Rivalry of verbalising mechanisms in Spanish history

Abstract

In the history of Spanish, an important morphological variation is attested, as reflected in the presence of different corradical verbs. This paper focuses precisely on the evolution of these formations. It shows that the Middle Ages is a period of great variation in which a series of complex verb patterns compete in the formation of neologisms that indicate, in most cases, the same reading, a change of state. It is argued that only those verbalisations which can express different meanings, i.e., which have acquired a specialisation of meaning, are retained in the language, since, in cases where they share meaning, one or more variants disappear or fall into disuse. It is proposed that, in deadjectival verbalisations, the element considered fundamental in the conservation of one formation as opposed to another is its periodisation and the productivity that each of the morphological patterns has at that moment and, consequently, some of the tendencies that are generated are described. As far as denominal verbalisations are concerned, there are two possible situations. The first one is formed by those verbs in which there is semantic coincidence. In these cases, one of the verbalisations falls into disuse or disappears. It usually happens, moreover, that the variant that is maintained provides more meanings. The second situation is constituted by those coradical verbs that maintain both variants, since they can preserve, in both cases, some meaning that distinguishes them, a fact that makes their presence in the language necessary. Relevant information is also provided on what the prefix contributes to the verb.