Evolution of the Present Participle: its Verbal Value in 15th Century Literature

Abstract

Latin verb forms have gradually evolved over the centuries. The present research article will study the process of evolution from the Latin present participle up to the current Castilian form in the context of Castilian lyrical literature. Although it is observed that before the Prehumanism and Humanism period the present participle began to lose its Latin values, the author who followed the Latinizing trend adapted it to the Romance language; however, its use in Castilian did not widely spread. Nowadays, we find remnants of the present participle in forms such as nouns, adjectives or locutions. The aim of this article is to describe the linguistic situation of the present participle in the 15th century, to detail the use of these constructions and to observe the decline of its verbal value and how its nominal value is accentuated. To achieve this, the linguistic conception of the Latin present participle and its evolution into current Castilian will be studied. Subsequently, the usage of the present participle in medieval grammars and contemporary grammars will be contrasted. For our purpose, the value and uses of various examples taken from a corpus compiled from works by Juan de Mena and the Marqués de Santillana will be analyzed. The proposed analysis aims to demonstrate that, starting in the 15th century, the present participle used in the language of Castile lost its verbal value and emphasized its nominal value, while being replaced by new expressive resources in the Castilian language.