espaciOThe expression of space inferiority relations in the origins of written castilian Spanish

Abstract

The present paper analyses the expression of non-abstract locative relations of inferiority based on the Burgos private notarial documentation from the Historical Corpus of Northern Castilian Spanish, with the aim of studying in depth the morphosyntax of the origins of the Castilian Spanish written in the primitive Castile between 10th and 13th centuries. The results of the study of Latin (sub, subtus, subter), hybrid (in fondon de) and romance constructions (so, sos, in fondón de) lead us to conclude that (i) the use of so is weakened with regard to the expression of the location of literal inferiority to give way to a proximity value ‘near, next to’, which is also acquired by sobre; (ii) the existence of a competition of so with fondón and (iii) the absence of relational constructions with deyuso.

Keywords

• morfosintaxis histórica del español, relaciones espaciales de inferioridad, latín, castellano medieval, relacionantes locativos