TENSE/ASPECT/MOOD
IN MEKEO: A REANALYSIS
A major problem in writing the grammar of the verb word in Mekeo – an Austronesian language of Central Papua, in which verb words are formed from one or more root lexemes plus a number of prefixes and suffixes – is deciding between a description in terms of tense: past /present, or of aspect: perfective/imperfective. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that the distinction is only marked on the 3rd person singular object-marking suffixes of transitive verbs, and then only some of these. E.g.,
1) e-afi-a 2) e-inu-a
s/he takes/took it s/he drinks/drank it
BUT: 3) e-au-ŋ-a 4) e-au-n-i-a
s/he strikes him/her/it s/he struck him/her/it
The TAM systems of the Mekeo verb word have been analyzed into three indicative and three subjunctive paradigms (Jones, 1998), each distinguished by a set of prefixed morphemes that agglutinate to (and often fuse with) person/number marking prefixes on the verb word. A set of indicative paradigms can be analyzed as TENSE: past/present/future, and a set of subjunctive paradigms as MOOD: irrealis 1/irrealis 2/irrealis 3 (or weak obligative/strong obligative/ speculative). In the workshop, I will begin by presenting a reanalysis of these systems.
Mekeo has a focusing interrogative particle ma, that can occur within or at the end of a clause, but this device is subsumed under a much more elaborate system for marking ‘interpersonal mood’ by means of the superordinate serial verb oma, indicating an intentional source (cf. Motu to-ma). In Mekeo, it is customary to express this intentional source in all TAM combinations.
Ma-lao lo-oma. E-mae
ke-oma. Fa-uele
la-oma.
IRR2.1SG-go 2SG-intend 3SG-die 3PL-intend IRR1.1SG 1SG-intend
Should I go? They say that s/he has died. I want to bathe
Meanwhile, progressive aspect can be marked on intransitive verbs of directed motion (come, go. etc.) by means of an optionally invoked system of contrastive word stress.
e-mài è-mai
s/he came/has come s/he is coming (now)
Durative aspect, and hence existence, can be expressed by marking verbs of bodily posture, or of position, with the suffix /-e/. An example is
e-ka e-ka-e tsitsi
e-ka-e
3SG-lie 3SG-lie-DUR meat 3SG-lie-DUR
s/he lies/lay s/he is/was lying meat it-stays (= there is meat)
Continuative/repetitive aspect, on the other hand, is encoded by reduplication and by a verb of motion following the reduplicated main verb (pea alone means 'walk', lao means 'go'):
e-pea-pea e-pea-pea e-lao(-lao)
s/he walks/walked (= strolled) s/he keeps/kept on walking
A REANALYSIS of
TAM SYSTEMS in MEKEO
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Non-Future |
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Indicative: Tense |
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Future |
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⌠ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ î |
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Weak Obligative |
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MOOD/ |
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Subjunctive: Mood |
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MODE |
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Strong Obligative |
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Mode: Irrealis |
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VERB -- |
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Speculative |
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Imperfective |
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Transitive/ Aspect1 |
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Perfective |
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TRANSITIVITY/ ASPECT |
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Intransitive/ Aspect2 |
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Stative/ Continuative/ Progressive |
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Punctual/ Perfect |
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