Abstract
Spanish shows variation between two future expressions. The synthetic future (SF) is marked morphologically while the periphrastic future (PF) is constructed with the verb ir ‘to go’ and an infinitive. Previous studies have described the semantic factors that determine the use of these expressions. The effects of priming in the selection of these expressions have yet to be addressed. Our results showed that a combination of factors contributes to the occurrence of the SF: priming effect; certainty; and verb frequency. We demonstrated that cognitive factors in combination with semantic ones should be taken into consideration when talking about the variation between the SF and the PF in Spanish. Our study also provides evidence for the fact that the obsolescing construction, the SF, will have a stronger priming effect in the larger process of language variation and change. Our work offers an important addition to the literature about the effects of persistence and entrenchment in language since we demonstrated that speakers are sensitive to contextual activation and language use factors.
Highlights
Spanish shows variation between two future expressions1
Informed by the studies described in the previous subsections, we propose the following research questions: 1. What effect does priming have on each Spanish future expression (PF and Synthetic Future (SF))? 2
We find that the Periphrastic Future (PF) is the most frequent future expression - a finding that agrees with the previous literature on this alternation (e.g SEDANO, 2006)
Summary
While several factors that seem to determine the use of these expressions have been proposed and thoroughly analyzed in the literature, the effects of priming on their selection are yet to be addressed. The form of the SF can be used to convey events that are seen as hypothetical by the speaker, a use known as the epistemic future (AARON, 2014), illustrated in (2a). The present research, is concerned only with future expression forms conveying actual future-time reference. In this respect, a number of factors have been proposed in the literature as governing the use of future expression in Spanish. More immediate future events prefer the PF while events more distant in time prefer the SF (BLAS ARROYO, 2008)
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