THE SYNTACTIC-SEMANTIC VARIATION OF THE VERB IN SPANISH IN MAGALLANES: A SOCIOLINGUISTIC APPROACH

In this article verbal variation is presented from a sociolinguistic approach. From this perspective of analysis, social, historic and ethnographic peculiarities of speech of a region are manifested in the use of the language at a morphological, syntactic and semantic level. In the context of the investigation about linguistic variation in Magallanes it is presented the syntactic-semantic variation of the verbs that are considered patrimonial variants of the Magellan community: crecer(lo) - pasar a caerr - caer(lo). From a theoretical point of view, these verbs would reflect syntactic processes of ergativity, that is to say, those linguistic processes that are characterized by making explicit the subject of the action mentioned in the grammatical structure of the verb. At the same time, at a semantic level this process is manifested by giving a particular meaning to the verbs used by the speakers. Among main conclusions, we can say that the meanings of these verbs are recognized by all the people polled, however the use is determined by the variables of age and schooling. Likewise, we can also say that the syntactic-semantic variations of the verbs being studied are in an initial process of linguistic change (Labov, 1983) and that would correspond to those linguistic uses that present less concentration in certain social groups.