Le dije yo, digo Constructionalization of quotative introducers with the verb decir in peninsular and Argentine Spanish

Abstract

The present study examines the form and function of quotative sequences with the verb decir `say', i.e., verbal constructions used to introduce constructed dialogue into discourse, in the Peninsular and the Argentinean variety of Spanish. We identify and study several morphosyntactic and distributional differences between the varieties with regard to the expression and position of the verbal arguments and the temporal reference of the quotative verb. The results point at a higher degree of constructionalization of the quotative sequences in the Peninsular variety than in the Argentinean one. In addition, invariable quotative markers digo `(I) say' and dice `(s/he) says' have emerged only in the Peninsular variety. We argue that quotative markers should be considered as an independent category amongst discourse markers.