THE ACCUSATIVE CLITIC IN ... - publicacions.ub.edu

Dialectologia.Specialissue,V(2015),191-217.ISSN:2013-2247

191

Received6September2015.

Accepted9October2015.

THEACCUSATIVECLITICININTRANSITIVEVERBCONSTRUCTIONS:

AÍOVAI,AQUÍASESTÁN1

RosarioÁLVAREZ

InstitutodaLinguaGalega-UniversidadedeSantiagodeCompostela

[email protected]

Abstract

Followingabriefpresentationonthetreatmentreceivedinpreviousgrammaticalstudies,theAí

osveñen(eles)-typeconstructionisdescribedbyfocusingonthecharacteristicsandbehaviourofclitics,

the verb, the adverb and the subject. This study highlights current changes which explain the

discrepancies in the descriptions undertaken by different scholars who have addressed it until the

present.Subsequently,thedialectaldistributionisexamined,withacartographyofthedataofthemain

verbs(ir/virandestar),displayingasouth-westernareawithacentralaxisinthePontevedraestuary,

provided. Hypotheses presented regarding their origin, linked to the use of the accusative cliticwith

other presentative adverbs and especially the vicissitudes of ei(s), are then considered. Finally,

conclusions are presented regarding the pragmatic function of the clitic, variations observed in its

construction,diatopicdistribution,possibleoriginsandpresentusage.

Keywords

accusativeclitic,pragmaticfunction,presentativeadverb,subject

CLÍTICOACUSATIVOENCONSTRUCIÓNSCONVERBOINTRANSITIVO:AÍOVAI,AQUÍASESTÁN

Resumo

Tras unha breve presentación do tratamento recibido en estudos gramaticais anteriores,

descríbeseaconstrucióndotipoAíosveñen(eles)baseándosenascaracterísticasecomportamentodo

1ThisworkhasbeensupportedbytheXuntadeGalicia(ConselleríadeCultura,EducacióneOrdenaciónUniversitaria)andtheEuropeanUnion(undergrantcodeGRC2013/40).

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clítico,doverbo,doadverbioedosuxeito.Naexposiciónmóstranseoscambiosencurso,queexplican

as discrepancias nas descricións realizadas polos diferentes autores que se ocuparon dela ata o

presente.Aseguirexponseadistribucióndialectal,concartografíadosdatosdosverbosprincipais(ir/

vireestar),mostrandounhaáreasuroccidentalcoeixecentralnaríadePontevedra.Seguenhipóteses

argumentadassobreaorixe,vinculadaaousodoclíticoacusativoconoutrosadverbiospresentativose

especialmenteásvicisitudesdeei(s).Nocabo,as conclusións sobrea funciónpragmáticadoclítico,a

variaciónobservadanaconstrución,adistribucióndiatópica,asposiblesorixeseavixenciaactual.

Palabraschave

clíticoacusativo,funciónpragmática,adverbiopresentativo,suxeito

Introduction

Theconstructionstudiedhasthreepeculiarcharacteristicswhichdistanceitfrom

all others in Galician grammar and language: the accusative clitic accompanies an

intransitive predicative verb, and therefore cannot be analyzed as a DO or as an

attribute.Thecliticisnotcommutablewithaphrasecontaininganominalnucleus(or

tonic pronoun). The clitic shows signsof agreement in gender andnumberwith the

subjectof the sentence. To this canbeaddedother secondary characteristicswhich

arealsoimportant,andinwhichitfeatureswithotherconstructions.

1.Stateofthequestionandcurrentobjective

Galician grammars did not include these constructions until Álvarez,

Monteagudo & Regueira (1986: 173). The work of Freixeiro follows this: his

Morfosintaxe (2002: 131) andEstilística (2013: 124), andalsoÁlvarez&Xove (2002:

550),although itdoesnot feature inCostaetal. (1988)or inamorerecentworkof

synthesis, Lópezetal. (2010). InHermida itonlyappearsasacasualexampleof the

procliticposition(2004:88).

As far as can be ascertained, it does not appear in the Galician grammatical

traditionuntilmyowndoctoralthesis,inwhichIaddressedtheseconstructionsunder


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theheading“Pronomeacusativoconverbos intransitivos”(“AccusativePronounwith

IntransitiveVerbs”).This is thedescriptionthat Iprovidedat thetime(Álvarez1980:

287):

Inspecificphrasesanunstressedaccusativepronouncanappear,agreeing

in gender and numberwith the subject of the intransitive verb. This is not the

case,evidently,ofadirectobjectorofa subject,either; its function is to signal

and seeks tohighlight theagent:Ahío vén;Alí as veñen;Alí a está. Thephrase

would lose much in emphasis and in clarity when signalling if the unstressed

pronoun were omitted (Ahí está), and the presence of the subject pronoun is

eithercommonorconveysnuances,likethatofcontradistinction,fromwhichthe

unstressedwordisexempt(ahívénelcanindicatethatelaismissing);inahíovén

itisclearwhomitisdiscussing,sincethisisclarifiedbeforehandinthediscourse,

and we wish to make our interlocutor see that we are seeing him as he

approaches, drawing his attention towards this point. It is possible that in this

piece of information, that of seeing the subject, lies the explanation of the

accusative,byconsideringittheobjectofourexperience.Idonotruleout,onthe

otherhand, the similaritywithother constructions inwhich it is adirectobject:

ahíastes(‘miraasben,aquíasestán’).For¿ulo?,seeIII-2.8.

Cidrás (1992) examined this construction when attempting to establish a

common framework able to provide theoretical coverage to all agreement

constructions, including those that are related “anomalies” and “discordances”, like

those of the cliticswhich are the focus of this study.On the premise that the basic

originalfunctionofconcordanceisnotthemarkingofthesyntacticfunctionbutthatof

“recognizing referencespresentedas fully specifiedelsewhere in thediscourseor in

thecommunicativesituation”2—a“procedurethatisreferential incharacter,deictic

innature;aresourceofcohesion,inshort”3(Cidrás1992:45),hedoesnotattemptto

consider the possible syntactic function of these clitics which copy the traces of

person, gender and number from their reference. Cases such as that of aí o vén 2 “Reidentificar referentes presentados plenamente especificados noutro lugar do discurso ou nasituacióncomunicativa.”3“Procedementodecarácterreferencial,deíndoledeíctica,unrecursodecohesión,endefinitiva”.

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constitute“stillworthwhileevidenceofhowtheprimitivepronominal functionofre-

identifying references is superimposed upon the grammaticalized function of

identifyingsyntacticalfunctions”(Cidrás1992:51).4

Longa, Lorenzo&Rigau (1996: 68) attribute toGalician “the property of using

morphologically accusative clitics as subject clitics under certain conditions”. The

attributionof the syntactical function,which theydonot debate, is basedupon the

agreementbetween the verb, lexical subject (optional) and this clitic. Thenecessary

conditionsalluded to canbe summarizedas: (a) thepossibilityof showingadoculos

theindividualsreferredtobythesubject(whichimplies,accordingtotheauthors,the

exclusive use of the present tense); (b) an appellative function, accompanied by an

exclamatory modality; (c) the presentative character, with verbs which are stative

(estar) or related to movement (vir, ir, chegar). Furthermore, other relevant

characteristicsstandout,ingoodmeasurethroughcontrastwithsimilarconstructions

registered in dialects from the north of Italy: (a) agreementmarkers corresponding

withthesubject;(b)thecomplementarydistributionwithnegation;(c)theadverbas

an“emphasizingoperator”,notanargumentofverbalconstructionplacedinastrong

position;(d)possibleuseofotheremphaticelements,liketheadverbxaormiracomo,

intheplaceofthecustomarydeicticadverbs.Followingananalysisofthedata,they

concludethattheGalicianconstructioncanbedescribed“asacompoundofthepure

subject and the modal subject clitics of the Northern Italian dialects” (1996: 70).

However, for the same authors, this accusative clitic, which acts as a form of

expressionforacertainkindofmodality (“foremphaticspurposes”), isalways inthe

functionalsphereofthesubject.WithGalicianlackingspecificcliticsforemphasis,“[it]

‘recycles’theaccusativecliticforanemphaticnominative-likeuse”(1996:72).

Moure(1999:755-756)hasexaminedthisandother“exceptional”constructions

in Galician in order to provide an explanation from a typological perspective. In his

opinion, in Aí o vai, Aquí as veñen there are signs of an ergative structure: an

identificationisproducedbetweenthesoleparticipantoftheintransitiveconstruction

(whichisnormallyidentifiedasthe“subject”)andthetransitivepatient(towhichthe

4 “Testemuños aínda rendiblesde comoaprimitiva funciónpronominal de reidentificar referentes sesobrepónágramaticalizadadeidentificarfunciónssintácticas.”


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accusative cliticization corresponds), and as a result it is an S + acus. She does not

commentuponthepossiblecompatibilitywithanom.S(Aíosvaneles),butshedoes

point out another inconsistency of this “grammatically inexplicable marginal case:

howevermuchemphasisisplaced,withtheexceptionofthiscase,Galicianclausesdo

notmarktheirsubjectsasiftheywereobjects”.5Sheassumesthatitisamatterofa

remnant from an older grammar, and that is why she proposes that this use be

considered “an effect of residual ergativity”, a “historical whim of the language”,6

whichmaintainsananomalousconstructionwithintheentiresystem.Accordingtothe

authortherefore,itbehovesthehistoricalgrammartoreconstructtheLatinusesfrom

which it has emerged and to argue the causes as to why it has endured until the

present.

I begin on this occasion from the basis of this state of the question and my

previous, uninterrupted work, regarding clitics in Galician and the constructions in

which they operate,which includes thatwhich has emerged from a broad oral and

textualcorpus,fromdialectalcollectionsintegratedintheArquivodogalegooral(Oral

Galician Archive) of the ILGa (Galician Language Institute), and also registry through

written practise, above all from the TILG (Tesouro Informatizado da Lingua Galega)

(Computerized Resource of the Galician Language). However, it is important to

underline that during recent yearsmy database has been increased with periodical

searches in texts published on the internet with a greater or lesser degree of

spontaneity (blogs, chats, articles, etc.), which bear witness to the vitality of

grammaticaluseswhicharenoteasy to recordwith traditional sources.Moreover, I

can provide data gathered through three fieldwork trips on successive occasions

(througharandomnetwork),andplannedinordertoobtain informationwithadual

perspective:grammaticaldescriptionanddialectaldistribution.Inanenquirydesigned

in 1998, three questions were included with ir, estar and quedar, and posed to

spontaneousandnaturalspeakersin32locations.In2008,10questionswereincluded

withtheverbsir/vir,estarandquedar,inanenquirycarriedoutwith115informants

5 “Caso marxinal gramaticalmente inexplicable: por moita énfase que se poña, fóra deste caso, ascláusulasdogalegononmarcanosseussuxeitoscomasefosenobxectos.”6“Unefectodeergatividaderesidual”,un“caprichohistóricodalingua”.

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ofthesametypology.Finally,in2013,Icarriedoutanenquiryof19questionswiththe

verbsir,vir,estar,quedar,andarandseguirdirectedatpeoplewithlinguistictraining

andasamajorityhailingfromareasinwhichtheexistenceoftheconstructioncanbe

demonstrated,andbyseekinggrammaticalanddiatopical information(33enquiries).

My own linguistic competence, coming frommy belonging to the communitywhich

linguistic geography reveals as the territorial heartland of this construction,may be

addedtothesefactors.

2.Advancesindescription

Withtheaforementionedbases,IbelievethatIaminapositiontoprogressin

the study of this construction, in terms of its general behaviour within the current

systemaswellastheprocessesofchangeinwhichitisimplied.Thesealsoallowmeto

definebetteritsdialectalarea,specifyingthecharactertraitof“south-western”which

Ihavebeenhighlightingformanyyears.Inanyevent,Iwillunderlinedataormarginal

informationwhichinmyopinionrequiresattentionoraspecificenquiry,inthelineof

(synchronicordiachronic)variationorofsociolinguisticassessments.7

2.1.Theclitic

Theclitic isalwaysaccusativeand in thethirdperson:o,a,os,as. Itvaries in

gender (masculine or feminine) and in number (singular or plural), in agreement

(which is established with the subject), whether or not expressly. In origin it also

agreesinperson(3P,singularandplural),althoughtodayitmaynotobservethisform

ofcohesion(see§2.4,fortheextensiontoothergrammaticalpersons):

7 The examples provided are all real. When the dialectal localization is pertinent, geographicalindications are included (the name of the district and provincial acronym). Those which come fromwritten language were almost always taken from the TILG: in order to abbreviate, only the authorreference and year are provided, with the reader being directed to the database in order to accessfurtherinformation.Thosewhichcomefromtheinternetcontainthefigureonthedocumentconsulted,wheneverthisispossible.


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(1) Aíovén.[=He,Xoán]

Aíavén.[=She,Maruxa]

Aíosveñen.[They,heandher,XoánandMaruxa]

Aíasveñen.[=They(feminine),MaruxaandCarme]

Aíosestamos.[=We,inaphoto]

Ihaveobservedinmyenquiries,however,thatsomeinformantsacceptwithout

difficulty the singular forms (aí o vai, aí a vai), but reject or display bewilderment

before those of the plural (*?aí os van, *?aí as van). A single informant, with a

backgroundinlinguistics,assertsthatthepronoundoesnotagree,sothatthesubject

ofaíovén canbemasculineor feminine,anddoesnotconsider theplural formsas

possible.All theanomalouscasesdetectedoccur inthemarginsofthedialectalarea

(see§3).

Thepresenceof theclitic isnotduetosyntacticaldemandsbuttoapragmatic

willingness.IagreewithCidrás(1992)inthatitisanidentifieroftheNP(nounphrase,

nominal or pronominal)which functions as a subject: it acts, therefore, as a kindof

redouble which emphasises the reference to an already known subject, with the

proviso that theNPdoesnotneed tobe specific. The recycling suggestedby Longa,

Lorenzo&Rigau(1996),inordertobeabletoundertakethisnewfunction,ispossible

throughthe impossibilityofattributingtoanaccusativeclitic thesyntactical function

ofdirectobjectorattributeintheconstructionsofthesepredicativeintransitiveverbs.

Inlinewiththenewfunction,aclearprosodyisadopted:thepronounalwaysoccupies

theprocliticposition,withoutanyopportunity forpauseorvoice inflectionbetween

theadverbandtheverb(see2.3).

The clitic is compatiblewith the dative of solidarity and interest. Some ofmy

informants prefer the convenience of using one of these pronouns in conjunction

because,intheiropinion,theysoftenthefrequenttoneofreproof(see§2.5).

(2) Aíchovén.

Aíchosquedan.

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2.2.Theverb

AsIhavepointedoutpreviously,thereareimportantrestrictionsinthetypeand

listofintransitiveverbswhichpermitthisconstruction.

a)Verbsofmovement:irandvir.Inprinciple,thiscanbereducedtotwoverbs:

all the speakerswho recognise the construction as part of their grammar canuse it

withthem,withoutdifferencesinfrequencyoracceptabilitybeingperceivedbetween

oneandanother.

Inthebibliography,otherverbsofmovementarementionedinpassing,without

witnesses, andwithwhich, for some speakers andnot in a generalizedmanner, the

construction also seems possible: they are verbs which express the arrival on the

scene,asaconclusionofthedirectionaldisplacementof‘vir’(aparecer,chegar,entrar,

saír).Mysearch forwitnessesproceeding fromoralorwrittentextswasnot fruitful;

therefore I cannotprovideproofof itsexistence.8However,on thebasisofmyown

linguisticcompetenceandspeakerswhousethisconstructioninanhabitualmanner,I

canaffirmtheacceptabilityofAíoscheganandsimilarexamples. I thereforebelieve

that they form part of our grammar; in the same line, it can be adduced that in

Portuguesetherewerematchingexampleswitheis(+aparecer,surdir,entrar,see§4).

b) Stative verbs: estar, andar, quedar and seguir.9Not all the informantswho

statethattheyuseoftenconstructionslikethoseof(1)recognisetheconstructionwith

stative verbs as their own; however, the opposite situation never occurs. For this

reason, Imustconclude that thespeakerswhoemploy theconstructionwith stative

verbs in their grammar form a subset that is fully integrated in the main set, and

definedbyitsusewithirandvir.Thelinguisticgeographyprovidesagoodaccountof

thisdifference,asnotonlyistheareaofmaximumdiffusionofAíoestámorereduced,

butaboveall,lesscompact(see3).

Within the territory where the construction with stative verbs is admitted, 8 IwouldliketothanktheCORGAteamfortheopportunitytoaccesstheautomatically-taggedcorpuswhilstitisstillinitstestphaseandforthisreasonnotpublic(September2015).Writtenregisterswiththese verbs were not found in this corpus either. All data with verbs of movement expunged in itcorrespondtoir(aí6,alá5)andtovir(aí8).9 Itshouldbepointedoutthat it isnotacaseofandarandseguirasverbsofmovement.Asstatives,andar and seguir form a group with estar in order to indicate action in development and the threesucceedinconstitutingaspectualperiphrases(Álvarez&Xove2002:361-363).


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gradualdifferencesof incidencearedetected. Inaccordancewiththedatacollected,

thespeakerswhouse itacceptalwaysestar; Isupposethatthisexplainstherelative

frequencyofuse in literary language. Idonotpossessmoredataproceeding froma

systematic collection regarding the use of the remaining verb, but it is sufficient to

make the following observations: it seems that the informants who use the

constructionwith estar also allow it withandar; however,more reticence is shown

withquedar,andinfactpeoplewhoacceptitwithoutreservationsinthecasescited,

state that in this it seems unusual or unacceptable to them. Finally,with seguir the

greater part of those interviewed display important objections, and in fact written

registers are hardly found.10 Therefore, the incidence of the construction within its

dialectal area can bemeasured in the followingmanner: estar > andar > quedar >

seguir.Havingseentheconstruction’sbehaviour,thisisinmyopinionthedirectionof

thediffusionwithinthesystem:itstartswithestar,andperhapswithandar, inorder

toreachtheconstructionoftheotherstativeverbs,graduallyandprogressivelywithin

thesequenceprovided.11Wecanseeonceagainsomeexamplestakenfromblogson

theInternet,aresourcewhichindicatesitscurrentstateofgrowth:

(3) Alíaestaba,acobadadanafiestra,pendurándolleatrenzacomoásprincesasdoscontos

(09/02/2010).

‘Thereshewas,leantagainstthewindow,herbraidshangingdownliketheprincessesin

fairystories’

(4) Igual que ocorreu con Retranca, nós sabemos dalgún ao que tamén lle profetizaron

pouca vida por diante, e por aí o anda, como alma en pena, polo visto inmortal

(03/12/2008).

‘InthesamewaythathappenedwithRetranca,weknowofsomeoneforwhomashort

lifewaspredicted,andtherehegoes,likeasoulinpurgatory,apparentlyimmortal’.

(5) Ascantigasforonasprotagonistas.Eunhadasmáissenlleirasfoio“Chata–Chatona”de

10The fact thatseguir alsohas transitiveusesprobably influences this rejection,whichwould lead totwo formally identical structures. How must alí os seguen be interpreted? Informants who do notrecognise the construction with ir, vir and estar accept immediately “aí os seguen”, owing to theminterpretingitas‘osperseguen,vanacontinuacióndeles’.11 TheCORGAdata (theautomatically-taggedversion, in its testphase) confirms theprimacyofestar(aquí3,alí8,aí10)andofandar(aí2),astherearenoregistersoftheconstructionwiththeothertwoverbs.

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JoséToja“Piticas”,unpoemainéditodeAntoniodoMachado.Aíoqueda(‘opoema’).

‘Themedievalballadsweretheprotagonists.Andoneofthesimplestwasthe“Chata–

Chatona”byJoséToja“Piticas”,anunpublishedpoembyAntonioMachado.Thereit is

(‘thepoem’)’.

(6) Candovolvín,alíoseguíanocuartoescuro(11/03/2010).

‘WhenIreturned,hewasstillthereinthedarkroom’.

The verb is always in the indicative mood, but does not concur equally in all

tenses.Inthegreaterpartoftheregistersitisinthepresent(7),asitcorrespondswith

thepossibilityofpointingoutanentitytothelistenerwhichcoincideswiththespeech

act,whetherornotthisisphysicallyinview.Itsuseinevocationscontinuesinorderof

frequency,andthereforetheverbadoptstheformofthepresentfromthepast,the

conditional(8);thelesserfrequencyofuseisrelated,inthecircularsenseofcauseand

effect, with the fact that this option is not equally acceptable for all speakers

consulted.

(7) Porfinocontramestresinalaaestribor:alíaestá,terra(XavierPaz2005).

‘Atlastthebosunsignalsstarboard:thereitis,land’.

Eu conto coa cabeza trece polomenos. E asmáis delasalí as están para ver (Anxo

Angueira 2012) [= as voltas do río Sar, non á vista dos participantes no acto de

comunicación].

‘I can count at least thirteenheads.And the rest of them canbe seen there. [= the

bends of the River Sar, not within sight of the participants in the act of

communication]’.

(8) Mais Terranova prometeu que volverían e comerían de verdade. E alí os estaban,

sentados,apediromenú(ManuelRivas2006).

‘But Terranova promised that they would return and eat properly. And there they

were,satdown,askingforthemenu’.

Wemustnot rule that that inanexceptionalway,andextremely infrequently,

theverbmaytakeotherformswithintheindicative,asoccursin(9)withthepreterite;

and even though no register taken from the corpus can be offered (howevermuch

specificsearchesarecarriedout),Idonotruleoutthegrammaticalityoftheuseofthe


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futureandtheconditionalmood,atleastinexampleslikethosewhicharesuggestedin

(10),withamodalmeaningofprobabilityinthepresentandthepastrespectively:

(9) Nocurrunchoazul,dendeCarril,terradeameixasexentebrava(ALÍOSFORONooutro

día a apagar o lume a Cortegada), cun palmarés que asusta... (Asociación de Ciclistas

Galegos,s.d.).

‘Inthebluenook,fromCarril,alandofplumsandfieryfolk(theywenttheretheother

day to put out the fire in Cortegada), with an amazing winner’s list... (Association of

GalicianCyclists,dateunavailable)’.

(10) Poisseninguénoscolleualíosestarán.

‘Well,ifnobodytookthem,theretheyare’.

¿Queseieu?Poralíosandarían.

‘WhatdoIknow?Theyshouldbethere’.

Once again we are before expansions in usage which do not accompany the

progressiveinstallationwithinthesystem,andwhicharestillnotconsolidatedequally

within the grammar of all speakers. The process of grammaticalization follows this

course:withonlythepresent indicative>alsowiththeconditionalmood>alsowith

otherindicativetenses.

2.3.Theadverb

Inalltheregistersanalysed,atthebeginningofthephraseanadverbissituated,

andselectedwithinaclosedrelationshipwhichischaracterizedbyitsdeicticcharacter.

Instativeverbconstructionsasmuchasthoseofverbsofmovement,acomplement

with thegeneralmeaningof ‘place’ isexpected, in the firstasa ‘locative’and in the

secondas‘direction/destination’,‘origin’or‘transit’,dependingonthecase.However,

theadverbs implied intheconstructionthat isunderanalysisheredonot fulfilbasic

sentence functions which are required by the syntactical structure of its predicate.

They influence above all the predication, localizing in the extraverbal context the

action, process or situation inwhich the subject that is being discussed is involved.

Thatis,inanutterancelikeAíovén,theFAdvdoesnotindicatetheorigin(virde...)or

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thedestination/direction(vira...,para...),orthetransit(virpor...),butthepunctual

localization of the ‘act of arriving’. For this reasons, it often appears without a

preposition, although in specific conditions it does not reject it, as in (4) (‘uncertain

location’).12

This functionof theadverbialelement justifies theorderandprosodic features

whichcharacterizetheconstruction.Theadverboccupiesthefirstplaceinafocusing

structure,wellidentifiedasthefocus.Thereisnopossibilityofpausebetweenit,the

clitic and the verb. The principal accent of the tonal group falls upon the verb, a

secondaryaccentremainingupontheadverb:aquì-o-vén.Inthecaseoftheadverbaí,

the loss of the principal accent bears frequently the displacement of the stressed

syllable(ài-o-vén)and,asaresult,palatalization(èi-o-vén).

Ashasbeenstated,therelationshipbetweenadverbsisclosedandwithinitnot

all occurwith identical frequency. The forms respond to three basic groups, one of

themnolongeremployed.

a) Firstly, we find deictic adverbs of location, also called pronominal or

demonstrative:aquí,aí,alí,etc.Themostfrequentarealíandaí,andtoalesserextent

alá and aquí, in that order; examples with aló and acó have not been recorded,

undoubtedlybecausetheyarefromdifferentdialectalareasfromthosewhichareof

interest to this study (Álvarez & Xove 2008), and not even with acá, used with

increasing infrequency and more restricted to situations which are not the most

appropriate for the construction that is studied here (eg., ponte do lado de acá).

However, various speakershighlight theirusewithacolá. Therefore, theoptions are

reduced in practice to {aquí, alí, alá, aí, acolá} o vai. Each has its literary example,

demonstratingitsintegrationwithinthelearnedwrittennorm:

(12) —¡Ei!,¡vindeparaacó,queaquíoestá!(XurxoBorrazás1994).

“Hey!Comeoverhere,it’shere!”

PeroesanoiteotempoabriuseeeuvinosReis.Alíosestabanmentreseu,mortade

medo,mefixenadurmida(InmaLópezSilva,2014).

‘ButthatnighttimeopenedupandIsawtheKings.Theretheywere,whilstI,scaredto

12Naturally,theyarecompatibleCCwiththesemanticfunctionsrequiredbypredicatestructure,as in(6):“alíoseguíanocuartoescuro”(“thereheremainedinthedarkroom”).


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death,pretendedtobeasleep’.

—¡Unharaposa!¡poralí!,¡poralí!—dixoPaulodevagariño—¡Unharaposa!|—¡Aláa

vai!—confirmouMiguel(ManuelRodríguezTroncoso1996).

‘“A vixen! Over there! Over there!” said Paulo, slowly. “A vixen! There she goes!”

confirmedMiguel’.

EValentínaíoestá.Circio,reconcentrado,endurecido(MéndezFerrín1998).

‘AndValentínisthere.Firm,focused,tough’.

Baixapolagorxaimpetuoso,potente,(...)porribadospetónsepoiosdaspesqueiras.

Acoláasestán(AnxoAngueira2002).

‘Itgoesdownthegorge impetuously,powerfully (...),over therocksand fishingpoles.

Theretheyare’.

As occurswith other constituents, not all the adverbs indicated are registered

withthesamefrequency.Somespeakersdisplaygradualpreferences,generallyinthe

sequenceaí>alí>alá,whentherearenotrestrictionsinfavourofaí.Manypointout

thatintheseconstructionstheysayei(∼eí),notaí,withanaccentualchangeandon

thetimbreofthestressedvowelwhichisnothabitualorconstantinothercontexts:it

isnotacaseofthediatopicvarianteíoftheadverb(basicallysouth-eastern,ALGa: II

311), but of a phonetic variant conditioned by the context (specific prosodic

conditions,lossofprincipalaccenttothebenefitoftheverbandpalatalizationof/a/

intheunstressedposition,cf.caixa>queixón[ɛj]).Throughdifferentchannels itwas

abletoreachformalcoincidencewithpossiblevariantsofeis(seebelow,c).

b) Insomeareastheconstructionalsoobtainswithadverbswhicharetypically

presentational,suchasvelaíandvelaquí(Álvarez&Xove2002:606).Asthisisnotthe

place to examine in depth the grammatical description and variation offered by the

useoftheseadverbs,whichareworthyinthemselvesofadedicatedstudy,Iwillonly

say, in the manner of a necessary contextual presentation regarding the present

analysis, the following: the adverb can be invariable (velaí vai, velaí van) or allow

variation in gender and number in the pronominal form embedded in the locution

R.ÁLVAREZ

204

(veloaívai/velosaívan/velaaívai),13aswellasvariationinnumberintheverbifthe

interlocturoisplural;(b)amongstinvariableforms,theDRAGonlyhasentriesforvelaí

andvelaquí,whichareverycommon,butinspeechandwritingtheyaredocumented

alsoasformswithalí,aláealó(velalí,velalá,velaló);(c)withthesupportoflinguistic

geography, the progressive and territorial implantation of the invariable form (velaí,

etc.)canbeobserved,firstco-existingandthenreplacingtheoriginallocution(veloaí,

etc.); (d) in placeswhere the optionaí o vén is recognised as typical, velo aí vén is

offered as an alternative and habitual solution, with examples of its equivalence

provided.

The presence of the clitic ismuchmore frequent when velaí, velaquí etc. are

invariable,andeventhoughthefieldworkrevealsthatitispresentinothercases,the

writtencorpusonlyoffersregistersintheseconditions;naturally,itisalwaysoptional

and does not occur outside the area described in §3 for {aí, aquí, aí...} o vén. The

process of change that is observed, within the delimitated dialectal area, is the

following:

I II III IV

Additionally,andasoccursinotherareasofGalician,theadverbiallocutionwith

apronounconsistentwith theoriginal (I:veloaí+vén,está,etc.)evolves towardsa

completelyinvariableadverb,withwhichitcanagree.Ontheotherhand,thecliticof

theAíovén(I,II)constructionendsupbeingusedwithadverbsofthevelaíseries(II:

velaíovén)andreachestheadverbialphrase,andinthiswayhastwopronouns:the

DOofverandthecliticwhichrecognizesthesubject(III:veloaíovén).

13Thereferentofthepronouncoincideswiththatofthesubjectoftheverbthatfollows:ir,estar,etc.Unlike the construction which is the focus of this study, in this case it fulfils at its source a phrasalfunctionliketheDOofver.

velo aí + V aí o + V

velo aí => velaí + V aí o + V

velo aí + V velaí o + V aí o + V

velo aí o + V velaí o + V aí o + V


205

(13) Amuller douenberrar: |—¡Veleí o vai, veciños! ¡Acudide, veciños, queeí o vai! |O

home,coaeixadanaman,púxoseaperseguirme(AlonsoRíos1979).

‘Thewomanstartedtoshout:|—Therehegoes,neighbours!Comehere,neighbours,

therehegoes!|Theman,withthehoeinhishand,startedtochaseme’.

Velosaíosvan(Agolada-PO,Cotobade-PO,Pontevedra-PO,Cartelle-OU,Ramirás-OU...).

‘Theretheygo’.

c)Previously,theconstructionoccurredalsowiththepresentationaladverbeis,

fromwhich registerswith theverbs irand vir in the17thand18thcenturies canbe

shown:14

(14) Rapaces,mulleres,vellos,heilosvennunhabandada(GabrielFeixódeAraúxo1671).

‘Boys,women,oldmen,Iseethemcominginamob’.

Oraeilobay,meusfidalgos(XoánCorreaMendozaeSoutomaior1697).

‘Therehegoes,mylord’.

Eylavày(DiegoCernadasdeCastroc1752-55).

‘Thereshegoes’.

Because of adaptation of eis ormaintaining the earlier form (cf. CSM, Ei-me

acá, Ey-la no convento, ei-vos un capelan ven), in 19th-century writing we find a

presentationaladverbei,asisseenin(15),formallyconvergingwithahighlyextensive

phoneticvariantofaí,and, it shouldbe recalled,preferredbymanyspeakers in this

context. I believe that this circumstance must not be forgotten when presenting

hypothesesregardingtheoriginanddiffusionoftheconstructionunderconsideration.

(15) Heyáambiciónd'amuller(Rosalía1880).

‘Thereiswoman’sambition’.

14Ahistoricalstudyonei(s),uncommoninGalicianbutnotPortuguesetexts,hasyettobemade.Iamnot aware of its chronology and the dialectal range of its variants.Without attempting to provide aprobativecharactertothis information, IshouldpointoutthatthethreeexamplesgivenwitheiloaretakenfromauthorswhocomefromtheareadelimitedforAíovén. ItmustbeaskedwhySacoyArcedoesnotincludeeisinhisgrammar,whereanentryisprovidedfortheadverbiallocutionsvel-eiquí,vel-ehi,vel-elí(1868:195):wasitalreadyoutofuseinthe19thcenturyorsimplydidnotcorrespondtohisdialect?

R.ÁLVAREZ

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¡Nontremes...!Eimeuanelo(Dállo).Deminxaesdonaemeular...(GaloSalinas1891).

‘Donottremble...!Thereyouhavemyring(Hegivesittoher).Youarenowmywifeand

myhome...’

Etempodiela,deesculcá-looráculo,eiquíoDios,éi-oaquí(FlorencioVaamonde1898).

‘It’stime,shesays,onspyingtheoracle,Godishere,beholdhimhere’.

With the same adverb the only comparable examples in Portuguese can be

found,combiningeis+coreferentialcliticwiththesubjectoftheverbsir,vir,aparecer,

entrar, surdir. Thedataof the corpus consulted (Davies&Ferreira) is from the16th

centuryuntilthepresent.15

d)Longa/Lorenzo/Rigau(1996:75)mentionthepossibilityoftheconstruction

withotheremphaticelements,asin¡Xaascheganelas!or,inGalicianSpanish,¡Mira

cómo lo viene, el avión! In my corpus I have not found any witness who can

corroborate,enhanceorbroadenthisinformation.

2.4.Thesubject

Intheregistersanalyzed,thesubjectisgenerallyaperson,althoughthisfeature

is not required. Any NP compatible with the characteristics of the verb and its

constructioncanbeasubject:

(16) Aíovén.[=thedog,thecar,thestorythatIamgoingtotell]

Alíaestá[=thefemaledog,themoon,theblanket]

Aíasestán[=thegirls,theletterssought]

15 Here are some examples in Portuguese authors, which are regarded as illustrating the verbsreferenced and the temporal arementioned: “Por esta travessa se vai acolhendo;ei-lo vai correndo,fugindoagrãoleve,qu'umrealmedeve”(LuisdeCamões);“Ei-lovem.Vê-loFernandobememcimanaportela?”(GilVicente);“MeufantásticosonhodebelezaÀgrandeluzdodiaei-loaparece!”(AnterodeQuental); “Saltando para a tipóia do trono, ei-lo entra na Ajuda governado pelo snr. José Luciano”(FialhodeAlmeida);“OndeequandomenosseesperasseRolãoRebolão,ei-losurdiaaospésdeumapessoa,casquinandoasuarisadahistéricaesarcasta!”(JoséRégio).AlltheseexamplescomefromtheCorpusdoPortuguésbyDavies/Ferreira,consultedinabril2013.


207

Someinformantsdisplayreticencetowardsusingthecliticwhichreferstonon-

livingentities:theyacceptunreservedlyalíosestán(=men,children,animals)butnot

alíosestán(=objects).

Practicallyalltheexamplesprovideduntilnowrelyuponathird-personsubject,

in singularorplural, inaccordancewith themostcommonandbroadly-documented

characteristics. However, in the current state of the construction, singular or plural

first and second person subjects are possible, without the clitic changing for this

reasoninordertomaintaintheagreementwiththepersoninquestion.Onceagain,I

believethatthisisacaseofwideningusage,causedbytheprogressiveinstallationof

theconstructionwithinthesystem.Thefactthattheverbanditssubjectchanges,but

nottheclitic,supportsthisevolutionarysequence.Someexamplesofthespontaneous

usecanbeseenontheinternet:thefirstisprecededbythephotooftheCantodorxo

bagpipe band, from O Grove (in the epicentre of the delimited dialectal area); the

second is the greeting by the author of the blog on discovering an acquaintance

amongstthecommentarywriters:

(17) Aíosestamos...unhafotiñadonosogrupodegaitas,queaíndaqueépequeno,

dáparamoito,paramoitasfestaseromarías!(17/01/2008).

‘There theyare...a littlephotoofourbagpipegroup,whichalthoughstill small,

candolots,andmanyfiestasandlocalpilgrimages!’

AÍAestás!Vente,queaRosanaquereaprenderganchillo,edisoseguroquesabes

máisti(11/11/2012).

‘Theresheis!Comeon,Rosanawantstolearncrochet,andsurelyyoumustknow

moreaboutitthanIdo’.

Inthegreaterpartoftheregistersthesubjectisnotspecific,whichundoubtedly

contributestoconjectureregardingthepossibilitythat, inanexceptionalmanner, its

functionwascoveredbytheclitic.All speakersalwayshavetheoptionofexpressing

thesubjectornot:Aíovén(el)/Aívén(el).ItmightberecalledthatinAíovénthereis

nodoubtabouttheidentificationofthesubject,asitismentionedbeforehandinthe

discourse: the recognition wishes to make the interlocutor a participant in the

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experienceof seeinghowheapproaches,attractinghisattention towards thispoint.

Thepresenceofthesubjectpronounisaccompaniedbynuances,suchasthatofthe

contraposition,ofwhichtheunstressedsyllable isexempt(aí (o)vénelmay indicate

thatelaismissing,forexample).However,Ibelievethatitismoreimportanttopoint

out that some of my informants believe that the character of criticism that they

perceiveinageneralwayintheconstructionisaccentuated(see2.5):thatis,notjust

‘quenvai/vén/está...’(whogoes/comes/ispresent...)ismentionedexplicitlybut

also ‘quenmerece unha severa crítica’ (‘who deserves severe criticism’) through its

absence,disappearanceordelay.

Bytakingintoconsiderationthecasesinwhichthesubjectisnotomitted,16the

following behaviour can be observed: it occupies the posverbal position, without

standingoutbecauseof itsprosody; thepronominal subject ismore frequent if it is

accompaniedbyapredicate(18);theuseofapronounquantifierfortotality(19);the

nominalNPisinfrequent,asgenerallyitisinapposition,butoralandwrittenexamples

arenotlacking(20):

(18) Aíovénelcoasúapachorra(Muros-CO).

‘Therehecomeswithhislaid-backattitude’.

(19) Alíosestabantodos,unsaestirareoutrosaroer.(13/02/2012).

‘Theretheyallwere,somestretchingoutandtheothersnibblingaway’.

(20) Entramosos tres, e alí o estabaoConserxe a baterlle zoupadas codereito e co

revésdamaoaunembrullo(MéndezFerrín,1991).

‘ThethreeofuswentinandtherewastheConciergelayingintoabundlewithhis

righthandandwiththebackofhishand’.

2.5.Othercharacteristics

Thefunctionisappellativeandcarriesthedeixis:itisaquestionofreinforcing

thepresentialdisplay,directingthegazeofthelistenertoapoint(theadverbinfocus) 16 Constructions inwhich the postverbalNP is elucidative and framed by pauses are omitted: “Alí osveñen, catro nenas e dous nenos” (“There they come along, four girls and two boys”), “Alí as van,Manola coa nena e unha sobriña” (“There they go, Manola with the girl and a niece of hers”).Constructions with clichés at the beginning, however much they coincide with the subject, are alsoeschewed:“Oscartos,aquíosestán”(“Themoney,it’shere”).


209

wherethesubjectisinmovementorstatic;17ifitisnotpresential,theintentionalityis

toevokethescene inthememory.Theextralinguisticcontextalwayshasacommon

characteristic:somethingisnotthere,somethingismissing,somethingisbeingsought,

somethingdoesnotarrive,and,withcertainsurprise,canfinallybeshowninaspecific

place.18Itdrawsattentiontosomethingwhichoccurs.Thisiswhyitisnotpossiblein

negativepredicates.

(21) *Aquínonasestán.

*Aínonovén.

Theprosodicfeaturesconnectedtothepositionofthecliticwerealreadyalluded

to, inafocalizationstructure(see§2.3). Insomecasestheintonationisexclamatory,

butthisisnotarequisiteoraconstantfeature.

There are considerable informants who allow us to see that the use of this

constructioncanbesociallyinconvenientorincorrect,becausetheybelievethatthey

bearanimplicitcriticismregardingthesubject’sbehaviour,whichissharedaloudwith

thelistener;someofthechildinformantsevenstatethattheyknowtheconstruction

but that theyneveruse itoutofgoodmanners.This informant fromTrazo-CO,with

highereducationbutwithoutspecializedlinguistictraining,expressesitwell:

InTrazowecansay“Alívén”asmuchas“Alíovén”,butthemeaningisslightly

different.Whenwesay“Alíovén”wearegivinganegativeconnotationtoaperson

aboutwhomwewereprobablyalreadytalking.Forexample:aboywhoplayedatrick

andweare talkingabout the trick thatheplayed. If at thatmoment theboycomes

overwecansay“Alíovén”.Generallywesay“Alívén”.

Soto (2013) goes further and states that the clitic possesses, on occasions, a

“despectivevalue”.19Thereisnoshortageofinformantswhorefertotheconvenience

ofintroducingadativeofsolidarityinordertomaketheexpressionfriendlier;inactual

fact,whattheydoistoimplythelistenerinthecriticism,asbybeingshareditceases 17SotoAndión(2013)definesthisacceptanceofiras“Pasarsiendoseñaladoporalguien”(“Topassbybeingpointedoutbysomeone”).18Thesesemanticcharacteristicsmeanthatitisnotstrictlyidenticaltovelaíandveloaí,ortoeis,whichcanbepurelypresentative.19“Valordespectivo.”

R.ÁLVAREZ

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tobelongtothespeaker.

3.Geolinguisticdistributionandprogressivediffusion

Thespeakerswhousethisconstructionalwayshavetwooptions,thesecondof

whichislabelled:{aquí,aí,alí...}está,withoutclitic,commontoallGalicianspeakers;

{aquí, aí, alí...} o está, with clitic, in diatopic distribution. For some years I have

describedthesecondasasouth-westerlyfeature,butnewdataallowstheareawhich

itoccupiestobedelineatedwithgreaterprecision.

Withthecartographyofregisterswiththeverbsir,virandestar(thethreemost

frequent)havingbeencompleted,Icanconcludethattherearehardlyanydifferences

in the geographical extension of the use with ir and vir, with those with which it

reaches maximum diffusion in territory and speakers, as shown on Map 1 with a

continuousstraightline.Thegeographicaldiffusionwithestarisless,eventhoughitis

themostextendedandrecognisedbytheremainingverbs.Ihavecharteditsmaximum

area with a continuous grey line. Apart from these isoglosses, in fieldwork only

fragmentary and sporadic data, which needs to be corroborated, was found. The

densityofregistersisnotthesamethroughouttheareaorforallverbs:theareaofir/

vir is denser and more compact than that of estar, which means that not all the

informantsoftheareadelineatedwithgreyisoglossrecognizethesecond;thedashed

linesencloseintherespectiveellipsestheareasofgreaterconcentrationofdataand

whicharethemostcompactinbothcases.


211

Map1.TerritorialExpansionoftheconstructionwiththeverbir/virandestar

Asisobservedinmap1,theareasaresketchedoutinsuccessiveexpansionfrom

a single centre: A ⊂ B ⊂ C ⊂ D.20 We begin from a central space (A) with the

PontevedraEstuaryandtheRiverLérezasacentralaxis,andwhereaíovén/aíovai

asmuchasaíoestáoccurwithgreaterintensity.Inconsideringonlythecompactarea

of the verbs ofmovement (B), this space extends to the north and south until the

Arousa and Vigo Estuary, and to the east until the edges of the total area. If we

examinethemaximumareaofestar(C),weseetwochannelsofexpansionalongthe

north:onealongthecoastlineandanotherfollowingtheAtlanticaxis,throughPadrón

andSantiago,towardsACoruña;andalsoanexpansiontothesouth,whichcomprises

partoftheTuiarea.Finally,themaximumareaofirandvir(D)comprisesthesouthof

province of A Coruña (including the Muros and Noia estuary), enters the south-

westernpartofLugoandmorebroadlyinthewestofOurense,andgoesasfarasthe

RiverMiñoalong theentireborderbetweenGalicianandPortugal.Observe that the

linguisticbordercoincideswiththepoliticalonealongtheRiverMiño;however,within

Ourenseprovince,theisoglossdoesnotreachthedry-landborder.

20 They are appreciations regarding the current vision of themaps.Maps are not available for us toprovideanopinionregardingexpansionsorretractionsovertheterritoryinpreviousperiods.

R.ÁLVAREZ

212

Everything would seem to indicate that the phenomenon is undergoing

expansionandisnotinaphaseofwithdrawal.ThediffusionalongtheAtlanticaxisisa

good example of this process of territorial change, as this route has functioned for

centuries as a transmission channel for prestigious linguistic forms.21 There are

abundantregistersinallthedistrictssituatedonbothsidesofthisroutefromPadrón

toOrdesinclusively(whichhavebeenhighlightedasaseconddenseareafor ir/vir),

andsporadicregisterswhichreachtheÁrtabrogulf.Theprogressalongthecoastalso

proceeds in the same direction, until reaching maritime towns like Muros and

Corcubión, in contradistinction to the general perception of the speakers of the

westerninterioroftheCoruñaarea,whichtheydonotrecogniseastheirown.Inpart,

there are other examples of the construction breaking its dialectal boundaries:

speakers from other areas consulted by me show that they use it because of

“contamination” (from Compostela, from Vigo, etc.), and not because it belongs to

theiroriginal linguisticbaggage.Scholarswhoofferabundantexamples inthecorpus

comefromgeographicalareasinwhichitundoubtedlydoesnotexist.

Thecartographyinoverlappingareas,someofwhicharesuccessivelyintegrated

within others, also bears witness to the progressive consolidation and expansion

withinthesystemsuggestedhere.Asweadvancefromtheperipheryofthearea(D)

towards the nucleus (A), the construction occurs in a more systematic manner,

attainingagreaternumberofverbsandofferingmoreextensionsofusageunknownto

theothers.Thiseffectiscausedbythefactthatitispreciselyinthiscentralareawhere

theuseoftheaccusativecliticwiththispragmaticvalueismoreadvancedandisbetter

installedintheheartofthesystem.

21TheAtlanticaxis,asaspaceofmovementforlinguisticdevelopments,isreflectedalsoonothermaps.Asinthiscase,andadvancingfromStoN,Ihaveshownpreviouslythediffusionofaláandacá,tothedetrimentofacóandaló,withargumentswhicharepertinentinthecaseinquestion(Álvarez&Xove,2008).


213

4.Hypothesesregardingorigin

The objective ofmy studywas not to resolve thematter of the origins of this

construction, nor does my current historical knowledge allow me to make solid

conjectures,butIshallpresentsomehypothesesanddiscussothers.

ThefieldworkdatashowsthatAíovénisanequivalentquiteclosetotheVeloaí

vénandVelaí vén, but it doesnot seem that theoriginof this useof the cliticwith

theseintransitiveverbsispartofanextensionofthisadverbialphrase,whereinitially

itwastheDOofver.Broaddialectalareasof thenorthofGalicia,whereVeloaívén

has a strong presence, have no contact whatsoever withAí o vén; the data shows,

however,thatinarea(D),thecliticproceedstobeincorporatedinVeloaíovénandin

Velaíovén,theusebeingextendedtothemfromAíovén.Nevertheless,Ibelievethat

itcouldhavecontributedtotheimplantationofAíovénandsimilarforms(wherethe

adverbispresentative,ashasbeenshownin§2.3)totheanalogywithveloaívénand

eilovénwhere thedistinctlypresentativeadverbsareaccompaniedbyanaccusative

cliticmotivatedsyntacticallyattheorigin.

Thespeakersattestconsistently to theanalogywithAío tes,Veloaío tes and

Velaí o tes, which fulfils the same demonstrative function and where the clitic is

justifiedasaDOofter.Itisnotunusual,afteridentifyingastheirowntheconstruction

and when offering examples of their own, that they use the verb ter. I am not

suggestingthatthisistheoriginoftheconstruction,butIdobelievethattheanalogy

musthavecontributedtoitstriumphanddiffusion.

I think it probable that the starting point lies in the constructions ei > eis, a

cognateoftheCastilianhe.22Fromtheearliesttimestheyhavebeenaccompaniedbya

NP or an accusative clitic, of any person,which in old Galician offers an interesting

22Corominesproposesas anetymon the “ár.hâ (pron. vulgarhê), que tieneomismovalor” (“ár.hâ(vulgar pronounhê)),which has the same value. As documented in theCid, the forms of the centralHispanicromancelanguagesarediverse:withthemostcurrenthe,e,ahéandfeareregistered.Thisisfollowedbyanameorapronoun,andsoonbyadeicticadverbwhichinsomecasesagglutinates(ahey<ahéhi);thecombinationofheaquítendstobegeneralizedfromthe15thcentury(1980-1991:s.v.HE).IfCoromines’ etymological proposal is correct, twoquestions soonarisewhich I canonlypose: are thefirst Galician-Portuguese testimonials eilo, eime, etc. loans from Castilian or other central Hispanicdialectswhichdonotlosetheintervocalic-l-?Howcan-s(andeven-is)inGalicianandPortuguesebeexplained,andwithwhatchronology?

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214

anomalywhichisdemandingofamorelengthystudy:aftertheGalicianeilo/eila,we

tend to assume a final -s which justifies the presence of the allomorph -lo and,

therefore,anadverbeiswhichcoincidesformallywiththesolutionthathasbeenwell

known through Galician and Portuguese since the Early Modern Period. There is

nothing to support the idea that the -s is primitive, as in its origins it is missing in

occurrenceswithotherclitics(eime,eivos),andinfacteiisalsodocumentedwiththe

samevalue(eyteuirmãovẽati;forthedebateandexamples,seeLorenzo1977:s.v.

HEYLOS).TherewouldbethereforeaEiovénsyntagma,avariantalternatingwithEilo

vén,bothwiththesamepresentativeadverbei(s)andnotwiththeadverbofplaceaí:

thefirstwiththeallomorphexpectedafteravowelandthesecondwithan irregular

pronominalform.Themovementoftheclitictoconstructionswithaí,throughformal

confluence, seems straightforward, and by extension to the other deictic adverbs.

Whathasbeensaidin§2.3inregardtoeiasapresenterinXIX-centurytextsshouldbe

recalledhere(15).

Onthebasisofthecartography,Ihavebeenabletoconjecture,moreover,that

theconstructionwhichactsasastartingpointisthatoftheverbsofmovement,and

that fromhere itextends toothers. In supportofmyhypothesis, Iwill state thatall

adducibleregistersofeiswhicharesimilarinconstruction,intheGalicianoftheEarly

Modern Age (and in their majority from contemporary Portuguese registers), are

producedwiththeseverbs

5.Conclusion

In my opinion, the accusative clitic which accompanies these intransitive

predicativeverbshasapragmaticfunctionwhichconsistsofrecognizingasubjectthat

isalreadyknown,directingtheattentionofthelistenertowardstheplacewheres/he

is present. The conducive context is characterisedby surprise or relief at this finally

occurring.

In my analysis I have been able to corroborate how essentially there are

importantlimitationsinthenominalformswhichcanoccupyeachoneoftheseplaces:


215

inthecaseoftheadverb,thoseoftheseriesaquí,aí,alí...,velaí...,veloaí...,andeven

ofthearchaicei(s);inthatoftheclitic,onlythethirdpersonnon-reflexiveaccusative

(o,a,os,as);inthatofverbs,fundamentallyir,vir,estarandandar.

However, the analysis of the corpus provided allows me to observe some

processesofchangewhichcausethegrammaticaldescriptionnottobeequallyunique

andvalidforallspeakers.Theseprocesses,whichtendtoconsolidatethepositionof

theconstructionwithinthegrammaticalsystemandtowidentheoptionsforusageor

the rangeof implied forms,becomespecific in theaspectswhichwillbehighlighted

presently. I believe that in them lies the explanation for the apparent descriptive

discrepancyaccordingtovariousauthors.

(a) The expansion of the list of verbs affected. Beginning with the verbs of

movement ir / vir andearlyonestar, andperhapsandar, itextends toother stative

verbs(quedar,andtoalesserextentseguir)andcouldbebeginningtheextensionto

otherverbswithrelatedmeanings(basicallyinthelineof‘emergenceonthescene’).

(b) Theexpansionofthelistofadverbsaffected.Beginningwiththeadverbs

ofplaceof the seriesaquí,aí,alí (ifmyhypothesis regarding theorigin is correct, it

wouldemergefirstfromei=aí),itisextendingtotheseriesvelaíand,initswake,to

the series velo aí. Other extensions cannot be ruled out, such as that previously

mentionedin§2.3d.

(c) The expansion of implied verbal tenses. It begins with the present

indicative(withthepossibilityofanadoculosdemonstration)inordertoincorporate

first the imperfect tense (or the present of the past) and subsequently, in a more

occasionalmanner,othertensesfromthesamemood.

(d) Theexpansionoftherangeofpossiblesubjects.Thisstemsfromthethird

person(nonlocutory,nonalocutory),whichexplainstheuseoftheclitico/a/os/as

inagreement,but it isextending tootherpeople, in thesingularandplural,without

thisaffectingtheformofthecliticwhichcontinuestobethethirdperson.

In terms of the origin, I believe that, if the analogy with the presentational

adverbsveloaíandeilo(wheretheaccusativecliticismotivatedsyntacticallyfromits

sources) could have indeed contributed, together with other analogical processes,

then the history ofaí (∼ ei) o vén is connectedwith the vicissitudes ofei(s). In this

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216

hypothesis,theconstructionwouldbeextendedfromaítotheotherdeicticadverbs.

The question will only be able to be resolved properly when an in-depth study is

carriedout concerning several incidental issues,namely regardingei(s),veloaí,velaí

andothersimilarforms.

The constructionenjoysgreat vitalitynotonly in theeveryday languageof the

districts discussed, and through all kind of speakers, but also inwritten language at

different levels and registers. In this sense, it canbepointedout that in the literary

languageofrecentdecadesitisrecurrentnotonlyinauthorswhobelongtothearea

that has beenmapped out, but otherswho hail fromother places. Thismeans that

they have incorporated, consciously or not, this feature into their grammar, in the

samemannerasdifferentinformantswithlinguistictrainingwhohavebeenconsulted.

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ÁLVAREZBLANCO,Rosario(1980)Opronomepersoalengalego,Doctoralthesis,Universidadede

SantiagodeCompostela.

ÁLVAREZ,Rosario,HenriqueMONTEAGUDO&XoséLuísREGUEIRA(1986)GramáticaGalega,Vigo:

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