Una caracterización funcional de estar + gerundio como aspecto de fase: Progresividad, dinamicidad y lectura de caso (token)

in this study we propose a characterization of the construction estar + present participle, one of the most productive spanish verbal periphrases. after criticizing both the idea that this construction is a prototypical instance of imperfective aspect and that it communicates a more extensive duration of the state of affairs than other grammatical forms, we propose that estar + present participle codifies the progressive phasal aspect of a dynamic state of affairs -i. e. en event-, which prompts a token reading. from a functional grammar standpoint, as proposed by dik (1997), this verbal periphrasis is a predicative operator which works upon the nuclear predicate by denoting its internal dynamics.