<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The verbs <italic>ser</italic> and <italic>estar</italic> have been a subject of great debate in the literature, mainly because the adjectives that are combined with each copula are not in complementary distribution. A cognitive linguistics approach proposes that <italic>estar</italic> allows for a comparison of the entity referred to by the utterance’s subject and that very same entity that goes through a temporal change; on the other hand, <italic>ser</italic> allows for a comparison among entities of different type (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="j_plc-2019-0008_ref_011_w2aab3b7b8b1b6b1ab1ac11Aa">Delbecque, 1997</xref>). I provide an analysis of spontaneous child-directed speech from a longitudinal database and find variation sets that may allow children to detect the differences between <italic>ser</italic> and <italic>estar</italic>. In child-directed speech, the entities referred to by the subject of a sentence with estar are always entities that undergo a perceptible change within an activity of daily life, while the entities referred to with ser never undergo a change.</p></abstract>

The verbs ser and estar have been a subject of great debate in the literature, mainly because the adjectives that are combined with each copula are not in complementary distribution. A cognitive linguistics approach proposes that estar allows for a comparison of the entity referred to by the utterance’s subject and that very same entity that goes through a temporal change; on the other hand, ser allows for a comparison among entities of different type (Delbecque, 1997). I provide an analysis of spontaneous child-directed speech from a longitudinal database and find variation sets that may allow children to detect the differences between ser and estar. In child-directed speech, the entities referred to by the subject of a sentence with estar are always entities that undergo a perceptible change within an activity of daily life, while the entities referred to with ser never undergo a change.

The Spanish Verbs <italic>Estar</italic> (To Be) and <italic>Ser</italic> (To Be) in Child-Directed Speech

Psychology of Language and Communication

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The Spanish Verbs  (To Be) and  (To Be) in Child-Directed Speech

The verbs ser and estar have been a subject of great debate in the literature, mainly because the adjectives that are combined with each copula are not in...

The Spanish Verbs Estar (To Be) and Ser (To Be) in Child-Directed Speech

Published Online: Jul 30, 2019

Page range: 162 - 183

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/plc-2019-0008

Keywords
Spanish copulae verbs ser & estar, child directed speech, variation sets

© 2019 Mary Rosa Espinosa-Ochoa, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The Spanish Verbs Estar (To Be) and Ser (To Be) in Child-Directed Speech

Published Online: Jul 30, 2019

Page range: 162 - 183

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/plc-2019-0008

KeywordsSpanish copulae verbs ser & estar, child directed speech, variation sets

© 2019 Mary Rosa Espinosa-Ochoa, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Spanish copulae verbs ser & estar, child directed speech, variation sets