Article published In:
Spanish in ContextVol. 11:3 (2014) ► pp.357–380
Subjunctive use variation among monolingual native speakers of Spanish
A cross-dialect analysis
Research conducted with monolingual native Spanish speakers has yielded discrepant results concerning the loss or maintenance of the subjunctive, whereas studies conducted with heritage speakers point to a gradual subjunctive loss (Montrul 2009; Mikulski 2010; Silva-Corvalán 1994a, 1994b, 2001). Cross-dialectal studies (Blake 1982; De Sterck 2000; Fernández Ulloa & Portillo Mayorga 2000; Menegotto 2003, 2004, 2008) have mainly focused on past tenses, and scarce are cross-dialectal studies investigating native speakers’ subjunctive use in the present tense. This study examines mood use by means of an acceptability test and a forced choice cloze test conducted by native speakers of two varieties of Spanish. One hundred and four adult monolingual native speakers of Spanish participated in the study — N = 56 from Rosario, Argentina and N = 56 from Toledo, Spain. Results indicate an overall vitality of the subjunctive and also reveal slight differences regarding acceptability based on gender and region.
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