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Anthony G. Lozano
University of Colorado at Boulder The Spanish imperative is normally associated with notions expressing obligations, granting permission or stating prohibitions. As examples of speech acts, Spanish imperative forms are uttered with the intent of the speaker to influence an action or to cause the interlocutor to perform an action. Ramsey (334-35) described this verbal mood as follows: It can be argued that a description based on the signified rather than the signifiers yields a clearer account of this mood. In other words, descriptions similar to Ramsey, which happen to underlie many descriptions in textbooks, are based on the forms, i.e., signifiers, rather than on their contents, i.e., the signified notions. Simply stated, all forms of the Spanish imperative, including those termed imperative in traditional treatments and those which share their forms with the subjunctive, can be considered part of the same paradigm. This slight modification to the traditional description then includes the following syntactic patterns:
Ramsey's statement that subjunctive forms highlighted above are «substitutes» for the imperative can be misleading. Indeed, such so called «substitutes» for the imperative are not substitutes at all, since they are really filling empty slots in the paradigm. They are not substituting for other forms. The empty slot is the signified for the given imperative verb form relating to the grammatical persons as they appear in affirmative and negative constructions. Textbooks typically do not provide a complete imperative paradigm but simply list the traditional imperative forms and refer the learner to the conjugation of subjunctive verb forms listed in a separate section. Such a treatment obscures the nature of the imperative paradigm and does not clearly illustrate the effect of sentence negation. On the other hand, the imperative paradigm provides a clear picture for the learner. Solé and Solé in their description of imperatives (195) state that «excepting the affirmative command forms of tú and vosotros, which have special forms, all other commands take the parallel subjunctive forms», which is an accurate statement, but does not provide a graphic illustration such as the imperative paradigm above. On the other hand, Ramsey's notion of substitutes leads to the
current works on deontic modality in philosophy which have a direct bearing on
our understanding of imperative mood and imperative-like structures in Spanish. Briefly stated, deontic modalities refer
Spanish speakers intuitively know that obligations, permissions and prohibitions can be expressed via several syntactic patterns. In deed, in grammar classes, native speakers of Spanish have to be taught to recognize the imperative forms as such, since they are con fused with other syntactic patterns which display similar meanings. Such imperative-like syntactic patterns are examples of deontic modality, which cuts across the traditional classification of moods. What appears to be an intuition on the part of the native speaker in fact reflects this type of modality. Borrowing a notion from theoretical linguistics, the imperative is the «unmarked» example of deontic modality, since it is unambiguous and as such expresses only one grammatical meaning. Including the imperative, deontic modality also provides the speaker with a number of other syntactic patterns, such as modal verbs of obligation, the «future of volition», the indicative mood conveying commands, the subjunctive of volition, questions conveying commands and the conditional in softened commands. This modality appears in deontic words such as obligar, permitir, prohibir, ordenar, mandar, pedir, necesitar, preferir, sugerir, rogar, querer, desear, esperar, insistir en, and impedir. The above explanation of deontic modality is based on Hilpinen's (1981b: 1) definition as it relates to the normative use of language: Hilpinen states that the term «deontic», which is Greek in origin, was first used by Ernst Mally to refer to the logical study of the normative use of language. Hilpinen's definition of deontic logic excludes words such as dudar and no creer associated with the subjunctive of doubt, which is not relevant to the study of imperative-like constructions. A pedagogical description of the imperative and imperative-like constructions will probably continue to be divided into sections including syntactic patterns such as modal verbs of obligation and the subjunctive of volition. Nevertheless, it is useful for the instructor to keep in mind that all such constructions are subsumed under deontic modality. Pertinent syntactic patterns which are exemplified for the learner should be presented so that they demonstrate similarities and differences within deontic modality. In the teaching of a syntactic pattern, it is probably more fruitful to draw comparisons between a construction with a modal verb of obligation, e.g., Tienes que hacerlo, and its imperative analog, e.g., Hazlo rather than with the declarative, e.g., Lo haces. Isolated examples out-of-context serve to give a brief, graphic illustration, but do not provide a realistic context for the learner. In the discussion below, imperative and imperative-like structures are studied at the text level in order to show that these patterns form part of the texture of discourse. These texts reveal that the imperative notions are not expressed merely by imperative verb forms, but that others are also used in specific texts. In daily discourse, deontic modality serves the purpose of giving instructions and commands concerning everyday activities, but this modality also serves to express different types of obligation perceived as emanating from a higher authority. The moral, legal, ethical and religious obligation expressed by such an authority is illustrated in several texts. These texts display a religious code, a legal code, a poet's hopes, a fictitious character's daily instructions and the exhortations of a highly respected learned man and woman. Such texts typically express a set of obligations, permissions or prohibitions organized and structured in a specific way so that the combination, sequencing and overall organization of the syntactic patterns and ideas form a unique pattern. An examination of such passages indicates that these texts do not display a mere listing or haphazard grouping of expressions of deontic modality but, in fact, demonstrate the planned use of clear-cut patterns. It is in this way that expressions of deontic modality used in daily discourse are elevated to the status of religious, legal and literary discourse.
Some future expressions, such as those used in the Ten Commandments, are also examples of deontic modality. A higher religious, moral or legal authority expresses such commands. The individual knows that No matarás (Thou shalt not kill) and No robarás (Thou shalt not steal) are not merely expressions of future time, but commands which must be obeyed. In the 1972 translation of the Bible known as La nueva Biblia latinoamericana, the Decalogue appears with these commandments in the form of the imperative. In the exegesis which accompanies this passage in Exodus, the first, second and eighth are paraphrased in the future: No tendrás otros dioses, No te harás imágenes and No robarás. In this same edition, later references to the Ten Commandments in the main text of the New Testament also appear in the future. The translation of the Ten Commandments as imperatives adds a familiar and everyday tone to them, as contrasted with a more Biblical or authoritarian tone when translated in the future. The Decalogue begins with an introduction and then proceeds to list the ten commandments. But the Decalogue is not merely a simple listing of imperatives, as will be explained. Although in this translation the use of the imperatives gives a familiar and everyday tone to the Decalogue, the whole passage is carefully structured on the basis of a litany of negative imperatives broken only by the fourth commandment, in which appear three affirmative imperatives: (Acuérdate, trabaja and haz) and in the fifth (Respeta). No codicies is repeated three times in the tenth commandment and serves to bring the Decalogue to a close. Thus, the use of the imperative is elevated from a simple listing of imperatives to a carefully structured passage which deals in descending order with the most important commandments concerning God at the beginning and then expresses commandments dealing with human comportment. In the parts of the Decalogue which appear below, both negative and affirmative imperatives are italicized, while omissions are indicated by «...» as in standard notation. 1. No tengas otros dioses fuera de mí. 2. No te hagas estatua ni imagen alguna de lo que hay arriba, en el cielo, abajo en la tierra, y en las aguas debajo de la tierra. No te postres ante esos dioses, ni les des culto, porque Yo, Yavé, tu Dios, soy un Dios celoso... 3. No tomes en vano el nombre de Yavé, tu Dios... 4. Acuérdate del día del Sábado, para santificarlo. Trabaja seis días, y en ellos haz todas tus faenas... Que nadie trabaje el Sábado... 5. Respeta a tu padre y a tu madre... 6. No mates. 7. No andes con la mujer de tu prójimo. 8. No robes. 9. No des falso testimonio contra tu prójimo. 10. No codicies la casa de tu prójimo. No codicies su mujer, ni sus servidores, su buey o su burro. No codicies nada de lo que le pertenece. In Article 3 of the Constitution of Mexico are found eight paragraphs concerning the purpose of public education, the type of education, the requirement for a lay education in the public schools, the authorization of private schools, the requirement to implement the official national curriculum, limitations placed on religious schools, the power of the State to recognize private schools, the obligatory nature of primary school education, the necessity of free public education and the declaration of the power of the Congress of the Union to legislate on education. Not only is the language of this Article introduced in the form of the future expressing deontic modality, but all of the following eight paragraphs are also expressed with this «volitive» future, as shown in the following abstract (with italics added): Although the above is only an abstract of the third Artículo, the
future forms have been preserved and demonstrate the use of deontic modality.
In their original form in the third Artículo of the revised 1917 Constitution,
all of these stipulations, expressed in future form, have the force of law.
Because of legal interpretations and current practice, paragraph IV has to be
interpreted as allowing the existence of religious schools only if they implement
As expressed in an earlier section, the Decalogue is now expressed in the imperative form, while the third Artículo concerning education is still expressed in future form. Thus, while the style of the Decalogue is now expressed, by using the imperative, in a more personal way addressed to the reader, secular laws are still expressed in strong official language displaying an impersonal style as expressed by the future. Another example of the use of deontic modality in discourse appears in the poem «Mi Verso» by Amado Nervo (1533). The deontic word querría (I would like) appears once as the first word in this poem and serves to introduce a series of subordinated clauses with the subjunctive.
Although querría is not pronounced before each clause, it underlies each of these deontic sentences. This syntactic pattern conveying deontic modality appears in the first seven stanzas. In the last stanza the poet says, «un verso acuñaré del que se diga» (I'm going to compose a verse about which it will have to be said). The subjunctive diga does not convey doubt, but the poet's desire that his readers will praise his poem. At first glance, it would appear that the deontic modality ends in the seventh stanza, but in fact it is also embedded in the middle of the last stanza in the one form of diga. Nevertheless, the syntactic pattern with the underlying querría is omitted in the last stanza. With the exception of diga, the last stanza is then a description of the poet's creative work and imagined words of praise expressed in the indicative mood. This change in the form of the last stanza serves as a signal that the poem has come to an end. «Mi Verso» appears in its complete form below. The introductory querría, the subordinating que which introduces the subjunctive form, and the subjunctive forms themselves have been italicized to illustrate the presence of deontic modality. In this poem, the appearance of the indicative mood in the first seven stanzas is secondary and appears in descriptive clauses which are themselves subordinated in clauses with the subjunctive. In brief, the subjunctive forms are used by Amado Nervo to express his wishes and dreams about his own creative work. Although deontic modality is normally associated with the subjunctive of volition, the traditional imperative and modal verbs of obligation, it also appears in the indicative. In the following passage taken from a short story by García Márquez (101), the grandmother gives a series of orders to her granddaughter Eréndira concerning household chores she must complete that night and the next day. As she lies in bed and starts to fall asleep, she tells Eréndira:
García Márquez calls this passage filled with orders, «el código del orden nocturno», which comes to an end when Eréndira does not respond with the usual «Sí, abuela,» since she knows her grandmother is fast asleep. The directives given to Eréndira include aprovecha, plancha, revisa, sacas, pones, das, fíjate and avísales. Of the eight directives given to Eréndira, the verb forms, sacas, pones and das, appear in the indicative form. They appear in a continguous sequence and are preceded and followed by imperative forms. They can only be interpreted as examples of deontic modality. Within the passage itself, García Márquez refers to all of these directives as «órdenes» and «mandatos.» From the perspective of syntactic patterns used at the text level, this passage is composed of eight directives interspersed with the same response of «Si, abuela.» García Márquez's specific mention of «el código del orden nocturno» indicates his clear intention to create this sort of passage containing directives. In 1922, Gabriela Mistral addressed a group of teachers who were returning to the United States after completing their classes in the cursos de verano at the Universidad Nacional de México. In this address, Gabriela Mistral used a deontic sentence at the beginning of her speech: «Yo deseo que digáis lo que yo diré en el mío al regresar del mismo viaje», and ended her speech with another, «Que la estada en México sea a vosotros, como a mí, acrecentamiento de amor y de justicia.» As will also be illustrated in the passage by Unamuno below, speakers frequently exhort their audiences to undertake certain actions. Mistral, after extolling the beauty and virtues of México, called on these teachers to make this country known to their own students and their parents, and to promote peace on the continent: «Mostrad... este México que habéis conocido», «Decid a las madres norteamericanos... que la paz futura del Continente han de ir haciéndola ellas también.» In both passages, Mistral and Unamuno speak with the voice of moral authority and freely use expressions of deontic modality. In 1934, Miguel de Unamuno delivered a speech to the students at the Universidad de Salamanca on the occasion of his retirement. He chose to speak out against the severe social unrest in parts of Spain which eventually led to the break-out of civil war a few years later. He first addresses his audience as «Vosotros, estudiantes españoles», and in the last part of his speech, he exhorts them to avoid calumny, killing, war and social dissolution. Feeling impelled by the events which were dawning in Spain, Unamuno added this last passage in his speech after completing the original version:
Speaking as a writer, as a former rector of the University, and as a
respected elder, Unamuno speaks with the voice of authority. His words take the
shape of deontic modality in various forms, as illustrated below. He begins
with a model verb of obligation, tenéis que, expressed in the familiar
second person plural, the grammatical person of address which he uses
throughout the passage. Unamuno repeats the imperative salvadnos, «save us»,
in his direct exhortation to the young men in his audience. Using the
indicative mood, his tone changes to a plea in os lo pide, «he begs you.» The
deontic modality expressed by means of the future tense in quedaremos
Speaking with the voice of a high authority, as also illustrated in passages by others above, Unamuno expresses deontic modality in various ways. In order to interpret correctly such passages and to understand the semantics of deontic modality, it is necessary to examine certain grammaticalized concepts, including the subjunctive of volition, indicative mood, imperative mood, modal verbs, future tense, conditional and negation. The Spanish imperative paradigm should be presented to learners and followed up by appropriate exercises. Although the Spanish imperative and subjunctive share some verb forms, the two constructions are clearly distinct because the first appears in simple sentences while the second is typically found in subordinated clauses. While the imperative paradigm, unlike a full conjugation of a verb, is limited to the second person and to the first person plural, it nevertheless provides the learner with a graphic presentation of these verb forms both in the affirmative and negative. The concept of deontic modality not only indicates relationships among imperative and imperative-like patterns in Spanish, but also provides the learner with a means of under standing the paraphrase relationships which exist. Different deontic utterances can then serve as alternative phrasings in student compositions. The Spanish imperative should not be taught simply as a speech act, but also as the expression of a moral or ethical obligation as frequently uttered by a higher social or religious authority. While the imperative entails a peach act in which influencing another individual is crucial, such acts can also be elevated other level of literary, legal and religious discourse. An understanding of the Spanish imperative paradigm provides the learner with the mechanics of this structure. The concept of deontic modality can be used to demonstrate he paraphrase relationships among imperative and imperative-like patterns which carry the meaning of obligation, permission and prohibition. The presentation of these paradigmatic details, paraphrase relationships and textual uses of the Spanish imperative lead the learner from the simple forms to the discourse characteristics of this mood. Works Cited Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos, publicada en el Diario Oficial de la Federación del 5 de febrero de 1917. García Márquez, Gabriel. 1972. «La increíble y triste historia de la cándida Eréndira y de su abuela desalmada.» Siete Cuentos. México: Editorial Hermes. Hilpinen, Risto. 1981a. New Studies in Deontic Logic: Norms, Actions, and the Foundations of Ethics. Dordrecht, Holland: D. Reidel Publishing Co. ——, ed. 1981b (1971). Deontic Logic: Introductory and Systematic Readings. 2nd ed. Dordrecht, Holland: D. Reidel Publishing Co. Lacey, A. R. 1986. A Dictionary of Philosophy. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. (1976). Lozano, Anthony G. «In Defense of Two Subjunctives.» Hispania 58 (1975): 277-83. —— . «Deep Structures and Negation», in Luigi Heilmann, ed., Proceedings of the Eleventh International Congress of Linguists. Bologna: Soleta editrice il Mulino, 1975. 901-06. Mistral, Gabriela. «México y Estados Unidos», Repertorio Americano (San José de Costa Rica), September 18, 1922. 365. La nueva Biblia latinoamericana. 1972. Madrid: Ediciones Paulinas Verbo Divino. Ramsey, Marathon M. 1956. A Textbook of Modern Spanish. 3rd ed. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Co. Solé, Carlos A. and Yolanda R. Solé. 1977. Modern Spanish Syntax. A Study in Contrast. Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath and Co. Unamuno, Miguel de. «Adición» a «Discurso leído en la solemne inauguración del Curso Académico de 1934 a 1935, en la Universidad de Salamanca, el día 29 de septiembre de 1934 al ser jubilado como catedrático.» Obras completas, IX. Madrid: Escelicer, 1971. 444-53. 
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