some infinitive structures in asturian

Dialectologia.Specialissue,V(2015),5-28.
ISSN:2013-2247
Received27February2015.
Accepted20June2015.
SOMEINFINITIVESTRUCTURESINASTURIAN
XulioVIEJOFERNÁNDEZ
UniversidaddeOviedo
[email protected]
Abstract
Theaimofthispaperistoprovideasummarydescriptionofsomegrammarusesoftheinfinitive
inAsturian,mainlyinrelativeclausesandspecificallyindifferentpatternsincludingdepreposition:noun
+de+infinitive(elllibrudelleer‘Thebookthatmustberead’o‘thebookthatusuallyisread’)orarticle
+de+infinitive(Yeralafíaladefaelo‘hisdaughterwaswhoshoulddoit/havedoneit’,‘hisdaughter
wasusuallywhodidit’).
Asturian differs from other romance languages by the possibility of personal infinitive (unlike
French) with preverbal subject (unlike Spanish, Italian or Romanian). The widespread possibility of
preverbalsubjectswithininfinitiveclausesmakeitclosetoGalicianandPortugueseinflectedinfinitive,
although in Asturian it does not correlates with the presence of person and number markers. On the
otherhand,Asturianshowsawiderandmorenuancedcasuistic(fromthesemanticpointofview)than,
for instance, similar clauses in Spanish, with a complex gradation between noun and verbal infinitives
andamoreopenrangeofsyntacticstructures.
DifferencesbetweenSpanishandGalician-PortuguesehavebeenexplainedasaresultofthepreeminenceoftenseflexioninSpanishtowardsagreementinitswesternneighbors.Givenourevidences,
theintermediatesituationofAsturiancouldalsobeexplainedbytherelativelyweaknessoftenseand
thehigherstrengthofdeterminative,specificativevalues,typicallyrelatedtoagreement.
In general, both tense and preverbal placement of subjects strongly depend on the level of
determinacy of infinitives, their subject or even their antecedents, if relative clauses. As for the first
ones, through different syntactic structures, we can see how mainly the infinitives determined or
controlled by articles license preverbal placement for their subjects. In a similar way, the common
patternsofinfinitivewithaprecedingsubjectusuallyoccurwithpersonalpronounsandhumanorhigh
determinednouns.Allofthatleadstoconfirmthepre-eminenceofagreementovertense.
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Meanwhile, some idiomatic structures considered show how temporal meaning tends to be
displaced in infinitive clauses by aspectual, modal o contrafactual senses. This gives an idea of the
weakness of tense in infinitive clauses and, otherwise, correlates to a higher tendency to preverbal
subjects,undertheconditionsmentionedabove.
Finally,togetherwiththesemanticsofverbsasaregulatoryfactorfortheplacementofsubject,
it can be seen how its position may strongly depend on certain kind of pragmatic assumptions of the
discourselevel.
Keywords
infinitive,subject,Asturian,relativeclauses,flexion
ALGUNASESTRUCTURASDEINFINITIVOENASTURIANO
Resumen
Elpropósitodeesteartículoesaportarunasomeradescripcióndealgunosusosgramaticalesdel
infinitivoenasturiano,fundamentalmenteenoracionesderelativoyespecialmenteenconstrucciones
conpreposiciónde:nombre+de+infinitivo(elllibrudelleer“ellibroquehayqueleer”,“ellibroque
normalmenteselee”oartículo+de+infinitivo(yeralafíaladefaelo“erasuhijaquienlodebíahacer”,
“erasuhijaquiennormalmentelohacía”).
Elasturianosediferenciadeotraslenguasrománicasporlaposibilidaddeuninfinitivopersonal
(a diferencia del francés) con sujeto preverbal (frente a español, italiano o rumano). La posibilidad se
sujetos preverbales dentro de cláusulas de infinitivo lo aproximan al infinitivo flexionado de gallego y
portugués, si bien en asturiano ello no se correlaciona con la presencia de morfemas de número y
persona.Porotrolado,elasturianomuestraunacasuísticamásampliaymatizada(desdeelpuntode
vista semántico) que los patrones equivalentes en castellano, con una compleja gradación entre
infinitivosverbalesynominalesyunelencomásabiertodeestructurassintácticas.Lasdiferenciasentre
español gallego-portugués vienen siendo explicadas como efecto de la preeminencia de la flexión de
tiempo en español frente a la de concordancia en los romances occidentales vecinos. Nuestros datos
permitiríanentenderlaposiciónintermediadelasturianoporlarelativadebilidaddelaflexióntemporal
yelmayorpesodelosvaloresdeterminativosyespecificativostípicamenteasociadosalaconcordancia.
Engeneral,tantolosvalorestemporalescomolaposiciónpreverbaldelsujetodependenengran
medida del nivel de determinación de los infinitivos, de su sujeto o incluso de sus antecedentes en el
caso de cláusulas de relativos. En cuanto a lo primero, a través de distintas estructuras sintácticas,
puede comprobarse como son sobre todo los infinitivos determinados mediante artículo los que
habilitanlaposiciónpreverbaldelsujeto.Demodosimilar,enelpatrónmáshabitualdeinfinitivocon
sujetoprecedente,esterolsuelendesempeñarlopronombrespersonalesobiennombrespersonaleso
altamentedeterminados.Todoellollevaríaaconfirmarlapreeminenciadelaconcordanciasobreeltiempo.
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Dialectologia.Specialissue,V(2015),5-28.
ISSN:2013-2247
Asimismo, ciertas estructuras idiomáticas consideradas muestran como el significado temporal
tiendeaserdesplazadoenlascláusulasrelativasporsentidosaspectuales,modalesocontrafactuales.
Ellodaunaideadeladebilidaddeltiempoenlascláusulasderelativoy,porotraparte,secorresponde
conunafuertetendenciaasujetospreverbales,bajolascondicionesanteriormenteindicadas.
Finalmente,juntoalasemánticadelverbocomofactorreguladordelaposicióndelsujeto,puede
verse como esta llega a depender fuertemente de cierto género de presuposiciones pragmáticas de
niveldiscursivo.
Palabrasclave
infinitivo,sujeto,asturiano,cláusulasderelativo,flexión
1.Introduction
The aim of this paper is to describe, in a purely expository way, some
idiosyncratic uses of the infinitive in Asturian. Asturian differs from other romance
languages(Piera1987;Ledgeway1998;Mensching2000;Scida2004;Schulte2007)by
the possibility of personal infinitive (unlike French) with preverbal subject (unlike
Spanish, Italian or Romanian). This make it close to Galician (García Gondar 1978;
Longa1994)andPortugueseinflectedinfinitive(Raposo1987;DaSilva2008),though
inAsturianinfinitivelacksofpersonandnumberinflection.Inthiswork,wewillfocus
ontherulesofsubjectplacementinthislanguagewithrespecttonominal,verbaland
relativeinfinitives.Wewillnotrefertoeitherinterrogativeorexclamativeinfinitivesor
infinitivesasadjectivalcomplements.
2.Nominalinfinitives
Nominal infinitives may be accompanied, like in Spanish (Ramírez 2003), by
determiners (typically a definite article, el) and different syntactic arguments. When
article el appears before infinitive, its arguments should usually occupy postverbal
position, even those interpretable as subjects, either nominative (1) or prepositional
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subject,insertedbyprepositionde(2):
(1)
Ellladrarlosperrosespertómepelanueche
Thetobarkthedogswokeup-meat-thenight
“Thebarkingofdogswokemeupatnight”
(2)
Ellladrardelosperrosespertómepelanueche
Thetobarkofthedogs wokeup-me at-thenight
“Thebarkingofdogswokemeupatnight”
Nonetheless,thelackofarticleallowspreverbalplacementforinfinitivesubjects
incertaincontexts,likeincopularsentences:
(3)
Aprobarelloslapropuestavaserdifícil(/Ellosaprobar…)
Toapprovetheytheproposalwillbedifficult(/they toapprove…)
“Itwillbedifficultforthemtoapprovetheproposal”(cf.PortugueseElesaprovarema
propostaserádifícil)
GanarFranciaaBrasilyeimpensable(/Franciaganar…)
TobeatFrancetoBrazilisinconceivable(/Francetobeat…)
“It’s inconceivable that France beats Brazil” (cf. French La France battre le Brésil, ce
seraitinconcevable)
SanarMaríafoiunagrannoticia(/Maríasanar…)
TohealMarywasagreatnews(/Maríatoheal…)
“Mary’shealingwaswasgreatnews”
Otherwise, the omission of the article-preceding infinitive seems general for a
generic(4)nottemporalsense(5),asexpectedofanominaldeterminer:
(4)
Lladrarlosperrosquitadedormir(/*Losperroslladrar…)
Tobarkthedogspreventsoftosleep(Thedogstobark…)
“Thebarkingofdogspreventssleeping”
Ruxirl’airequitadedormir(*L’aireruxir…)
Toroarthewindpreventsoftosleep(Thewindtoresound…)
“Theroaringofwindpreventssleeping”
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(5)
*Lladrarlosperrosespertómepelanueche(/*losperroslladrar)
Tobarkthedogswokeup-meatthenight(/Thedogstobark…)
“Thebarkingofdogswokemeupatnight”
However, infinitives without article are also possible with causative or
experimentalverbs,evenexpressingatemporalvalue,alwayswithpostponedsubject
(as8):
(6)
Lladrarlosperrosalertónosdelapresenciad’estraños(*losperroslladrar…)
Tobarkthedogswarned-usofthepresenceofstrangers(*Thedogstobark…)
“Barkingdogswarnedusofthepresenceofstrangers”
Ruxirl’airedesanimólosdesalir(*L’aireruxir…)
Toroarthewinddiscouraged-themoftoleave(*Thewindtoresound…)
“Roaringwinddiscouragedthemtoleave”
Thus, main verb determines the position of the subject in the clause and
provides tense to the infinitive, depending on either the presence of article or the
semantic features involved. In this sense, subjects referred to human beings show a
particularbehavior.Ifcommonnouns,postverbalplacementisanywaysrequired:
(7)
(El)colarlafíadionosunagranpena/*(El)lafíacolar…
(The)todepartthedaughterbrought-usagreatsorrow/(The)thedaughter…
“Thedepartureofourdaughterbroughtusgreatsorrow”
(El)cantarlosneñosalegrónoslacasa/*(El)losneñoscantar…
(The)tosingthechildrengladenedusthehome/*(The)thechildrentosing
“Thesingingofchildrengladenedourhome”
However, with a higher degree of determinacy (when subject is expressed by
proper names or pronouns), the article-preceding infinitive is precisely which allows
bothpreverbalandpostverbalposition:
(8)
ColarMaríadionosunagranpena/*Maríacolar…
TodepartMarybrought-usagreatsorrow/*Maríatodepart…
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“Mary’sdeparturebroughtusgreatsorrow”
Trabayartupelanuechenun-yprestaalafamilia/*Tutrabayar…
Toworkyouat-thenightnot-thempleasestothefamily/*Youtowork…
“Yourworkingatnightdoesn’tpleaseyourfamily”
(9)
ElcolarMaríadionosunagranpena/ElMaríacolar….
ThetodepartMarybrought-usagreatsorrow/TheMarytodepart…
“Mary’sdeparturegaveusgreatsorrow”
Eltrabayartupelanuechenun-yprestaalafamilia/Eltutrabayar…
Thetoworkyouat-thenightnot-thempleasestothefamily/Theyoutowork“Your
workingatnightdoesn’tpleaseyourfamily”
As seen in (7), (8), (9) the lack of article in this kind of subjects allows their
antepositiontoinfinitiveonlywhenthisisdeterminedbyel,whiletheco-occurrence
ofarticleswithbothinfinitiveandsubjectavoidsit.Evenmore,thoughthearticleof
infinitive usually prevails over that of noun, in copular sentences (as seen in 3) even
thearticleofthesubjectcantakethecontroloverthewholeinfinitiveclauseincaseof
preverbalplacement:
(10) Ellladrarlosperrosyenormal/Losperroslladraryenormal/*Ellosperroslladrarye
normal.
“Thebarkingofdogsisanormalthing”
Elcantarlosneñosyeseñald’alegría/Losneñoscantaryeseñald’alegría/*Ellosneños
cantaryeseñald’alegría.
“Thesingingofchildrenisasignofjoy”
Therefore, article works as an agreement marker between both of them, its
presencebeingobligatoryinthiskindofstructures,aswellasprevalentovertense,in
asimilarwaytoinfinitiveofGalicianandPortuguese(seealsoRaposo1987:95-97).
3.Verbalinfinitives
Let’sconsidernowverbalinfinitiveswhosesubjectissupposedtobethatofthe
matrixsentence(11,12).InSpanish,insuchstructures,infinitiveusuallychangesintoa
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subordinated clause with finite verb when subjects differ (me alegro de venir “I’m
happy to come (myself)” but me alegro de que vengas “I’m happy that you come”).
Likewise, the so-called influence verbs keep on the same pattern in the first case (se
impuso a sí mismo dejar de fumar “he forced himself to quit smoking”) but both
optionsifdifferentsubjects(impusoasushijosdejardefumar/quedejasendefumar
“heforcedhissonstoquitsmoking”).
AsforAsturian,infinitiveispossibleevenwhensubjectsdiffer:
(11) Alégromedevenir(yo)/Alégromedevenirtu
Rejoicemeoftocome(I)/Rejoicemeoftocomeyou
“I’mhappytocome(myself)”/“I’mhappythatyoucome”
Confórmomecontrabayar(yo)/Confórmomecontrabayarellos
Settleformewithtowork(I)/settleformewithtoworkthey
“Isettleforworking(myself)/“Isettleforthemtowork”
Andalso:
(12) Prometívenir(yo)/Prometívenirlosgüelos
Promisedtocome(I)/promisetocomethegrandfathers
“Ipromisedtocome(myself)”/“Ipromisedgrandparentswouldcome”
Asegúromesabelo(yo)/Asegúromesabeloelles
makesure-metoknow-it(I)/Makesure-metoknow-itthey
“I’dmakesuretoknowit(myself)”/“I’dmakesurethattheyknowit”
Anyways, subordinate clauses are also a common option for the last case
(alégromedequevengastu,confórmomeconquetrabayenellos[11],prometíquelos
güelosveníen,asegúromequ’elleslosaben,paezmequevosotrostenéisrazón[12]).
Notethatinsentenceswithaprepositionalmainverb(11)onlythefirstperson
pronounyomayoptionallyprecedetheinfinitive.
(13) Alégromedeyovenir/*Alégromedetuvenir
“I’mhappytocome(myself)”/“I’mhappythatyoucome”
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Confórmomeconyotrabayar/*Confórmomeconellostrabayar
“Isettleforworking(myself)/“Isettlethattheywork”
Insuchcases,preverbalpositionimpliesidentitybetweeninfinitivesubjectand
addresser.Meanwhile,withnon-prepositionalverbs,anykindofsubjectcanbeplaced
beforeinfinitive,ontheconditionofbeingthesameforbothsentenceandclause:
(14) Yoprometívenir/Prometíyovenir
“Ipromisedtocome(myself)”
Yoprometívenirlosgüelos/*Prometíyovenirlosgüelos
“Ipromisedgrandparentswouldcome”
Tuprometistivenir/Prometistituvenir
“Youpromisedtocome(yourself)”
Tuprometistivenirlafía/*Prometistituvenirlafía
“Youpromisedthatyourdaughterwouldcome”.
Analternativemodelcanbefoundinothercontextswhereinfinitiveisoptionally
interpretable as a noun complement. Like in Spanish, if subjects differ, subordinates
clauseswithfiniteverbarerequired:
(15) Tengomieudeviaxar(yo)/dequ’ellaviaxe
Havefearoftotravel(I)/ofthatshetravel
“I’mafraidoftravelling”/“I’mafraidthatshewilltravel”
Yeculpabledeperdese(él)/dequeseperdierenlosneños
Isguiltyoftoloss-refl.(he)/ofthatrefl-lost thechildren
“Heisguiltyofhavinggetlost”(himself)/“heisguiltyofchildrenhavinggetlost”
However, in Asturian, infinitive clauses are also possible even when subjects
differ,requiringsomediscourseopeningtobeacceptable:
(16) Tengomieudeviaxarella(ynunvolver)
Havefearoftotravelshe(andnottocomeback)
‘’I’mafraidthatshewilltravel(andwon’tcomeback)”
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Yeculpabledeperdeselosneños(ymancase)
Isguiltyoftolossthechilden(andhurt)
“Heisguiltyofchildrenhavinggetlost(andhurt)”
Thus, while in (11) and (13) the subject of infinitive is controlled by addresser,
andin(12)and(14)dependsonthecoincidencebetweensentenceandclause,in(1516)itspresenceandpositionrequiresnon-identityofsubjectsbetweensentenceand
clause, as well as, at least, the expectative of a second consecutive infinitive, not
necessarilyspecified,withthesamesubject.Inanycase,infinitiveclauseiscontrolled
fromthediscourselevel.
Noteworthyisthatthelastexamplescorrespondtoutterancesorientedeitherto
causesandexperimentantsortoconsequences,andthattheycanbeinterpretedina
modal way. The same kind of oriented infinitive can be found in some imperative
sentences,usuallyperiphrasiswithmovementverbs,inwhichanoriginalpreposition
canbeomitted:venllavateyo(“comeheresothatI’llwashyou”),trai’lplatufregalu
(“bringmetheplatesothatIcanwashit”),baxadátelu(“comedownandI’llgiveitto
you”). The anteposition of subjects is also general in final contexts, similarly to
Galician-Portuguese inflected infinitive and even to some varieties of Spanish (NGLE
501-502; Suñer 1986; Morales 1989). Unlike Spanish standard, this kind of infinitives
licenseadifferentsubjectfromthatofmatrixsentence,providingevidenceslikethese:
(17) Haiquemercarplátanospalosneñosmerendar/pamerendarlosneños
“Wemustbuybananasforchildrentosnackon”
Truxeronlaferramientapayotrabayar/patrabayaryo
“Theyprovidedthetoolsformetowork”
Inthesestructureswecannoteaprogressiveassimilationofmodal,probabilistic
sense in the infinitive clause at the expense of strictly temporal meaning. The
weakening it implies for tense in the infinitive clause could explain the variable
position of subject. Actually, in strictly temporal constructions (akin to Spanish antes
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demarcharAna,despuésdevenirJuan,alllegarelmomento,etc.),Asturianoffersa
complexphenomenologyconcerningthepossibleplacementofsubject.Ingeneral,it
seemstobegovernedbythesamerulescommentedabove(regardingpropernouns
andpronouns)givingrisetodifferentsensenuances.Considertheseexamples:
(18) AntesdecolarAna/Antesd’Anacolar(Antesd’acabarlaseronda/*Antesdelaseronda
acabar)
“BeforeAnneleaves”(“Beforeautumnends”)
Depués de venir Xuan/ Depués de Xuan venir (Depués de venir l’iviernu/*Depués de
l’iviernuvenir)
“AfterJohncame”(“AfterWintercame”)
Alyollegar/Alllegaryo(Alllegarelmomentu/*Alelmomentullegar)
“WhenIcame”(“Whenthemomentarrived”)
Butthemorerelevantthinghereistheexpressionofdifferentsensesdepending
onthesubjectplacement.Whileitspostpositiontypicallyindicatesthetemporalframe
in which the main event develops, preverbal location tends to suggest some
contrafactualmeaningintheinfinitiveclausewithregardtomatrixsentence,evenin
aninterpellativeway:
(19) AntesdetrabayarAna,lafamiliavivíamal
BeforeoftoworkAnne,thefamilylivedbadly
“BeforeAnnebeganworking,herfamilylivedbadly”
Antesd’Anatrabayar,trabayoyo
BeforeofAnnetowork,workI
“IprefertoworkmyselfratherthanAnne”
(20) DepuésdevenirXuan,lescosesmeyoraron
AfteroftocomeJohn,thethingsimproved
“AfterJohn’scoming,thingsimproved”
DepuésdeXuanvenircontantotrabayu,nun-ydaisninlesgracies
AfterofJohntocomewithgreatwork,nothimgiveeventhethanks
“AlthoughJohncamewithgreateffort,youdon’teventhankhim”
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(21) Alllegaryo,laxentetabacallao
AtthetoarriveI,thepeoplewasquiet
‘WhenIarrived,peoplewasquiet’
Alyollegar,laxentecalló
AttheItoarrive,thepeopleshutup
“Uponmyarrival,peopleshutup””
Notethatthestrongertemporalmeaning,thehigherprobabilityforpostverbal
placements; and the more weakness of tense in favor of modal sense, the higher
tendencytopreverbal.Thisseemstobecoherentwiththehigherdegreeofdiscursive
opening shown in general by this kind of infinitive clauses with respect to their
correlativeswithfiniteverb.
Inthisgeneralframe,wearetohighlighttheso-calledrelativeinfinitives.Wewill
considertwodifferentkindsofrelativeinfinitiveinAsturian:theoneinsertedbythe
typicalrelativepronounsandasecondonethatconsistsonsomeidiomaticpatternsin
whichinfinitivesareintroducedbytheprepositiondeoarticle+de.
4.Quien+infinitive
In Spanish, relative infinitive clauses are only possible in oblique contexts, the
relative depending on the presence of a preposition (alguien con quien hablar
“somebodytotalkwith”)orifitsantecedentdoesnotworkassubjectoftheinfinitive
(varioslibrosqueleer“somebookstoread”).Moreover,theyusuallyoccurinpatterns
withnoantecedent(nohayconquienhablar“there’snobodytotalkwith”)orwhen
antecedenthasanindefiniteorgenericsense(nadaquehacer“nothingtodo”)(NGLE,
507).
Asturian differentialism concerns personal relative pronoun quien (uninflected
fornumber),foritcanrefertotheinfinitivesubjectinnon-prepositionalcontexts:
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(22) Nunhuboquienlaquerer/Nunhuboquienlaquixera
Notwaswhohertolove/Notwaswhoherloved
“Therewasnobodytoloveher”
Tienbienquienluayudar/Tienbienquienluayude
Hehaswellwhohimhelp/Hehaswellwhohimhelps
“There’salotofpeopletohelphim”
Copulativesentencesorwithagenericexistentialsense(¿Nunvendráquiénnos
ayudar?, “Would anybody come to help us?”) refuse any explicit antecedent nearly
always, as it also happens in other relative clauses with quien and finite verb in
Asturian (GLLA 1998: 227-228). On the other hand, if explicit antecedent, the
impersonalrelativepronounqueandafiniteverbarerequired:
(23) Nun hubo persona que la quixera/*Nun hubo persona quien la querer/*Nun hubo
personaquienlaquixera
“Therewasnopersonwholovedher”
Tien bien parientes que lu ayuden/*Tien bien parientes quien lu ayudar/ *Tien bien
parientesquienluayuden
“He’sgotmanyrelativeswho’dhelphim”
However, specified antecedent is possible when acting as the object of the
infinitive:
(24) Nunhubopersonaaquienquerer
Notwaspersontowhotolove
“Therewasnopersonshemight/shouldlove”
Tienparientesaquienayudar
Hasrelativestowhotohelp
“He’sgotrelativeshemight/shouldhelp’
Insuchcases,infinitiveallowshumansubjectsifexpressedbyapropernounora
pronoun (see above), the subject agreeing or differing from that of the matrix
sentence.Theplacementofthissubjectisfree:
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(25) Xuantienparientesaquienayudarél/Xuantienparientesaquienélayudar
“Johnhasgotrelativestowhomhemight/shouldhelp”
Xuantienparientesaquienayudaryo/Xuantienparientesaquienyoayudar.
“JohnhasgotrelativesImight/shouldhelp”
Therelativeclausecanherebeinsertedbyimpersonalrelativepronounque(cf.
Xuan tien parientes a los qu’él ayudar). Nevertheless, a non-human subject does not
seem viable in the infinitive clause (*María tien parientes a quien lladrar los perros
“Mary has got relatives to whom dogs might/should bark”). Moreover, in (25) it’s
visible some modal sense (obligatory or probabilistic), not obvious when relative
infinitivesrefertoasubjectantecedent,witharatherfactualsense(see22-23,where
it is assumed that “in fact, nobody loves her” or “indeed, he has relatives that help
him”).
Therefore, we are facing again grammatical constructions akin to the inflected
infinitiveinGalicianandPortugueseregardingthepossibilityofapreverbalsubject.In
any case, the restriction of this pattern to human subjects (and to relative pronoun
quien)isremarkableinlinewiththeabovementionedcases,aswellastheemergence
of modal senses in spite of temporal, as seen in previous chapters. Actually, some
examples considered there (see 16), though taken from verbal phrases, were also
interpretableaspossiblepatternsofrelativeinfinitivewithnominalantecedent(mieu
deviaxar).Precisely,aconsequenceofthegrammaticalrelevanceofrelativeinfinitives
in Asturian (and more specifically of their constructions with subject) will be the
development of some other idiomatic patterns of relative, apart from the typically
articulatedbyquien,que,etc.
5.Non-humannoun+prepositionde+infinitive
Relative patterns noun + preposition + infinitive are common either in Asturian
and Spanish. Though prepositions may vary, we are to circumscribe this analysis to
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cases with de. Note, first of all, that these patterns represent the inverse,
complementarymodeltothetypeofnouninfinitiveexemplifiedin(2)(infinitive+de+
noun),aboveanalyzed.
In such patterns, the different behavior between human and non-human
antecedentshouldbenotedagain.Asforthenon-humannouns,inSpanish,phrases
likecañadepescar(“fishingrod”),horadedormir(“timetosleep”),etc.usuallymean
typifiedconcepts,implyingastablesemanticlinkbetweenbothelements,sothatthey
may be fixed as mere noun phrases without any eventive meaning. But, once again,
the same construction happens to be more versatile in Asturian, since it can be
referred to a circumstantial link between noun and infinitive, eliciting anyway some
modal,obligatoryorprobabilisticmeaning(like25)oratleastsomeintentionalsense:
(26) Elcochedepintarmetiéronludientro’lgaraxe
Thecaroftopainthaveput-itinsidethegarage
“Theymovedthecartobepaintedintothegaraje”
On the other hand, the semantic relationship between noun and infinitive is
restrictedinSpanishtotheperformativeframeoftheeventmeantbyverb(horade
dormir) or else to instrumental, causative factors (caña de pescar). Anyway, a verbobjectrelationshipisneverspecified.Nevertheless,inAsturian,antecedentscanwork
astheobjectofinfinitive(in26isthecarthatmustbepainted),somethingespecially
visibleinsomeredundantsemanticpatterns:
(27) Elllibrudelleertiénesluenribalamesa
Thebookoftoreadhave-you-itonthetable
“Thebookyoumustreadisonthetable”
Elvinodebeberyelod’esabotella
Thewineoftodrinkisitofthatbottle
“Thewinewecan/mustdrinkisthatinthatbottle”
Here, further the modal sense suggested in translation (cf. English a book to
read),thereisanaddeddegreeofspecification(abookoraclassofwineareopposed
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tootherpossible).Thus,thisconstructionaddsbothmodalandspecificativemeaning,
notdefinedbyagenericqualitylikeotherkindofrelatives(cf.Porfintopéunllibruque
lleer “at last I’ve found a suitable book for me to read”) but through certain
performativeconditions.
Note the parallelism between this class of prepositional relative infinitives and
the corresponding with quien, regarding either their possibility of both subject and
object antecedent, their elicited modal sense or the different degrees of referential
determinacy.
Moreover, these infinitive clauses license specified subject. When a
circumstantial, instrumental or causative relationship between noun and infinitive is
assumed,thepositionofsubjectisoptional,avoidingthelexicalizationoftheinfinitive
phrase:
(28) Lacañade(yo)pescar(yo)/Lamiocañadepescar
Therodof(I)tofish(I)/Themyfishingrod
“TherodIusually/mustfishwith”/“Myfishingrod”
Laropade(tu)vistir(tu)/Latoropadevistir
Thewearof(you)towear(you)/Theyourclothesformalwear
“Theclothesyoucan/mustwear”/“Yourformalclothes”.
Usually, the intercalated item is a pronoun or, less frequently, a more complex
subject,humananyway:
(29) Lacañade(miopadre)pescar(miopadre)/Lacañadepescardemiopadre
“Therodmyfatherusually(/must)fisheswith”/“Myfather’sfishingrod”
Elperrude(lmiohermanu)cazar(elmiohermanu)/Elperrudecazadelmiohermanu
“Thedogmybrotherusually(/must)huntswith”/“Mybrother’shuntingdog”
Notethat,ingenericclauseswithque,specifiedsubjectsseemtobemoreclearly
restrictedtopostverbalposition:
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(30) Porfinalcontréunllibruquelleeryo/*queyolleer
AtlastfoundabookthattoreadI/*ThatItoread
“AtlastI’vefoundabookformetoread”
Hence, the anteposition of subject in the former examples is correlated to a
maximumdegreeofperformativespecification.Ifnounactsastheobjectofinfinitive,
itssyntacticbehaviordoesnotseemsubstantiallydifferent:
(31) Elcochede(yo)pintar(yo)
“ThecarImust/canPaint”
Elllibrude(tu)lleer(tu)
“Thebookyoumust/canread”
Elvinode(nosotros)beber(nosotros)
“Thewinewemust/candrink”
However, in (31) modal sense is highly remarked. Then, it may be seen a
gradationbetweenrelativeinfinitiveswithque(30),thosewithdeandinstrumentalor
causative antecedent (28-29) and relative infinitives with their object as antecedent
(31).Ifthefirstones(restrictedtoobjectpositionwithrespecttomatrixverb)express
a generic, qualitative sense (un llibru que lleer yo “a suitable book for me to read”),
clauses with either instrumental or causative antecedents oscillate between both
aspectualandmodalvalues(lacañadeyopescar“therodwithwhichIusuallyfish”,
“withwhichImay/mustfish”).Meanwhile,inclauseswithobjectasantecedent,modal
sense (obligative or intentional) is clearly prevalent, as well as non-existent or very
weakthepurelyaspectual:elllibrudetulleer“thebookyoumustread”or“youare
allowedtoread”.
By comparing this phenomenology with the evidences considered in previous
chapters,wecanseethatrelativestructuresde+infinitivearecomplementarytothe
typical ones by que/quien + infinitive, the full activation of verbal values (temporal,
aspectualandmodal)beingmadeinasimilarwaytopersonalrelativequien.
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6.Humannoun+de+infinitive
ThereareinSpanishsomelexicalizedconstructionshumannoun+de+infinitive
(una persona de trabajar, un hombre de comer, una mujer de hablar claro, etc.) in
which both quantitative and aspectual values are involved (“a person who usually
workshard”,“amanwhousuallyeatmuch”,“awomanwhousuallyspeaksout”).In
them, noun acts systematically as the subject of the infinitive. These patterns follow
some syntactic restrictions: they seem to need concise, generic references ([un]
hombredecomer,[una]mujerdehablarclaro,but#elhombredecomer,#lamujerde
hablar claro) and often occur in attributive sentences (Manuel es [un] hombre de
comer;Maríaparece[una]mujerdehablarclaro).
The same pattern does not offer these class of restrictions in Asturian and,
moreover, it can mean generic, quantitative and aspectual senses (32) as well as
authentictemporalizedevents(33):
(32) L’homedetrabayarganamásque’lqueyefolgazán
Themanoftoworkearnmorethanthethatislazy
“Hardworkingmen(usually),earnmorethanthelazyones”
(33) Loshomesdetrabayarmásdurotuvierondepuésmásvacaciones
Themenoftoworkmorehardhadthenmoreholidays
“Themenwhoworkedharder,hadmoreholidaysafterwards”
Lamuyerdefalarclaroconvidólosdepuésaunescopes
Thewomanoftospeakclearlyinvited-themthentosomecups
“Thatwomanwhohadspokenout,invitedthemforadrinklater”
ElmozudetraenosencocheyeraprimudeXuan
Theboyoftobring-usincarwascousinofJohn
“ThatboywhobroughtusbycarwasJohn’scousin”
As in 33, human noun + de + infinitive has a strongly specificative sense
(“precisely these men, that woman or that boy”), in such a way that it is especially
commonwithoutanyexplicitantecedent,thisonebeingassumed(seenextchapter).
Moreover, the pre-eminence of this specificative value explains why equational
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sentencesseemtobethenormalcontextforthesestructures:
(34) Ye’lmioprimu’ldetarcansáu
Isthemycousintheoftobetired
“It’sreallymycousinwho’stired”
YeMaríaladesertrabayadora
IsMarytheoftobehardworking
“It’spreciselyMarywhoishardworking”
FoiXuaneld’aparcarelcoche
WasJohntheoftoparkthecar
“ItwasJohnwhoactuallyparkedthecar”
On the other hand, human antecedent rejects acting as the object of the
infinitive, the alternative being a que clause with a finite verb, as proof of
complementaritybetweenbothconstructions:
(35) L’homequeyocontratétrabayóduro/*L’homedecontrataryo…
“ThemanIhiredworkedhard”
Lamuyerquetuconocíesfalabaclaro/*Lamuyerdeconocertu…
“Thewomanyouknewspokeout”
However,possiblecounterexamplescanbefound,reflecting,togetherwithhigh
determination (36), a singular marking of modal, intentional values (37) in an
interpellativewaygeneratedinthediscourselevel:
(36) Elfontaneruderecomendateyotrabayóbien
“(Considerthat)TheplumberI’verecommendedyouworkedfine(preciselythatone)”
(37) Elfontaneruderecomendateyotienqueserseriu
“(Considerthat)Aplumbermustbeveryfine,sothatIcouldrecommendhimtoyou”.
Then,thiskindofhumanantecedentsactingasinfinitiveobjectsbehaveinfact
likeinanimatenouns,theonlydifferencebeingtheirapparentdifficultyinsettingthe
subjectbeforetheinfinitiveinthelastcase,unlesslackofantecedent(seenextsection):
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(38) *Elfontanerudeyorecomendatetienqueserseriu
*Elfontanerudeyorecomendatetrabayóbien
7.Article+de+infinitiveasexplicativerelative
Thestronglyspecificativesenseofthisclassofsentencesalsoexplainsthehigh
frequency of this relative construction with assumed, tacit antecedent, namely with
sequencesarticle+de+infinitive(see33):
(39) EldetraenosencocheyeraXicu
Theoftobring-usincarwasXicu
“ItwasXicuwhobrought/shouldbringusbycar”
LadefalarclaroyelamozadeManuel
TheoftospeakclearlyisthegirlofManuel
“It’sManuel’sgirlwhospeaks/mustspeakout”
Insuchcases,antecedentastheobjectoftheinfinitiveiscommonandevenmay
condition the presence and position of subjects. Sometimes, depending on verbal
semantics, a specified subject is required to remove any ambiguity concerning both
argumentrolesandmodalortensevaluesinvolved:
(40) a.Eld’avisarllegótarde
“Thatonewhoshouldhavewarnedarrivedlate”
Eldeyoavisarllegótarde
“ThatonetowhomIwarned(/shouldhavewarned)arrivedlate”
b.LadecontrataryeMaría
“It’sMarythepersontobehired”or“whomusthirepeople”
LadecontratarlaCIAyeMaría
“It’sMarywhowas(/shouldbe)hiredbytheCIA”
Anyways,tacitobjectsasantecedentslicensepreverbalpositionofsubjectinthe
infinitiveclause(unlike38):
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(41) Eldeyorecomendatetrabayóbien(see36)
Eldeyorecomendatetienqueserseriu(see37)
Likeinpreviousexamples,thepresenceandplacementoftheinfinitivesubject
aswellastenseandmodalvaluesinvolvedinrelativeclauseseemtobecontrolledin
thediscourselevel.
Ontheotherhand,article+de+infinitiveoftenworksasanexplicativerelative
clause,tosomeextentautonomouswithrespecttothematrixsentence:
(42) Xicu,eldetraenosencoche,yesobríndeRoberto
“Xicu,theonewhobrought(/usuallybring)usbycar,isRobert’snephew”
María,ladeconvidanosacenar,quiercasasecolxefe
“Mary,theonewhoinvited(/usuallyinvites)ustodinner,wantstomarryherboss”
Tu,eldetantoquexate,nuntrabayestantocomodices
“You,theonewhocomplainssomuch(/althoughyoucomplain),don’tworkashardas
yousay”
The most remarkable thing about these constructions is their clearly temporalaspectual interpretation, lacking of an obvious modal sense. Moreover, their
grammaticalityfullydependseitheronthedegreeofspecificationoftheantecedentor
on the meaning of infinitive, regardless of semantics of noun and main verb or its
syntacticrolewithrespecttomatrixsentence.Moreover,togetherwithpropernames
andpersonalpronouns(asseenin42),thisstructureallowseveryhighlydetermined
nounasitsantecedent,eitherexplicitly(bymeansofdemonstrativesorpossessives)or
byamerecontextualassumption:
(43) Esarapaza,lad’avisaralmédicu,yeraestranxera
“Thatgirl,theonewhowarnedthedoctor,wasaforeigner”
Esosperros,losdelladrartanto,llevabendíesensincomer
“Thosedogs,theonesbarkingsomuch,hadnoteatenindays”
Aquelcoche,eldeturriarcontral’árbol,nunpasaralarevisión
“Thatcar,theonethatcrashedagainstthetree,hadfailedthereview”
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Undersimilarconditions,antecedentsalsomayworkasobjectsoftheinfinitive,
theinsertionofaspecifiedsubjectbeingthenpossible:
(44) Esifontaneru,elde(yo)recomendate(yo),saliótebaratu
“Thisplumber,theoneIrecommendedyou,workedcheaply”
Aquelperru,elde(Xuan)amarrar(Xuan)alárbol,mordíalosvecinos
“Thatdog,theoneJohntiedtothetree,usedtobitetheneighbors”
Inthesecases,subjectscanbefreelyplacedifpropernamesorpronouns(44),
whereasothernounsareobligatorilypostverbal:
(45) Esi fontaneru, el de recomendate los vecinos, salióte baratu /*el de los vecinos
recomendate.
“Thatplumber,theonetheneighborsrecommendedyou,workedcheaply”
Aquelperru,eld’amarrarlosneños,mordíaalosvecinos/*eldelosneñosamarrar
“Thatdog,theonethechildrentied,usedtobitetheneighbors”
The semantics of infinitive is what determines the grammatical suitability of
these patterns. Unlike transitive verbs, infinitives of unaccusatives seem to need
temporaldelimitation:
(46) Nel, el de marchar ceo, nun llegó a conocelu (*Nel, el de marchar Ø, nun llegó a
conocelu)
“Nel,theonewholeftearly,didn’tgettomeethim”
Modalverbsalsorequireconcurrenceofeitheranobjectoroasecondinfinitive:
(47) Xuan,eldequerermarchar(/lamoto),mercóuncoche/*Xuan,eldequererØ,mercóun
coche
“John,theonewhowantedtoleave(/themotorbike),hasboughtacar”
Finally, in case of copulas or passive patterns, these relative clauses are only
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viable if a quantifier is added (or pragmatically assumed), the infinitive construction
implyingthenintentionalsenseandevencontrafactualmeaning:
(48) Xuan,eldesertantrabayador,pidió’lretiru(/*eldeserØtrabayador)
“John,theonesupposedtobesohardworking,requestedretirement”
María,ladetartancansada,siguiódefolixatolanueche/*ladetarØcansada
“Mary,theonesupposedtofeelsotired,keptonpartyingallnight”
8.Conclusion
Asturianshowsacomplexgradationbetweennounandverbalinfinitives,witha
moreopenrangeofcasesthaninSpanish(FernándezLagunilla1987;DeMiguel1995;
Rigau1995;Hernanz1999;Ortega-Santos2003;MartínezConesa2011;Paz2013)and,
in general, relatively close to Galician and Portuguese. This is reflected in the
widespreadpossibilityofpreverbalsubjectswithininfinitiveclauses,althoughitdoes
notcorrelateswiththepresenceofpersonandnumbermarkersintheinfinitive,asthe
so-calledinflectedinfinitiveidiosyncraticofthetwowesternibero-romancelanguages.
Differences between Spanish and Galician-Portuguese (see also recent
comparativestudiesbyGawelko2005;Vanderschueren2013)havebeenexplainedas
a result of the pre-eminence of tense flexion in Spanish towards agreement in its
westernneighbors.Givenourevidences,theintermediatesituationofAsturiancould
also be explained by the relatively weakness of tense and the higher strength of
determinative,specificativevalues,typicallyrelatedtoagreement.
Ingeneral,bothtenseandpreverbalplacementofsubjectsstronglydependon
the level of determinacy of infinitives, their subject or even their antecedents, if
relativeclauses.Asforthefirstones,throughdifferentsyntacticstructures,wehave
seen how mainly the infinitives determined or controlled by articles allow preverbal
placementfortheirsubjects.Inasimilarway,thecommonpatternsofinfinitivewitha
preceding subject usually occur with personal pronouns and human or highly
determinednouns.Allofthatleadsustoconfirmthepre-eminenceofagreementover
tense.
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Meanwhile,someconsideredidiomaticstructuresshowhowtemporalmeaning
tendstobedisplacedininfinitiveclausesbyaspectual,modalocontrafactualsenses.
This gives an idea of the weakness of tense in infinitive clauses and, otherwise,
correlates to a higher tendency to preverbal subjects, under the above mentioned
conditions.
Finally, together with the semantics of verbs as a regulatory factor for the
placementofsubject,wehaveseenhowitspositionmaystronglydependoncertain
kindofpragmaticassumptionsofthediscourselevel.
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