Diathesis Alternation and Case of Experiencer-Object with Psych-Verbs in Spanish
Abstract
This study explores the factors that motivate the choice between alternating constructions with psychological predicates in Spanish. Using data from ADESSE and CORPES XXI, we have performed regression analyses and found that the Experiencer Person, Aspect, and Verb are the main significant factors for the use of the Experiencer-Object vs Experiencer-Subject patterns. However, we do not find a significant correlation between diathesis alternation (Subject vs Object Experiencer) and case alternation (Accusative vs Dative Object Experiencer). This leads to the conclusion that each construction type has different communicative functions.
open access | peer reviewed
Presentato: 14 Marzo 2025 | Accettato: 04 Settembre 2025 | Pubblicato 29 Aprile 2026 | Lingua: en
Keywords Corpus analysis • Diathesis • Psychological verbs • Middle voice • Case marking
Copyright © 2026 José María García-Miguel Gallego, Victoria Vázquez Rozas. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-962-7/001