The Morphosyntax and Semantics of the Indirect Object: A Corpus-based Contrastive Study in English and Spanish

FACULTAD DE FILOLOGÍA GRADO EN ESTUDIOS INGLESES TRABAJO DE FIN DE GRADO Curso académico 2024/2025 The Morphosyntax and Semantics of the Indirect Object: A Corpus-based Contrastive Study in English and Spanish Alumno: Francisco Soriano Víbora Tutor: Francisco Javier Tamayo Morillo CONTENTS ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. 1 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 1 2. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................... 2 3. THE INDIRECT OBJECT IN ENGLISH ......................................................................... 3 3.1. Form .............................................................................................................................. 3 3.2. Position .......................................................................................................................... 3 3.3. Semantic properties ....................................................................................................... 4 3.4. Other aspects ................................................................................................................. 5 4. THE INDIRECT OBJECT IN SPANISH .......................................................................... 6 4.1. Form .............................................................................................................................. 7 4.2. Position .......................................................................................................................... 9 4.3. Semantic properties ..................................................................................................... 10 4.4. Other aspects ................................................................................................................ 12 5. CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS ........................................................................................... 13 5.1. The notion of transitivity and the indirect object ........................................................ 13 5.2. Passivizing the indirect object: English vs. Spanish ................................................... 15 5.3. Realization and duplication: English vs. Spanish ....................................................... 17 5.4. The syntax of semantic roles: English vs. Spanish ..................................................... 18 5.4.1. Beneficiary and recipient ................................................................................... 19 5.4.2. “Sympatheticus” or possessive dative ................................................................ 20 5.4.3. Direction dative .................................................................................................. 21 5.4.4. Relation or aspectual dative ............................................................................... 21 5.4.5. Experiencer ......................................................................................................... 22 5.5. Corpus analysis ........................................................................................................... 23 6. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................... 24 References ............................................................................................................................... 27 Appendix A ............................................................................................................................. 29 Appendix B .............................................................................................................................. 42 1 ABSTRACT This paper provides a contrastive analysis of the morphological, syntactic, and semantic properties of the English and Spanish indirect objects. In order to reach conclusions and provide sufficient evidence, multiple descriptive grammars and a corpus have been utilized. The corpus encompasses one hundred sentences in Spanish containing indirect objects from the novel La Sombra del Viento by Ruiz Zafón, and its English counterparts from the English translation of the novel. Through their use, both a qualitative and a quantitative perspective are given on the way in which the same syntactic pattern behaves differently in the two languages, focusing on aspects like the concept of transitivity, formal realization, passivization, and the semantics of the indirect object. The Spanish indirect object shows itself to be more productive than the English one, with results revealing that only 35% of the indirect objects were maintained in English. This paper may serve as an aid or guide for Spanish and English L2 teachers to approach the indirect object and the errors concerning it in a more informed way. Key words: indirect object, contrastive analysis, English/Spanish, corpus study, transitivity, semantic roles. 1. INTRODUCTION In this paper, I present a comparative study of the indirect object in Spanish and English through a contrastive analysis approach. I will therefore explore the morphological, syntactic, and semantic properties of each to determine how the indirect object is similar or different in both languages. I will also examine how each language resorts to alternative syntactic patterns to express meanings typical of the indirect object in the other. Although at a first glance this study could be considered too detailed for its use in the foreign language classroom, the broader aim of this paper is to provide teachers, whether they teach English as an L2 to Spanish speakers or Spanish as an L2 to English ones, with tools and a foundation to explain the syntax and meaning of the indirect object properly. Equally, with the information provided in this paper, they may solve grammatical errors in relation to this syntactic structure more assertively. The outline of this paper is as follows. In section 2, the theoretical background used for this piece of research as well as the corpus found in Appendix A will be described and explained. Section 3 will assess the indirect object in English in detail, delving into its formal, syntactic, and semantic features, as well as other characteristics. Similarly, section 4 will address the indirect object in Spanish thoroughly, following the same structure and dealing with the same points as the previous section. Next, section 5 will encompass the contrastive analysis 2 of this paper and, thus, its core. It will deal with some of the most relevant aspects in which the syntactic structure analyzed in this paper differs in both languages by making use of the corpus. Transitivity, passivization, formal realization, semantic roles, and a quantitative analysis of the corpus will be discussed in this part of the study. Lastly, a conclusion will be provided in section 6. 2. METHODOLOGY The theoretical foundation of this paper is based on reference manuals in English and Spanish Linguistics, as well as certain contrastive ones. In the case of English, works such as the ones by Huddleston & Pullum (2002), Quirk et al. (1985), and Downing (2015) have been reviewed. For Spanish, sources such as Campos (1999), Alarcos Llorach (1994), and the Real Academia Española (2016) have been used. These sources provide a solid body on the form, position and semantics of the indirect object in both languages. Said frame will be developed in sections 3 and 4 of the present study. It is key to mention that, for Spanish, only its peninsular variant will be addressed, as Spanish from American countries or the Canary Islands may differ in its use of the syntactic structure to be explored. To conduct the contrastive analysis, a corpus (found in the Appendix A section) has been developed based on two novels: La Sombra del Viento by Carlos Ruiz Zafón and its English version, The Shadow of the Wind, translated by Lucia Graves. The language used in these novels is colloquial and not too complex or literary. Through its use, one is able to observe the behavior of the indirect object in real contexts and to discern the similarities and differences in syntax and semantics in each language. In order to build up the corpus, all of the sentences which contained indirect objects and some that showed elements resembling them (such as certain direct objects) from the first six chapters of the novel were selected (101 in total). Then, their English counterparts were placed next to them in a table format and important observations regarding the change in the sentences were noted down. Certain color codes were applied so as to make the changes in the sentences easier to detect. The examples used throughout this paper have been drawn from the corpus. These have been supplemented with examples from other academic sources and, in certain cases, with made up examples to illustrate more specific points. This guarantees that the analysis covers both common and less frequent structures that may not appear in the novel. 3 3. THE INDIRECT OBJECT IN ENGLISH Before dealing with the description of the indirect object in English, it is key to introduce the concept of ditransitive structures. According to the Collins COBUILD English Grammar (1990:138), ditransitive verbs may be defined as those that “allow you to mention a person who benefits from an action or receives something as a result. The clause then has both a direct object and an indirect object.” Thus, in the English language, the indirect object may only occur with verbs that take two objects (Downing, 2015:51), that is, only within ditransitive structures. 3.1. Form When it comes to form, Quirk et al. (1985:726) state that the indirect object is similar to the subject in that it is normally a noun phrase or a nominal clause. More specifically, indirect objects only take the form of nominal relative clauses (Quirk et al., 1985:726), also known as whnominal clauses (Downing, 2015:51). [1] a. “... I handed Barcelo [/ him ] the book.” (18) 1 (noun phrase) b. I told whoever was paying attention the truth. (nominal relative clause) 3.2. Position Regarding its position, there are two main placements in which one may stumble across an indirect object in general terms. However, scholars disagree on whether the second option ought to be considered as an indirect object or as a syntactic structure of a different nature. To begin with, the indirect object may be found right after the predicator and before the direct object: “When both objects follow P [the predicator] (as in all canonical clauses) their relative order is fixed, with Oi [indirect object] preceding Od [direct object]” (Huddleston & Pullum, 2002:244). Most scholars would agree on this statement, and such is the case of Quirk et al. (1985:726) or Downing (2015:51). Some examples follow: [2] a. “I want to show you something.” (7) b. “I promised my father I would keep the secret …” (31) However, this initial indirect object may have a prepositional phrase as an alternative, placed after the direct object. This alternative construction has led to debate and to multiple interpretations: [3] a. I want to show something to you. b. I promised I would keep the secret to my father. 1 Throughout the paper, the numbers in parentheses appearing after examples, like in this case the “(18),” reference the corresponding example number in the corpus displayed in Appendix A. 4 Most scholars today agree that this prepositional phrase is not an indirect object, as argued by Quirk et al. (1985:727): “We do not, as some do, apply the term ‘indirect object’ to the corresponding prepositional phrases (eg: for me in Pour a drink for me), though we use the term ‘prepositional object’ for the complement in such phrases.” However, there are scholars who consider this alternate prepositional phrase to be an indirect object. Traditionalist grammars base this claim on the meaning of these syntactic structures, since they take the same semantic roles as indirect objects. Representatives of this view could be Stockwell et al. (1965:18), since they asserted no difference in function in the two possible realizations of the indirect object: “NP:IO [Noun Phrase: Indirect Object]: The first NP after VPio [Verb Phrase with indirect object] … , the indirect object, but second if a preposition is present.” Another scholar defending this perspective is Burton-Roberts (1986:85): “"INDIRECT OBJECT, then, is either the first of two NP sisters of a Vgrp bearing a [ditrans] feature ... or the NP daughter of a PP which is sister of a Vgrp bearing a [ditrans] feature …” 2 Therefore, with relation to position, the indirect object is widely believed to only be the noun phrase in between the main verb and the direct object in ditransitive structures. When we find this noun phrase at the end of the sentence and introduced by a preposition, most scholars would refer to a prepositional object, even if some like Stockwell et al. (1965) or BurtonRoberts (1986) would differ and consider it an indirect object. 3.3. Semantic properties Apart from its form and position, something that makes an indirect object distinguishable in English is its semantic properties. The indirect object fulfills two semantic roles in English: beneficiary and recipient 3 . 2 When discussing the possible syntactic realizations of the indirect object, the field of transformational grammar comes to the forefront. Allerton (1977:22) argues that the prepositional phrase is the basic form, and that the noun phrase realization of the indirect object is a result of a transformation: “If, then, the preposition is part of the lexical character of the verb – or of the verb-object complex – it is more natural to make the (a) sentences [these would be sentences following the propositional phrase structure] basic and delete the preposition in question transformationally.” In a more recent work, Levin (1993:47) defines this process as dative alternation, where “the NP that is the object of the preposition to in the prepositional frame turns up as the first object in the double object construction.” When discussing this phenomenon, she asserts the fact that most research dealing with it surrounds the characterization of the set of verbs that show this alternation and those which do not (Levin, 1993:48). This makes evident, therefore, that the two constructions addressed (whether considered proper indirect objects or not by certain scholars) are clearly related. 3 These semantic roles may receive other labels, which in the end depend on the researcher. When discussing the concepts of recipient and beneficiary, scholars such as Allerton (1977:26) use the terms immediate recipient (the recipient) and ultimate recipient (the beneficiary) in order to explain the difference between the two. In addition, Allerton (1977:26) asserts that beneficiaries may also be referred to as benefactives. 5 Before continuing, it seems appropriate to provide a definition of these two roles. On the one hand, according to Comesaña Rincón et al. (2013:77), the beneficiary is defined as “an entity indirectly involved in the action and who only receives the benefit (or detriment) from it.” This participant in the sentence would be understood as the “final goal of a transaction.” On the other hand, these same researchers designate the recipient as a temporary beneficiary, that is, “a temporary step, not the permanent or final aim, in a transaction” (2013:79). [4] a. She made me a sweater. - She made a sweater for me. (Beneficiary) b. I paid the bus driver the fee. - I paid the fee to the bus driver. (Recipient) In order to discern whether the role played by a particular indirect object is beneficiary or recipient, one must rely heavily on context. In the case of [4b], it can be hypothesized that the bus driver will not actually keep the money and benefit from it, but rather that he is the “temporary step” in between the user and the bus company. Nonetheless, certain scholars argue that syntax may also be used as a tool to distinguish the semantic role in question. Its prepositional counterpart may give away the role, with the complement of ‘to’ normally being referred to as recipient and the complement of ‘for’ as beneficiary (Huddleston & Pullum, 2002:244). Some academics go further, as is the case of Downing (2015:51), signaling that passive counterparts serve to determine the role. She argues that the recipient indirect object corresponds to the subject in the passive, while most beneficiary objects do not occupy the subject position in a passive counterpart with ease: [5] a. They lent me a few CDs. (Recipient) - I have been lent a few CDs. —------------ b. I’ll buy you a drink. (Beneficiary) - *You’ll be bought a drink. 4 However, she also argues that this distinction varies among speakers. Some find the beneficiary as subject acceptable, meaning that they would admit the passive counterpart of the sentence in [5b]. 3.4. Other aspects To conclude, an aspect that is characteristic of the indirect object in English, but which does not fit in the prior points, is its capability of being omitted. As Huddleston & Pullum (2002:244) indicate, “Characteristically the Od [direct object] in ditransitives is obligatory while the Oi [indirect object] is omissible.” This feature of the English indirect object is commonly mentioned in English grammars, highlighting that while the indirect object can be omitted without affecting the grammaticality of a sentence, the direct object cannot be dropped provided 4 Examples taken from Downing (2015:52). 6 that there is no prior context at all 5 . Thus, [6c] and [6d] would sound incomplete considering that the direct object is missing: [6] a. I want to show (you) something. b. I promised (my father) I would keep the secret. c. *I want to show you (something). d. *I promised my father (I would keep the secret). 4. THE INDIRECT OBJECT IN SPANISH The indirect object in Spanish showcases more complexity. To begin with, although it may seem obvious, Spanish indirect objects also take place in ditransitive structures. According to Campos (1999:1545), the indirect object reflects the person, animal or thing onto which the action of the verb ends or is completed, with that action having been already exerted onto the direct object in advance. [7] a. “Esos ... te pegarán las peores puñaladas [a ti].” (47) b. “Le dirigí una mirada a mi padre.” (17) That being said, this scholar states that the Real Academia Española (1973:3.4.3.) is wrong to limit indirect objects in that they only occur with transitive verbs. In fact, he proposes that “algunos verbos intransitivos … pueden aparecer con un complemento indirecto” 6 (Campos, 1999:1545) and, thus, argues that the capability of an indirect object to appear in a sentence is determined lexically by a given verb. Some examples are provided here: [8] a. “... lo que más le gustaba eran las intrigas de crimen y alcoba.” (50) b. El carné de conducir le será útil a Ellie. As seen in [8], the verbs gustar and ser, which would normally be classified as intransitive and copulative respectively, are accompanied by indirect objects. In this case, Campos (1999) implicitly agrees with the notion that only verbs that are also followed by direct objects can be considered transitive, with those simply appearing with indirect objects still regarded as intransitive. Nonetheless, as section 5.1. will discuss, the presence of the indirect 5 Matthews (1981:125) goes further into the study of the obligatoriness of direct objects, considering the instances in which there is prior context. He differentiates between two senses of obligatory, the stronger and the weaker sense. Some direct objects will be compulsory in all scenarios, even if there is context, which makes them obligatory in a strong sense (as in “Bill got the prize”). This would mean that the sentence would be ungrammatical if the direct object is missing (*Bill got). Others, however, will be obligatory in a weak sense, meaning that they will only be obligatory in complete sentences (as in I was reading a book). The weak sense entails that if the direct object is not present, the sentence will still be grammatical and that the direct object is presumed (“I was reading”). Therefore, with context and depending on the verb, certain direct objects can be omitted because they are latent. In relation to this, academics such as Downing & Locke (1992:46) defend that the indirect object may appear by itself, and still be considered one, when the direct object is “expounded”: (i) a. Who told you (the answer)? b. Perhaps you could show me (how to do it). 6 “some intransitive verbs … can appear with an indirect object” (My own translation) 7 object by itself gives rise to a debate on whether these verbs should be considered transitive in the context of these examples. 4.1. Form When it comes to form in Spanish, the indirect object may be realized by a prepositional phrase, a noun phrase whose only constituent is a pronoun, or both at the same time (Real Academia Española, 2016:673). This section will give an overview of the three possibilities, starting off with four examples that showcase all of them: [9] a. Pidió permiso a su amiga. (Prepositional Phrase) b. “Quiero enseñarte algo.” (7) (Pronoun-headed NP) c. “No se lo puedes contar …” (2) (Pronoun-headed NP) d. “... cuando le pregunté a mi padre si el cielo lloraba …” (4) (Both) Firstly, when we come across an indirect object in the form of a prepositional phrase, the Real Academia Española (2016:674) affirms that it ought to be preceded by the preposition a. Prepositional phrases preceded by para, on the other hand, have led to discussion. The general belief nowadays is that only the ones introduced by the preposition a can be considered indirect objects, with scholars like Alarcos Llorach (1994:292), who have worked for the Real Academia Española, stating the following: “No deben considerarse objetos indirectos los adyacentes caracterizados por la preposición para, aunque puedan referirse en la realidad a un destinatario.” 7 This is due to the fact that if the para prepositional phrase is placed before the verb, a dative pronoun is not implemented (which would be the normal case, as will be explained further on). Moreover, prepositional phrases with para are compatible with indirect objects: [10] a. Han traído un paquete para el director x. b. Para el directorx [*lex] han traído un paquete. c. [Ley]han traído al conserjey un paquete para el directorx. 8 The ungrammaticality of example [9b] comes from the fact that the referents of Para el director and le are different ones and, thus, cannot share the same sub-index. Le can only refer to the same referent of a prepositional phrase introduced by a, which is made evident in [9c]. Thus, there is an extralinguistic element involved as well. Other scholars, however, do not differentiate between the two so drastically. Campos (1999:1551), for instance, acknowledges the fact that the prepositional phrases a and para are 7 “The adjacents characterized by the proposition para should not be considered indirect objects, even if they may refer to recipients in reality.” (My own translation) 8 Examples taken from Alarcos Llorach (1994:293), although sub-indexes were added. 14 This links directly to the quote by Campos (1999:1545) used in section 4, stating that we may also find indirect objects with “intransitive” verbs like encantar or hablar: [25] a. “A Clara le encantaba sentarse a escuchar los murmullos de la gente en el claustro.” (96) b. “... creía que si cerraba los ojos y le hablaba, ella podría oírme.” (6) However, is it true that these verbs are intransitive? When it comes to examples in [25], the omission of the indirect object may lead to ungrammaticality or a change in meaning. In the case of [25a], the omission of the indirect object would lead to the sentence being ungrammatical (*encantaba sentarse a escuchar los murmullos…). In [25b], if the indirect object is omitted (... creía que si cerraba los ojos y hablaba, ella podría oírme), the verb hablar no longer means ‘talk to someone’ but rather ‘having the ability to talk’. Therefore, as Tamayo Morillo & Fernández Domínguez (1996:18) propose, these indirect objects are participants needed in the action and, therefore, act as completing structures of the verb 19 . Secondly, English offers a different perspective on the notion of transitivity. Whereas in Spanish one may make the distinction between direct and indirect object when there is only one object in the sentence, English only makes this distinction in structures with two nominal objects (Tamayo Morillo & Fernández Domínguez, 1996:4). Both the indirect and direct object are alike in form (noun phrases), position (after the verb), and are both passivizable. This leads to the object in sentences with a single object always being identified as the direct object or simply as object: In sentences of the type They saw a light the predicate consists of a so-called TRANSITIVE verb, followed by a noun or pronoun denoting a person or thing affected by the action expressed by the verb. This noun or pronoun is called an OBJECT. A verb that does not take an object is called INTRANSITIVE. (Zandvoort, 1957:199) As seen in the previous quote, there are scholars like Zandvoort (1957) who would simply call that specific noun phrase object. That said, there are others like Huddleston and Pullum (2005:78), who would refer to them as direct objects: The dimension that relates to the number of objects in the clause is called transitivity. An intransitive clause has no objects, a monotransitive clause has one object, and a ditransitive clause has two objects, indirect and direct. In canonical clauses an indirect object cannot occur without a following direct one, so the single object of a monotransitive is always a direct object. 19 One of the characteristics of completing structures or complements is that they represent arguments of the verb on the semantic level, as defined by Huddleston & Pullum (2002:226): “Prototypically, the semantic predicate corresponds to the syntactic predicator, and the arguments correspond to complements.” That is, they portray necessary participants for the sentence to make sense both in the syntactic and the semantic sphere. 15 The striking difference with Spanish and the one causing the disparity in the definitions of transitivity in both languages is the fact that Spanish uses form to distinguish between indirect and direct objects, namely pronominalization (the substitution by one clitic or the other) 20 . English uses a different criterion, position. However, these distinctions seem to be made purely on formal grounds, leaving out semantics in many cases. The neglect of semantics is made evident through this quote by Huddleston & Pullum (2002:251): “In canonical clauses containing just one object, that object is always a direct object, even if it corresponds semantically to the indirect object of a ditransitive clause.” What Tamayo Morillo & Fernández Domínguez (1996:17-8) put forward is that, in order to classify a verb as transitive, the notion of complementation may be the solution in both languages (English and Spanish) 21 . This implies implementing a semantic perspective into the matter. That is, what should be tested is whether that verb requires an object or not to make sense, whether that object is direct, indirect, or even prepositional. Their work has shown that in Spanish some verbs take just one indirect object as a completing structure, making that indirect object crucial for the sentence to be grammatical or have a specific meaning. Given that examples in [25] corroborate this, I completely agree with the view presented by these scholars: verbs taking any type of object should be considered transitive, if the object stands for one of the participants in the situation denoted by the verb. 5.2. Passivizing the indirect object: English vs. Spanish Another dimension in which the indirect object is different in English and Spanish is its capability of being passivized to become the subject of passive sentences. While English allows this passivization, Spanish blocks it. This section will give an overview on certain restrictions English faces when this transformation takes place and the alternatives to the passive found in Spanish. Starting off with English, Quirk et al. (1985:726) note that both the direct and indirect object may be passivized, with a preference for the indirect one: “If both objects are present, it is often possible to make either the subject of the corresponding passive clause, but it is far 20 As seen earlier: lo, la, los, las for the direct object and le, les for the indirect object. Le may also be used for the direct object when referring to a male human being (Real Academia Española, 2005). 21 In the case of Spanish, there are already scholars such as Moreno Cabrera (1991:478) who acknowledge the indirect object (by itself) as a completing structure of many verbs: “La función de objeto indirecto puede considerarse como nuclear ya que la palabra que la desempeña denota un participante que interviene directamente en la acción denotada por el participado (el verbo).” - “The function of the indirect object can be considered nuclear since the word that executes it denotes a participant that intervenes directly in the action denoted by the verb.” (My own translation) 16 more common to make the Oi the subject of the passive.” This can be exemplified in the following example: [26] a. “... he offered you a good sum of money …” (34) b. You were offered a good sum of money by him. (Oi as subject) c. A good sum of money was offered to you by him. (Od as subject, less natural) Nevertheless, as seen in section 3.3., the semantic role carried out by the indirect object influences whether its passivization is possible. Just as Downing (2015:51) suggests 22 , when the indirect object is playing the role of recipient this transformation is possible, but not when it is the beneficiary. Huddleston & Pullum (2002:249) take it further, arguing that when the indirect object is a recipient, the passive alternative in which the direct object is made subject is found to reach the limits of acceptability by some speakers. Examples in [26] serve to exemplify the case of the recipient. In addition, they state that in the case of the beneficiary, “neither passive is completely acceptable, but many speakers find the first [where the Oi is made a subject] marginally possible.” Some instances of this phenomena are the following: [27] a. “The lesser members of the coterie made room for us in their circle.” (15) b. The lesser members of the coterie made us room in their circle. c. *We were made room in their circle by the lesser members of the coterie. (Oi as subject) d. *Room was made for us in their circle by the lesser members of the coterie. (Od as subject) Moving forward to Spanish, only direct objects may occupy the subject position in passive sentences. This is one of the formal differences used in Spanish to discern between direct and indirect objects (Tamayo Morillo & Fernández Domínguez, 1996:10). Not all direct objects can be passivized and sound natural, however: [28] a. “Daniel, lo que vas a ver hoy no se lo puedes contar a nadie.” (2) b. Lo que vas a ver hoy no puede ser contado a nadie (por ti). c. *Nadie puede ser contado lo que vas a ver hoy. [29] a. Este jarrón contiene tres flores. b. *Tres flores son contenidas por este jarrón. Examples in [28] present how, for the most part, direct objects may become subjects in passive sentences, while the ones in [29] bring forward how not all direct objects can naturally be placed in that position. Moreover, it is crucial to mention that Spanish has a preference for active sentences, as pointed out by Tamayo Morillo & Fernández Domínguez (1996:11), which makes this criterion to differentiate indirect and direct objects not so useful. 22 See section 3.3. for further examples. 17 The closest syntactic structure that we can use in Spanish to convey something similar to a passive sentence in English (in which the subject is the active indirect object) is a “cláusula subordinada de participio”, which is a non-finite subordinate clause introduced by a past participle with no overt subject 23 (Real Academia Española, 2025). An instance of this phenomenon could be the following: [30] a. El trabajador respondió algo al jefe. b. *El jefe fue respondido algo por el trabajador. c. Preguntado por el jefe, el trabajador respondió algo. As exhibited in the examples in [30], although a passive sentence in which the subject is the active indirect object is not possible, a subordinate clause of this sort may be used as the Spanish counterpart to the English passive sentence. Both through the English passive and through this clause in Spanish, the indirect object in the original active sentence is moved to the initial position of the sentence. This fronting 24 process may be due to communicative needs, such as the indirect object already being known by the listener (thus it represents irrelevant information) and the speaker wanting to place the focus later in the sentence 25 . 5.3. Realization and duplication: English vs. Spanish It is by now clear that the indirect object is realized differently in terms of form in the two languages being compared in this study. On the one hand, the English indirect object is always purely nominal, taking the form of a noun phrase headed by a pronoun or a noun: [31] a. “... my father lent me a Staedtler pencil, a number two, with which I scribbled in a notebook.” (79) b. “I stopped asking my father to take me to see Victor Hugo's pen.” (82) On the other, its Spanish counterpart is prepositional, taking the form of a prepositional phrase introduced by a. It cannot be said, nonetheless, that Spanish is purely prepositional in all cases. When pronominalization is found, that is, when the prepositional phrase is substituted by an unstressed personal pronoun, the indirect object appears in the form of a noun phrase headed by that pronoun: [32] a. “... mi padre me prestó un lápiz Staedtler del número dos con el que garabateaba en un cuaderno.” (79) (Oi solely in the form of a noun phrase) b. “No volví a pedirle a mi padre que me llevase a visitar la pluma de Víctor 23 For further information, see Glosario de Términos Gramaticales (RAE). The link to the entry on this specific type of subordinate clauses appears in the References section. 24 Leech & Svartvik (1975:177) refer to this type of fronting for communicative reasons as ‘Given’ Topic fronting: “a less important idea is shifted to the front so that end-focus can fall on another, more important idea.” 25 This is what would be known as the end-focus principle, which Leech & Svartvik (1975:175) define effectively: “the new or most important idea in a piece of information should be placed towards the end.” 18 Hugo.” (82) (Oi in the form of a prepositional phrase and duplicated) Even if in the case of [32a] the noun phrase me is replacing a prepositional phrase (a mí), it is remarkable that only a noun phrase representing the indirect object is found. Moreover, [32b] displays a core characteristic of the indirect object: its capability of being duplicated, which is known in English terminology as clitic doubling. While the duplication of the indirect object is not possible in English, the Spanish indirect object always allows this to occur 26 . There are, of course, certain syntactic and semantic restrictions that may cause its appearance to be compulsory (namely those discussed in sections 4.1. and 4.3.). Something unexpected, however, is that looking at the examples compiled in the corpus, one could argue that Spanish resorts to clitic doubling less often than expected considering that it can always be done. Out of one hundred examples containing indirect objects in Spanish, only twenty-two are duplicated. 5.4. The syntax of semantic roles: English vs. Spanish As discussed in sections 3.3. and 4.3., the indirect object showcases a number of semantic roles in each language. To be more precise, Spanish displays six roles 27 , while the English indirect object only encompasses two out of those six. This is one of the main reasons behind the choice of a novel that was originally written in Spanish to elaborate the contrastive corpus. Given that there are four additional semantic roles portrayed by the Spanish indirect object, this section aims to provide an overview of the syntactic structures that English resorts to in order to express those same meanings. To do so, the examples from the corpus have been briefly analyzed 28 in the observations section and their syntactic and semantic changes have been noted down. Each semantic role will be examined individually except for the beneficiary and the recipient, since they exhibit many similarities. 26 The Spanish direct object, in contrast, is duplicated far less frequently. We only find clitic doubling when the direct object appears at the beginning of the sentence and is known, as in (iv-a), or when the direct object is realized by a prepositional phrase introduced by a and followed by a stressed pronoun (Real Academia Española, 2016:658), as in (iv-b). (iv) a. ¿Cuándo construyeron el palacete? El palacete lo construyeron en el siglo XV. b. A ella la van a detener. 27 This refers, though, to the synthesis of different grammars that I have elaborated for the purpose of this paper. There may be more semantic roles that can be applied to the indirect object, as well as different labels and interpretations. 28 In order to determine the semantic roles of the different examples, I took as reference Comesaña Rincón et al. (2013). As will be mentioned in the affected sections, other scholars present differing views to Comesaña Rincón et al. (2013) when dealing with specific verbs. 19 It is key to preface this section by acknowledging the fact that semantic roles are notably intricate in nature, and that the classification that will be used is simply one of the many variants or interpretations possible. Most scholars create their own classifications, in some cases coinciding with those created by others, but there are still discrepancies in this field. As a consequence, it is relevant to bear in mind that this is simply one of the many ways that the semantic roles in the corpus can be viewed. 5.4.1. Beneficiary and recipient These two semantic roles are the ones supposedly shared by both languages, being carried out via an indirect object. The Spanish indirect objects taking these roles are carried out syntactically either through a prepositional phrase introduced by a, a noun phrase headed by an unstressed pronoun or, when clitic doubling occurs, both. On the one hand, when looking at the corpus, one can see how the Spanish indirect objects with the role of beneficiary have been translated directly into other indirect objects (taking the form of noun phrases, placed after the verb and before the direct object) or into prepositional objects (prepositional phrases introduced by the preposition for). Examples in [33] show those that have been translated as Oi and examples in [34] show those that have been translated as PO: [33] a. “... aunque no veía con malos ojos que don Federico me fabricase un sucedáneo.” - “... even though I didn't think it was such a bad idea for Don Federico to make me a substitute.” (76) b. “... un hombre que no podía permitirse regalarle a su hijo una dichosa pluma.” - “... a man who could not afford to buy his son a wretched pen.” (83) [34] a. “... yo te la compro.” - “I'll buy it for you.” (81) b. “Los contertulios nos hicieron sitio en su círculo.” - “The lesser members of the coterie made room for us in their circle.” (15) Out of the one hundred examples of indirect objects, only six exhibited this semantic role. On the other hand, recipients behave very similarly. They are either translated in English as indirect objects, as examples in [35], or as prepositional objects (in this case, introduced by the preposition to), as examples in [36] display. Out of the one hundred examples in the corpus, twenty-four examples showed this semantic role: [35] a. “... le tendí el libro a Barceló.” - “... I handed Barcelo the book.” (18) b. “Mi tío me ha dicho que te ofreció una buena suma por el libro de Carax, pero que tú la rechazaste.” - “My uncle said he offered you a good sum of money for the Carax, but you refused it.” (34) 20 [36] a. “Durante meses les escribió todas las semanas.” - “For months he wrote a letter to his wife and daughter once a week.” (45) b. “... decidió prestar la novela a sus dos alumnas.” - “... he decided to lend the novel to his two pupils.” (62) An important remark needs to be made with regard to the role of recipient, though. When verbs such as tell, explain, teach or ask are found in ditransitive structures, there are differing views among scholars concerning the semantic role of the indirect object. To give an example, Downing & Locke (2006:137) state the following: “The Recipient is the one who usually receives the ‘goods’, permission or information.” By including “information” in the definition of the elements received by the recipient, these scholars argue that the verbs aforementioned take a recipient. Nonetheless, Comesaña Rincón et al. (2013:74) would disagree. They would consider the indirect objects of those verbs experiencers, with the direct object (that is, the information being transmitted) representing the stimulus. It is striking that, in their definition of experiencer, Comesaña Rincón et al. (2013:74) use as a reference Huddleston & Pullum (2002): “In fact, this is the idea recorded in Huddleston & Pullum (2002:231-2).” However, when discussing the indirect object in particular in their grammar, Huddleston & Pullum (2002:244-51) solely mention as possible semantic roles for this element those of beneficiary and recipient, not experiencer. This demonstrates how the topic of semantic roles is rather conflicting. For the objective of this paper, the indirect objects in sentences containing the verbs tell, explain, teach or ask have been catalogued as experiencers. This entails that if Downing & Locke’s (2006) approach is taken, the numerical amount of each semantic role in the corpus would vary significantly. 5.4.2. “Sympatheticus” or possessive dative In Spanish, the indirect object may express the possessor of the direct object, that being the semantic role known as “sympatheticus” or possessive dative. In addition, the corpus has shown that the indirect object may also express the possessor of the subject of the sentence. Nevertheless, this does not occur in English. English resorts to possessive determiners accompanying the head of the noun phrase acting as the subject, direct object, or even as complement of a preposition (inside a prepositional phrase) behaving as an adverbial: [37] a. “Los dedos le olían a canela.”- “Her fingers smelled of cinnamon.” (41) b. “Los contertulios le rieron la gracia.” - “The choir cheered his remark.” (20) c. “Sus dedos me recorrieron las mejillas y los pómulos.” - “Her fingers ran over my cheeks and cheekbones.” (40) 21 As seen in [37], the possessive dative is translated into English through the use of possessive determiners. In the case of [37a], le portrays the possessor of the subject, Los dedos, which is why the English sentence translates it as a determiner inside the subject (Her fingers). In [37b], le expresses the possessor of the direct object, which is why it is translated as a determiner inside a noun phrase acting as direct object (his remark). Lastly, we find in [37c] that the possessive determiner may also be spotted in the complement of a preposition inside a prepositional phrase (over my cheeks and cheekbones). Out of the one hundred examples of indirect objects, twelve of them exhibited the “sympatheticus” or possessive dative role. All of these were consequently translated into possessive determiners inside different structures. Out of these twelve, five were placed inside direct objects, three inside subjects, and four inside complements of prepositions. 5.4.3. Direction dative Another role that the Spanish indirect object may convey is the direction dative, referencing the person that serves as the end point or the way of the movement expressed by a movement verb. In English, this semantic role is expressed through prepositional phrases that act as prepositional objects rather than through indirect objects: [38] a. “Barceló le lanzó una mirada airada a mi padre a través de su monóculo.” - “Barcelo shot a poisonous look at my father through his monocle.” (22) (Prepositional object) Out of the one hundred instances of indirect objects, only three examples showed this semantic role. 5.4.4. Relation or aspectual dative In the corpus, we find a few instances of relation or aspectual dative indirect objects, mostly with the verb parecer in Spanish. This semantic role manifests for whom the verb’s statement is valid. The English indirect object does not showcase this role, and the translations show no equivalent structure to express this. We can see, however, that in some cases the subject implies who the statement is valid for, while in others there is no sign of a structure playing this role: [39] a. “Pues a mí me parece que tocas de maravilla.” - “Well, I think you play beautifully.” (92) b. “... el título le resultaba sugerente.” - “The title seemed suggestive.” (49) 22 In [39a], the I in the English sentence already indicates who is thinking, while in [39b] the relation or aspectual dative is simply omitted, probably because the context makes it obvious. Out of the one hundred instances of indirect objects, six examples portrayed this semantic role. 5.4.5. Experiencer To conclude with the semantic roles, the experiencer comes to light. This role is interesting since most English grammars do not include it as a role carried out by the indirect object, while there are examples from the corpus that could be used to argue that this is wrong. Amongst the Spanish examples in the corpus, there are numerous sentences containing an indirect object acting as experiencer. This comes as no surprise, since reputed grammars like the Real Academia Española (2016) make this evident. What is shocking is that in many cases, these indirect objects are translated in English as equivalent indirect objects. In some others, this indirect object is omitted in the English counterpart or translated as a direct or prepositional object: [40] a. “Les dije que a lo mejor me pasaba mañana por su casa …” - “I told them I might go to their house tomorrow …” (86) b. “Aquel libro me enseñó que leer podía hacerme vivir más y más intensamente …” - “That book taught me that by reading, I could live more intensely …” (65) c. “... lo que más le gustaba eran las intrigas de crimen y alcoba.” - “... what he most enjoyed were tales of crime, boudoir intrigue, and questionable conduct.” (50) d. “Barceló hizo señas a un camarero.” - “Barcelo signalled to a waiter.” (16) e. “Lo que más me dolió fue la alusión a Tomás.” - “What hurt me most was the reference to Tomas.” (94) Examples [40a] and [40b] demonstrate that indirect objects can also carry the experiencer in English, taking the view of scholars like Comesaña Rincón et al. (2013). In the case of [40c], the experiencer is shown through an indirect object in Spanish but through a subject in the English sentence (he). Lastly, in [40d], we find a prepositional object instead of an indirect one, and in [40e] we find a direct object. In total, forty-four examples were classified as experiencers. Seeing this, a proposal could be made stating that the role of experiencer should be incorporated as part of the semantic roles carried out by English indirect objects. Examples from the corpus demonstrate its possibility of being portrayed through an indirect object in English too. Grammarians, even if they disagree, should at least mention the fact that some scholars interpret certain indirect objects as experiencers instead of recipients, seeing the information being transmitted (the direct object) as a stimulus. 23 5.5. Corpus analysis To round off the contrastive analysis of the two languages, a quantitative analysis of the examples found in the corpus developed in Appendix 1 will be made. Specifically, I would like to see how the Spanish examples have been translated and whether or not that could shed some light into how the indirect object contrasts in Spanish and English. These results are shown graphically in Appendix B. To begin with this analysis, only the Spanish instances of indirect objects have been considered, to determine whether there is a tendency towards a specific syntactic structure: Table 1 Form of indirect objects in Spanish Form types Number of cases Percentage Prepositional phrase only 9 9% Noun phrase only (pronominalized) 69 69% Duplicated 22 22% Total 100 100% What can be observed in Table 1 is that there is a clear tendency towards the pronominalization of the indirect object in Spanish. Sentences where the indirect object is presented only as a pronoun (inside a noun phrase) represent the majority (69%). Following that structure, what seems to be more common are sentences showing clitic doubling (22%), which shows its strong presence in Spanish. It comes as surprising, however, that even if they can be always duplicated only 22% of examples actually were. Lastly, sentences containing just the prepositional phrase represent less than 10% of the examples, pointing towards the fact that this may be the least common realization of the indirect object in the Spanish language. Moving on, and including English, I would like to see how the indirect objects have been translated into English. Specifically, how many have been kept as indirect objects and, among those that were not, what structures have been utilized: 30 experiencer. This points towards the fact that POs and Ois can be semantically equal. Prologue (6) “... creía que si cerraba los ojos y le hablaba, ella podría oírme.” (p. 10) “I believed … that if I closed my eyes and spoke to her, she would be able to hear me …” (p. 2) - Here, we find an instance of a canonically intransitive verb (‘hablar’) with an Oi. This is exactly what Campos (1999) acknowledges and, thus, would lead to debate on whether this verb could be considered transitive in this context. - The Spanish Oi (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is translated as a PO (a PP introduced by ‘to’). - Semantic role: experiencer. Prologue (7) “Quiero enseñarte algo.” (p. 10) “I want to show you something.” (p. 2) - In the Spanish sentence, we find an instance of a NP headed by a pronoun (the Oi) as an enclitic (since we have a structure of the sort ‘main verb + infinitive’). - The Oi in Spanish (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) translated as an Oi (taking the form of a NP) in English. Following the common pattern, Oi before Od, both placed after the verb. - Semantic role: recipient. Prologue (8) “Un hombrecillo con rasgos de ave rapaz y cabellera plateada nos abrió la puerta.” (p. 11) “A smallish man with vulturine features framed by thick grey hair opened the door.” (p. 2) - The Oi is omitted in the English sentence. This is most probably due to the fact that the context surrounding the English sentence makes the entity represented with an Oi in Spanish clear. - This could be linked to Campos’s (1999) classification, in which the verb ‘abrir’ could omit the Oi without issues in Spanish. This may have led the translator to omit it in English altogether. - Semantic role: beneficiary. Prologue (9) “El tal Isaac nos invitó a pasar con un leve asentimiento.” (p. 11) “The man called Isaac nodded and invited us in.” (p. 3) - The Spanish Oi (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is translated as an Od (a NP), given that there is only one object in the sentence. In addition, ‘invite sb in’ is a phrasal verb accompanied by just one object. - Semantic role: experiencer. Prologue (10) “Él me sonrió, guiñándome el ojo.” (p. 11) “He smiled at me and winked.” (p. 3) - In the Spanish sentence, we find an instance of a NP headed by a pronoun (the Oi) as an enclitic (since we have a gerund). - The Spanish Oi is translated as a PO (a PP introduced by ‘at’). In this case, the verb ‘smile’ is intransitive but takes a PP if the addressee is included. - Semantic role: experiencer. Prologue (11) “Mi padre se arrodilló junto a mí y, sosteniéndome la mirada, …” (p. 12) “My father knelt next to me and, with his eyes fixed on mine, …” (p. 3) - In the Spanish sentence, we find an instance of a NP headed by a pronoun (the Oi) as an enclitic (since we have a gerund). - The Oi is omitted in the English sentence. This is most probably due to the fact that the context surrounding the English sentence makes the entity represented with an Oi in Spanish clear. - Semantic role: unclear. Prologue (12) “Te diré lo que mi padre me dijo a mí.” (p. 12) “I will tell you what my father told me.” (p. 4) - The Ois in Spanish (a NP and a PP) are translated as Ois in English (taking the form of NPs). - The second Oi shows a case of compulsory clitic doubling, since the NP inside the PP is headed by a 31 stressed pronoun. - For the purpose of the quantitative study, only the first Oi (belonging to the main clause) will be computed. - Semantic role: experiencer. Chap. 1 (13) “... yo atribuía en parte mi billete de ida por la vida al encanto de aquel viejo café.” (p. 21) “... I attributed my one-way ticket into this world in part to the old cafe's charms.” (p. 13) - The Spanish Oi (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is translated as a PO (a PP introduced by ‘to’). The Oi in Spanish is inanimate, but one could still consider it an Oi if we interpret this instance as a personification. - Semantic role: unclear. Chap. 1 (14) “El honor se lo debe usted a mi hijo Daniel, don Gustavo.” (p. 21) “You owe the honour to my son, Daniel, Don Gustavo.” (p. 13) - We find clitic doubling in the Spanish example. - The Spanish Oi (a PP) is translated as a PO (a PP introduced by ‘to’). - Semantic role: recipient. Chap. 1 (15) “Los contertulios nos hicieron sitio en su círculo.” (p. 21) “The lesser members of the coterie made room for us in their circle.” (p. 13) - The Oi (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is translated as a PO (a PP introduced by ‘for’). - Semantic role: beneficiary. Chap. 1 (16) “Barceló hizo señas a un camarero.” (p. 22) “Barcelo signalled to a waiter.” (p. 14) - The Spanish Oi (a PP) is translated as a PO (a PP introduced by ‘to’). - Semantic role: experiencer. Chap. 1 (17) “Le dirigí una mirada a mi padre.” (p. 22) “I glanced at my father.” (p. 14) - We find clitic doubling in the Spanish example. - The Spanish Oi (a PP) is translated as a PO (a PP introduced by ‘at’). This may be influenced by the use of the verb ‘glance’ in English (given that it is always followed by ‘at’) - Semantic role: direction dative. Chap. 1 (18) “... le tendí el libro a Barceló.” (p. 22) “... I handed Barcelo the book.” (p. 14) - We find clitic doubling in the Spanish example. - The Oi in Spanish (a PP) is translated as an Oi in English (taking the form of a NP). Following the common pattern, Oi before Od, both placed after the verb. - Semantic role: recipient. Chap. 1 (19) “Barceló arqueó las cejas, pero me lo devolvió con una sonrisa glacial.” (p. 22) “Barcelo arched his eyebrows but gave it back with an icy smile.” (p. 14) - The Spanish Oi (a NP headed by a pronoun) is omitted in the English sentence. This is most probably due to the fact that the context surrounding the English sentence makes the entity represented with an Oi in Spanish clear. - Semantic role: recipient. Chap. 1 (20) “Los contertulios le rieron la gracia.” (p. 23) “The choir cheered his remark.” (p. 14) - In this case, we find an Oi in Spanish translated as a possessive determiner (‘his’) accompanying the head noun of the NP acting as Od. - Semantic role: “sympatheticus” or possessive dative. - This exemplifies how possession can be expressed through the Oi in Spanish, while English can express it through a determiner. Chap. 1 (21) “Contó los cuarenta duros, que para aquel entonces eran toda una fortuna, y me los tendió.” (p. 23) “He ceremoniously counted out two hundred pesetas, which in those days was quite a fortune, and handed them to me.” (p. 15) - The Spanish Oi (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is translated as a PO (PP introduced by ‘to’). - Semantic role: recipient. Chap. 1 (22) “Barceló le lanzó una “Barcelo shot a poisonous look - We find clitic doubling in the Spanish example. 32 mirada airada a mi padre a través de su monóculo.” (p. 23) at my father through his monocle.” (p. 15) - The Spanish Oi (a PP) is translated as a PO (PP introduced by ‘at’). - Semantic role: direction dative. Chap. 1 (23) “Le sonreí beatíficamente, mostrando mi deleite con los latinajos y su verbo fácil.” (p. 24) “I proffered my most saintly smile in delight at his Latin outpourings.” (p. 16) - The Spanish Oi (a NP headed by a pronoun) is omitted in the English sentence. This is most probably due to the fact that the context surrounding the English sentence makes the entity represented with an Oi in Spanish clear. - Semantic role: experiencer. Chap. 2 (24) “... se me antojó un ángel esculpido en brumas.” (p. 25) “... who looked to me like an angel.” (p. 17) - The Spanish Oi (NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is translated as a PO (PP introduced by ‘to’). - Semantic role: relation or aspectual dative. Chap. 2 (25) “Barceló entornó la mirada y me hizo un ademán para que me aproximase.” (p. 26) “he half closed his eyes and signalled for me to come nearer.” (p. 18) - The Oi (NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is translated as a PO (PP introduced by ‘for’). - Semantic role: experiencer. Chap. 2 (26) “Asentí por duplicado y acepté la silla que Barceló me brindaba junto a él y a su misteriosa acompañante.” (p. 26) “I nodded on both counts and accepted the chair Barcelo offered me next to him and his mysterious companion.” (p. 18) - The Oi in Spanish (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is translated as an Oi in English (taking the form of a NP). Following the common pattern, Oi before Od, both placed after the verb. - Semantic role: recipient. Chap. 2 (27) “Al poco abandoné toda esperanza de que me presentase a quien fuera que fuese la dama de blanco.” (p. 26) “I soon abandoned all hope of being introduced to the lady in white, whoever she might be.” (p. 18) - The Spanish Oi (a NP headed by a pronoun) is omitted in the English sentence. This is most probably due to the fact that the context surrounding the English sentence makes the entity represented with an Oi in Spanish clear. - Semantic role: experiencer. Chap. 2 (28) “Le calculé unos veinte años a lo sumo.” (p. 26) “I guessed she must be, at most, twenty.” (p. 18) - The Oi is omitted in the English sentence. This is most probably due to the fact that the context surrounding the English sentence makes the entity represented with an Oi in Spanish clear. - In this case, the ‘she’ in the English sentence makes the entity the speaker is talking about evident. - Semantic role: unclear. Chap. 2 (29) “... pero algo en su porte me hizo pensar que no tenía edad.” (p. 26) “... but there was something about her manner that made me think she could be ageless.” (p. 18) - The Oi in Spanish (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is translated as an Oi in English (taking the form of a NP as well). Following the common pattern, Oi before Od, both placed after the verb. - Semantic role: experiencer. Chap. 2 (30) “Estaba intentando leerle el pulso bajo aquella garganta de cisne.” (p. 26) “I was trying to catch any sign of a pulse under her swan's neck.” (p. 18) - In this case, we find an Oi in Spanish translated as a possessive determiner (‘her’) accompanying the head noun of a NP acting as complement of a preposition inside a PP. - Semantic role: “sympatheticus” or possessive dative. - This exemplifies how possession can be expressed through the Oi in Spanish, while English can express it through a determiner. Chap. 2 (31) “Lo haría, pero prometí a mi padre guardar el secreto …” (p. 26) “I would, but I promised my father I would keep the secret …” (p. 18) - The Oi in Spanish (a PP) is translated as an Oi in English (taking the form of a NP). Following the common pattern, Oi before Od, both placed after the 33 verb. - Semantic role: recipient (if we interpret the promises as ‘entities’ that can be received by someone). Chap. 2 (32) “¿me lo dejas ver?” (p. 26) “May I have a look?” (p. 18) - The Oi is omitted in the English sentence. This is most probably due to the fact that the context surrounding the English sentence makes the entity represented with an Oi in Spanish clear. - ‘Me’ is represented in the English sentence as ‘I’ acting as subject. - Semantic role: experiencer in the Spanish sentence (since we have a perception verb: ‘ver’). Chap. 2 (33) “Siempre me ha parecido que el momento para leer a Carax es cuando todavía se tiene el corazón joven y la mente limpia.” (p. 26-7) “I've always thought that the best time to read Carax is when one still has a young heart and a blank soul.” (p. 18) - The Oi is omitted in the English sentence. This is most probably due to the fact that the context surrounding the English sentence makes the entity represented with an Oi in Spanish clear. - Semantic role: relation or aspectual dative. Chap. 2 (34) “Mi tío me ha dicho que te ofreció una buena suma por el libro de Carax, pero que tú la rechazaste.” (p. 27) “My uncle said he offered you a good sum of money for the Carax, but you refused it.” (p. 19) - Only the second Oi from the Spanish sentence is translated, with the first one being omitted (‘me’). Thus, for quantitative purposes, only the second object will be counted. - The translated Oi in Spanish (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is translated as an Oi in English (taking the form of a NP). Following the common pattern, Oi before Od, both placed after the verb. - Semantic role: recipient, as Daniel refuses the offer (and thus does not benefit from it). Chap. 2 (35) “... razón de más para que me trates de tú.” (p. 28) “... all the more reason to drop the "miss".” (p. 19) - The Spanish Oi (a NP headed by a pronoun) is omitted in the English sentence. This is most probably due to the fact that the context surrounding the English sentence makes the entity represented with an Oi in Spanish clear. - Semantic role: unclear. Chap. 2 (36) “No se me había ocurrido, la verdad.” (p. 28) “The thought had not crossed my mind.” (p. 20) - In this case, we find an Oi in Spanish translated as a possessive determiner (‘my’) accompanying the head noun of a NP acting as Od. - Semantic role: “sympatheticus” or possessive dative. - This exemplifies how possession can be expressed through the Oi in Spanish, while English can express it through a determiner. Chap. 2 (37) “Sin saber bien cómo debía proceder, hice otro tanto y le ofrecí mi mano.” (p. 29) “Without quite knowing what to do, I, too, stretched out my hand towards her.” (p. 20-1) - Here, the Oi appearing in the Spanish sentence seems to be omitted in its English counterpart. - Semantic role: recipient (in Spanish, given that the verb used is ‘ofrecer’) - However, there is a sense of direction in the English Oi, which is made more evident in the English sentence through the use of the PP ‘towards her’, an adverbial. The translation here portrays a different meaning. Chap. 2 (38) “Clara me ofreció en silencio su derecha.” (p. 29) “[Clara], without saying anything, offered me her right hand.” (p. 21) - The Oi in Spanish (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is translated as an Oi in English (taking the form of a NP). Following the common pattern, Oi before Od, both placed after the verb. - Semantic role: recipient. 34 Chap. 2 (39) “Comprendí instintivamente lo que me pedía.” (p. 29) “Instinctively I understood what she was asking me to do.” (p. 21) - The Oi in Spanish (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is translated as an Oi in English (taking the form of a NP). Following the common pattern, Oi before Od, both placed after the verb. - Semantic role: experiencer. Chap. 2 (40) “Sus dedos me recorrieron las mejillas y los pómulos.” (p. 29) “Her fingers ran over my cheeks and cheekbones.” (p. 21) - In this case, we find an Oi in Spanish translated as a possessive determiner (‘my’) accompanying the head noun of a NP acting as the complement of a preposition inside a PP. - Semantic role: “sympatheticus” or possessive dative. - This exemplifies how possession can be expressed through the Oi in Spanish, while English can express it through a determiner. Chap. 2 (41) “Los dedos le olían a canela.” (p. 29) “Her fingers smelled of cinnamon.” (p. 21) - In this case, we find an Oi in Spanish translated as a possessive determiner (‘her’) accompanying the head noun of the NP acting as subject. - Semantic role: “sympatheticus” or possessive dative. - This exemplifies how possession can be expressed through the Oi in Spanish, while English can express it through a determiner. Chap. 2 (42) “Tragué saliva, notando que el pulso se me lanzaba a la brava …” (p. 29) “I swallowed, feeling my pulse race …” (p. 21) - In this case, we find an Oi in Spanish translated as a possessive determiner (‘my’) accompanying the head noun of a NP acting as Od. - Semantic role: “sympatheticus” or possessive dative. - This exemplifies how possession can be expressed through the Oi in Spanish, while English can express it through a determiner. Chap. 3 (43) “Clara Barceló me robó el corazón, la respiración y el sueño.” (p. 30) “Clara Barcelo stole my heart, my breath, and my sleep.” (p. 22) - In this case, we find an Oi in Spanish translated as a possessive determiner (‘my’) accompanying the head noun of the NPs acting as Ods. - Semantic role: “sympatheticus” or possessive dative. - This exemplifies how possession can be expressed through the Oi in Spanish, while English can express it through a determiner. Chap. 3 (44) “Mientras yo la contemplaba embelesado, la sobrina del librero me explicó su historia …” (p. 30) “While I stared, enraptured, she explained how she, too, …” (p. 22) - The Oi is omitted in the English sentence. This is most probably due to the fact that the context surrounding the English sentence makes the entity represented with an Oi in Spanish clear. - Semantic role: experiencer. Chap. 3 (45) “Durante meses les escribió todas las semanas.” (p. 30) “For months he wrote a letter to his wife and daughter once a week.” (p. 22) - The Oi (NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is translated as a PO (PP). - Semantic role: recipient. Chap. 3 (46) “Clara convencía a su prima Claudette para que le leyese de nuevo las cartas de su padre en su integridad.” (p. 31) “Clara would convince her cousin Claudette to reread her father's letters from start to finish.” (p. 22-23) - The Spanish Oi (a NP headed by a pronoun) is omitted in the English sentence. This is most probably due to the fact that the context surrounding the English sentence makes the entity represented with an Oi in Spanish clear. - Semantic role: experiencer. Chap. 3 (47) “Esos son los que te pegarán las peores puñaladas.” (p. 31) “Those are the ones who will make you suffer the worst blows.” (p. 23) - The Oi in Spanish (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is translated as an Oi in English (taking the form of a NP). Following the common pattern: Oi before Od, both placed after the verb. 35 - Semantic role: experiencer. Chap. 3 (48) “Me explicó cómo, durante los años del exilio en Francia, ella y su prima Claudette habían compartido un tutor y maestro particular.” (p. 31) “She explained how, during her years of exile in France, she and her cousin Claudette had shared a private tutor.” (p. 23) - The Spanish Oi (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is omitted in the English sentence. This is most probably due to the fact that the context surrounding the English sentence makes the entity represented with an Oi in Spanish clear. - Semantic role: experiencer. Chap. 3 (49) “... el título le resultaba sugerente.” (p. 32) “The title seemed suggestive.” (p. 23) - The Spanish Oi (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is omitted in the English sentence. This is most probably due to the fact that the context surrounding the English sentence makes the entity represented with an Oi in Spanish clear. - Semantic role: relation or aspectual dative. Chap. 3 (50) “... lo que más le gustaba eran las intrigas de crimen y alcoba.” (p. 32) “... what he most enjoyed were tales of crime, boudoir intrigue, and questionable conduct.” (p. 24) - The Spanish Oi (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is omitted in the English sentence. This is most probably due to the fact that the context surrounding the English sentence makes the entity represented with an Oi in Spanish clear. - Semantic role: experiencer. Chap. 3 (51) “... se enorgullecía de poseer una amplia colección de cartas firmadas por todos los editores de París rechazando los tomos de verso y prosa que él les enviaba sin tregua.” (p. 33) “Monsieur Roquefort had literary pretensions himself and was the owner of a vast collection of letters of rejection signed by every self-respecting Parisian publisher in response to the books of verse and prose he sent them so relentlessly.” (p. 25) - The Oi in Spanish (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is translated as an Oi in English (taking the form of a NP). Following the common pattern: Oi before Od, both placed after the verb. - Semantic role: recipient. Chap. 3 (52) “El dueño del puesto de libros usados le contó que la novela había salido apenas …” (p. 33) “ The owner of the bookstall told him that when the novel appeared …” (p. 25) - The Oi in Spanish (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is translated as an Oi in English (taking the form of a NP). Following the common pattern: Oi before Od, both placed after the verb. - Semantic role: experiencer. Chap. 3 (53) “En pocas líneas, los críticos se habían despachado a gusto y habían recomendado al novel Carax que no dejase su empleo de pianista.” (p. 33) “The critics had had a field day writing Carax off in a few lines, advising him not to leave his employment as a pianist.” (p. 25) - The Oi in Spanish (a PP) is translated as an Oi in English (taking the form of a NP). In English, it follows the canonical structure: Oi before Od, both placed before the verb. - Semantic role: experiencer. Chap. 3 (54) “Monsieur Roquefort, a quien se le ablandaba el corazón y el bolsillo ante las causas perdidas …” (p. 33) “Monsieur Roquefort, whose heart and pocket softened when faced with lost causes …” (p. 25) - In this case, we find an Oi in Spanish translated as a possessive relative pronoun (‘whose’) accompanying the head of a NP acting as subject. - Semantic role: “sympatheticus” or possessive dative. - This exemplifies how possession can be expressed through the Oi in Spanish, while English can express it through a determiner/pronoun. Chap. 3 (55) “... tan pronto dejaron atrás la estación de Austerlitz, no cesaron de lanzarle miradas de reprobación.” (p. 33-4) “... who had given him disapproving looks from the moment they left the Gare d'Austerlitz.” (p. 25) - The Oi in Spanish (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is translated as an Oi in English (taking the form of a NP). Following the common pattern: Oi before Od, both placed after the verb. - Semantic role: direction dative (This is clearer in the Spanish example, in the English counterpart we may find it more appropriate to use ‘recipient’ due to the 36 nature of the verb ‘give’). Chap. 3 (56) “... una telefonista de tono asmático y disposición virulenta le respondió que el señor Carax no tenía dirección conocida.” (p. 34) “... a telephonist with an asthmatic voice and a virulent disposition replied that Carax had no known address.” (p. 26) - The Spanish Oi (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is omitted in the English sentence. This is most probably due to the fact that the context surrounding the English sentence makes the entity represented with an Oi in Spanish clear. - Semantic role: experiencer. Chap. 3 (57) “A finales de 1935 le llegaron noticias de que una nueva novela de Julián Carax, La Sombra del Viento, había sido publicada por una pequeña editorial de París.” (p. 35) “At the end of 1935, news reached Monsieur Roquefort that a new novel by Julian Carax, The Shadow of the Wind, had been published by a small firm in Paris.” (p. 26) - Here, we find an instance of a canonically intransitive verb (‘llegar’) with an Oi. This is exactly what Campos (1999) acknowledges. - The Spanish Oi is translated in English as an Od, probably because of the nature of the verb ‘reach’ in English. ‘Reach’ is transitive and takes only one object, making that object direct. - Semantic role: recipient. Chap. 3 (58) “Escribió a la editorial para adquirir varios ejemplares.” (p. 35) “He wrote to the publisher asking whether he could buy a few copies.” (p. 26-7) - The Spanish Oi (a PP) is translated as a PO (a PP introduced by ‘to’) in English. - Semantic role: recipient. Chap. 3 (59) “... su antiguo amigo en el puesto de libros en la orilla sur del Sena le preguntó si seguía interesado en Carax.” (p. 35) “... his old friend at the bookstall by the Seine asked him whether he was still interested in Carax.” (p. 27) - The Oi in Spanish (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is translated as an Oi in English (taking the form of a NP). Following the common pattern: Oi before Od, both placed after the verb. - Semantic role: experiencer. Chap. 3 (60) “... a él no le daba la gana de pasar por el aro.” (p. 35) “... he wasn't going to go along with it.” (p. 27) - The Oi is omitted in the English sentence. This is most probably due to the fact that the context surrounding the English sentence makes the entity represented with an Oi in Spanish clear. - In this case, that entity is clearly expressed through the subject (‘he’) in the English sentence. - Semantic role: relation or aspectual dative. Chap. 3 (61) “Su amigo le explicó que semanas atrás había circulado un rumor acerca de Carax.” (p. 35) “His friend then explained that some weeks earlier a rumour about Carax had been doing the rounds.” (p. 27) - The Oi is omitted in the English sentence. This is most probably due to the fact that the context surrounding the English sentence makes the entity represented with an Oi in Spanish clear. - Semantic role: experiencer. Chap. 3 (62) “... decidió prestar la novela a sus dos alumnas.” (p. 36) “... he decided to lend the novel to his two pupils.” (p. 28) - The Spanish Oi (a PP) is translated as a PO (a PP introduced by ‘to’) in English. - Semantic role: recipient. Chap. 3 (63) “... optó por pasarles la novela de Carax.” (p. 36) “Monsieur Roquefort presented them with Carax's novel.” (p. 28) - The Oi in Spanish (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is translated as an Oi in English (taking the form of a NP). Following the common pattern: Oi before Od, both placed after the verb. - Semantic role: recipient. Chap. 4 (64) “... la saliva se me transformó en serrín.” (p. 37) “... my mouth turned to sawdust.” (p. 29) - In this case, we find an Oi in Spanish translated as a possessive determiner (‘my’) accompanying the head noun of the NP acting as subject. - Semantic role: “sympatheticus” or possessive dative. - This exemplifies how possession can be expressed through the Oi in Spanish, while English can express it through a determiner. 37 Chap. 4 (65) “… que podía devolverme la vista que había perdido.” (p. 37) “It could give me back the sight I had lost.” (p. 29) - The Oi in Spanish (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is translated as an Oi in English (taking the form of a NP). Following the common pattern: Oi before Od, both placed after the verb. - Only two out of the three Spanish Oi are translated, the middle one being omitted probably because of redundancy. - Semantic role: recipient. Chap. 4 (66) “... aquel libro que a nadie importaba cambió mi vida. (p. 37) “... a book that didn't matter to anyone, changed my life.” (p. 29) - Here, we find an instance of a canonically intransitive verb (‘importar’) with an Oi. This is exactly what Campos (1999) acknowledges. - The Spanish Oi (a PP) is translated as a PO (a PP introduced by ‘to’) in English. - Semantic role: experiencer. Chap. 4 (67) “... aquel instante que me pertenecía sólo a mí.” (p. 37) “... the spell of that moment that belonged only to me.” (p. 29) - Here, we find an instance of a canonically intransitive verb (‘pertenecer’) with an Oi. This is exactly what Campos (1999) acknowledges. - The Spanish Oi (a PP) is translated as a PO (a PP introduced by ‘to’). - There is clitic doubling in the Spanish example. - Semantic role: unclear. Chap. 4 (68) “A mi madre, en su propia búsqueda, le ocurrió otro tanto.” (p. 38) “As for my mother, much the same thing happened with her own search.” (p. 30) - The Oi is omitted in the English sentence. This is most probably due to the fact that the context surrounding the English sentence makes the entity represented with an Oi in Spanish clear. - Here the fronting of the indirect object and separation by a comma forces the appearance of clitic doubling. - Semantic role: experiencer. Chap. 4 (69) “... era el único pariente que le quedaba a mi madre en Barcelona.” (p. 39) “I went to live with my uncle Gustavo, the sole relative of my mother's left in Barcelona.” (p. 30) - In this case, we find an Oi in Spanish translated as a possessive determiner (‘my’) accompanying the head of a NP acting as complement of a preposition. - Semantic role: “sympatheticus” or possessive dative. - This exemplifies how possession can be expressed through the Oi in Spanish, while English can express it through a determiner. Chap. 4 (70) “Yo cumplía todos los requisitos para que Clara Barceló me enviase a paseo …” (p. 39) “I fulfilled all the requirements for Clara Barcelo to send me packing …” (p. 31) - The Oi in Spanish (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is translated as an Oi in English (taking the form of a NP). Following the common pattern: Oi before Od, both placed after the verb. - Semantic role: recipient. Chap. 4 (71) “... pero preferí creer que su condición de invidente me garantizaba cierto margen de seguridad …” (p. 39) “... but I preferred to think that her blindness afforded me a margin for error and that my crime …” (p. 31) - The Oi in Spanish (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is translated as an Oi in English (taking the form of a NP). Following the common pattern: Oi before Od, both placed after the verb. - Semantic role: recipient. Chap. 4 (72) “El librero me tendió el libro y me guiñó el ojo.” (p. 40) “The bookseller handed me the book and winked.” (p. 32) - The Oi in Spanish (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is translated as an Oi in English (taking the form of a NP). Following the common pattern: Oi before Od, both placed after the verb. - We find two Oi in the Spanish sentence, while the English one only shows one. This was probably done to avoid redundancy. The second Oi will not be considered in terms of semantic roles for quantitative 38 purposes. - Semantic role: recipient (the first Oi). Chap. 5 (73) “La sola mención de la cifra le quitó el color de la cara …” (p. 42) “ The very mention of the sum drew the colour from his face …” (p. 33) - In this case, we find an Oi in Spanish translated as a possessive determiner (‘his’) accompanying the head of the NP acting as complement of a preposition inside a PP. - Semantic role: “sympatheticus” or possessive dative. - This exemplifies how possession can be expressed through the Oi in Spanish, while English can express it through a determiner. Chap. 6 (74) “Me había entregado una copia de las llaves del piso.” (p. 56) “He had given me a copy of the keys to the apartment.” (p. 48) - The Oi in Spanish (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is translated as an Oi in English (taking the form of a NP). Following the common pattern: Oi before Od, both placed after the verb. - Semantic role: recipient. Chap. 5 (75) “Y si no, le pedimos a don Federico que nos haga una.” (p. 43) “And if not, we can ask Don Federico to make us one.” (p. 34) - We find clitic doubling in the Spanish sentence. - The Oi in Spanish (a PP) is translated as an Oi in English (taking the form of a NP). Following the common pattern: Oi before Od, both placed after the verb. - Semantic role: experiencer. Chap. 5 (76) “... aunque no veía con malos ojos que don Federico me fabricase un sucedáneo.” (p. 43) “... even though I didn't think it was such a bad idea for Don Federico to make me a substitute.” (p. 34) - The Oi in Spanish (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is translated as an Oi in English (taking the form of a NP). Following the common pattern: Oi before Od, both placed after the verb. - Semantic role: beneficiary. Chap. 5 (77) “Yo quiero escribir una carta. A mamá.” (p. 43) “I want to write a letter. To Mummy.” (p. 34) - The Oi in Spanish (a PP) is translated as a PO (a PP introduced by ‘To’). - Semantic role: recipient. Chap. 5 (78) “Si algún día le vemos, se lo preguntaremos.” (p. 44) “If one day we see Him, we'll ask Him.” (p. 35) - The Oi in Spanish (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is translated as an Oi in English (taking the form of a NP). - Here, the Od in the English sentence is omitted because of context, thus I would still consider ‘Him’ an Oi (just like Downing & Locke (1992) would do). - Semantic role: experiencer. Chap. 5 (79) “... mi padre me prestó un lápiz Staedtler del número dos con el que garabateaba en un cuaderno.” (p. 44) “... my father lent me a Staedtler pencil, a number two, with which I scribbled in a notebook.” (p. 35) - The Oi in Spanish (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is translated as an Oi in English (taking the form of a NP). Following the common pattern: Oi before Od, both placed after the verb. - Semantic role: recipient. Chap. 5 (80) “... aquél era un razonamiento que sólo se le podría haber ocurrido a un literato en ciernes.” (p. 44) “... that sort of reasoning could only have occurred to a budding author.” (p. 35) - We find clitic doubling in the Spanish sentence. - The Oi in Spanish (a PP) is translated as a PO (a PP introduced by ‘to’) in English. - Semantic role: experiencer. Chap. 5 (81) “... yo te la compro.” (p. 44) “I'll buy it for you.” (p. 35-6) - The Oi in Spanish (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is translated as a PO (a PP introduced by ‘for’) in English. - Semantic role: beneficiary. This is very clear in this case since we find the preposition ‘for’ in English. 39 Chap. 5 (82) “No volví a pedirle a mi padre que me llevase a visitar la pluma de Víctor Hugo.” (p. 45) “I stopped asking my father to take me to see Victor Hugo's pen.” (p. 36) - We find clitic doubling in the Spanish sentence. - The first Oi in Spanish (a PP) is translated as an Oi in English (taking the form of a NP). Following the common pattern: Oi before Od, both placed after the verb. - Semantic role: experiencer. Chap. 5 (83) “... un hombre que no podía permitirse regalarle a su hijo una dichosa pluma.” (p. 45) “... a man who could not afford to buy his son a wretched pen.” (p. 36) - We find clitic doubling in the Spanish sentence. - The first Oi in Spanish (a PP) is translated as an Oi in English (taking the form of a NP). Following the common pattern: Oi before Od, both placed after the verb. - Semantic role: beneficiary. Chap. 5 (84) “La Merceditas nos ha bajado algo de sopa que había hecho para su madre.” (p. 45) “Merceditas brought down some of the soup she made for her mother.” (p. 36) - The Oi is omitted in the English sentence. This is most probably due to the fact that the context surrounding the English sentence makes the entity represented with an Oi in Spanish clear. - Semantic role: beneficiary. Chap. 5 (85) “... se me ocurrió que tal vez aquel universo de cartón piedra que yo daba por bueno no fuese más que un decorado.” (p. 46) “... it occurred to me that perhaps the papier-mache world that I accepted as real was only a stage setting.” (p. 36-7) - The Oi in Spanish (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is translated as a PO (a PP introduced by ‘to’) in English. - Semantic role: experiencer. Chap. 5 (86) “Les dije que a lo mejor me pasaba mañana por su casa …” (p. 47) “I told them I might go to their house tomorrow …” (p. 37) - The Oi in Spanish (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is translated as an Oi in English (taking the form of a NP). Following the common pattern: Oi before Od, both placed after the verb. - Semantic role: experiencer. Chap. 5 (87) “... para leerle algo a la pobre.” (p. 47) “... to read to her for a while.” (p. 37) - We find clitic doubling in the Spanish sentence. - The Oi in Spanish (a PP) is translated as a PO (a PP introduced by ‘to’) in English. - Semantic role: experiencer. Chap. 5 (88) “Si tú me das permiso.” (p. 47) “ If you'll let me.” (p. 37) - The Spanish Oi (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is translated as an Od (a NP). - The Oi in Spanish took the semantic role of recipient. Chap. 5 (89) “¿Quién te ha dicho eso?” (p. 47) “Who told you that?” (p. 37-8) - The Oi in Spanish (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is translated as an Oi in English (taking the form of a NP). Following the common pattern: Oi before Od, both placed after the verb. - Semantic role: experiencer. Chap. 5 (90) “... tu madre me hizo prometer que nunca te hablaría de la guerra.” (p. 47) “... she made me promise that I would never talk to you about the war.” (p. 38) - The Oi in Spanish (a NP headed by an unstressed pronoun) is translated as a PO (a PP introduced by ‘to’) in English. - Here, we find an instance of a canonically intransitive verb (‘hablar’) with an Oi. This is exactly what Campos (1999) acknowledges. - Semantic role: experiencer. Chap. 6 (91) “Clara cesó su concierto de súbito y una sonrisa avergonzada le salpicó el rostro.” (p. 50) “Clara suddenly stopped her playing, and an embarrassed smile lit up her face.” (p. 39) - In this case, we find an Oi in Spanish translated as a possessive determiner (‘her’) accompanying the head noun of the NP acting as Od. - Semantic role: “sympatheticus” or possessive dative. - This exemplifies how possession can be expressed