Orientation preverbs and TAME

This section focuses on morphology. Since the use of the TAME categories in-volve sometimes subtle semantic nuances, and have to be explained on the basis of examples with a clear context, the discussion of the semantic function of each category is deferred to chapter 21.

2.4.3.1 The morphology of orientation preverbs

The main morphological exponents of tense, aspect, modality and evidentiality (henceforth TAME) in Japhug are the orientation preverbs (§15.1). All regular finite verb forms require one and only one preverb (§11.2.1), except the Factual Non-Past (§21.3.1) which does not take any preverb. The stacking of two or more preverbs is ungrammatical. Only a handful of irregular defective verbs are in-compatible with orientation preverbs (§14.2.2, §14.3.4).

Preverbs encode one out of seven orientations (Table 2.7), divided into three dimensions: vertical (§15.1.3.1), riverine (§15.1.3.2) and solar (§15.1.3.3), to which an unspecified orientation is added. This tridimensional system is not restricted to verbal morphology: locative relator nouns (§8.3.4.1), egressive postpositions (§8.2.10) and locative adverbs (§15.1.1.4) have similar systems with six orienta-tions, built from morphemes that are historically related to the preverbs.

There are four series of preverbs (Table 2.7 includes two of them, the series A and B) in the Kamnyu dialect, used in different TAME categories (§15.1.1.1). Some dialects of Japhug have a slightly different system (§15.1.1.3).

Table 2.7: Orientation preverbs in Kamnyu Japhug

Dimension Orientation A B

Vertical Up tɤ-

tu-Down pɯ-

pjɯ-Riverine Upstream lɤ- lu-Downstream tʰɯ-

cʰɯ-Solar Eastwards _kɤ-

ku-Westwards nɯ- ɲɯ-Unspecified _jɤ-

ju-Orientableverbs (§15.1.2) are compatible with all orientations; this includes in particular motion verbs like ɣi‘come’ and ɬoʁ ‘come out’ (§15.1.2.1). With this type of verbs, the preverbs indicate either the absolute direction of the motion (§15.1.3), for instance upwards in (17) or have extended meanings (§15.1.4), such as the illative function (§15.1.4.2) of the upstream preverb in (18).

(17) tɤŋe sun

tɤ-ɬoʁ

aor:up-come.up

‘The sun rose.’

(18) ɯ-ŋgɯ 3sg.poss-in

lɤ-ɣi

imp:upstream-come

‘Come in! (for instance, inside a house)’{0003884#S90}

Non-orientable verbs only select a restricted number of lexically determined orientations, sometimes only one (§15.1.5). For instance, the verbndza‘eat’ and mto ‘see’ require the upwards (§15.1.5.4) and downwards (§15.1.5.9) preverbs, respectively.

2.4.3.2 The morphology of TAME categories

There are eleven primary TAME categories, which can be divided into four main groups: Non-Past (Factual Non-Past, Egophoric Present, Sensory, §21.3), fective (§21.2), Past (Aorist, Inferential, Past Imperfective, and Inferential Imper-fective, §21.5) and Modal (Irrealis, Imperative, Prohibitive, Dubitative, §21.4) cat-egories.

In the finite TAME categories, the B-type preverbs are found in the Imper-fective (§21.2) and the A-type preverbs in the Imperative (§21.4.2.1), the Irrealis (§21.4.1.1) and the Aorist (§21.5.1), though with slightly different vowel contrac-tion rules (§12.3). In the Aorist paradigm of transitive verbs, another series of preverbs (C) is found in the direct 3→3^′ forms (§2.4.2.2), based on the A-type preverbs but with-avocalism instead of-ɯand-ɤ(originating from fusion with another prefix, §15.1.1.3). For instance, the 2pl→3 Aorist of _ndza ‘eat’ is tɤ-tɯ-ndza-nɯ (aor:up-2-eat-pl ‘you_𝑝𝑙 ate it’) with the upwards A-typetɤ- preverb, but the corresponding 3pl→3^′form ista-ndza-nɯ(aor:3→3^′:up-eat-pl ‘they ate it’) with the C-type preverb_ta-. It is the only case when an orientation preverb encodes person in addition to TAME.

The Inferential (§21.5.2) has a series of preverbs (series D) based on series B, but with_-oand_-ɤvocalism instead of_-uand_-ɯ, respectively (§15.1.1.3). For instance, the upwards and downwards D-type preverbs areto-andpjɤ-, corresponding to the B-typetu-andpjɯ-, respectively (§15.1.1.1).

Five TAME categories neutralize the orientation contrast, and require the same marker for all verbs: the Sensory evidential_ɲɯ-(§21.3.2), from the B-type west-wards preverb (Table 2.7), the Egophoric Presentku-(§21.3.3), the Dubitative ku-(§21.4.4), from the B-type eastwards preverb, the Past Imperfectivepɯ-from the A-type downwards preverb (§21.5.3.1, Lin 2011), and the Inferential Imperfective pjɤ-from the D-type downwards preverb (§21.5.3.1).

In addition to orientation preverbs, TAME categories are marked by several morphological exponents, including stem alternations (§12.2), allomorphy of ne-gative prefixes (§13.1.1) and additional affixes: the Irrealisa- prefix (§11.2.1) and the Past transitive-tsuffix (§11.3).

In the Non-Past, Imperfective and Modal categories (all except Past), transitive alternating verbs have a specific stem in direct configurations with a singular subject (see Table 2.5 above and §12.2.2). Another stem is found in the Aorist of a handful of verbs (§12.2.1).

Some of the primary categories can be combined with the copulaŋu ‘be’ to form periphrastic TAME categories (§21.2.2), for instance the Periphrastic Past Imperfective (§21.5.3.5) illustrated in (19), built from the Imperfective (_tu-ndze-a, with the B-type upwards preverbtu-, the alternating stemndzefromndza‘eat’

and the 1sg suffix) and the Past Imperfective of the copulapɯ-ŋu. (19) tɤ-mtʰɯm

indef.poss-meat

tu-ndze-a ipfv-eat[III]-1sg

pɯ-ŋu pst.ipfv-be

‘I was eating meat/I used to eat meat.’

In addition, primary TAME categories can be combined with prefixes express-ing secondary aspectual (§21.6) or modal (§21.7) meanexpress-ings.

There is a robust contrast between Past and Non-Past tenses in Japhug, but no grammaticalized future tense. Future events in main clauses are mainly expressed by the Factual Non-Past (§21.3.1.2) or the Irrealis (§21.4.1.2).

The tripartite evidential system between Egophoric Present, Sensory (or Testi-monial) and Factual observed in the non-past is structurally very similar to that found in some Tibetic languages (Tournadre 2008; Hill & Gawne 2017).

2.4.3.3 Stative vs. dynamic verbs

TAME morphology presents a contrast betweenstative and dynamic verbs. In the Imperfective (§21.2.6), the Aorist (§21.5.1.3) and the Inferential (§21.5.2.4), sta-tive verbs have an inchoasta-tive meaning, different from their meaning in Non-Past tenses.

For example, the verbzri‘be long’ means ‘become long(er)’ in the Imperfective (_tu-zri ipfv:up-be.long ‘it becomes longer’) or the Aorist (_tɤ-zriaor:up-be.long

‘(when) it became longer’). By contrast, in the Sensory (ɲɯ-zrisens-be.long ‘it is long’) and the other Non-Past tenses, it retains its basic stative meaning.

Stative verbs also differ from most dynamic verbs in being compatible with Past Imperfective and Inferential Imperfective in all contexts (_pɯ-zri pst.ipfv-be.long ‘it was/used to be long’), while dynamic verbs generally require the pe-riphrastic Past Imperfective instead (§21.5.3.5), except in some limited contexts (§21.5.3.4).²

The stative/dynamic contrast is not completely independent from transitivity (§14.3.1). Onlyintransitivestative verbs have a distinctive morphological marking:

the _kɯ- infinitive appears in some contexts (§16.2.1.1). Transitive stative verbs include in particular verbs derived from adjectival stative verbs by the tropative derivation (§17.5.2).