This study contributes to current trends of heritage speaker bilingualism research by examining the syntax of so-called Spanish dative-experiencer predicates ("gustar"-like verbs). Building on previous findings (e.g., Silva-Corvalán 1994; Toribio and Nye 2006), it is hypothesized that Spanish heritage speakers can project an optional…

Isleno Spanish speakers maintain few contexts firmly in the subjunctive (for example, adverbial clauses with the conjunctions "para que" and "antes que" and nominal clauses with "querer"), with most other semantic or syntactic categories optionally licensing the subjunctive. This study will outline the obligatory and optional uses of present and…

The aim of a discourse-pragmatic approach to teaching the indicative/subjunctive contrast in Spanish is to engage students to move beyond grammar and semantics and enter the domain of language use in complete texts. Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research have mostly focused on the morphology, semantics and syntactic aspects of…

In this essay, I apply current linguistic theory to reanalyze earlier research on the acquisition of "ser" and "estar" (e.g., VanPatten 1985, 1987). Using insights from Roby and Schmitt ("Semi-Copulas"), for example, I argue that the acquisition of the copular verbs is an issue of the acquisition of their aspectual properties (see also Bruhn de…

The behavior of psych verbs is hard to explain. They show variation inconsistent with a fixed assignment to distinct structures. A more integrated theory of syntax and semantics is needed to improve upon the usual pedagogical explanation of "'gustar' verbs." (30 references) (Author/CK)

Arguments and examples are given to show that there are neither syntactic nor semantic justifications for a separation of the Spanish subjunctive into two types. (KM)

Contrasts the hypothetical conditional or "modo potencial" in Spanish with the subsequence conditional. Passages from "El habla de la ciudad de Mexico" and from works by Carballido and Borges are cited as examples. Other grammatical studies of the Spanish conditional are reviewed. (LMO)

Explores the interrelationships among mood usage, syntactic contrast and past temporal reference in Spanish. Describes specific effects of varying temporal reference on mood and syntactic signaling, and employs an inventory of five subjunctive determining matrices to show that such effects are best explained by means of a…

Discusses the issue of the use of the Spanish subjunctive in clauses that express neither doubt nor emotion, but appear to deal with strictly factual material. Such uses of the subjunctive are accommodated within the generally accepted one- or two-subjunctive models. (EJS)

Examines the Spanish imperative paradigm and Ramsey's notion that all forms of Spanish imperatives are substituted by subjunctives in the first and third person. The concept of deontic modality in demonstrating the relationships among imperative and imperativelike patterns that carry the meaning of obligation, permission, and prohibition is also…

Contradicts the single subjunctive theory of Dwight Bolinger and supports Samuel Gili Y Gaya in recognizing the subjunctive as more than one syntactic phenomenon. (CK)