Showing papers in "Hispanic Review in 1979"

Sound Symbolism and Aspect in the Spanish Second Conjugation

Abstract: \W HEN compared to the other two Spanish conjugations, this class exhibits a certain archaic quality.. Except for many new acquisitions in -ecer, and compounds reflecting learned influences (e.g., componer), it has not grown since it was first formed from the Latin verbs in -ERE and -ERE containing open and mid stemvowels.1 Both these types were, on the whole, unproductive already in Latin,2 whereas the first and fourth conjugations were greatly expanded through derivational processes which have continued into modern Romance, and have permitted additions from popular, learned, and foreign sources. Numerically, the -er paradigm is the smallest of the three; a count of the uncompounded, noninchoative verbs in -er, including important archaic items, yields a modest total of 79. Yet among these are found many of the most common, basic verbs in the language, including all the important auxiliaries except estar, and the largest number of irregular verbs. They represent a considerable proportion of the Latin primary verbs-those not derived from nouns, etc.-which have been preserved in modern Romance. The majority, including the auxiliaries, conform to a

Some optional rules in Spanish complementation: Towards a study of the speaker's intent

Abstract: Over the past few decades, the book series Linguistische Arbeiten [Linguistic Studies], comprising over 500 volumes, has made a significant contribution to the development of linguistic theory both in Germany and internationally. The series will continue to deliver new impulses for research and maintain the central insight of linguistics that progress can only be made in acquiring new knowledge about human languages both synchronically and diachronically by closely combining empirical and theoretical analyses. To this end, we invite submission of high-quality linguistic studies from all the central areas of general linguistics and the linguistics of individual languages which address topical questions, discuss new data and advance the development of linguistic theory.

Un rasgo fonologico de la lengua espanola

Abstract: En el orden labial, /b/ se distingue de /p/ y /f/ por la marca de sonoridad, /p/ de /f/ por la oclusidn. La misma situaci6n existe con los fonemas dentales y velares. En la serie palatal, /6/ se diferencia de /J/ por la ausencia de sonoridad, y de /s/ por la oclusidn. Respecto a /j/ y /s/, \"ofrece una realizaci6n fon6tica muy distinta para considerarlos en oposici6n proporcional de sonoridad\" (p4g. 176). N obstante, e el cuadro de rasgos istintivos empleado por Alarcos, la sonoridad, o la tensi6n articulatoria, parecen ser las (inicas caracteristicas fon6ticas que podrian diferenciar /j/ y /s/. Las consonantes implosivas de las palabras apto y obtiene, ritmo y admira, pueden ser fricativas u oclusivas, sonoras o sordas, segin la tensi6n articulatoria con que se pronuncien.2 Basandose en tales vacilaciones de las consonantes obstruyentes al final de silaba, E. Alarcos (pAg. 184) y A. Alons 3 pensaron que la sonoridad, como asgo ertinente, opera en la lengua espafiola s lamente al principio de silaba. En posicidn implosiva, /p, t, k/ y /b, d, g/ se neutralizan. Alarcos y Alonso estaban en lo cierto

The Influence of Lachrymose Comedy on Moratin's El viejo y la nina

Abstract: would suggest that Leandro Fernandez de Moratin is very much indebted to the genre known as the comedia lacrimosa for the theme of El viejo y la nina, as well as for his treatment of the theme. While a few critics mention this influence in connection with Moratin's first play, none has elaborated on it, and many have ignored it altogether. Luis Felipe Vivanco mentions the influence of the sentimental comedy's moralismo and use of prose with regard to Moratin. According to this critic, Moratin's comedies in prose were not only influenced by the prose plays of Goldoni and the commedia dell'arte in Italy but also by "el drama burgues y la nueva comedia seria o lacrimosa" (Moratin y la ilustracion magica [Madrid: Taurus, 1972], p. 121). John Dowling goes the farthest in pointing to the impact of the lachrymose comedy on Moratin's first play. While explaining what Moratin meant when he called El viejo y la niia a comedy, Dowling asserts that "Moratin called his play a comedia but the word cannot be interpreted either in the strict neoclassic sense, as it can be when applied to other plays, nor even in the more ample meaning of the Golden Age comnedia. El viejo y la niia is related in tone to what Moratin's contemporary Beaumarchais described as le genre dramatique serieux and to the tearful comedy which Denise Diderot so much admired" (Leandro Fernandez de Moratin [New York: Twayne Publishers, 1971], p. 33). In his recent article entitled "La genesis de El viejo y la niia" (HR, 44 [1976], 113-25), Dowling also links Moratin's first play to the comedia lacrimosa by speaking of the predominant tone of tenderness, a key element of the sentimental comedy: "Lo que

"El fenix es": The Symbolic Structure of Del rey abajo, ninguno

Abstract: THE authorship of Del rey abajo, ninguno is disputable;' the excellence and profound dramatic effect of the work are not. Attributed most often to the pen of Francisco de Rojas Zorrilla (1607-1648), the play has been consistently although vaguely praised as a stunning psychological portrait of the protagonist, Garcia del Castafiar, rent by his love for his wife which conflicts with both his sense of honor and his loyalty to the King. On the surface, the play represents a catalogue of many well-worn conventions of the Golden Age comedia. In a typically confusing Baroque atmosphere of illusory circumstances and problematical, shifting identities, the relationship of sovereign and citizen is examined; the tenets of the Spanish honor code are exposed; and the polemic of court versus country life is opened once more. The contrastive personalities of the highborn protagonist, Garcia, disguised as a peasant and leading a rustic life, and Don Mendo, the malevolent courtier who attempts to seduce Garcia's wife by pretending to be king, present the familiar theme of the relationship between birthright and honor or honorable behavior. In critical assessments of the play, the characterization of Garcia is frequently singled out as the work's most important feature. Often the dangerous assumption that Garcia represents a kind of fictional alter-ego of the playwright, Rojas Zorrilla, is tacitly made

Francisco Delicado, La Lozana andaluza

Abstract: Cette edition, publiee dans la Biblioteca clasica que dirige Francisco Rico, se recommande par la qualite et la surete de l’appareil critique, des annotations et des commentaires de Jacques Joset et de Folke Gernert. Elle reprend, au besoin pour les rectifier ou les ameliorer, les observations des editeurs precedents, notamment celles de A. Vilanova (Barcelone, 1952), B. M. Damiani (Madrid, 1969), G. Allegra (Madrid, 1980), C. Allaigre (Madrid, 1985)… Les lecons retenues et les explications p...

Enigma as Narrative Determinant in the Novels of Juan Benet

Abstract: THE first reading of a novel by Juan Benet is generally a disquieting activity. As the novel progresses and events and characters do not come into clear focus, one begins to suspect that he has not been reading carefully enough, that something important has been overlooked or misunderstood. Thus a second and perhaps subsequent readings are undertaken for the purpose of tying together loose threads and completing the complex design that Benet has created in his work. However, though subsequent readings yield new insights into the novel, the design remains incomplete, and the mysterious elements that were to be understood continue to be as enigmatic as before. That the work remains partially incoherent and never fully comprehended by the reader is perhaps the fundamental premise in the formulation of Benet's novels. Indeed, Benet values elusiveness and ambiguity more than the accurate representation of observable reality or the conveyance of a social thesis. Enigma therefore becomes both the medium and the message of Benet's narrative. The present study will examine the theoretical suppositions, as well as the practical elements that contribute to the creation of Benet's enigmatic fiction. My study is not intended to resolve the enigmas found within Benet's worksas will be shown, many of the enigmas are not resolvable-but rather to define the essential components that cause the enigmas to exist and to be sustained. In his theory Benet maintains that in order for art (specifically, the novel) to possess value as art, it must appeal to that part of the human spirit which lies beyond the rational and scientific. That is, the author must probe what Benet terms the "zona de sombras,"