From the heavy to the light verb

Abstract

Abstract The study aims to show that the selection of the Spanish light verb tomar ‘to take’ within a light verb construction (LVC), rather than being arbitrary, is based on its meaning. To support this claim the hypothesis of semantic compatibility is tested. According to this hypothesis, light verbs are paradigmatically related to their heavier counterparts and syntagmatically to the nouns within the same LVC by means of components of meaning called lexical features. After a fine-grained analysis of the polysemous verb tomar, the study provides a tentative list of lexical features that function as semantic links between the lexical units within the polysemous tomar, as well as elements of semantic agreement between the components within the same LVC.