Interpretations of redundancy in the grammar and the lexicon Cover Image

Interpretaciones de la redundancia en la gramática y en el léxico
Interpretations of redundancy in the grammar and the lexicon

Author(s): Ignacio Bosque
Subject(s): Language studies, Morphology, Lexis, Semantics, Comparative Linguistics, Philology
Published by: KSIĘGARNIA AKADEMICKA Sp. z o.o.
Keywords: redundancy; pleonasm; agreement; concord; reduplication;

Summary/Abstract: Language redundancy has been analyzed for years in information theory without the use of grammatical resources. It has also been censored in common language, while being traditionally admitted as a privilege of writers. This article shows that redundancy is embedded in the grammatical system of Spanish, in which it acquires various interpretations. The relationship between redundancy and information structure is addressed in detail, as well as the various ways in which redundancy can be reinterpreted as a form of lexical agreement. Special attention is paid to the redundancy observed in the processes of incorporating prepositions as prefixes, as well as the one existing in a number of syntactic structures conveying reference to the past. The numerous epithets that non-literary language admits in adjectival and adverbial structures are interpreted as structures in which the syntax is able make visible certain semantic components of lexical items that speakers wish to highlight.

  • Issue Year: 2020
  • Issue No: 19
  • Page Range: 27-60
  • Page Count: 34
  • Language: Spanish