Sobre la distinción entre individuo/estadio y su relación con ser y estar
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Universidad Complutense de Madrid
info
- Leonetti Jungl, Manuel (coord.)
ISSN: 2254-8769
Year of publication: 2018
Issue Title: Nuevas aportaciones sobre "ser" y "estar"
Volume: 48
Fascicle: 1
Pages: 15-56
Type: Article
More publications in: Revista Española de Lingüística
Abstract
This piece of work analyses to what extent the Individual/Stage–Level distinction relates to the Spanish copular alternation (ser/estar), which is one of the greatest unknowns in the field. It is observed that the modern trend of rejecting the relation between the two phenomena (ser-Individual/estar–Stage) is due to the lack of a definitive understanding of the Individual/Stage distinction, which has commonly been assumed as a blurred contrast between «permanent» and «temporary» qualities. The study shows that no alternative criterion can account for the ser/estar alternation, while a new understanding of the Individual/Stage–Level dichotomy as an aspectual distinction between «property» and «eventive» predicates perfectly fits with the distribution of the two copulas. According to this view, the alternation between ser and estar can be assumed as a manifestation of the Individual/Stage distinction in the domain of non-verbal predication.