The subjunctive, a marker of 'subordinance'? A comparison between German and Spanish

Hans Jörg Busch

doi:10.7557/1.3.1.2809

Abstract

<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Moods as inflectional paradigms can only have a very general value and function, similar to other verbal categories such as tense and aspect. A comparison with German shows that the subjunctive functions as a marker of subordination and signals that the proposition in which it stands is incomplete and must be interpreted with the help of other contextual elements, for example the meaning of the main or matrix verb, a characteristic that has also been called procedural. Therefore only the indicative can be used to express independent statements. All the communicative functions of the subjunctive, for example to express politeness, will be explained as a result of its procedural character. The article clarifies why the subjunctive is also used with factual propositions, for example after verbs of emotions and ‘aunque’. (37,402 characters with spaces)</span></p>

Highlights

By comparing Spanish and German, it can be shown that the subjunctive in Spanish has only a very general grammatical meaning
The subjunctive after expressions of wish order, desire, doubt, opposition and prohibition in German As we have shown above, the main function of the present subjunctive (Konjunktiv I) in German is to mark reported speech in subordinated clauses
The comparison between volitive expressions, and verbs of doubt, both of which are normally used with the subjunctive in Spanish, shows that the main function of the Konjunktiv I in German is to mark reported speech in subordinated clauses that otherwise couldn’t be recognized as such or mistaken for direct speech acts, that is, statements made by the original speaker

Summary

Introduction

By comparing Spanish and German, it can be shown that the subjunctive in Spanish (as well as in German) has only a very general grammatical meaning. ‘weil’ (‘because’): Ich habe heute keine Zeit, weil ich muss noch verschiedene Sachen erledigen.’ [‘I don’t have time today because I still have to do several things.’] This means that if the dependent clause is seen as a statement by the speaker, there is a tendency to treat it as an independent statement.) The fact that there isn’t just one marker, but several markers of subordination, might be the reason why, especially in everyday conversation, in modern German, the subjunctive is often replaced by the indicative: (32) Er sagt, dass Maria morgen kommt IND.

Results

Conclusion