Verbos y construcciones causativas analíticas en portugués y en español

Abstract

When a causative meaning is expressed by an independent verbal element, we may identify the construction as analytic, periphrastic, or syntactic. Romance languages present greater grammatical elaboration of analytic causative constructions than other languages. Contradicting a long formalist (generative) tradition in general (and Romance) linguistics, the grammatical complexity of the causative constructions becomes explicable in the light of their semantic import and conceptual motivations. This paper offers a conceptual analysis of the analytic causative constructions in Portuguese and in Spanish. We will begin with a survey of the semantic properties of the causative verbs. Based on the Talmy's (1988, 2000) force dynamics model, four force-dynamic patterns are described, which are instantiated in fazer/hacer 'do/make', manter/mantener 'keep' and deixar/dejar 'leave/let'. Other analytic causative verbs such as mandar 'order', forçar/forzar 'force', obrigar/obligar 'oblige', and levar/llevar 'lead', are considered. After that, we go on to analyze the grammar of the four main causative constructions in Portuguese and in Spanish, namely infinitival, finite, reflexive and resultative constructions. The conceptual factors (or imagery, Langacker, 1987, 1991) of the three infinitival complement constructions of Portuguese arc briefly analyzed, which represent a more elaborate continuum of event integration and of causer autonomy and causer control. Finally, we briefly describe the compatibilities between the verbs and constructions, and include a reference to the alternative construction with the finite complement, and to the causative-reflexive and causative-resultative constructions.