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In:Studies in Historical Ibero-Romance Morpho-Syntax
Edited by Miriam Bouzouita, Ioanna Sitaridou and Enrique Pato
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 16] 2018
► pp. 249–274

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Chapter 11
Si as a Q-particle in Old Spanish

 | Universidad de Granada
 | Universitat de les Illes Balears/Harvard University
Published online: 17 July 2018
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.16.11rod
Abstract
This study examines the origin of Old Spanish direct interrogative si, a structure that has barely been described in the literature. An analysis of historical texts shows that it originates from the Classical Latin conditional conjunction si, which in Late Latin became a complementiser in embedded interrogatives and eventually a polar interrogative particle. This evolution is documented primarily in biblical translations. However, its continuation in Medieval Romance varieties proves that direct interrogative si was used in vernacular Latin. The evolution of direct interrogative si constitutes a case of insubordination (i.e. the conventionalised use in a main clause of a subordinate clause marker), a process that has not been considered in accounts of the historical origin of interrogative particles in grammaticalisation studies.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Interrogative constructions in Romance
  • 3.The evolution of interrogative structures: From Latin to Romance
  • 4.Interrogative si in the history of Spanish
  • 5.Interrogative si in Medieval Romance
  • 6.The grammaticalisation of Q-particles
  • 7.Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
References (90)
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