Auxiliary Verbs in the Left Periphery: Spanish ir and venir as Focus Markers

Abstract

The auxiliary verb ir has traditionally been said to convey both aspectual and discursive information in El coche fue a empotrarse contra la valla, Fue a llover el día de mi boda, along with other dispositional periphrases like acabar + gerund (El coche acabó empotrándose contra la valla). Assuming a generative approach and a semantic account for focus based on alternative semantics, it is argued that ir -- venir in American Spanish -- is a scalar focus marker on the second case and a resultative semi-lexical verb on the first example. This analysis explains facts regarding the semantics and the syntax of the construction ignored by previous analyses. Finally, this paper attempts a more general goal which is to allow for a new approach in the study of the so-called 'discourse markers' periphrases in Spanish.