Evaluating the importance of construal for choosing between alternating forms: the case of Spanish change-of-state verbs hacerse and volverse

Abstract

This paper offers a new approach to the alternate use of Spanish hacerse ‘to make (reflexive)’ and volverse ‘to (re)turn (reflexive)’ to express a change of state. Hacerse and volverse belong to the core of the family of change-of-state verbs in Spanish and constitute a prime example of alternating forms. The aim is to evaluate the importance of the notion of construal as an explanation to alternation. We do this by testing one of the major explanations regarding the difference between hacerse and volverse, namely that of Delbecque and van Gorp (Delbecque, Nicole & Lise van Gorp. 2012. Hacerse y volverse como nexos pseudo-copulativos. Bulletin hispanique 114(1). 277–306, Delbecque, Nicole & Lise van Gorp. 2015. The pseudo-copular use of the Spanish verbs hacerse and volverse: Two types of change. Cognitextes 13), who suggest that the distinction is one of construal. A sentence completion task involving priming and non-priming visual stimuli is used to investigate to what extent the distinct conceptual images associated with hacerse and volverse affect the choice of verb in given contexts. The results show little evidence of the importance of construal for the choice of verb. Instead, established V + ADJ combinations seem to have a greater impact on choosing either verb. This calls into question the applicability of construal as an explanation to alternation, especially from the perspective of choice between alternating forms.