The expression of anteriority at the moment of speech in the Colombian Spanish variety

Abstract

The linguistic temporality, specially the verbal one, is one of the most controversial issues in Spanish language. This article, derived from a research conducted by Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia and Universidad Industrial de Santander, aims to characterize the expression of anteriority at the moment of speech in the Colombian variety of Spanish. Based on an onomasiologic approach, beginning from an oral language corpus, the fragments where the expression of anteriority emerged at the moment of speech were pointed out. Then, the emptying in the matrix which classifies the typology of anteriority manifested in each one was made. Finally, the means employed to do that were determined. We came to the conclusion that, in the Colombian variety of Spanish, the verbal forms only express the anteriority in relation to the moment of speech, also that the most used verbal forms are preterit, copreterit and present perfect. Aditionally, the space between the moment of the speech and the event is recognized due to other elements, and the discursive situation is the mean that allows to determine largely that interval.