Notes about gerund adjunct constructions with illocutive value in Spanish

Abstract

Gerund adjunct constructions have different values that, in general, have been scarcely attended from the formal and semantic point of view (Gili Gaya, 1961; Roca Pons, 1968; Seco, 1973). One of these values is illocutive which, according to Fernández Lagunilla (1999), can modalize and organize the discourse. The present proposal analyzes a small sample of such structures to determine their identifying features and to describe the functions noticed by Fernandez Lagunilla more thoroughly. The results show that these constructions have their own characteristics, and that within each category there is a very varied specialization. Likewise, it has been possible to establish a conceptual network based on the data in order to explain this functional specialization.