Interrogative constructions with "santo", "cuento", and "cuenta": Rejectionand mirativity

• José Luis Cifuentes Honrubia ^[1]
  1. [1] Universitat d'Alacant

     Universitat d'Alacant

     Alicante, España

     
• Localización: Expressing Surprise at the Crossroads: Mirativity, Exclamativity and Cooptation in Romance Languages / coord. por Susana Rodríguez Rosique, 2025, ISBN 978-3-11-138648-5, págs. 63-89
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • This paper has as its aim to study the functioning and origin of the locutions with a causal meaning a santo de qué, a qué santo, a cuento de qué, a qué cuento and a cuenta de qué. These phrases introduce marked interrogative constructions, so they imply negative evaluation by the speaker, that is, they constitute a grammatical sign of the negative implication of the causal question in which they are inserted. The data from all the examples supplied in the CDH and CORPES corpora for the forms a santo de qué, a qué santo, a cuento de qué, a qué cuento and a cuenta de qué are analyzed, and an account of the main functional characteristics of the mentioned structures is given. Although the constructions studied have many points in common with the marking of mirativity –above all, the reference to some new information that contradicts the speaker’s expectations– they do not express surprise, but rather mark rejection by the speaker.