The grammaticalization of igual in Argentinean Spanish

Abstract

This chapter focuses on some of the most recent grammaticalization processes that the Spanish lexical item igual has undergone and its consequences over nano- and micro-parametric variations. While in Peninsular Spanish the grammaticalization of igual resulted in an epistemic modality marker expressing uncertainty, in Argentinean Spanish, the grammaticalization gave rise to an operator of concession. We examine the hypothesis that transition from lexical categories to purely functional categories involves intermediate stages of semi-lexicalization. These semi-lexical stages are the result of insertion of a root in the functional domain of another root. On this view, there have been many forking paths in the grammaticalization process of the adjective igual, which led to the emergence of different semi-lexical words. We suggest that the epistemic and the concessive uses of igual are the result of two different grammaticalization paths, which bifurcate at a stage where igual gets the value of a focalizing adverb. Therefore, the present case study shows that certain dialectal differences arise only when the grammaticalization path includes higher layers of the functional skeleton.