Full Description
This is the first book entirely and exclusively devoted to the grammar of the two copular verbs ser and estar, certainly one of the most intriguing features of Spanish grammar. Although the topic has long attracted the interest of scholars, it had never given rise to a collection of papers that covers both theoretical issues in syntax and semantics and topics in the acquisition domain. This volume provides a comprehensive overview of the central research questions concerning the ser / estar alternation: the syntactic or semantic nature of the distinction, its link with aspect and with the Individual-Level / Stage-Level distinction, and its connection with interface phenomena. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in Hispanic linguistics, but can be equally attractive for researchers working on Romance linguistics, theoretical linguistics (syntax, semantics, pragmatics), acquisition theory, and historical linguistics.
Contents
1. Ser and estar: Outstanding questions (by Leonetti, Manuel); 2. Ser and estar and aspect; 3. More than a copula: complex predicates with estar and the clitic se (by Garcia Fernandez, Luis); 4. Ser, estar and two different modifiers (by Romeu, Juan); 5. Sentences as predicates: the Spanish construction ser (by Fernandez Leborans, Maria Jesus); 6. Ser and estar beyond aspect; 7. The inference of temporal persistence and the individual/stage level distinction: the case of ser vs. estar in Spanish (by Gumiel-Molina, Silvia); 8. Location and the estar/ser alternation (by Zagona, Karen); 9. What do Spanish copulas have in common with Tibetan evidentials? (by Camacho, Jose); 10. On word order in Spanish copular sentences (by Leonetti, Manuel); 11. The extension and loss of copulas; 12. Origins and development of adjectival passives in Spanish: a corpus study (by Marco, Cristina); 13. Eventive and stative passives and copula selection in Canadian and American Heritage Speaker Spanish (by Valenzuela, Elena); 14. The development and use of the Spanish copula with adjectives by Korean-speaking learners (by Geeslin, Kimberly L.); 15. Index
