An analysis of subjunctive frequency and semantic predictors of mood in Central Argentinian Spanish
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Muriel Gallego
Abstract
This study reports on distinct patterns of mood alternation among monolingual speakers of Spanish in central Argentina. A total of 224 participants completed two written tasks online. In the mood selection preference task, subjunctive licensing was analyzed in terms of semantic predictors of volition, recommendation, comment and uncertainty. In the guided writing task, subjunctive use in semi-spontaneous production was measured. Female older speakers produced subjunctive at higher rates, whereas it was almost non-existent among younger males. As for semantic predictors, subjunctive was categorically preferred by older speakers and indicative acceptance was observed among younger generations. While volitional and directives operated as robust subjunctive predictors across groups, indicative was preferred for comment and uncertainty, mainly among younger speakers.
Abstract
This study reports on distinct patterns of mood alternation among monolingual speakers of Spanish in central Argentina. A total of 224 participants completed two written tasks online. In the mood selection preference task, subjunctive licensing was analyzed in terms of semantic predictors of volition, recommendation, comment and uncertainty. In the guided writing task, subjunctive use in semi-spontaneous production was measured. Female older speakers produced subjunctive at higher rates, whereas it was almost non-existent among younger males. As for semantic predictors, subjunctive was categorically preferred by older speakers and indicative acceptance was observed among younger generations. While volitional and directives operated as robust subjunctive predictors across groups, indicative was preferred for comment and uncertainty, mainly among younger speakers.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Introduction ix
- Towards a theory of assertion structure 1
- Towards a theory of pronominal verb constructions in Spanish 21
- On the grammaticality of recomplementation in Spanish 39
- Synchronic change in a multidialectal Spanish community 53
- Exploring the syntax-semantics-prosody interface 73
- Generalized gradability and extremeness in Puerto Rican Spanish 95
- On the mistaken identity of negated epistemics 111
- The mestizo speech 131
- Stressed clitics in Argentine Spanish 149
- On the simplification of a prosodic inventory 171
- Segmental anchoring in Peruvian Amazonian Spanish intonation 191
- The prosody-pragmatics interface in the pragmaticalization of ¡Hombre! as a discourse marker 211
- Sociolinguistic implications on perception 241
- Vosotros , ustedes , and the myth of the symmetrical Castilian pronoun system 263
- Microvariation in the Null Subject Parameter 281
- An analysis of subjunctive frequency and semantic predictors of mood in Central Argentinian Spanish 301
- The future is in the past 317
- Double possession in Peruvian Amazonian Spanish 335
- Index 355
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Introduction ix
- Towards a theory of assertion structure 1
- Towards a theory of pronominal verb constructions in Spanish 21
- On the grammaticality of recomplementation in Spanish 39
- Synchronic change in a multidialectal Spanish community 53
- Exploring the syntax-semantics-prosody interface 73
- Generalized gradability and extremeness in Puerto Rican Spanish 95
- On the mistaken identity of negated epistemics 111
- The mestizo speech 131
- Stressed clitics in Argentine Spanish 149
- On the simplification of a prosodic inventory 171
- Segmental anchoring in Peruvian Amazonian Spanish intonation 191
- The prosody-pragmatics interface in the pragmaticalization of ¡Hombre! as a discourse marker 211
- Sociolinguistic implications on perception 241
- Vosotros , ustedes , and the myth of the symmetrical Castilian pronoun system 263
- Microvariation in the Null Subject Parameter 281
- An analysis of subjunctive frequency and semantic predictors of mood in Central Argentinian Spanish 301
- The future is in the past 317
- Double possession in Peruvian Amazonian Spanish 335
- Index 355
