocity of change. When a thing is to change, the quality
of a thing may be of that change.
If the quality, quantity and location of a thing are correlative, those which are expressed by
adjectives may be also correlative. For example, a quality grande 'big' requires a certain quantity
and a quality alto 'high,' a certain space-location. When the quality, quantity and location of a thing
are correlative, they may change one another. For example, a quantifier adjective sobrado
'excessive' becomes a qualifier adjective 'terrific (in Chile)' or a space locator adjective inferior
'inferior,' a qualifier adjective. On the other hand, we hardly ever find qualifier adjectives changing
into the quantifiers or locators. The reason seems to be as follows: quantity and location are more
physical, perceptible and measurable than quality. As the process of cognition flows from physics
to mentality, it is natural that quantifiers and locators, which are more physical, become qualifiers,
which are more mental. But we seldom make a change that runs contrary to this process.
A noun may have some qualifier adjectives, when a thing is composed of some qualities, and
there may be some compound qualifier adjectives such as verdinegro 'green black (dark-green),'
agridulce 'bittersweet' etc. As prudente 'prudent' is analyzed into templado y cauteloso 'tempered
and cautious,' a qualifier adjective may be a compound of other qualifier adjectives. A qualifier
adjective close to a noun like oceánico 'oceanic' is a compound of all the qualities, quantity and
location of which the noun océano 'ocean' consists. As a noun is a compound of some qualifier
adjectives, the qualifiers may also be compound for reasons of economy.
34
5.2.3 Quantifier Adjectives
Quantifier adjectives extract the quantity of nouns. Because a thing cannot have two or more
quantities, in contrast to quality, a noun has only one quantifier adjective except in the case of
repetition. As quantity is a concept obtained by abstraction, all the quantifier adjectives are mental.
Among quantifier adjectives the cardinal numeral adjectives, un/una 'one,' dos 'two,' tres
'three' ..., indicate exact numbers, except for high numbers which mean simply 'many': mil gracias
'a thousand thanks.' As an undivided number is single, it is seldom expressed by a cardinal
adjective: un vaho sofocante 'a suffocating vapor' (AL: 182). This shows that the cardinal quantifier
adjectives express mainly the divided quantity. 26
For rough estimates of the quantity we use indefinite quantifier adjectives: mucho/a (s) 'much
(many),' bastante (s) 'sufficient,' poco/a (s) 'little (few).' The lexical distinction between 'much' and
'many' or 'little' and 'few' is not obligatory in Spanish because of the agreement in number with
nouns. That is, the indefinite quantifier adjectives always extract an undivided quantity in the
singular and a divided quantity in the plural.
When the plural number of divided things is determined to a certain extent, we use the indefinite
article in the plural unos/as or an indefinite quantifier adjective algunos/as 'some.' If the number is
more certain, the rough number follows after them: unas veinte personas 'about twenty persons', or
the rough number once determined is modified showing its indefiniteness: veinte personas más o
menos.
As plurality is expressed in by the quantifier morphemes of nouns, quantifier adjectives are not
necessary to distinguish between singular and plural. Cardinal quantifier adjectives are used
redundantly to clarify the number of nouns. For example, in dos libros 'two books' the plurality is
expressed both in the quantifier adjective dos and in the quantifier morpheme -s.
Because a thing has only one quantity, which is also expressed by the quantifier morphemes of
nouns, the cardinal quantifier adjectives may be the least frequent.
When singularity is expressed in the quantifier morphemes of nouns, the quantifier adjective un
'one' in un libro is completely redundant. In this case, the singular cardinal quantifier adjectives
come to have another meaning, which is the indefinite article: un día 'a day.' It seems that
separation from the concept of number generated the plural indefinite article in Spanish: unos/unas.
The negative quantifier adjectives ninguno/a (s) 'not ... any' and no deny not only the quantity but
also the quality simultaneously, because quantity and quality are correlative. There cannot be
quantity without quality nor quality without quantity. When the quantity is zero, the quality is also
zero, and vice versa. Consequently, the negative quantifier adjectives deny both the quality and
quantity of things or the existence of the thing itself: ningún hombre del barrio (AL: 107) 'no man
of the district,' la no intervención (TM: 645) 'no intervention,' para no complicar las cosas (CN:
32) 'in order not to complicate the things.'
When negation means zero quantity, affirmation means plus quantity. And when quantity has
degree, affirmation also has degree, which is phased by quantifier adjectives like cierto 'certain,'
probable 'probable,' posible 'possible,' raro 'rare' and imposible 'impossible.'
35
As the cardinal quantifier adjectives indicate in themselves the degree, none of them have degree
marked internally. So we do not say, for instance, *muy tres 'very three.'
5.2.4 Locator Adjectives
Space locator adjectives locate the space which the things expressed in nouns occupy. They have
three-dimensional variety: anterior 'anterior,' posterior 'posterior,' frontero 'facing,' trasero 'back,'
superior 'superior,' inferior 'inferior,' derecho 'right,' izquierdo/siniestro 'left,' interior 'interior,'
exterior 'exterior,' central 'central,' marginal 'marginal,' lejano 'distant,' cercano 'near,' etc.
However, because physical location is measured through the perception of circumambient physical
things, most of the space locator adjectives may be adjective phrases, which utilize the things
nearby. In addition, a thing may have various space locator adjectives from various points of view
such as una cabaña montañesa cercana al lago y lejana del pueblo 'a mountain hut near the lake
and distant from the village.'
Space locator adjectives also develop from physical adjectives to mental adjectives, which can be
related to mental qualifier adjectives. Thus, the mental space locator adjective central comes to
mean 'important'; on the other hand, marginal comes to mean 'not very important.' In the next
example, a noun has both physical and mental space locators; un hospital central del tercer
nivel ...y tres hospitales periféricos de segundo nivel (EX) 'a central hospital of the third level ...
and three outlying hospitals of the second level.' However, because a thing occupies only one
space-time location, locator adjectives may not be as frequent as qualifier adjectives.
Time locator adjectives locate the time which things expressed by nouns occupy. Because
temporal location is on a one-dimensional line, the time locator adjectives are simpler than the
space locators; anterior 'anterior,' posterior 'posterior,' presente 'present,' antiguo 'old,' pasado
'past,' siguiente 'next,' próximo 'proximate, next' etc. The basic point of the time-location is the
present at which the speaker is, while the space may be located from the point of view of three
dimensions. Each of these three dimensions, width, depth and height, is one-dimensional.
Therefore, the mental cognition of time is to be analogized with the physical cognition of space.
Accordingly, it is quite natural that many time locator adjectives are identical with space locator
adjectives. As their recognition is enabled through physical things, all time locator adjectives are
mental. For that reason, fewer time locator adjectives than space locators take the form of phrases,
which contain a concrete thing expressed as a noun.
Also a thing may have some time locator adjectives from different points of view. Therefore, a
noun may have some time locator adjectives: la gimnasia después de cena y antes de dormir 'the
gymnastics after dinner and before sleep.' As another example, in el próximo día primero de mayo
'the next May the first,' while the time locator próximo 'next' is based on the present time, primero
'first' locates the day in the whole of May.
Ordinal numeral adjectives, which express not quantity but location, are locator adjectives not
only of space but also of time. Adjectives like final 'final,' postrero 'last,' último 'ultimate' are of this
kind. For example, primero in primer piso 'first floor' is a physical space locator and in primera vez
36
'first time,' a mental time locator. And in primera clase 'first class' the mental locator adjective is
related to quality. The locator adjective quinto 'fifth' in Voy al quinto pino, 'I go to the fifth pine'
does not exactly locate in space but has the vague meaning of 'distant.'
Cardinal adjectives may substitute ordinal locator adjectives. For instance, el día primero de
mayo 'the first day of May' is identical to el día uno de mayo. Any number more than ten can be
classified as a cardinal adjective rather than an ordinal adjective. El día veinte, literally 'the day
twenty,' is more frequent than el día vigésimo 'the twentieth day.' Cardinal quantifier adjectives and
cardinal locator adjectives can be distinguished, because the former appear before plural nouns, and
the latter after singular nouns.
Locator adjectives ending with -erior are derived from Latin comparatives, which shows that all
the attributes of nouns including space-time location are correlative or measured in comparison
with a base. But the base, which is marked by prepositions e.g. anterior a la guerra 'anterior to the
war,' la plaza central de la ciudad 'the central plaza of the city,' is not expressed if it is
non-obligatory. And time locator adjectives whose base is always at present time never express the
base e.g. presente 'present,' pasado 'past,' futuro 'future.'
When adjectives close to nouns or adjective phrases which contain nouns are bundles of
adjectives, they may contain all kinds of adjectives. For example, the adjective ciudadano 'citizen'
or the adjective phrase de la ciudadd 'of the city' contains all the attributes - quality, quantity and
space-time location - of the 'city.' As a thing consists of quality, quantity and space-time location in
interrelation, it is very natural for its attributes or adjectives to be also interrelated.
5.2.5 Morphemes of Adjectives
On account of economy, adjectives are also composed of morphemes, which may be of type
qualifier, quantifier, or locator.
Adjectives agree with modified nouns in gender and number. A sentence may have many nouns,
while it has only one verb. Agreement with nouns makes explicit modificatory relations even when
adjectives are separated from them. Moreover, information about nouns marked in adjectives helps
with pronominalization or deletion of nouns. This agreement, which is surely redundant, brings
correctness and permissibility of omission to a sentence. At the same time, the end rhyme of
agreement makes the sentence rhythmic. Agreement proves the intimate relation between adjectives
and nouns, and supports our notion that a noun is a bundle of adjectives.
Gender is a quality of animals. Though things do not have the quality of gender, the binary
morphemes of gender obtain other distinct qualities, as we have seen in 5.1.3. Qualifier morphemes
of gender and number in concord with nouns are properly of nouns. On the other hand, diminutives
in adjectives, rojizo 'reddish,' chiquillo 'tiny,' calentito 'very hot' etc., augmentatives,
grandote/grandillón, 'gigantic,' coloradote, 'ruddy,' ricachón 'upstart' etc. and other morphemes,
negral 'blackish,' gordi(n) flón 'chubby,' altivo 'haughty' etc., which are not dominated by nouns and
modify the quality of adjectives, are qualifier morphemes.
The plural morpheme -s in adjectives is a quantifier in agreement with the noun, so that it is
37
properly nominal, like the gender morpheme. As quantifier morphemes of adjectives, we can count
the absolute comparative -ísimo/a(s) which means an absolutely large quantity of quality and is
equivalent to the quantifier muy 'very.' The same can also be seen in the quantifier prefix rete-,
retebueno 'very good.'27
In Spanish relative comparatives are generally expressed by a single word más 'more.' But
grande 'big'> mayor, pequeño 'little'> menor, bueno 'good'> mejor and malo 'bad'> peor have a
comparative morpheme -or akin to the Latin –eior, superior, inferior etc., which is also a quantifier
morpheme. The reason for this seems to be that the pair of adjectives bueno and malo, which deal
with quality, and the pair grande and pequeño, which deal with quantity, are most representative of
qualifier adjectives. And the negative morphemes in-/im-/ir- are quantifier morphemes of
adjectives, which express the zero quantity of quality.
Morphemes which locate quality in space like super-, supereminente 'super eminent,'
ultra-,
ultracorto 'ultra short,' infra-, infrarrojo 'infrared,' are space locator morphemes. However,
examples of time locator morphemes, which locate quality in time, are exceedingly rare in
present-day Spanish.
Because adjectives themselves are equivalent to morphemes of nouns, morphemes of adjectives
are much fewer than those of nouns.
5.2.6 Pre-Nominal and Post-Nominal Adjectives
Since adjectives express attributes of nouns, it is natural that adjectives are put close to nouns. In
Spanish adjectives may appear before or after nouns.
Post-nominal adjectives generally express attributes not contained in nouns but chosen from
among a range of choices. For instance, in vino dulce 'sweet wine' the quality dulce is not contained
in vino but chosen from among seco 'dry,' ácido 'sour,' amargo 'bitter' etc.
On the other hand, the attributes contained in the noun are expressed in pre-nominal adjectives.
For example, in dulce miel 'sweet honey' the quality dulce is contained in miel and the adjective
expresses a redundant explication with no other attributive option available. The same can also be
seen in possessive adjectives. That is, while pre-nominal possessives, which are alternatives for
definite articles, explicate the nouns, post-nominal possessives are chosen from among a range of
choices. Also, cardinal numeral adjectives, which are redundant because they detail the concrete
number expressed in a number suffix, appear before nouns. It seems that pre-nominal adjectives are
less frequent, because they carry less information than post-nominals.
Spanish prefers to distinguish positions adjacent to a word rather than create another word. The
two positions serves to distinguish polysemy: gran hombre 'great man'/hombre grande 'big man,' la
nueva casa 'the house into which one moved recently'/la casa nueva 'the recently-built house' etc.
Such a difference between the pre-nominal and post-nominal adjectives corresponds to the
difference between restrictive and unrestrictive adjectival clauses. For example, los Niños 'the
children' in (40a) does not contain the information that the children have bicycles and the adjectival
clause restricts reference to just those amongst the children who possess bicycles. In the meantime,
los niños in (40b) contains the information that they all have bicycles and the adjectival clause does
38
not restrict reference to any sub-group of the children. The adjectival clause in (40b) is superfluous
and explicative like redundant adjectives before nouns.
to say, la miel, que es dulce 'the honey,
which is sweet' is equivalent to dulce miel and la salsa que es dulce 'the sauce which is sweet,' to la
salsa dulce. So, we may say that the preceding relative pronoun is a marker representing the
post-nominal situation.
(40) a. los niños que tienen bicicletas
(only) the children what have bicycles
'the children who have bicycles'
b. los niños, que tienen bicicletas
the children (all of) what have bicycles
'the children, who have bicycles'
5.2.7 Adjectivals
Besides the simple adjectives, adjectives in Spanish include past participles, present participles,
adjective phrases and adjective clauses. Simple adjectives, present participles and adjective phrases
indicate only actual attributes - how a thing is at present. Although this is as a result of a change
which has occurred in the past, past participles express also actual attributes. In (41b) subido is
active, or the modified noun un gato montés is the subject of subir, but, for example, in la casa
vendida 'the sold house' vendida is passive, or the modified noun la casa is the direct object. And
adjective clauses, modifying nouns with sentences which have another space-time, explicate the
nouns beyond the space-time.
(41) a. buenas noticias (HF: 57)
good news
'good news'
b. un gato montés subido a un árbol (AM: 114)
a cat wild climbed to a tree
'a wild cat climbed a tree'
c. un hijo estudiando en la Universidad (AL: 246)
a son studying in the University
'a son studying at the University'
d. hombre de mala fama y de buena corazón (ZA: 42)
man of bad fame and of good heart
'man of bad fame and of good heart'
e. una perra que sacó el amo del cajón del mostrador (NR: 192)
a penny what took the master from-the chest of-the counter
'a penny which the master took from the chest in the counter'
Since the quantity of a thing is singular, a noun has only one kind of quantifier adjective. When
39
one needs to be more precise about number, the quantifier adjective may overlap with the quantifier
morpheme –s: tres libros 'three books.' The quantifier un 'one' is always redundant because
singularity is apparent because of the absence of the quantifier -s, and so the un takes the role of an
indefinite determiner.
Because quality, quantity and location are correlated and inseparable, there are qualifiers which
require a certain quantity; grande 'big,' largo 'long,' or a certain location in space and time; alto
'high,' lento 'slow.' And a quantifier may convert into a qualifier, and vice versa: único 'only>
extraordinary,' considerable 'important> much/many.'
The gender and number of nouns is marked again at the end of the simple adjective and past
participle, which typically forms the rhyme. The repetition makes explicit the relation between the
noun and adjective, and it helps to move and remove the parts. This redundancy brings strictness
and flexibility simultaneously.
Among adjective phrases, for example, con sal 'with salt' (=salino 'salty') is a qualifier, de la
derecha 'of the right,' a space locator and de hoy 'of today,' time locator. However, in dos kilos de
harina 'two kilos of flour' or in the metaphorical un montón de harina 'a mountain of flour,' the
adjective phrase is not a quantifier but a qualifier de harina. As of writing I have not been able to
identify any quantifier adjective phrase. Because quantity, which any kind of thing may have, is
more general than quality, which varies depending on the thing in question, it may easily be the
main part of a noun phrase.
TABLE 3
Adjectivals
simple adjectives
physical: (edificio) alto 'high (building)'
qualifier
past participles (41b)
mental: (nivel) alta 'high (level)'
mental: dos, tres … 'two, three'
present participles (41c)
quantifier
adjective phrases (41d)
space locator physical: primer (piso) 'first (floor)'
adjective clauses (41e))
mental: primera (clase) 'first (class)'
mental: primer (año) 'first (year)'
time locator
5.3 Ad-Adjectivals
Adjectives are modified by various kinds of words. As almost all of these words have the same
forms as adverbs, they have been regarded as adverbs. However, the function of these words is
essentially different from that of adverbs. From the semantic point of view we had better call them
AD-ADJECTIVES
because they do not modify verbs but adjectives. The formal similarity with adverbs
does not mean that ad-adjectives are identical with adverbs. Like adverbs morphemes which modify
adjectives do not inflect: latinoamericano/a 'Latin-American.' Therefore, it seems that as
ad-adjectives do not inflect adjectives are entrusted with agreement.
Derivation of qualifier adjectives is carried out by 'qualifier ad-adjectives.' In (42a) the qualifier
ad-adjective tristemente modifies the qualifier adjective célebre. In (42b) the ad-adjective
completamente also modifies the qualifier adjective feliz, but the meaning seems quantifier-like
rather than that of a qualifier. Moreover, the ad-adjective bastante, whose form is identical with the
40
adjective or Latin present participle, are in reality substitutable for quantifiers.
(42) a. Hizo tristemente célebre a la provincia. (CN: 39)
it-made sadly famous to the province
'It made the province sadly famous.'
b. Leonor no era completamente feliz. (FV: 92)
Leonor not was completely happy
'Leonor was not completely happy.
c. Está bastante delicada (AL: 595)
she-is (at present) quite delicate
'She is quite delicate at present.'
As qualifier adjectives may consist of complex qualities, it seems hardly possible for them to
require more qualifier modifiers. So, when qualifier adjectives have modifiers, it is natural that they
have the connotative quantity of qualities. Consequently not all qualifier adjectives come to be
ad-adjectives but only those close in meaning to quantifiers. However, adjectives in the form of
past participles may be modified by a variety of ad-adjectives derived from adverbs.
(43) a. Van pobremente vestidos. (CN: 47)
they-go poorly dressed
'They go poorly dressed.'
b. dos floreros de porcelana envueltos de papel cuidadosamente atados (RC: 57-58)
two vases of porcelain involved of paper carefully tied
'two vases of porcelain wrapped in paper carefully tied'
Some 'quantifier ad-adjectives' derive from indefinite quantifier adjectives: mucho/a(s)
'much/many'> muy 'very,' poco/a (s) 'few/little'> poco 'little' (44a). And some nouns which indicate
existence or quantity may be ad-adjectives of the same form: nada 'nothing,' algo 'something' (44b)
or no in no beligerante 'non belligerent.'
(44) a. Se puso muy contento al verme. (ND: 151)
himself he-put very content at-the to-see-me
'He became very satisfied on seeing me.'
b. Convenía estar algo bebido en el baile. (AL: 513)
it-was-suitable to be something drunk in the dance
'It was suitable to be somewhat drunk at the dance.'
As cardinal quantifier adjectives are definite and do not have degree, they cannot be modified
by ad-adjectives: *muy tres 'very three.' However, indefinite quantifier adjectives have internal
degree, and they may be modified by ad-adjectives: muy pocas mujeres (AM: 111) 'very few
41
women.' But we hardly ever find examples like *muy muchas mujeres 'very many women,'
presumably in order to avoid repetition of the same stem.
When we express a high degree of the quality, we make use of absolute comparatives or
quantifier morphemes of adjectives; muchísimo/a (s), poquísimo/a (s), which is equivalent to muy
poco/a (s). Adjectives with the meaning 'moderate degree' like bastante 'enough' cannot be
comparative (needless to say), because the quantifier ad-adjectives will put them in the domain of
mucho/a (s) or poco/a (s).
Adjectives which seem to contain the maximum connotative quantity of quality do not require
quantifier ad-adjectives to express degree: perfect 'perfect,' excelente 'excellent,' fatal 'fatal,' terrible
'terrible' etc.
We can find instances of adjectives or adjective phrases with de ‘of’ modified by quantifier
ad-adjectives: muy de mañana 'very of morning' (ZA: 91) or nouns converted to adjectives with
ad-adjectives; muy padre de su hijo 'very father of his son' (BM: 76). However, such examples are
not frequent and in general adjectives close to nouns seldom have quantifier ad-adjectives. It seems
that this is because they are complex in their qualities and it is difficult to clarify the connotative
quality of quality.
The ad-adjective muy has the comparative form of superiority más 'more,' the comparative of
inferiority menos 'less,' and the comparative of equality expressed by tan 'so.'
All attributes are measured in connotative quantity, which has degree; therefore, we can say that
all adjectives are fundamentally comparative. For example, brown bread is called pan negro 'black
bread' in comparison with white bread. To be precise, black bread is el pan más negro que los otros
'the bread blacker than the others,' and in order to make the comparison explicit, we use the
comparative.
Ad-adjectives which modify the comparative form of the adjective más 'more' agree with nouns
unlike other ad-adjectives: muchas más ocasiones 'many (f. pl.) more occasions (f. pl.),' mucha más
gasolina 'much (f. sing.) more gasoline (f. sing.). This goes to show that ad-adjectives agree with
nouns and not with the noninflective adjective más.
Comparison is restricted to comparison of quantity. Not only comparison of quantity, but also
comparison of quality is comparison of quantity. When we compare a quality, we compare the
connotative quantity of the quality. Also, comparison of space-time location, which is comparison
of distance, is comparison of quantity. What is compared is always quantity, whether that is
denotative quantity or whether that is quality or location. This seems to be the reason why the
comparative forms of quantifier adjectives mucho/a (s)>más 'much/many> more,' poco/a (s)>
menos 'little/few>less' are used for comparison.
A few ad-adjectives locate adjectives mainly in the form of the past participle analogically with
the verb: lejanamente oído 'heard from afar,' actualmente derruido 'actually demolished.' We may
regard them as 'locator ad-adjectives.'
The degree of the quantifier ad-adjective is also expressed in the form of the adverb. Such words
should be called
AD-AD-ADJECTIVES.
The uninflected quantifier mucho/menos may also be an
42
ad-ad-adjective (45a). The word mucho may be substituted by the quantifier noun un poco (45b),
which has been developed to clarify the degree of comparison: doce perras (45c). Because of the
quantifier meaning and the position before más/menos, these nouns do not need prepositions to
distinguish the function.
(45) a. (estas tunas) Son mucho más sabrosas. (CN: 61)
(these tunas) are much more tasty
'This tuna is much more tasty.'
b. Vio un poco más rezagado a Manolo. (AL: 508)
he-saw a little more behind to Manolo-ACC
'He saw Manolo a little further behind.'
c. Os doy doce perras más por día a cada uno. (AL: 252)
you-DAT-PL I-give twelve pesetas more by day to each one
'I’ll give twelve pesetas more a day to you each.'
Summarized in the following Table 4 is our insight that adjectives as modifiers of nouns, may be
modified by ad-adjectives, which may also be modified by ad-ad-adjectives. Most ad-adjectives
express the connotative quantity of quality, but some of them modify quality, such as those in (42a,
43a-b). However, ad-ad-adjectives are all quantifiers, probably because they are too far from the
adjectives to modify their quality, which is more complicated than quantity. Though all adjectives
are comparative, the compared nouns are not always expressed, except for cases when expression is
obligatory.
TABLE 4
nouns
un chico
Ad-Adjectivals
ad-ad-adjectives
ad-adjectives
(quantifier)
(quantifier/qualifier)
×
-mente '-ly'
joven
poco/muy
'young'
'a boy'
adjectives marker of
nouns
comparison
×
×
que 'than'
Juan
'little/very'
mucho 'much'
menos/más
un poco 'a little'
'less/more'
dos años 'two years'
×
tan 'as'
como 'as'
5.4 Verbs
A verb takes part in the construction of a sentence only as a verject. Consequently, the reason
why a sentence requires a verb is the same as that of the verject. Namely, a thing, which occupies
three-dimensional space, occupies time simultaneously in the four dimensions. All things exist in
correlative space-time.
43
Provided that a sentence expresses four-dimensional space-time, it requires a part to represent
time, and this is the verb. As no other parts of the sentence other than a verb can express time, a
verb is the only part charged with expressing time. Things change as time goes by and they need
time to change. Whatever may be the degree, things in space change in time. When time is a
synonym of 'change,' we may say that a verb is also the part in charge of expressing the change.28
5.4.1 Physical and Mental Verbs
Some kinds of change are perceived directly in physical things and others are abstracted
indirectly from physical things through mental activity. Verbs which express the physical changes
may be called
PHYSICAL VERBS,
activity may be called
and verbs which express the change abstracted though mental
MENTAL VERBS.
Like nouns and adjectives, this distinction is based on
physiological processes.
For example, the physical verb ir 'go' in (46a) expresses physical movement or change of spatial
location. On the other hand, the subject of the mental verb ir in (46b) does not move physically but
its movement is conceptual and mental. Verbs like ir, venir 'come,' salir 'go out,' which mean
external or physical change, may develop as internal or mental verbs. However, verbs like creer
'think, believe,' saber 'know,' entender 'understand,' which mean properly mental activities, do not
serve as physical verbs by moving away from the original physiological process.
(46) a. Voy por Vera. (FV: 85)
I-go via Vera
'I go via Vera.'
b. Así va el país. (EP: Jun. 14. '98)
so goes the country
'So the country goes.'
5.4.2 Dynamic Verbs
Change has a degree, which can be measured within limits from zero to infinite. We should like
to call the verbs which express the changing and dynamic state
STATIC VERBS,
DYNAMIC VERBS
in opposition to
which express changeless and static state.
As change is recognized in things, the meaning of a verb should be reducible to the elements of
things: quality, quantity and space-time location. That is, a verb is the part of a sentence which
expresses change in quality, in quantity, in spatial location (which is movement), and in temporal
location (which is passage of time), all of which may be compound. And in dynamic verbs change
is what is most marked.29
Verbs which denote change in quality, whether color, shape, touch, taste, smell, or sound etc., are
QUALIFIER VERBS.
Change in quality can be seen in verbs like blanquear 'to whiten,' derretir 'to
melt,' endurecer 'to harden,' amargar 'to embitter,' perfumar 'to perfume,' suavizar (la voz) 'to
soften (the voice)' etc., which indicate a change in the directly perceptible quality. For example, in
(47a) the verb verdear 'to grow green' means change in the physical quality of color. In (47b) the
44
physical quality is compound; the verb ensuciar 'to dirty' means change in the physical quality of
color and adhesive material. Physical verbs may convert to mental verbs; in (47c) the verb romper
'to break,' which properly means physical change in the quality of shape, is analogized as a mental
change in relations. And, for instance, the verb marchitar 'wither' implies compound change of
color, shape, moisture etc. Similarly, verbs like dormir 'sleep' or envejecer 'get old' represent a
compound of physical qualities, too. Meanwhile, verbs like alegrar 'to make happy,' apreciar 'to
appreciate,' ofender 'to offend,' etc. are compound mental verbs, whose meanings entail a change in
the indirectly perceptible quality or evaluation based on direct perception (47d).
(47) a. El trigo verdeaba en las labranzas (AF: 69)
the wheat was-growing-green in the farms
'The wheat was growing green in the farms.'
b. ¿Aunque (el perro) le ensucie esa cubrecama tan blanca? (ME: 169)
even-if (the dog) to-you dirties-SUBJ that bedspread so white
'What if (the dog) dirties that very white bedspread of yours?'
c. Leonor rompió definitivamente con Saint-Pée. (FV: 92)
Leonor broke definitely with Saint-Pée
'Leonor broke up with Saint-Pée for good.'
d. Esta audacia ofendía profundamente a Carlos. (ZA: 47)
this boldness offended deeply to Carlos-ACC
'This boldness offended Carlos deeply.'
Verbs which imply change in quantity are
QUANTIFIER VERBS.
The change in quality in verbs like
aumentar 'to increase' and crecer 'to grow' entails the addition of one quantity to another quantity.
The addition of quantity may not only be physical as in (48a), but also mental in these verbs as in
(48b). In contrast, the verb disminuir 'to diminish' or acortar 'to shorten' means to subtract one
quantity from a certain quality. This mental subtraction can be found also in verbs like despreciar
'to despise,' deprimir 'to depress,' disgustar 'to displease' etc.
(48) a. Como cada año, aumentan los rechazados para la selectividad. (EP: Jun. 19. '98)
as each year increase the refused-persons for the entrance-examination
'As in other years, those rejected for the entrance examination has increased.'
b. Aumenta la benevolencia hacia el exterior y la agresividad en el interior. (EP: ibid.)
increases the benevolence to the exterior and the aggression in the interior
* 'Benevolence to the exterior and aggression in the interior increase.'
Verbs such as aparecer 'to appear,' nacer 'to bear,' surgir 'to surge' etc. mean a production of
quantity from zero to a certain quantity. Meanwhile, the subtraction may result in zero quantity in
verbs like desaparecer 'to disappear,' perder 'to lose,' apagar 'to extinguish' etc. which mean a
vanishing of quantity. In the verbs like decir 'to say,' creer 'to think, to believe,' querer 'to want' etc.
45
the production is mental. In this kind of verbs, a thought is produced as the direct object, which
may be paraphrased as a clause. For example, in (49a) the sentence or thought pareces muy tímido
'you seem very timid' did not exist before the change ha dicho Yoni 'Yoni has said.' In this case we
may say that the verb decir 'to say' indicates the production of a thought. On the other hand, verbs
like desesprar 'to disappoint nosotros 'us.'
(49) a. Nos ha dicho Yoni que le pareces muy tímido. (EV: 133)
to-us has said Yoni that to-him you-seem very timid
'Yoni has said to us that you seem very timid to him.'
b. Al casarse, se olvidaron de nosotros. (CN: 61)
at-the to-marry-themselves-ACC themselves-ACC they-forgot about us
'On getting married, they forgot us.'
Verbs like ir 'to go,' subir 'to go up,' girar 'to revolve' etc. indicate change of location in space or
motion. Such verbs may be called SPACE LOCATOR VERBS. The change of three-dimensional location
has the largest scale and this change is easier compared with that of quality, of quantity and of the
temporal location. For that reason we may say that the most possible and representative change is in
motion, which may be both physical and mental. For example, in (50a) the verb entregó 'gave'
indicates the physical change in spatial location of the paper. In the meantime, the verb pasa
'happens < passes' in (50b) does not mean any motion in physical space but in mental space dealing
with a changed affair.
(50) a. Y le entregó el papel. (ZA: 104)
and to-him he-gave the paper
'And he gave him the paper.'
b. ¿Qué le pasa? (MH: 20)
what to-you happens
'What's the matter with you?'
Verbs expressing change of temporal location are
TIME LOCATOR VERBS:
pasar 'to pass',
transcurrir 'to elapse,' amanecer 'to dawn' etc. In (51a) the verb durar 'to last' expresses the
changing of location in time. Because time is a mental concept and recognized by analogy with
physical one-dimensional space, the passage of time may connect with motion in mental space.
Therefore, the verbs which mean the motion of one dimension and one direction also indicate the
change in temporal location coinciding with the movement. For example, the past participle of
pasar 'to pass' in el mes pasado 'last month < the passed month' indicates not spatial but temporal
movement. The most representative examples are the verb ir 'to go' in ir a + infinitive, which
substitutes the future tense such as in (51b), and the verb venir 'to come' in venir de + infinitive,
which substitutes the present perfect or past tense such as in (51c). In (51b) the verb ir 'to go'
indicates a temporal movement destined for the change expressed by the infinitive, which will be
46
realized in the future. In contrast, in (51c) the verb venir 'to come' indicates a temporal movement
from the change expressed by the infinitive, which has been realized just now.
(51) a. Me dura hasta dos semanas. (ME: 30)
me-DAT it-lasts till two weeks
'It lasts me two weeks.'
b. ¿Qué vas a hacer? (SV: 58)
what you-go to to-do
'What are you going to do?'
c. Vengo de hablar con la viuda de (José) Montiel. (MH: 112)
I-come from to-talk with the widow of (José) Montiel
'I have just talked with (José) Montiel’s widow.'
Quality and quantity are correlative, as are space and time. Therefore, all these elements may
also be compounded in verbs, which may be called COMPOUND VERBS. For example, in (52a) the
verb andar 'to walk' implies a change of posture, which is a change of quality, and a movement,
which is a change of spatial location. In correr 'to run' (52b) the change of posture and the degree
of change is different from that of andar 'to walk.' We can find another variations in recorrer 'to go
over,' corretear 'to run around,' pasear 'to take a walk,' vagar 'to wander,' callejear 'to walk the
streets' etc., which are compounded of various kinds of quality, quantity and space-time location.
For other examples, in marchitar 'to shrivel' we see change of humidity and size, and in hinchar 'to
swell' we see change in color and size In (52c) the verb sufrir 'to suffer' is compound and mental,
and in verbs such as aliviar 'to alleviate' in which we see change of quantity and feeling, the change
expressed in verbs is a compound of both quality and quantity. In beber 'to drink,' comer 'to eat,'
quemar 'to burn' etc. we can find change not only in spatial location but also in quantity, which
causes change of quality, too.
(52) a. Los hombres andan de prisa, como si temieran llegar con retraso. (CN: 113)
the men walk of hurry as if they-should-fear to-arrive with delay
'The men walk in a hurry, as if they were afraid to arrive late.'
b. Un ratón corre por el pajar. (AL: 30)
a rat runs around the straw-loft
'A rat runs around the straw loft.'
c. ¡No puedo sufrirte! (HE: 49)
not I-can suffer-you
'I can't stand you!'
We regard as quality what does not seem to belong to quantity, but it is not possible to discern
categorically the kinds of quality because of correlations with quantity. As spatial priority may be
equivalent to temporal priority, sometimes spatial and temporal locations can be difficult to
47
distinguish. Though a change may be compound, it should be reduced to quality, quantity and
space-time location.
TABLE 5
Dynamic Verbs
dynamic
verbs
physical
qualifier
mental
blanquear 'to whiten'(47a-b) ofender 'to offend' (47c-d)
verbs
quantifier
aumentar 'to increase' (48a) olvidar 'to forget'(48b) (49a-b)
verbs
space locator entregar 'to give' (50a)
pasar 'to happen' (50b)
verbs
durar 'to last' (51a-c)
time locator
verbs
compound
andar 'to walk' (52a-b)
sufrir 'to suffer' (52c)
verbs
5.4.3 Static Verbs
When the degree of change is zero, things do not change, and this is expressed by static verbs.
Zero or static change is nothing more than a certain state of change, which contains a possibility of
being dynamic and vice versa - a dynamic state of change contains a possibility of being static. The
static state and dynamic state are not separated categorically but are continuous. It shows that both
are different appearances of the same thing.
When we recognize that a thing does not change, the sentence expresses how this thing does not
change. To express zero change we should mention the attribute of the subject or the thing with
which we recognize the beginning of change. As static verbs link the subject with its attributes, they
are called COPULATIVES. The term copulative implies the requirement of parts other than the
subject noun, which is attributed to the subject. The attributes of a thing, quality, quantity and
spatial and temporal locations, are extracted to complement a verb. Thus, static state is expressed
by the copulative verb and its complement. The complements of the static verbs ser and estar form
part of complex verbs. Thus, analytic combination by means of the static verbs increases the
productivity of verbs.
Static verbs are those which require complements to express how things are there without
changing. There are verbs which correspond to this combination of copulative and the complement:
peligrar = estar en peligro 'to be in danger', permanecer 'to stay' = estar durante cierto tiempo 'to
be during a certain time.' Such verbs are close to copulatives or static verbs, because dynamic and
static verbs are not divided separately but are continuous by degrees.
The most representative copulative verbs in Spanish are ser and estar, which are distinguished
according to changeability. Generally less changeable attributes are expressed by ser, and more
changeable attributes by estar.
48
As a thing may have some qualities, the change of quality is partial and more likely. So, qualifier
complementary adjectives may combine as well with estar as with ser (53a-b).
(53) a. Don Florín es bueno. (FV: 29)
don Florín is good
'Don Florín is good.'
b. Está buena la tarde. (EV: 72)
is good the evening
'The evening is good.'
We can find examples of ser with an adverb phrase only in the case of soy 'I-am' as in (54a),
whose meaning is close to estar, but we cannot find ser with a qualifier adverb; * Juan es
honradamente. '*Juan is honestly.' And a few qualifier adverbs appear with estar as in (54b). This
shows that adjectives are components of nouns, which express static things without change, while
adverbs are components of verbs, which express change. And it also shows that qualifiers are
properly adjectives rather than adverbs, because quality is an attribute of a thing before change.
(54) a. En cuanto despache a este señor, soy con usted. (MM, I: 1066)
as soon as I-serve-SUBJ this gentleman, I-am with you
'As soon as I have served this gentleman, I'll come at once.'
b. Ya está bien de lluvia, (DC: 52)
now it-is well of rain
'Now it's all right about rain.'
On the other hand, because a thing may not have more than one quantity, change of quantity is
total and less likely. Therefore, complementary quantifier adjectives tend to appear with ser (55a),
though we can find some examples of quantity with estar like (55b):
(55) a. Somos cinco y no hay más que una habitación. (CN: 99)
we-are five and not one-has more than one room
'We are five and there is no more than one room.'
b. ellos están pocos (Navas: 69)
they are few
'They are few.'
If mucho 'much' in (56a) agreed with its subjects, we could regard it as an adverb. And there may
be a possibility that the quantifier phrase de más 'superfluous' in (56b) is an adverb. However,
quantifier adverbs are hardly ever found with ser or estar, because not only the quality but also the
quantity is adjectival and changeless rather than adverbial and changeable.
49
(56) a. El veinte por ciento.
–Es mucho. (ZA: 87)
the twenty per cent
it-is much
'The twenty per cent - it's a lot.'
b. Si estoy aquí de más, me lo dices. (LR: 1076)
if I-am here of more me it you-say
'If I'm in the way here, please tell me.'
We hardly ever find ser or estar with space locator adjectives: *La casa es/está cercana. This
shows that spatial location does not qualify the subject, and to express the same meaning, we would
need to use adverbs rather than adjectives. This seems to be because spatial location, which is
fundamentally changeable, is closer to verbs and adverbs.
When ser is complemented with spatial locations as in (57a), the verb means celebrarse 'to take
place,' which expresses the existence of an event as a static entity. Except for proper places, a thing
or person may move from here to there. Therefore, location in space is expressed only with estar as
in (57b). As spatial location is expressed in relation to things, many of the complements are noun
phrases with prepositions, which may be adjectives as well as adverbs.
(57) a. La cita fue ... en el depuertas de la carretera. (AL: 247)
the meeting was in the tollhouse of the road
'The meeting was in the tollhouse of the road.'
b. ¡Está en la escalera! (HF: 60)
she-is on the stair
'She’s on the stair!'
In some cases the verb ser may be complemented by time locator adjectives, which also qualify
the subject, as, for example, in (58a). That is to say, time locator adjectives may also serve as
qualifiers with ser. But time locator adjectives with estar seem unnatural, because time locator
adjective complements qualify the subject rather than locate time. In comparison with (57a-b), time
locators have more of an adverbial than adjectival nature, because time is a synonym of change
expressed by verbs. Therefore, we find with ser or estar fewer time locator adjectives than time
locator adverbs.
(58) a. El animal es nocturno.
the animal is nocturnal
'The animal is nocturnal.'
b. *El animal está nocturno.
the animal is-(at present) nocturnal
'The animal is (at present) nocturnal.'
Also, when ser is complemented by temporal locations as in (59a), the verb means celebrarse
50
'take place,' in which an event is regarded as a static thing just like spatial locations as we have seen
in (57a). When place is replaced by time on account of the similarity of movement, a few temporal
locations complement estar (59b). As if we were walking on a calendar, time is an analogy of
space.
(59) a. Hoy ha sido la tercera clase de alemán. (EV: 184)
today one-has been the third class of German
'Today we have had the third class of German.'
b. Mujer, estamos en ferias. (EV: 44)
woman we-are in weekdays
'Woman, today is a weekday.'
Complementary nouns appear almost exclusively with ser, because a noun is a compound of
stable attributes. For example, in (60a), some attributes of the subject el mundo 'the world' are
compounded and fixed in a noun un pañuel 'a handkerchief.' And a change of an attribute may
make us select another noun. But we can find some nouns with estar, which seem close to
adjectives. For instance, in (60b) the noun prisionero 'prisoner' expresses a man in a certain state,
an attribute of the man.
(60) a. El mundo era un pañuelo. (NR: 12)
the world was a handkerchief
'The world was a handkerchief.'
b. ¿Estoy prisionero? (ZA: 81)
I-am-(at present) prisoner
'I'm a prisoner at present.'
After observing such cases, we may distinguish ser and estar as in the following table:
51
TABLE 6
Static Verbs
complements
qualifier
quantifier
space locator
time locator
compound
ser
estar
adjectives
◎ (53a)
◎ (53b)
adverbs
△ (54a)
○ (54b)
adjectives
◎ (55a)(56a)
△ (55b)
adverbs
×
△ (56b)
adjectives
×
×
adverbs
○ (57a)
◎ (57b)
adjectives
○ (58a)
× (58b)
adverbs
○ (59b)
○ (59b)
nouns
◎ (60a)
△ (60b)
◎: many examples
○: a few examples
△: very few examples
×: no examples
When the complementary adjective is the past participle, the sentence is called a passive in
contrast with the active as in (61a-b). While the latter denotes a dynamic change begun with the
subject, the former denotes the static state of the subject as a result of the change expressed by the
past participle. The copulative verb may be either ser or estar depending on changeability, as we
see in (61a-b). However, past participles of intransitive verbs do not make passives but express
emphatically a state as a result of a change, as in (61c).
(61) a. Almería fue descuidada por reyes, ministros, reformadores, escritores. (CN: 110)
Almería was neglected by kings ministers reformers writers
'Almería was neglected by kings, ministers, reformers, writers.'
b. Silvestre estaba satisfecho; (ZA: 82)
Silvestre was satisfied
'Silvestre was satisfied.'
c. Estoy muerto. (AL: 83)
I-am died
'I'm dead.'
The complementary adverb may be a gerund, and in this case the sentence is called progressive.
The sentence expresses the static state of the subject in the progression of the change expressed by
the gerund. Because of this progression or changeability we do not use ser but estar:
(62) Ahora están instalando un tiovivo. (HF: 52)
now they-are installing a merry-go-round
'Now they are installing a merry-go-round.'
Whatever category these complements belong to, they are modifiers of static verbs. Even when
52
the complement is an adjective or a noun, which is a bundle of adjectives, they complement or
modify the verb just like adverbs. The complementary noun and adjective, which are irrelevant to
change or time, are indispensable for expressing zero change. Copulative verbs require modifiers
because of the scarcity of information about the attributes of things. Even so, complements may be
omitted when they are understood:
(63) ¿Estamos (de acuerdo)?
we-are (of accordance)
'Are we agreed?
–Estamos (de acuerdo). (NR: 155)
we-are (of accordance)
–We are (agreed).'
5.4.4 Transitive and Intransitive Verbs
Etymologically, transitive verbs are verbs which may be passive and intransitive verbs are verbs
which may not be passive. However, some intransitives may be passive and some transitive verbs
may not be passive. For example, in the passive sentence (64a), the verb interesar 'to interest' is
intransitive with the dative; Le interesa el negocio 'him-DAT interests-VI the business-SUB.' The
subject of the passive sentence is the dative of the active and the accusative of the active does not
appear in (64a). In (64b) though the verb llenar 'to fill' is transitive, passivization is not acceptable.
So, we may say that a distinction based on the possibility of being passive or not characterizes both
types of verbs, but it does not provide an essential definition of the types.
(64) a. Nadie está interesado del negocio. (SM: 878)
nobody is interested of-the business
'Nobody is interested in the business.'
b. El vaso está *llenado (lleno).
the glass is filled 'full'
'The glass is full.'
It is generally accepted not only in Spanish, but also in many other languages that verbs with
direct objects are transitive and verbs without are intransitive. Nevertheless, we have seen some
transitive verbs without direct objects in (16a-b), (19a-b), (20a-b), and (21a-b), repeated below:
(16) a. No querían abrir (la puerta). (FV: 104)
not they-wanted to-open (the door)
'They didn't want to open (the door).'
b. No (lo) sé. (MH: 123)
not (it) I-know
'I don't know (it).'
(19) a. ¿Pero no te escribe (la carta)? (EV: 199)
but not you he-writes (the letter)
'But he hasn't written you (the letter).'
53
b. Martín pagó (el dinero) al posadero, (ZA: 122)
Martin paid (the money) to-the innkeeper
'Martín paid (the money) to the innkeeper.'
(20) a. Estos cuchillos cortan (cualquier cosa) demasiado. (LR: 401)
these knives cut (any thing) too (well)
'These knives cut (any thing) too well.'
b. Sopla el viento (todas las cosas) (CN: 67)
blows the wind (all the things)
'The wind blows (all the things).'
(21) a. Alguien cantó (una canción). (RC: 60)
someone sang (a song)
'Someone sang (a song).'
b. porque no vivimos (la vida) en la Edad Media. (AL: 529)
because not we-live (the life) in the Age Middle
'because we don't live in the Middle Ages.'
Also, we have seen some intransitive verbs with direct objects as in (17b), (18b) (here repeated):
(17) b. Martín ... se levantó de la mesa (ZA: 102)
Martín himself-ACC rose from the table
'Martín got up from the table.'
(18) b. me salí a saltos del portal. (EV: 188)
myself-ACC I-left at jumps from-the porch
'I jumped off the porch.'
Verbs which almost never have direct objects such as in (19a-b), (20a-b), (21a-b) are regarded as
intransitive. However, the distinction is not categorical as we have seen above. We should
differentiate the kinds of verbs in this way when the subject and the indirect object are absent.
There seems to be no reason why only a sentence lacking in the direct object should have a
different verb. It does not seem proper to differentiate two verbs in two sentences of the same
meaning according to the appearance and disappearance of a direct object, which may be caused by
omission. It is unreasonable to think that omission changes verbal types. From this it follows that
the presence and absence of the direct object does not distinguish verbs essentially, but merely
superficially.
As the causative of an intransitive verb may correspond to a transitive verb, e.g. hacer levantarse
'to make rise (int.)' = levantar 'to rise (tr.)' Noam Chomsky (1965: 189) characterizes transitivity by
causativity. However, not only intransitives but also transitives may be causative. Certainly, for
example, in (65a) the direct object of the causative verb hace 'makes' is the intransitive verb
rebrillar 'to shine'. Still, for another example in (65b) the direct object of the causative verb hizo
'made' is the transitive verb volver 'to turn,' so that it is true to say that causativity does not
54
distinguish transitive from intransitive.
(65) a. El sol hace rebrillar el río. (DC: 55)
the Sun makes to-shine-strongly the river
'The Sun makes the river shine strongly.'
b. El rumor de un motor le hizo volver el rostro. (AL: 454-5)
the rumble of a motor him made to-turn the face
'The rumble of a motor made him turn his face.'
Provided that a sentence is an expression of cognition, all parts of the sentence are to be defined
based on the necessity of cognition. The distinction between the two kinds of verbs should have a
definition grounded in the identity of the two extremes of one-dimensional time, which is expressed
exclusively by verbs.
As we have seen in 4.2, our hypothesis provides evidence that verbs whose subject and direct
object are identical are intransitive, and verbs whose subject and direct object are not identical are
transitive. Not only from the deductive but also from the inductive point of view, there is no
evidence of any transitive verb with direct object identical to the subject, nor any intransitive verb
with direct object non-identical to the subject. Thus, our observation above induces the same
distinction as the hypothesis deduces.30
The reflexive direct object of levantarse 'to rise oneself' in (17b) is necessary to distinguish the
intransitive verb from the transitive, whose direct object is always different from the subject (17a).
Verbs of only intransitive use, such as salir 'to leave' in (18a), do not have direct objects. Such
intransitive verbs without direct objects, including ser/estar 'to be,' ir 'to go,' venir 'to come' etc.,
tend to require modifiers which give informational value to the sentence. For example, in (18a) the
time locator modifier dentro de unos minutos 'in a few minutes' semantically plays the main part in
the sentence. As Yamada (1936: 239) and Alarcos (1980: 158) point out, intransitives verbs have
this kind of dependency and their meaning can hardly be understood without modifiers.
Notwithstanding, exclusively intransitive verbs may have reflexive direct objects with emphatic
or modified meaning such as in (18b). In this case the appearance of the redundant reflexive direct
objects serves to make another verb. Thus, only with monosyllable attachment can we duplicate the
vocabulary.
When the subject does not change, it does not affect other sentential elements. Accordingly, a
verb which denotes zero change is also exclusively intransitive with an implicit reflexive direct
object, which appears only to stress the end of the non-change (66a-b). As the direct object is
identical with the subject in an intransitive verb, the complement also modifies the subject.
(66) a. Ahora sí que estarás contentona. (ZA: 128)
now yes that you-will-be content-AUG
'Now you'll certainly be very happy.'
b. Estate contento entonces. (BM: 257)
55
you-be-yourself-ACC content then
'Be happy then.'
In the following examples the action expressed by the verbs makes no difference as to whether
the direct object is reflexive or not. In (67a) the verb mira 'he-looks' seems to indicate almost the
same action as both se mira 'he-looks himself' and le mira 'he-looks him'. However, as far as the
verbs do not affect other participants, we must regard the verbs as intransitive not transitive. We
may say that the verbs in (67a-b) are also intransitive because intransitivity involves an objective
view of oneself.
(67) a. Ontañón, el fotógrafo, se mira piadosamente. (DC: 67)
Ontañón the photographer himself-ACC looks piously
'Ontañón, the photographer, looks at himself piously.'
b. No me meto en cosas íntimas de la familia. (AC: 102)
not me I-put in things intimates of the family
'I don't poke my nose into the intimate affairs of the family.'
Reciprocal reflexive verbs entail at least two transitive actions in opposite directions at once.
Because of this plurality of action their subject is plural and reciprocal. For example, in (68) se
miraban 'they-looked at themselves' implies A mira a B 'A looked at B' and B mira a A 'B looked at
A'. But, as the action is performed by the subject identical with the direct object they are
intransitive.
(68) Los otros dos rabiaban y se miraban sin hablarse. (ZA: 86)
the other two raged and themselves-ACC they-looked without talk-themselves-ACC
'The other two raged and looked at each other without talking.'
We should like to confirm the cognitive ground of the distinction between the transitive and
intransitive verbs, which we have referred in 4.2 with regard to latent direct objects. Namely, verbs
express time, which is one-dimensional with two extremes. Between two things there may be two
kinds of mathematical relations: the two are identical or not. When the two extremes of the time,
the subject and direct object, are not identical, the verb is transitive, and when they are identical, the
verb is intransitive. In the transitive the change initiated by the subject affects the direct object
which is different from the subject, and in the intransitive the change works on the subject itself.
Intransitive verbs tend to lose direct objects because they are identical with the subjects and
redundant, and transitive verbs tend to have them because they are different from the subjects and
not redundant. The presence and absence of direct objects is a superficial distinction caused by this
cognitive distinction. If a verb may be both transitive and intransitive, the direct object is expressed
to make explicit the distinction (17a-b). But if a verb is exclusively intransitive, the following direct
object identical with the subject is dispensable (18a), and the presence of the redundant direct
56
object emphasizes the end of the change and the change itself. 31
When time is one-dimensional, there must be a beginning and an end. When verbs express time
and its beginning and end are recognized in the subject and the direct object, every verb must have
a subject and direct object. Without the direct object a verb cannot be recognized as a
one-dimensional entity. If a verb does not have a direct object, it is not because the verb lacks the
direct object by nature but because we recognize that it need not be expressed. It is natural for all
verbs to have direct objects, which appear by necessity not only with transitive but also with
intransitive verbs.32
Most transitive verbs may be passive because it is worth switching subjects, as the two subjects
of the active and passive sentences are not identical. By contrast, most intransitives cannot be
passive because it is not worth switching subjects when subject and direct object are identical.
Furthermore, intransitives verbs may be passive only when the subject is the indirect object of the
corresponding active sentence such as in (64a).
As the causative presumes the existence of a direct object not identical with the subject,
causativity characterizes transitivity. But, causativity has nothing to do with intransitivity or the
distinction between transitive and intransitive, because examples like (65a) show that not only
intransitive but also transitive verbs may be causative.
TABLE 7
Transitive and Intransitive Verbs
transitive verbs
intransitive verbs
subject ≠direct object
subject＝direct object
verbs for
no (lo) sé
transitive
'not (it) I-know' (16a-b) (19a-b) (21a-b)
use
verbs for
lo levanta
se levanta
transitive & 'it he-raises' (17a)
'himself he-raises' (17b) (67a-b)
intransitive
se emplean
use
'themselves they employ' (68b)
no se miran
'not themselves they-look' (68a)
(reciprocal)
verbs for
mi autobús sale
intransitive
'my bus leaves' (18a) (66a)
use
emphatic:
me salí
'myself I-left' (18b) (66b)
57
5.4.5 Time Locator Tense
A verb consists of one or more lexical morphemes and conjugational morphemes. As the
morpheme -t- in dormitar 'to doze' causes a slight change in the meaning of dormir 'to sleep' from
which it is derived, we may call it a QUALIFIER LEXICAL MORPHEME. In the same way, the morpheme
re- in rellenar 'to refill,' which duplicates the change, is a
QUANTIFIER LEXICAL MORPHEME.
in preocupar 'to preoccupy', which points to the precedence of time, is a
MORPHEME.
And we have seen some lexical morphemes which contain
MORPHEMES
like sub- in subir 'to crimb,' baj- in bajar 'to descend' etc.
The pre-
TIME LOCATOR LEXICAL
SPACE LOCATOR LEXICAL
• On the other hand, the conjugation of a verb has a part to play in locating time, and this part,
which is traditionally called tense, contains a
TIME LOCATOR MORPHEME.
While neither nouns nor
adjectives can locate time in a sentence, only verbs and adverbs can locate the time in relation to
present time. Temporal location is required of all verbs for their proper function.
The time is located based on the time of the author’s cognition, which is the present, and the time
before the present is the past and the time after the present is the future. When cognition transcends
the limits of the present time by utilizing change that occurred in the past, a language needs a way
to locate a time freely.
5.4.5.1 Simple Tense
The most evident time in cognition is the present time of the author of cognition. Therefore, time
directly related to the present is basic and simple. It is natural for this simple time location to be
expressed by simple forms. Consequently, Spanish simple tense is expressed by simple verbs
including the time locator morphemes, some of which are not separable from the lexical
morphemes and regarded as irregular conjugation: eres 'you-are,' fui 'I-was/ I-went' etc.
a. Present
The present time is just a moment which disappears in a flash. Possibly because of this shortness,
the simple present tense is of only one kind in Spanish. As we need time to recognize things, the
present time has a certain length. For example in (69a) the change amarga 'makes bitter' is realized
during the time when el dulce 'the sweet' is tasted by somebody. This tense also expresses a change
which may be realized at any time, even though it is not realized at the present moment. In (69b)
when the speaker utters this sentence, he is not speaking French but Spanish. The present tense does
not express change realized at the present moment but the subject's potential for change which may
be performed in the wide range of present time including past and future. Furthermore, in (69c)
even when we do not see any amo 'master' or caballo 'horse', we can recognize the realization of
engordar 'to fatten' as a generality above the present space-time. We could say that the present
tense is the most real, because it is the time of the author of cognition. However, at the same time,
we could say that it is the most unreal, because it may transcend reality through the author's
creativity and because of the shortness of time.
(69) a. A nadie le amarga un dulce. (EV: 255)
58
to nobody-ACC him-PLEO. ACC makes-bitter a sweet
'A sweet doesn't make anybody bitter.'
b. Hablo francés. (CN: 59)
I-speak French
'I speak French.'
c. El ojo del amo engarda el caballo. (NR: 9)
the eye of-the master fattens the horse
'The eye of the master fattens the horse.'
And this tense includes past time which has finished just at the present moment as in (70a), and
future time which will be realized right now as in (70b). Thus the present tense, which expresses
the base of cognition, attracts the past and the future with centripetal force caused by its shortness.
(70) a. ¿Qué dices? (HE: 87)
what you-say
'What do you say?'
b. Ahora le dejo yo una nota. (FI 16)
now you-ACC give I a note
'Now I’ll give you a note.'
b. Past
Point Past
What has been done is recognized most evidently with enough time and information, and so
Spanish has as many as three kinds of simple past tense. We may call the past tense which
expresses a short time the
POINT PAST, using
the terminology of Takahashi Masatake (1967). When
time is one-dimensional, it has length, which is inevitably concerned with the location of the time.
When the distance between the beginning and the end is short, we recognize time as a point.
Mathematically speaking a point is a kind of line whose beginning and end are identical. In this
tense the time is so short that the end is explicit, which may be shown by a temporal locator adverb
such as el domingo pasado 'last Sunday' in (71a). Expressing a limited past time, what happened in
this tense has nothing to do with the present. Even when the change was contiguous or repeated
over a certain extent of time, the author may express it with this tense which regards time as a
moment, as in (71b). Occurring within a short time, the change expressed by the point past has
stress, which helps to express an impact as in (71c).
(71) a. El domingo pasado vinieron sólo doce personas. (HE: 73)
the Sunday last came only twelve persons
'Last Sunday only twelve persons came.'
b. Siempre estuve en el frente de Madrid, Somosierra, el Jarama... (AL: 596)
always I-was in the front of Madrid Somosierra el Jarama
59
'I was always in the (battle) front at Madrid, Somosierra, el Jarama… '
c. El dolor cedió. (MH: 15)
the pain decreased
'The pain decreased.'
Line Past
When the time is regarded as long, the past tense may be called the
LINE PAST
(also using
Takahashi’s terminology). In this tense the time is so long that the end is implicit even if it does not
end, as in (72a). This tense describes a situation within a certain length of time, while the point past
captures an incident with an impact caused by the shortness of the time. In (72b) while the line past
verb tenía 'had' explains the situation, the point past verb llegó 'arrived' introduces an instantaneous
incident.
(72) a. El espectáculo concluía. (ZA: 56)
the spectacle was-ending-L. PAST
'The spectacle was ending.'
b. Tenía Paco siete años cuando llegó el obispo, (RC: 27)
had-L. PAST Paco seven years when arrived- P. PAST the bishop
'Paco was seven years old when the bishop arrived.'
The line past sometimes indicates discontinuous or repetitive time, in which the length is totaled,
as for example in (73a). Nevertheless, in subordinate sentences we exclusively use this tense
however short the time may be. In (73b) we do not use the point past quiso but only the line past
quería even when the change querer 'to want' was momentary. This seems to be because time has a
certain length when we review it indirectly in a subordinate sentence.
(73) a. Bautista ... formaba muchas veces partes de las expediciones. (ZA: 51)
Bautista formed-L. PAST many times parts of the expeditions
' Many times Bautista ... took part in the expeditions.'
b. Natalia dijo que no quería ir. (EV: 241)
Natalia said that not she-wanted-L. PAST to-go
'Natalia said that she didn't want to go.'
The third simple past tense is the future in the past. This tense transfers the future to the past. In
(74) the direct utterance of Tellagorri Iré 'I will go' is expressed in the future in the past iría 'he
would go' in indirect speech.
(74) Tellagorri dijo que iría. (ZA: 30)
Tellagorri said that he-would-go
'Tellagorri said that he would go.'
60
c. Future
The future tense expresses the future viewed from the present time. It has only one kind,
probably because future time is the most difficult to be seen. Our cognition about the future cannot
employ evidence different from that used for the past and the present.
(75) mañana iré a tu casa a buscarlo. (NR: 164)
tomorrow I-will-go to your house to to-get-it
'Tomorrow I'll go to your house to get it.'
5.4.5.2 Perfect Tense
The tense which indicates the perfection of a change in the past, present or future time is the
perfect tense. In the perfect tense the change is finished by a certain time.
The time locator morpheme is separated as an auxiliary verb in the perfect tense. This separation
makes the form of the verb analytic and increases productivity. That is, the perfect tense consists of
the auxiliary verb haber 'to have,' which conjugates, and the invariable attributive part, the past
participle. The perfect tense expresses what one has done or what one is having done within a
definite time. So, the perfect tense presents the end of a change more clearly than the simple tense.
The perfect tense is concerned with the temporal limits of when a change has happened rather than
when it happens. Therefore, unlike the simple tense, the perfect tense implies the result of the
change at that time.
According to the tense of the auxiliary verb, the perfect tense is of five kinds: the present perfect
(76a), the line past perfect (76c), the future perfect (76d), and the future perfect in the past (76e).
Nowadays the point past is seldom used in the perfect tense. Instead, we utilize the temporal locator
adverb clause which begins with en cuanto 'as soon as' etc. as in (76b), which is of wider
application and more productive.
(76) a. El Chico ha perdido otra (perdiz). (DC: 38)
El Chico has lost another (partridge)
'El Chico has lost another (partridge).'
b. en cuanto tienen un chispo de poder, todos los hombres se vuelven iguales. (CN: 38)
as soon as they-have a swig of power all the men themselves-ACC become equal
= Hubieron tenido un chispo de poder,
they-had-P.PAST had-P.P a swig of power,
'As soon as they have a swig of power, all the men become the same.'
c. La gente había marchado ya a dormir, (NR: 16)
the people had-L.PAST gone already to to-sleep
'The people had already gone to sleep.'
d. La mujer habrá terminado de trabajar en el pañuelo de tierra (AL: 248)
the woman will-have finished from to-work on the handkerchief of land
61
'The woman will have finished working on the handkerchief (lit.) of land.'
e. ya lo habrían olvidado. (AL: 504)
already it they-should-have forgotten
'They should have already forgotten it.'
As long as an event has been completed within a limited time, the perfect tense is not concerned
whether that event is still continuing or not. So, some examples of the perfect tense indicate what
continues even within a limited time (77a-b).
(77) a. Pero yo siempre te he querido de verdad, Ricardo. (SV: 38)
but I always you I-have wanted of truth Ricardo
'But I have always loved you really, Ricardo.'
b. Una casa así es lo que yo había soñado siempre. (AM: 106)
a house like-this is that which I had dreamed always
'A house like this is what I had always dreamed of.'
5.4.6 Qualifier Tense
Tense does not always locate time corresponding to actuality. Entrusting the function of temporal
location to the time locator adverb or to the situation, the tense bears the qualification of change,
which may be attributed to either reality [+reality] or unreality [-reality]. When the time locator
adverb and tense indicate different temporal locations, the former has priority in temporal location
and the latter indicates rather the quality of [±reality].
The present tense does not always locate the present time. When the present tense locates the
past time, time is attracted to present time, as if we were at the present. In (78a) the adverb phrase
instantes después 'shortly after' locates the past time and the verb se detiene 'stops' in the present
tense expresses the quality of [+reality]. In the same way, future time expressed by the present
tense, including the perfect tense, attracts future to present time, as if it were realized right now.
Thus in (78b-c) the verbs express the quality of [+reality], and the adverb phrases locate the actual
time. And requests, which imply future change, expressed by the present are more evident, i.e. the
present verbs pasa 'happens' and llamas 'you call' in (78d) bring reality to the future change. Both
the past and future time locator morphemes give a quality of reality in these cases.
(78) a. Instantes después, el chófer se detiene. (CN: 111)
instants after the driver himself-ACC stops
'Shortly after, the driver stops.'
b. Mañana torea en Vista Alegre el chico de Municio. (AL: 183)
tomorrow fights in Vista Alegre the boy of Municio
'Tomorrow the boy from Municio fights in Vista Alegre.'
c. Yo, en menos de diez años, he adquirido un pueblo entero. (CN: 91)
I in less than ten years I-have acquired a village entire
62
'In less than ten years, I have acquired a whole village.'
d. Si pasa algo nos llamas al instante. (AL: 152)
if happens something us you-call at-the instant
'If something happens, call us immediately.'
In contrast, present time may be expressed by the future and the past tense. When present time is
expressed by the future tense, the present time is more obscure or unreal, as if it were not at the
present time. As the future is unknown, the future tense is constrained to denote an inference, which
may imply something incredible or a surprise. The inferential future tense may be replaced, for
example, by the adverb probablemente 'probably' and the incredible future tense, by increíblemente
'incredibly.' These time locator morphemes give a quality of unreality to the utterance.
(79) a. ¿Qué hora es?
–Serán las nueve y media. (FI: 13)
what time it-is
they-will-be the nine and half
'What time is it? – It'll be half past nine.'
b. ¡No irá a decirme que todo esto es natural! (AM: 75)
not you-will-go to to-say me that all this is natural
'You're not going to tell me that all this is natural!'
Present time expressed by the past tense implies euphemism, as if an event did not happen now,
as in (80a). Moreover, when the inferential future is combined with the euphemism of the past
tense, the inference is emphasized by the future in the past as in (80b). Moving away from the
present time, the past subjunctive stresses politeness, as for example in (80c). And the imperative,
which is not realized yet, may also be expressed by the past subjunctive euphemistically as in (80d).
Such time locator morphemes give a quality of indirection or obscurity to the change.
(80) a. ¿Qué quería usted? (FI: 12)
what wanted-L.PAST you
'What would you like?'
b. no se encontraría ahora de esa manera ... (CN: 103)
not itself-ACC it-would-find now of that way
'It wouldn't be like that now.'
c. Ahora quisiera trabajar un poco en esta lana. (SV: 50)
now I-would-want to-work a little in this wool
'Now I 'd like to work a little with this wool.'
d. ¡Acabáramos! (AM: 148)
we-should-finish
'Let’s finish! '
The inference may have a conditional adverb clause, which may be realizable or not. A realizable
63
condition is specified only with the suppositive conjunction si 'if,' which does not require the
unreality of the subjunctive, as in (81a-b). But when the condition is not yet realized, the
subjunctive mood stands for the suppositive conjunction si, as we see in (81c). If the si is not used
with the present subjunctive or with the future indicative, it seems that this is so because the
unreality of these conjugations overlaps with the suppositive conjunction.
(81) a. Si Ontañón no llega habrá que esperar a otro año (DC: 17)
if Ontañón not arrives one-will-have that to-wait until another year
'If Ontañón doesn't arrive we will have to wait until another year.'
b. El Cacho, si comenzaba a ganar, se exaltaba, (ZA: 43)
the Cacho if he-began to to-win himself-ACC he-overexcited
'The Cacho, if he began to win, got overexcited.'
c. Cuando sepa algo, ya se lo diré. (CN: 96)
when I-know-SUBJ something then to-you it-ACC I-will-tell
'When I know something, I'll tell you.'
An unrealizable condition is specified with the past subjunctive and sí. The sí, the subjunctive
and the euphemistic or obscure past tense are all required to separate the condition form the
realization. When the condition is not realizable at the present, the past tense is simple. As the
condition has a euphemistic past tense, the main sentence also has the euphemistic past tense which
expresses the inferential future tense simultaneously as in (82a). When the condition was not
realizable in past time, the past tense is complex, which shows the result more explicitly, because
the perfect tense presupposes that the change has been completed by a certain time limit. As the
condition has a complex past tense, the main sentence also has a complex past tense, which may be
the future in the past of the indicative such as in (82b), or the past subjunctive such as in (82c).
Here the inferential future tense is equivalent to the unreal subjunctive as well as in the above
instances:
(82) a. Si hubiese una buena carretera los turistas vendrían como moscas. (CN: 91)
if one-have-SUBJ-PAST a good road the tourists would-come like flies
'If there was a good road the tourists would come like flies.'
b. Te habría telefoneado si me hubiera sido posible. (Gili Gaya: 321)
you-ACC I-would have telephoned if for-me it-have-SUBJ-PAST been possible
'I would have called you if it had been possible.'
c. Si no hubieran ellas hablado en voz tan alta, él les hubiera podido decir algo. (AL: 310)
if they-F not have-SUBJ-PAST spoken in voice so high he to-them have-SUBJ-PAST can-P.P
to-say something
'If they hadn't spoken in such loud voices, he would have been able to say something to
them.'
64
When the tense does not locate the time corresponding to actuality, it qualifies the time or
change. If close to the present time, the tense qualifies the change more clearly; if far from the
present time, the tense qualifies the change more obscurely. The future tense qualifies the present
time as an inference and the past time as a euphemism. Thus, the qualifier tense becomes equivalent
to the mood, which is properly a qualifier. The unreality of the future and past tense links to the
unreality of the subjunctive. The point we want to make here is that temporal location and the
quality of time or change are correlated.
TABLE 8
Qualifier Tense
time
past
present
future
line past
-----
[-reality](80a)
[+reality](81b)
future past
-----
[-reality](80b)
present
[+reality](78a) -----
form
indicative
<simple>
future
[-reality](79a-b)
[+reality](78b-d)(81a
)
-----
<perfect>
future past
subjunctive
-----
[-reality](82b)
-----
[-reality](80c-d)(82a)
<simple>
past
present
-----
<perfect>
[-reality](82c)
past
[-reality](81c)
-----
To sum up, when the present tense expresses past or future time, it qualifies the change with
[+reality]. On the other hand, when the past and future tenses express present time, they qualify the
change with [-reality]. However, there seems to be no past tense, except the future past, which
expresses future time or any future tense which expresses past time. This goes to show that the
qualifier transference of tense is always related to the present tense, or the time of the author of
cognition.
5.4.7 Indicative and Subjunctive Qualifier
The conjugation of verbs implies the possibility or degree of realization, which has been called
MOOD
in traditional grammar. When the possibility of realization is taken to be assured, the verb
implies an indicative morpheme, which may correspond to an adverb actualmente 'actually' or its
equivalents. When the possibility is not assured, the verb implies the subjunctive morpheme, which
roughly corresponds to an adverb posiblemente 'possibly' or its equivalents. That is, the mood
neither locates nor quantifies time, but qualifies it. While the indicative expresses reality as it is, the
65
subjunctive expresses unreality as it may be. Even when reality is unbelievable or unacceptable, it
is expressed by the subjunctive. Having looked at indicative verbs so far, we will similarly examine
subjunctives in the following sections.
5.4.7.1 Simple Tense
As the unreality of the subjunctive links with the future, the future tense of the subjunctive is lost
in contemporary Spanish and is normally replaced by the present subjunctive. The subjunctive does
not distinguish length of time in the past because of its unreality. Therefore, the five simple tenses
of the indicative are reduced to two in the subjunctive: the present (83a) and past (83b-c).
The subjunctive past tense has two forms ending in -ra (83b) and -se (83c) which differ
historically, dialectally and in distribution, but as time locators it is impossible to find any crucial
difference between the two.
(83) a. No quiero que me veas llorar. (SV: 39)
not I-want that me you-see-SUBJ to-cry
'I don't want you to see me cry.'
b. Ignoraba que también leyera novelas. (MH: 108)
he-ignored that also he-read-SUBJ novels
'He was unaware that he should also read novels.'
c. Le imprimía para que alcanzase algún saledizo. (NR: 11)
him he-impressed for that he-might-reach some overhang
'He impressed him in order that he might reach some overhang.'
When one person makes a request of another person, the request is expressed by the clause as the
direct object (84a). When the speaker requests something from the hearer, the main verb may be
omitted (84b). As the subjunctive expresses the request of the speaker, the clause marker que is also
not necessary. Therefore, a clause without the main verb and clause marker is called an imperative
sentence (84c). In all the imperative sentences we can suppose an underlying main verb whose
subject is the speaker and the conjunction que. In other words, the imperative sentence is a clause
without the clause marker que and the direct object of the optative sentence. The reason for the
ellipsis seems to be that the speaker's request of the hearer is exigent, common and unmarked.
Because the request is not always realized yet, the verb must be subjunctive in the present tense.
This is the reason why the imperative roughly coincides with the present subjunctive. This rough fit
may be explained as follows. The speaker does not request something of himself, so the subject of
the imperative is not the first person singular. But as the speaker may request something of other
persons including the speaker, the subject of the imperative may be the first person plural. Also,
only the affirmative imperative directed to the second person does not take the subjunctive form,
because this case is most frequent and motivated to have an irregular form (84d).
(84) a. En la fiesta del día once deseo que estén todos ustedes (AL: 582)
66
in the party of-the day eleven I-want that are-SUBJ all you
'At the party of the eleventh I want all of you to be present.'
b. (Deseo) Que te diviertas. (FI: 64)
(I-want) that yourself-ACC you-enjoy-SUBJ
'I want you to enjoy yourself.'
c. (Deseo que) Espere usted un momento, (NR: 136)
(I-want that) wait-SUBJ you a moment
'Please wait a moment.'
d. (Deseo que) Espera, no te vayas. (SV: 25)
(I-want that) you-wait-IMPER not yourself-ACC go-SUBJ
'Wait, don't go away.'
Since the request is not realized, the imperative or subjunctive can also be expressed by the
future tense such as dirás 'you will say' in (85a). In this sentence the speaker expresses his wish by
indicating the future of the hearer. Conversely, the subjunctive stands for the future tense to express
an inference with an inferential adverb. Thus the subjunctive verb is not subordinate in (85b).
(85) a. Ya me lo dirás cuando quieras. (HE: 43)
now me it you-will-say when you-want-SUBJ
'Now please say it to me whenever you like.'
b. Quizá Isabel no sepa las costumbres. (AM: 107)
perhaps Isabel not know-SUBJ the customs
'Perhaps Isabel won't know the customs.'
5.4.7.2 Perfect Tense
The complex tense of the subjunctive is also of two kinds, whose auxiliary verbs are in the
present (86a) or in the past (86b).
(86) a. Espero que usted le haya hecho comprender todas esas cosas. (MH: 90)
I-hope that you him have-SUBJ made to-understand all these things
'I hope that you have made him understand all these things.'
b. Desapareció, sin que se hubiera vuelto a saber de él. (AL: 577)
he-disappeared without that one should-have turn to-known of him
'He disappeared, without our having heard of him again.'
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TABLE 9
Tense and Mood
mood
tense (time locator and qualifier)
(qualifier)
simple
Perfect
indicative
past
past
point past
hablé
point past hube hablado
line past
hablaba
line past
past future
hablaría
past future habría hablad
había hablado
present
hablo
o
future
hablaré
present he hablado
future habré hablado
subjunctive
past
hablara/se
past
present hable
hubiera/se hablado
present haya hablado
5.4.8 Subject Markers
Spanish verbs have a part to indicate the subject, which we may call the SUBJECT MARKER. As the
identification of the subject does not seem to have anything to do with quantity or location, the
subject marker morphemes are regarded as qualifier morphemes. The qualifier morphemes mark the
three persons in singular and plural of the subject, and these indicate the role of the subject in
cognition. That is, the first person is the ego or author of cognition, the second person is the alter
ego with which the author holds a dialogue and the third person is a person or thing which does not
concern himself, herself or itself with the dialogue. Making explicit the roles in cognition, the
subject marker morphemes determine the position of the author in the change expressed by verbs.
The subject is marked in verbs because it expresses the beginning or the primary state of change,
which will be a basis of all the following change. It seems that, because of this semantic priority
and formal markedness, the subject has been distinguished from the other parts of a sentence, called
the predicate. However, in our four-dimensional construction there seems to be no reason why only
the subject should be separated from the other parts. Provided that the elements of the four
dimensions are correlative, we find no justification for separating only one of them categorically.
5.5 Adverbs
When a thing consists of the four elements, quality, quantity, locations in space and time, and the
change of a thing is attributed to either of these four elements, there must be a part which expresses
these attributes in a language. This is the adverb, which includes the adverb phrase, the adverb
clause and other adverbials. Therefore, adverbs are also attributed to qualifiers, quantifiers and
spatial and temporal locators. Without adverbs we cannot analyze or synthesize the change. We
may say that adverbs are the parts which modify verbs by extracting the quality, quantity and the
spatial and temporal location of the change expressed by verbs. That is to say, a bundle of adverbs
is a verb. To demonstrate some attribute of a verb we extract adverbs from the verb. When a verb is
not sufficient to express a change, we need adverbs, which are equivalent to the lexical morphemes
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of the verb as we see in the following paraphrases: sonreír 'smile' = reír suavemente 'laugh softly,'
reunir 'assemble' = unir otra vez 'unite again.'
The relation between verbs and adverbs is parallel to the relation between nouns and adjectives,
because while adjectives extract the attributes of a thing, adverbs extract the attributes of a change
that has happened to a thing. In (87a) the adverb mucho 'much' means money as well as the
adjective mucho (dinero) 'much (money)' in (87b). However, while the adjective agrees with the
noun, the adverb does not agree with the verb. The reason seems to be because a sentence may
contain many nouns but only one conjugated verb, we need not distinguish the modification by
means of agreement.
(87) a. Si se gana mucho ... (ZA: 86)
if one gains much
'If we gain much…'
b. Os he hecho gastar mucho dinero con la enfermedad. (AL: 261)
you-PL-ACC I-have made to-spend much money with the illness
'I have made you spend much money because of the illness.'
Some adverbs seem to modify the whole sentence, especially when they are at the beginning of
the sentence, as for instance in (88a). We can call this kind of adverb, which modifies the whole
sentence, a TOTAL ADVERB, while adverbs which modify the verb may be called PARTIAL
ADVERBS. A total adverb may stand for a main sentence in which the speaker comments on the
subordinate sentence. Thus (es) Claro que '(it-is) clear that' in (88b) is equivalent to the adverb
clarament 'clearly'. But since the verb relates all the components of the sentence, the distinction
between total and partial adverbs in (88a) and (88c) is not always evident.
(88) a. Precisamente no voy al estanco para no caer en la tentación. (CN: 101)
precisely not I-go to-the tobacconist's for not to-fall in the temptation
'I don't go to the tobacconist's precisely in order not to yield to temptation.'
b. Claro que les puedo ayudar. (AL: 264)
(it-is) clear that them I-can help.
'It is clear that I can help them.'
c. En julio es precisamente el tiempo en que... (AL: 182)
in July is precisely the time in which
'In July it's precisely the season in which…'
5.5.1 Physical and Mental Adverbs
Adverbs which are directly related to physical and perceptible entities may be called PHYSICAL
ADVERBS. On the other hand, adverbs which convey the attributes of change developed from
physical perception through a mental activity may be called MENTAL ADVERBS. We can find many
physical adverbs, most of which are adverb phrases, in amongst spatial locator adverbs. As time is a
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mental concept, all time locator adverbs are mental. Also, as quantity is a mental concept, all
quantifier adverbs are mental, too. Some qualities are also mental but others are physical. However,
as change is a mental conception, the qualifier adverbs, most of which are derivations from physical
adjectives, tend to be mental: claramente 'clearly,' altamente 'highly,' cortamente 'shortly' etc.
TABLE 10
Physical and Mental Adverbs
adverbs
qualifiers
physical: claramente 'with clearness
'
mental: claramente 'evidently'
quantifiers
mental: mucho 'much'
space locators physical: cerca 'near'
mental: cerca 'closely'
time locators
mental: (temporally) lejos 'far'
5.5.2 Qualifier Adverbs
Qualifier adverbs express the quality of the change of a thing. The most representative pair of
qualifier adjectives, bien 'well' and mal 'badly,' are not derivational, though they have
corresponding adjectives bueno 'good' and malo 'bad'. However, most of the qualifier adverbs are
derived form qualifier adjectives with the suffix -mente, because of their semantic parallelism.
Some fundamental qualifier adverbs have just the same form as the male qualifier adjectives: fuerte
'strong,' alto 'high,' largo 'long' etc. And some qualifier adverbs with -mente may be paraphrased by
an adverb phrase which consists of a preposition and mental noun: naturalmente 'naturally'=con
naturaleza, casualmente 'casually'= por casualidad, although their meanings are not exactly
equivalent. As far as the meaning is not contradictory, every qualifier adjective may form a
qualifier adverb with the suffix -mente.33 However, when the adjective is composed of a compound
of some adjectives and is close to the noun, it rarely forms an adverb, because the compound
qualities are ambiguous in characterizing the change.
(89) dijo caballerosamente el señor García (AL: 558)
said gentlemanly-ly the mister García
'Mister García said in a gentlemanly way...'
Some qualifier adverbs turn into quantifier adverbs. For instance the qualifier adverb altamente
'highly' some times has a quantifying meaning 'very'. In a similar vein, we can find examples such
as extremamente 'extremely,' duramente 'severely' etc. The same can be seen also in the quantifiers
of lesser quantity such as ligeramente 'lightly, a little,' suavemente 'softly, a little' etc. Some mental
qualifier adverbs developed from physical qualifier adverbs develop their abstraction to the most
abstract concept of quantity. That is to say, abstraction reduces the quality and turns the qualifier
adverbs into quantifiers.
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5.5.3 Quantifier Adverbs
Quantifier adverbs have a degree from the negation – from zero existence, to affirmation. The
negative and affirmative adverbs are not separated but vary continuously by gradation: nunca
'never,' no 'not' (90a), apenas 'hardly,' poco 'little' (90b), un poco 'a little' (90c), bastante 'enough,'
mucho 'much' (90e). And the absence of such adverbs signifies that the degree is in conformity with
the standard (90d).
(90) a. No trabajas.
not you-work
'You don't work.'
b. Trabajas poco.
you-work little
'You do little work.'
c. Trabajas un poco.
you-work a little
'You work a little.'
d. Trabajas.
you-work
'You work.'
e. Trabajas mucho.
you-work much
'You work very much.'
When the no 'not' indicates zero degree or the absence of change, the alternative sí 'yes' indicates
the presence of change (91a). When the understood parts are omitted, both the sí and no represent
the whole understood sentence, which may be an answer to a question as we see in (91b-c).
(91) a. Yo no voy. ... Yo sí voy. (EV: 162)
I not go.
I yes go
'I won’t go… I’ll definitely go.'
b. Tú no quieres conocerla; yo sí (quiero conocerla). (SV: 33)
you not want to-know-her I yes (want to know her)
'You don't want to know her; I certainly want to.'
c. ¿están canecidos o no (están encanecidos)? (AL: 446)
they-are moldy or not (they-are moldy)
'Are they moldy or not?'
5.5.4 Locator Adverbs
Adverbs such as aquí 'here' and en mi casa 'in my house' are spatial locators. As spatial location
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is determined by a physical entity, the location is expressed in the first place with a noun in an
adverb phrase. Mental spatial location is analogized to physical things. Accordingly, physical and
mental spatial location is to be expressed more often by an adverb phrase than by an adverb.
Adverbs such as ahora 'now' and en mayo 'in May' are temporal locators. Being recognized
through physical things, temporal location is analogized to physical things. Therefore, not only
spatial but temporal location is to be expressed more often by an adverb phrase than by an adverb.
While temporal location is of one dimension, spatial location is of three dimensions – width,
depth and height. So spatial location is more various and may be expressed from various points of
view at once (92a). However, we do not take the trouble to express all three dimensions but only
one important dimension, which may be horizontal, vertical or in perspective. In fact, both temporal
and spatial locations tend to be expressed in one dimension. Moreover, we usually do not express
the definite place and time of the speaker because it is already known. For that reason we usually
mention only the destination with ir 'to go' and only the starting point with venir 'to come,' as in
(92b-c). Also regarding time, we do not say desde ahora 'from now' in most cases like (92d). And
when the two extremes of one-dimensional place and time are recognized as the same point, the
point is expressed by a word with prepositions such as por 'for, in,' en 'in, on,' a 'at,' as for example
in (92e). For that reason the locator adverb, whether spatial or temporal, consists most often of a
single phrase:
(92) a. Yo me senté en la hierba contra el tronco de un árbol. (EV: 12)
I myself sat down on the grass against the trunk of a tree
'I sat down on the grass against the trunk of a tree.'
b. ¿Van (de aquí) a Níjar? (CN: 32)
they-go (from here) to Níjar
'Do they go to Níjar (from here)?'
c. viene de lejos (a aquí), (AL: 247)
it-comes from far (to here)
'It comes (here) from a distance.'
d. No escampará (desde ahora) hasta diciembre. (MH: 13)
not it-will-stop-raining (from now) until December
'It won't stop raining (from now) until December.'
e. en una calle había visto un oso que iba atado de una cadena (FV: 53)
on a street he-had seen a bear what was-going tied of a chain
'On a street he had seen a bear which was going along tied by a chain.'
When the destination is a future change expressed by the infinitive, the verb ir 'go,' this also
indicates temporal location on account of linearity, and indicates what will change in the future
(93a). In determining the future of the hearer, this composition may imply the imperative (93b). By
contrast, when the infinitive indicates the starting point, the verb venir 'come' indicates what has
changed in past time as we have already seen in (51c – repeated here). If the latter is less frequent
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than the former, this is because the past has more alternative tenses than the future (see (50a-b)).
(93) a. Entonces vamos a tener mucho que hacer juntas. (AM: 113)
then we-go to to-have much what to-do together
'Then we are going to have much to do together.'
b. Vamos a manear primero los maíces. (DC: 58)
we-go to to-tie first the corns
'Let's first tie the corn. '
(51) c. Vengo de hablar con la viuda de (José) Montiel. (MH: 112)
I-come from to-talk with the widow of (José) Montiel
'I have just talked with (José) Montiel’s widow.'
Adverbs like inmediatamente 'immediately,' largamente 'for a long time,' en verano 'in summer'
are temporal locators. Temporal locator adverbs often lose the preposition, as we see in (94a-b),
because the noun in the temporal locator adverb phrase is limited to a temporal term. For example,
we know that el mes de abril 'the month of April' locates time even without the preposition. Thus, a
frequent time locator adverb like ayer 'yesterday,' whose complete form is en el ayer, literally 'in
the yesterday,' comes to have a form identical with the noun. Moreover, as one-dimensional
temporal locator adverbs are few in number, the lost preposition can be recovered easily.
(94) a. Éste y yo estuvimos (en) el mes de abril reparando unos motores (CN: 75)
this and I were (in) the month of April repairing some motors
'This man and I were repairing some motors (in) the month of April.'
b. Permanecieron (durante) largo rato en silencio. (MH: 40)
they-remained (for) long while in silence
'They remained silent (for) a long while.'
Temporal location is also expressed in the tense of the verb. When temporal location and adverb
coincide, the adverb makes more precise the tense, as in (95a-c). The adverb is more exact than the
tense. However, when the two do not coincide, the tense entrusts location of time to the adverb, and
the tense takes the role of qualifying the time as we have already seen above in 5.4.6.
(95) a. ahora soy fuerte por los dos (hombres) (AM: 144)
now I-am strong because of the two (men)
'Now I'm strong because of the two men.'
b. el domingo siguiente se celebraron elecciones. (RC: 67)
the Sunday next themselves-ACC celebrated elections
'On the following Sunday elections were held.'
c. Esta tarde podremos vernos donde el último día. (HE: 84)
this afternoon we-can-FUT to-see-ourselves where the ultimate day
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'This afternoon we will be able to meet where (we met) on the last day.'
5.5.5 Morphemes of Adverbs
Diminutives and augmentatives may qualify adverbs: cerquita (< cerca) 'very near,' lejuelos (<
lejos) 'a little far,' ahorita (< ahora) 'just now' etc. Including the absolute comparative quantifier
-ísimamente, adjectival morphemes are also used in adverbs derived from adjectives. We can also
count the quantifier morphemes of adverbs like requete- in requetebien 'very good,' super- in
superbien 'very good' etc. But it is difficult to find locator morphemes of adverbs, because space
and time tend to take their location from the thing or noun in adverb phrases.
5.5.6 Adverbials
The alternative to the one word adverb is the adverb phrase, the gerund, the adverb clause or the
predicative complement, all of which we may call
expressions of the change shown in the verb.
ADVERBIALS,
i.e. modifiers or analytic
35
A gerund modifying a verb is an adverb, which does not have proper temporal location but
depends on that of the modified verb. In (96a) the gerund descorchando 'uncorking' expresses a
change which is simultaneous with the verb anda 'walks.'
The subject of a gerund is sometimes the subject and sometimes the direct object of the modified
verb. In (96a) the subject of descorchando 'uncorking' is identical with that of anda 'walks', while
the subject of durmiendo 'sleeping' is the direct object of encontró 'found' in (96b). It seems that
this is the case because the subject and the direct object indicate the two extremes, the beginning
and the end, of the same change. Nevertheless, even when the subject of the gerund is not the
subject or direct object of the modified verb, we can know what the subject is. For example, in
(96c) the subject of dando la vuelta 'going round' is different from the subject of the modified verb
abre 'opens', which is identical with the direct object, but we can identify the underlying subject
because it is identical with the subject of the previous sentence.
(96) a. Manolo Grande anda descorchando una botella de clarete de la tierra. (DC: 70)
Manolo Grande walks uncorking a bottle of rosé-wine of the locality
'Manolo Grande walks along, uncorking a bottle of local rosé wine.'
b. Genoveva te encontró durmiendo en la habitación de huéspedes. (AM: 131)
Genoveva you-ACC found sleeping in the room of guests
'Genoveva found you sleeping in the guest room.'
c. Dando la vuelta a la iglesia, a la que está pegada la casa, se abre un amplio
portegado. (AL: 249)
going round the church to the what is stuck the house itself-ACC opens a wide
portico
'Going round the church, to which the house is attached, a wide portico opens.'
When a change is related to another change, a sentence requires another sentence, which is an
74
adverb clause. An adverb clause is a subordinate sentence which modifies another sentence.
An adverb clause with donde 'where' is a spatial locator, which analyzes the spatial location of
the change. In (97a) the adverb clause Donde terminaba la tejavana del andén 'where the watch
house of the platform ended' indicates the place where the darkness began. An adverb clause
beginning with cuando 'when' is a time locator, which indicates the temporal location of the change
related to another change. In (97b) the adverb clause cuando me trajeron aquí 'when they brought
me here' locates more precisely the time locator adverb anoche 'last night.' And an adverb clause
beginning with cuanto 'how much/many' is a quantifier. The adverb clause cuanto menos las
dejamos solas 'the less we leave them alone' in (97c) modifies the quantity of the change expressed
by the sentence mejor (van las cosas) 'the better (things go)'.
(97) a. Donde terminaba la tejavana del andén comenzaba el oscuro. (AL: 198)
where ended the watch house of-the platform began the obscurity
'Darkness began where the watch house of the platform ended.'
b. Anoche lo recordé, cuando me trajeron aquí. (ME: 116)
last-night it I-remembered when me they-brought here
'Last night I remembered when they brought me here.'
c. Cuanto menos las dejamos solas, mejor (van las cosas). (AM: 110)
how-much less them-F we-leave alone, better (go the things)
'The less we leave them alone, the better (things go).'
In a quite similar vein, an adverb clause beginning with como 'how' is a qualifier. In (98a) the
adverb clause como se dispara a veces 'as one shoots at times' qualifies the change of dispara '(he)
shoots.' In (98b) the adverb clause with como si 'as if' qualifies how the change is done. The same
can be seen also in (98c); the adverb clause como usted prefiera 'how (= as) you should prefer'
qualifies the change of haga 'Do…' (imperative). As a sentence substitutes for a 'fact', 'thought' or
'cognition,' the adverbial construction of como + sentence may correspond to the adverb phrase
como + noun, as, for example, como un viejo pez 'like an old fish' in (98d). And the noun after como
may be an adjective (phrase): como de costumbre 'as is his custom' (DC: 28); and an adverb
(phrase): como en agosto 'as in August' (DC: 29), or como incansablemente (lit.) 'like untiringly'
(NR: 10) etc.
(98) a. dispara como se dispara a veces (DC: 31)
he-shoots how one shoots at times
'He shoots as one shoots at times.'
b. La mujer hace como si no le oyera (CN: 56)
the woman pretends how if not him she-hear-SUBJ-PAST
'The woman pretends not to hear him.'
c. (Haga) Como usted prefiera. (AL: 560)
you-do-IMPER how you prefer-SUBJ-PAST
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'(Do) as you would prefer.'
d. Tenía la boca abierta como un viejo pez. (AF: 29)
he-had the mouth open like an old fish
'He had his mouth open like an old fish.'
The quality of the change expressed by the adverbial construction como + sentence is not only
one of manner. Because a rhetorical question about manner refers to the reason as in (99a), it seems
natural for como to come to be equivalent to porque 'because' as in (99b-c). And many qualifier
adverb clauses appear with prepositions before que 'that' just like adverb phrases (99d). As adverb
clauses which indicate condition, purpose, result, cause etc. may not be quantifiers or space-time
locators, they can be treated as nothing more than qualifiers.
(99) a. ¡Cómo le voy a conocer! (AL: 51)
how him I-go to know
'How I am going to know him!'
b. como era hombre de entero carácter, pronto reaccinó (NR: 16)
as he-was man of entire character quickly he-reacted
'As he was a man of strong character, he reacted quickly.'
c. He subido porque me lo ha dicho la señora Manola. (HF: 65)
I-have come-up because me it has told the madam Manola
'I have come up because Mrs. Manola told me.'
d. Oye, acércate aquí para que te vea la cara. (AL: 510)
listen, approach-yourself-ACC here for that you-DAT I-see-SUBJ the face
‘Listen. Come here so that I can see your face.'
When the temporal location of an adverb clause is understood, expression of the conjugated verb
is not obligatory. Thus a past participle may substitute for an adverb clause. That is, a past
participle expresses attributes of a thing as a result of a change. It presupposes that the attributes
exist before the temporal location of the conjugated verb of a modified sentence. That is to say, as it
contains the past tense of an adverb clause, a past participle itself may stand for the adverb clause.
Provided that a change occurs between the subject and the direct object, the attributes expressed
by a past participle belongs to the subject or the direct object of the original verb. For instance, in
(100a) don Rafael Domínguez is the subject of the change morir 'to die,' something which happened
before desaparecía el pretexto de mi viaje 'the pretext for my trip disappeared.' On the other hand,
in (100b) las salinas 'the salt pans' are the direct object of the change pasar 'to pass.' And in (100c)
don Valeriano may be both the subject and reflexive direct object of the change satisfacer 'to
satisfy.'
(100) a. Muerto don Rafael Domínguez, desaparecía el pretexto de mi viaje. (EV: 50)
dead don Rafael Domínguez disappeared the pretext of my trip
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'With the death of Don Rafael Domínguez, the pretext for my trip disappeared.'
b. Pasadas las salinas, el camino sortea los estribos de la sierra. (CN: 83)
passed the salt-pans the road avoids the offsets of the mountain-range
'Passing by the salt pans, the road avoids the spurs of the mountain range.'
c. Don Valeriano, satisfecho de sí, como siempre, volvía a hablar. (RC: 47)
don Valeriano satisfied of himself as always returned to to speak
'Don Valeriano, satisfied with himself as always, spoke again.'
The quality expressed by the past participial construction depends on its relation with the
modified sentence. For example, the past participial construction in (96b) pasadas las salinas,
'passing by the salt pans,' may stand for the adverb clause 'as the road passed the salt pans,' or the
concessive 'though the road passed the salt pans,' or the conditional 'if the road passed the salt pans.'
We can also suppose that it may stand for the spatial locator 'where the road passed the salt pans' or
the temporal locator 'when the road passed the salt pans.' And to distinguish these the construction
may have a preposition, as in después de encendida la lumbre 'after the fire had been lighted' (Gili
Gaya (op. cit., §152)), which is a temporal locator.
Being an adjective, the past participle may be substituted by an adjective, forming a participial
construction. In (101a) húmedos los labios 'wet the lips' stands for an adverb clause qualifying the
change sonreía '(he) smiled.' Therefore, in (101b) we can regard the prepositional phrase con los
brazos abiertos 'with arms open' as an adjective as well as an adverb. When the tense understood in
a participle is simultaneous with the main verb, the participle is a gerund as we have seen above.
Substituting an adverb clause, a gerund or an adverb also may take part in a participial
construction as in (101c). While the participial construction, which modifies a whole sentence, ends
with a comma suggesting the omitted part, the gerund, which modifies a verb, does not. These cases
show that that not only the past participle and gerund, but also an adverb (phrase) and an adjective
(phrase) may stand for an adverb clause.
(101) a. sonreía, húmedos los labios, pensando en el porrón de vino tinto. (AL: 462)
he-smiled wet the lips thinking in the wine-jar of wine red
'He smiled, with his lips wet, thinking of the jar of red wine.'
b. César Montero se dejó requisar, impasible, con los brazos abiertos, (MH: 17)
César Montero himself-ACC let to-examine impassive with the arms open
'César Montero let himself be examined, impassive, with arms open.'
c. Silvestre se detuvo, temblando de emoción. (FV: 70)
Silvestre himself-ACC stopped trembling for emotion
'Silvestre stopped, trembling with emotion.'
When the substitute of the adverb clause is separated from the sentence by a comma, the adverbs
separated from the sentence by a comma also possibly construct another sentence. We called such
adverbs
TOTAL ADVERBS
in 8.5, adducing the example (88b). As another example, in (102a) the
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adverb ciertamente 'certainly' stands for Es cierto que 'It is certain that'. Accordingly we could
suppose that the adjective, whose form coincides always with an adverb, converts to an adverb in
order to indicate the omission of the superior sentence. The etymology of the adverb quizá 'perhaps'
from Latin qui sapit 'who knows (that)' supports this assumption. As far as distinguishing the
meaning is concerned a comma is not necessary (102b). In (102c) mejor 'better' may be an adjective
as well as an adverb. And in (102d) we can see the process of conversion from adjective to adverb,
which still consists of the adjective curioso and que 'that.'
(102) a. Ciertamente, no es agradable para el biógrafo (FV: 42)
certainly not it-is pleasant for the biographer
'Certainly, it isn't pleasant for the biographer.'
b. afortunadamente no le alcanzó la (capa) femoral (DC: 26)
fortunately not for-him raeched the (stratum) femoral
'Fortunately, the femoral (stratum) didn't reach him.'
c. (es) Mejor (que) cambiemos de tema. (ME: 51)
(is) better (that) we-should-change of theme
'It’s better that we should change the theme.'
d. Curioso (es) que me diga eso. (ME: 116)
curious (is) that me you-should-say that
'It’s curious that you should tell me that.'
Not only adverbs but also adjectives may modify verbs. As the attributes of things are analyzed
by adjectives, it is quite natural for the change of things to be expressed analytically by adjectives.
Complementary adjectives refer either to the subject or to the direct object, the two extremes of
time, but not to the indirect object, the third party. For example, in (103a) the adjective perplejo
'perplexed' refers to the subject el padre Angel 'Father Angel.' But in (103b) the adjective intacta
'intact' refers to the direct object la cena 'the dinner.'
(103) a. El padre Angel la escuchó perplejo. (MH: 105)
the father Angel her heard perplexed-M-SING
'Father Angel heard her perplexed.'
b. dejamos intacta la cena, (FI: 73)
we-left intact-F-SING the dinner
'We left the dinner intact.'
As we have seen above, static verbs particularly require adjectival predicative complements. This
is because static verbs express how things are unchanged in their attributes. Among static verbs, the
verb ser, which expresses a less changeable static state, requires more adjectives than estar (or
verbs of the same kind (104b)), which expresses a more changeable static state, as we have seen in
TABLE 6. However, verbs complemented by adjectives are not only static verbs or verbs of the
78
same kind (104c-d), but even dynamic verbs like corrían 'ran' may be complemented by an adverb
(104e).
(104) a. Tú estás bien aquí, con nosotros. (AL: 260)
you are well here with us
'You are well here with us.'
b. Manolo Chico siguen disparando (DC: 66)
Manolo Chico continues shooting
'Manolo Chico continues shooting.'
c. Sus cien y pico de habitantes viven felices (CN: 102)
its hundred and a-bit of inhabitants live happy-M-PL
'Its a hundred-odd inhabitants are living happy.'
d. un muchacho que parece educado (AL: 584)
a boy what seems educated-M-SING
'a boy who seems educated'
e. estrellas amarillas que corrían veloces de un lado para otro (NR: 172)
stars yellow what were-running swift-F-PL from one side to another
'yellow stars running swiftly from one side to another'
Instead of enumerating many adjectives we use a noun, which is a bundle of adjectives. Many
attributes are compounded in the noun, which modifies the verb. The complementary noun
indicates a set of attributes of the direct object (105a), which may be identical with the subject
(105b). From this it follows that the complementary noun is related properly with the direct object,
which means the end and result of the change. While the static verb estar hardly ever appears with
a noun, we have seen many examples of ser with a noun. These cases show that the synthetic
complements in nouns are not proper to the static verb ser (105c) or verbs of the same kind (105d)
either. But verbs with complementary nouns are possibly less dynamic than verbs with
complementary adjectives.
(105) a. ¿Quiere usted que le nombremos alcalde de allá? (ZA: 146)
want you that him we-nominate-SUBJ mayor of over-there
'Do you want us to nominate him mayor of that place?'
b. El niño se hizo mozo. (NR: 266)
the boy himself-ACC made young-man
'The boy became a young man.'
c. Es usted un impertinente. (FV: 80)
are you an impertinent
'You are an impertinent man.'
d. (El) Parece buen hombre. (CN: 38)
(he) seems good man
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'He seems a good man.'
The complementary noun may be the infinitive, whose subject is the direct object of the verb of
perception (106a), causative verb (106b) and verb of permission (106c). And the infinitive may be
replaced by the gerund to express progression and by the past particle to express state, which are
the complementary adverb and adjective respectively (106d-e). All these derivations from the verb
are complements regardless of category:
(106) a. No te oí llegar. (NR: 164)
not you-ACC I-heard to-arrive
'I didn't hear you arrive.'
b. El alcalde lo hizo sentar [sic]. (MH: 202)
the mayor him made to-sit-down
'The mayor made him sit down.'
c. La dejó desahogarse en un llanto silencioso. (MH: 122)
her he-left to-relieve-herself in a weeping silent
'He left her to relieve herself in silent weeping.'
d. La vi bailando. (AL: 79)
her I-saw dancing
'I saw her dancing.'
e. Dejo la puerta abierta. (AL: 558)
I-leave the door open
'I’ll leave the door open.'
In many cases static verbs or verbs of the same kind do not make sense without predicative
complements, but even the complements may be omitted when they are understood.
(107) a. Yo soy (míster Macbeth). (FV: 71)
I am (Mr. Macbeth)
'I am (Mr. Macbeth).'
b ¿Estarán (cocidos los huevos)?...
will-be (boiled the eggs)
'Will (the eggs) be (boiled)?
–No, todavía no. (FV: 51)
no yet not
–No, not yet.'
c. Parece (probable) que llega el barco. (ZA: 86)
it-seems (probable) that arrives the ship
'It seems (probable) that the ship has arrived.'
These observations show that it may be proper to say that adverbs are modifiers of verbs
whatever their forms may be, and modifiers are to be ascribed to change in quality, quantity and
space-time location just as verbs are.36
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5.6 Ad-Adverbs
Adverbs may be modified by
AD-ADVERBS,
whose forms mostly coincide with the forms of
adverbs. The formal constancy of the adverb is suited for the remoteness of ad-modifiers as we
have seen with ad-adjectives. Analyzing the attributes of adverbs, ad-adverbs deal with quality,
quantity and space-time location. Therefore, naturally we make use of the forms of adverbs without
agreement. Thus also gerunds, which are adverbs, are modified by ad-adverbs like amigablemente
'amicably' in (108a).
Meanwhile, when an infinitive is a noun, its modifier is an adjective. In the same way the
modifier of a past participle is an ad-adjective and the modifier of an adverb is an ad-adverb
according to their functions. For example the modifier of an infinitive suavemente 'softly' in (108b)
is an adjective and the modifier of a past participle desigualmente 'unequally' in (108c) is an
ad-adjective. However, regardless of their category all these derivations are regarded as modifiers
of the original verb by analogy.
Even the ad-adverbs are qualifier, quantifier or space-time locators, because they also analyze the
change of things. For example, the ad-adverb amigablemente 'amicably' in (108c) is a qualifier, and
no in no siempre 'not always,' which indicates zero quantity, is a quantifier (108d). The space
locator of the gerund in space aquí 'here' and its apposition abajo 'down' are ad-adverbs.
(108) a. Don Knut y don Anselmo aparecieron, charlando amigablemente. (NR: 13)
don Knut and don Anselmo appeared chatting amicably
'Don Knut and don Anselmo appeared, chatting amicably.'
b. Comenzó a frotarse suavemente las piernas. (AL: 611)
he-began to to-rub-himself softly the legs
'He began to rub his legs softly.'
c. cristales de colores, desigualmente cortados y soldados con estaño (AF: 20)
glasses of colors unevenly cut and soldered with tin
'colored glasses, cut unevenly and soldered with tin'
d. Pedro Lloros comía poco, y no siempre. (AL: 133)
Pedro Lloros ate little and not always
'Pedro Lloros ate little, and irregularly.'
e. Llevan un rato bailando las gigantillas aquí mismo abajo. (EV: 13)
heve-been a while dancing the gigantic-dolls-F-PL here just down
'The gigantic dolls have just been down here dancing a while.'
The connotative quantity or degree of adverbs is analogous to that of adjectives (109a-c),
because they both deal with the attributes of things. But, as adverbs, unlike adjectives, do not have
definite articles, the superlative of adverbs is expressed by an adjective clause which modifies an
omitted noun with a definite article like (109d).
(109) a. Juan corre más rápido que María.
81
Juan runs more fast than María
'Juan runs faster than María.'
b. Juan corre menos rápido que María.
Juan runs less fast than María
'Juan runs less fast than María.'
c. Juan corre tan rápido como María.
Juan runs as fast as María
'Juan runs as fast as María.'
d. Juan es el (chico) que corre más rápido de la clase.
Juan is the (boy) what runs more fast of the class
'Juan is the boy in the class who runs fastest.'
Comparative ad-adverbs may be modified by
AD-AD-ADVERBS.
For instance, in (110a) the
ad-adverb más is modified by the ad-ad-adverb poco 'little.' Also in the above example (108e)
mismo 'just', which modifies the space locator adverb aquí (here), is an ad-ad-adverb. We can count
among ad-ad-adverbs nouns indicating the degree of comparison, which can be easily distinguished
from other nouns because of their position and meaning (110b).
(110) a. Poco más lejos, (DC: 62)
little more far
'a little farther'
b. unos metros más allá (DC: 63)
some meters more over-there
'some meters further on'
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TABLE 11
Ad-Adverbs
subjects+verbs ad-ad-adverbs
ad-adverbs
adverbs markers of
(quantifier)
Juan corre
×
nouns
comparison
×
×
menos/más
que
María
tan
como
-mente
rápido
poco/muy
mucho
un poco
dos segundos
×
5.7 Prepositions
A verb, which fundamentally occurs singly in a sentence, is distinguished by its conjugation.
Conjugation according to mood, tense and subject gives a unique form to the verb. Adjectives and
adverbs are distinguished by the presence and the absence of agreement besides the characteristic
suffix of adverbs -mente '-ly.' In short, verbs, adjectives and adverbs do not need any other
distinctive parts because of their own characteristic forms and the uniqueness in a sentence in the
case of verbs.
Meanwhile, a fundamental sentence has at least three nouns: the subject, the direct and indirect
object. Moreover, these nouns and the verb may be modified by some adjective and adverb phrases,
which also contain nouns. Because what we can see concretely in reality is nothing other than
things, all attributes and change, which happens in the attributes, are recognized through things.
That is to say, the only visible parts are nouns, on which the other parts, verbs, adjectives and
adverbs, are based. Many nouns in a sentence require some distinctive markers, and these are
propositions in Spanish. Accordingly, prepositions may be called NOUN MARKERS.
The parts of a sentence are distinguished in two ways: one is by marking the parts free from
order and the other is by fixing their order free from markers. In languages with many markers the
word order is relatively flexible; on the other hand in languages with few markers the order is
strictly fixed. In Spanish sentences the word order is relatively free owing to conjugation and
agreement. And prepositions serve to mark nouns in similar ways to inflections, postpositions,
affixes, suffixes etc.
We can find some cases in which prepositions may come redundantly before adjectives: en serio
'seriously,' así de grande 'this big' etc. This is to express more exactly a relation in an analytic way
on the analogy of nouns. From this it follows that prepositions are markers used to distinguish the
nouns or the parts analogous to nouns in a sentence.
The most crucial physical cognition of things is their presence or absence, which refers to the
quantity of things. Therefore, in our analysis we can also include quantifier prepositions relating to
existence: positive quantity is expressed by con 'with,' and zero quantity, by sin 'without.' These
prepositions have been extended to compose mental adverb and adjective phrases with mental
nouns: con ardor 'with ardor,' sin vergüenza 'shameless' etc. Based on the physiological nature of
83
cognition we can also count the quantifier opposition of con and sin as fundamental prepositions.
The most evident distinction among things present may be their location in space, and physical
space locators may convert to time locators, because they are both based on a one-dimensional line.
Thus, the space-time locators play the most important part in prepositions. When the four
dimensions are composed of three spatial and one temporal lines, the prepositions de 'from' and a
'to' are the most fundamental with regard to space-time location. They indicate the beginning and
the end of the line in all directions. For example, not only spatial locator verbs such as ir 'to go,'
venir 'to come,' mover 'to move' etc., but all verbs may have de and a in temporal locator adverb
phrases. But, on account of physiological economy, we generally prefer to be economical with
words, as we have seen above in (92b-d). When the distance between the beginning and the end is
short, we use the preposition entre 'between.' When the beginning and the end are regarded as
identical, the line is recognized as an area, which is expressed by the preposition en 'in.' And when
the area is regarded as small as a point, we express it by a 'at': a punto 'on time.' In addition, these
lineal prepositions help form various space-time locator adverbs in combination with abstract
locator nouns such as en frente de 'in front of', a la derecha de 'on the right of', en cima de 'on top
of' etc. On account of the variety of the four-dimensions, the space-time locator prepositions are the
richest prepositional type of all.
The various space-time locator prepositions are both physical and mental, and qualifier
prepositions may derive from them. For instance, in its mental meaning de indicates departure,
which may be extended to belonging, marking of the topic, reason etc. As the most representative
qualifier preposition we can count de 'of,' which composes adjective phrases, especially with mental
nouns: de importancia 'of importance.' And the preposition a indicates arrival, which may be
extended to direction, objection, purpose etc.: (Vamos) a beber '(We are going) to drink/Let's drink.'
In order to express more clearly the meaning of departure and arrival, we make use of desde 'from,
since' and hasta 'until, as far as.' Instead of de the topic may be marked by sobre 'about,' reason by
por/porque 'for/because,' objection by contra 'against,' and purpose by para 'in order to' etc., to
avoid ambiguity.
Locator prepositions are used to distinguish the components of a sentence, and these may be
called
COMPONENTAL MARKERS.
The subject is unmarked, because it is the primary and first noun.
As the subject is the only noun shown by the conjugation, we can distinguish it despite the absence
of a preposition. In other words, the zero or absence of a preposition is the subject marker. Also, the
inanimate direct object does not have any preposition, because it is the second noun. The inanimate
direct object is distinguished from the subject by its inanimateness, because the beginning of a
change tends to have more animation than its end (111a). When the direct object is animate, it has
to be marked in order to be distinguished from the subject, in which case the animate direct object
is marked with the preposition a 'to,' which indicates the destination of the change (111b). Being
the third noun, the indirect object is always marked with a preposition a 'to,' to indicate the location
which the change influences as in (111a), the para 'for,' to indicate interest as in (5a, d), and de
'from' to indicate separation as in (7b-c). In these cases, the variety of prepositions is in inverse
proportion to the primacy of the noun. That is, the more the noun has primacy, the less it shows
84
variety in its prepositions. But the subject, especially first and second person subjects, may be
omitted owing to conjugation, and the direct and indirect objects may be inflected pronouns as in
(111c). So we can see that most of the words with prepositions are additional modifiers. And to
recognize more details, which are expressed by modifiers, the subject marker in verbs and
inflectional pronouns are required in Spanish.
(111) a. Este descubrimiento sugirió a Silvestre una idea diabólica. (FV: 66)
this discovery surged to Silvester a idea diabolic
'At this discovery a diabolic idea surged within Silvester.'
b. El padre atendía a los amigos. (RC: 15)
the father was-attending to the friends
'The father was taking care of the friends.'
c. ¿Me lo prometes? (AL: 185)
to me it you-promise
'Do you promise me?'
TABLE 12
Prepositions
① quantifier prepositions
[+presence]
[-presence
con
]sin
②space-time locator prepositions >③qualifier prepositions
[departure]
[arrival]
de
a
desde
hasta
por/porque
para
...
...
entre
en
a
④categorical marker prepositions
×subject
×[-animate]direct object a [arrival ±interest]indirect object
a [+animate]
para [arrival + interest]
de [departure ±interest]
5.8 Clause Markers
The parts which distinguish the clause may be called clause markers, i.e. que 'that' and si 'if,
whether'; the former is definite and the latter, suppositive.
Clauses with interrogatives can be distinguished by the interrogatives (112a), but the other
clauses require markers, especially in Spanish where the word order is relatively free. For example,
85
Diga que espere.=Que espere diga. 'Tell (somebody) to wait.' and Espere que diga. =Que diga
espere. 'Hope that he will say.' are not distinguished without que (112b). When the clause is a
yes-no question the clause marker que is substituted by si, which is also indispensable for avoiding
a similar confusion (112c). Clause markers are not omitted in Spanish, except in ritual
correspondence. And que may precede even infinitives in analogy with clauses as in (112d).
(112) a. La mucama le pregunta qué quiere. (BM: 232)
the maid to-him asks what he-wants
'The maid asks him what he wants.'
b. El padre admitió que Trinidad tiene razón. (MH: 23)
the father admitted that Trinidad has reason
'The father admitted that Trinidad was right.'
c. Yo no sé si tú sabes (ND: 26)
I not know if you know
'I don't know if you know.'
d. Tuvo que recibir las visitas de pésame. (FV: 63)
he-had that to-receive the visitors of condolence
'He had to receive the condolence callers.'
While que is used with various prepositions as in (113a), si is hardly ever used with them (113b).
This accounts for the fact that while the clause marker si implies the feature of supposition, que is a
simple clause marker, which accepts various prepositions to express its features. However, the
preposition por 'for,' which indicates a reason, is sometimes omitted, the unmarked form being
common. This is also the reason why por- is agglutinated with que in porque 'because' (113c).
(113) a. Al salir a Francia me dió la impresión de que había recorrido un largo camino. (FV: 87)
at-the to-leave to France me he-gave the impression of that he-had traveled a long way
'On leaving for France he gave me the impression that he had traveled a long way.'
b. Me llevaré el abrigo por si hace frío. (SM: 1247)
on-myself-DAT I-will-wear the coat for if it-makes cold
'I'll put the coat on in case it's cold.'
c. Venga, (por-) que hace frío. (DC: 77)
come, because it-makes cold
'Come, because it's cold.'
In contrast to this omission, clause markers are sometimes reinforced to make the relation more
obvious as in (114a-b).
(114) a. Me preguntó que si yo iba. (EV: 104)
me she-asked that if I was-going
86
'She asked me if I was going.'
b. Le he preguntado que qué quiere. (SV: 55)
you I-have asked that what you want
'I’ve asked you what you want.'
Que and si have been classified as conjunctions in formal grammar. However, because the
'conjoined' part is not equivalent but subordinate to the preceding part, they should not be regarded
as conjunctions but as clause markers. Also, we should exclude clause markers with prepositions
from conjunctions, even when the form is agglutinated.
5.9 Conjunctions
In traditional grammar membership of the category 'conjunction' has been a jumble, which
accepts any word situated between two words of the same category. Some adverbs are regarded as
conjunctions because they are between two nouns or clauses. Among them adverbs like luego,
entonces, pues 'then,' ahora 'now,' antes 'before', ya 'already' are time locators.
(115) a. La guerra, y luego, mala conducta. (AL: 247)
the war and then bad conduct
'The war, and then, bad conduct.'
b. Pienso, luego existo.
I-think then I-exist
'I think, therefore I am.'
As space and time are correlative, it is possible that a space locator adverb may also be a
conjunction. But in Spanish we do not find an adverb corresponding to 'therefore' in English, but a
spatial locator adverb clause.
(116) De ahí que el cazador castellano haya de dedicarse, ... , a la perdiz. (DC: 58)
from there that the hunter Castilian has-SUBJ of to-dedicate-himself ... to the partridge
'Therefore, the Castilian hunter may have dedicated himself to the partridge.'
Quantifier adverbs like además 'besides' and más 'more' are not registered as conjunctions. But,
being replaceable by y 'and,' they also are to be regarded as conjunctions according to this criterion.
(117) a. Además no encontrará un alma por allí. (CN: 56)
besides not you-will-find a soul near there
'Besides, you won't find a soul near there.'
b. Y le entregó el papel. (ZA: 104)
and to-him he-handed the paper
'And he handed the paper to him.'
87
Being equivalent to adverbs, some qualifier complements in the form of the past particle or
adjective are regarded as conjunctions, too: puesto que 'since,' dado que 'given that,' conforme 'as,
as soon as.'
(118) Hay que cumplir, puesto que es la costumbre. (AL: 553)
one-has that to-fulfill placed that it-is the habit
'One has to fulfill it, since it's the habit.'
As words are pronounced in temporal sequence, it is natural for temporal locator adverbs to seem
to join words more than other kinds of adverbs.
Formal grammar has also categorized as conjunctions donde 'where,' cuando 'when,' cuanto 'how
much/many,' como 'how,' which initiate adverb clauses (97a-c, 98a repeated below). But, as adverb
clauses are not conjunct but subordinate, they cannot be conjunctions. We should strictly speaking
regard them as relative pro-adverbs without antecedents, about which we will see further in 6.3.5.
(97) a. Donde terminaba la tejavana del andén comenzaba el oscuro. (AL: 198)
where ended the watch house of-the platform began the obscurity
'Darkness began where the watch house of the platform ended.'
b. Anoche lo recordé, cuando me trajeron aquí. (ME: 116)
last-night it I-remembered when me they-brought here
'Last night I remembered when they brought me here.'
c. Cuanto menos las dejamos solas, mejor (van las cosas). (AM: 110)
how less them-F we-leave alone, better (go the things)
'The less we leave them alone, the better (things go).'
(98) a. dispara como se dispara a veces (DC: 31)
he-shoots how one shoots at times
'He shoots as one shoots at times.'
Excluding these apparent conjunctions, conjunctions are those words which join two parts of the
same category on an equal basis or without subordination; these are the positive copulative y 'and'
(119a), the negative ni 'neither' (119b), the positive disjunctive o 'or' (119c), the adversative pero
'but' (118d), and the alternative sino 'but' (119e).
(119) a. Los soldados y Machain siguieron adelante. (FV: 104)
the soldiers and Machain followed forward
'The soldiers and Machain went on.'
b. Era el zapatero como un viejo gato, ni amigo ni enemigo de nadie. (RC: 56)
was the shoemaker like an old cat nor friend nor enemy of nobody
'The shoemaker was like an old cat, friend nor enemy of anybody.'
c. Llámeme usted Rosa o Rosita, como me dicen en casa. (ZA: 83)
88
call-me you Rosa or Rosita as me they-say at home
'Call me Rosa, or Rosita, just like they call me at home.'
d. la cebada estaba negra, pero negra de patos. (DC: 27)
the barley was black but black of ducks
'The barley was black, but black with ducks.'
e. No fue la madre, sino el padre, quien lo amenazó con un tablón. (ME: 97)
not was the mother but the father who him menaced with a plank
'It wasn't the mother, but the father, who menaced him with a plank.'
In addition, we should also include the comparative conjunctions que 'than' and como 'as,'
because they conjoin two equivalent parts. For example, en el pueblo 'in the village' and en el
mismísimo infierno 'in the middle of hell' in (120a) and ustedes 'you (pl.)' and mujeres 'women' in
(120b) are compared on equal terms. When the same things are compared, redundant words are
omitted. For example, in (120c), though que conjoins estar con ella 'being with her' and estar con
las otras chicas ' being with other girls,' the second estar 'being' is omitted.
(120) a. (en el pueblo) Hay más mosquitos que en el mismísimo infierno. (AL: 353)
(in the village) one-has more mosquitos than in the very-just hell
'(In the village) there are more mosquitos than in the middle of hell.''
b. Ustedes son tan competitivos como las mujeres. (BM: 70)
you-PL are so competitive as the women
'You are as competitive as the women.'
c. Me gusta estar con ella más que (estar) con las otras chicas. (EV: 184)
to-me pleases to be with her more than (to be) with the other girls
'I like being with her more than (being) with the other girls.'
These observations lead us to suppose the following classification of conjunctions, which is
based on the fundamental linkage among the elements of cognition.
89
TABLE 13 Conjunctions
conjunctions copulative
positive
y 'and'
negative ni 'neither'
disjunctive
o 'or'
adversative
pero 'but'
alternative
sino 'not but'
comparative unequal que 'than'
equal
como 'as'
Conjunctions link not only words but phrases, clauses and sentences, which are equivalent in
their function. While some sentences begin with conjunctions, others do not. If cognition means to
capture the whole world in correlation, one sentence should not be isolated from another. A
sentence makes sense among the other sentences in a text. Therefore, we can suppose that every
sentence is linked to its preceding sentence. When a sentence does not have a conjunction at the
beginning, it is possibly because the conjunction is not necessary or is redundant. Above all the
opening sentence hardly ever appears with a conjunction, because it does not need it.
As mathematics tells us that presence and absence are not separated categorically but are
continuous, we may think that the presence and absence of the conjunction are phenomena of the
same type. Consequently, the expression of the four-dimensional structure begins with a
conjunction which may be latent.
5.10 Relation among the Parts of the Sentence
As mentioned above our hypothesis counts two
consist of
SUB-PARTS,
SUB-SUB-PARTS,
PRIMARY PARTS,
nouns and verbs, each of which
adjectives and adverbs respectively, each of which may be analyzed into
ad-adjectives and ad-adverbs respectively. Moreover, they may be modified by
SUB-SUB-SUB-PARTS,
ad-ad-adjectives and ad-ad-adverbs, which may have further sub-categories.
Nouns require two kinds of markers, noun markers, or prepositions, and clause markers, because a
sentence may contain some nouns. On the other hand, verbs do not require any marker, because
they appear only once in a sentence and their forms are characterized by conjugation. Additionally,
any part and combination of parts may be connected by conjunctions, because a part is not always
sufficient for expressing a cognitive element.
The parts of a sentence are not to be enumerated on the same level based on form, but to be
explained based on content. With that in mind, we can relate the parts of the sentence to each other
in the following Table 14.37
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TABLE 14
Relation among Parts of the Sentence
I. nouns
parts which indicate three-dimensional things
1. adjectives
parts which analyze nouns
2. ad-adjectives
parts which analyze adjectives
(noun markers)
parts which distinguish nouns
(clause markers)
parts which distinguish clauses
II. verbs
parts which indicate one-dimensional time
1. adverbs
parts which analyze verbs
2. ad-adverbs
parts which analyze adverbs
(conjunctions)
parts which link equivalent parts or groups of parts
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Chapter 6
Substitutes of the Parts
The parts of a sentence may be replaced by their substitutes because of physiological economy.
As we express cognition by making use of all the things perceived around us and in our memory,
we economize in our use of words. Substitution is more positive and reliable than omission of the
whole word. Substitution minimizes the requirements of a word and its syllables. The simplification
of requirements causes convenience but, at the same time, ambiguity. Language can do without
substitutes, but substitutes are available to alleviate the task of pronunciation.
Traditionally well-known substitutes are pronouns, because nouns are the most frequent parts in
a sentence. Used not only by the subject, direct and indirect objects, but also by adjective and
adverb phrases, nouns may be substituted by pronouns with distinctive features of gender, number
and case. The real world is composed of things, which change as time goes by. Their quality,
quantity, space-time location and the change which happens to these elements are recognized
indirectly through real things. Therefore, we may say that the only visible parts in a sentence are
nouns. This concreteness of nouns helps to develop the system of pronouns. However, there seems
to be no reason why only nouns have substitutes. In actuality we also find substitutes for the other
parts. Moreover, in categories such as reflexives, demonstratives, interrogatives, relatives etc. we
have paid less attention to their parts in the sentence than to their lexical similarity. This will be
partly because the appearance of prepositions, which distinguish the parts, seems considerably
incidental, especially in the case of interrogative substitutes. All the parts of a sentence should be
distinguished more strictly beyond formal or lexical similarities to make explicit sentence structure.
Among the parts of the sentence shown in the Table 14, we do not find substitutes for the noun
and clause markers and conjunctions. This seems to be because they are not components of the four
dimensions, but parts to distinguish or to join the components, whose functional features are
difficult to simplify.
In Spanish we can distinguish three kinds of substitutes according to motivation, and these are
reference, interrogation and relativization.
6.1 Referential Substitutes
When a part of the sentence is known through our actual senses or in our memory, inclusive of
the case in which the part is shown in the same text, it is expressed by a REFERENTIAL SUBSTITUTE.
As a word is pronounced in temporal sequence, the reference may be anaphoric or cataphoric.
For example, in (121a) the referential substitute lo 'it' indicates the preceding infinitive ir de prisa
'to go quickly,' and the referential substitute is anaphoric. On the other hand, in (121b) the neutral
substitute eso 'that' indicates the following clause and the referential substitute is cataphoric. In the
meantime, referential substitutes are not always restorable to the substituted word. For example, the
referent of the female accusative substitute la 'it' in (121c) is ambiguous. We are not interested in
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the referent enough to make it explicit. The referent may be any female singular noun suitable in
the context. The substitute is female la because it is more concrete than lo, which may be not only
male but also neutral and abstract.
(121) a. Intento ir de prisa, pero las piedras me lo impiden. (CN: 67)
I-try to-go of hurry but the rocks me-DAT it-ACC impede
'I try to go in a hurry, but the rocks hinder me from going.'
b. Eso es lo que pensó: que conseguría convencerle. (LR: 264)
that is it that he-thought that he-could-manage to-convince-him
'That is what he thought: that he could manage to convince him.'
c. El que la hace la paga. (AL: 140)
the what it-F-ACC does it-F-ACC pays
'Who does it pays it.' (i.e. 'One must face the music, one must face the consequences.')
6.1.1 Referential Pronouns
Referential pronouns have some simple forms according to their components, traditionally called
cases: nominative, accusative, dative and prepositive. The first and second persons are always
expressed by pronouns, because they are identified as speaker and hearer and do not need any other
features. In particular, the pronouns in the first and second person singular never show the gender,
on account of the great importance of the distinction between the speaker and the hearer.38
TABLE 15
Referential Pronouns
components
person singular
plural
subject
1st
nosotros (m.)/ -as (f.)
(nominative) 2nd
3rd
yo
tú/vos
vosotros (m.)/ -as (f.)
él (m.) ella (f.) lo (n.)
ellos (m.) ellas (f.)
usted
ustedes
direct object
1st
me
nos
(accusative)
2nd
te
os
3rd
lo (m.) la (f.) se (m.f.) los (m.) las (f.) se (m.f.)
indirect
1st
me
nos
object
2nd
te
os
(dative)
3rd
le/se (m. f.)
les/se (m.f.)
in adjective 1st
mí
nosotros (m.)/ -as (f.)
&
ti
vosotros (m.)/ -as (f.)
él (m.) ella (f.) lo (n.)
ellos (m.) ellas (f.)
usted
ustedes
adverb 2nd
phrases
(prepositive)
3nd
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The nominative of the third person in polite form usted is an abbreviation of Vuestra Merced
'Your (pl.) Mercy,' which is equivalent to the second person singular in the
EUPHEMISM.
QUALITATIVE
Indicating his or her good quality instead of himself or herself, we regard the second
person as a person of quality. It is a kind of metonymy, which indicates a concrete thing by
expressing its abstract quality, such as in 'sun-burnt mirth' used to mean 'merry farmers'. Similar to
usted we also find su Majestad 'His/Her Majesty,' su Excelencia 'His/Her Excellency' etc.
In contrast to this qualitative euphemism,
QUANTITATIVE EUPHEMISM
can be seen in vos, which
means second person singular in plural form (122a) similar to you in English and vous in French.
Vos identical with the accusative te is archaic in Spain but frequent in South America. Also, as a
quantitative euphemism one often says creemos 'we believe' or pesamos 'we think' to express one's
own opinion. In another example (122b) the actual subject of recordamos 'we remember' is only a
singular author.
Qualitative or quantitative, these euphemisms are spatial or refer to things in space, while
euphemism expressed by tense in verbs is temporal. And as a spatial euphemism we may also count
uno/a 'one' which means 'I'. Use of the third person implies an objective view of the first person
(122c).
(122) a. Así vos también te dormís. (BM: 98)
thus you-PL also yourself-SING-ACC you-PL-sleep
'Thus you also fall asleep.'
b. Recordamos el mortecino latido de una periferia española profundamente pobre y
desposeída. (EP: Jun. 19. '98)
we-remember the dying beat of a periphery Spanish deeply poor and dispossessed
'We remember the dying beat of the deeply poor and dispossessed Spanish peripheries.'
c. Con tanta visita, se cansa una. (HF: 89)
with so much visit, herself-ACC she-tires one-F
'With so many visitors, one tires oneself.'
In expressing gender and number, whose morphemes correspond to qualifier adjectives, these
pronouns do not generally have any modifiers. But only the neutral pronoun lo, which indicates a
thing or things which we cannot express by certain words, always has some adjective to supply its
scarcity of features. Thus, lo alto 'high' in (123a) and lo que ocurre 'what happens' in (123b) have
an adjective and an adjective clause respectively.
(123) a. él la veía desde lo alto de la muralla (ZA: 27)
he her was-seeing from it high of the wall
'He was watching her from high on the wall.'
b. Lo que ocurre es que siempre viene mal. (AL: 555)
it what happens is that always it-comes badly
'The thing is that it is always inconvenient.'
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The accusative and dative are also expressed by the nominative with prepositions. But we prefer
to use monosyllabic pronouns to prepositional phrases, which are used for emphasis (124a) or add
detail to the monosyllabic pronouns (124b). Monosyllabic pronouns express so many features in a
word that they are often used redundantly to explain relations among the nouns or cases. For
instance, algunos 'some' and los 'them' in (124c) indicate identical things and al agente 'from the
policeman' and le 'from him' in (124d) indicate identical persons.
(124) a. A mí no me gusta cazar ratas; (AL: 355)
to me-PLEO-DAT not to-me pleases to-hunt rats
'I don't like hunting rats.'
b. Le dio a ella un vaso vacío. (EV: 165)
to-him/her-PLEO-DAT he-gave to her a glass empty
'He gave her an empty glass.'
c. Algunos los tienes por aquí, (ZA: 88)
some them-PLEO-ACC you-have near here
'You have some near here.'
d. le qutó el fusil al agente, (MH: 16)
from-him-PLEO-DAT he-took-away the rifle from-the policeman
'He took the rifle away from the policeman.'
The dative third person is formally neutral in gender unlike the accusative. Moreover, when both
the accusative and dative are third person, the dative is also neutralized in number in the form of se.
This proves that in general the dative, as the third party, interests us less than the accusative.
This lack of interest converts to euphemism. The use of the dative in place of the accusative is
called leísmo (125a). If we scarcely ever find euphemism with the plural les, it is because the plural
is less determinative and properly contains the quantitative euphemism, as we have seen above with
the use of vos (2nd pers. pl.) in the singular. Meanwhile, in the use of the accusative in place of the
dative, either loísmo in the masculine (125b), or laísmo in the feminine (125c), we are interested in
the dative as much as the accusative for distinguishing gender.
(125) a. El médico le miró fríamente a los ojos. (MH: 113)
the doctor him-ACC looked coldly at the eyes
'The doctor looked him coldly in the eyes.'
b. dalo una capa de pintura. (SM: 957)
give-to-it-DAT a coat of paint
'Give it a coat of paint.'
c. A Carmen la he dicho que nos espere en su casa. (SG: 1190)
to Carmen to-her-DAT I-have said that us she-wait-SUBJ in her house
'I have told Carmen to wait for us in her house.'
95
When the referent of the accusative is identical with that of the subject, and when the verb is
intransitive, the first and second persons do not need special markers or proper reflexive pronouns,
because they are always identified as speaker and hearer respectively. Only the third person needs
to be marked, because it may refer to many things. Therefore, the accusative is expressed by the
reflexive pronoun se 'oneself,' which is neutral in gender and number. A verb which may also be
used transitively, such as se levantó 'he got up' in (17b), includes a reflexive accusative to make
clear the intransitivity. But the reflexive does not appear with exclusively intransitive verbs such as
that in (126a). Meanwhile, the presence of the reflexive accusative brings the verb into relief by
expressing the end of the change as in (126b) (we have seen a similar pair－ salir 'to depart' and
salirse 'to get out'－ in (18a-b)).
(126) a. El pueblo queda a cuatro kilómetros. (CN: 39)
the village stays at four kilometers
'The village is at a distance of four kilometers.'
b. Un día don Juan se quedó en la cama. (NR: 85)
one day don Juan himself-ACC stayed in the bed
'One day Don Juan stayed in bed.'
When the subject of the intransitive is a thing, the personalized subject seems to change on its
own account without any presence of a person. In this case, the sentence is called a reflexive
passive, in which the reflexive accusative is a marker of the passive. The passive se había vendido
'had been sold' (127a) is distinguished from the active había vendido 'had sold' by the reflexive
pronoun se. And the same distinction can also be seen between the passive se abrían 'they were
opened' and the active abrían 'they opened' in (127b).
(127) a. (la pesca) Se había vendido bien en Vélez. (AL: 372)
(the fish) itself-ACC had sold well in Vélez
'(The fish) had sold well in Vélez.'
b. Se abrían las ventanas y las puertas de las casas. (FV: 29)
themselves-ACC were-opening the windows and the doors of the houses
'The windows and the doors of the houses were opened.'
When it is identical with the subject, the reflexive accusative may convert into the subject. Being
monosyllabic and neutral in gender and number, se is the most appropriate pronoun to express the
indefinite subject, even in comparison with the bisyllabic uno/a(s), which varies in gender and
number. Unlike the reflexive accusative in the reflexive passive, the indefinite subject se is always
in the singular due to its lack of concreteness in quantity.
(128) No se contesta a los mayores. (FV: 49)
not one answers-back to the adults
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'One should not answer back to adults.'
When the dative indicates the same thing as the subject, the dative is replaced by the reflexive
dative. In this case the verb is transitive because the accusative is not identical with the subject. The
reflexive dative appears as occasion calls in just the same way as the other components. In (129a)
the reflexive dative me 'with me' makes explicit who enjoys the interest. Above all, verbs which
have a direct object closely related with the indirect object tend to take the reflexive dative as in
(129b-c). However, if there is little motion involved, the sentence tends not to take the reflexive
dative even when the direct object refers to a part of the body. This is because the person who
enjoys the interest may not be a person other than the subject, as we see in (129d).39
(129) a. Yo me llevaba libros prestados. (ME: 144)
I-PLEO for-myself-DAT I-was-carrying books borrowed
'I was carrying the borrowed books with me.'
b. Se quitó la gafas (FI: 42)
from-herself-DAT she-took-off the glasses
'She took off her glasses.'
c. Se tapó la boca con la mano. (MH: 20)
to-himself-DAT he-covered the mouth with the hand
'He covered his mouth with his hand.'
d. El sacerdote abrió los ojos, solemnemente, (RC: 66)
the priest opened the eyes solemnly
'The priest opened his eyes, solemnly.'
In Spanish we do not find any instances of monosyllabic accusative and dative pronouns
indicating identical things or persons. When they are identical, neither of them is expressed by
monosyllabic pronouns. For example, El se cambió para él mismo, literally 'He changed himself for
himself,' is not expressed with two monosyllabic pronouns but with only one monosyllabic
pronoun. Thus, the formal coincidence of the accusative and dative pronouns does not cause any
confusion.
An infinitive and a clause correspond to neutral pronouns, which do not indicate certain words
(see 130a-b). This shows that an infinitive is equivalent to a clause.
(130) a. uno no podía pasarse sin ello como no podía pasarse sin comer. (DC: 20)
one not could to-pass without it-N as not he-could to-pass without to-eat
'One couldn't live without it as he couldn't live without eating.'
b. Que era tarde, eso le dije, (EV: 188)
that it-was late that-N to-her I-said
'It was late, I told him.'
6.1.2 Referential Pro-Adjectives
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Adjectives such as tal(es) in (131a), or así 'such' in una cosa así 'such a thing' (AM: 63) do not
express any definite quality but substitute for an indefinite quality in the context. These we may call
qualifier
PRO-ADJECTIVES.
By indicating the qualitative similarity between two things, adjectives
like semejante 'similar, such,' igual 'equal' may also be classified as such (131b). In the same way,
the adjective tanto/a (s) 'so much/many,' which does not indicate a definite quantity but rather any
quantity, is a quantifier pro-adjective (131c).
(131) a. El estaba exento de tales servicios. (AL: 57)
he was free from such services
'He was free from such services.'
b. Pues no admito semejante derecho. (SV: 45)
so not I-admit such right
'So I don't admit such a right.'
c. Se metió tanto polvo en los ojos. (CN: 70)
himself-ACC he-entered so-much dust in the eyes
'He put so much dust into his eyes.'
In indicating referential quality, demonstrative adjectives are also regarded as qualifier
pro-adjectives. To make the referent explicit we utilize the notion of distance from the speaker and
hearer; the thing close to the speaker is modified by este/a (s) 'this,' the thing close to the hearer, by
ese/a (s) 'this/that,' and the thing far from both the speaker and the hearer, by aquel/lla (s) 'that'.
Though each of them declines according to gender and number, they are free from case declension;
they are all nominatives or prepositional. Therefore, they are specialized in being able to refer to
distance. The distance may be either spatial (132a) or temporal (132b), since our cognition consists
of space and time.
(132) a. Martín se ahogaba en aquel antro. (ZA: 102)
Martín himself-ACC suffocated in that cavern
'Martín suffocated in that cavern.'
b. No sé lo que me pasa esta noche; (NR: 9)
not I-know it what me happens this night
'I don't know what is happening to me this night.'
Possessive adjectives, which are also referential pro-adjectives because they do not indicate a
certain quality, make use of another person or thing to clarify the referent. However, as possessive
adjectives in the third person are neutral with regard to gender and number of the possessor, they
often go with possessive adjective phrases to detail the referent. In (133a) the third person
possessive adjective su ' your' is explained by de usted 'of you'. Possessive adjectives are not only
words and phrases but clauses. Possessive adjective clauses, in which the possessive verbs
conjugate, can express tenses and moods other than the present indicative (133b).
98
(133) a. ¿Y su madre de usted? (ZA: 82)
and your mother of you
'And your mother?'
b. con un pequeño apaño que tuviera en mi pueblo (AL: 518)
with a little skill what I-might-have in my village
'with a little skill which I might have in my village'
Adjectives that have appeared once with nouns in a text are not repeated but replaced by definite
articles, which stand for all the adjectives of the noun. Making use of our memory for the referent,
definite articles stand for any adjectives. So, we may say that definite articles are also referential
pro-adjectives. The thing which we have in our memory is modified by definite articles, and the
thing which we do not have in our memory, by indefinite articles. For example, all the modifiers in
un señor vestido de blanco que había en la Aduana 'a gentleman dressed in white who was in the
Customs' is represented by a simple article in el hombre 'the man' (NR: 51). If el cielo 'the sky' and
el sol 'the sun' always have definite articles, this is because we all have them in our memory.
Definite articles stand for all the attributes of the sky and the sun, and the qualifier adjectives or
past participles which indicate definiteness like dicho 'mentioned' may be equivalents to the definite
article: dicho hombre 'mentioned man'’= el hombre 'the man'. As it is unnecessary to measure
distance, or associate something with another person or thing, the simple appeal to our memory is
the quickest and easiest way to know about the referent.40
While a proper noun denotes only one thing, inclusive of a group of persons or things, a common
noun denotes infinite things which fulfill its features. Therefore, determiners are used with common
nouns to show which thing it is. Proper nouns may appear with determiners, because, for example,
there are many Pacos in the world. However, the reason for the same proper name is not any
common feature but sheer coincidence. Determiners with proper nouns imply the existence of
common nouns, which explain what the proper nouns mean: el (país) Perú 'the Peru (Country)
(lit.),' las (islas) Canarias 'the Canary (Islands)'. We can find some proper nouns whose gender and
number are determined by their terminations: la Turquía 'the Turkey (lit.),' el Cairo 'the Cairo (lit.).'
But many appositive common nouns determine the gender and number of the proper nouns: el (río
de la) Plata 'the Plata (River),' el (río de las) Amazonas 'the Amazon (River)'.
When the referent is not or need not be in one’s memory, the noun appears with an indefinite
article, equivalent to cualquier 'any'. The qualifier adjective cierto 'certain,' which indicates
indefinite quality, has a similar meaning to the indefinite article. When the quality is indefinite, the
quantity becomes more important. Thus, in Spanish the indefinite article coincides with the
quantifier adjective un/a 'one,' which also has the plural form unos/as to agree with nouns.
Nouns in the singular without articles do not define any member of the same name in our
memory but are mere bundles of attributes. So, similar to adjectives, they are mostly found after
prepositions in adjective and adverb phrases (134a) or as complements of static verbs (134b). Also,
nouns in the plural without articles do not define any member of the same name in our memory but
99
indicate all the members (134c). Nouns in the singular with indefinite articles represent optional
examples of the members without any definite referent in our memory, as for example in (133d).
Nouns in the plural with indefinite articles do not indicate definite members in our memory but they
limit the number by excluding some members (134e). Nouns in the singular with definite articles
may represent all the members as indefinite examples in our memory (134f). And the same words
may also indicate the definite and particular things or persons in our memory (134g).
(134) a. (vino de) mesa
(wine of) table
'table (wine)'
b. Juan es estudiante.
Juan is student
'Juan is a student.'
c. Niños son inocentes.
children are innocent
'Children are innocent.'
d. Un niño es inocente.
a child is innocent
'A child is innocent.'
e. Unos niños son inocentes.
some children are innocent
'Some children are innocent.'
f. El niño es inocente.
the child is innocent
'The child is innocent.'
g. El niño es mi hijo.
the child is my son
'The child is my son.'
When the modified noun is understood, the noun may be omitted. In this case, we may say that
the qualifier and quantifier pro-adjectives are nominalized, as for example in (135a-b).
(135) a. Nunca he afirmado tal (cosa). (SM: 1515)
never I-have stated such (thing)
'I have never stated such a thing.'
b. Estuve bailando hasta las tantas (horas). (SG: 1794)
I-was dancing until the so-many (hours)
'I was dancing until that time.'
Similarly, the demonstrative and possessive pro-adjectives may be nominalized. The former has
100
a distinctive accent without the definite article, which means a similar definiteness to the
demonstrative pro-adjectives as in (136a). In the meantime, the latter does not have a distinctive
accent but always appears with definite articles as in (136b). The articles, which are, so to speak,
memory referential pro-adjectives, may also be nominalized in a like manner. All these omissions
are helped by agreement in gender and number, which seems superfluous but results in flexibility.
(136) a. ¿Eres tú alguna de éstas (muchachas)? (EV: 80)
are you some of these (girls)
'Are you some of these (girls)?'
–El (amor) mío, no. (SV: 32)
b. Que el amor necesita la verdad.
that the love needs the truth
'Love requires truth.
the (love) mine no
–Not mine.'
c. los cuerpos enjutos como el (cuerpo) del Cazador: (DC: 23)
the bodies lean like the (body) of-el Cazador
'lean bodies like that of el Cazador'
d. Uno (hombre) que le llaman el Tigre. (CN: 69)
a (man) what him they-call el Tigre
'One whom they call ''el Tigre''.'
When the modified noun, which is the core of the noun phrase, is lost, the core may be
transferred either to the adjective or to the pro-adjective, in which case the adjective and
pro-adjective are nominalized, as in, for instance, el joven 'the young' (lit.), el mío 'the mine' (lit.)
etc. While an adjective without an article does not stand for a noun, an article without an adjective
stands for a noun: el (noun) del Cazador 'the (noun) of the Cazador'. Therefore, we can say that
nominalization is not a property of adjectives but of articles.
6.1.3 Referential Pro-Ad-Adjectives
Substitutes for ad-adjectives may be called
PRO-AD-ADJECTIVES.
In (137a) tan 'so', which has the
same form as the apocope of the quantifier adverb tanto 'so much', is a quantifier pro-ad-adjective
expressing a quantity of blackness. This construction allows the appearance of a thing which has
the same quantity as the replaced quantity after como 'as' in a comparison of equality (137b).
(137) a. El porvenir no es tan negro. (AL: 552)
the future not is so black
'The future is not so black.'
b. Pero un hombre no es tan fácil de trocar como un fantasma. (AM: 97)
but a man not is so easy of to-convert like a phantom
'But a man is not as easy to convert as a phantom.'
101
6.1.4 Referential Pro-Verbs
By analogy with other parts, the substitute of a verb can be called a PRO-VERB. In (138a) the verb
habló 'he spoke' is replaced by lo hizo 'he did it', in which the lexical meaning of habló is
substituted by the pronoun lo and the verb hizo indicates the existence of some change. Therefore,
we had better regard lo hizo as standing for the verb habló as a whole. A dynamic verb is
substituted by a combination of the verb hacer and the pronoun lo. The same can also be seen in
(138b) (as for static verbs we will see what happens to these later in section 6.1.7).
(138) a. Cuando habló lo hizo sin entusiasmo. (MH: 79)
when he-spoke it he-did without enthusiasm
'When he spoke he did it without enthusiasm.'
b. ¡No hagas eso! (HF: 49)
not you-do that
'Don't do that!'
Our observations show that referential substitutes have less variety in verbs than in nouns. The
reasons for this are supposed to be the following. Firstly, while things are perceptible directly in
reality, time or change is not perceptible directly. So verbs are more difficult to be referred to than
nouns. Secondly, as verbs are the center which relates all the things in a sentence, they are difficult
to substitute. Thirdly, while a basic sentence has more than three nouns, including the nouns in
adjective and adverb phrases, it has only one verb, which has less motivation to be replaced than
any of the nouns.
6.1.5 Referential Pro-Adverbs
Analogical to pro-adjectives, we can distinguish qualifier PRO-ADVERBS, así, tal 'thus, so or like
that,' as in (139a), and quantifier pro-adverbs, tanto 'so much,' as in (139b).
(139) a. No se coge así el tenedor. (FV: 49)
not one seizes thus the fork
'We don't seize the fork like that.'
b. Los domingos se aburre una tanto. (EV: 160)
the Sundays one-F gets-bored so-much
'On Sundays one gets so bored.'
Some space locator adverbs are demonstrative, and these do not indicate a certain place but a
relative place. They are based on the distance from the speaker and the hearer to the place. In
Spanish the distance is separated in three ways, just as with other demonstratives: aquí, a place
close to the speaker; ahí, a place close to the hearer; allí, a place far from both. Spatial movements
are reduced to a dichotomy: acá, 'over here' and allá, 'over there'. And the location replaced by a
pro-adverb may be expressed in apposition. Thus, in (140) aquí, 'here' is identical with en esta
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puerta 'in this door'.
(140) Es aquí, en esta puerta. (EV: 52)
it-is here in this door
'It's here, in this door.''
Some time locator adverbs depend on the temporal distance from the speaker to the time referred
to: ahora 'now,' entonces 'then,' hoy 'today,' mañana 'tomorrow,' ayer 'yesterday'. For example,
ahora does not mean a certain temporal location but stands for the time of the speaker when he or
she is speaking. Accordingly, we can regard them as demonstrative temporal locator pro-adverbs.
6.1.6 Referential Pro-Ad-Adverbs
Substitutes for ad-adverbs may be called PRO-AD-ADVERBS, and as these we can count
substitutes for modifiers of the gerund. For example, in (141) the referential pro-adverb así 'thus'
modifies not a verb but the gerund subiendo 'ascending', which modifies in turn the verb levantó 'he
lifted' as an adverb.
(141) la levantó en la cadera, subiendo así los pocos escalones ... (AL: 51)
her he-lifted on the hip, ascending thus the few steps
'He lifted her onto his hip, in this way ascending the few steps.'
6.1.7 Referential Pro-Complements
Unlike dynamic verbs static verbs remain with the referential substitutes, and only complements
may be replaced by
PRO-COMPLEMENTS.
The substitute lo, whose form coincides with the neutral
accusative pronoun, represents any complement of whatever category. In (142a) lo stands for the
adjective importante 'important', in (142b) it stands for the noun amigos 'friends' and in (142c) it
may stand not only for an adjective or a noun but even for an adverb such as bien/mal 'well/badly'
etc. From this it follows that pro-complements are modifiers of static verbs beyond categories.
(142) a. Podría ser un documento importante... No lo es. (ME: 125)
it-could be a document important
not so (=important) it-is
'It might be an important document… It is not.'
b. Y lo (= amigos) somos. (HF: 78)
and so (= friends) we-are
'And so we are.'
c. ¿Por qué te lo parece? (AL: 516)
why to you so it-seems
'Why does it seem so to you?'
Besides the all-categorical lo, we can count another pro-complement, así 'thus, so or such'. It
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stands for an adjective complement as a qualifier (143a), and for a nominal complement, which is a
compound of qualities (143b).
(143) a. Siempre ha sido así, vivo de genio, con un carácter muy duro. (AL: 603)
always he-has been so, sharp by nature, with a character very tough
'He has always been so, sharp by nature, with a very tough character.'
b. Así se llamaba la perra del médico. (ZA: 35)
so herself-ACC she-called the bitch of the doctor
'So the bitch of a doctor was called.'
6.2 Interrogative Substitutes
INTERROGATIVE SUBSTITUTES
stand for those parts whose referent is inquired. As the answer is
fulfilled afterwards by the second person, interrogative substitutes are cataphoric. The same
interrogative sentence may be an exclamation when the answer is prepared by the speaker. We
recognize a thing through dialogue with a second person first in our mind and secondly in reality.
Accordingly, there must be some substitutes to extract answers from the second person, and these
are interrogative and EXCLAMATORY SUBSTITUTES.
Interrogative and exclamatory sentences may serve as clauses. As the initial interrogative and
exclamatory substitutes distinguish them from main sentences, they do not need clause markers
different from declarative sentences and yes-no questions.
6.2.1 Interrogative Pronouns
The inanimate interrogative pronoun is qué 'what' (144a) and the animate interrogative pronoun
is quién(es) 'who (sing./pl.)' (144b). When prepositions are noun markers, the interrogatives after
prepositions in (144c-d) are to be regarded as pronouns. In an exclamation the answer prepared by
the speaker means a thing or person of extraordinary quality or quantity. For example, the
interrogative qué 'what' stands for 'the thing which you should not want' in (144e), indicating an
excess in quality, and the interrogative quién 'who' stands for 'nobody' in (144f), also indicating an
extraordinary quantity. To exclaim and to suggest the speaker's answer to the hearer, the answer
must indicate an extraordinary quality or quantity.
(144) a. ¿Qué tienes? (FI: 165)
what you-have
'What do you have?'
b. ¿Quién fue? (DC: 30)
who he-was
'Who was he?'
c. ¿De dónde procedía su ciencia y su poder? (FV: 93)
from where proceeded their science and their power
'Where did their science and their power proceed from?'
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d. ¿Hasta cuándo hay plazo? (AL: 568)
till when one-has period
'Till when do we have a period?'
e. ¡Qué quiere usted, doña Digna! (NR: 121)
what want you, Mrs. Digna
'What do you want, Mrs. Digna!'
f. ¡Quién sabe! (AL: 519)
who knows
'Who knows!'
6.2.2 Interrogative Pro-Adjectives
Cuánto/a(s) 'how much/many' is an interrogative quantifier pro-adjective. However, in Spanish
we do not find any qualifier or locator pro-adjectives that correspond to the interrogative qualifier
pro-adjective phrase de qué 'of what' or the locator pro-adjective phrase en qué 'in what' as in
(145a). The interrogative pronoun qué without de stands for the interrogative qualifier
pro-adjective. In many cases it includes the preposition de 'of' as we see in (145b), because de is
most frequent in adjective phrases and is unmarked. In exclamatory sentences the answers prepared
by the speaker deal with an extraordinary quality (145c) or quantity (145d). Apart from
considerable exceptions like (145e), exclamations tend to lack verbs to emphasize the parts
expressed by exclamatory substitutes (145c-d), and to these answers are not expected.
(145) a. De qué color son tus ojos. (AM: 114)
of what color are your eyes
'What color your eyes are'
b. ¿(De) Qué disco era? (ME: 161)
(of) what disc it-was
'What disc was it?'
c. ¡Qué idea! (CN: 32)
what idea
'What an idea!'
d. ¡Qué frío! (NR: 148)
what cold
'How cold it is!'
e. ¡Qué sombra hace la montaña! (AF: 69)
what shadow makes the mountain
'What a shadow the mountain makes!'
Determiners, which are referential pro-adjectives, may to be replaced by
PRO-PRO-ADJECTIVES
cuál(es) 'which (sing./pl.)'. In (146) the interrogative cuáles 'which' should be fulfilled by the
referential pro-adjectives estos 'these,' aquellos 'those' etc.
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(146) ¿A cuáles gallos (tenías miedo)? (MH: 123)
to which cats-DAT (you-had fear)
'Which cats (are you afraid of)?'
With the quantifier pro-adjective cuánto/a(s) or the pro-pro-adjective cuál(es), nouns are easily
omitted, since in most cases they are understood, as we see in (147a-b).
(147) a. No sé cuál (comienzo) elegir. (FI: 59)
not I-know which (beginning) to choose
'I don't know which (beginning) to choose.'
b. ¿Cuántas (vasijas) hacen al día? (CN: 49)
how-many (pots) you-PL-make in a day
'How many (pots) do you make in a day?'
6.2.3 Interrogative Pro-Ad-Adjectives
In English the interrogative substitute how in how old is an interrogative qualifier
pro-ad-adjective. But in Spanish the interrogative substitute cómo, which corresponds roughly to
how, does not appear with the same distribution. Qué 'what' before adjectives is an interrogative
qualifier pro-ad-adjective and cuán (to) 'how much' before adjectives is an interrogative quantifier
pro-ad-adjective. They are hardly ever used in interrogatives but as exclamations, except for qué tal
as in (148b). Because of the difficulty in making exact measurements, in exclamations the degree of
attributes are left beyond description.
(148) a. ¡Qué hermoso fue todo! (HF: 67)
what beautiful was all
'How beautiful everything was!'
b. ¿Tú (de) qué tal (modo) planchas? (FI: 26)
you (of ) what such (way) iron
'How do you iron?'
c. ¡Cuánto bueno por aquí! (AL: 184)
how-much good round here
'How good it is round here!'
d. ¡Cuán cansado estoy de todo esto! (LR: 422)
how-much tired I-am of all this
'How tired I am with all of this!'
6.2.4 Interrogative Pro-Verbs
As we have seen above a dynamic verb is replaced by a combination of the simple verb hacer
'do' and the neutral accusative pronoun lo 'it'. We can also include here the pair hacer and the
interrogative pronoun qué 'what', which functions as a pro-verb as in (149).
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(149) ¿Qué hace, para calmar el dolor? (ME: 53)
what you-do to soothe the pain
'What do you do to soothe the pain?'
6.2.5 Interrogative Pro-Adverbs
In many cases the interrogative pro-verbs dónde 'where' and cuándo 'when' are not without
prepositions. As interrogatives are always stressed, they easily lose prepositions, which lack stress.
Frequent and monosyllabic prepositions like en 'in' or a 'to' scarcely ever appear in examples like
(150a), but distinctive prepositions like de/desde 'from', hasta 'to', para 'for' etc. always appear
(150b).
As most qualifier adverbs are derived from adjectives with -mente '-ly', the qualifier interrogative
adverb cómo hardly ever appears after prepositions, with a few exceptions like (150c). On the other
hand, many space locator adverbs consist of prepositions and nouns, because spatial location is
based on things. Therefore, the space locator interrogative dónde most frequently appears with
prepositions. Moreover, as the three-dimensional space locator prepositions have the most variety,
they need to be distinguished by prepositions. Being analogous to the space locator, the time locator
is one-dimensional and simpler. Consequently, the time locator interrogative cuándo may have
fewer prepositions than dónde. When the substitutes function as adverbs without prepositions, they
are not regarded as pronouns but as pro-adverbs.
The most frequent exclamatory pro-adverb is cómo 'how'. This seems to be the case because
cómo may be interpreted as having an extraordinary degree more easily than pro-adverbs of place
and time. Therefore, for example, cómo in (150d) stands for 'very clearly'.
(150) a. ¿(En) Dónde están?
(in) where they are
'Where are they?
–Fuera. En Barcelona, en América, en Francia ... (CN: 61)
outside in Barcelona in America in France
–Outside. In Barcelona, in America, in France…'
b. ¿Y para cuándo esperas...? (AL: 558)
and for when you-wait
'And when do you wait for?'
c. ¿A cómo está la lechuga? (SM: 358)
at how (much) is the lettuce
'How much is the lettuce?'
d. ¡Cómo se ve que allí hay cuartos! (DC: 12)
how one sees that there one-has cash
'How clearly one can see there is dough!'
6.2.6 Interrogative Pro-Ad-Adverbs
We can find hardly any examples of interrogative pro-ad-adverbs used only in exclamations,
because it seems difficult for the second person to answer about the degree of adverbs.
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(151) ¡Qué bien, qué bien! (AL: 114)
what well, what well
'Oh, great!'
6.2.7 Interrogative Pro-Complements
Complementary nouns are replaced not only by the interrogative pronoun qué 'what' as in (152a),
but also by the interrogative pro-adverb cómo 'how' as in (152b). Complementary quantifier
adjectives are replaced by the interrogative quantifier adjectives cuánto/a(s) 'how many/much'
(152c). However, complementary qualifier adjectives are not replaced by the derivational
interrogative qualifier pro-adjectives qué, unlike cases such as (145a-e) above (see *152d), but by
the interrogative pro-adverb cómo (152e). Complementary adverbs which locate space and time are
substituted by space and time locator pro-adverbs respectively as in (152f-g). Qualifier
complementary adverbs are replaced not only by the interrogative qualifier pro-adverb cómo (152h)
but also synthetically by the interrogative pronoun qué (152i).
(152) a. ¿Qué es ?
–Una codorniz. (DC: 59)
what it-is
a quail
'What is it?
–A quail.'
–Martín. (ZA: 35)
b. ¿Cómo te llamas?
how yourself-ACC you-call
Martín
–Martín.'
'What is your name?
c. Pregunto cuántos son en la mina.
–Uy, muchos- (CN: 34)
I-ask how-many they-are in the mine
ugh many (persons)
'I’m asking how many are in the mine.
d. *¿Qué es Juan?
–Es bueno.
what is Juan
'What is Juan?
–Ugh, many (people).'
he-is good
–He is good.'
e. Tú ya sabes cómo es éste ... (AL: 108)
you already know how is this
'You already know how this is.'
f. ¿Dónde está la Herzegovina?
where is the Herzegovina
'Where is Herzegovina?
–En Polonia. (AL: 553)
in Poland
–In Poland.'
g. ¿Cuándo son las oposiciones?
when are the competitive-examinations
–En noviembre. (HF: 81)
in November
'When are the competitive examinations? – In November.'
h. ¿Cómo está usted?
how are you
'How are you?
–Estoy bien, gracias.
I-am well thanks
– I'm well, thanks.'
i. ¿Qué le parece? ... digo que me parece bien. (CN: 47)
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what to-you it-seems
I-say that to-me it-seems well
'How does it seem to you? ... I’d say that it seems fine to me.'
Interrogation in pro-adverbs to ask about nouns as in (152b) and interrogation in pro-adverbs to
ask about adjectives as in (152e) proves the adverbial function of complements. On the other hand,
interrogation in pronouns to ask about adverbs as in (152i) shows the static character of
complements, which mainly complement static verbs.
TABLE 16
Interrogative Pro-Complements
complements
pro-complements
nouns
qué (pronoun) (152a)
cómo (pro-adverb) (152b)
adjectives
cuánto(s) (pro-adjective) (152c)
*qué (pro-adjective) (*152d)
cómo (pro-adverb) (152e)
adverbs
dónde (pro-adverb) (152f)
cuándo (pro-adverb) (152g)
cómo (pro-adverb) (152h)
qué (pronoun) (152i)
Only in exclamations can we find the interrogative pro-pro-adjective cuál 'which' as a complement
instead of the quantifier pro-adjective cuánto(s) 'how many/much' as in (153). In this case the cuál
does not offer a choice, but expresses an exaggeration in the form of a rhetorical question.
(153) ¡Cuál fue su sorpresa! (DM: 253)
which was his surprise
'How surprised he was!'
6.3 Relative Substitutes
An adjective and an adjective phrase which modify a noun explain how a thing is at that moment.
For example, la casa blanca 'the white house' in Compran la casa blanca 'they buy the white house'
means 'the house which is white now,' and Compraron la casa blanca 'they bought the white house'
means 'the house which was white then'. A past participle relates the thing to past time but it also
explains what the thing is like at that moment as a result of a change that happened in the past. As
far as we can recognize a thing in mobile space-time, that thing requires free expression in time. In
order to explain how the thing is, was or will be at different times, we need a verb or a sentence,
which is an adjective clause. For instance, la casa que antes era blanca 'the house which was once
white' in Compran la casa que antes era blanca. 'they buy the house which was once white' cannot
be expressed by anything other than a sentence.
RELATIVE SUBSTITUTES
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are markers to distinguish
between main sentences and adjective clauses. Except in conventional business letters the markers
are not omitted in Spanish in order to avoid possible confusion caused by the relatively free word
order. For example, in English the marker may be omitted as in the book (which) you have, because
a noun before a sentence is always a modified noun in English. But in Spanish el libro (que) tienes
without the marker has the same form as the inversion of tienes el libro 'you have the book',
because the direct object may come before the verb in Spanish.
In the adjective clause we do not repeat the modified noun but replace it with a substitute, and
this is the relative substitute. And the modified noun in the main sentence identical with the relative
substitute is called the ANTECEDENT. Thus, the second el libro 'the book' in (154a) is replaced by the
relative substitute que 'what' and put at the beginning of the adjective clause close to the antecedent
el libro in (154b).
(154) a. Quiero el libro.
I-want the book
'I want the book.
Tienes el libro.
you-have the book
You have the book.'
b. Quiero el libro que tienes.
I-want the book what you-have
'I want the book which you have.'
In putting the substitute at the beginning of the sentence, the formation of relativization is similar
to that of interrogation. Possibly because of this similarity the interrogative and relative substitutes
have almost the same forms. While the word used to fulfill the substitute comes after in the
interrogation as an answer, it comes before in the relativization as an antecedent. For instance, the
word el vino 'the wine' to fulfill the substitute qué 'what' comes after in (155a), but it comes before
in (155b). So we may say that the relative clause has the form of an interrogative sentence to which
the answer is given before. As the word to fulfill the substitute is shown already, relative substitutes
are not stressed, while interrogatives are stressed to request answers.
(155) a. ¿Qué bebes?
–El vino.
what you-drink
'What will you drink?
the wine
–The wine.'
b. el vino que bebes
the wine what you-drink
'the wine which you drink'
6.3.1 Relative Pronouns
A noun repeated in the adjective clause is expressed by a relative pronoun, which marks the
adjective clause. The relative pronoun quien(es) 'who' substitutes only a person or persons like the
interrogative pronoun quién(es) (156c). However, while the interrogative pronoun qué 'what' stands
only for a thing or things, the relative pronoun que may stand not only for a thing or things (156a)
110
but also a person or persons (156b). This is because, in contrast to interrogative pronominalization,
in relative pronominalization we know already that the element substituted or antecedent is a thing
or things or a person or persons. As we do not have to distinguish animateness with the substitutes
que and quien, we simply use que in both cases.
(156) a. los montes que la rodean (ZA: 105)
the mountains what it-ACC surround
'the mountains which surround it'
b. Son gente que vive en sitios aislados. (CN: 43)
they-are people what lives in places isolated
'They are people who live in isolated places.'
c. sus amigos quienes entrizan a la perdiz a la izquierda (DC: 55)
their friends who-PL put the partridge to the left
'their friends who put the partridge on the left'
The relative pronoun que may appear with the definite article to indicate more explicitly the
antecedent, when it comes after prepositions and is separated from the antecedent. The definite
article after prepositions is optional when the antecedent refers to a thing (157a -b). However, it is
indispensable when the antecedent is a person, because the gender and number of a person is a
matter of concern based on reality (157c).
(157) a. Del puente, … partía un sendero por el que los hombres bajaron. (AL: 351)
from-the bridge started a path by the what the men went-down
'From the bridge began a path which the men took to go down.'
b. a la hora en que el guadapero lleva el serillo del almuerzo a los segadores (CN:55)
at the hour in what the delivery-boy brings the basket of-the lunch to the harvesters
'at the hour in which the delivery boy brings the lunch basket to the harvesters'
c. Siempre espero encontrarme a una mujer a la que le gustan los hombres que callan.
(AC: 92)
always I-hope to-find-for-myself-DAT to a woman-ACC to the what to-her-DAT please the
men what shut-up
'I always hope to find a woman who likes men who keep their mouths shut.'
The adjective clause marked by que may precede an infinitive instead of a sentence, when it
modifies indefinite or negative nouns. We have seen an analogous case of an infinitive to a
sentence in tener que + infinitive 'to have + infinitive'. For example, in (158a) the subject of the
infinitive leer 'to read' can be omitted, because it is the same as that of the main verb tengo 'I have'.
And by analogy with tener que + infinitive, we can assume the tense to be future, because the
definite or negative thing is not yet definitely realized at present. In (158b) the subject of the
infinitive tumbarse 'to lie down' is not the subject but the indirect object of the causative verb,
111
which indicates an action to be realized in the future. The subject of ver 'to see' is not expressed in
(158c), but we know that the subject may be anyone including you and me. To sum up, the verb of
an adjective clause can be replaced by an infinitive, when the subject is identical with some other
element of the main sentence and the tense is future because of the indefiniteness of the realization.
(158) a. Tengo mucho que leer. (BM: 101)
I-have much that to-read
'I have much to read.'
b. La tierra, endurecida y húmeda, le hizo buscar otro lugar donde tumbarse. (AL: 241)
the land hardened and wet him made to-find another place where to-knock-down-himself
'The land, hard and wet, made him find another place to lie down.'
c. No tiene nada que ver que seas el jefe (LR: 1803)
not it-has nothing what to-see that you-should-be the boss
'It has nothing to do with whether you should be the boss.'
6.3.2 Relative Pro-Adjectives
Relative substitutes which stand for adjectives are relative pro-adjectives. As adjectives may be
expressed in phrases, relative adjectives may be replaced by prepositions and nouns. However, for
example in (159a), the relative pronoun cual 'which' is separated from the antecedent balcón
'balcony' by the modified noun in the adjective clause cristales 'glass(es)' and the preposition with
definite article del 'of the'. Consequently, in order to bring the relative substitute close up to the
antecedent we require a relative substitute before the modified noun, and this is the relative
pro-adjective. Thus in (159b) the relative pro-adjective cuyos 'whose (pl.)', which substitutes the
adjective phrase del balcón 'of-the balcony', comes just after the antecedent el balcón. The relative
pro-adjective cuyos is a qualifier expressing the quality of possession. Including the definite article
el, the relative pro-adjective functions as a definite article or pro-adjective, which clarifies which
glasses they are.
(159) a. al balcón, cristales del cual eran como espejos muertos
to-the balcony glasses of-the which were as mirrors dead
'to the balcony, the glass of which was like a dead mirror'
b. al balcón, cuyos cristales eran como espejos muertos (AL: 576)
to-the balcony whose glasses were as mirrors dead
'to the balcony, whose glass was like a dead mirror'
The relative pro-adjective cuanto/a(s) is a quantifier, which expresses the quantity of the
antecedent. The two identical quantifier adjectives cinco 'five' in (160a) are reduced to the relative
quantifier cuantas in (160b), in which the numbers are not expressed but only their equality.
Cuantas pruebas hicieron 'how many trials they made' in (160b) is replaced by todas las pruebas
que hicieron 'all the trials that they made', because the equality is expressed by 'all'. In another
112
example (160c) the antecedent quantifier adjective X always indicates the same quantity as cuanto.
Therefore, it is not the quantity of X that is important but the equality of quantity between X and
cuanto. Consequently, the antecedent X is always absent, and the quantifier pro-adjective cuanto is
a synonym of todo lo que 'all that'.
(160) a. Hicieron cinco pruebas.
they-made five trials
'They made five trials.
Los cinco pruebas resultaron negativas.
the five trials resulted negative
The five trials gave negative results.'
b. Cuantas pruebas hicieron resultaron negativas. (SM: 441)
how-may trials they-made resulted negative
'However many trails they made the results were negative.'
c. Las mugeres tiraran (X noun) cuanto (noun) havía en sus casas. [sic] (CN: 51)
the women threw-away (X noun) how-much (noun) one-had in their houses
'The women threw away as much (noun) as there was in their houses.'
As we have seen in 6.2.2 the interrogative substitute cuál(es) 'which' is a pro-pro-adjective,
because it stands for pro-adjectives such as demonstrative adjectives, articles etc. Accordingly, we
may suppose that the relative cual(es) 'which (sing./pl.)' may also be a pro-pro-adjective. However,
the relative cual functions as a pronoun. Because the modified noun is always known as the
antecedent, the definiteness of cual allows the omission of the modified noun. For example, in
(161) the relative substitute cual implies the modified noun razón 'reason' by expressing its gender
and number with the definite article la.
(161) Habrá una razón por la cual (razón) estoy convencido de lo contrario. (ME: 215)
one-should-have a reason for the which (reason) I-am convinced of it-N opposite
'There will be a reason for which I am convinced of the opposite.'
6.3.3 Relative Pro-Ad-Adjectives
When the relative cuanto/a(s) modifies the quantifier adjective más 'more,' it is a
pro-ad-adjective (162a), and when it modifies the quantifier ad-adjective más 'more,' it is a
pro-ad-ad-adjective (162b). The quantifier pro-ad-adjective cuanta agrees with the modified noun
(162a). Nevertheless, the quantifier pro-ad-ad-adjective cuanto does not agree with the noun
because of its distance from the noun (162b). And neither have an antecedent probably because
these relatives do not refer to their quantities but to the equality between the two quantities.
(162) a. Cuanta más ilusión conserve, pues mejor. (EV: 112)
how-much more illusion she-conserve-SUBJ then better
'The more illusion she conserves, the better.'
b. Cuanto más ignorantes, más queréis saber. (AL: 251)
how-much more ignorant, more you-PL want to know
113
'The more ignorant you are, the more you want to know.'
6.3.4 Relative Pro-Verbs
Dynamic verbs are substituted by the simplest dynamic verb hacer 'do' and the accusative
pronoun lo 'it' in referential substitutes and qué 'what' in interrogative substitutes. Also, in the
case of relative substitutes a verb is replaced by the verb hacer and an accusative noun lo or its
equivalents, which is substituted by the pronoun que just as with the referential and interrogative
substitutes. In (163a) the antecedent is nada 'nothing' and the verb is an infinitive with an
indefinite subject. In (163b) the antecedent is lo 'it', and the verb hacer has the form of an
indefinite subject. When the verb is substitutable and indefinite, the subject is also indefinite.
(163) a. no hay nada que hacer (BM: 75)
not one-has nothing what to-do
'There is nothing to do.'
b. Ahora lo que hay que hacer es cenar. (FV: 107)
now it what one-has what to-do is to-dine
'Now what one has to do is to dine.'
6.3.5 Relative Pro-Adverbs
Relative pronouns with prepositions serve as adverb phrases in adjective clauses. In (164a) the
relative pronoun que 'what' with the preposition en 'in' is a space locator adverb phrase of the verb
vive 'lives'. The adverb phrase is a time locator in (164b) and a qualifier in (164c). But, we hardly
ever find occurrences of quantifier adverb phrases with que, which shows that quantity is too
highly abstract an attribute to be expressed by a pronoun.
(164) a. la ciudad en que Miguel vive (AL: 202)
the city in which Miguel lives
'the city in which Miguel lives'
b. momentos en que se arrepentió mucho de escaparse (FV: 69)
moments in which himself-ACC he- regretted much of to-escape-himself-ACC
'moments in which he much regretted escaping'
c. va a ser la manera de que engordes. (DC: 40)
it-goes to to-be the manner of what you-fatten-SUBJ
'It will be the way in which you should fatten yourself.'
To express an adverb phrase by a single word we make use of the relative pro-adverb. The
relative pro-adverb donde 'where' substitutes the space locator adverb phrase as in (165a) and
cuando 'when', the time locator adverb phrase as in (165b).
(165) a. el almacén de Azpillaga, donde se encuentra de todo, (ZA: 11)
114
the warehouse of Azpillaga where one finds of all
'the warehouse of Azpillaga, where we find everything'
b. el 13 de septiembre de 1759, cuando se proclamó rey a Carlos III, (CN: 51)
the 13 of September of 1759 when one proclaimed king to Carlos III-ACC
'September 13th in 1759, when they proclaimed Carlos III king'
Como 'how' stands for a qualifier adverb in (166a-b). And we can also find a similar use of the
quantifier relative pro-adverb cuanto 'how much' in (166c). The antecedents of donde and cuando
are various because we locate space and time based on various things. On the other hand, the
antecedents of como and cuanto are very limited because the antecedents of como and cuanto
always indicate a certain manner or quantity respectively. For instance in (166a) and (166b) the
antecedents of como, así 'so' and tal 'thus', are referential and not explicit. The antecedent of cuanto
in (166c) is also referential tanto 'so much'. The two quantities of mucho 'much' in (166d) are
substituted by the referential pro-adverb tanto 'so much' and the relative pro-adverb cuanto in
(166e). And like the examples of relative quantifier pro-adjectives that we have seen in (160a-b),
the relative quantifier pro-adverb cuanto reflects equality with the antecedent todo 'all' in (166f).
(166) a. Así como suena. (AL: 596)
so how it-sounds
'Just like it sounds.'
b. Lo encontrarás tal como lo dejé. (LR 1668)
it you-will-find thus how it I-left
'You will find it as I left it.'
c. Trabajó tanto cuanto pudo. (YY: 186)
he-worked so-much how-much he-could
'He did as much work as he could.'
d. Tienes mucho.
Vales mucho.
you-have much
you-are-worth much
'You have much.
You are worth much.'
e. Tanto vales cuanto tienes. (TM: 251)
so-much you-are-worth how-much you-have
'You are worth as much as you have.'
f. todo cuanto quería saber (UH: V-11, 228)
all how-much I-wanted to-know
'all that I wanted to know'
Like the interrogative pro-adverbs relative pro-adverbs may have prepositions. However, relative
pro-adverbs such as that in (167) lose prepositions less often than interrogative pro-adverbs in cases
like (150a repeated below). The reasons seem to be as follows. The relative substitutes are
unstressed and they have less contrast with prepositions unlike the initial and tonic interrogative
115
substitutes. Moreover, while interrogative sentences tend to be simple and short, sentences with
relative substitutes are complex and longer. Therefore, the latter require more prepositions to clarify
the relationship among the words.
(167) el cuarto en donde había dos mecedoras (RC: 59)
the room in where one-had two rocking-chairs
'the room where there are two rocking-chairs'
–Fuera. En Barcelona, en América, en Francia ... (CN: 61)
(150) a. ¿(En) Dónde están?
(in) where they are
'Where are they?
outside in Barcelona in America in France
–Outside. In Barcelona, in America, in France…'
The relative pronoun que may function as a pro-adverb without a preposition. For example, in
(168a) and (168b) the time locator adverbs ahora 'now' and siempre 'always' are not substituted by
the time locator relative pro-adverb cuando 'when,' but by the relative pronoun que. The nouns in
time locator adverb phrases are limited in their meaning, and the one-dimensional prepositions are
less various. Therefore, time locator adverb phrases easily lose their prepositions and with reason
relative pronouns stand for time locator adverbs. The quantifier adverb mucho 'much' in (168c) is
not substituted by the quantifier relative pro-adverb cuanto 'how much' but by the relative pronoun
que. Even when the relative is a monosyllabic pronoun, we know that mucho is a quantifier adverb
because of its meaning and form.
(168) a. Ahora que ya no hay peligro. (HF: 69)
now what already no one-has danger
'But there isn't already danger.'
b. así sucedía siempre que había fuego. (AF: 123)
thus it-happened always what one-had fire
'It happened like this whenever there was fire.'
c. Por mucho que trabajen (SM: 1059)
for much what they-should-work
'No matter how much they work'
6.3.6 Relative Pro-Ad-Adverbs
When the relative cuanto modifies the quantifier adverb más 'more', we may regard it as a
relative pro-ad-adverb, because it is a substitute of an ad-adverb.
(97) c. Cuanto menos las dejamos solas, mejor (van las cosas). (AM: 110)
how-much less them-F we-leave alone, better (go the things)
'The less we leave them alone, the better (things go).'
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6.3.7 Relative Pro-Complements
As we have seen in, for example, (152d), the interrogative pronoun qué is not used as a
pro-complement adjective. However, we find examples of the relative pronoun que serving as a
relative pro-complement. For instance, in (169a) the relative pronoun que substitutes the
complement adjective humilde 'humble', and in (169b) it stands for the complement adjective in the
form of the past participle encendida 'lit'. Unlike interrogative substitutes the meaning of the
relative substitutes is known by their antecedents. Therefore, the relative substitute may have its
simplest, monosyllabic form even when it causes semantic disagreement. This seems to be the
reason why the relative pro-complement adjective is not substituted by anything other than que.
(169) a. por más humilde que sea tu trabajo (BM: 76)
for more humble what should-be your work
'no matter how humble your work may be'
b. encendida que estuvo la lumbre (GG: 202)
lit-F what was the light-F
'the light being lit'
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TABLE 17
Substitutes in Spanish
pronouns
referential
interrogative
relative
nominatives él...
thing qué
thing/person que
accusatives lo...
person quién (es)
person quien (es)
datives
pro-adjectives qualifier
quantifier
le...
articles el..., tal (es) cuál (es), qué
cuyo/a(s), cual(es)
tanto/a (s)
cuánto/a (s)
cuanto/a(s)
tan
cuán
cuanto/a
ser/estar
ser/estar
ser/estar
locator in space este/a (s)...
in time
este/a (s)...
pro-ad-adjectives
quantifiers
pro-verbs
+pro-complements
+pro-complements
+pro-complements
hacer+pronoun (n.)
hacer+pronoun:qué
hacer+pronoun:que
así
cómo
como
tanto
cuánto
cuanto
locators in space aquí...
dónde
donde
in time
ahora...
cuándo
cuando
pro-ad-adverb quantifier
tan
qué
cuanto
pro-complements
lo
qué
que
pro-adverbs qualifiers
quantifiers
cómo
cuánto
dónde
cuándo
6.3.6 Omission of antecedents
The antecedents are omitted when they can be recovered easily. In (170a) the antecedent of the
relative pronoun quien is omitted, because the relative pronoun tells us that the antecedent is a
person. In (170b) the antecedent que is omitted, because the definite article agrees with the
antecedent. The antecedents of the relative pro-adverbs donde 'where', cuando 'when' and como
'how' are seldom expressed, because they are limited and redundant. These relative pro-adverbs
without redundant antecedents are called conjunctions in traditional grammar, because they seem to
join two sentences as in (170c-e)
(170) a. (La persona) Quien se equivoca es usted. (ME: 97)
(the person) who mistakes is you
'You are the one who is mistaken.'
b. Este vino es de los (vinos) que raspan. (RC: 57)
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this wine is of those (wines) what are-sharp
'This wine is a sharp one.'
c. Vamos (al sitio) donde tú digas, Manuel. (AL: 398)
we go (to the place) where you would-say Manuel.
'Let's go where you say, Manuel.'
d. (al tiempo) Cuando volvió para acá, venía gordo y moreno. (NR: 15)
(at the time) when he come-back over here he came fat and brown
'When he came back over here, he had turned fat and brown.'
e. ponte (de la manera) como estabas, por favor. (EV: 125)
put yourself-ACC (in the way) how you were for favor
'As you were, please.'
The relative pro-adverb cuanto 'how much' in (166c) is more limited than these pro-adverbs.
Accordingly, the antecedent of cuanto never appears expressed in an adverb phrase. However, in
(171a), we can see that (mucho/poco) cuanto tenga 'as much/little as I have' is an adverb phrase
which stands for some quantifier adverb such as mucho 'much', poco 'little' etc. Thus, cuanto is also
regarded as a relative pro-adverb whose antecedent is lost. Furthermore, the quantity indicated by
cuanto may convert to a time locator. Therefore, cuanto in en cuanto los vio Julio 'as soon as Julio
saw them' locates time by making use of quantity in (171b). Being an adverb, cuanto appears after a
preposition en, which appears most frequently with space-time locator adverbs and makes explicit
the conversion to temporal location. The same conversion can also be seen in temporal location
with cuanto in cases such as cuanto antes 'as soon as possible'. Quantity may also convert to quality
in expressions such as (en) cuanto a 'as for', por cuanto 'inasmuch as', el señor no sé cuantos 'Mr.
so-and-so' etc., probably because the quality has degree or connotative quantity.
(171) a. Cuanto tenga te lo cederé. (LR: 422)
how-much I-have-SUBJ you-DAT it-ACC I-will-give
'I will give you as much as I have.'
b. En cuanto los vio Julio se puso a gritar. (SM: 441)
in how-much them saw Julio himself-ACC put to to-shout
'As soon as Julio saw them he started to shout.'
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Conclusion
Although we may see the same thing and conceive the same idea, we may express these things
and ideas in many different languages. Language varies with race, country, region, society and the
individual. However, as far as we are all human, we should all have followed the same natural path
in generating language. Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain why all and only human
beings could have demonstrated the ability to speak in our long biological history.
To explain the generation of language, we should start from the biological generality proper to
human beings, which is cognition. The logical process is from cognition to language, that is, from
content to form. The language or the form once generated may restrict cognition or content. But this
is secondary. If it were not the case, it would be impossible to explain how the first language could
have been generated. If form prescribes content, language never changes and differs in form
according to content. In fact language changes according to thought. We speak because we think. In
a scientific study we should not reverse the logical order from content to form.
Contrary to this logical process our observation begins with concrete form, which is the result of
language generation prescribed by content. To trace the phenomenon back to its origin, we have to
think why and how we have generated the form.
Starting from the cognition, we have to deduce how language should be as an expression of
cognition. The deduced hypothesis requires to be verified by the induction of linguistic phenomena.
The hypothetical theory is used to explain the phenomena, by which the theory is to be developed.
By means of both deduction and induction, the phenomena are explained in their relation,
clarification of which we may call linguistic theory. To the extent that we have managed in this
study, our linguistic theory explains language as follows.
We human beings are instinctually inferior to all other creatures; our sight is by far weaker than
that of hawks, our sense of smell far and away less sensitive than that of dogs, and our sense of
direction much poorer even than that of ants. Nevertheless, we found another way to survive in the
hostility of nature, which was to know, to which our species' name Homo sapience is due. To know
nature is to capture the world as a whole in our mind. Nature means not only the outside world but
also instinct, which leads us in a natural way just as it does with other living beings. On account of
that, to capture the whole world we make an appeal to reason, which is properly human.
When language is an expression of cognition, it is evidence of a struggle against nature, a
struggle which includes our own instinct. When we think we face ourselves objectively from the
point of view of an alter ego in our mind, who is the supposed hearer. We select words by
consulting with this second self within ourselves and we make an effort to utter the words in a way
suitable to the situation. That is to say that language is the evidence of a dialectic struggle against
nature by the working of the cerebral cortex, nerves and muscles.
Our cognition is based on perception of the outside world; for all that we can recognize the
things out of experience by means of analogy. One example is our inability to express the color of
ultraviolet rays. Our cognition cannot pass beyond the perceptible limits of the physical world,
which is regarded as consisting of four dimensions. When a word itself does not make sense in
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isolation but in a sentence related with other words, the minimum unit of cognition is a sentence.
Therefore, all that a sentence expresses should be ascribed to the four dimensions. And any
sentence should imply the whole four-dimensional structure however short it may be. Any sentence
of any language, whatever the form, should indicate things in space-time changing in quality,
quantity or space-time location as time goes by. Because of physiological necessity most sentences
do not show their complete structure. We do not take the trouble to pronounce redundant words.
But, even a one word sentence is distinguished from a word picked up at random from a dictionary,
because we understand the latent words.
In this study we aimed at seeing why and how cognition prescribes language by trying to ascribe
linguistic phenomena to four-dimensional cognition. And we conclude by presenting the possibility
that the structure of Spanish sentences is explained by being grounded in cognitive
four-dimensional structure. Our examination is merely a rough and provisional sketch restricted to
Spanish, which remains to be developed in further discussion of any other language.
Al final expreso mi profundo agradecimiento escribiendo que la publicación de la versión
japonesa de esta obra ha sido subvencionada en 2005 por el Programa “Baltasar Gracián” del
Ministerio de Cultura de España.
121
Notes
1
There are people who give the highest priority to the communicative function of language, and
these we may call
COMMUNICATIVISTS,
as against
COGNITIVISTS,
who define language as an
expression of cognition. As communicativists, we can count not only Aristotle and the
traditional grammarians, but also the structuralists, Saussure, Sapir and their supporters. The
communicativists, in contrast to the cognitivists, attach greater importance to form than content,
to hearers than speakers, to society than individuals. And, in the name of idealism, they regard
the majority or general tendency as a universality which ought to be realized in any
particularity. These logical reverses make it impossible for them to explain language. For more
discussion of this opposition see Sakai (2002).
2
In this study Spanish means Castilian, which is also spoken widely in South America.
3
For empiricists language is what we hear from others in the experience of communication.
Therefore, thinking that there is no reason to distinguish between the content and form of
language, they take the way of description. On the other hand, for rationalists language is what
we generate to express cognition, so that, presupposing some relation between content and
form, they try to explain language. Consequently, empiricism is related to communicativism,
and rationalism to cognitivism in linguistics.
4
Therefore, it is quite natural to suppose that cognition and language have the same origin as
consciousness, as Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (1845: 49) point out:
Language is as old as consciousness, language is practical, real consciousness that exists
for other men as well, and only arises from the need, the necessity of intercourse with other
men.
5
Hegel (op. cit., §42, Addition 1) says as follows:
What human beings strive in general is cognition of world; we strive to appropriate it and
to conquer it. To this end the reality of the world must be crushed as it were; i.e., it must be
made ideal.
According to him we may say that language is to appropriate, to conquer, and to make ideal
the world.
6
To prove that language expresses cognition speculative grammar attempted an explanation of
language based on Aristotle's categories. Aristotle had thought out ten categories as a finite
framework for capturing infinite phenomena (Categories, IV):
1 Substance (what); 'man,' 'a horse'
2 Quantity (how large); 'two cubits long'
3 Quality (what sort of thing); 'white,' 'grammatical'
4 Relation (related to what); 'half,' 'double,' 'greater'
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5 Place (where); 'in the market-place,' 'in the Lyceum'
6 Time (when); 'yesterday,' 'last year'
7 Posture/Position (in what attitude); 'is lying,' 'is sitting'
8 State/Condition (how circumstanced); 'is shod,' 'is armed'
9 Action (what doing); 'cuts,' 'burns'
10 Affection (how passive, what suffering); 'is cut,' 'is burnt'
In these categories, we can find some contradictions. First, substances consist of quality and
quantity, and all substances are situated in space and time. The same can be seen also in
actions. Therefore, substance, action, quantity, quality, space and time are not to be
enumerated evenly. Secondly, the relation is not an independent category but to be found
among all the categories. Thirdly, we could we say that posture and state belong to quality.
And finally, there seems to be no reason why the examples 'is shod' and 'is armed' are states or
conditions, while 'is cut' and 'is burnt' are affections. In short, these categories are an
enumerative and infinite classification of predicates without criteria. On that account
speculative grammar failed to explain language. With reason Immanuel Kant criticizes
Aristotle as follows:
Aristotle's search for these fundamental concepts was an effort worthy of an acute man.
But
since he had no principle, he rounded them up as he stumbled on them, and first got
up a list
of ten of them, which he called categories (predicaments). Subsequently he
believed that he
had found five more of them, which he added under the name of
post-predicaments. But his
table still had holes (1781, I.§10).
In contrast to those of Aristotle, Isaac Newton's categories are not based on static predicates
but on the physical world, which is not only static but also dynamic. His categories are
reduced to space and time. But his mathematical space and time are absolute without regard to
anything external, according to his words, and their relativity is still ignored (For example, in
Newton rest is not a state of motion but rest and the motion are categorically distinguished by
their properties, causes, and effects (1687: 13-15)). Also in Kantian binary categories (op. cit.),
space and time were given absolutely without relation.
The physical relativity between space and time was demonstrated by Albert Einstein (1905,
1916), whilst cognitive relativity had already been indicated by Hegel (op. cit.) in the
preceding century. Therefore, we owe to all these predecessors in physics and epistemology
the four-dimensional structure of cognition shown in this paper.
7
Karl Bühler (1965, Ch.15) and Roman Jakobson (1974, XI) regard nominatives and
accusatives as linked by verbs, which suggests that time begins at subjects and ends at
accusatives. Moreover, according to Ferdinand Lázaro Carreter (1977: 406), developing
Aristotle's definition of a verb as an expression of time (Poetics, Ch.20) J. Larochette (1950)
123
describes space-time structure as follows:
The noun does not indicate an object, a being, an entity but expresses a 《thing》[=all that
presents to our conscience: persons, animals, plants, colors, states, movements, etc. ] in the
form of object, of being, of entity, so to say, presents the thing in the space. The verb does not
indicate an action, a movement, a state, a process, but presents a thing in the form of action,
of movement, of state, of process, so to say, presents the thing in the time.
8
In Spanish, in which the word order is relatively free on account of inflection, the direct object
indicating a person has the preposition 'a' to distinguish it from the subject. Owing to the
preposition even the animate direct object can be at the beginning of a sentence without
passivization in Spanish.
Juan invita a Felipe.
→ A Felipe invita Juan.
'Juan invites Felipe.'
9
Cf. 'Felipe is invited by Juan. '
In the logical grammar of Port Royal (op. cit. I.) a sentence is divided into two parts: the
subject and predicate. They define the former as 'a thing of which one affirms' and the latter as
'what one affirms' (Similarly, Yamada Yoshio (1936) distinguished between them in terms of
GAINEN 'concept' and CHINJUTU 'predicate' in Japanese grammar). But when a whole sentence
expresses cognition or affirmation, not only the subject but also all the things expressed in a
sentence, including the direct and indirect objects and the other nouns in phrases, indicate
'things of which one affirms.' For the same reason, 'what one affirms' should also contain the
subject. As a thing is recognized in a relative totality, there seems to be no reason to exclude
some part from cognition.
Otto Jespersen (1924, XI) supplies some semantic definitions for subject and predicate, but
none of these is convincing enough to allow him to arrive at any definite conclusions. Also,
Chomsky divides a sentence into a noun phrase and a verb phrase, which seems to correspond
to the subject and the predicate, but he does not give any reason for that. Marked in the
conjugation of verbs, the subject is grammatically or formally special in European languages.
However, it is never special in the four-dimensional structure.
10
Logical grammar defines the verb as 'a word whose principle function is to signify the
affirmation' (op. cit. II.). However, when a sentence expresses cognition or a thought, what
signifies the affirmation is not only a verb but a whole sentence. Manuel Seco (1977, §12.1.)
characterizes the verb as the nucleus of the predicate, but the reason for doing this is not
explained. Following Rodolfo Lenz (1920, §209), Seco says that a verb simply expresses the
pure 'phenomenon' or what happens. But this definition does not distinguish, for instance, the
verb 'construct' from the noun 'construction.' If 'phenomenon' were 'movement' or 'action,' such
a semantic definition would not distinguish verbs from nouns because verbs may derive
abstract nouns. On the other hand, Andrés Bello (1847, §40) defines a verb as 'a word that
124
denotes the attribute of the proposition, indicating precisely the number and person of the
subject and the time of the same attribute.' Yet attributes are expressed by adjectives rather
than verbs, so this definition does not distinguish verbs form adjectives. Concerning this
problem, Yamada (op. cit.: 225-26) states as follows:
Verbs express not only movements or actions but also conditions or states. However,
provided that verbs express conditions or states, adjectives are to be included in verbs.
Therefore, it is impossible to give a full account of verbs in brief.
Nevertheless, when we recognize a verb as a category which fulfills certain conditions, it will
never be impossible to make explicit the conditions.
11 Edward A. Sonnenschein (1916, §484) says about the direct object:
A direct object generally denotes the person or thing on which the action of the verb is
performed, as in 'Pole out the nest, block up the holes.' But some objects stand in a different
relation to the verb; they denote the result of the action, as in 'Birds build nests', 'Rats make
holes'. For the nests do not exist until the birds build them, or the holes until the rats make
them.
Sonnenshchein recognizes that his definition based on concrete actions excludes direct
objects of total change. However, a definition based on the concept of time explains these
direct objects by ascribing the difference as to whether the change is partial or total.
12
Alcina and Blecua (op. cit., §7.2.1.3.) distinguish five types of indirect objects:
(a) of interest; Entregaron un obequio a Mercedes. 'They gave a gift to Mercedes.'
(b) sympathetic; Le rompió el (/su) vestido. 'He tore the (/his) clothes to him.'
(c) ethic; (Me) lo bebí de un trago. 'I drank it in one gulp (to me).'
(d) of direction; Le alejé la bicicleta. 'I moved away the bicycle from him.'
(e) of relation; No le pareció bueno. 'It didn't seem good to him.'
According to this account, 'datives of interest' are the most representative datives. Meanwhile,
Samuel Gili Gaya (1961, §58) calls the above 'ethic datives' (also, and synonymously, 'datives
of interest').
On the other hand, Bello (op. cit., §955) regards le in the following sentence as a 'dative of
possession', because 'he' possesses 'the eyes'.
Se le llenaron los ojos de lágrimas.
themselves-ACC to-him-DAT filled the eyes with tears
'Their eyes are filled with tears.'
The possessive relation can also be found in, for example, Me lavo la cara. (me-DAT I-wash
125
the face) 'I wash my face.' me is also the owner of the direct object 'face.' Nevertheless, Bello
does not regard such direct objects as 'possessive.'
All these ad hoc and concrete enumerations are to be attributed to the abstract 'interest' of the
third party in the four-dimensional structure.
13 Jespersen (op. cit: 307) defines a sentence as follows:
A sentence is a (relatively) complete and independent human utterance - the completeness
and independence being shown by its standing alone or its capability of standing alone, i. e.
of being uttered by itself.
In a similar vein, Bello (op. cit., §308) defines sentences as all propositions or a whole of
propositions which form complete meanings. Neither of them explains the meaning of
complete and independent or complete meaning, but we assume that it can be explained with
a correlative four-dimensional structure.
14 The so-called conjunction que 'that' is not appropriate before an infinitive, but in Spanish it
always appears by analogy with a clause.
15 Emilio Alarcos Llorach affirms, without explanation, that only the verb is indispensable in a
sentence (1994, §311). On the other hand, Lenz shows a verb is almost always tacit in
colloquial speech despite its uniqueness as an expression of time (op. cit., §15). Both of them
point out the greatest weight of the verject, which relates all the other components of the
sentence to the string of time.
16 Henry Sweet (1891, §49) did not allow for the possibility of one word sentences due to his
formal condition that a sentence should have a subject noun and a verb; he placed them as
intermediate between words and sentences. Against this, Jespersen (op. cit.: 306-07) regarded
them as sentences because a word is expressed even in a single word.
17 Concerning nouns Aristotle (On Interpretation, 16a) states:
A noun is a sound having meaning established by convention alone but no reference
whatever to time, while no part of it has any meaning, considered apart from the whole.
This definition does not answer the question as to what nouns are, but compares them with
verbs while mentioning their morphology. Meanwhile, Alarcos (1994, §67) defines nouns as
follows:
A substance is any word capable of performing in the statements called sentences the
function of explicit subject (for example, Sale humo, 'Smoke goes out', Pasan coches, 'Cars
pass') or that of the direct object (for example, Hay humo, 'One has smoke=There is smoke,'
Había coches, 'One has cars=There are cars') without necessity of any other element.
He refers to part of the function of nouns, namely as subjects and direct objects, but not to
126
indirect objects, adjectives or adverb phrases with preposition. Even if he did refer to all of
these functions, a functional description would tell us only how we use nouns, not what nouns
are.
On the other hand, Gili Gaya (op. cit., § 81) defines substantives as independent
representations or concepts, without explaining the meaning of independent. If a thing
expressed by a noun fulfills the three dimensions of a four-dimensional space-time,
independent may be explained as 'fulfilling the three dimensions.'
18 Traditionally proper nouns are opposed to common nouns. However, and for instance, the
noun
mountain means the general and abstract essence of what Himalaya, Aconcagua, Eiger are,
rather than something common among them. While something common is simply at a concrete
level, something general penetrates all of them at an abstract level. With that, generality
distinguishes language from particular and accidental names. On that score, we prefer
GENERAL to COMMON
as opposed to PROPER.
19 To make explicit the apposition Spanish proper nouns may have articles according to the
gender
and number of the general noun, about which we see further in 6.1.2.
20 When we divide things into two classes, we pick out only the characteristic or marked things,
which are female in Spanish. Accordingly, female nouns have characteristic endings such as
-a,
-ad, -ción etc. On the other hand, male nouns end in various forms including many words of
foreign origin with various endings.
21 The sex of the most representative pair are not expressed by a morpheme, hombre/mujer
'man/woman' padre/madre 'father/mother,' because in these words the sex is not expressed
by a part but by the whole word. Having the typical gender morphemes the stems of domestic
animals' names differ depending on their sex, carnero/obeja 'ram/sheep,' toro/vaca
'bull/cow,' caballo/yegua 'horse/mare,' because the use is quite different between males and
females.
22
In bomba 'pump or bomb' and bombilla 'light bulb,' we can hardly find any similarity. In such
cases the qualifier morphemes of diminutives and augmentatives come to halve the vocabulary
even without any qualificatory motivation.
23
The relations between proper and common, concrete and abstract, divided and undivided (or
countable and uncountable) have been described variously:
Sweet (op. cit., §150ff)
nouns
concrete common class-nouns individual (man)
nouns
nouns
collective (crowd)
material nouns (iron)
proper names (Plato)
abstract nouns
127
According to Sweet abstract nouns are not common nouns. But, as abstract nouns indicate a
set of things on certain conditions, they should not be proper but common nouns. Moreover,
if the distinction between countable and uncountable concerns only to common nouns,
countable proper nouns such as las (islas) Filipinas 'the Philippine (islands),' or countable
abstract nouns such as dos problemas 'two problems,' cannot be taken into account.
Bello (op. cit., §§99-106)
nouns
common
concrete
nouns
nouns
abstract
nouns
proper nouns
In this classification proper nouns are neither concrete nor abstract.
Jespersen (op. cit., XIV, XV)
nouns
countable nouns
uncountable nouns
Citing examples such as 'Central Park,' Jespersen thinks 'no sharp line can be drawn between
proper and common names' (op. cit.: 70). And he makes no distinction other than between
countable and uncountable, which is the only explicit formal distinction for nouns in English
grammar.
Following Jespersen's classification, Alarcos distinguishes the gender in Spanish nouns.
Alarcos (1994, §78)
nouns
male
countable nouns
nouns
uncountable nouns
female
countable nouns
nouns
uncountable nouns
The criteria and priority are not clear in such a classification without regard to the four
dimensions of cognition.
24 Gili Gaya (op. cit., §163) says that the peculiar function of adjectives consists in determining
or qualifying the substantive, whatever may be the function which this fulfills in the sentence.
However, the meaning of determining and qualifying are not explained and quantifying, which
is correlative with qualifying, is not found.
On the other hand, Alarcos (1994, §97) defines adjectives as follows:
The substantive sometimes goes with another word and both form a united group which
fulfills the same function as the substantive accomplishes isolated in the utterance: These
words which functions as adjacent to the substantive are called adjectives.
But what forms a united group with the substantive as adjacent to the substantive is not only
128
an adjective but also an article and a preposition.
25 Stephen Ullmann (1957: 266-89) finds such a tendency in synaesthesia, an explanation of
which should be based on what cognition is.
26 The cardinal numeral adjectives do not always agree with nouns. The reason seems to be that
the cardinal adjectives themselves express the number; they do not need to express the
number by a suffix. Number agreement is not expressed by a morpheme but by the whole
word.
27
Locator adjectives may have the absolute comparative, in which the location is measured not
by number but by quantity: primerísimo término (=muy en primer término) 'just in the
foreground.'
28 Aristotle (op. cit., 16b) indicates that a verb has a time-reference. And he says: Now, 'health' is
a noun, for example, 'is healthy' is a verb, not a noun. That is, he makes explicit that
time-reference essentially distinguishes a verb from other parts of speech.
Meanwhile, Alarcos (1994, §191) defines a verb as follows:
It is called a verb, a kind of word which functions as nucleus of the sentence, and which,
consequently, is susceptible to appearing by itself without the necessity of any other units.
However, as not all the one word sentences consist of a verb, we cannot say that only a verb
makes a sentence without the necessity of any other units. Moreover, the meaning of nucleus
of the sentence is not explained.
29
Lenz (op. cit., §209) defines a verb as the logical category of the phenomenon, which can be
seen only in the movement of substances or in the successive alteration of their qualities.
However, he refers only to change of spatial location and of quality, but not of temporal
location and of quantity.
Regarding the semantic nuclei of verbs as MOVEMENTS in the broad sense, Hara Makoto (1978)
abstracts the meaning of each verb. Among the meanings of verbs we can recognize the
change of quality in 'softening' and 'clarification', the change of quantity in 'abridgement',
'abundance', 'increase' etc. and the change of spatial location in 'descent', 'transport', 'approach'
etc. Though it is not easy to analyze such complicated qualities, we are constrained to think
that all change should be attributed to that of quality, quantity and space-time location.
30
In Japanese grammar Otsuki Fumihiko (1898) called the transitive verb
and the intransitive,
JIDOUSHI
TADOUSHI
'other verb'
'self-verb,' which shows the distinction of identity between the
subject and direct object.
31 We can find an intrransitive example as follows: Esto sabe a miel. 'This tastes of honey'.
However, for example, we do not say *Se sabe a sí mismo 'himself he knows himself'
(pleonastic), because the direct object of the verb saber 'to know' cannot be a person but must
be a thing.
32
In general, Spanish verbs have been classified as transitive, intransitive or reflexive. The
so-called reflexive verbs imply that both the direct and indirect objects are identical with the
129
subject. Therefore, direct reflexives are intransitive and indirect reflexives are transitive,
because the clitic pronouns of the direct and indirect objects cannot be identical in Spanish. All
verbs are either transitive or intransitive, and the transitive verbs with the indirect reflexive
pronouns and the intransitive verbs with the direct reflexive pronouns are called reflexive
verbs merely because of their formal coincidence.
33 With all their productivity and variety, the derivational adverbs with –mente are not frequent
in spoken Spanish. Ueda Hiroto (1987) notes the functional distinction between the
derivational adverb and the adverb phrase con 'with'+ abstract.
34 Alarcos (op. cit. , §184) recognizes that both no and sí may function as a complete statement in
answers, though this appears evident only in isolated sentences signaled by pauses or separated
from the sentence by other means.
35
In Gili Gaya (op. cit., §§50-53, 63-65) COMPLEMENT is a synonym for modifier, and a modifier
of the subject is also a
COMPLEMENT.
The
VERBAL COMPLEMENTS,
the predicate except the verb, are classified as
COMPLEMENT (indirect
objects), and
which mean all the words in
DIRECT COMPLEMENTS
(direct objects),
CIRCUMSTANTIAL COMPLEMENTS.
INDIRECT
According to him (op.
cit., §53) this distinction is based on the three Latin cases; accusative, dative and ablative. He
thinks that all the components except the subject and the verb are complements of either of the
other two. However, when the four-dimensional structure is correlative, there seems to be no
reason to give priority only to the subject over and above the direct and indirect objects.
Accordingly, we do not call the direct and indirect objects COMPLEMENTS but only modifiers of
the verb.
36 Alarcos (op. cit., §175) defines an adverb as follows.
In its written meaning, an adverb designates a kind of word invariable in its meaning and
often non-decomposable into minor signs, destined in principle by them to play the part of a
circumstantial adjunct of the verb.
However, a word invariable in its meaning and often non-decomposable into minor signs can
be not only an adverb but also a preposition or a conjunction. And we can also count
adjectives as words destined in principle by them to play the part of a circumstantial adjunct
of the verb. Therefore, these conditions do not define adverbs.
On the other hand, Gili Gaya (op. cit., §87) says that with adverbs we express the qualifier and
quantifier modifications of the action of the verb. And he excludes from the class of adverbs
circumstantial complements which indicate place, manner, time, means, cause or instrument of
the verbal action (op. cit., §53). Among them, manner, means, cause and instrument are
attributed to the quality of change and the place and time, and to space-time location, and he
does not include the quantity of change. Criteria for these ad hoc classifications are unclear.
Moreover, Alarcos (1994, §424) calls the adverb phrases of time, place and manner, which
can be substituted by an adverb,
PROPER ADVERBIALS.
On the other hand, he calls the adverb
phrases of reason, object, concession and condition, which cannot be substituted by an adverb,
130
IMPROPER ADVERBIALS.
Notwithstanding, when both can be expressed as an adverb phrase, the
formal distinction does not coincide with the semantic distinction. There appears to be no
reason to say that only the space-time locator and qualifier adverbs are proper but the others
are not. Furthermore, it is not clear why quantifier adverb clauses should be excluded.
37 The table below shows the classification of the parts following the traditional formalism in
grammar.
1. nouns
parts which have gender and number
2. adjectives
parts which agree with nouns in gender and number
3. articles
parts which agree with nouns in gender and number
before nouns and not able to be complements of verbs
4. verbs
parts which conjugate according to subject, mood and tense
5. adverbs
invariable parts (which modify verbs)
6. prepositions
invariable parts before nouns
7. conjunctions
invariable parts between word or words
8. interjections
invariable parts (which do not modify verbs)
For all that the formal classification enumerates how the parts are it does not explain why and
how the parts are related. As form varies from language to language, formal criteria cannot
have generality. So the classification above is only available to Spanish and other languages
similar to it. Due to the absence of essential definitions superficial descriptions allow
discrepancies to follow. This classification does not distinguish adverbs from interjections
even with the undefined semantic relation of
COMPLEMENTING.
MODIFYING,
which is not distinguished from
Because of this not only the ancient Greek grammarians (see Lázaro (op. cit.:
234)) but Yamada (op. cit.: 69) identify the two parts. Also formal criteria do not distinguish
prepositions from conjunctions. For example, they do not distinguish con 'with' in café con
leche 'coffee with milk' from y 'and' in café y leche 'coffee and milk'. And the most arguable
part is the article, about which we see in the next chapter.
Understanding the discrepancies of the formal classification, some grammarians define the
parts based on meaning. Gili Gaya (op. cit., §81) defines nouns as follows.
The substantives are regarded as independent representations or concepts. They can
indicate persons, things, physical or moral qualities, actions, states, that is to say, any
fragment or aspect of reality considered as an independent object of our thought.
Nevertheless, as the meaning of independent is not explained, his classification is constrained
to be an endless enumeration of the lexical meaning of nouns.
Another classification is based on the function of each part. For instance, Alarcos (op. cit., §
67) defines substantives as all the words able to fulfill in the utterances called sentences the
function of explicit subject or that of direct object without the necessity of any other element.
Notwithstanding, a noun is not only used as the subject and direct object but as the indirect
131
object, as the complement and in the adjective and adverb phrases, too. Moreover, the subject
and direct object may be not only a noun but also an infinitive or clause. No matter what the
details, ad hoc description of function does not define the parts essentially.
38
For this reason Alarcos (op. cit., §86) does not regard the stressed personal pronouns as
substitutes of nouns but he thinks that they form a subclass of nouns calling them
SUBSTANTIVES.
PERSONAL
However, the personal nouns are referential and do not indicate a set of things
which satisfy some common requirements. Thus, yo 'I' may indicate various kinds of persons,
which have nothing in common, just as other referential substitutes such as éste 'this', aquí
'here', ahora 'now' etc. Accordingly, it seems proper to regard them as referential pronouns.
We should explain why they always appear as pronouns rather than exclude them from the
substitutes.
39 Regardless of the distinction between direct and indirect objects, Gili Gaya (op. cit., §58)
comments that redundant reflexives are neither direct nor indirect objects because of their
common reflexivity. But based on the four-dimensional structure a sentence may have no
component expressed by nouns except the direct and indirect objects and the subject.
40 Bello (op. cit., §266) and Gili Gaya (op. cit., §182) regard the article as a demonstrative
adjective, which is proper form the historical point of view but is otherwise claimed without
explanation. In the meantime, Lenz (op. cit., §172) and Alarcos (op. cit., §79) think that the
article is an attribute of a noun like gender and number. But as the definiteness of the same
noun varies with context, it may not be attributed to the noun.
132
Abbreviations
Grammatical Terms:
ACC: accusative
AUG: augmentative
DAT: dative
DIM: diminutive
F: female
FUT: future
IMPER: imperative
INDIC: indicative
INF: infinitive
L. PAST: line past
M: masculine
MV: main verb
N: neuter
PERS: person
PL: plural
PLEO: pleonastic
P. P: past participle
P. PAST: point past
SING: singular
SUB: subject
SUBJ: subjunctive
SUF: suffix
VI: intransitive verb
VT: transitive verb
Corpus:
AC: Vázquez Montalbán, Manuel.1981. Asesinato en el Comité Central. Barcelona: Planeta.
AF: Sánchez Ferlosio, Rafael.1961 Alfanhuí. Barcelona: Destino.
AL: Aldecoa, Ingacio. 1995. Cuentos completos. Madrid: Alfaguara.
AM: Casona, Alejandro. 1949. Los árboles mueren de pie. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, 1977.
BM: Puig, Manuel. 1967. El beso de la mujer araña. Barcelona: Seix Barral, 1986.
CN: Goytisolo, Juan. 1983. Campos de Níjar. Barcelona: Seix Barral.
DC: Delibes, Miguel. 1980. Dos días de caza. Barcelona: Destino.
DM: García-Pelayo y Gross, Ramón. 1976. Diccionario moderno español-inglés, inglés-español.
Paris: Larousse
EP: El País digital.
EV: Martín Gaite, Carmen. 1958. Entre visillos. Barcelona: Destino.
EX: Excelsior digital. 1998. 22. Junio, México.
133
FI: Martín Gaite, Carmen. 1976. Fragmentos de interior. Barcelona: Destino.
FV: Baroja, Pío. 1941. Fantasías vascas. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, 1979.
GG: Gili Gaya, Samuel, 1961. Curso superior de sintaxis española. Barcelona: Biblograf.
LR: Domingo, Ricard et. al. 1996. Gran Diccionario de la Lengua Española. Barcelona: Larousse.
HE: Buero Vallejo, Antonio.1949. Historia de una escalera. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, 1975.
HF: Buero Vallejo, Antonio. 1978. Hoy es fiesta. Salamanca: Almar.
ME: Puig, Manuel. 1980. Maldición eterna a quien lea estas páginas. Barcelona: Seix Barral.
MH: García Márquez, Gabriel. 1962. La mala hora. Barcelona: Bruguera, 1983.
MM: Moliner, María. 1998. Diccionario de uso del español. Madrid: Gredos.
ND: Laforet, Carmen. 1945. Nada. Barcelona: Destino.
NR: Cela, Camilo José. 1957. Nuevo retablo de Don Cristobita. Barcelona: Destino, 1980.
RC: Sender, Ramón J. 1950. Réquiem por un campesino español. Barcelona: Destino, 1984.
SG: Sánchez Pérez, Aquilino et. al. 1985. Gran Diccionario de la Lengua Española. Madid: SGEL.
SM: Gutiérrez Cuadrado, Juan et al.ed., 1996. Diccionario Salamanca de la lengua española.
Madrid: Santillana.
SV: Casona, Alejandro.1934. La sirena varada. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, 1977.
UH: Ueda, Hiroto. 1984-1997. Análisis lingüístico de obras teatrales españolas. Tokyo: Facultad
de Artes y Ciencias. Universidad de Tokio.
YY: Yamada, Yoshiro et al., 1995. Chuukyuu Supeingo Bunpou (Gramática de la Lengua
española). Tokyo: Hakusuisha.
ZA: Baroja, Pío. 1943. Zalacaín el aventurero. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, 1976.
134
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