Abstract
AbstractThe expanded use ofpatrásis among the most salient features of US Spanish and commonly attributed to English influence. ForLipski (1986), it constitutes a syntactic calque from English constructions withback;Otheguy (1999)maintains it shows cultural but not linguistic influence; Villa (2005,2010) ascribespatrásto grammaticalization processes internal to Spanish. Previous studies lack a detailed account of the semantics of the spatial adverbial in its historical and contemporary usage. ApplyingTalmy’s (1983)typology of motion events to corpus data, this paper traces a grammaticalization path forpatrásfrom its historical use to its contemporary use in Nuevomexicano Spanish.Patráshas shifted from primarily atelicbackwards motionmeanings to primarily telicreturnmeanings. This shift is evident across Germanic languages for adverbs deriving from the nounbackand in the Romance prefixre-from Latin adverbretro. This study proposes contact with English led to an increased frequency of satellite-framed constructions in Nuevomexicano Spanish, creating the frequency conditions for innovations in the form and meaning ofpara atrásto conventionalize and lead to systematic linguistic change.
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