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Article published In: Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada/Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 34:1 (2021) ► pp.339–364

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Apuntes sobre la expresión del neutro en español

ORCiD logo with link | Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

Article language: Spanish

Published online: 22 July 2021
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/resla.19013.zul
Resumen
Por su naturaleza intrínsecamente compleja a nivel semántico y formal dentro del sistema de género gramatical, la enseñanza del neutro generalmente se restringe a la exposición, un tanto marginal, de los usos referenciales más básicos de las formas neutras. La realidad es que los elementos neutros del español son frecuentes en todos los registros, se presentan en estructuras sintácticas diversas y presentan usos menos conocidos, pero igualmente importantes a nivel comunicativo. Este trabajo tiene como objetivo ofrecer una visión exhaustiva sobre la expresión del neutro en español y presentar su riqueza referencial y distribucional. Además de presentar exhaustivamente sus posibilidades referenciales y distribucionales más conocidas, se presentan también otros usos y construcciones menos conocidos, pero igualmente frecuentes en la lengua coloquial. Asimismo se analizan varias extensiones de significado y funcionales que incluyen formas neutras.
Abstract
Notes on the expression of the neuter in Spanish
Due to its inherently complex formal and semantic nature within the grammatical gender system, the teaching of the Spanish neuter is generally confined to somewhat marginal explanations of its more basic referential uses. However, the neuter forms are frequent in all registers, can be found in different syntactic structures, and present less-familiar but equally important uses for communication. The main goal of this paper is to offer a comprehensive view of neuter expression in Spanish by analyzing its referential and distributional productivity. In addition to its familiar referential and distributional possibilities, other lesser-known uses and constructions, but equally common in colloquial speech, will be presented. Some meaning and functional extensions of the neuter forms are also analyzed.
Article outline
  • 1.Introducción
  • 2.¿A qué llamamos ‘neutro’ en español?
    • 2.1El neutro y la no-concordancia gramatical
    • 2.2El significado del neutro
  • 3.Propiedades distribucionales
  • 4.Propiedades referenciales
    • 4.1Propiedades
    • 4.2Eventos, situaciones, hechos, ideas
    • 4.3Colectividades
    • 4.4Otros referentes: cantidades, lugares, grados y modos
  • 5.Extensiones de significado y función
    • 5.1Presentacionales
    • 5.2Expletivos aparentes
    • 5.3Conectores discursivos y conectores pragmáticos
    • 5.4Cuantificador de grado
  • 6.Conclusiones
  • Notas
  • Referencias
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