Séminaire de Recherche en Linguistique

            Sequence of Tense has attracted a lot of attention both in syntax and semantics, and has given rise to a typological distinction between SoT and non-SoT languages (cf. Ogihara 1996, Kratzer 1998, Giorgi & Pianesi 2000, Giorgi 2006, 2009, Demirdache & Lungu 2008,  2011).

            However, with the notable exception of Giorgi (2006, 2009), the matter has been mainly explored for indicative clauses. There is, however, some indication that SoT in subjunctive clauses is not exactly parallel to SoT in indicative clauses. Thus, for instance, contemporary French is an SoT language as far as indicative clauses are concerned, but behaves as a non-SoT language in the subjunctive. In German, reinterpretation of an originally temporal contrast in the subjunctive mood has given rise to an intricate system in which, again, SoT does not hold. In this talk, I would like to present ongoing research on some regional varieties of Spanish which exhibit a clear weakening of the indexical nature of the present subjunctive. The working hypotheses orienting this research are the following:

(i) The source of non-SoT grammar (non-indexical present) are intensional subjunctive     clauses in the sense of Quer (1998, 2006)

(ii) Intensional subjunctive clauses have a defective functional structure.

(iii) The coexistence of the non-SoT pattern ([present under past] without double access-  effects)  with the SoT pattern ([past under past] with a  simultaneous    interpretation) is the product of an ongoing process of change in which two (or more) grammars are at stake.

Demirdache, H. & Lungu, O. (2008) "Sequence of Tense in (French) Child Language". Lingusitic Variation Yearbook 8, 101-130.

Demirdache H. & Lungu, O. (2011):  "Zero-tense vs. indexical construals of the present in French  L1". R. Musan & M. Rathert (eds.), Tense across Languages, Berlin : Mouton De Gruyter, 233-256

Giorgi, A. & F. Pianesi(2000): "Sequence of Tense Phenomena in Italian: a Morphosyntactic Analysis". Probus 12, 1-32.

Giorgi, A. (2006): "A syntactic way to subjunctive". University of Venice WpiL, Vol. 16.

Giorgi, A. (2009): "Toward a syntax of the subjunctive mood", Lingua 119. 1937-1858.

Kratzer, A. (1998). "More Structural Analogies between Pronouns and Tenses".  In: Proceedings of SALT VIII.

Laca, Brenda (2010a): "Mood in Spanish". in B. Rothstein and R. Thieroff (eds.) Mood in the languages of Europe.  Amsterdam: Benjamins, 198-220.

Laca, Brenda  (2010b): "The puzzle of subjunctive tenses", in Romance Languages and Linguistic Theory 2008. Selected Papers from Going Romance Groningen 2008. ed R. Bok-Benemma, B. Kampers-Mahne, Bart Hollebrandse.  Amsterdam,:Benjamins,171-194.

Laca, Brenda (2015): "On the temporal orientation of intensional subjunctives",  Sentence and Discourse, Hommage to Carlota Smith, ed. J.Guéron, Oxford University Press,  23-44.

Ogihara, Toshiyuki  (1996): Tense, Attitudes and Scope.  – Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Quer, J. (1998): Mood at the interface. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Utrecht.

Quer, J. (2006): "Subjunctives". Martin Everaert & Henk van Riemsdijk (eds.), The Blackwell Companion to Syntax vol. IV, . Oxford: Blackwell, 660-684.

Sessarego, S.  (2008): "Spanish Concordantia Temporum: an old issue, new solutions". 4th     International Workshop on Spanish Sociolinguistics. Sommerville, Cascadilla Press.

Sessarego, S. (2010):"Temporal concord and Latin American Spanish Dialects: A Generic Blueprint". Revista Iberoamericana de Lingüística. 5: 137-169.