Abstract

MIYOSHI, Jun-Nosuke. spanish particle hasta and its Pragmatic function. Lingüística [online]. 2015, vol.31, n.1, pp.7-23. ISSN 2079-312X.

The Spanish particle hasta functions basically as a preposition which denotes the limit of time, places, actions or quantities. We first present the synchronic data of its usage. In Hispanic America, this particle has certain uses which are peculiar in general Spanish, and we dedicate some pages to the explanation of the American usage. We discuss the synchronic and diachronic data about the Mexican usage, which has been investigated the most. The process of emergence of the American usage remains problematic. We present our two hypotheses for the same process. We classify the functional varieties of hasta into five variants. We interpret that the two Mexican variants function as a pragmatic marker of attenuation (or mitigation) which is one of the characteristics of American Spanish

Keywords : preposition; adverb; American Spanish; attenuation (mitigation).

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