* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
LINGUIST List logo Eastern Michigan University Wayne State University *
* People & Organizations * Jobs * Calls & Conferences * Publications * Language Resources * Text & Computer Tools * Teaching & Learning * Mailing Lists * Search *
* *
LINGUIST List 20.598

Thu Feb 26 2009

Qs: Past/perfect to Imminent Future

Editor for this issue: Dan Parker <danlinguistlist.org>

We'd like to remind readers that the responses to queries are usually best posted to the individual asking the question. That individual is then strongly encouraged to post a summary to the list. This policy was instituted to help control the huge volume of mail on LINGUIST; so we would appreciate your cooperating with it whenever it seems appropriate.

In addition to posting a summary, we'd like to remind people that it is usually a good idea to personally thank those individuals who have taken the trouble to respond to the query.

To post to LINGUIST, use our convenient web form at http://linguistlist.org/LL/posttolinguist.html.
Directory
        1.    Eleanor Coghill, Past/perfect to Imminent Future
Message 1: Past/perfect to Imminent Future
Date: 25-Feb-2009
From: Eleanor Coghill <ejc22cam.ac.uk>
Subject: Past/perfect to Imminent Future
E-mail this message to a friend

In a dialect of Neo-Aramaic (the dialect of Telkepe) there is a verb form
expressing the imminent future which derives from a perfect/past tense.
This form is only available for the verb ‘to go’:

zil-ən l-šūqɒ.
go.IMM.FUT-I to-market
‘I’m going to the market’, ‘I’m just off to the market’ (said before departure)

Note that this form is also used as an auxiliary verb for prospective aspect:
zil-ən ʾaxlən.
PROSP-I eat:I
‘I’m going to eat.’

Judging from historical and comparative dialectal evidence,
zil-ən originally meant ‘I have gone/I went’. This form was used for
intransitive verbs, but was lost when the paradigm for transitive verbs
spread to intransitive verbs. This verb is now all that remains of the old
intransitive paradigm.

In some languages it is possible to use a past tense or perfect to express
the imminent future, e.g. Russian ja pošel ‘I left’, said when one is about
to leave. The difference here is that the past meaning is no longer available.

Do readers know of any other cases like this, where a perfect or past tense
has taken on imminent future meaning then lost the past function
altogether? Also are there parallels to the restriction to the verb ‘to go’?

I’ll post a summary of any responses.

Thanks,

Eleanor Coghill
University of Cambridge

Linguistic Field(s): Historical Linguistics
Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue



Please report any bad links or misclassified data

LINGUIST Homepage | Read LINGUIST | Contact us

NSF Logo

While the LINGUIST List makes every effort to ensure the linguistic relevance of sites listed
on its pages, it cannot vouch for their contents.