Tipología de la catáfora paratáctica: entre la sintaxis del discurso y la sintaxis de la oración

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to sketch a typology of a class of complex sentences, widely spread among different languages, in which the subordinate clauses cataphorically announced in the main clause. Sentences such as German Ich bleibe deshalb zu Hause, weil ich einen wichtigen Anruf erwarte, or Russian Ya zulas' ot togo, chto nie ponimala yego, can be cited as examples of such a construction. These sentences constitute, from our point of view, an intermediate stage between a discoursive construction that makes use of a typical device for discourse cohesion (i.e. phoric relationships) and a sentential construction. In the light of these considerations, it is proposed that there is a gradual transition between discourse and Syntax and not only from a diachronic point of view, but also from the perspective of a synchronic approach. The paper is based on facts from fifteen languages: Ancient Spanish, Ancient Greek, French, Latin, German, Finnish, Kimbundu, Hebrew, Catalan, Kipchak, Swedish, Russian, Polish, Hungarian and English.