Linguistic study on wills written in Cuba in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Syntactic structure of passive voice

Abstract

In the present article the structures of passive voice in 12 wills written in Cuba in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries are described. The results confirm the syntactic features related to the use of passive voice which are usually present in legal documents. The repetition of passive sentences with the same structure and textual function, specifically associated with some clauses, as well as the use of the reflexive passive in the clauses about the dispositions are characteristic of elaborate writing whose textual configuration has a repercussion on the use and values of linguistic structures, apart from the fact that it provides elements to reaffirm the formulary character of the type of document analyzed.