Legend: Definitions, Terms, <Text>, «apa», -Tags-, and "Glosses".
| Label | Name | <S> | <P> | <E> | Default | Examples | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| V_N | Inherent | permanent | - | - | <S> | "be" | Inherent |
| V_B | Binary | stative | autocausative | inceptive | <S> | "see", "in", "here" | State |
| V_S | Scalar | stative | inchoative | inceptive | <S> | "hot" | |
| V_U | Unitizable | - | progressive | singulative | <P> | "walk", "eat" | Process |
| V_C | Culminating | - | progressive | inceptive | <P> | "cook" | |
| V_E | Event | - | - | aoristic | <E> | "break" | Event |
There are 4 moods: realis, irrealis, jussive, and optative. The optative is used for wishes. The jussive is used for commands (2nd person), "Let's" forms (Inclusive person), and suggestions or indirect commands otherwise. The irrealis is used when the situation is not known to have occurred or be occurring or when it hasn't yet occurred. The realis is used is known to have occurred or be occurring.
There are 2 aspects: perfect and durative. The durative is used for situations in progress; this can be a state, an entry to a state (inchoative) or some other process. The perfect is used for completed situations, whether or not the resulting state is current.
The 2 tenses are absolute and relative. Their interpretations depend on the syntactical context. In Context A, absolute tense indicates that the temporal reference point (TRP) is the time of utterance while relative tense indicates some other time, usually prior to the utterance. However, irrealis mood + relative tense in this context indicates that the situation is contrary-to-fact. In Context B, absolute tense can't be used; relative tense indicates that the predicate is cotemporal with its matrix clause. In Context C, absolute tense also indicates that the temporal reference point is the time of utterance while relative tense indicates that the attribute is cotemporal with its containing clause.
A modal is an auxiliary, with its subject being the complement clause. Modals come in pairs, with one denoting necessity and the other possibility. A characteristic of these are the following rules:
| Necessity | Negative | Complement | <==> | Negative | Possibility | Complement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Possibility | Negative | Complement | <==> | Negative | Necessity | Complement |
The modals of volition ( VN and VP) are bivalent. The verb of the complement clause has relative tense, irrealis mood, and either aspect; its object may coreference the experiencer of the auxiliary clause.
The deontic modals ( DN and DP) can be either bivalent or univalent. The experiencer is the person requiring or permitting and may be omitted. The verb of the complement clause has relative tense, irrealis mood, and perfect aspect; it's rarely coreferential.
The modals of potential ( PN and PP) are univalent but the omitted object implicitly coreferences the subject of the complement clause. The verb of the complement clause has relative tense, irrealis mood, and perfect aspect.
The epistemic modals ( EN and EP) are univalent. The omitted object is implicitly the K-person, i.e. the speaker in statements and the addressee(s) in questions. The verb of the complement clause has either tense, realis mood, and either aspect.
A temporal unit noun specifies either some periodical unit or a regular part of that unit.
| Prefix | Tag | Description |
|---|---|---|
| si | UT | time of utterance |
| ta | AT | anaphoric time |
| ĉa | QT | interrogative time |
The number of occurrences is represented by a noun phrase consisting of a quantity specifier + an occurrence-type noun, which is either Occ "occasion" or Iter "iteration".
A duration phrase consists of a quantity specifier + a temporal unit noun.
A time-when phrase consists of a determiner specifying the temporal reference point + a temporal unit noun The period specified is the one containing the TRP.
Temporal distance is represented by a phrase consisting of a determiner specifying the TRP + a quantity specifier giving the number of periods + a temporal unit noun compounded with a temporal direction prefix. The prefix is either Aft (relative future) or Bef (relative past). The period specified is never the one containing the TRP.
page started: 2022.Mar.05 Sat
current date: 2022.Mar.07 Mon
content and form originated by qiihoskeh
Table of Contents