Rumors and other bad habits. The evidential conditional in Spanish

Authors

  • Fernando Bermúdez Universidad de Uppsala

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24201/clecm.v3i2.37

Keywords:

conditional, evidentiality, deixis, epistemic modality

Abstract

This paper investigates the so-called “rumor conditional” in Spanish (CR), typical of the journalistic discourse, as in El primer ministro renunciaría en las próximas horas. Its modal features and particularly its evidential properties are discussed from a deictic understanding of evidentiality, based on the work of Bermúdez (2006). CR is compared to another use of the conditional verb form, typical of scientific discourse, with which it is often confused, as in juventud sería el lapso que media entre la madurez física y la madurez social. It is proposed that the CR is a marker of third-hand information, while the scientific conditional indicates second-hand information and cognitive access to the information source. The analysis also functions as indirect evidence of the adequacy of the deictic approach to evidentiality

 

Original received: 2016/01/27

Review sent to author: 2016/03/24

Accepted: 2016/05/19

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Published

2016-12-11

How to Cite

Bermúdez, F. (2016). Rumors and other bad habits. The evidential conditional in Spanish. Cuadernos De Lingüística De El Colegio De México (CLECM), 3(2), 35–69. https://doi.org/10.24201/clecm.v3i2.37
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Issue

Vol. 3 No. 2 (2016): Volume 3, Number 2 (July-December 2016)

Section

Research Articles

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