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One of the main problems raised by the study of so-called interjective markers or discursive interjections is their highly polyfunctional character. The functional variation of elements as Spanish bueno, oye, mira, venga, vamos o vaya, mainly due to a process of semantic-functional extension, involves changes in the way they signify and operate which typically alter their morphological, prosodic and structural properties, thus significantly hampering their categorial, functional and semantic characterization. In this paper, we apply a dynamic model of categorization to two of these dicursive elements, vamos and vaya, to show that these discursive units have formal, semantic and pragmatic-discursive features that allow to draw (i) two well-defined and easily recognizable grammatical- functional areas, viz., the connective and the interjective one, related to two separate areas: the metadiscursive or textual one, and modal or interactive one; and (ii) a border area in which formal and functional characteristics of the textual and of the modal domains intersect, yielding a use of these elements as illocutionary reinforcement operators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper shows that Prototype Theory has a great potential for the diachronic semantic analysis of Spanish because it meets the needs of the study of language in use. The object of study we have chosen for this purpose is the verb salir. We first analysed the meanings of the Latin verb SALIRE, and, subsequently, approximately 300 testimonies of salir from early Romance until the 13th century from the Corpus del Nuevo Diccionario Histórico. The analysis of the data brings to light a prototypical change which proves to be crucial for the further development of salir. The case study provides evidence for both the advantages and the limitations of Prototype Theory for the diachronic semantic investigation of polysemic words. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this research is to show the application of Cognitive Semantics to the description of nominal compounding in American Spanish. Compounding is a productive morphologic process used to create words with a transparent meaning (apoyacabeza 'head restraint', destapabotellas 'bottle opener' etc.). However, many compounds also have an important level of idiomaticity (ahogabecerro 'tree', bienmesabe 'candy' etc.). The paper shows that Cognitive Semantics can explain the semantic opacity of these idiomatic compounds on the basis of metaphoric and metonymic processes. The data are extracted from the Diccionario de americanismos published by the Real Academia Española. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper's intention is a programmatic one. After presenting several definitions for the terms semantics of speech and structuralism, the topic is discussed with regard to Coseriu's theoretical framework. After confirming that there is not a methodological assignment within the universal level, I establish the hypothesis that it is due to the impossibility of structuralism for consistently carrying it out. For this purpose, I expound some arguments from Ricoeur, criticizing however that he did not take into account the efforts of structuralism to overcome these limitations. Briefly developing several methodological changes to structuralism, I critically comment on some of Coseriu's remarks on cognitive semantics. This allows a better understanding of the relation between the semantics of language and the semantics of speech. Finally, I propose several ways to methodologically develop the semantics of speech. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]