Verbal periphrases and predication: llegar a ser + NP> vs. llegar a + NP

doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.31810/RSEL.49.5

Abstract

There are constructions with the verb arrive «llegar» that can be unified under a single analysis. The pair <llegar a ser + SN> (lit. arrive to be + NP, «become + NP») and <llegar a + SN> (arrive to + NP «become + NP») is considered a verbal periphrasis; but also the pair composed of the verb of displacement llegar «arrive» and <llegar a + SN> can be analyzed as a lexical verb. In this paper, however, we describe cases with the verb llegar «arrive/get to» as Luis llegó a ser médico (Luis got to be a doctor «Luis became a doctor»), Luis llegó a médico (Luis got to doctor «Luis became a doctor»), or Luis llegó a Madrid «Luis arrived to Madrid», semantically distinguishing three types of constructions: a verbal periphrasis with llegar as an auxiliary verb (functional category), a predicative form also with the verb llegar (a category between lexical and functional) and the same word as an explicit locative displacement verb (lexical category).

Keywords: verbal periphrasis; predication; displacement verb; semi-lexical category; Semantics.