Light verb constructions in Latin American newspapers

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-135
Author(s):  
Louisa Buckingham
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Scholarly Writing ◽  
Loan Words ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Light Verb Constructions ◽  
Light Verb ◽  
Verb Constructions ◽  
Latin American Countries

This article examines the occurrence of variant forms of Spanish light verb constructions (LVCs) in a seven-million-word corpus of contemporary newspaper texts from seven Latin American countries. The findings from this corpus are compared with results from a previous study using a corpus of scholarly writing; additional information from a diachronic perspective is provided by data from the Corpus del Español. The structures selected for discussion are complex LVCs (e.g., tener un vínculo o relación), and tokens containing calques (e.g., dar un clic), loan words (e.g., tener un look) and affixes (e.g., dar goplecitos). This study provides evidence of the creative and expressive potential of less frequent types of these formulaic structures. While tokens containing calques and loan words appear almost exclusively in the newspaper corpus, complex LVCs appear with comparable frequency in both corpora. The discussion of the morphosyntactic features of these variant LVC types is accompanied by examples extracted from the corpus.

Poniendo de manifiesto: Spanish light verb constructions in Latin American newspapers

Corpora ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-226
Author(s):  
Louisa Buckingham
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Corpus Analysis ◽  
Analysis Software ◽  
Light Verb Constructions ◽  
Light Verb ◽  
Verb Constructions ◽  
Textual Features ◽  
Adjectival Modification ◽  
Latin American Countries

This study investigates Spanish light verb constructions (LVCs), or construcciones con verbo soporte, such as dar respuesta and tomar en cuenta in a seven-million-word corpus of contemporary newspaper texts from seven Latin American countries. I provide a detailed discussion of the procedure of compiling the corpus to ensure a balanced representation of newspaper registers. This is followed by a description of how the targeted verbs, dar, poner, tener and tomar, were identified and tagged using corpus analysis software. The results of the corpus search are analysed in terms of frequency, and selected morphosyntactic and textual features, such as the distance between components, tense, number and mood of the light verb, adjectival modification, article use, complex LVCs, and the occurrence of multiple LVCs. The results, supported by numerous examples in Spanish from the corpus, provide further evidence of the wide variation in form and use found among many LVCs.

scholarly journals Paraphrasing of Japanese light-verb constructions based on lexical conceptual structure

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atsushi Fujita ◽  
Kentaro Furihata ◽  
Kentaro Inui ◽  
Yuji Matsumoto ◽  
Koichi Takeuchi
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Structure ◽  
Light Verb Constructions ◽  
Light Verb ◽  
Lexical Conceptual Structure ◽  
Verb Constructions

Reciprocity in Czech Light Verb Constructions: The Dependency Perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-68
Author(s):  
Václava Kettnerová ◽  
Markéta Lopatková
Keyword(s):  
Structure Formation ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Rule Based ◽  
Light Verb Constructions ◽  
Light Verb ◽  
Verb Constructions ◽  
Complex Mapping

Abstract In this paper, we draw attention to reciprocity in Czech light verb constructions – a language phenomenon, which has not been discussed yet. Reciprocity is contributed to light verb constructions by predictive nouns, as they are the nouns that represent the semantic core of these constructions. Here we focus on reciprocal light verb constructions derived by the syntactic operation of reciprocalization. We show that the complex mapping of semantic participants onto valency complementations, characteristic of reciprocalization, is reflected in reciprocal light verb constructions in the same way as in reciprocal nominal constructions. The main difference between reciprocal nominal constructions and reciprocal light verb constructions lies in the morphosyntactic expression of reciprocalized participants. We demonstrate that surface syntactic changes in reciprocal light verb constructions are regular enough to be described on the rule basis: the rule based generation of reciprocal light verb constructions requires a cooperation of two sets of rules – rules for deep and surface syntactic structure formation of light verb constructions and rules for capturing reciprocity.

Give as a light verb

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 280-306
Author(s):  
Elena Martínez Caro ◽  
Jorge Arús-Hita
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
British English ◽  
Light Verb Constructions ◽  
Light Verb ◽  
Frequent Use ◽  
Verb Constructions ◽  
Pragmatic Variation ◽  
Semantic Properties

Abstract Light Verb Constructions (LVCs) have received widespread attention. Research on these constructions, however, has for the most part focused exclusively on their syntactic and lexical-semantic properties. Additionally, studies devoted to specific LVCs tend to neglect the phrasal-semantic and pragmatic variation brought about by the combination of a light verb with different nominal complements. This paper tries to fill those gaps by means of a quantitative and qualitative corpus-based study of Light give Constructions (LgiveCs). The quantitative analysis investigates frequencies of LgiveCs in British English and compares them across spoken and written (fiction) discourse, which reveals a high frequency of this construction in speech, especially in combinations of give with a ring, a kiss and an answer. When these combinations are excluded, LgiveCs are significantly more frequent in writing. In a complementary qualitative approach, we highlight the structural and discursive features of the construction and attempt to explore the factors that motivate the frequent use of the LgiveC in British English.

Light verb constructions in spoken L2 English

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaëtanelle Gilquin
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Advanced Level ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Light Verb Constructions ◽  
Light Verb ◽  
Verb Constructions ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
The Trinity

Abstract Light verb constructions (LVCs), that is, combinations like take a walk or make a choice, are often claimed to be problematic for non-native speakers of English. In this paper, spoken data from the Trinity Lancaster Corpus are used to explore the use of these constructions across different sections of the corpus, representing different proficiency levels (from lower intermediate to upper advanced) as well as different types of acquisitional contexts, namely English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and English as a Second Language (ESL). The results of the study reveal a tendency towards an increased frequency of LVCs, as well as more complex and abstract uses, as we move from an intermediate to an advanced level and from an EFL to an ESL context. For the EFL speakers, this development corresponds to a better approximation to native English. For the ESL speakers, on the other hand, LVCs seem to have become ‘constructional teddy bears’, used more often than by the native speakers themselves.

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