The Portuguese future subjunctive: a dominion analysis

Although the analysis of the Portuguese future subjunctive mood would contribute to a greater understanding of the general meaning of the subjunctive mood, this verb form has received considerably little attention compared to the other subjunctive forms, namely, the past and present subjunctives. The aim of the present paper is to fill this gap. Using the theoretical perspective of Cognitive Grammar, it will be shown that the Portuguese future subjunctive shares many characteristic features with other tenses of the subjunctive mood. In particular, the analysis shows that the Portuguese future subjunctive can be explained by the concept of dominion. Thus, the present paper provides a conceptually grounded and unified explanation for the meaning of the Portuguese subjunctive mood.