“ALGUNA GENTE INTERPRETÓ MUY MAL CUANDO YO DIJE LO DEL NO ROTUNDO EN LO DE LA AMNISTÍA”. LO DE + NP: RECONSIDERING EVIDENTIALITY AND LINGUISTIC VARIATION

Abstract

The concept of evidentiality refers, as it is known, to that linguistic category, observed in certain languages, by which the source of the information reported in the statement is marked morphologically. Other languages –such as Spanish– use certain lexical and
morphosyntactic mechanisms for similar purposes, including some structures with referential elements or neutral demonstratives, i.e. lo de + NP, eso de + NP, esto de + NP, and aquello de + NP. The aim is to determine, based on oral and written corpora, the position of these evidentiality markers within the variational architecture of the language. Thus, notable differences can be observed between the frequency of use of the four structures, a greater representation of these structures in Spain compared to other Hispanic countries, and the irrelevance, when explaining their frequency of use, of sociolinguistic factors such as the level of education, gender, and age of the speakers. Finally, the most characteristic feature of these evidential markers (except for aquello de + NPa) will be highlighted as its rooting in the oral discourse and the typical registers of informality, as well as in their recreation through strategies of feigned orality.