When doing is saying. Uses of fer as a verb of saying

Abstract

This paper describes the uses of the Catalan verb fer ‘to do’ as a verb of saying. Starting from a search for the lemma fer followed by direct discourse in the Catalan reference corpus (CTILC), we selected the cases in which fer does not indicate action but diction, and also intermediate cases in between diction and action. The analysis of the relevant variables (verbal semantics and morphology, type of subject and object and optional items) shows that fer is a polysemic and polyfunctional verb. As a verb of saying, it usually has a human subject and introduces reported speech, but it can also introduce words not linked to an actual enunciation, as well as gestures and unarticulated sounds. These cases can be considered as bridging contexts between action and diction, thus Accounting for the development of this context-dependent interpretation. The data are analysed on the basis of the whole construction: The interpretation of fer as a verb of saying is linked to the introduction of voices in the narration, which conditions the verbal morphology (past tenses) and the optional elements in the construction (dative, the conjunction and, temporal expressions, etc.).