The formal properties of non paradigmatic 'se'

  1. Romero, Juan Romero 1
  2. Ormazabal, Javier 2
  1. 1 Universidad de Extremadura
    info

    Universidad de Extremadura

    Badajoz, España

    ROR https://ror.org/0174shg90

  2. 2 Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
    info

    Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea

    Lejona, España

    ROR https://ror.org/000xsnr85

Journal:
Borealis: An International Journal of Hispanic Linguistics

ISSN: 1893-3211

Year of publication: 2019

Issue Title: he grammar of verbal periphrases

Volume: 8

Issue: 1

Pages: 55-84

Type: Article

DOI: 10.7557/1.8.1.4704 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openOpen access editor

More publications in: Borealis: An International Journal of Hispanic Linguistics

Abstract

Following Oca (1914), this article argues that passive and impersonal se constructions in Spanish are regular transitive constructions where the pronominal clitic seis the argumental subject. Several arguments (secondary predication, non-argumental predicates, control and obviation, anaphora binding, active morphology or its alignment with overt nominative pronouns, among others)show that (i)bothconstructions are active structures, (ii)despite what agreement facts might suggest, in both the internal argument of the verb is not the subject but the direct object throughout the derivation, (iii) se is the active nominative pronominal subject of the construction. We argue that the alleged ‘special’ properties of passive-se are not construction-specific but follow from the lexical specifications of se agreeing with Tense as a quirky subject.

Data source: Dialnet