Spanish Future in evaluative contexts: a case of mirativity?

Abstract

The present paper focuses on those cases where future occurs in evaluative contexts with the aim of unraveling the relationship between future and mirativity in Spanish. More specifically, it is argued that the mirative value arises when the meaning of future –distance forward– is projected over the utterance. This happens when certain discourse circumstances are met; in other words, when the information appearing in future has just been activated. It is precisely the projection of distance over the utterance when the information has been previously activated that is shared by the different discursive values of future. The peculiarity of the examples regarded as mirative here stems from their occurrence in evaluative environments, which triggers a number of consequences related to surprise and an ‘unprepared mind.’