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TRANSCRIPT
Dialectologia.Specialissue,V(2015),191-217.ISSN:2013-2247
191
Received6September2015.
Accepted9October2015.
THEACCUSATIVECLITICININTRANSITIVEVERBCONSTRUCTIONS:
AÍOVAI,AQUÍASESTÁN1
RosarioÁLVAREZ
InstitutodaLinguaGalega-UniversidadedeSantiagodeCompostela
Abstract
Followingabriefpresentationonthetreatmentreceivedinpreviousgrammaticalstudies,theAí
osveñen(eles)-typeconstructionisdescribedbyfocusingonthecharacteristicsandbehaviourofclitics,
the verb, the adverb and the subject. This study highlights current changes which explain the
discrepancies in the descriptions undertaken by different scholars who have addressed it until the
present.Subsequently,thedialectaldistributionisexamined,withacartographyofthedataofthemain
verbs(ir/virandestar),displayingasouth-westernareawithacentralaxisinthePontevedraestuary,
provided. Hypotheses presented regarding their origin, linked to the use of the accusative cliticwith
other presentative adverbs and especially the vicissitudes of ei(s), are then considered. Finally,
conclusions are presented regarding the pragmatic function of the clitic, variations observed in its
construction,diatopicdistribution,possibleoriginsandpresentusage.
Keywords
accusativeclitic,pragmaticfunction,presentativeadverb,subject
CLÍTICOACUSATIVOENCONSTRUCIÓNSCONVERBOINTRANSITIVO:AÍOVAI,AQUÍASESTÁN
Resumo
Tras unha breve presentación do tratamento recibido en estudos gramaticais anteriores,
descríbeseaconstrucióndotipoAíosveñen(eles)baseándosenascaracterísticasecomportamentodo
1ThisworkhasbeensupportedbytheXuntadeGalicia(ConselleríadeCultura,EducacióneOrdenaciónUniversitaria)andtheEuropeanUnion(undergrantcodeGRC2013/40).
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clítico,doverbo,doadverbioedosuxeito.Naexposiciónmóstranseoscambiosencurso,queexplican
as discrepancias nas descricións realizadas polos diferentes autores que se ocuparon dela ata o
presente.Aseguirexponseadistribucióndialectal,concartografíadosdatosdosverbosprincipais(ir/
vireestar),mostrandounhaáreasuroccidentalcoeixecentralnaríadePontevedra.Seguenhipóteses
argumentadassobreaorixe,vinculadaaousodoclíticoacusativoconoutrosadverbiospresentativose
especialmenteásvicisitudesdeei(s).Nocabo,as conclusións sobrea funciónpragmáticadoclítico,a
variaciónobservadanaconstrución,adistribucióndiatópica,asposiblesorixeseavixenciaactual.
Palabraschave
clíticoacusativo,funciónpragmática,adverbiopresentativo,suxeito
Introduction
Theconstructionstudiedhasthreepeculiarcharacteristicswhichdistanceitfrom
all others in Galician grammar and language: the accusative clitic accompanies an
intransitive predicative verb, and therefore cannot be analyzed as a DO or as an
attribute.Thecliticisnotcommutablewithaphrasecontaininganominalnucleus(or
tonic pronoun). The clitic shows signsof agreement in gender andnumberwith the
subjectof the sentence. To this canbeaddedother secondary characteristicswhich
arealsoimportant,andinwhichitfeatureswithotherconstructions.
1.Stateofthequestionandcurrentobjective
Galician grammars did not include these constructions until Álvarez,
Monteagudo & Regueira (1986: 173). The work of Freixeiro follows this: his
Morfosintaxe (2002: 131) andEstilística (2013: 124), andalsoÁlvarez&Xove (2002:
550),although itdoesnot feature inCostaetal. (1988)or inamorerecentworkof
synthesis, Lópezetal. (2010). InHermida itonlyappearsasacasualexampleof the
procliticposition(2004:88).
As far as can be ascertained, it does not appear in the Galician grammatical
traditionuntilmyowndoctoralthesis,inwhichIaddressedtheseconstructionsunder
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theheading“Pronomeacusativoconverbos intransitivos”(“AccusativePronounwith
IntransitiveVerbs”).This is thedescriptionthat Iprovidedat thetime(Álvarez1980:
287):
Inspecificphrasesanunstressedaccusativepronouncanappear,agreeing
in gender and numberwith the subject of the intransitive verb. This is not the
case,evidently,ofadirectobjectorofa subject,either; its function is to signal
and seeks tohighlight theagent:Ahío vén;Alí as veñen;Alí a está. Thephrase
would lose much in emphasis and in clarity when signalling if the unstressed
pronoun were omitted (Ahí está), and the presence of the subject pronoun is
eithercommonorconveysnuances,likethatofcontradistinction,fromwhichthe
unstressedwordisexempt(ahívénelcanindicatethatelaismissing);inahíovén
itisclearwhomitisdiscussing,sincethisisclarifiedbeforehandinthediscourse,
and we wish to make our interlocutor see that we are seeing him as he
approaches, drawing his attention towards this point. It is possible that in this
piece of information, that of seeing the subject, lies the explanation of the
accusative,byconsideringittheobjectofourexperience.Idonotruleout,onthe
otherhand, the similaritywithother constructions inwhich it is adirectobject:
ahíastes(‘miraasben,aquíasestán’).For¿ulo?,seeIII-2.8.
Cidrás (1992) examined this construction when attempting to establish a
common framework able to provide theoretical coverage to all agreement
constructions, including those that are related “anomalies” and “discordances”, like
those of the cliticswhich are the focus of this study.On the premise that the basic
originalfunctionofconcordanceisnotthemarkingofthesyntacticfunctionbutthatof
“recognizing referencespresentedas fully specifiedelsewhere in thediscourseor in
thecommunicativesituation”2—a“procedurethatisreferential incharacter,deictic
innature;aresourceofcohesion,inshort”3(Cidrás1992:45),hedoesnotattemptto
consider the possible syntactic function of these clitics which copy the traces of
person, gender and number from their reference. Cases such as that of aí o vén 2 “Reidentificar referentes presentados plenamente especificados noutro lugar do discurso ou nasituacióncomunicativa.”3“Procedementodecarácterreferencial,deíndoledeíctica,unrecursodecohesión,endefinitiva”.
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constitute“stillworthwhileevidenceofhowtheprimitivepronominal functionofre-
identifying references is superimposed upon the grammaticalized function of
identifyingsyntacticalfunctions”(Cidrás1992:51).4
Longa, Lorenzo&Rigau (1996: 68) attribute toGalician “the property of using
morphologically accusative clitics as subject clitics under certain conditions”. The
attributionof the syntactical function,which theydonot debate, is basedupon the
agreementbetween the verb, lexical subject (optional) and this clitic. Thenecessary
conditionsalluded to canbe summarizedas: (a) thepossibilityof showingadoculos
theindividualsreferredtobythesubject(whichimplies,accordingtotheauthors,the
exclusive use of the present tense); (b) an appellative function, accompanied by an
exclamatory modality; (c) the presentative character, with verbs which are stative
(estar) or related to movement (vir, ir, chegar). Furthermore, other relevant
characteristicsstandout,ingoodmeasurethroughcontrastwithsimilarconstructions
registered in dialects from the north of Italy: (a) agreementmarkers corresponding
withthesubject;(b)thecomplementarydistributionwithnegation;(c)theadverbas
an“emphasizingoperator”,notanargumentofverbalconstructionplacedinastrong
position;(d)possibleuseofotheremphaticelements,liketheadverbxaormiracomo,
intheplaceofthecustomarydeicticadverbs.Followingananalysisofthedata,they
concludethattheGalicianconstructioncanbedescribed“asacompoundofthepure
subject and the modal subject clitics of the Northern Italian dialects” (1996: 70).
However, for the same authors, this accusative clitic, which acts as a form of
expressionforacertainkindofmodality (“foremphaticspurposes”), isalways inthe
functionalsphereofthesubject.WithGalicianlackingspecificcliticsforemphasis,“[it]
‘recycles’theaccusativecliticforanemphaticnominative-likeuse”(1996:72).
Moure(1999:755-756)hasexaminedthisandother“exceptional”constructions
in Galician in order to provide an explanation from a typological perspective. In his
opinion, in Aí o vai, Aquí as veñen there are signs of an ergative structure: an
identificationisproducedbetweenthesoleparticipantoftheintransitiveconstruction
(whichisnormallyidentifiedasthe“subject”)andthetransitivepatient(towhichthe
4 “Testemuños aínda rendiblesde comoaprimitiva funciónpronominal de reidentificar referentes sesobrepónágramaticalizadadeidentificarfunciónssintácticas.”
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accusative cliticization corresponds), and as a result it is an S + acus. She does not
commentuponthepossiblecompatibilitywithanom.S(Aíosvaneles),butshedoes
point out another inconsistency of this “grammatically inexplicable marginal case:
howevermuchemphasisisplaced,withtheexceptionofthiscase,Galicianclausesdo
notmarktheirsubjectsasiftheywereobjects”.5Sheassumesthatitisamatterofa
remnant from an older grammar, and that is why she proposes that this use be
considered “an effect of residual ergativity”, a “historical whim of the language”,6
whichmaintainsananomalousconstructionwithintheentiresystem.Accordingtothe
authortherefore,itbehovesthehistoricalgrammartoreconstructtheLatinusesfrom
which it has emerged and to argue the causes as to why it has endured until the
present.
I begin on this occasion from the basis of this state of the question and my
previous, uninterrupted work, regarding clitics in Galician and the constructions in
which they operate,which includes thatwhich has emerged from a broad oral and
textualcorpus,fromdialectalcollectionsintegratedintheArquivodogalegooral(Oral
Galician Archive) of the ILGa (Galician Language Institute), and also registry through
written practise, above all from the TILG (Tesouro Informatizado da Lingua Galega)
(Computerized Resource of the Galician Language). However, it is important to
underline that during recent yearsmy database has been increased with periodical
searches in texts published on the internet with a greater or lesser degree of
spontaneity (blogs, chats, articles, etc.), which bear witness to the vitality of
grammaticaluseswhicharenoteasy to recordwith traditional sources.Moreover, I
can provide data gathered through three fieldwork trips on successive occasions
(througharandomnetwork),andplannedinordertoobtain informationwithadual
perspective:grammaticaldescriptionanddialectaldistribution.Inanenquirydesigned
in 1998, three questions were included with ir, estar and quedar, and posed to
spontaneousandnaturalspeakersin32locations.In2008,10questionswereincluded
withtheverbsir/vir,estarandquedar,inanenquirycarriedoutwith115informants
5 “Caso marxinal gramaticalmente inexplicable: por moita énfase que se poña, fóra deste caso, ascláusulasdogalegononmarcanosseussuxeitoscomasefosenobxectos.”6“Unefectodeergatividaderesidual”,un“caprichohistóricodalingua”.
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ofthesametypology.Finally,in2013,Icarriedoutanenquiryof19questionswiththe
verbsir,vir,estar,quedar,andarandseguirdirectedatpeoplewithlinguistictraining
andasamajorityhailingfromareasinwhichtheexistenceoftheconstructioncanbe
demonstrated,andbyseekinggrammaticalanddiatopical information(33enquiries).
My own linguistic competence, coming frommy belonging to the communitywhich
linguistic geography reveals as the territorial heartland of this construction,may be
addedtothesefactors.
2.Advancesindescription
Withtheaforementionedbases,IbelievethatIaminapositiontoprogressin
the study of this construction, in terms of its general behaviour within the current
systemaswellastheprocessesofchangeinwhichitisimplied.Thesealsoallowmeto
definebetteritsdialectalarea,specifyingthecharactertraitof“south-western”which
Ihavebeenhighlightingformanyyears.Inanyevent,Iwillunderlinedataormarginal
informationwhichinmyopinionrequiresattentionoraspecificenquiry,inthelineof
(synchronicordiachronic)variationorofsociolinguisticassessments.7
2.1.Theclitic
Theclitic isalwaysaccusativeand in thethirdperson:o,a,os,as. Itvaries in
gender (masculine or feminine) and in number (singular or plural), in agreement
(which is established with the subject), whether or not expressly. In origin it also
agreesinperson(3P,singularandplural),althoughtodayitmaynotobservethisform
ofcohesion(see§2.4,fortheextensiontoothergrammaticalpersons):
7 The examples provided are all real. When the dialectal localization is pertinent, geographicalindications are included (the name of the district and provincial acronym). Those which come fromwritten language were almost always taken from the TILG: in order to abbreviate, only the authorreference and year are provided, with the reader being directed to the database in order to accessfurtherinformation.Thosewhichcomefromtheinternetcontainthefigureonthedocumentconsulted,wheneverthisispossible.
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(1) Aíovén.[=He,Xoán]
Aíavén.[=She,Maruxa]
Aíosveñen.[They,heandher,XoánandMaruxa]
Aíasveñen.[=They(feminine),MaruxaandCarme]
Aíosestamos.[=We,inaphoto]
Ihaveobservedinmyenquiries,however,thatsomeinformantsacceptwithout
difficulty the singular forms (aí o vai, aí a vai), but reject or display bewilderment
before those of the plural (*?aí os van, *?aí as van). A single informant, with a
backgroundinlinguistics,assertsthatthepronoundoesnotagree,sothatthesubject
ofaíovén canbemasculineor feminine,anddoesnotconsider theplural formsas
possible.All theanomalouscasesdetectedoccur inthemarginsofthedialectalarea
(see§3).
Thepresenceof theclitic isnotduetosyntacticaldemandsbuttoapragmatic
willingness.IagreewithCidrás(1992)inthatitisanidentifieroftheNP(nounphrase,
nominal or pronominal)which functions as a subject: it acts, therefore, as a kindof
redouble which emphasises the reference to an already known subject, with the
proviso that theNPdoesnotneed tobe specific. The recycling suggestedby Longa,
Lorenzo&Rigau(1996),inordertobeabletoundertakethisnewfunction,ispossible
throughthe impossibilityofattributingtoanaccusativeclitic thesyntactical function
ofdirectobjectorattributeintheconstructionsofthesepredicativeintransitiveverbs.
Inlinewiththenewfunction,aclearprosodyisadopted:thepronounalwaysoccupies
theprocliticposition,withoutanyopportunity forpauseorvoice inflectionbetween
theadverbandtheverb(see2.3).
The clitic is compatiblewith the dative of solidarity and interest. Some ofmy
informants prefer the convenience of using one of these pronouns in conjunction
because,intheiropinion,theysoftenthefrequenttoneofreproof(see§2.5).
(2) Aíchovén.
Aíchosquedan.
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2.2.Theverb
AsIhavepointedoutpreviously,thereareimportantrestrictionsinthetypeand
listofintransitiveverbswhichpermitthisconstruction.
a)Verbsofmovement:irandvir.Inprinciple,thiscanbereducedtotwoverbs:
all the speakerswho recognise the construction as part of their grammar canuse it
withthem,withoutdifferencesinfrequencyoracceptabilitybeingperceivedbetween
oneandanother.
Inthebibliography,otherverbsofmovementarementionedinpassing,without
witnesses, andwithwhich, for some speakers andnot in a generalizedmanner, the
construction also seems possible: they are verbs which express the arrival on the
scene,asaconclusionofthedirectionaldisplacementof‘vir’(aparecer,chegar,entrar,
saír).Mysearch forwitnessesproceeding fromoralorwrittentextswasnot fruitful;
therefore I cannotprovideproofof itsexistence.8However,on thebasisofmyown
linguisticcompetenceandspeakerswhousethisconstructioninanhabitualmanner,I
canaffirmtheacceptabilityofAíoscheganandsimilarexamples. I thereforebelieve
that they form part of our grammar; in the same line, it can be adduced that in
Portuguesetherewerematchingexampleswitheis(+aparecer,surdir,entrar,see§4).
b) Stative verbs: estar, andar, quedar and seguir.9Not all the informantswho
statethattheyuseoftenconstructionslikethoseof(1)recognisetheconstructionwith
stative verbs as their own; however, the opposite situation never occurs. For this
reason, Imustconclude that thespeakerswhoemploy theconstructionwith stative
verbs in their grammar form a subset that is fully integrated in the main set, and
definedbyitsusewithirandvir.Thelinguisticgeographyprovidesagoodaccountof
thisdifference,asnotonlyistheareaofmaximumdiffusionofAíoestámorereduced,
butaboveall,lesscompact(see3).
Within the territory where the construction with stative verbs is admitted, 8 IwouldliketothanktheCORGAteamfortheopportunitytoaccesstheautomatically-taggedcorpuswhilstitisstillinitstestphaseandforthisreasonnotpublic(September2015).Writtenregisterswiththese verbs were not found in this corpus either. All data with verbs of movement expunged in itcorrespondtoir(aí6,alá5)andtovir(aí8).9 Itshouldbepointedoutthat it isnotacaseofandarandseguirasverbsofmovement.Asstatives,andar and seguir form a group with estar in order to indicate action in development and the threesucceedinconstitutingaspectualperiphrases(Álvarez&Xove2002:361-363).
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gradualdifferencesof incidencearedetected. Inaccordancewiththedatacollected,
thespeakerswhouse itacceptalwaysestar; Isupposethatthisexplainstherelative
frequencyofuse in literary language. Idonotpossessmoredataproceeding froma
systematic collection regarding the use of the remaining verb, but it is sufficient to
make the following observations: it seems that the informants who use the
constructionwith estar also allow it withandar; however,more reticence is shown
withquedar,andinfactpeoplewhoacceptitwithoutreservationsinthecasescited,
state that in this it seems unusual or unacceptable to them. Finally,with seguir the
greater part of those interviewed display important objections, and in fact written
registers are hardly found.10 Therefore, the incidence of the construction within its
dialectal area can bemeasured in the followingmanner: estar > andar > quedar >
seguir.Havingseentheconstruction’sbehaviour,thisisinmyopinionthedirectionof
thediffusionwithinthesystem:itstartswithestar,andperhapswithandar, inorder
toreachtheconstructionoftheotherstativeverbs,graduallyandprogressivelywithin
thesequenceprovided.11Wecanseeonceagainsomeexamplestakenfromblogson
theInternet,aresourcewhichindicatesitscurrentstateofgrowth:
(3) Alíaestaba,acobadadanafiestra,pendurándolleatrenzacomoásprincesasdoscontos
(09/02/2010).
‘Thereshewas,leantagainstthewindow,herbraidshangingdownliketheprincessesin
fairystories’
(4) Igual que ocorreu con Retranca, nós sabemos dalgún ao que tamén lle profetizaron
pouca vida por diante, e por aí o anda, como alma en pena, polo visto inmortal
(03/12/2008).
‘InthesamewaythathappenedwithRetranca,weknowofsomeoneforwhomashort
lifewaspredicted,andtherehegoes,likeasoulinpurgatory,apparentlyimmortal’.
(5) Ascantigasforonasprotagonistas.Eunhadasmáissenlleirasfoio“Chata–Chatona”de
10The fact thatseguir alsohas transitiveusesprobably influences this rejection,whichwould lead totwo formally identical structures. How must alí os seguen be interpreted? Informants who do notrecognise the construction with ir, vir and estar accept immediately “aí os seguen”, owing to theminterpretingitas‘osperseguen,vanacontinuacióndeles’.11 TheCORGAdata (theautomatically-taggedversion, in its testphase) confirms theprimacyofestar(aquí3,alí8,aí10)andofandar(aí2),astherearenoregistersoftheconstructionwiththeothertwoverbs.
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JoséToja“Piticas”,unpoemainéditodeAntoniodoMachado.Aíoqueda(‘opoema’).
‘Themedievalballadsweretheprotagonists.Andoneofthesimplestwasthe“Chata–
Chatona”byJoséToja“Piticas”,anunpublishedpoembyAntonioMachado.Thereit is
(‘thepoem’)’.
(6) Candovolvín,alíoseguíanocuartoescuro(11/03/2010).
‘WhenIreturned,hewasstillthereinthedarkroom’.
The verb is always in the indicative mood, but does not concur equally in all
tenses.Inthegreaterpartoftheregistersitisinthepresent(7),asitcorrespondswith
thepossibilityofpointingoutanentitytothelistenerwhichcoincideswiththespeech
act,whetherornotthisisphysicallyinview.Itsuseinevocationscontinuesinorderof
frequency,andthereforetheverbadoptstheformofthepresentfromthepast,the
conditional(8);thelesserfrequencyofuseisrelated,inthecircularsenseofcauseand
effect, with the fact that this option is not equally acceptable for all speakers
consulted.
(7) Porfinocontramestresinalaaestribor:alíaestá,terra(XavierPaz2005).
‘Atlastthebosunsignalsstarboard:thereitis,land’.
Eu conto coa cabeza trece polomenos. E asmáis delasalí as están para ver (Anxo
Angueira 2012) [= as voltas do río Sar, non á vista dos participantes no acto de
comunicación].
‘I can count at least thirteenheads.And the rest of them canbe seen there. [= the
bends of the River Sar, not within sight of the participants in the act of
communication]’.
(8) Mais Terranova prometeu que volverían e comerían de verdade. E alí os estaban,
sentados,apediromenú(ManuelRivas2006).
‘But Terranova promised that they would return and eat properly. And there they
were,satdown,askingforthemenu’.
Wemustnot rule that that inanexceptionalway,andextremely infrequently,
theverbmaytakeotherformswithintheindicative,asoccursin(9)withthepreterite;
and even though no register taken from the corpus can be offered (howevermuch
specificsearchesarecarriedout),Idonotruleoutthegrammaticalityoftheuseofthe
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futureandtheconditionalmood,atleastinexampleslikethosewhicharesuggestedin
(10),withamodalmeaningofprobabilityinthepresentandthepastrespectively:
(9) Nocurrunchoazul,dendeCarril,terradeameixasexentebrava(ALÍOSFORONooutro
día a apagar o lume a Cortegada), cun palmarés que asusta... (Asociación de Ciclistas
Galegos,s.d.).
‘Inthebluenook,fromCarril,alandofplumsandfieryfolk(theywenttheretheother
day to put out the fire in Cortegada), with an amazing winner’s list... (Association of
GalicianCyclists,dateunavailable)’.
(10) Poisseninguénoscolleualíosestarán.
‘Well,ifnobodytookthem,theretheyare’.
¿Queseieu?Poralíosandarían.
‘WhatdoIknow?Theyshouldbethere’.
Once again we are before expansions in usage which do not accompany the
progressiveinstallationwithinthesystem,andwhicharestillnotconsolidatedequally
within the grammar of all speakers. The process of grammaticalization follows this
course:withonlythepresent indicative>alsowiththeconditionalmood>alsowith
otherindicativetenses.
2.3.Theadverb
Inalltheregistersanalysed,atthebeginningofthephraseanadverbissituated,
andselectedwithinaclosedrelationshipwhichischaracterizedbyitsdeicticcharacter.
Instativeverbconstructionsasmuchasthoseofverbsofmovement,acomplement
with thegeneralmeaningof ‘place’ isexpected, in the firstasa ‘locative’and in the
secondas‘direction/destination’,‘origin’or‘transit’,dependingonthecase.However,
theadverbs implied intheconstructionthat isunderanalysisheredonot fulfilbasic
sentence functions which are required by the syntactical structure of its predicate.
They influence above all the predication, localizing in the extraverbal context the
action, process or situation inwhich the subject that is being discussed is involved.
Thatis,inanutterancelikeAíovén,theFAdvdoesnotindicatetheorigin(virde...)or
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thedestination/direction(vira...,para...),orthetransit(virpor...),butthepunctual
localization of the ‘act of arriving’. For this reasons, it often appears without a
preposition, although in specific conditions it does not reject it, as in (4) (‘uncertain
location’).12
This functionof theadverbialelement justifies theorderandprosodic features
whichcharacterizetheconstruction.Theadverboccupiesthefirstplaceinafocusing
structure,wellidentifiedasthefocus.Thereisnopossibilityofpausebetweenit,the
clitic and the verb. The principal accent of the tonal group falls upon the verb, a
secondaryaccentremainingupontheadverb:aquì-o-vén.Inthecaseoftheadverbaí,
the loss of the principal accent bears frequently the displacement of the stressed
syllable(ài-o-vén)and,asaresult,palatalization(èi-o-vén).
Ashasbeenstated,therelationshipbetweenadverbsisclosedandwithinitnot
all occurwith identical frequency. The forms respond to three basic groups, one of
themnolongeremployed.
a) Firstly, we find deictic adverbs of location, also called pronominal or
demonstrative:aquí,aí,alí,etc.Themostfrequentarealíandaí,andtoalesserextent
alá and aquí, in that order; examples with aló and acó have not been recorded,
undoubtedlybecausetheyarefromdifferentdialectalareasfromthosewhichareof
interest to this study (Álvarez & Xove 2008), and not even with acá, used with
increasing infrequency and more restricted to situations which are not the most
appropriate for the construction that is studied here (eg., ponte do lado de acá).
However, various speakershighlight theirusewithacolá. Therefore, theoptions are
reduced in practice to {aquí, alí, alá, aí, acolá} o vai. Each has its literary example,
demonstratingitsintegrationwithinthelearnedwrittennorm:
(12) —¡Ei!,¡vindeparaacó,queaquíoestá!(XurxoBorrazás1994).
“Hey!Comeoverhere,it’shere!”
PeroesanoiteotempoabriuseeeuvinosReis.Alíosestabanmentreseu,mortade
medo,mefixenadurmida(InmaLópezSilva,2014).
‘ButthatnighttimeopenedupandIsawtheKings.Theretheywere,whilstI,scaredto
12Naturally,theyarecompatibleCCwiththesemanticfunctionsrequiredbypredicatestructure,as in(6):“alíoseguíanocuartoescuro”(“thereheremainedinthedarkroom”).
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death,pretendedtobeasleep’.
—¡Unharaposa!¡poralí!,¡poralí!—dixoPaulodevagariño—¡Unharaposa!|—¡Aláa
vai!—confirmouMiguel(ManuelRodríguezTroncoso1996).
‘“A vixen! Over there! Over there!” said Paulo, slowly. “A vixen! There she goes!”
confirmedMiguel’.
EValentínaíoestá.Circio,reconcentrado,endurecido(MéndezFerrín1998).
‘AndValentínisthere.Firm,focused,tough’.
Baixapolagorxaimpetuoso,potente,(...)porribadospetónsepoiosdaspesqueiras.
Acoláasestán(AnxoAngueira2002).
‘Itgoesdownthegorge impetuously,powerfully (...),over therocksand fishingpoles.
Theretheyare’.
As occurswith other constituents, not all the adverbs indicated are registered
withthesamefrequency.Somespeakersdisplaygradualpreferences,generallyinthe
sequenceaí>alí>alá,whentherearenotrestrictionsinfavourofaí.Manypointout
thatintheseconstructionstheysayei(∼eí),notaí,withanaccentualchangeandon
thetimbreofthestressedvowelwhichisnothabitualorconstantinothercontexts:it
isnotacaseofthediatopicvarianteíoftheadverb(basicallysouth-eastern,ALGa: II
311), but of a phonetic variant conditioned by the context (specific prosodic
conditions,lossofprincipalaccenttothebenefitoftheverbandpalatalizationof/a/
intheunstressedposition,cf.caixa>queixón[ɛj]).Throughdifferentchannels itwas
abletoreachformalcoincidencewithpossiblevariantsofeis(seebelow,c).
b) Insomeareastheconstructionalsoobtainswithadverbswhicharetypically
presentational,suchasvelaíandvelaquí(Álvarez&Xove2002:606).Asthisisnotthe
place to examine in depth the grammatical description and variation offered by the
useoftheseadverbs,whichareworthyinthemselvesofadedicatedstudy,Iwillonly
say, in the manner of a necessary contextual presentation regarding the present
analysis, the following: the adverb can be invariable (velaí vai, velaí van) or allow
variation in gender and number in the pronominal form embedded in the locution
R.ÁLVAREZ
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(veloaívai/velosaívan/velaaívai),13aswellasvariationinnumberintheverbifthe
interlocturoisplural;(b)amongstinvariableforms,theDRAGonlyhasentriesforvelaí
andvelaquí,whichareverycommon,butinspeechandwritingtheyaredocumented
alsoasformswithalí,aláealó(velalí,velalá,velaló);(c)withthesupportoflinguistic
geography, the progressive and territorial implantation of the invariable form (velaí,
etc.)canbeobserved,firstco-existingandthenreplacingtheoriginallocution(veloaí,
etc.); (d) in placeswhere the optionaí o vén is recognised as typical, velo aí vén is
offered as an alternative and habitual solution, with examples of its equivalence
provided.
The presence of the clitic ismuchmore frequent when velaí, velaquí etc. are
invariable,andeventhoughthefieldworkrevealsthatitispresentinothercases,the
writtencorpusonlyoffersregistersintheseconditions;naturally,itisalwaysoptional
and does not occur outside the area described in §3 for {aí, aquí, aí...} o vén. The
process of change that is observed, within the delimitated dialectal area, is the
following:
I II III IV
Additionally,andasoccursinotherareasofGalician,theadverbiallocutionwith
apronounconsistentwith theoriginal (I:veloaí+vén,está,etc.)evolves towardsa
completelyinvariableadverb,withwhichitcanagree.Ontheotherhand,thecliticof
theAíovén(I,II)constructionendsupbeingusedwithadverbsofthevelaíseries(II:
velaíovén)andreachestheadverbialphrase,andinthiswayhastwopronouns:the
DOofverandthecliticwhichrecognizesthesubject(III:veloaíovén).
13Thereferentofthepronouncoincideswiththatofthesubjectoftheverbthatfollows:ir,estar,etc.Unlike the construction which is the focus of this study, in this case it fulfils at its source a phrasalfunctionliketheDOofver.
velo aí + V aí o + V
velo aí => velaí + V aí o + V
velo aí + V velaí o + V aí o + V
velo aí o + V velaí o + V aí o + V
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(13) Amuller douenberrar: |—¡Veleí o vai, veciños! ¡Acudide, veciños, queeí o vai! |O
home,coaeixadanaman,púxoseaperseguirme(AlonsoRíos1979).
‘Thewomanstartedtoshout:|—Therehegoes,neighbours!Comehere,neighbours,
therehegoes!|Theman,withthehoeinhishand,startedtochaseme’.
Velosaíosvan(Agolada-PO,Cotobade-PO,Pontevedra-PO,Cartelle-OU,Ramirás-OU...).
‘Theretheygo’.
c)Previously,theconstructionoccurredalsowiththepresentationaladverbeis,
fromwhich registerswith theverbs irand vir in the17thand18thcenturies canbe
shown:14
(14) Rapaces,mulleres,vellos,heilosvennunhabandada(GabrielFeixódeAraúxo1671).
‘Boys,women,oldmen,Iseethemcominginamob’.
Oraeilobay,meusfidalgos(XoánCorreaMendozaeSoutomaior1697).
‘Therehegoes,mylord’.
Eylavày(DiegoCernadasdeCastroc1752-55).
‘Thereshegoes’.
Because of adaptation of eis ormaintaining the earlier form (cf. CSM, Ei-me
acá, Ey-la no convento, ei-vos un capelan ven), in 19th-century writing we find a
presentationaladverbei,asisseenin(15),formallyconvergingwithahighlyextensive
phoneticvariantofaí,and, it shouldbe recalled,preferredbymanyspeakers in this
context. I believe that this circumstance must not be forgotten when presenting
hypothesesregardingtheoriginanddiffusionoftheconstructionunderconsideration.
(15) Heyáambiciónd'amuller(Rosalía1880).
‘Thereiswoman’sambition’.
14Ahistoricalstudyonei(s),uncommoninGalicianbutnotPortuguesetexts,hasyettobemade.Iamnot aware of its chronology and the dialectal range of its variants.Without attempting to provide aprobativecharactertothis information, IshouldpointoutthatthethreeexamplesgivenwitheiloaretakenfromauthorswhocomefromtheareadelimitedforAíovén. ItmustbeaskedwhySacoyArcedoesnotincludeeisinhisgrammar,whereanentryisprovidedfortheadverbiallocutionsvel-eiquí,vel-ehi,vel-elí(1868:195):wasitalreadyoutofuseinthe19thcenturyorsimplydidnotcorrespondtohisdialect?
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¡Nontremes...!Eimeuanelo(Dállo).Deminxaesdonaemeular...(GaloSalinas1891).
‘Donottremble...!Thereyouhavemyring(Hegivesittoher).Youarenowmywifeand
myhome...’
Etempodiela,deesculcá-looráculo,eiquíoDios,éi-oaquí(FlorencioVaamonde1898).
‘It’stime,shesays,onspyingtheoracle,Godishere,beholdhimhere’.
With the same adverb the only comparable examples in Portuguese can be
found,combiningeis+coreferentialcliticwiththesubjectoftheverbsir,vir,aparecer,
entrar, surdir. Thedataof the corpus consulted (Davies&Ferreira) is from the16th
centuryuntilthepresent.15
d)Longa/Lorenzo/Rigau(1996:75)mentionthepossibilityoftheconstruction
withotheremphaticelements,asin¡Xaascheganelas!or,inGalicianSpanish,¡Mira
cómo lo viene, el avión! In my corpus I have not found any witness who can
corroborate,enhanceorbroadenthisinformation.
2.4.Thesubject
Intheregistersanalyzed,thesubjectisgenerallyaperson,althoughthisfeature
is not required. Any NP compatible with the characteristics of the verb and its
constructioncanbeasubject:
(16) Aíovén.[=thedog,thecar,thestorythatIamgoingtotell]
Alíaestá[=thefemaledog,themoon,theblanket]
Aíasestán[=thegirls,theletterssought]
15 Here are some examples in Portuguese authors, which are regarded as illustrating the verbsreferenced and the temporal arementioned: “Por esta travessa se vai acolhendo;ei-lo vai correndo,fugindoagrãoleve,qu'umrealmedeve”(LuisdeCamões);“Ei-lovem.Vê-loFernandobememcimanaportela?”(GilVicente);“MeufantásticosonhodebelezaÀgrandeluzdodiaei-loaparece!”(AnterodeQuental); “Saltando para a tipóia do trono, ei-lo entra na Ajuda governado pelo snr. José Luciano”(FialhodeAlmeida);“OndeequandomenosseesperasseRolãoRebolão,ei-losurdiaaospésdeumapessoa,casquinandoasuarisadahistéricaesarcasta!”(JoséRégio).AlltheseexamplescomefromtheCorpusdoPortuguésbyDavies/Ferreira,consultedinabril2013.
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Someinformantsdisplayreticencetowardsusingthecliticwhichreferstonon-
livingentities:theyacceptunreservedlyalíosestán(=men,children,animals)butnot
alíosestán(=objects).
Practicallyalltheexamplesprovideduntilnowrelyuponathird-personsubject,
in singularorplural, inaccordancewith themostcommonandbroadly-documented
characteristics. However, in the current state of the construction, singular or plural
first and second person subjects are possible, without the clitic changing for this
reasoninordertomaintaintheagreementwiththepersoninquestion.Onceagain,I
believethatthisisacaseofwideningusage,causedbytheprogressiveinstallationof
theconstructionwithinthesystem.Thefactthattheverbanditssubjectchanges,but
nottheclitic,supportsthisevolutionarysequence.Someexamplesofthespontaneous
usecanbeseenontheinternet:thefirstisprecededbythephotooftheCantodorxo
bagpipe band, from O Grove (in the epicentre of the delimited dialectal area); the
second is the greeting by the author of the blog on discovering an acquaintance
amongstthecommentarywriters:
(17) Aíosestamos...unhafotiñadonosogrupodegaitas,queaíndaqueépequeno,
dáparamoito,paramoitasfestaseromarías!(17/01/2008).
‘There theyare...a littlephotoofourbagpipegroup,whichalthoughstill small,
candolots,andmanyfiestasandlocalpilgrimages!’
AÍAestás!Vente,queaRosanaquereaprenderganchillo,edisoseguroquesabes
máisti(11/11/2012).
‘Theresheis!Comeon,Rosanawantstolearncrochet,andsurelyyoumustknow
moreaboutitthanIdo’.
Inthegreaterpartoftheregistersthesubjectisnotspecific,whichundoubtedly
contributestoconjectureregardingthepossibilitythat, inanexceptionalmanner, its
functionwascoveredbytheclitic.All speakersalwayshavetheoptionofexpressing
thesubjectornot:Aíovén(el)/Aívén(el).ItmightberecalledthatinAíovénthereis
nodoubtabouttheidentificationofthesubject,asitismentionedbeforehandinthe
discourse: the recognition wishes to make the interlocutor a participant in the
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experienceof seeinghowheapproaches,attractinghisattention towards thispoint.
Thepresenceofthesubjectpronounisaccompaniedbynuances,suchasthatofthe
contraposition,ofwhichtheunstressedsyllable isexempt(aí (o)vénelmay indicate
thatelaismissing,forexample).However,Ibelievethatitismoreimportanttopoint
out that some of my informants believe that the character of criticism that they
perceiveinageneralwayintheconstructionisaccentuated(see2.5):thatis,notjust
‘quenvai/vén/está...’(whogoes/comes/ispresent...)ismentionedexplicitlybut
also ‘quenmerece unha severa crítica’ (‘who deserves severe criticism’) through its
absence,disappearanceordelay.
Bytakingintoconsiderationthecasesinwhichthesubjectisnotomitted,16the
following behaviour can be observed: it occupies the posverbal position, without
standingoutbecauseof itsprosody; thepronominal subject ismore frequent if it is
accompaniedbyapredicate(18);theuseofapronounquantifierfortotality(19);the
nominalNPisinfrequent,asgenerallyitisinapposition,butoralandwrittenexamples
arenotlacking(20):
(18) Aíovénelcoasúapachorra(Muros-CO).
‘Therehecomeswithhislaid-backattitude’.
(19) Alíosestabantodos,unsaestirareoutrosaroer.(13/02/2012).
‘Theretheyallwere,somestretchingoutandtheothersnibblingaway’.
(20) Entramosos tres, e alí o estabaoConserxe a baterlle zoupadas codereito e co
revésdamaoaunembrullo(MéndezFerrín,1991).
‘ThethreeofuswentinandtherewastheConciergelayingintoabundlewithhis
righthandandwiththebackofhishand’.
2.5.Othercharacteristics
Thefunctionisappellativeandcarriesthedeixis:itisaquestionofreinforcing
thepresentialdisplay,directingthegazeofthelistenertoapoint(theadverbinfocus) 16 Constructions inwhich the postverbalNP is elucidative and framed by pauses are omitted: “Alí osveñen, catro nenas e dous nenos” (“There they come along, four girls and two boys”), “Alí as van,Manola coa nena e unha sobriña” (“There they go, Manola with the girl and a niece of hers”).Constructions with clichés at the beginning, however much they coincide with the subject, are alsoeschewed:“Oscartos,aquíosestán”(“Themoney,it’shere”).
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wherethesubjectisinmovementorstatic;17ifitisnotpresential,theintentionalityis
toevokethescene inthememory.Theextralinguisticcontextalwayshasacommon
characteristic:somethingisnotthere,somethingismissing,somethingisbeingsought,
somethingdoesnotarrive,and,withcertainsurprise,canfinallybeshowninaspecific
place.18Itdrawsattentiontosomethingwhichoccurs.Thisiswhyitisnotpossiblein
negativepredicates.
(21) *Aquínonasestán.
*Aínonovén.
Theprosodicfeaturesconnectedtothepositionofthecliticwerealreadyalluded
to, inafocalizationstructure(see§2.3). Insomecasestheintonationisexclamatory,
butthisisnotarequisiteoraconstantfeature.
There are considerable informants who allow us to see that the use of this
constructioncanbesociallyinconvenientorincorrect,becausetheybelievethatthey
bearanimplicitcriticismregardingthesubject’sbehaviour,whichissharedaloudwith
thelistener;someofthechildinformantsevenstatethattheyknowtheconstruction
but that theyneveruse itoutofgoodmanners.This informant fromTrazo-CO,with
highereducationbutwithoutspecializedlinguistictraining,expressesitwell:
InTrazowecansay“Alívén”asmuchas“Alíovén”,butthemeaningisslightly
different.Whenwesay“Alíovén”wearegivinganegativeconnotationtoaperson
aboutwhomwewereprobablyalreadytalking.Forexample:aboywhoplayedatrick
andweare talkingabout the trick thatheplayed. If at thatmoment theboycomes
overwecansay“Alíovén”.Generallywesay“Alívén”.
Soto (2013) goes further and states that the clitic possesses, on occasions, a
“despectivevalue”.19Thereisnoshortageofinformantswhorefertotheconvenience
ofintroducingadativeofsolidarityinordertomaketheexpressionfriendlier;inactual
fact,whattheydoistoimplythelistenerinthecriticism,asbybeingshareditceases 17SotoAndión(2013)definesthisacceptanceofiras“Pasarsiendoseñaladoporalguien”(“Topassbybeingpointedoutbysomeone”).18Thesesemanticcharacteristicsmeanthatitisnotstrictlyidenticaltovelaíandveloaí,ortoeis,whichcanbepurelypresentative.19“Valordespectivo.”
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tobelongtothespeaker.
3.Geolinguisticdistributionandprogressivediffusion
Thespeakerswhousethisconstructionalwayshavetwooptions,thesecondof
whichislabelled:{aquí,aí,alí...}está,withoutclitic,commontoallGalicianspeakers;
{aquí, aí, alí...} o está, with clitic, in diatopic distribution. For some years I have
describedthesecondasasouth-westerlyfeature,butnewdataallowstheareawhich
itoccupiestobedelineatedwithgreaterprecision.
Withthecartographyofregisterswiththeverbsir,virandestar(thethreemost
frequent)havingbeencompleted,Icanconcludethattherearehardlyanydifferences
in the geographical extension of the use with ir and vir, with those with which it
reaches maximum diffusion in territory and speakers, as shown on Map 1 with a
continuousstraightline.Thegeographicaldiffusionwithestarisless,eventhoughitis
themostextendedandrecognisedbytheremainingverbs.Ihavecharteditsmaximum
area with a continuous grey line. Apart from these isoglosses, in fieldwork only
fragmentary and sporadic data, which needs to be corroborated, was found. The
densityofregistersisnotthesamethroughouttheareaorforallverbs:theareaofir/
vir is denser and more compact than that of estar, which means that not all the
informantsoftheareadelineatedwithgreyisoglossrecognizethesecond;thedashed
linesencloseintherespectiveellipsestheareasofgreaterconcentrationofdataand
whicharethemostcompactinbothcases.
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211
Map1.TerritorialExpansionoftheconstructionwiththeverbir/virandestar
Asisobservedinmap1,theareasaresketchedoutinsuccessiveexpansionfrom
a single centre: A ⊂ B ⊂ C ⊂ D.20 We begin from a central space (A) with the
PontevedraEstuaryandtheRiverLérezasacentralaxis,andwhereaíovén/aíovai
asmuchasaíoestáoccurwithgreaterintensity.Inconsideringonlythecompactarea
of the verbs ofmovement (B), this space extends to the north and south until the
Arousa and Vigo Estuary, and to the east until the edges of the total area. If we
examinethemaximumareaofestar(C),weseetwochannelsofexpansionalongthe
north:onealongthecoastlineandanotherfollowingtheAtlanticaxis,throughPadrón
andSantiago,towardsACoruña;andalsoanexpansiontothesouth,whichcomprises
partoftheTuiarea.Finally,themaximumareaofirandvir(D)comprisesthesouthof
province of A Coruña (including the Muros and Noia estuary), enters the south-
westernpartofLugoandmorebroadlyinthewestofOurense,andgoesasfarasthe
RiverMiñoalong theentireborderbetweenGalicianandPortugal.Observe that the
linguisticbordercoincideswiththepoliticalonealongtheRiverMiño;however,within
Ourenseprovince,theisoglossdoesnotreachthedry-landborder.
20 They are appreciations regarding the current vision of themaps.Maps are not available for us toprovideanopinionregardingexpansionsorretractionsovertheterritoryinpreviousperiods.
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Everything would seem to indicate that the phenomenon is undergoing
expansionandisnotinaphaseofwithdrawal.ThediffusionalongtheAtlanticaxisisa
good example of this process of territorial change, as this route has functioned for
centuries as a transmission channel for prestigious linguistic forms.21 There are
abundantregistersinallthedistrictssituatedonbothsidesofthisroutefromPadrón
toOrdesinclusively(whichhavebeenhighlightedasaseconddenseareafor ir/vir),
andsporadicregisterswhichreachtheÁrtabrogulf.Theprogressalongthecoastalso
proceeds in the same direction, until reaching maritime towns like Muros and
Corcubión, in contradistinction to the general perception of the speakers of the
westerninterioroftheCoruñaarea,whichtheydonotrecogniseastheirown.Inpart,
there are other examples of the construction breaking its dialectal boundaries:
speakers from other areas consulted by me show that they use it because of
“contamination” (from Compostela, from Vigo, etc.), and not because it belongs to
theiroriginal linguisticbaggage.Scholarswhoofferabundantexamples inthecorpus
comefromgeographicalareasinwhichitundoubtedlydoesnotexist.
Thecartographyinoverlappingareas,someofwhicharesuccessivelyintegrated
within others, also bears witness to the progressive consolidation and expansion
withinthesystemsuggestedhere.Asweadvancefromtheperipheryofthearea(D)
towards the nucleus (A), the construction occurs in a more systematic manner,
attainingagreaternumberofverbsandofferingmoreextensionsofusageunknownto
theothers.Thiseffectiscausedbythefactthatitispreciselyinthiscentralareawhere
theuseoftheaccusativecliticwiththispragmaticvalueismoreadvancedandisbetter
installedintheheartofthesystem.
21TheAtlanticaxis,asaspaceofmovementforlinguisticdevelopments,isreflectedalsoonothermaps.Asinthiscase,andadvancingfromStoN,Ihaveshownpreviouslythediffusionofaláandacá,tothedetrimentofacóandaló,withargumentswhicharepertinentinthecaseinquestion(Álvarez&Xove,2008).
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213
4.Hypothesesregardingorigin
The objective ofmy studywas not to resolve thematter of the origins of this
construction, nor does my current historical knowledge allow me to make solid
conjectures,butIshallpresentsomehypothesesanddiscussothers.
ThefieldworkdatashowsthatAíovénisanequivalentquiteclosetotheVeloaí
vénandVelaí vén, but it doesnot seem that theoriginof this useof the cliticwith
theseintransitiveverbsispartofanextensionofthisadverbialphrase,whereinitially
itwastheDOofver.Broaddialectalareasof thenorthofGalicia,whereVeloaívén
has a strong presence, have no contact whatsoever withAí o vén; the data shows,
however,thatinarea(D),thecliticproceedstobeincorporatedinVeloaíovénandin
Velaíovén,theusebeingextendedtothemfromAíovén.Nevertheless,Ibelievethat
itcouldhavecontributedtotheimplantationofAíovénandsimilarforms(wherethe
adverbispresentative,ashasbeenshownin§2.3)totheanalogywithveloaívénand
eilovénwhere thedistinctlypresentativeadverbsareaccompaniedbyanaccusative
cliticmotivatedsyntacticallyattheorigin.
Thespeakersattestconsistently to theanalogywithAío tes,Veloaío tes and
Velaí o tes, which fulfils the same demonstrative function and where the clitic is
justifiedasaDOofter.Itisnotunusual,afteridentifyingastheirowntheconstruction
and when offering examples of their own, that they use the verb ter. I am not
suggestingthatthisistheoriginoftheconstruction,butIdobelievethattheanalogy
musthavecontributedtoitstriumphanddiffusion.
I think it probable that the starting point lies in the constructions ei > eis, a
cognateoftheCastilianhe.22Fromtheearliesttimestheyhavebeenaccompaniedbya
NP or an accusative clitic, of any person,which in old Galician offers an interesting
22Corominesproposesas anetymon the “ár.hâ (pron. vulgarhê), que tieneomismovalor” (“ár.hâ(vulgar pronounhê)),which has the same value. As documented in theCid, the forms of the centralHispanicromancelanguagesarediverse:withthemostcurrenthe,e,ahéandfeareregistered.Thisisfollowedbyanameorapronoun,andsoonbyadeicticadverbwhichinsomecasesagglutinates(ahey<ahéhi);thecombinationofheaquítendstobegeneralizedfromthe15thcentury(1980-1991:s.v.HE).IfCoromines’ etymological proposal is correct, twoquestions soonarisewhich I canonlypose: are thefirst Galician-Portuguese testimonials eilo, eime, etc. loans from Castilian or other central Hispanicdialectswhichdonotlosetheintervocalic-l-?Howcan-s(andeven-is)inGalicianandPortuguesebeexplained,andwithwhatchronology?
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anomalywhichisdemandingofamorelengthystudy:aftertheGalicianeilo/eila,we
tend to assume a final -s which justifies the presence of the allomorph -lo and,
therefore,anadverbeiswhichcoincidesformallywiththesolutionthathasbeenwell
known through Galician and Portuguese since the Early Modern Period. There is
nothing to support the idea that the -s is primitive, as in its origins it is missing in
occurrenceswithotherclitics(eime,eivos),andinfacteiisalsodocumentedwiththe
samevalue(eyteuirmãovẽati;forthedebateandexamples,seeLorenzo1977:s.v.
HEYLOS).TherewouldbethereforeaEiovénsyntagma,avariantalternatingwithEilo
vén,bothwiththesamepresentativeadverbei(s)andnotwiththeadverbofplaceaí:
thefirstwiththeallomorphexpectedafteravowelandthesecondwithan irregular
pronominalform.Themovementoftheclitictoconstructionswithaí,throughformal
confluence, seems straightforward, and by extension to the other deictic adverbs.
Whathasbeensaidin§2.3inregardtoeiasapresenterinXIX-centurytextsshouldbe
recalledhere(15).
Onthebasisofthecartography,Ihavebeenabletoconjecture,moreover,that
theconstructionwhichactsasastartingpointisthatoftheverbsofmovement,and
that fromhere itextends toothers. In supportofmyhypothesis, Iwill state thatall
adducibleregistersofeiswhicharesimilarinconstruction,intheGalicianoftheEarly
Modern Age (and in their majority from contemporary Portuguese registers), are
producedwiththeseverbs
5.Conclusion
In my opinion, the accusative clitic which accompanies these intransitive
predicativeverbshasapragmaticfunctionwhichconsistsofrecognizingasubjectthat
isalreadyknown,directingtheattentionofthelistenertowardstheplacewheres/he
is present. The conducive context is characterisedby surprise or relief at this finally
occurring.
In my analysis I have been able to corroborate how essentially there are
importantlimitationsinthenominalformswhichcanoccupyeachoneoftheseplaces:
Dialectologia.Specialissue,V(2015),191-217.ISSN:2013-2247
215
inthecaseoftheadverb,thoseoftheseriesaquí,aí,alí...,velaí...,veloaí...,andeven
ofthearchaicei(s);inthatoftheclitic,onlythethirdpersonnon-reflexiveaccusative
(o,a,os,as);inthatofverbs,fundamentallyir,vir,estarandandar.
However, the analysis of the corpus provided allows me to observe some
processesofchangewhichcausethegrammaticaldescriptionnottobeequallyunique
andvalidforallspeakers.Theseprocesses,whichtendtoconsolidatethepositionof
theconstructionwithinthegrammaticalsystemandtowidentheoptionsforusageor
the rangeof implied forms,becomespecific in theaspectswhichwillbehighlighted
presently. I believe that in them lies the explanation for the apparent descriptive
discrepancyaccordingtovariousauthors.
(a) The expansion of the list of verbs affected. Beginning with the verbs of
movement ir / vir andearlyonestar, andperhapsandar, itextends toother stative
verbs(quedar,andtoalesserextentseguir)andcouldbebeginningtheextensionto
otherverbswithrelatedmeanings(basicallyinthelineof‘emergenceonthescene’).
(b) Theexpansionofthelistofadverbsaffected.Beginningwiththeadverbs
ofplaceof the seriesaquí,aí,alí (ifmyhypothesis regarding theorigin is correct, it
wouldemergefirstfromei=aí),itisextendingtotheseriesvelaíand,initswake,to
the series velo aí. Other extensions cannot be ruled out, such as that previously
mentionedin§2.3d.
(c) The expansion of implied verbal tenses. It begins with the present
indicative(withthepossibilityofanadoculosdemonstration)inordertoincorporate
first the imperfect tense (or the present of the past) and subsequently, in a more
occasionalmanner,othertensesfromthesamemood.
(d) Theexpansionoftherangeofpossiblesubjects.Thisstemsfromthethird
person(nonlocutory,nonalocutory),whichexplainstheuseoftheclitico/a/os/as
inagreement,but it isextending tootherpeople, in thesingularandplural,without
thisaffectingtheformofthecliticwhichcontinuestobethethirdperson.
In terms of the origin, I believe that, if the analogy with the presentational
adverbsveloaíandeilo(wheretheaccusativecliticismotivatedsyntacticallyfromits
sources) could have indeed contributed, together with other analogical processes,
then the history ofaí (∼ ei) o vén is connectedwith the vicissitudes ofei(s). In this
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216
hypothesis,theconstructionwouldbeextendedfromaítotheotherdeicticadverbs.
The question will only be able to be resolved properly when an in-depth study is
carriedout concerning several incidental issues,namely regardingei(s),veloaí,velaí
andothersimilarforms.
The constructionenjoysgreat vitalitynotonly in theeveryday languageof the
districts discussed, and through all kind of speakers, but also inwritten language at
different levels and registers. In this sense, it canbepointedout that in the literary
languageofrecentdecadesitisrecurrentnotonlyinauthorswhobelongtothearea
that has beenmapped out, but otherswho hail fromother places. Thismeans that
they have incorporated, consciously or not, this feature into their grammar, in the
samemannerasdifferentinformantswithlinguistictrainingwhohavebeenconsulted.
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