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INTRODUCTION

1. THE SPANISH COMPLEMENTARY CONSTRUCTION. In Spanish, every verb, verb phrase, adjective, or noun requiring a preposition as a link to its noun complement retains the preposition when the noun complement is replaced by a clause. This uniform retention of the preposition before a complementary clause occurs also in Portuguese and differentiates the Iberian territory from the rest of the Romance domain1. Cf. the following illustrative examples :

con que

Me alegro de su buen éxito de que haya tenido buen éxito; él se opone a mi proyecto - a que lo haga; convienen en hacerlo en que es necesario hacerlo; contamos con su apoyo nos ayude; él estaba enterado del asunto de que su padre ya había muerto; yo estoy deseoso de llegar a tiempo de que mi amigo llegue a tiempo; no tengo miedo a la muerte a que venga la muerte; tengo la esperanza de verle

muy pronto.

de que llegue

To illustrate the difference between the modern Spanish and two other modern languages of the analytic type, cf. the following sentences. French: Je suis sûr que nous n'allons retrouver qu'un ami bien dévoué; le hasard avait écarté la possibilité que cela fût; je vais veiller à ce qu'on ne vienne pas vous déranger. English: I am glad that you came so early; the fear that his father was dying caused him to leave so suddenly; he is opposed to my going; his sudden departure was due to the fact that he had just received an urgent message from home. From the

1 No attempt will be made in this study to present the Portuguese usage. Cf. Reinhardstöttner, Gr., § 270,7, d; Diez, Gr., pp. 1009, 1010; Mätzner, Synt., §§ 322, 390, 395. Meyer-Lübke, Gr., III, § 581 by an oversight limits the construction to the Spanish.

above examples it is evident that, in contrast to the uniform treatment in Spanish, the French shows two varieties and the English even more.

A similar situation is met with in the treatment of direct complements 1.

Contrast the following sentences: Spanish: Me prometió el dinero ayudarme - que su hermano me ayudaría. French:

que son frère m'aiderait. to help me that

Il m'a promis l'argent de m'aider English He promised me the money : his brother would help me. Thus, in contrast to the status in other languages, in modern Spanish we find in both direct and prepositional complements, an identity of syntactical treatment between the noun, the infinitive, and the noun clause 2. In other words, the infinitive and the noun clause are completely substantivized, as far as their construction in the sentence is concerned.

In Spanish, this uniform treatment is characteristic only of the modern speech, existing neither in the texts prior to Cervantes nor in the Quijote itself 3.

In the present study, however, we shall be concerned primarily with only one phase of this complementary construction, that of the prepositional complementary clause, i.e., the de que, a que, en que, etc. clauses illustrated on p.1.

2. COMPLEMENTS; DIRECT AND INDIRECT (OR PREPOSITIONAL). In the preceding illustrative examples for the Spanish, the words me alegro, él se opone, convienen, contamos, etc. would lack full and definite signification but for the presence of the elements de su buen éxito, a mi proyecto, en hacerlo, con su apoyo, etc. These latter elements are consequently the

1 For definition of complement, direct and prepositional, cf. § 20.

2 For further evidence of this uniform treatment, cf. p. 23. For sporadic exceptions in Galdós and for situation in conversational speech, cf. pp. 21-22. 3 Cf. pp. 109, 181.

complements of the words on which they depend. A complement, then, may be defined as a word (or a word group forming a grammatical unit) which is syntactically dependent upon another word (or word group) and which is essential to the completion of the full and definite signification of the element upon which it depends. This latter element we shall call the governing element.

Complements, however, are of two types: (1) direct, and (2) indirect (or prepositional). A direct complement is directly dependent upon its governing element, as in the sentences: compro una casa, no quiero eso, promete hacerlo, dice que vendrá. An indirect complement is linked to its governing element by a preposition, and is composed of the preposition plus the word or word group it introduces. The elements de su buen éxito de que haya tenido buen éxito, a mi proyecto - a que lo haga etc. are consequently indirect or prepositional complements. The prepositional complement expressed in clausal form will be called the prepositional complementary clause 1.

From a consideration of the above examples of both direct and prepositional complements, the following facts stand out clearly: (1) The complement is essential to the completion of the full and definite signification of its governing element. (2) The complement is always a noun or one of its equivalents (i.e., noun, pronoun, infinitive, or noun clause) while the governing element may be a verb, a verb phrase, an adjective, or a noun. (3) The nature of the relation in which the comple

1 In modern Spanish the direct complement is, with but very few exceptions (cf. p. 21) the direct object of a transitive verb. In French and English, however, (cf. illustrative examples, p. 1) the direct complementary clause is often used after verbs, adjectives etc. which require prepositional noun and infinitive complemente; it is always used after nouns and in the locutions de ce que, à ce que etc., and the fact that. It is this use of the direct instead of the prepositional complementary clause that differentiates these and other languages from the modern Spanish. For the situation in Old Spanish, cf. p. 112.

ment stands to its governing element is foreshadowed by the character and meaning of the governing element itself. That is, when we say compro, quiero, promete, etc., or when we say me alegro, él se opone, convienen etc., these words themselves carry an intimation of the fact that the elements necessary to complete their full and definite signification will stand to them, in the one case, in the relation of direct object, and, in the other case, in relations represented respectively by the prepositions de, a, en, con, etc. In other words, in complements the nature of the complementary relation is wholly or partly manifested in the incompleteness of the meaning of the governing element itself. Furthermore, in direct complements (e.g., direct objects) the nature of the complementary relation is indicated solely by the meaning of the governing element (e.g., a transitive verb); in prepositional complements light is thrown upon the nature of the complementary relation by the meaning both of the governing element and of the introductory preposition, but the exact nature of that relation is not fully indicated by either alone.

3. PREPOSITIONAL COMPLEMENTS AND PREPOSITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS. Bello says: «El anunciativo que... se emplea a menudo como término : « Resignado a que le diesen la muerte; » « Avergonzado de que se hubieran descubierto sus intrigas;» «Se contentó el demandante con que se le restituyese la hacienda sin los frutos; » « Huyó porque le acometieron muchos a un tiempo; » Según que nos elevamos sobre la superficie de la tierra, se adelgaza más y más el aire; » « Es preciso dar unidad a las diversas partes de una obra para que el todo salga perfecto; » etc. A la misma especie de frases... pertenecen pues que y mientras que, en las cuales pues y mientras son verdaderas preposiciones... » 1

1 Gr., § 986.

Bello here groups together all prepositional clauses on the basis of their structural identity, but gives no evidence of differentiating from the functional standpoint between clauses introduced by a, de, and con and those introduced by por, según, para, pues and mientras. Now while all prepositional clauses may be identical in structure and in origin, they are certainly not identical in function 1. In point of fact, from the functional standpoint they fall into two distinct groups: (1) prepositional complements and (2) prepositional supplements. The prepositional complement we already know. It is illustrated by the first three examples of Bello and by the model sentences in the first paragraph of this Introduction. The prepositional supplement is illustrated by the remainder of the examples given by Bello. This division into complements and supplements, the reason for which will be set forth in the following paragraph, is applicable not only to noun clauses introduced by prepositions but to all prepositional elements, no matter what their form 2.

It is obvious that prepositional complementary clauses function as noun clauses introduced by prepositions, while prepositional supplementary clauses function as adverb clauses. This latter group (i.e., the por que, según que, para que, etc. clauses) show the following characteristic features: (a) The exact nature of the relation of the dependent clause to the main

The so-called adverbial conjunctions porque, para que, sin que, hasta que según que etc., undoubtedly arise from the extension of the use of the prepositions por, para, sin, hasta, según etc. before nouns and infinitives to their use before noun clauses introduced by que. In modern Spanish these adverbial conjunctions are still felt as prepositions governing noun clauses. Cf. the following not uncommon construction: Los fardos se apilaron sobre la vieja cubierta, colocándose en la borda palitroques y cuerdas para contenerlos y que no cayesen al mar (Blasco Ibáñez, Flor de Mayo, Valencia. 1916, p. 124). The reverse construction is illustrated by: está metiendo fuego en el Ayuntamiento para que haya otra vez fielato y rematarlo él (Doña, Perf. 20, 18).

2 Cf. p. 253, note 1.

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