A Corpus-based Study on Referential Chains in Spanish Newspapers

This article clarifies the choice of referential devices in Spanish newspapers. First, there is a wide range of referential devices which can be divided into two major types: full lexical items (full lexical noun phrases, proper names) and reduced items (such as pronouns and verbal morphemes). The selection of an appropriate linguistic expression in a discourse is subject to a complex process which depends on different semantic, syntactic and pragmatic elements. This paper describes how syntax relates to semantic content and pragmatic function in Spanish newspaper discourse.