Rainer Vesterinen

Control and dominion : factivity and mood choice in Spanish

Abstract The present paper analyses the meaning of Spanish mood in factive contexts from a Cognitive Grammar perspective. It is argued that terms like assertion and presupposition do not explain the semantics of the subjunctive. Rather, they constitute an initial classification for finding a conceptually grounded explanation of it. The hypothesis is put forward that mood choice in factive contexts can be explained by the elaboration of Maldonado’s (1995) notions of dominion and control. On the one hand, the conceptualizer has a low degree of effective control over the described event in presupposed contexts where the subjunctive mood occurs. On the other hand, presupposed contexts with the verb in the indicative mood equates with epistemic control over the described event. Thus, it is argued that the meaning of the subjunctive mood is related to the conceptualizer’s epistemic dominion, and to the dominion of effective control. An additional analysis of the subjunctive mood in volitional, causative and perceptual contexts corroborates the initial claim.

Complementos finitos e infinitivos dos verbos causativos deixar e fazer – Causação directa vs. indirecta e a noção de controlo

No presente estudo, realiza‐se uma análise qualitativa sobre os complementos finitos e infinitivos dos verbos causativos deixar e fazer no Português Europeu. A partir de uma visão cognitiva da língua, a Gramática Cognitiva de Langacker (1987, 1991), propõe‐se que a diferença entre os complementos em causa é de carácter icónico e que pode ser explicada por uma distinção feita entre causação directa e indirecta, e pelo grau de controlo sobre o evento descrito no complemento. Assim, argumenta‐se que os complementos infinitivos assinalam uma causação directa, enquanto os finitos implicam uma causação indirecta. Em consequência disso, os complementos infinitivos dão a entender um maior grau de controlo sobre o evento completivo do que os complementos finitos.

Mood alternation in Spanish conditional clauses : Condition, cause and the dominion hypothesis

The present paper analyzes the mood alternation between conditional clauses introduced by the particle si (‘if’), on the one hand, and by conditional conjunctions such as a condicion de que (‘on the condition that’), con tal de que (‘provided that’) and siempre y cuando (‘as long as’), on the other hand. Situated within the theoretical perspective of Cognitive Grammar, the paper argues that the conceptual content of the linguistic unit that introduces the conditional clause determines mood choice. In particular, it is claimed that the indicative mood in si-clauses reflects the conceptualizer’s reasoning about the causal relation between two events. By contrast, the occurrence of the subjunctive mood in other conditional clauses is analyzed as a natural effect of the condition expressed by the conditional conjunction. The analysis further shows that the mood alternation can be explained by the concept of dominion. The particle si introduces a clause that is located within the conceptualizer’s epistemic dominion, whereas other conditional conjunctions introduce clauses that are located outside the dominion of effective control.

O pronome clítico se em proposições adverbiais infinitivas – um trajector genérico

Traditionally the clitic pronoun “se” has been given an impersonal interpretation with intransitive verbs and a passive one with transitive verbs. The present article, adhering to the paradigm of c ...