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This paper focuses on the study of a particular phenomenon of variation related to the distribution of Spanish copulas: the (in)compatibility of event nouns with predication structures where the copula estar and an evaluative adjective are combined. Some structures, such as La boda estuvo preciosa (‘The wedding wasESTAR beautiful’) are present across all Spanish varieties, contrasting with examples such as La tormenta estuvo horrible (‘The storm wasESTAR horrible’), that are attested only in certain specific varieties, and that could be considered an instance of so-called innovative uses of estar. We give here a first picture of the extension of this phenomenon. Secondly, we develop the relevant distinction within the domain of event nouns that is needed to give an accurate explanation of the facts under examination. Finally, we show how these facts fit within the overall picture of copulative variation in Spanish, thus making a significant contribution to our broad understanding of Spanish copulas.

In this article we analyse if certain deverbative event and result nouns appear in support verb constructions in Latin and of which type they are. Specifically, we study four verbal nouns: aedificatio 'building' and insitio 'graft', which allow both an eventive and a result reading; conspiratio 'conspiracy', which only functions as an event noun; and the result noun inflatio 'swelling'. This analysis will allow us to show that both types of nouns participate in support verb constructions and that, consequently, this fact is not a useful criterion to make the difference between them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with, in a diachronic perspective, the Italian verb-noun compounds of the type portalettere and covers the time span that goes from the Origins well into the beginnings of the Twentieth century. On the basis of a rich dataset drawn from diachronic corpora and lexicographic sources, the article presents the history of this word-formation process, emphasizing the semantic and categorial nature of these compounds. The main claim is that the current semantic variability (person, instrument, event, period of time etc.) has always been available in the linguistic history of Italian as well as, to a minor extent, the categorial ambiguity by which VN compounds also function as adjectival modifiers. It is shown that this last function is much of a diachronic innovation. This paper, which stems from the theoretical premises of Construction Morphology, reveals that the productivity of the Construction [V-N]A|N is due to both the semantic and formal flexibility shown from the earliest attestations of the language, and to the productivity of some semi-specified subschemas, which have served as models for the creation of new VN compounds, especially over the past few decades.

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Copyright of Cuadernos de Filología Clásica: Estudios Latinos is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this article we study a word formation process that involves the suffix -dera in some variaties of American Spanish, where it can give rise to event nouns with a meaning of intensity. After presenting its precise dialectal distribution and its semantic role, we contend that this process is related with the highly productive participial nominalizations in American Spanish, and, thus, that this case of morphological variation needs to be reduced to a more basic phenomenon.