2.2 Parameters of constructional variation in inchoative periphrases Constructions are defined as linguistic units that may display simultaneous “multifaceted change at different levels of description frequency, structure, meaning, and distribution in the – linguistic 2013, p. 21). Consequently, in order to comprehend the community” (Hilpert, development of the inchoative construction, we need to trace relevant changes in terms of its form, function, frequency of use, and distribution. Therefore, the starting point for the empirical analysis is that, in order to understand how a construction has developed, it is crucial to observe possible changes in the distribution of different structural and functional variables within a more general schema. These observations can point towards changes in the configuration of a network, such as the creation or decline of particular structures, or an internal reorganization of a network. In concrete, the inchoative construction comprises a set of constructional variants (or in which can be defined along four dimensions: (1) “allostructions”, Cappelle’s 2006 terms) the semantics of the put verb (poner vs. (2) the semantics of the preposition (a vs. meter); en); (3) the internal word order, in particular the placement of adverbial complements; (4) the semantic event type expressed by the construction. Each of these four variables is discussed below. (1) Lexical verb: vs. Throughout the analysis, extensive attention is paid to the poner meter. effect of the lexical source verbs and on the evolution of individual poner meter The two verbs radically differ with regard to their etymological source. Whereas derives from Latin meaning comes from Latin meaning poner meter pōnĕre, ‘to place’, mĭttĕre send, to In their etymological dictionary of Spanish, Corominas & Pascual ‘to throw’. mention that in the Middle Ages, the semantic field of extended to encroach on meter that of locative In present-day Spanish, the two verbs are near-synonymous but have poner.
2.2 Parameters of constructional variation in inchoative periphrases Constructions are defined as “multifaceted linguistic units that may display simultaneous change at different levels of description – frequency, structure, meaning, and distribution in the linguistic community” (Hilpert, 2013, p. 21). Consequently, in order to comprehend the development of the inchoative construction, we need to trace relevant changes in terms of its form, function, frequency of use, and distribution. Therefore, the starting point for the empirical analysis is that, in order to understand how a construction has developed, it is crucial to observe possible changes in the distribution of different structural and functional variables within a more general schema. These observations can point towards changes in the configuration of a network, such as the creation or decline of particular structures, or an internal reorganization of a network. In concrete, the inchoative construction comprises a set of constructional variants (or “allostructions”, in Cappelle’s 2006 terms) which can be defined along four dimensions: (1) the semantics of the put verb (poner vs. meter); (2) the semantics of the preposition (a vs. en); (3) the internal word order, in particular the placement of adverbial complements; (4) the semantic event type expressed by the construction. Each of these four variables is discussed below. (1) Lexical verb: poner vs. meter. Throughout the analysis, extensive attention is paid to the effect of the lexical source verbs poner and meter on the evolution of individual The two verbs radically differ with regard to their etymological source. Whereas poner derives from Latin pōnĕre, meaning ‘to place’, meter comes from Latin mĭttĕre meaning ‘to send, to throw’. In their etymological dictionary of Spanish, Corominas & Pascual mention that in the Middle Ages, the semantic field of meter extended to encroach on that of locative poner. In present-day Spanish, the two verbs are near-synonymous but have
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