Abstract

DIAZ BLANCA, Lourdes  and  VILLALOBOS, Ana Margarita. Los Horóscopos: su configuración temporal y modal. Núcleo [online]. 2006, vol.18, n.23, pp.31-50. ISSN 0798-9784.

This article has the following objectives: a) to determine the frequency of use of verb tenses in written horoscopes of descriptive, directive and predictive type; b) to determine the relation between tense and mood in each class of horoscope; c) to explain the use of the verb tenses and mood in the analyzed texts. For this we examined eight magazines destined exclusively to horoscopes and nine magazines (annexed in newspapers of national or regional circulation) which only contain a section dedicated to them. In this corpus we identified 1,300 sentences in the descriptive horoscopes, 2,325 in the directive ones and 1,704 in the predictive ones. The results of the study indicate that the present of indicative prevails in the descriptive horoscopes (80.76%), the present of subjunctive in the directive type (26.67%) and the present of indicative in the predictive type (44.36 %). Through this temporary and modal configuration, the presenter of these texts shows a high degree of assertion in the production of the descriptions, attenuates the mandate and gives the predictions the characteristic of events which have already occurred, thus approximating the future and assuming a greater degree of commitment.

Keywords : horoscopes; tense; mood.