Internal constituent variability and semantic transparency in N Prep N constructions in Romance languages

Constructions of the type N Prep N represent one of the most controversial is-
sues in Romance word formation. In particular, their lexical status and their de-
gree of productivity are still crucial points of discussion. Hence, it remains un-
clear whether these constructions fall within the category of morphological word
formation or of syntax. Furthermore, the possibilities for internal prepositional
variation remain uncertain. This article takes a constructionist approach within
the framework of construction morphology in order to describe the internal con-
stituent variability and transparency of the prepositional element in N Prep N con-
structions in Spanish, Portuguese, and French, as in Sp. juego de niños, juego para
niños (‘kid’s game’) or in Sp. cabaña de árbol and cabaña en árbol (‘tree house’). A
qualitative analysis of large-scale corpus data from the TenTen corpus family in-
dicates that Romance N Prep N constructions may undergo internal prepositional
variation. The analysis focuses on the semantic relations of the internal nominal
constituents and the semantic transparency of the constructions in the three Ro-
mance languages under investigation. The results indicate that semantic relations
and semantic transparency play a role in the internal constituent variability of the
prepositional element.