Galician Perfective Periphrases among Complex Predicates: Degrees of Grammaticalization and the Possibility of a Perfect Tense

Abstract

The so-called perífrasis perfectivas in Galician present the action as concluded or realized. This particular aspectual feature constitutes the common ground for an otherwise heterogeneous set of constructions, ranging from rematar de ‘finish’+ infinitive (e.g., rematóu de beber ‘(s/he) finished drinking’) to ter ‘have’ + participle (e.g., teñen ido ‘(they) have gone (Rep.)’). This work provides a critical assessment of their syntactic and semantic properties in cases where the participle may not show agreement. This is the case for periphrases built on three auxiliaries: ter, levar, and dar, of which ter + participle stands out as the most grammaticalized one. The case of ter is further investigated in relation to European Portuguese (EP) and Brazilian Portuguese (BP), where ter + participle is considered a fully-fledged perfect tense. Additionally, the use of these periphrases in areas where Spanish is also present is evaluated from a contact perspective.

Keywords

• Galician
• Romance
• complex predicates
• participles
• perfect
• grammaticalization