Abstract

There are many verb forms in the Spanish imperative involved in grammaticalization (subjetivisation, intersubjetivisation) processes. It is common for old imperatives to become interjections (¡Oye!, ¡Mira!, ¡No veas!...), which ―used as discourse markers or not― can be employed on their own or take complements. Sometimes, these complements are the same as those of the argument structure of the original verb (¡Tócate las narices!, ¡Chúpate esa!...), but some other times, different types of complements may appear (cf. ¡Fíjate en Ana! and ¡Fíjate Ana!, ¡Imagínate a los vecinos! and ¡Imagínate los vecinos!). Furthermore, very frequently, former Spanish imperatives introduce interjective constructions including free elements (Anda que no...). These constructions, whose syntactic structure cannot be analyzed without taking into account its emphatic character, imply a certain degree of idiomacity. In addition to that, old imperatives are often part of numerous interjective phrases (idiomatic or not) and interjective sentential formulae.