Metarepresentation and evidentiality in Spanish tense and mood

Abstract

This paper sets forth a theoretical framework in relation to metarepresentation and evidentiality in Spanish, supported by an empirical analysis of tense/mood contrast expressions. More specifically, we describe how metarepresentational and evidential content are expressed and interpreted in if‐conditional and although-concessive clauses. We also report original experimental data from a written, multiple choice interpretation task in L2 Spanish; and from an L1 task in Spanish with a set of conditional and concessive utterances in which indicative and subjunctive moods alternate. Our global results show that the ability to efficiently integrate linguistic and non‐linguistic cues is particularly costly for non‐native speakers. Yet native speakers also reveal, to a different degree, effects suggestive of processing difficulties related to syntax/discourse interface.