Personal verb forms and argumentation: concerning false infinitives, false participles, and false gerunds

Abstract

In this paper, we analyze different nominal infinitive, gerund and participle constructions in Spanish. First, we consider the better studied constructions in literature: verbal and noun infinitive, adverbial and adjectival gerund and agreed and not agreed participle constructions. Secondly, we note the existence of some nominal constructions nucleated by these non personal forms which we have called false infinitives, false gerunds and false participles. These false non personal forms of the verb accept pluralization as ordinary nouns (cf. los decires and los haberes, los doctorandos and las agendas, los presupuestos and las queridas). The semantic analysis of these false non personal forms is led via the principles of the semantic blocks theory (in particular those related to external and internal arguments). We pose that in all cases, the internal arguments of these false forms is the internalization of the external arguments of the verb from which they derive.