ABSTRACT
Language change is produced through a dynamic process of geographic, social, and morphosyntactic movements. Situations of sustained language contact tend to generate a relatively high velocity of changes to lexical and grammatical systems. Gerundianismo is best understood as an additive borrowing feature of grammatical complexification, a natural sociolinguistic-typological product of sustained language contact. This chapter surveys existing literature on the origins and use of gerundianismo in the sociolinguistic context of grammatical complexification through language contact. It examines the boundaries of the structure, transfer, and convergence of Quechua benefactive case marker -pa, and the spectrum of metaphoric extension in auxiliary verbs: dar 'give' and mandar 'send/order.' The gerund is a common feature of both Spanish and Quechua, so it is logical that linguistic convergence could select it as a marked characteristic of northern Andean Spanish after centuries of language contact. The benefactive clitic disobeys standard rules of clitic climbing and classification, and performs a distinct sociopragmatic role in northern Andean Spanish.
