Emphatic Reciprocal Expressions and Symmetric Verbs in Spanish: An Empirical Analysis

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20420/PhilCan.2016.106

Keywords:

lexical reciprocal verbs, symmetric verbs, emphatic reciprocal expressions, reciprocity, corpus

Abstract

In this paper we present a descriptive study on the compatibility of emphatic reciprocal expressions with Spanish lexical reciprocal (or symmetric) verbs. Since lexical reciprocal verbs express reciprocity intrinsically, they should not require the use of an emphatic reciprocal expression to denote reciprocal meaning. Some scholars even claim that some emphatic reciprocal expressions, such as mutuamente, are incompatible. The aim of this paper is to describe to what extent symmetric verbs can be used with four of these expressions using an empirical approach. The results obtained shed light to the questions raised: we have been able to verify that these expressions are more frequent with non-reciprocal verbs and we have proved that the combination of symmetric verbs with all these expressions is possible, even in the case of mutuamente.

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Author Biographies

Glòria Vázquez, Universitat de Lleida

Glòria Vázquez is Associate Professor at the Universitat de Lleida (Spain).

Ana Fernández-Montraveta, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Ana Fernández-Montraveta is Associate Professor at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Spain). Both researchers share a common interest centered around the description of the verbs as the nuclear elements of sentences. More precisely, they are interested in the description of the syntactico- semantic interface. Among their more than fifty publications in common, their book Clasificación verbal. Alternancias de diátesis (2000) stands out together with several articles published in high-impact international journals. Shortly, the book Construcciones pronominales con se will be published as a volume in the collection "Cuadernos de Lengua Española" by Arco Libros.

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Published

2016-10-25

How to Cite

Vázquez, G., & Fernández-Montraveta, A. (2016). Emphatic Reciprocal Expressions and Symmetric Verbs in Spanish: An Empirical Analysis. Philologica Canariensia, 22, 117–136. https://doi.org/10.20420/PhilCan.2016.106

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