El avance de las formas verbales en -ra en el español mexicano (1700-1833)

Abstract

The present study examines verb forms ending in -ra and -se in Mexican Spanish from 1700 to 1833. As opposed to previous research on the topic (Acevedo, 1997; Martínez, 2000, 2001; Wilson, 1983) and its leaning towards linguistic and sociopolitical factors, I stand for the analysis of discourse traditions for a better understanding of how linguistic change spreads in this specific dialect. Based on data extracted from Cordiam, descriptive statistical analyses have been performed in simple (saliera, saliese) and compound tenses (hubiera y hubiese salido). Regarding the first tense linguistic variables (type of sentence, meaning and subject of verb form) do not constrain the presence of a certain variant. However, a higher frequency of saliera is observed in legal and private documents, usually close to oral features. As for the compound verb tenses -ra reveals a greater degree of consolidation in this period.