THE PREPOSITION POR AS A FOCALIZER: A COGNITIVE APPROACH

Abstract

In a previous work, I presented a semantic description of the preposition por based on the theoretical framework of the Prototypical Cognitive Approach (PCA). In this way, I came to the conclusion that the different semantic values of the preposition por are organized systematically and they constitute –in a pragmatic-semantic way– a polysemic item, whose most prototypical attribute is the [+Locative] value. Constructions with por that stray from their prototypical meaning depend on it due to the lack/adding of other attributes; the decrease/increase in the presence of attributes, or the presence of other attributes not included in the prototypical zone. Considering that, to PCT, pragmatics and semantics motivate syntax, and that the communicative objective that motivates the selection of the preposition por in each context at the same time motivates its syntax, in this work, I propose a syntactic characterization of por based on its pragmatic-semantic meaning. In this sense, my hypothesis is that the preposition por does not always work as a subordinating conjunction. In many contexts, it has the syntactic function of a focalizer because it presents important information that persists in subsequent discourse, as can be appreciated in the following example: “mis viejos iban a aportar mucho menos, pero no porque no quisieran o porque no lo padecieran, sino por inmaduros, no saben eh… enfrentar ningún tipo de responsabilidad, y aún es así, son muy, muy inmaduros” (PRESEEA, Entrevista 1: p.11) [my folks were about to contribute much less, but not because they did not want to or because they did not suffer it, but because they were immature, they don’t know how to... err… face any kind of responsibility, and they are still like that, they are very, very immature]. From the analysis of the PRESEEA-Buenos Aires corpus, I conclude that por tends to function as a focalizer in all its meanings. When por is analyzed as a focalizer, it establishes the syntactic relation of centre-periphery, marking the centre.