‘I wish more people would slow down in life’: The Origin and Configuration of would in Wish Clauses

Present-day English affords two alternative forms for the expression of wish clauses, wish and if only, which are used in free variation to express an unlikely or impossible desire or a regret. Unlike the expression of regrets where the past perfect has become the standard form in the verb phrase, wish clauses allow for the use of alternative forms, thus reshaping the system with subtle differences. Even though the past tense is largely preferred in these contexts, could and would have also been incorporated into the paradigm to denote an unlikely or impossible desire for the present, would specifically to convey the speaker’s impatience, annoyance or discontent about a situation which is expected to change in the future, as in I wish my daughter would study more. Specific studies on the origin and distribution of wish clauses are a desideratum not only when it comes to the use of wish and if only both in present-day and the history of English, but also when it comes to the verb tenses in this type of clauses, would being a typical case at hand. This paper, therefore, investigates the history of the modal auxiliary verb would in the expression of wishes, paying particular attention to its origin, development and subsequent configuration in present-day English. This study has been conceived from a twofold perspective: the first pursues the diachronic analysis of the construction in the late modern English period; the second is a synchronic analysis assessing its status in present-day American English. The results delve into issues such as frequency and grammatical accuracy in the planning of English language teaching courses considering whether such type of constructions should be incorporated into these courses, regardless of their level and their general or specific purposes.