Regardless of the syntactic variation of the direct object "a" in Spanish, a great deal of semantic unity underlies its use. Argues that it carries an invariant meaning that is present in every use of the form, and, concomitantly, its absence before a direct object carries an equally invariant meaning within the systematic semantic structure of…

The evolution of the Latin "teneo venio" to the Spanish "tengo vengo" is analyzed, including Menendez Pidal's influential treatment of the problem and some recent explanations. The hypothesis that loss of flexional yod was the fundamental cause of analogical structuring is reviewed, and a new hypothesis is proposed. (Contains 30 references.)…

Investigates the apparent correspondences for infinitival "to," and analyzes the basis for the common error of equating it with "a"--the mistaken identification of an English grammatical complementizer with a Spanish lexical preposition. (SL)

Considers question of appropriate translation of English gerund into Spanish. While English has two distinct constructions, the gerund and the clause (tensed or infinitive), Spanish has both types of clauses but no comparable use of the gerund. Suggests that English gerund be translated into Spanish not by a bare clause, but instead by the…

Attempts to explain the lack of the personal infinitive in Spanish even though such a construction exists in Portuguese. It is maintained that its use in Portuguese is one of personal style, and it is not needed nor required, as evidenced by the linguistic varieties present in the different socio-economic levels of Brazilian speech. (SL)

Examines the nonstandard constructions in Caipira Portuguese, a dialect spoken in southeastern Brazil, which illustrate a tendency to reduce morphological redundancy at the noun phrase level. This is accomplished by restricting plural markers to only one of the elements of the noun phrase--not the noun, as might be expected, but, rather, one its…