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Article published In: Spanish in Context
Vol. 15:1 (2018) ► pp.127–150

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Y luego se pintan patrás…

Metaphorical extension and the grammaticalization of patrás in Nuevomexicano Spanish

 | University of New Mexico
Published online: 31 May 2018
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https://doi.org/10.1075/sic.00006.bek
Abstract
The expanded use of patrás is among the most salient features of US Spanish and commonly attributed to English influence. For Lipski, John M. 1986. “The construction pa(ra) atrás among Spanish-English bilinguals: parallel structures and universal patterns.” Revista Iberoamericana 28–291: 87–96.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, it constitutes a syntactic calque from English constructions with back; Otheguy, Ricardo. 1999. “A reconsideration of the notion of loan translation in the analysis of US Spanish.” In Spanish in the United States: Linguistic contact and diversity ed. By A. Roca and J. Lipski, 21/45. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar maintains it shows cultural but not linguistic influence; Villa (Villa, Daniel. J. 2005. “Back to Patrás: A Process of Grammaticization in a Contact Variety of Spanish.” In Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Bilingualism ed. by J. Cohen, K. T. McAlister, K. Rolstadt & J. MacSwan, 2310–2316.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, Villa, Daniel J. 2010. “Y nos vamos patrás: Back to an analysis of a supposed ‘calque’.” In Spanish of the U.S. Southwest: A Language in Transition ed. by S. V. Rivera-Mills and D. J. Villa, 239–251. Madrid/Frankfurt: Iberoamericana/Vervuert.. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) ascribes patrás to grammaticalization processes internal to Spanish. Previous studies lack a detailed account of the semantics of the spatial adverbial in its historical and contemporary usage. Applying Talmy, Leonard. 1983. “How Language Structures Space.” In Spatial Orientation ed. by H. L. P. Jr & L. P. Acredolo, 225–282. Springer US. Retrieved from [URL] typology of motion events to corpus data, this paper traces a grammaticalization path for patrás from its historical use to its contemporary use in Nuevomexicano Spanish. Patrás has shifted from primarily atelic backwards motion meanings to primarily telic return meanings. This shift is evident across Germanic languages for adverbs deriving from the noun back and in the Romance prefix re- from Latin adverb retro. This study proposes contact with English led to an increased frequency of satellite-framed constructions in Nuevomexicano Spanish, creating the frequency conditions for innovations in the form and meaning of para atrás to conventionalize and lead to systematic linguistic change.
Article outline
  • 1.Background
  • 2.Present study
  • 3.The semantics of space and metaphor
  • 4. Para atrás and para tras in historical varieties of Spanish 1494–1900
    • 4.1Backwards movement
    • 4.2Location in an area behind the Ground
    • 4.3Orientation towards a site behind the Ground
    • 4.4Reverse movement along a path already followed
  • 5. Patrás in contemporary Nuevomexicano Spanish
    • 5.1Return through physical space
    • 5.2Return through metaphorical space
    • 5.3Reciprocal exchange of acts of communication
    • 5.4Continued use with older meanings
  • 6.The changes to patrás: Metaphorical extension and grammaticalization
  • 7.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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2021. The Spanish verb-particle construction [V para atrás]. In Constructions in Contact 2 [Constructional Approaches to Language, 30], ► pp. 139 ff. DOI logo
Wiesinger, Evelyn
2024. Semantics and Pragmatics of Spanish Verb-Particle Constructions formed with para atrás ‘back(wards)’. CogniTextes Volume 25 DOI logo
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