Graphic Sequences of Spanish Nominals and Reflexives

Graphics clarify ambiguities in sequences of nominals. The difference between direct and indirect pronouns is not signalled by their forms but by relationships in the sequences of nominals, e.g., me is a direct object in Me contradijo but indirect in Me lo explicó. One has to learn that an interpretation of me in isolation does not provide a clue to its direct or indirect object status. The learner's difficulty in distinguishing among reflexive, pseudo-reflexive, and non-reflexive patterns probably resides in not perceiving the nature of syntagmatic (linear) combinations versus paradigmatic (vertical) contrasts which occur concurrently. By focusing on paradigmatic and syntagmatic relationships via graphs of such pronouns, their interpretation as part of reflexive, pseudo-reflexive, and non-reflexive sequences becomes more precise.