Notes on Historical Phraseology: Figurative set phrases with verbs of movement in medieval Spanish

Abstract

Phraseology studies are increasingly frequent, especially in a synchronic and contrastive dimension; interest in the study of phrases from a diachronic point of view is now rising and the present work is focused on this aspect. This article tries to compile some of those set phrases (with a figurative sense) with verbs of movement such as abrir, cerrar, subir, bajar, caer, ir, salir, entrar, andar, echar, llevar, sacar, meter, venir or volver, phrases documented in medieval Spanish. Expressions such as abrir los ojos, cerrar la puerta, caer en el lazo, ir por lana y venir trasquilado, salir de seso, entrar de rondón, andar de puerta en puerta, echar suertes, venir a las manos, llevar al cabo, meter manos, sacar de pila or volver la hoja appear frequently in the medieval texts with a figurative meaning that is not deductible from the sum of the meanings of the elements that form them. In this study we aim to analyze the different degree of productivity of these verbs when trying to be a part of these expressions; the capacity of the selected corpus of verbs seems to spread metaphorically; we will also analyze the existence of universal metaphors while paying attention to the cases of variation in phrases and studying the first cases of de-automatization.