Article published In:
Review of Cognitive Linguistics: Online-First Articles

The Spanish subjunctive and grounding

A cognitive approach to the cante paradigm

ORCID logo | Charles University, Faculty of Arts

The paper offers a cognitively oriented approach to the Spanish subjunctive. This verb form is examined in light of Langacker’s grounding theory. In my understanding, the ground is defined as the communication situation with three inherently interrelated components: temporality, modality and evidentiality. The subjunctive is then analysed in relation to these three categories. Particular attention is paid to the evidential component of the ground and its relationship to the Spanish subjunctive. I define the contexts in which the subjunctive appears as grounding inhibitors. Consequently, the subjunctive is understood as a verb form lacking temporal, modal and evidential grounding (in opposition to the indicative, which denotes fully grounded processes).

Keywords: subjunctive, grounding, evidentiality, modality, tense
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Formal paradigm of the Spanish subjunctive and contexts for its use
  • 3.Pragmatically and cognitively oriented approaches to the subjunctive
    • 3.1Pragmatic presupposition (old information) and non-assertion vs. assertion
    • 3.2Dominions of epistemic and effective control
    • 3.3Force dynamics
  • 4.The subjunctive and the grounding theory
    • 4.1Grounding
    • 4.2Grounding in Spanish and its relationship to tense, modality and evidentiality
    • 4.3The subjunctive as a marker of an ungrounded process
  • 5.The subjunctive as a grounding inhibitor: Contexts
    • 5.1Grounding inhibitor: Volition, purpose
    • 5.2Grounding inhibitor: Evaluation, comment
    • 5.3Grounding inhibitor: Non-factuality, virtual scenario
    • 5.4Grounding inhibitor: Arbitrariness
    • 5.5Grounding inhibitor: Uninferred prospective process
  • 6.Conclusions
  • Note
  • References
Published online: 15 September 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/rcl.00160.kra
References
Achard, M.
(1998) Representation of cognitive structures: Syntax and semantics of French sentential complements. Berlin & New York: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2000) Selección de modo en oraciones de complemento [Mood selection in completive clauses]. Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada, Special issue, 153–173.Google Scholar
(2002) The meaning and distribution of French mood inflections. In F. Brisard (Ed.), Grounding: The epistemic footing of deixis and reference (pp. 197–249). Berlin & New York: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Aijmer, K.
(2009)  Seem and evidentiality. Functions of Language, 16 (1), 63–88. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Aikhenvald, A.
(2004) Evidentiality. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Baunaz, L.
(2017) Embedding verbs and subjunctive mood: The emotive factor. In S. Perpiñán, D. Heap, I. Moreno-Villamar, & A. Soto-Corominas (Eds.), Romance languages and linguistic theory II (pp. 9–31). Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Baunaz, L., & Puskás, G.
(2022) A cross-linguistic approach to the syntax of subjunctive mood. Cham: Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bermúdez, F.
(2016) Rumores y otros malos hábitos. El condicional evidencial en español [Rumours and other bad habits. The evidential conditional in Spanish]. Cuadernos de Lingüística de El Colegio de México, 3 (2), 35–69. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Boye, K.
(2018) Evidentiality. The notion and the term. In A. Aikhenvald (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of evidentiality (pp. 261–272). Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Busch, H. J.
(2017) A complete guide to the Spanish subjunctive. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Cornillie, B.
(2007) Evidentiality and epistemic modality in Spanish (semi-)auxiliaries: A cognitive functional approach. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2010) On conceptual semantics and discourse functions: The case of Spanish modal adverbs in informal conversation. Review of Cognitive Linguistic, 8 (2), 300–320. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2018) On speaker commitment and speaker involvement. Evidence from evidentials in Spanish talk-in-interaction. Journal of Pragmatics, 128 1, 161–170. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cornillie, B., & Gras, P.
(2015) On the interactional dimension of evidentials: The case of the Spanish evidential discourse markers. Discourse Studies, 17 (2), 141–161. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2020) Evidentiality and socioepistemic status of participants. A case study of Spanish por lo visto ‘seemingly’ and al parecer ‘apparantely’. Catalan Journal of Linguistics, Special issue, 183–204. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2021) Los marcadores evidenciales en la interacción conversacional. El caso de ‘por lo visto’ y ‘al parecer’ [Evidential markers in conversational interaction. The case of ‘por lo visto’ and ‘al parecer’]. In R. Maldonado & J. de la Mora (Eds.), Evidencialidad. Determinaciones léxicas y construccionales [Evidentiality. Lexical and constructional determinations] (pp. 97–125). CDM: UNAM. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Diewald, G., & Smirnova, E.
(2010) Evidentiality in German: Linguistic realization and regularities in grammaticalization. Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Domínguez Romero, E.
(2022) Reportive evidentiality. A perception-based complemente approach to digital discourse in Spanish and English. Journal of Pragmatics, 201 1, 135–148. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Escandell-Vidal, V.
(2010) Futuro y evidencialidad [Future and evidentiality]. Anuario de Lingüística Hispánica, 26 1, 9–34.Google Scholar
(2014) Evidential futures. The case of Spanish. In P. de Brabanter, M. Kissine, & S. Sharifzadeh (Eds.), Future times, future tenses (pp. 219–246). Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2018) El futuro simple del español. Sistema natural frente a usos cultivados [The future tense in Spanish. Natural system versus cultivated uses]. Verba Hispanica, 26 (1), 15–33.Google Scholar
(2022) The semantics of the simple future in Romance: Core meaning and parametric variation. In L. Baranzini & L. de Saussure (Eds.), Aspects of tenses, modality, and evidentiality (pp. 9–31). Leiden: Brill.Google Scholar
Fábregas, A.
(2014) A guide to subjunctive and modals in Spanish: Questions and analyses. Borealis: An International Journal of Hispanic Linguistics, 3 (2), 1–94. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fauconnier, G.
(1994) Mental spaces. Cambridge: MIT press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1997) Mappings in thought and language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
García Yanes, F. J.
(2022) Force dynamics as the path to the Spanish subjunctive. Cognitive Linguistics, 33 (4), 767–800. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Giannakidou, A.
(2016) Evaluative subjunctive and nonveridicality. In J. Blaszczak, A. Giannakidou, D. Klimek-Jankowska, & K. Migdalski (Eds.), Mood, aspect, modality revisited (pp. 177–217) Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gielau, E. A.
(2015) Mood distribution and the CP domain of subjunctive clauses in Spanish [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of Iowa. DOI logo
Hennemann, A.
(2020)  Tal vez es X vs. tal vez sea X. Construcciones de probabilidad y el uso de los modos [ Tal vez es X vs. tal vez sea X. Probability constructions and the use of mood]. Romanica Olomucensia, 32 (1), 51–71. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kratochvílová, D.
(2013) Selección de modo indicativo o subjuntivo con adverbios como quizá(s), tal vez, posiblemente y probablemente [Choice of indicative or subjunctive mood with adverbs like quizá(s), tal vez, posiblemente and probablemente ]. AUC Philologica, 2, Romanistica Pragensia, XIX 1, 137–148.Google Scholar
(2018a) El presente de indicativo español y la perspectiva cognitiva: Subjetivización y dominios de control [The present indicative in Spanish and the cognitive perspective: Subjectification and dominions of control]. Philologica Canariensia, 24 1, 89–112. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2018b) Modality in Spanish and combinations of modal meanings. Praha: Karolinum. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2019) The Spanish future tense and cognitive perspective: Tense, modality, evidentiality and the reflection of the grounding process. Lingua, 230 1, art. n. 102713. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kratochvílová, D., & Jiménez Julilá, T.
(2021) Epistemic future in Spanish and in Czech. Studii și cercetări lingvistice, 72 ( 1 ), 3–19.Google Scholar
Kratochvílová, D.
(2022) The Spanish conditional (with reference to English and Czech): A contrastive cognitive approach. Praha: Karolinum. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kratochvílová, D., & Dolníková, M.
(2022) Španělský subjunktiv a jeho univerzalistický popis: Srovnání kognitivně orientovaných přístupů Rainera Vesterinena a Josého Plácida Ruize Campilla [In search of a unified account of the Spanish subjunctive: A comparison of the cognitively based approaches formulated by Rainer Vesterinen and by José Plácido Ruiz Campillo]. Časopis pro moderní filologii, 104 (1), 113–131. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Langacker, R.
(1990) Cognitive linguistics research [CLR]: Concept, figure, and symbol. The cognitive basis of grammar (2). Berlin & Boston: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
(1991) Foundations of cognitive grammar. Volume II: Descriptive application. Stanford: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
(1993) Reference-point constructions. Cognitive Linguistics, 4 (1), 1–38. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1997) Consciousness, construal, and subjectivity. In M. I. Stamenov (Ed.), Structure, discourse and the access to consciousness (pp. 49–75). Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1999) Cognitive linguistics research [CLR]: Grammar and conceptualization. Berlin & Boston: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
(2002) Deixis and subjectivity. In F. Brisard (Ed.), Grounding: The epistemic footing of deixis and reference (pp. 1–28). Berlin & Boston: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2003) Extreme subjectification. English tense and modals. In H. Cuyckens, T. Berg, R. Dirven, & K.-U. Panther (Eds.), Motivation in language (pp. 3–26). Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2006) Subjectification, grammaticization, and conceptual archetypes. In A. Athanasiadou, C. Canakis, & B. Cornillie (Eds.), Cognitive linguistics research [CLR]: Subjectification: various paths to subjectivity (pp. 17–40). Berlin & Boston: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2008) Cognitive grammar: A basic introduction. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2009) Investigations in Cognitive Grammar. Berlin & Boston: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2013) Modals: Striving for control. In J. Marín-Arrese, M. Carretero, J. Arús Hita, & J. van der Auwera (Eds.), English modality: Core, periphery and evidentiality. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2017) Evidentiality in cognitive grammar. In J. Marín-Arrese, G. Haßler, & M. Carretero (Eds.), Evidentiality revisited (pp. 13–55). Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Maldonado, R.
(1995) Middle-subjunctive links. In P. Hamispour, R. Maldonado, & M. van Naerssen (Eds.), Studies in language learning and Spanish linguistics in honor of Tracy D. Terrell (pp. 399–418). New York: McGraw Hill.Google Scholar
Maldonado, R., & de la Mora, J.
(Eds.) (2021) Evidencialidad. Determinaciones léxicas y construccionales [Evidentiality. Lexical and constructional determinations]. CDM: UNAM. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Marín-Arrese, J., & Carretero, M.
(2022) Evidentiality in Spanish. In B. Wiemer & J. I. Marín-Arrese (Eds.), Evidential marking in European languages: Toward a unitary comparative account (pp. 235–286). Berlin & Boston: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Marín-Arrese, J., Carretero, M., & Usonienė, A.
(2022) Evidentiality in English. In B. Wiemer & J. I. Marín-Arrese (Eds.), Evidential marking in European languages: Toward a unitary comparative account (pp. 57–94). Berlin & Boston: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Marques, R.
(2009) On the selection of mood in complement clauses. In L. Hogeweg, H. de Hoop, & A. Malchukov (Eds.), Cross-linguistic semantics of tense, aspect and modality (pp. 179–204). Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mejías-Bikandi, E.
(1994) Assertion and speaker’s intention: A pragmatically based account of mood in Spanish. Hispania, 77 (4), 892–902. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1996) Space accessibility and mood in Spanish. In G. Fauconnier & E. Sweetser (Eds.), Spaces, worlds, and grammar (pp. 157–178). Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
(1998) Pragmatic presupposition and old information in the use of the subjunctive mood in Spanish. Hispania, 81 (4), 941–948. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2002) Space accessibility and the pragmatic status of propositions. In J. Gutiérrez-Rexach (Ed.), From words to discourse (pp. 145–158). Leiden & Boston: Brill. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2009) Conditional sentences and mood in Spanish. Journal of Pragmatics, 41 (1), 163–172. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2014) A cognitive account of mood in complements of causative predicates in Spanish. Hispania, 97 (4), 651–665. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
RAE
(2021)  Banco de datos [Database]. CORPES XXI, version 0.94 of July 2021. [URL]
RAE, & ASALE
(2009) Nueva gramática de la lengua española [New grammar of the Spanish language]. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe.Google Scholar
Ridruejo, E.
(1999) Modo y modalidad. El modo en las subordinadas sustantivas [Mood and modality. Mood in subordinate noun clauses]. In I. Bosque & V. Demonte (Eds.), Gramática descriptiva de la lengua española. Tomo 2 [Descriptive grammar of the Spanish language. Volume 2] (pp. 3209–3251). Madrid: Espasa-Calpe.Google Scholar
Rodríguez Rosique, S.
(2019) El futuro en español [The future in Spanish]. Berlin: Peter Lang. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Squartini, M.
(2008) Lexical vs. grammatical evidentiality in French and Italian. Linguistics, 46 (5), 917–947. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Talmy, L.
(2000) Toward a cognitive semantics – Vol. 1, Concept structuring systems. Massachusetts: MIT Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Terrell, T., & Hooper, J.
(1974) A semantically based analysis of mood in Spanish. Hispania, 57 (3), 484–494. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Vesterinen, R.
(2012) Control and dominion: Factivity and mood choice in Spanish. Language and Cognition, 4 (1), 43–64. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2014) Extending the dominion of effective control – Its applicability to mood choice in Spanish and Portuguese. Cognitive Linguistics, 25 (4), 583–616. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2016) Mood alternation in Spanish conditional clauses: Condition, clause and the dominion hypothesis. Journal of Linguistics, 52 (1), 175–193. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2017) The Portuguese future subjunctive: A dominion analysis. Review of Cognitive Linguistics, 15 (1), 58–82. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Vesterinen, R., & Bylund, E.
(2013) Towards a unified account of the Spanish subjunctive mood: Epistemic dominion and dominion of effective control. Lingua, 131 1, 179–198. DOI logoGoogle Scholar