Semantics and Micro-Parametric Variation: The Simple Future in Ibero-Romance

Abstract

Cross-linguistic variation in future-tense sentences has been extensively documented in the literature. Despite this diversity, there is a prevailing sense that a common core meaning exists and that the various interpretations in each language are connected. To account for both the similarities and the differences, Escandell-Vidal proposes that the meaning encoded by verbal tenses can be analysed into two components: i) core meaning; and ii) semantic micro-parameters (additional fine-grained constraints on specific categories of the core meaning that account for subtle differences between related languages or dialects). The purpose of this paper is twofold. On the descriptive side, it aims to refine the approach in terms of microparametric distinctions by suggesting some modifications. On the theoretical side, it seeks to offer a simpler and more powerful tool to account for interlinguistic variation by restricting its range to a limited set of predictable combinations.

Keywords

• Evidential interpretations. Future tense. Modal interpretations. Procedural meaning. Semantic micro-parameters. Temporal interpretations