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Teresa María Rodríguez Ramalle
Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Spain
Vol 38 (2011), Articles
Submitted: 02-05-2012 Accepted: 02-05-2012 Published: 02-05-2012
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Abstract

Interjections in Spanish. are categories that have lost their morphological features andoriginal meaning. Interjections can appear as independent sentences: ¡Hombre, cuánto tiempo sinverte!, ¡Vaya, qué sorpresa más agradable!, or select a complement headed by que ‘that’: Vaya que síse supo lo que ocurrió! When the interjections vaya, mira, cuidado appear with the conjunction quehave a gradative reading: ¡Anda que no sabes tú cosas!, ¡Pero mira que este chico es pesado!, the samereading that we find in sentences with the neuter article lo: ¡Lo que sabe este chico!, ¡Lo pesado que está hoy! or with exclamatives sentences with [+QU] phrases: ¡Qué de cosas sabes!, ¡Qué pesado eseste chico! In this work I will explain the reasons why the sequences <interjection + conjunction que>can have a gradative reading when they appear in the same sentence with a name, adjective or verb thathave a degree argument.

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