Has "harto" Changed (in) Chilean Spanish? A Historical-Grammatical Analysis

Abstract

The following paper presents a diachronic linguistic analysis of the grammatical and semantic transformations of the quantifier harto in Chilean Spanish. Since this lexical unit has undergone grammaticalization as a quantifier in Old Spanish, the study aims to delve into certain historical trends that better illustrate its progression in the processes of grammaticalization and constructionalization. These trends include aspects such as categorical status, autonomy, syntactic position, evaluative meaning, degree of intensity, collocational expansions, and its conceptional and discursive profile. Methodologically, the analysis relies on empirical data drawn from historical corpora, namely CORDE and a corpus currently under development called the Diachronic Corpus of Chilean Spanish (CoDiECh). The theoretical framework integrates grammaticalization theory with construction grammar and discursive traditions. Among the conclusions, it is highlighted that in Chilean Spanish, harto exhibits a paradoxical behavior: on the one hand, it displays properties of syntactic conservatism, while on the other, it undergoes significant changes.