Resumen A partir de un estudio de corpus, en este trabajo se analiza el empleo de la locución en plan (de) desde una perspectiva funcional. En términos generales, se distinguen un total de siete usos distintos, los cuales pueden agruparse en dos macrofunciones: la adverbial y la discursiva. Los usos discursivos tan solo se registran desde finales del siglo XX, y aparecen de forma más recurrente en textos orales. El estudio también muestra la variación existente entre la locución prepositiva en plan de y la adverbial en plan, la cual gana terreno en los textos más recientes. Por último, se ofrece un análisis detallado del uso de en plan (de) en el habla de los adolescentes españoles de comienzos del siglo XXI, pues es en este sector demográfico donde la fórmula tiene una frecuencia más elevada.

This paper explores the current use of the verb like in sequences such as “me likey”. This new use is practically limited to modern variant spellings (likey, likee, like-y and likie) and resembles the original (and now obsolete) impersonal structure of the verb in which the experiencer was encoded in the objective case and the verb was used invariably, among other aspects. However, rather than the re-emergence of an impersonal construction, the sequence “me likey” seems to be the result of a situation of language contact and it is in line with the informalisation of English as seen, for example, in the increasing tendency for objective pronouns to be used in subject position in a variety of constructions. In light of the evidence from the Corpus of Contemporary American English and the TV Corpus, we can conclude that the sequence is used in highly informal registers, and that it tends to appear in rather formulaic expressions, especially in two-word sequences.

This article discusses the diachronic development of the Spanish multifunctional formula en plan (with its variant en plan de, literally ‘in plan (of)’ but usually equivalent to English like). The article has two main aims: firstly, to describe the changes that the formula has undergone since its earliest occurrences as a marker in the nineteenth century up to the early 21st century. The diachronic study evinces a process of grammaticalization in three steps: from noun to clause adverbial and then to discourse marker. Secondly, to conduct a contrastive analysis between en plan (de) and the English markers like and kind of/kinda so as to shed new light on the potential existence of a universal pathway of grammaticalization in the emergence of discourse markers.

Salón de belleza (1994), de Mario Bellatin, podría considerarse como un retrato de la soledad en grado extremo. La novela cuenta en primera persona la historia de un antiguo salón de belleza reconvertido en Moridero, es decir, en un lugar donde enfermos terminales van a pasar sus últimos días. La falta de identidad y el anonimato reinan de principio a fin, y solo en el tratamiento de los peces el narrador se recrea. Este narrador se comporta como un pequeño dios que toma decisiones y condiciona el futuro de los enfermos, sin importarle demasiado lo que estos puedan pensar o sentir. En la lectura de la novela, tres aspectos se revelan como primordiales: el simbolismo que los peces adquieren en la narración, la enfermedad que avanza de forma imparable y el tratamiento de la identidad (individual y colectiva) que se va trazando de la mano de estos otros dos aspectos.

The verb to like has fallen repeatedly under the gaze of scholars. One aspect which has stimulated vigorous discussion is its original use in impersonal constructions and its later change of argument structure along with the disappearance of impersonals from English. Nonetheless, evidence from current informal English shows that like is now used in constructions which bear a close resemblance to the older impersonals, although always displaying alternative spelling variants, especially likey. This paper seeks to further our understanding of the verb to like, focusing specifically on these new constructions. To this end I will use likey as a generic label to refer to such new uses and constructions, regardless of variations in spelling (unless otherwise stated). Using data from the Corpus of Historical American English and iWeb Corpus, the study will seek to answer the following research questions: RQ1. What are the morpho-syntactic features of the expression ‘me (no) likey’ in Present-Day English? RQ2. What is the origin of the sequence ‘me (no) likey’? RQ3. Where do phrasal patterns with likey fall on the continuum of idiomaticity (Michaelis, 2017)?