Light verb constructions in Spanish and in Italian: lexical and morphosyntactic asymmetries Cover Image

Las construcciones con verbo soporte en español y en italiano : asimetrías léxicas y morfosintácticas
Light verb constructions in Spanish and in Italian: lexical and morphosyntactic asymmetries

Author(s): Letizia D’Andrea
Subject(s): Foreign languages learning, Theoretical Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Historical Linguistics, Comparative Linguistics
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Keywords: light verbs; multi-word units; Spanish; Italian; Contrastive Analysis

Summary/Abstract: Light verb constructions (LVCs) permeate the oral and written productions of native (and nonnative) speakers of typologically different languages (e.g., Indo-European, Afro-Asiatic, and Sino-Tibetan languages, among others). From a cross-linguistic perspective, LVCs share basic combinatory and predicative features. However, semantic and morphosyntactic contrasts are visible even in closely related languages such as Spanish and Italian. Therefore, this paper aims to show some of the most significant asymmetries existing between Peninsular Spanish light verb constructions and their equivalent forms in Italian. The ultimate goal of this research is to highlight some of the systematic contrasts that affect specific semantic classes.

  • Issue Year: 2022
  • Issue No: 34
  • Page Range: 1-24
  • Page Count: 24
  • Language: Spanish