Frecuencia de uso y género textual. Notas sobre la evolución diacrónica de la perífrasis <seguir + gerundio>

Abstract

According to previous studies the continuative periphrasis <seguir + gerund> emerged relatively late in Spanish, approximately from the 18th century onwards. However, nowadays it has a very high frequency, especially in colloquial speech. This paper examines the diachronic evolution of the periphrasis, the use of which is supposed to have increased significantly over a relatively short period of time. In addition, it analyses the stylistic development of the periphrasis, in order to determine at what point in history its current ascription to the colloquial register begins to take shape. The results of the quantitative study, based on data extracted from the Corpus diacrónico del español (CORDE), reveal that the periphrasis began to spread in the 19th century and its use increased even more in the 20th century. It spread mainly through fictional texts, specifically, in the 19th century through narrative prose. This genre is also respon-sible for the greatest increase in use in the 20th century, along with dramatic prose. An analysis of the degree of immediacy of the different genres in which the periphrasis occurs shows that narrative and dramatic prose are precisely the genres most closely linked to communicative immediacy. It is concluded that these genres, on the one hand, have facilitated the spread of the periphrasis and, on the other hand, have contributed to shaping its current stylistic profile. Key words: ¡Verbal periphrasis, <seguir + gerund> , Genre, Communicative immediacy.