Diachronic evolution of <em>o sea</em>

Abstract

This paper analyses the diachronic evolution of the Spanish discourse marker o sea from its origins to present-day Spanish. Beginning with the free construction that gave rise to it, through a corpus study of its various evolutionary stages, this paper arrives at the connective and modal values that o sea currently possesses. The theoretical description that underpins our study rests on the grammaticalisation studies (especially those conducted by Elizabeth Traugott), the neo-Gricean theories, the Val.Es.Co. group's theory of discourse units and the studies on discursive traditions. Together, these offer a satisfactory integration of theoretical aspects internal to language change, structural information and philological aspects.