Los usos del ''Se'' en Español.pdf

7/27/2019 Los usos del ''Se'' en Espaol.pdf

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NOTESONUlSAGE 831"SE"

GORDON . FISHUSAR, RetiredMy purposeis to define and account forthe Spanish uses of this small but versatileand indispensable word with more preci-sion than is customaryin pedagogicalandnormativegrammars.1. In the ancestralEuropean tongue, sewas a particle rather than a pronoun forit lacked all inflection and was used with-out regardfor person, number, or case; asit still is in Slavic and Baltic languages:Czech, ja se vidim, ty se vidis, Vi se vidite.Elsewhere it became restrictedto the thirdperson and tended to imitate the singularpersonal pronouns: German, ich, miich,dich, sich; Latin, me, te, se. Latin went sofar as to give it a dative, with adverbialending: ibi, tibi, sibi, but this disappeared.2. In Romance,se took on functions thathave little or no connection with its earlyreflexive value, functions that seem to usidiomatic and troublesome. The following

paragraphsdeal only with these and tracethe regression of se from its status as ameaningful personal pronoun to that of amere particle,a morpheme,an empty word,a tool, back almost to where it started solong ago.Tripersonal Uses3. Always reflexive in modern Spanish:abstenerse, antojarse, arrepentirse, atenerse,atreverse, ausentarse, dignarse, jactarse, obs-tinarse, quejarse, refugiarse, resentirse, re-volcarse, ruborizarse. With some of thesethe reflexive value is obvious, with othersit can be explained by etymology: Latin,jactare se (throw oneself about) brag:quejarse is a hybrid of the reflexive-de-ponent queri (complain) and coaxare(croak!).4. Reflexive with special meanings: ad-mirarse, agarrarse, agotarse, atravesarse,atropellarse, batirse, burlarse, conformarse,cruzarse, derramarse, desmayarse, empeii-arse, esmerarse, esquivarse, extraiiarse, fi-iarse, guardarse, incorporarse, hacerse,Ilevarse, malograrse, ocuparse, parecerse,

ponerse, referirse, regarse, sentirse, valerse,volverse.5. A limited number of verbs, mostlyintransitive, may take a dative of interestwhich introduces a concept of inception,direction, duration, completion, effort orintensity. The reflexivevalue is strongbutis lost in translation: acabarse, asomarse,beberse, caerse, callarse, comerse, dormirse,enfermarse,ntrarse, starse, rse, llegarse,Ilevarse,Iloverse,marcharse,morirse,pa-rarse, quedarse, reirse, salirse, sonreirse,tragarse, venirse, volarse. The earliest ex-ampleof this patternseems to be in Sylvia'sFourth Century letter to the girls backhome: vadent se, unus quisque ad (h)os-pitium suum.6. Reflexive is normal when a personoranimalactsupon himself in manysituationswherebothEnglishand Latinuse intransi-tive or passive verbs: acostumbrarse, adelan-tarse,afeitarse,cercarse,lejarse, lentarse,alzarse, apartarse,apoyarse,apresurarse,apurarse,arriesgarse,rrodillarse, searse,bafiarse, cansarse, casarse, coluimpiarse,despedirse, detenerse, disp6nerse, doblarse,elevarse, embrollarse, empacientarse, em-peiiarse, encargarse, enderezarse, enterarse,esconderse, estirarse, inclinarse, inscribirse,lanzarse, largarse, lavarse, levantarse,mecerse, mezclarse, oponerse, preocuparse,prepararse, resolverse, retirarse, tetnderse,reunirse, unirse, vestirse, volverse.

7. Action affecting oneself, but broughtabout by physical or psychic forces is simi-larly treated, though the subject is notstrictly the agent: ahogarse, airarse, ale-grarse, alentarse, asombrarse, asustarse,avergonzarse, cansarse, despertarse, encen-derse, enojarse, erizarse, estremecerse, extra-viarse, lamentarse. Some of these actionscan, of coursebe normallyreflexive:drownoneself, facing drown.8. By a peculiar extension, some actionscustomarilyperformedon oneself may betreated as reflexive when performed byanother: Estos sefiores tan ocupados,

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832 HISPANIAcuando van a la peluqueria se afeitan, secortan el pelo, se hacen las manos, selimpian los zapatos, y leen los periddicos(Cela). The reverse occurs with verbs ofdesignation;one cannot really call oneself.An equally improbablereflexivewas foundonly in referringto accidental death: Luisse matd en su coche (Seco). Todos lospasajeros se mataron. iNos mataremostodos!Unipersonal9. In the above patterns the reflexive-self can always be felt, but in those to bedefined below, limited to third person, secannot mean -self unless personified. It isreflexive in name only. These uses wereunknown to classical Latin, where se wasa truly "personal" ronounonly.10. Stylistic personification is not un-common: Los arboles se inclinaron, di-ciendo quien sabe qud voces. La plazasobre la que se columnpia un aire trans-parente (Cela). Por el camino se escondenentre los montes los caserios de Chistorney Ustequi (Cela). Las casas se sucedenuna tras otra (Cela), reciprocal.

11. Referring to actions, reactions, andinteractionsof inanimateentities, especiallyin grammaticaland scientific writing, anunconscious partial personification treatsthem as if acting upon each other volun-tarily and as equals: Los verbos se diferen-cian miucho unos con otros. Los demostra-tivos se sustantivan como los denu's adje-tivos. Dos rectas, una perpendicular y otraoblicua a una recta, se encuentran. Thisgoes back at least to the Fourth Century inVulgar Latin: Hic morbus se ad corporaincrescens ... sanguinis detractione siccatur(MiulomnedicinaChironis).12. In the following patternsthe normalrelationship of subject and object is re-versed, the natural object-patientis madesubject-patient, the reflexive se losing itsmeaning, has only a function, and accord-ing to Seco, in one situation "se sientecomo sujeto el se." When the subject istopic and no agent is in mind, Englishtranslation is passive, less frequently, in-transitive. This occurs principally but notexclusively with the verbs listed in para-

graphs 6 and 7, together with verbs ofmotion, position, condition, and composi-tion: abrirse, agotarse, cerrarse, componerse,descomponerse, derrumbarse, deshacerse,Ilenarse, modificarse, mojarse, quebrarse,realizarse, romperse, secarse, separarse, situ-arse, venderse, verificarse.13. Some verbs, which have been called"reversible,"o not conformto this pattern:comenzar el trabajo, el trabajo comienza;So, acabar, continuar, asomar, subir, bajar,volver, cambiar, trotar.14. Many verbs listed in the foregoingparagraphs and others admit a personaldative in additionto se, to expressinvolun-tary, accidental, or spontaneous action.Translation is often colloquial in English:se me adelanto (got ahead of me), se medescompuso el coche (broke down on me),se me cayeron los libros (dropped them),se le enferm6 una mula, se le escapd (gotaway), se me figur6 un gigante (thought Isaw), para que no se me inflamara el hi-gado, ydndosele al animal los cuartos tra-seros, se me olvidd, los ojos se nos llenaronde ldgrimas.15. When the subject-patient follows theverb as informationand when there is nosubject, translationmay be passive, but farmore frequentlyit includes some indicationof an indefinite subject. The contrastwiththe preceding pattern is sharp in French:Cela ne se fait pas en France, on ne faitpas cela en France. Any verb, can be usedin this manner unless se is required forsome other reason.16. Objects which normally call for a,and pronouns replacing them, cannot beconverted into subject-patient: Se les ve.This anomalous pattern is keyed to per-sonal objects only statisticallyand is not adevice for the avoidance of ambiguity,though it may incidentallyhave that effect:No era una reunidn a la que se habiaconvocado. Se oia una gallina decir ternezasa los pollos. Se les habiagolpeadoa lasmulas, but: En el Uiltimo sitio se afeitabaun hombre pelirrojo (par. 8.) No valid rulecan be laid down as to choice of pronouns;le(s) is normalaccusativefor both genders,with la(s) for feminine persons. The in-



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NOTES ON USAGE 833fluence of paragraph 13 and of laismo isapparent.The constructionis recent in thelanguage, avoided by many writers andmishandledby substandard peakers:Damelo que se le unta al latigo. Asi se liamabanlos antiguos romanosa los que dirigian lascaballerias. Even standardwritersoccasion-ally deviate from the norm: un cuerno conuna correapara cuando se le quiere llevaren bandolera.

This note does not deal with se, thedative used for le, nor does it attempt toaccount for all intricacies and odds andends of reflexive usage, like: Se sabia yatodos los pueblos de Castilla la Vieja, anapprentice postal clerk; cuando se tienenganas de caminar; la culpa me tengo yo;tui te lo sabes;echatemelo;se me lo llevd,me temo que es verdad.

CHANGE OF ADDRESS? Please notify the Secretary-Treasurer promptly!

SPANISH CLUB MANUALReprints of Mrs. Ruth B. Clausing's "Resource Guide for Teachers ofSpanish and Club Advisors of Sociedad Honoraria Hispanica," published inthe March 1963 Hispania, are available with sturdy covers at $1.00. Pleasesend your orders to the Secretary-Treasurer,Dr. Eugene Savaiano, SpanishDepartment, Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas.

STUDENT MEMBERSHIPSPlease remind your students-and other teachers' students-that they mayjoin the AATSP for $3.00, receive Hispania, and enjoy all other privilegesof membership, except the right to vote.

A PROGRAM OF HISPANIC STUDIESFOR THE COLLEGESTUDENTCopies, with covers, of The Program, by Gardiner H. London and RobertG. Mead, Jr., (printed in the May 1961 Hispania, pp. 383-406), are availablefor 50c (50 per cent discount on orders of five or more) from the Secretary-Treasurer, Dr. Eugene Savaiano, Spanish Department, Wichita State Uni-versity, Wichita, Kansas. Tell your students about The Program and urgethem to order copies.NO MORE BACK ISSUES, PLEASE!AATSP Headquarters is suspending for the time being the purchase of allback issues of Hispania requested in previous issues. We wish to thank thosewho responded earlier to our request.


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Los usos del ''Se'' en Español.pdf