La evolución de las perífrasis verbales causativa e incoativa con poner en español : cambios de construcción y extensiones metafóricas

This paper deals with the historical evolution of the causative and inchoative periphrases with poner in Spanish. In these constructions, poner functions as an auxiliary verb, combining with a subordinate infinitive to which it adds a causative (poner a alguien a trabajar) or an inchoative aspectual meaning (ponerse a trabajar). The aim of this paper is twofold. It aims (i) to determine when and how both periphrases developped out of the basic locative construction of poner, and (ii) to shed light on their degree of grammaticalization. Therefore, this article exposes the results of a formal and semantic analysis of the causative and inchoative periphrases with poner between the 13th and 21th century. It is shown that both constructions developped in a parallel way, but at a different pace. The inchoative periphrasis seems to be more grammaticalized than the causative periphrasis, presenting a much higher frequency of use and a higher degree of syntactic incorporation.