Revista Española de Lingüística

States of the Art. An Introduction

2025-06-03T16:28:09+00:00

Introducción al monográfico Los predicados estativos

On an Asymmetry in Temporal Interpretation Constraints of Events and States

2025-06-03T16:34:47+00:00

In Spanish, states exhibit an episodic reading in present simple, while the unmarked reading received by event predicates is ‘temporally shifted’, be that prospective, habitual, or generic. A similar pattern is shown by epistemic modal constructions, as future simple or the periphrasis deber ‘must’ + infinitive. The main aim of this work is to address an asymmetry (in general scarcely attended previously) in the aspectual restrictions displayed by both contexts: while events with an episodic reading can be ‘rescued’ in different ways, epistemic modality imposes a ‘strong’ or non-discursively negotiable restriction. We propose to derive this asymmetry from the different conditions of temporal anchoring for the present simple and epistemic modality. Although both anchorings take place in the C layer, we advance the hypothesis that only epistemic modality constructions have a C layer occupied by a (non veridical) epistemic state (Giannakidou y Mari, 2017), which works as a punctual temporal reference. In contrast, present simple leave unoccupied the C layer, which can therefore be filled by either a (veridical) epistemic state or an event, typically a perception one, which allows temporal coincidence with events. Independent evidence for this analysis comes from the temporal relationship between, on the one hand, verbs expressing epistemic states and perception events and, on the other, the non-finite verbal forms they combine with.

Motion Verbs with a Change of Property Reading

2025-06-03T16:40:57+00:00

In this paper we study the meaning of some motion verbs that, when combined with certain nouns that refer to places or institutions associated with prototypical activities, can give rise to readings in which there is either a change of location or an acquirement/loss of a quality or condition. In order to account for these readings, we posit that the meaning of words is structured into different components that interact by means of lexical operations and propose an analysis based on the agreement of the sub-lexical features that are encoded by the verb and its selected noun. Furthermore, we show that the readings in which there is a change of property are not unconstrained, but rather they are regulated by the type of the noun that is selected, its number (singular or plural) and the occurrence of certain adjuncts.

Rethinking Stativity in Catalan: On Perfective Adjectives

2025-06-03T16:52:30+00:00

This paper describes and analyses perfective adjectives in Catalan. These adjectives coexist with a participle derived from the same root: buit – buidat, madur – madurat. Several diagnostics demonstrate that perfective adjectives can be divided into two groups: resultative adjectives, which always express a result, and attributive adjectives, which may or may not express a result. The detailed description of these two types of adjectives shows that both resultative adjectives and attributive adjectives used with a resultative interpretation constitute stage-level predicates; in contrast, attributive adjectives used with a non-resultative interpretation are individual-level predicates. Additionally, the type of result expressed by the adjective is compared to the one expressed by the participle, as these elements exhibit different syntactic behaviours. It is shown that the participle expresses an irreversible result, whereas the adjective expresses a reversible result. The analysis of perfective adjectives leads to a re-examination of the description of individual-level predicates and stage-level predicates in Catalan. It reveals that, regarding non-verbal predication in Catalan, stage-level predicates are always resultative.

Negation, Nominalizations and States

2025-06-03T16:57:35+00:00

The main goal pursued in this article consists in analysing the interaction of the negative particle no with those Spanish nouns that denote a state. Firstly, those nominals which possess a nominalizer are addressed. We show that they accept being preceded by no and we describe the interpretation that arises with them in this case. Then, whether negation modifies the aspectual properties of this class of nominals is studied. Next, we provide an explanation for the behaviour of these nominalizations which is based on the interaction of negation with their structural configuration. Secondly, those nouns that lack a nominalizer are scrutinised. It is concluded that they reject co-occurring with no, and that, depending on their syntactic structure, this incompatibility can arise from the interruption of the constituent by negation or from their non-possession of verbal nodes.

Book Review

2025-07-09T08:57:26+00:00

Book Review

The Expression of Explicitness in Sexist Messages in Social Networks: A Quantitative Analysis of X Practices

2025-04-09T13:16:53+00:00

This paper explores the expression of explicitness in sexist messages disseminated through social networks, focusing on X. Based on the EXIST 2021 corpus (Rodríguez-Sánchez et al., 2021), a representative sample is reanalyzed and the hypothesis that explicitness constitutes a distinctive feature of sexist messages in social networks is proposed. To address this question, 634 messages are analyzed in three different phases of work: verification, in which it is identified whether or not the message is sexist; classification of the type of sexism contained in the text; and evaluation of its explicitness degree. The outcome obtained in the present research indicates that sexist messages tend to be more explicit than those messages that denounce sexism. This finding is supported by analytical tests, revealing a statistically significant difference between messages labelled as sexist and those categorised as denouncing sexism, which show a lower degree of explicitness. In conclusion, the present work provides empirical evidence that reinforces the relationship between sexist content and the expression of explicitness in digital discourse.

Insubordinated Final Clauses in Ancient Greek?

2025-02-12T08:54:16+00:00

This paper aims to investigate whether, as in post-classical Greek, insubordinate purpose clauses can be found in archaic and classical Greek. To this end, purpose clauses introduced by ἵνα, ὡς, ὅπως, and ὄφρα have been analyzed in the works of Homer, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, and Menander. Although no unequivocal examples of insubordinate purpose clauses were found, instances have been identified that seem to represent the source of the insubordinate construction. These examples fall into two categories. The first consists of purpose clauses without a main clause, forming the second part of a command/rejection adjacency pair, where the main clause can only be partially reconstructed. The second category includes purpose clauses that could be interpreted either as insubordinate or as subordinate clauses expressing contrast, that is, as purpose clauses conveying the rupture of an expectation. The inability to ascertain the intonation with which these purpose clauses were uttered prevents disambiguation.

Onomatopoeia: Between Noise and Language. An Interdisciplinary and Exploratory Discussion of its Musicality in Text and Practical Cases

2025-05-17T09:56:12+00:00

Onomatopoeia is a linguistic unit that occupies a unique position in linguistics due to its intrinsic characteristics of relative contiguity or semi-motivation with the referential reality it represents. Its mimesis brings with it an inherent musicality in these signs, which at times borders on certain semantic elements and allow interdisciplinary approaches to these units. In this study, we provide an exploratory and practical commentary on examples drawn from the CoPO corpus, highlighting the musicality of onomatopoeia and its connection to extralinguistic noises. This musicality enriches the intrinsic expressiveness of onomatopoeias, adding layers of meaning that are generally overlooked from strictly linguistic perspectives. As a result, it generates epistemological connections that enhance further analyses and open new ways of discussions on these units.