Sound Symbolism and Aspect in the Spanish Second Conjugation

W HEN compared to the other two Spanish conjugations, this class exhibits a certain archaic quality.. Except for many new acquisitions in -ecer, and compounds reflecting learned influences (e.g., componer), it has not grown since it was first formed from the Latin verbs in -ERE and -ERE containing open and mid stemvowels.1 Both these types were, on the whole, unproductive already in Latin,2 whereas the first and fourth conjugations were greatly expanded through derivational processes which have continued into modern Romance, and have permitted additions from popular, learned, and foreign sources. Numerically, the -er paradigm is the smallest of the three; a count of the uncompounded, noninchoative verbs in -er, including important archaic items, yields a modest total of 79. Yet among these are found many of the most common, basic verbs in the language, including all the important auxiliaries except estar, and the largest number of irregular verbs. They represent a considerable proportion of the Latin primary verbs-those not derived from nouns, etc.-which have been preserved in modern Romance. The majority, including the auxiliaries, conform to a

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• A History of the Spanish Language

  Open Access•Ralph Penny, Ralph J Penny•History of the Spanish Language•2002

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