Search results for "Reciprocals"

Discontinuity as defocusing. A cognitive interpretation of the so-called discontinuous reciprocal constructions

2011

I intend to analyze a peculiar kind of reciprocal construction, in which the natural symmetry of the complex event is split due both to the defocusing of one participant (O), coded as a comitative, and the foregrounding of the other one (A), coded as a subject controlling the agreement with the verb. This construction (“discontinuous reciprocal construction”, Dimitriadis 2004), involves a “natural reciprocity” (Kemmer 1993) or “mutual configuration” (Haspelmath 2007) of the event (kissing, marring, meeting). Found in many languages, it is well attested in Italian too, both at standard level and at the informal one (1), alongside the prototypical reciprocal one (2): 1. Gianni si sposa/incont…