Valuing non-standard forms from a cognitive grammar lens

Abstract

In the context of the Contrastive Grammar course included in the Degree in Translation (Spanish-English) offered by the School of Languages, National University of Córdoba, Argentina, we are interested in addressing the conceptualizations that underlie non-standard forms recurrently produced by students. We understand grammar as emerging from discourse (Hopper 1988; Bybee & Hopper 2001) and support the cognitive postulate that speakers employ their language resources for the expression of conceptualizations (Langacker 1987, 2002, 2008); therefore, non-standard forms are not mere breaks from the norm. In this study, we conduct an analysis of the following uses: 1) Present Subjunctive instead of Preterite Subjunctive in a subordinate nominal clause (“Le ordené a unos pescadores que bajen un bote y remen”) and 2) Direct Object of ‘thing’ headed by the preposition “a” in sentence-initial position (“A esta advertencia se la dedico a todos los navegadores […]”). Employing a quantitative and, mostly, qualitative methodology, we conclude that, in (1), an event that should point to the past according to a normative temporal concordance is moved towards a moment perceived as near to the speaker, and form (2) enables the profiling of an entity with a higher degree of prominence. We consider that promoting the valuing of all possible alternatives in the system is key in the training of future translators and interpreters.