Tense, but in the mood : diachronic perspectives on the representation of time in Ao

• Main Author: Coupe, Alexander R.
• Other Authors: School of Humanities and Social Sciences
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: DRNTU::Humanities::Language::Linguistics
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/101726; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/24078; http://www.ling.sinica.edu.tw/files/publication/j2013_6_05_2678.pdf
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Ao demonstrates some typologically intriguing characteristics that shed light on the diachronic development of its tense marking morphology. The paper proposes that the language originally had a binary mood system contrasting azero-marked realis with an overtly marked irrealis mood. It then extended the functions of two of its nominalizers to encoding temporal distinctions, and the old zero-marked realis mood became integrated into the newly grammaticalized system of temporal deixis as the zero-marked past tense category. The irrealis marker occurs in paradigmatic opposition with these newly grammaticalized tense markers, but continues to encode an independent category of mood that is not constrained to any particular temporal deictic setting. Drawing on additional evidence from other languages, it is demonstrated that nominalizing morphology turns out to be a rather commonly exploited source for the grammaticalization of tense markers.