developed, and whilst doing so it describes in effect the functions of the different .... In the synchronic point of time in which the dialect is examined the ...... Although there is no indication for a direct continuum of speech between CA and ...... other hand, it conveys a message of an occurrence that doesn't correspond with.
The Functions of Preverbal Markers in Jewish-Baghdadi Arabic
Thesis for the degree of “Doctor of Philosophy” By Assaf Bar-Moshe
Submitted to the Senate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem January/2016
The Functions of Preverbal Markers in Jewish-Baghdadi Arabic
Thesis for the degree of “Doctor of Philosophy” By Assaf Bar-Moshe
Submitted to the Senate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem January/2016
This work was carried out under the supervision of: Professor Eran Cohen & Professor Simon Hopkins
Acknowledgments I would like to extend my thanks to my professors at the Hebrew University, Prof. Simon Hopkins and Prof. Eran Cohen, for their trust, encouragement, and support along the way. Other than being a fountain of knowledge they gave me the freedom to pursue my own thinking without compromising on the high standards of academic work. My gratitude goes to my friends in the Linguistics Department and the Department of Arabic Language and Literature at the Hebrew University. In particular I thank Eitan Grossman for his professional and friendly advice along the way. Acknowledgements are also due to my first teacher at the Hebrew University Dr. Lihi Yariv-Laor for encouraging me to put my love for the Chinese language aside for a few years and focus on my linguistic roots. I thank also Prof. Ofra Tirosh-Becker, who exposed me to the field of Jewish Languages and inspired me to undertake this fulfilling task. It was my honor to be a guest of the department for Semitic Studies at Heidelberg University for two years of my Ph.D. Under the close instruction of Prof. Werner Arnold I was able to complete the corpus and to engage in some fascinating studies about the phonological and morphological system of JB. Therefore, I would like to thank Prof. Arnold for his great hospitality and assistance. Finally, I owe my sincere and deepest gratitude to my informants, who dedicated hours to my research and showed great patience and affection. May this work be a contribution to their legacy.
vii
Abstract The Jewish Arabic dialect of Baghdad (JB) was spoken by the Jewish community in that city and in south Iraq for hundreds of years. The dialect, which belongs to the qǝltu dialects group, is different from the dialects spoken by the Muslims or the Christians in the city. This dissertation describes one of the most prominent linguistic features of JB, namely the functions of the preverbal particles which it has developed, and whilst doing so it describes in effect the functions of the different grams that take part in the verbal system. The research is based on a recorded corpus of native JB speakers. A large part of the recordings was transcribed into phonemic transcription and translated into English. The results of this can be seen in the appendix. As a by-product of the transcription, the principal phonological and morphological rules of the dialect are formulated and phrased in Chapter 2. The chapter contributes some new findings and thus, despite the fact that the phonological and morphological system of JB was already described by Haim Blanc and Jacob Mansour, I decided to include it in the dissertation. Moreover, Chapter 2 enables the readers who are not familiar with the dialect to access the examples in the dissertation. JB presents dozens of different types of grams which precede the verb and add a specific semantic essence to it. These grams, which are also referred to here as preverbal particles, can be roughly divided into those which act on the tense-aspect axis and those which color the discourse with a modal meaning. Chapter 3 of the dissertation examines the former and Chapter 4 the latter. The central preverbal particle described in Chapter 3 is /qa-/, which precedes the prefix-conjugation, and thus is referred to as qa-PC. The analysis conducted in this chapter claims that qa-PC should be seen as the fourth principle form of JB's verbal system, i.e. one that joined the three forms which were inherited from Old Arabic, namely the prefix-conjugation (PC), the suffix-conjugation (SC), and the active participle (AP). Thus, the function of qa-PC should be derived from the structural oppositions that this form presents in relation to the rest of the forms in the system. This analysis is done in practice by isolating a few variables which influence the occurrence of the different forms each one at a time. As an introduction to the analysis Chapter 3 opens with a survey of the main functions which each of the forms fulfils. Generally, we can say that the SC refers to a past time situation, whereas the other three indicate a present-future time reference. Aspectually, the SC is perfective in essence, while the others are imperfective. Specifically, the PC can denote non-progressive, habitual, iterative, or gnomic situations; qa-PC can denote progressive or even punctual situations, as well as all the aspectual categories that the PC denotes; the AP denotes progressive, non-progressive, or habitual situations, but it marks the perfect in certain circumstances. This general description clearly presents cases of overlap in the functions of the different forms. The detailed analysis which isolated different variables one by one aims to examine these overlapping cases as well. viii
The first variable to be isolated is the text type. Like other Semitic languages JB's verbal system is text-sensitive, meaning that the verb forms function differently in different types of texts. The main distinction is made between narratives and dialogues, with a further attention paid to different verb forms that appear in the background vs. the foreground sections of narratives. Following a detailed qualitative and quantitative analysis of the verb forms which appear in the different text types, it turns out that any verb form can occur in dialogues. Narratives, on the other hand, are more sensitive. The SC is the main verb form which serves in the foreground to promote the narrative, although the PC may also serve this function in the historical present. The PC, qa-PC, and the AP mainly occur in the background of the narrative. However, the first may also appear in the solution part of the story, the second in the sealing part of an episode, and the third is typical of circumstantial clauses. The syntactic environment is the second isolated variable. There are clauses where the occurrence of the PC is obligatory, in which case it should be treated as a subjunctive. These include content clauses, which open following a modal verb, or final clauses. The verb of a ḥāl circumstantial clause may only be a qa-PC or an AP. Other clause types are not restricted in terms of the verb form that they host. Some of them, however, force the occurrence of a verb form with a specific time indication. Thus, for example, the verb of a content clause which doesn’t complete a modal verb is temporally relative to the verb of the main clause; the verb of a temporal clause is similar in temporal indication to that of the main clause; and the situation of a ḥāl circumstantial clause occurs simultaneously to the one described in the main clause. There are no temporal or syntactic constraints on the verb of a causal clause or a relative clause. The aktionsart (lexical aspect) category of the verb is examined as an influential variable in order to solve the overlap between the PC, qa-PC, and the AP under the imperfective umbrella. Despite the fact that the three forms may host any category of aktionsart, it turns out that specifically for qa-PC and the AP a different category results from placing a single lexeme in each of them. In fact, only stative lexemes keep their stative essence with both the AP and qa-PC. However, stative (as well as other) lexemes which are morphologically productive with both forms are rare, and so, the actual overlap is extremely minimal. Similar results are received in regards to the overlap between the same two forms preceded by the auxiliary verb /kan/, which shifts the situation to the past. As for the overlap between the PC and qa-PC, the analysis shows that it is, in fact, limited to two cases – both forms may denote a non-progressive aspect or, only in dialogues, a habitual aspect. The synchronic overlap in both cases is a result of the diachronic development of qa-PC, a form which probably was originally developed to denote a progressive aspect, but along the years spread into other domains of the imperfective axis. In the synchronic point of time in which the dialect is examined the PC and qa-PC struggle for the control over the non-progressive and habitual domain, and thus both forms may mark them. Other than the four forms discussed above, JB presents additional auxiliary verbs and constructions which contribute aspectual information. The auxiliary /kan/ precedes the PC to convey habitual past; a verb derived from the lexemes "to get up" ix
or "to begin" marks the inchoative; a verb derived from the lexeme "to remain" marks the continuative; a verb derived from the lexeme "to return" conveys a reoccurrence of a situation; and the duplication of a verb denotes a durative and intensive situation. Chapter 4 surveys a few modal preverbal particles. These particles are divided into two main categories, namely particles that convey will, obligation, necessity, or ability on the one hand, and those that convey possibility or certainty, or particles which elaborate on the source of the information on the other. Other than the analysis of the function of the modal particles, a great deal of attention is paid to their diachronic origin. Finally, Chapter 4 surveys the different grammatical means and constructions which are used to convey a condition in JB. The analysis shows that different shades of the imperative as a semantic category are conveyed by different preverbal particles which precede the morphological imperative form (IMP) or even the PC. In this respect the IMP denotes the imperative unmarkedly. Unlike the IMP, the particle /de-/ precedes it to convey urge or encouragement; /ma/ precedes the second person of the PC and colors the imperative with impatience; /šū/ precedes the IMP to highlight a strong will on behalf of the speaker for the realization of the situation; /da-/ precedes the first person of the PC to mark the cohortative; /xalli/ precedes the third person of the PC to mark the jussive; negative imperative is conveyed by the particle /la/ which precedes the second person of the PC; the same particle and its equivalent /lǝ(y)kun/ denote the avertive. In addition, fossilized auxiliary verbs like /lazǝm/, /yǝnġad/, or /ma yṣīġ/ convey obligation, necessity, and prohibition respectively. The optative may be denoted by the PC or the SC themselves. The former is frequent in requests that involve God, whereas the latter in curses. The particle /bāġi/ also denotes the optative and the particle /xō(b)/ a negative optative. Ability is expressed by modal verbs which are derived from lexemes such as "to be able", "to be capable", and "to know". Different degrees of possibility and certainty are conveyed by adverbs such as /balki/ or /yǝmkǝn/, which mean "maybe", /ˀakīd/ "surely", and their like. In addition, particles which essentially function in the realm of information structure have developed modal implications. Thus, for instance, the focus marker /ma/ may convey a surprise; the rhemeathic particle /ˀašu/ may also convey a surprise as well as certainty which is based on perception; the focus particle /ġēġ/ expresses a high degree of certainty and so does the particle /xō(b)/. Finally, the particle /kǝn-/ was probably used to mark information that was given by a third party. It seems, however, that this meaning has worn off, and synchronically the particle is optionally used to mark the transition between a narrative and a dialogue. The different means that mark the future are also examined under Chapter 4 since they present modal differentiations. The PC marks an unreal future, whereas the PC which is preceded by the particles /qa-/ or /hassa/ conveys a planned or an imminent and thus certain future respectively. The particle /ġaḥ/ is rarer in use and highlights the agent's intention. Three types of conditional sentences are examined. The first, general condition, is non-modal and it is not restricted in terms of the verb forms it presents in the protasis or in the apodosis, or in terms of the conditional marker that opens the protasis. The x
second, potential condition, expresses an unreal condition, and as such it contains a PC in both the protasis and the apodosis. Synchronically, any conditional marker may open the protasis of a potential conditional sentence. The third type of conditional sentences, counterfactual condition, is characterized by the SC following the fossilized auxiliary verb /kan/ in the apodosis. The verb form of the protasis is usually the SC or the PC with or without the preceding auxiliary /kan/. Counterfactual conditional sentences usually open with the conditional marker /lō/, although, synchronically, other conditional markers may open their protasis as well. In summary, the dissertation shows that the choice of a verbal form depends on syntactic, textual and modal considerations, which join temporal and aspectual ones. All these are taken into consideration in determining the semantic value of a given verb form, thus creating a complex matrix of possibilities. The dissertation aims to understand this matrix as much as possible and to explore its constraints.
xi
xii
Table of contents Symbols and abbreviations
xxiii
Introduction
1
JB
1
Mesopotamian dialects
2
A general description of the research question
3
The structure of the dissertation
4
Methodology
4
The corpus
5
The phonological and morphological sketch
6
The analysis of the TAM system
7
Chapter 1 - Tense, aspect and modality in theory and practice
9
1.1 Tense, aspect and modality
9
1.1.1 Tense
9
1.1.2 Aspect
10
1.1.2.1 Perfective vs. imperfective
11
1.1.2.2. Aktionsarten
12
1.1.3 Tense and aspect
15
1.1.3.1 The uses of the tenses
15
1.1.3.1.1 Present tense
15
1.1.3.1.2 Past tense
16
1.1.3.2 The perfect
16
1.1.4 Tense and aspect in text
17
1.1.4.1 Narrative
18
1.1.4.2 Dialogues vs. narrative discourse
20
1.1.5 Overlap and markedness of grams denoting tense and aspect
21
1.1.6 Modality
22
1.1.6.1 Categories of modality
22
1.1.6.2 Modal markers and mood
23
1.1.6.3 Future
24
1.1.6.4 Indirect speech and the quotative
26
xiii
1.1.7. Grammaticalization of TAM markers
26
1.1.8 Summary
27
1.2 TAM in Arabic
28
1.2.1 The functions of the verbal forms in CA and MSA
30
1.2.2 The function of the verbal forms in modern dialects
31
1.3 The existing research on the preverbal particles in JB
32
Chapter 2 - A phonological and Morphological sketch of JB
34
2.1 Phonology
34
2.1.1 Consonants
34
2.1.1.1 General overview
34
2.1.1.2 Reflexes of CA consonants
35
2.1.1.2.1 Reflexes of CA /ˀ/, /w/ and /y/
35
2.1.1.2.2. Reflexes of CA interdentals
35
2.1.1.2.3 Reflexes of CA /r/
35
2.1.1.2.4 Reflexes of CA /q/
35
2.1.1.2.5 Foreign borrowed consonants
35
2.1.1.2.6 Emphatic consonants
36
2.1.1.3 Phonetic changes in consonants
36
2.1.1.3.1 Assimilations
36
2.1.1.3.2 Additional phonetic changes
37
2.1.2 Vowels
37
2.1.2.1 General overview
37
2.1.2.1.1 Long vowels
37
2.1.2.1.2 Short vowels
37
2.1.2.2 Long vowels shortening
38
2.1.2.3 Reflexes of CA vowels and diphthongs
38
2.1.2.3.1 CA /u/
38
2.1.2.3.2 CA /ū/
39
2.1.2.3.3 CA diphthong /aw/
39
2.1.2.3.4 CA /i/
39
2.1.2.3.5 CA /ī/
39 xiv
2.1.2.3.6 CA diphthong /ay/
39
2.1.2.3.7 CA /a/
40
2.1.2.3.8 CA /ā/
40
2.1.2.3.9 Final vowels
41
2.1.2.3.10 Final ˀimāla
41
2.1.2.3.11 Final CA /āˀ/
41
2.1.3 Stress
41
2.1.4 Anaptyxis
42
2.1.4.1 Three consonants' cluster
42
2.1.4.2 Two consonants' cluster
43
2.1.5 Glide
44
2.2 Morphology
44
2.2.1 Pronouns
44
2.2.1.1 Personal pronouns
44
2.2.1.2 Pronominal suffixes
44
2.2.1.3 Direct and indirect object pronouns
44
2.2.1.4 Demonstratives and deixis
45
2.2.1.5 Interrogatives
45
2.2.2 The verb
46
2.2.2.1 Derivation
46
2.2.2.2 Inflection
46
2.2.2.2.1 The SC
46
2.2.2.2.2 The PC
46
2.2.2.2.3 The IMP
46
2.2.2.3 Verbal conjugation paradigms 2.2.2.3.1 The SC conjugation of sound roots in all stems
47 47
and persons 2.2.2.3.2 The PC conjugation of sound roots in all stems
47
and persons 2.2.2.3.3 The IMP conjugation of sound roots in all stems 47 and persons xv
2.2.2.3.4 SC and PC derivation bases of sound and weak
48
roots in representative persons in all stems 2.2.3 The participle
49
2.2.4 Nouns and adjectives
49
2.2.4.1 Number
49
2.2.4.1.1 Dual
49
2.2.4.1.2 Plural
49
2.2.4.2 Gender
50
2.2.4.2.1 The feminine ending
50
2.2.4.2.1.1 Isolated nouns
50
2.2.4.2.1.2 In sandhi
50
2.2.4.3 Other nominal related morphemes
51
2.2.4.3.1 The relational suffix (nisba)
51
2.2.4.3.2 Diminutive suffix
51
2.2.4.3.3 Kinship suffix
51
2.2.4.3.4 Singulative nouns
51
2.2.5 Numerals
51
2.2.5.1 Cardinal numbers
51
2.2.5.1.1 The numeral "one"
51
2.2.5.1.2 The numeral "two"
51
2.2.5.1.3 The numerals 3-10
52
2.2.5.1.4 The numerals 11-19
52
2.2.5.1.5 Tens
52
2.2.5.1.6 Hundreds
52
2.2.5.1.7 Thousands
52
1.2.5.2 Ordinal numbers
53
Chapter 3 - The temporal-aspectual system of JB
54
3.1 The main functions of JB's verb forms
55
3.1.1 The Functions of the SC
55
3.1.1.1 Perfective past situations
55
3.1.1.2 Unreal situations
56 xvi
3.1.1.2.1 Conditional sentences
56
3.1.1.2.2 Optative
57
3.1.2 The functions of the PC
57
3.1.2.1 Habitual, iterative, and gnomic situations
57
3.1.2.2 Bound present situations
59
3.1.2.2.1 Non-progressive situations
59
3.1.2.2.2 Progressive/iterative situations
59
3.1.2.2.3 Punctual situations
60
3.1.2.3 Unreal situations
60
3.1.2.4 Subjunctive
62
3.1.3 The functions of qa-PC
64
3.1.3.1 Present situations
64
3.1.3.2 Habitual, gnomic, and iterative situations
65
3.1.3.3 Circumstantial clauses
66
3.1.3.4 Planned future
67
3.1.4 The functions of the AP
67
3.1.4.1 Present situations
67
3.1.4.2 Circumstantial clauses
68
3.1.5 The auxiliary verb /kan/
69
3.1.6 Conclusion
70
3.2 Textual implications on the verbal system 3.2.1 The verbal system of narratives
70 71
3.2.1.1 The SC
72
3.2.1.2 qa-PC
74
3.2.1.3 The PC
80
3.2.1.4 The AP
84
3.2.1.5 Verb phrases modified by /kan/
84
3.2.1.6 Conclusion
86
3.2.2 The verbal system of dialogues and conversations 3.2.2.1 The SC
87 87
xvii
3.2.2.2 The AP
88
3.2.2.3 qa-PC
88
3.2.2.4 The PC
90
3.2.2.5 Additional verb forms
92
3.2.2.6 Conclusion
92
3.2.3 The verbal system of additional text types
93
3.2.3.1 Recipes
93
3.2.3.2 Traditions' descriptions
94
3.2.4 Statistical analysis of JB verb forms in textemes
95
3.2.5 Summary
97
3.3 Syntactic constraints and their temporal implications
99
3.3.1 Coordinating clauses
99
3.3.2 Circumstantial clauses
101
3.3.2.1 Ḥāl clauses
101
3.3.2.2 Final clauses
103
3.3.3 Temporal clauses
105
3.3.4 Causal clauses
107
3.3.5 Content clauses
108
3.3.6 Relative clauses
110
3.3.7 Discussion and conclusions
110
3.4 Grammatical aspect and aktionsarten implications of the verbal system 3.4.1 Aktionsarten constraints on verbal forms
112 112
3.4.1.1 The PC
112
3.4.1.2 qa-PC
114
3.4.2 Aktionsarten constraints on aspectual functions
116
3.4.3 Interim summary
118
3.4.4 The role of Aktionsarten in solving potential ambiguities
119
3.4.4.1 The AP vs. qa-PC
119
3.4.4.1.1 A note on the function of the AP in neighboring Arabic dialects
xviii
125
3.4.4.2 kan+AP vs. kan+qa-PC
126
3.4.4.2.1 kan+AP
126
3.4.4.2.2 kan+qa-PC
129
3.4.4.2.3 Summary
131
3.4.4.2.4 A note on the past perfect and equivalent
131
constructions in neighboring Arabic dialects 3.4.5 Conclusion
132
3.5 Additional aspectual categories marked in JB 3.5.1 Habitual past
133 133
3.5.1.1 A note on past habitual marking in neighboring Arabic
134
dialects 3.5.1.2 Conclusion
135
3.5.2 Reduplication - between iterative, intensive, and durative
135
3.5.3 Single interval iteration
136
3.5.4 Between inchoative and consecutive
137
3.5.4.1 Similar constructions in neighboring Arabic dialects
139
3.5.4.2 Conclusions
140
3.5.5 Continuative
140
3.5.6 Conclusion
141
3.6 The overlap between the PC and qa-PC
143
3.6.1 The non-progressive and habitual use of the PC and qa-PC
144
3.6.2 The diachronic evolution of qa-PC construction
147
3.6.2.1 The cross-linguistic sources of the progressive, the
147
habitual, and the gnomic 3.6.2.2 Verb modifiers for the present in surrounding Arabic
148
dialects 3.6.2.2.1 qǝltu dialects
148
3.6.2.2.2 gǝlǝt dialects
149
3.6.2.2.3 Levantine dialects and the dialect of Cairo
150
3.6.2.2.4 The Arabic of the Gulf, Oman, and Mehri
151
xix
3.6.2.2.5 Aramaic dialects
151
3.6.2.2.6 Conclusion
151
3.6.2.3 Conclusion
152
3.7 Conclusion
154
Chapter 4 - Modality in JB
160
4.1 Event modality
160
4.1.1 Imperative
160
4.1.1.1 The IMP mood
160
4.1.1.2 The particle /dǝ-/
161
4.1.1.3 The particle /šū/
163
4.1.2 Impatient imperative
164
4.1.2.1 /ma-/
164
4.1.2.2 /baqa/
165
4.1.3 Polite request
165
4.1.3.1 /ma/
165
4.1.3.2 qdġ
166
4.1.4 Volitive and Cohortative
166
4.1.5 Permissive and Jussive
170
4.1.6 Negative imperative and prohibitive
172
4.1.6.1 /la/
172
4.1.6.2 /ma yṣīġ/
172
4.1.7 Avertive
173
4.1.7.1 /la-/
173
4.1.7.2 /lǝ(y)kun/
174
4.1.8 Optative
175
4.1.8.1 The SC and the PC
175
4.1.8.2 /ġēġ… kan(PC)+PC/
176
4.1.8.3 /bāġi/
176 xx
4.1.9 Negative optative
177
4.1.10 Admonitive
177
4.1.11 Obligation and necessity
178
4.1.11.1 /lazǝm/
178
4.1.11.2 /yǝnġad/
178
4.1.12 Permissive
179
4.1.13 Volitive
179
4.1.14 Ability
179
4.1.14.1 qdġ
179
4.1.14.2 ṭwq
180
4.1.14.3 ˁġf
180
4.1.15 Conclusion
181
4.2 Propositional modality
182
4.2.1 Possibility
182
4.2.2 Future
183
4.2.2.1 The PC
183
4.2.2.2 qa-PC
183
4.2.2.3 /hassa/
184
4.2.2.4 /ġaḥ/
185
4.2.2.5 Conclusion
186
4.2.3 Propositional modality implications of information structure
186
particles 4.2.3.1 The particle /xō(b)/
187
4.2.3.2 The particle /ma/
187
4.2.3.3 The particle /ˀašu-/
189
4.2.3.4 The particle /ġēġ/
192
4.2.3.5 The particle /kǝn/
193 xxi
4.2.5 Conclusion
195
4.3 Conditional sentences
196
4.3.1 General conditionals
197
4.3.2 Potential conditionals
198
4.3.3 Counterfactual conditionals
199
4.3.4 Conclusion
202
4.4. Conclusion
203
Discussion and conclusions
205
Bibliography
210
xxii
Symbols and abbreviations //
phonemic transcription
[]
phonetic transcription
*
reconstructed form
->
developed into synchronically
>
developed into diachronically
~
interchangeable with
|
syllable boundary
∅
zero
-
affixation (phonological dependency, for example: ma-PC(2))
+
cliticization (phonological independence, for example: ma+PC(2))
√
root
.
final tone
,
continuous tone
?
rising tone (question)
…
disrupted prosodic group (unfinished segment)
:
opening of a following quotation
!
command, request or urge; exclamation (final tone). vocative (rising tone)
1
first person
2
second person
3
third person
ACC
accusative
AP
active participle
C
consonant
C1…4
first…forth consonant (for example: "C2-w/y" means "the second consonant is /w /or /y/)
CA
Classical Arabic
CB
Christian Baghdadi
CONJ
conjunction (content clause)
DA
definite article xxiii
DAT
dative
PDEM
proximal demonstrative
DDEM
distal demonstrative
DIM
diminutive
DU
dual
ᴱᴳ()ᴱᴳ
English word(s)
f
feminine
GEN
genitive
ᴴᴱ()ᴴᴱ
Modern Hebrew word(s)
IDA
indefinite article
IDP
idiophones
INT
interjection
JB
Jewish Baghdadi
m
masculine
MB
Muslim Baghdadi
ᴹᴮ()ᴹᴮ
Muslim Baghdadi word(s)
MOD
modal particle
MSA
Modern Standard Arabic
NMLZ
nominalizer
OA
Old Arabic
p
plural
PN
proper noun
REF
reflexive pronoun
REL
relative pronoun
s
singular
SC
suffix conjugation (frequently referred to as the "perfect" form)
PC
prefix conjugation (frequently referred to as the "imperfect" form)
PP
passive participle
V
vowel
VP
Verb Phrase
xxiv
Introduction This dissertation deals with the function of preverbal particles in the Arabic dialect of the Jews in Baghdad (henceforth: JB). The analysis of the particles is primarily a synchronic one, although some parts of it are dedicated to diachronic discussions about the development of the particles and their origins. JB was the mother tongue of one of the biggest speaking communities in the Jewish world. While it was reasonably described phonologically, morphologically, and lexicographically, works dedicated to its syntactic and pragmatic description hardly exist. This dissertation is probably the first one to deeply analyze a phenomenon beyond the level of the word in this dialect. As a foundation for the analysis, a phonemically transcribed corpus of spoken texts in the dialect was produced (see Appendix). It is my hope that the corpus, which consists of descriptions of the tradition, culture, and history of the Iraqi Jewry, will be used as a starting point for future research about the Jewish community in Baghdad from different academic perspectives. This introduction opens the dissertation and includes basic information about JB and its dialect family, introduces the research question in a general manner, and discusses the methodological approach adopted in the research as well as describes the corpus on which the research is based. JB JB served for hundreds of years as a mother tongue for the people of one of the most prosperous Jewish centers in the world. Jews lived in Baghdad from the days of its establishment as the capital of the Abbasid dynasty up to the beginning of the seventh decade of the 20th century, when the last wave of Baghdadi Jews immigrated to Israel. Throughout the years and under different rulers, the Jews of Baghdad managed to maintain their religion, traditions, and language. JB was spoken extensively by the Jewish community in the Baghdad and in southern Iraq, and is distinct from the Christian dialect (henceforth: CB) and the Muslim dialect (henceforth: MB) that surrounded it. The massive Jewish immigration from Iraq to Israel in the early 50s of the 20th century left behind a small community of a few thousands Jews that were concentrated mainly in Baghdad. This community continued speaking devotedly its unique language. The vast majority, including my family, immigrated to Israel in the early 70s, using the dialect only in private occasions. Today the speakers of JB are old, small in number, and most of them live in Israel. JB speakers were bilingual – they used the Jewish dialect in their homes and in the community, but spoke the Muslim dialect with non-Jews. Thus, the Jewish dialect was influenced by MB. JB was also influenced by other languages with which it was in contact throughout its history, such as Turkish and Persian. As a primarily spoken dialect, only a few written texts in JB exist. These were written in Hebrew letters, and they require a meticulous work of locating and gathering. Scientifically edited texts which allow a proper linguistic, dialectological or philological research are scarce (Avishur 1979: 86). The written language was used in 1
translation (šarḥ) of the Old Testament and parts of the liturgical literature, such as the Passover Haggada. This language differs from the colloquial Jewish Baghdadi, and may be considered as a literary language (Mansour 2006: 232). This dissertation will focus, however, only on the colloquial dialect. The future of JB is, naturally, a sad one since the last generation of people who still speak it as a mother tongue doesn't consist of people younger than sixty years old. JB's extinction is unfortunately inevitable. The last speakers of JB are also influenced by other languages as they spent almost five decades out of Iraq. Thus, the research and documentation of the JB at this point of time is an urgent task, which this dissertation is meant to undertake. Mesopotamian dialects The geographical region extending from the Persian Gulf along the Euphrates and the Tigris up to the rivers' origin is the home of a dialect group. This group is usually called Mesopotamian dialects, after the traditional name given to this geographical region. More specifically, Iraqi Arabic was divided by Haim Blanc in 1964 into two dialect groups – the qǝltu dialects, and the gǝlǝt dialects1. In Blanc's own words: "The latter are spoken by the Muslim population (sedentary and non-sedentary) of Lower Iraq, and by the non-sedentary population in the rest of the area; the former are spoken by the non-Muslim population of Lower Iraq and the sedentary population (Muslim and non-Muslim) of the rest of the area" (1964: 5-6). Baghdad, as Blanc found, was divided into three dialects, each spoken by a different religious group. Thus, the Muslims had their own dialect (MB), which was different from the one spoken by the Christians (CB), which, in its turn, was different from JB. Interestingly, MB is of gǝlǝt type, whereas JB and CB are of the qǝltu type. As a member of qǝltu dialects, JB shares the following peculiarities: preservation of the phonemes /q/ and /ǧ/; ˀimāla towards /ē/ or /ī/; existence of the nonArabic phonemes /p/, /g/, /č/; realization of CA /i/ and /u/ as /ǝ/; 1s SC ending /-tu/, and others (Jastrow 1978: 31-32). In the following years and based on extensive field research in several communities all over Mesopotamia, Otto Jastrow was able to depict a more accurate picture of the qǝltu dialects, and to divide the family into sub-groups. JB was classified under the Tigris branch of qǝltu dialects (idem: 24-25). One of the peculiarities of the Tigris branch, which is a characteristic of JB as well, is the realization of CA /r/ as /ġ/. JB also preserves the interdental consonants, though there are other dialects in the Tigris group, like CB, that realize them as dentals. Blanc claimed that JB is a direct descendant of dialects spoken by the urban population of Abbasid Iraq, and has preserved or continued several basic phonological and morphological features of the older vernaculars (1964: 166-176). This claim was 1
Blanc called the dialects after the SC form of the 1s of the verb "to say" in stem I, which encapsulates three of their most distinguishable features – the realization of CA /q/ and /u/, and the 1s ending of the SC.
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supported in later years by linguistic evidence contributed by Aryeh Levin (1994: 328329; 2012: 419). Thus, it is probably the case that the description and documentation of JB enable us to take a glance at archaic linguistic peculiarities of the Arabic language. Since comparison with other Arabic dialects, and mainly those which belong to the qǝltu dialects' family, is frequently carried out throughout the dissertation, I see it fit to present the classification of this family, as summarized by Talay (2011: 911): Tigris Group2
Mosul and the surrounding villages (Jewish, Christian, and Muslim dialects of Mosul; Bǝḥzāni; Rabīˁa) Tikrit and its surroundings JB, CB, and the Jewish and Christian dialects of southern Iraq.
Anatolia group
Mardin (the city of Mardin; Kǝndērib; Āzǝx; Mḥallamīye) Diyarbakɪr Siirt Kozluk-Sason-Mus dialects
Euphrates group
ˁĀna and Albū Kmāl Dēr izZōr Khawētna Hīt (Muslims, Karaite Jews)
Kurdistan group
Northern (Jews of ˁAqra and Arbil) Southern (Kirkuk)
A general description of the research question One of the prominent characteristic of JB is the development of a wide range of grammatical means that precede the verb and change its meaning, especially on the domain of tense, aspect, and mood (TAM). This research examines the preverbal particles in JB and targets to understand their semantic value in changing grammatical environments. This is done synchronically, based on their occurrences in phonemically transcribed spoken texts. In addition, the research also attempts, when possible, to find the sources of these particles and the grammaticalization processes they underwent. As implied earlier, little was written about the preverbal particles in JB (see 1.3). Moreover, the short paragraphs dedicated to the particles in JB and even in surrounding Arabic dialects show the extent of disagreement among scholars about their function and meaning. The main reason for that is that no thorough research of these particles has been conducted so far.
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Jastrow divided the Tigris group differently, into two sub-groups, according to the level of grammatical similarity. The first consists of JB and Tikrit, and the second of the rest (1983: 102).
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Some of the preverbal particles of JB are primarily tense-aspect markers, whereas others are primarily modal markers. Thus, Chapter 3 will be dedicated to the temporal-aspectual system of JB, whereas Chapter 4 will be dedicated to its modal system. The structure of the dissertation In Chapter 1 the theoretical framework upon which this dissertation is based is established. It opens with the definitions of the TAM categories, their sub-divisions, and their diachronic development. Following, a general discussion about TAM in CA, MSA, and modern Arabic dialects is presented. Finally, the existing information in the linguistic literature about TAM in JB is summarized. Chapter 2 presents the basic milestones of the phonological and morphological system of JB. It is based on previous scholarly works, but nevertheless is extended with new findings that resulted from the work with the corpus and its analysis. Rather than to give a full picture of the phonological and morphological system of the dialect, the goal of this general sketch in this chapter is to equip the reader with the basic tools to access the texts and the examples in the dissertation. Chapter 3 analyzes the tense-aspect system of JB. This task is carried out gradually. At first the functions of the different verb forms are surveyed to give the reader a general picture of the variety of forms and functions. Then a few variables are taken into consideration, each one at a time, in order to demonstrate their influence of the choice in a certain verb form. These variables include textual, syntactic, temporal, and aspectual considerations. Later on, two cases of functional overlap between verb forms will be examined. Finally, a diachronic analysis of the "newest" form in the system, qa-PC, is carried out, in an attempt to understand how it has developed. Chapter 4 is dedicated to the analysis of the preverbal particles that contribute modal meaning to the discourse. The chapter is divided according to the modal category to which the particles belong, namely, event modality, proposition modality, and conditionals. The main findings of the research are finally presented in a chapter dedicated to the summary and conclusions. In the appendix one can find transcribed and translated texts in the dialect. Most of the examples along the dissertation were taken from these texts. Thus, when needed, one can access the full text to examine the context in which the examples occur. Methodology The research is based on a spoken corpus which contains recordings of day to day conversations, narratives, and interviews of native JB speakers. A significant part of the corpus was transcribed phonemically. The preverbal particles are drawn from the recordings and then analyzed. Examples of this can be seen throughout the dissertation. Different methodological approaches correspond to the different chapters of the analysis. I will first describe the process of the building of the corpus. Then, the methodology behind the phonological and morphological sketch will be address. 4
Finally, methodological remarks concerning the analysis of the preverbal particles themselves will be added. The corpus The examples along the dissertation are drawn from the corpus. The corpus was transcribed phonemically rather than phonetically, i.e., a transcription which come to represent the phonemes of JB, aspiring to the closest phonetical representation as possible. The inventory of phonemes in JB is detailed in the phonological description section (see 2.1). As the corpus consists of texts in a spoken language, it requires also some indications of prosodic elements in the speech of the informants. My approach to prosody follows Izre'el who claims that the spoken language is organized via prosodic groups: "The prosodic group […] is a coherent intonation contour […that] encapsulates a coherent structural, functional segmental unit, be it syntactic, semantic, informational, or the like, and defines its boundaries" (2010: 57). In practice, the segmentation of a discourse flow into prosodic groups is made by detecting their boundaries based on speech pauses. There are two main types of prosodic boundaries: "terminal boundary tone", which codes that the speaker doesn’t have anything more to say, and "continuous boundary tone", which codes that the speaker wants to continue talking. A falling tone by default indicates finality, whereas a level or slightly rising tone indicates continuity. These two main boundary types, and specifically the continuous tone, can be sub-divided into further types, such as the rising tone, which codes yes-no questions and occasionally also content questions. Adopting this methodology with a few additions, the end of a line in the transcriptions presents the border of a prosodic group, which can be delimited by one of the following symbols: Symbol . , ? … : !
Indication Final tone Continuous tone Rising tone (question) Disrupted prosodic group (unfinished segment) Opening of a following quotation Command, request or urge; exclamation (final tone) Vocative (continuous tone)
As for stress units on the lexical level, in the many cases in which a grammatical particle, an auxiliary verb, or a morpheme is affixed to a lexeme to create a single phonological word3, they are written together with a dash between them. This is important since JB has several homonymic particles that are distinguishable in respect to their ability to join the lexeme they modify to create a single phonological word. The stress falls on the lexeme according to the rules detailed under 2.1.3.
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A unit consisting of one syllable or more which has one main stress. For the complete definition of the term see Dixon & Aikhenvald p.13.
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The translation into English was a big challenge. There is a constant tension between a literal translation that will be more faithful and representative of the Arabic speech on the one hand, and a fluent translation into proper English that will make it easier for the reader to understand the message, on the other. I tried my best to create a combination of the two, and in cases where I felt that something was missing, an explanation was added in brackets or in a footnote. When the literal translation seemed really off, like in proverbs or idiomatic collocations, it was added in brackets. That is also the case with the overwhelmingly frequent use of rhetorical questions in JB. The recorded informants immigrated to Israel at least forty five years ago, and they naturally mix some Hebrew in their speech and are influenced by it. However, the chosen informants are old and their spoken JB is very dominant in their daily life. Some of them do not speak any Hebrew. The corpus is drawn from three main sources. The first is interviews which were made in 1999 with my grandfather, Abraham Ben-Eliyahu (Xḷaṣči). The interviewer is his friend, Yogev Yaḥezqel. The second source is recordings that I made myself with my grandmother, Alwīz Ben-Eliyahu (Xḷaṣči). These recordings were made in RamatGan between 2013 and 2015, and involve many other JB speakers of my family that happen to sit in my gradmother's living room during the recordings. The third source is Yardena Sasōn, an informant that I met through a Facebook group dedicated to the preservation of JB4. When non-JB native speakers take part in a text their words were not transcribed but only translated into English. In addition, in some cases the names of the participants, as well as names of people that were mentioned in the texts, were elided in order to keep their privacy. In light of the fact that the research also examines the discursive function of the markers, it was of importance to record in different circumstances, so that the analysis will be based on a wide range of text types. Thus, the corpus includes historical narratives, folktales, recipes, descriptions of traditions, free conversations and dialogues, etc. The phonological and morphological sketch The sketch of JB's phonological and morphological system in Chapter 2 is a result of the work of transcribing the recordings. To be able to transcribe the texts phonemically, I had to consult the main sources of JB's grammar written so far, namely Blanc (1964) and Mansour (1991). Both made a substantial contribution to the dialect's phonological and morphological system. There are, however, points of disagreement between the two, and points in which the linguistic reality rising from the recordings doesn't correspond with their descriptions. These points required a deeper examination and resulted in different conclusions. The approach taken in the phonological and morphological sketches is mainly a diachronic one, i.e., one that tries to track the changes that JB underwent in comparison with earlier stages of Arabic such as Classical Arabic (CA) or Old Arabic 4
"meshamrim et ha-safa ha-iraqit". https://www.facebook.com/groups/zahavb/ (accessed 2016-08-05)
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(OA). Although there is no indication for a direct continuum of speech between CA and JB, the diachronic method proves itself useful, since in an overwhelming majority of the cases the differences between CA and JB are systematic. Cases in which the changes do not agree with the diachronic rule are, of course, addressed and explained using other approaches such the synchronic one, language contact, etc. In order to confirm the grammatical conclusions, in many cases I asked my informants direct questions such as "how do you say X", or "what does this word mean" etc. This method proved itself very useful in sustaining the grammatical rules. The analysis of the TAM system The theoretical background about TAM systems (see Chapter 1) shows that several factors influence the choice of a specific TAM marker. Among them are, naturally, temporal, aspectual, and modal factors, but also textual and syntactic ones. All these are taken into consideration in the analysis. As the analysis develops, each of these factors is fixed at a time in order to see how the grammatical environment influences its value. In this respect I used the basic structural method of finding minimal pairs, oppositions, and distinctive features to determine the value of the particles. Typically for a synchronic study, the value of each element is derived from its potential contrast with other forms that might appear in the same syntactic position (paradigmatic relations), as well as from its dependency on its environment, i.e. the other elements in the sequence (syntagmatic relations). The environment is analyzed on the microsyntactic level – the expression that represents the syntactic relation and the sentence in which the mean appears, and on the macro-syntactic level – text unit above the sentence level in which the mean is included and with which it relates. For the sake of simplicity, the micro-syntactic level will be referred to as syntactic, and the macrosyntactic as textual. Even though the dissertation is concerned with the functions of the preverbal particles in JB, they cannot be inferred in isolation from other constituents of the verbal system. In other words, the function of a preverbal particle is determined in relation to the function of other preverbal particles in the system but also in relation to other verbal markers such as moods and unmodified verbal forms. Thus, the analysis of the preverbal particles forces us to analyze the entire verbal system. As can be seen from the variety of texts described above, it was also my goal to include different genres and text types such as narratives (folktales, historical narratives, etc.), dialogues, and conversations since they present different dynamics and linguistic material. The grammatical phenomena that are found, for instance, in a gossip conversation are different from those found in a historical narrative. Thus, the particles are analyzed in a variety of genres. Needless to say, the analysis of the verbal forms is based on their real occurrences in the corpus. Each example given in the analysis consists of three elements which appear in separate lines: transcription, glosses, and translation. In this manner, so I hope, the reader will be able to keep a close track of the flow of text and of the connection between the transcription, the glosses, and the translation. The glosses are interlinear morpheme-by-morpheme ones, made in accordance with Leipzig Glossing
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Rules (Comrie et al.). The preverbal particles themselves, as the object of this analysis, are not glossed, to avoid unnecessary preconceptions about them. Due to space limitations the examples in the analysis itself will be short. However, since the context is a crucial parameter in determining the value of a verb form, larger chunks of text in which the examples are included will be given in the appendix. These texts are transcribed and translated for the reader's convenience. The text number from which the example is taken is noted between square brackets on the right side of each example. Phonological and morphological remarks on the transcriptions are available in footnotes in the appendix. To avoid repetition the remarks will not be presented in the examples given in the analysis. For the same reason, examples that are repeated will usually not cited again. One can refer to the original example by the serial number to its left. As in the case of the phonological and morphological sketch, also with the analysis of the TAM system I asked the informants direct questions about the meaning of a certain construction or phrase. This method was mainly used to verify my findings, but also when the corpus lacked enough naturally produced examples of certain phenomena. Along the analysis several cases in which two forms or more overlap in function are revealed. In order to better illustrate the overlap, the information is frequently presented in tables. The overlapping cases in these tables are marked in italics. As a secondary goal, the research also targets the understanding of the diachronic development of the particles. This task is a complicated one since we lack sources for older stages of JB. Under the current conditions, we can rely only on older stages of Arabic, like CA or OA, or surrounding Arabic dialects and languages. The information about equivalent particles and constructions in other languages and dialects is taken from the existing literature and is quoted as is. Thus, the grammatical terms which were used by the different scholars to describe a specific particle in different dialects could be compared and discussed in relation to the linguistic reality in JB. In the same fashion, no changes were made in the transcription and the translation of examples that were taken from the existing dialectal literature. They are quoted as they are without glosses. To complete the diachronic picture, the comparative dialectal data is supplemented by existing cross-linguistic observations about grammaticalization paths of TAM means. The diachronic analysis is used to support and confirm the conclusions about the function and value of a specific particle or form. Thus, it will be carried out at the end of the analysis of the particle or form.
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Chapter 1 Tense, aspect, and modality in theory and practice This chapter recaps the linguistic work on tense, aspect, and modality. The first section, 1.1, sets the cross-linguistic theoretical background for the three categories and aims to define them as well as their sub-categories and other related terms. Section 1.2 describes the TAM systems of classical Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic, and modern Arabic dialects in general. Finally, Section 1.3 focuses specifically on JB, and summarizes what was written so far about its verbal system. 1.1 Tense, aspect and modality TAM are grammatical categories whose conceptual notions and exact boundaries are hard to set and define. As per Bertinetto "the field of tense-aspect studies still suffers from a much lower than desirable consensus on the basic theoretical premises" (2003: 166). Nevertheless, it is clear that TAM contribute to the description of situations5, each from a different angle. Generally, but not necessarily, they are marked within the verbal complex. The following is a summary of the main scholarly work on the subject. 1.1.1 Tense The category of tense belongs to the wider grammatical category of deixis. According to Lyons, deixis locate and identify "persons, objects, events, processes, and activities being talked about, or referred to, in relation to the spatiotemporal context created and sustained by the act of utterance and the participation in it, typically, of a single speaker and at least one addressee" (1977: 637). The notion of "spatiotemporal context" is critical for the understanding of tense. Timberlake terms it "the contextual occasion" and refers to it as "a variable occasion in the narrative or discourse at which situations and changes are taken to be significant and related to other events". This explanation enables him to define tense as "a deictic operation that locates events and their contextual occasions with respect to the hereand-now of speech" (2007: 282-283). In the same fashion, Lyons defines tense as a semantic category of the sentence that "grammaticalizes the relationship which holds between the time of the situation that is being described and the temporal zero-point of the deictic context" (1977: 678). Jespersen's contributed the distinction between time and tense to the study of tense. Tense relates to form and belongs to the world of phonology-morphology-syntax, whereas time relates to the notion of time and belongs to the world of ideas, namely semantics (1924: 255-256). The western grammatical tradition, following the Indo-European tradition, acknowledges three principal categories of times – past, present, and future. Although the tradition treats tenses as referring to times, tense, in fact, has to do with pairs of times and the relation between them, specifically between the times of events and the 5
The term situation will be used as a general term for all types of "instantiations of temporal properties" (Binnick 1991: 179) to avoid the confusion between processes, activities, events, etc.
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moment "now", usually defined as the time of speech. The same event must be described using different tenses at different times because "now" keeps referring to different times. This explains why tense is a deictic category (Binnick 1991: 3, 128). Many scholars agree on Reichenbach's definition of tenses as the relations holding between: S – The time of speech act E – The time of the event or state of affairs R – The reference point, the temporal "point of view" R may precede, follow, or coincide with S, just as E may precede, follow or coincide with R. The simple or absolute tenses are those in which R coincides with S. for the past, R precedes S, for the future R follows S, and for the present R=S. As for E, if it precedes R, it necessarily precedes S, and a past tense results. Similarly, if E follows R, it follows S, and the result is the future. If all three coincide, the present results. Relative tenses are those in which the temporal point of view is not the time of the speech act. They have to do with the relationship between R and S. The point of view may be the past or the future rather than the present. In this case if E precedes R, a retrospective tense results. If E follows R, a prospective one results (Reichenbach 1966: 287-298). Reichenbach's model clarifies that tense is not only a category that locates the time of a situation relatively to a point of view, but also relates situations chronologically to one another in tenses like the past or future perfect. Languages differ in the level of accuracy that they express in relation to location of situations on the time axis. Different languages distinguish different number of tenses and vary in the manner in which these are conveyed, i.e. morphologically or lexically (Comrie 1985: 7). There are those which express past, present, future, but there are those which have only two distinctions: the general, or neutral, which is non-past, and the past, or the other way around – future, and non-future (Timberlake 2007: 305). There are also languages which don't grammaticliaze tense at all, and time is expressed by lexical means like temporal adverbs. In fact, the grammatical means tend to be less sensitive to temporal nuances than the lexical ones (Comrie 1985: 8). Interestingly, all the languages that grammaticlize tense do so by the verb. Tense is not, however, a category of the verb, but rather of the sentence, the utterance or the textual episode from which the temporal context is inferred (idem: 12). 1.1.2 Aspect Comrie defines aspects as "different ways of viewing the internal temporal constituency of a situation". Unlike tense that denotes the external time of the situation, aspect denotes its internal time, i.e. aspect is not concerned with relating the time of the situation to any other time point, and thus it is not a deictic notion (Comrie 1976: 3, 5; Lyons 1977: 707).
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Aspect as a grammatical category may be expressed by morphological inflection, like the Spanish past imperfect vs. past simple, or periphrastically, like the English use of the verb "to be" before the gerund to express progressivity. There are languages whose verb inflection encodes both aspectual and temporal information. Aspect is not grammaticlized in all the languages, but even those languages that don’t grammaticlize it are able to express it by general semantic oppositions (Comrie 1976: 6, 9). 1.1.2.1 Perfective vs. imperfective The two main categories of aspect are the perfective and the imperfective. The former looks at the situation in its entirety, from outside, without necessarily distinguishing the internal structure of the situation, whereas the latter looks at the situation from inside and is concerned with its internal structure, i.e its duration, its phasal sequences etc. (idem: 4). From Bertinetto's perspective the perfectiveimperfective opposition concerns "the nature of the interval corresponding to the event time". "Perfective situations are to be construed as closed intervals, for the event is viewed in its entirety, whereas imperfective situations refer to intervals open at their right boundary" (2001: 183). Comrie stresses that perfectivity indicates a completed, not a complete, situation. In this respect, the only piece of new semantic information that the perfective contributes is that of the termination of the situation. It can also be viewed as resultative, i.e. it indicates the successful completion of a situation (idem: 18-20). Dahl's definition of the perfective is more elaborated - "a perfective verb will typically denote a single event, seen as an unanalyzed whole, with a well-defined result or end-state, located in the past. More often than not, the event will be punctual, or at least, it will be seen as a single transition from one state to its opposite, the duration of which can be disregarded". As for the tendency of the perfective to denote past time, Dahl admits that it is prototypic of the perfective but refers to it as "a secondary feature" (1985: 78-79). As for the imperfective, Comrie, divides imperfective situations as follows: Imperfective Continuous Progressive Non-progressive
Habitual
Thus, an imperfective situation can be either continuous or habitual. Continuous situations can be further divided into progressive and non-progressive ones (1976: 25). Comrie interprets a habitual situation as characteristic of an "extended period of time". The situation can be protracted indefinitely in time or can be iterative, i.e. repetitive. Thus, according to Comrie both sentences below are habitual: 1. The temple of Diana used to stand at Ephesus. 2. The old professor used always to arrive late. While the second sentence consists of repetitive occasions in which the professor used to arrive late, the first sentence denotes a stative situation in the past (idem: 27-28). Dahl says that the difference between an iterative and a habitual situation 11
is that for the latter the number of times that the action was repeated is irrelevant (1985: 97). Thus, repetition is not a necessary condition for habituality. As for the precise definition of iterative situations, Timberlake phrases it as follows: "complex states composed of equivalent sub-situations in which activity alternates with the absence of activity" (2007: 289). Binnick simplifies the definition by referring to it as a regularly repeated action (1991: 203). Thus, utterances can involve both habituality and iterativity, can be only habitual, or only iterative. Comrie defines continuous situation negatively – "imperfectivity that is not occasioned/determined by habituality" (1976: 33). This definition is insufficient and we will return to it further below. In the meantime we will look at the sub-categories of the continuous – the progressive and the non-progressive. In order to grasp the opposition between the progressive and the nonprogressive, we must introduce a crucial distinction between two kinds of situation types, namely stative vs. dynamic situations. Stative states of affairs are ones that don't change throughout their duration. They stand in contrast to dynamic situations that involve a change in state and develop from an initial state to a terminal state (Binnick 1991: 183, 188). The non-progressive relates, according to Comrie, to a more or less permanent state of affairs while the progressive to a more temporary one. He exemplifies the difference by a pair like (1976: 37): 1. I live at 6 Railway Cuttings 2. I'm living at 6 Railway Cuttings According to Dahl, the prototypical use of the progressive involves an "ongoing activity". As such, it is typically used with dynamic rather than stative situations. As for the notion of durativity that is used many times to describe the progressive, Dahl claims that it is misleading since the progressive can naturally occur with punctual temporal reference (1985: 91-93). Comrie adds that durativity simply refers to the fact that the given situation lasts for a certain period of time (or is conceived as one). It doesn’t refer to the internal structure, and thus not imperfective. The opposite notion to durativity is punctuality - a momentarily situation that does not last in time (or is conceived as one). Thus, according to Comrie, a punctual situation has no internal structure, and it is also not imperfective (1976: 41-42). Bertinetto solves the durative vs. progressive terminological confusion by assigning the former to Aktionsarten and the latter to grammatical aspect (see 1.1.2.2 below) (2001: 177-178). If we go back to the definition of the continuous, it views the situation, whether it is dynamic or stative, as ongoing at the time of reference, whereas the progressive is assigned only to dynamic predicates and the Non-progressives to stative ones which cover one (Bybee et al. 1994: 127, 152). 1.1.2.2 Aktionsarten In addition to the category of aspect discussed so far, it is important to pay close attention to aktionsarten. The term literally means "kinds of action", and as suggested by the literal translation, different classes of aktionsarten distinguish different types of situations in terms of their internal temporal structure and development. A situation can 12
be, for example, dynamic or stative, bounded or unbounded, built up of phases or homogenous, etc. In this respect, the aktionsart is in part a property of the lexical semantics of verbs or larger expressions, and as such many scholars refer to it as lexical aspect, which is distinguished from grammatical aspect which was discussed so far. While aktionsarten represent a classification of situations and sub-situations according to their phasic structure, grammatical aspect has to do "with the relationship of a situation to the temporal frame against which it is set. It does not classify types of occurrences" (Binick 1991: 213). In some languages aktionsarten are marked morphologically, for example, the prefix /er-/ in German can be regarded as perfective when pairs like /jagen/ "chase, hunt" vs. /erjagen/ "catch" are considered. In other languages it may be marked by different verb stems or by aspectual auxiliary verbs like "stop", "start", "continue" etc. It is clear today that the aktionsart classification of a predication is not determined solely by the verb, but rather by the combination of the verb and its arguments in verb phrases, propositions, or even sentences (Sasse 2002: 204). Thus, the aktionsart category of a lexeme is not fixed. Binnick claims that it is "optional and unsystematic" (1991: 170) and Timberlake relates to it as "not rigid" (2007: 286). Lyons sees Aktionsarten as an unsatisfactory term since the word "action" is too narrow and since the classification doesn’t depend on the semantic property of the verbs themselves but rather on that of the verb in a specific context. Thus, he prefers to call it "the aspectual character" of the verb, or simply "character", which he defines as "that part of the verb's meaning whereby it (normally) denotes one kind of situation rather than another" (1977: 706). Bertinetto, on his part, prefers the term "Actionality" (2003: 147-148). Despite its flaws, we will follow here the traditional term "Aktionsarten". Vendler distinguished four main verb categories, referred to as Aristotelian since they correspond to the Aristotelian philosophy of action and intention. These are activities, achievements, accomplishments, and states. Vendler's theory was further developed, but most scholars agree on the basic situation taxonomy suggested by him. This taxonomy is presented in the following table6.
6
The features and examples are based on an integration of the information found in the following sources: Binnick (1991: 170-196); Bybee et al. (1994: 55); Comrie (1976: 13, 44-47, 49-51); Lyons (1977: 711-712); Timberlake (2007: 284-286); and Vendler (1957: 143-150).
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Aktionsart
States
Main Characteristics
Static; non-dynamic; usually unchanging throughout their duration; all stages or phases are identical; don’t stop unless actively stopped; expected to continue by inertia; gapless; have no phasic structure; homogenous; lack volition or agency Natural with the imperfective; don’t go well with the perfective9; incompatible with the progressive want; know; be tall; be ripe; be located; like; be aware; be sad
Interaction with grammatical aspect
Examples
Non-states Dynamic; developing from an initial state to a terminal state; involve change in state; non-terminative Atelic Telic7 Activities Performances; involve a product, an outcome, or a result; have an inherent end point; terminative; bound8; sudden stop prevents the end result; viewed perfectively Accomplishments Achievements Change in a Durative; take place Punctual; continuous fashion; over an interval; non occurring at a don't continue by momentaneous; have point in time; inertia; require input significant momentaneous; of energy; successive intermediate phases instantaneous; intervals are of change that add up place a boundary equivalent or even to a definite change on a state; report identical; sudden stop the inception of a doesn’t influence the new state; pure situation; viewed change; little imperfectively agentive control
Natural with the progressive and iterative; unnatural with the perfective
Natural with the perfective and iterative
Natural with the perfective; unnatural with the progressive
write, run, sing, play the piano, walk, sneeze, develop
play a sonata, place between, skin someone, decide, run a race, sing a song
arrive at, fall ill, remember, forget, die, win a race, eat up dinner
Vendler's categories - states, activities, accomplishments, and achievements, will be used in our analysis. As was already stressed, verbal lexemes may have several lexical aspect interpretations, and thus it is also important to take grammatical aspect into consideration. The combination of both should give a definite idea about the aspect of the predication. Sasse notes this intimate relationship between aktionsart and aspect, and claims that the notion of boundness links them together. Stative situations are imperfective and non-bound; telic situations are perfective and bound; and activities might be bound or not, and so either perfective or imperfective (2002: 207). Before we move on, there are two additional aspectual categories which were not defined so far and should be mentioned here:
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Timberlake uses the term "liminal" instead. Dahl notes that "a class of situations or a characterization of a situation is bound if and only if it is an essential condition on the members of the class or an essential part of the characterization that a certain limit or end-state is attained" (1985: 29). 9 When a state is denoted by the perfective it conveys the entry into the state (Comrie 1976: 20). 8
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Inchoative - stresses the beginning phase of an action. It is contrasted to the decessive, which stresses the ending phase of the action (Binnick 1991: 203). Continuative - indicates that a dynamic situation is ongoing but also stresses that the agent of the situation is deliberately keeping the action going. Its occurrences are usually translated into English using "keep on" (Bybee et al. 1994: 153). 1.1.3 Tense and aspect Givón claims that under Eurocentric dominance the cross-linguistic distribution of the category of tense is exaggerated. He suspects that the majority of the world's languages have no tense system and are primarily aspectual (1982: 155). Lyons agrees and claims that aspect is probably more widespread than tense throughout the languages of the world (1977: 687). In many languages the morphological forms denote both tense and aspect, which makes it difficult to define the boundaries between the categories and results in frequent confusion between the two. Binnick claims that the lack of success in understanding the verb was due to the attempt to study tense in isolation from aspect (and mood). He quotes Wallace, who said that the distinction between tense, aspect, and mood is "an arbitrary divisions of verbal semantics into compartments which are not quite as easily separable as one is led to believe" (1991: 131). Timberlake even suggests to think of tense and aspect together as a general category which he calls temporality (2007: 315). Thus, our discussion from now on will be one that combines notions from the aspectual and the temporal worlds. 1.1.3.1 The uses of the tenses 1.1.3.1.1 Present tense Situations that coincide exactly with the single moment in time which is the present moment are rare10. More characteristically, the present tense refers to situations that occupy a much longer period of time than the present moment, but include the present moment. Present tense says nothing more than that, and thus aspect is important in deciding whether the situation is restricted to the present moment or not (Comrie 1985: 37). This is why Bybee et al. find it difficult to classify the present as tense. Indeed, present tense essentially covers imperfective situations with the moment of speech as a reference point (Bybee et al. 1994: 126). Binnick mentions several functions of the present. Some of which, like the historical present and the future, have to do with temporal point of view and will be elaborated below (see 1.1.4.1 and 1.1.6.3). A few additional functions involve aspectual features and deserve to be defined here (Binnick 1991: 247-252): Habitual11 present – does not require reference to the time of the speech act and presupposes a series of occasions. Binnick gives the sentence "John dates redheads" as an example of the use of the habitual present, from which we can infer that the fact that John dates redheads is perceived as a single situation which consists of occasions in which he actually dated them. These occasions, however, don't have to be true at the 10 11
Dahl notes that present perfective can occur when it is used as reportative or performative (1985: 80). Binnick also terms it "frequentative present".
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moment of speech, i.e. at the moment of speech John doesn’t necessarily dates a redhead. Stative present – stative situations that refer to the time of the speech act. For example "John believes in God" or "John loves Marry", which are always true, also at the moment of speech. Gnomic present – expresses eternal or timeless truths, thus they are non-deictic (Bertinetto 2003: 165). Dahl refers to it as "law-like" and notes that it describes characteristic properties of a species, a kind or an individual (1985: 99). Lyons distinguishes two types of gnomic situations (1977: 680):
Timeless utterances - to which the question of time-reference simply does not arise since the situation is outside time altogether. Eternal truths of mathematics and theology belong here, as, for example "two and two are four". Omnitemporal utterances - propositions whose true value is constant for all values of time. They tend to be concerned with matter of opinion rather than fact, which brings them within the scope of epistemic modality12. Tendencies, generalities, and assumed regularities belong here, as, for example "corruption starts at the top".
1.1.3.1.2 Past tense According to Dahl the past is probably the only category whose character as a category of tense is uncontroversial. However, the fact that it may be indicated in several ways, and in particular by TAM categories other than past, makes it rather complicated to figure out the exact role of the past in different TAM systems (1985: 116). Moreover, forms which normally express the past also signal irrealis, hypothetical, or counterfactual modality. Binnick claims that the use of a past gram in these contexts distances or detaches the situation from the speech-act situation (1991: 390). In any case, Comrie suggest to refer to the modal use of a past gram as exceptional (1985: 21). For the definition and uses of the future tense see 1.1.6.3. 1.1.3.2 The perfect The perfect indicates, according to Comrie, "the continuing present relevance of a past situation". It expresses a relation between two time points – the time of a prior situation, and the time of the state resulting from it. In this respect the perfect is retrospective (Comrie 1976: 52, 64). Comrie's explanation of the perfect has to do with tense rather than aspect, since it doesn't look at the internal structure of a situation but rather relates two points in time. Bybee et al. prefer the term "anteriors" for this category (1994: 54), which also implies their temporal rather than aspectual essence. Indeed, the prefect in the past and perfect in the future are less concerned with the resulting state and more with the location of one situation relative to another, and so Timberlake categorizes them as "relative tenses" (2007: 192). Sasse, on the other hand, combines
12
See 1.1.6.1.
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aspectual notions in his definition saying that the perfect "associates a change of state (perfectivity) with its resultant subsequent state (imperfectivity)" (2002: 210). Binnick presents a few theories about the essence of the perfect, but stresses two of them. One is pragmatic and talks about the perfect as denoting "current relevance", i.e. the perfect is a kind of past tense that is used for actions that have been lately performed or that are taken into view as connected with their present proceedings. Another theory is a semantic one and is called "extended now" – the perfect includes an action or state within certain limits of time and is continuous with the moment of coding. Both theories do not really reflect different understandings of the perfect, but rather different grammatical points of view (1991: 101-104). Comrie mentions four types of perfect situations (1976: 56-60): 1. Perfect of result – a present state is referred to as being the result of some past situation. 2. Experiential perfect – a given situation has held at least once during some time in the past leading up to the present. 3. Perfect of persistent situation – a situation that started in the past but continues into the present. The situation referred to is both past and present. 4. Perfect and recent past – the present relevance of the past situation referred to is one of temporal closeness, i.e. the past situation is very recent. Binnick uses different terms for the four categories. He terms the first type as stative, the second as existential, the third as universal, and the forth as "hot news" (1991: 98). Whichever set of terms we choose to use, it is clear that the perfect doesn't have a perfective meaning. In fact, the perfect is compatible with the imperfective (Comrie 1976: 62). It is true that perfect grams tend to grammaticalize into perfective ones, but this doesn’t justify the overlap in terminology, which is, unfortunately, deeply carved in the linguistic tradition and cannot be avoided anymore (Brustad 2000: 173). 1.1.4 Tense and aspect in text Tense and aspect are phenomena of the text, not of isolated sentences. Different types of text present different verbal forms and as a consequence different temporal and aspectual values (Binnick 1991: 393). The fundamental unit of textual analysis is called a texteme, and is defined as a syntactic13 unit larger than the sentence, which is uniform in terms of its formal features (Cohen, E. 2006: 34). The best knows textemes are narratives and dialogues, whose characteristics are detailed below.
13
The definition of units larger than a sentence as syntactic is derived from the fact that certain types of textemes show consistent phenomena. Following this approach the grammar of the sentence is referred to as micro-syntax and that of a texteme as macro-syntax. However, as already explained in the introduction, to avoid possible confusion we will simply refer to phenomena at the level of the sentence as syntactic and to those at the level of the texteme as textual.
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1.1.4.1 Narrative The grammar of narration differs from that of ordinary interactive discourse. According to Fleischman, adults have a linguistic competence as to what constitutes a well-formed narrative, which she calls a "narrative norm". This, she says, applies both for written and natural narrations (1991: 75-76). Dahl defines narrative discourse as one where "the speaker relates a series of real or fictive events in the order they are supposed to have taken place". He gives as an example Julius Caesar's famous statement: "veni, vidi, vici" – "I came, I saw, I conquered". In a pure narrative discourse, every sentence except for the first one is in a narrative context, i.e. "its temporal point of reference is determined by the point in time at which the last event related in the preceding context took place". The function of the first sentence of a narrative, like "veni" in Caesar's statement, is to provide the temporal frame for the rest of the discourse, usually by an explicit temporal adverb, and thus it is not included in the narrative context (Dahl 1985: 112-113). The notions of background and foreground are of great importance to the discussion of narratives. Foreground properties are typically attributed to the story line of the narrative which depicts events in sequence, whereas background properties depict the scenery in which the story line is embedded (Sasse 2002: 228). Foreground information belongs to the skeletal structure of the discourse, while background information contributes supportive material which does not itself narrate the main events. Foreground situations are presented in sequence, whereas background situations are essentially simultaneous. In this respect Binnick even quotes Hopper's claim that unlike the foreground, the background is not a part of the narration but instead supports, amplifies, and comments on it (1991: 379). This doesn’t mean that the background's role in the narrative is secondary. The background descriptions are what makes the narrative vivid. Without them, according to Brustad, "there would be a plot but no story" (2002: 190). The fact that the main story-line is continuously interrupted by various kinds of flashbacks and points of background information does not diminish the value of the concept of narrative discourse (Dahl 1985: 112). The functions of tense-aspect categories in narrative are not limited to basic referential meanings. Thus, in a narrative, tense is not only a grammaticlized marker of deictic temporal relations and aspect is not only a mean of classifying situations as to their boundedness or completion. Rather, tense and aspect contribute to the pragmatic and metalinguistic components, i.e. they encode background vs. foreground information, subjectivity vs. objectivity, real vs. unreal situations, and the mode of the discourse – descriptive, reported, commentary etc. (Fleischman 1991: 78). One of the most prominent characteristics of narratives is that the aspectual opposition of perfective vs. imperfective corresponds to the difference between foreground and background (Weinrich 2001: 117). While some languages have special narrative forms, most languages use unmarked verb forms in narrative context (Dahl 1985: 113). The perfective is the aspect of narratives as they narrate sequence of events (Bybee et al. 1994: 125). This is so also because the perfective represents situations as completed wholes. It is typically associated with foreground information and with 18
punctual or dynamic verbs (Binnick 1991: 373, 379). Fleischman refers to it as the unmarked tense of narration and quotes Herrings as for its function (1991: 81): "The prototypical past-tense narrative is concerned with events, rather than static descriptions; the events are narrated not in random order but in a sequence which is iconic with the temporal order in which they actually occurred. Moreover, the completion of one event is implied by the inception of the event that follows, a fact which may give rise to an interpretation of aspectual perfectivity for the past tense, where no other aspectual value is specifically indicated […]. The prototypical narrative is factual and time-bound, in that it chronicles a unique sequence of events which took place at a specific point (or over a specific bound interval) in time. There is also a sense in which the ideal narrator is objective, maintaining a distance between him of herself and the events narrated in order to relate them as they actually occurred, in linear order, and with a minimum of personal evaluation or digression. It is this complex of features which, in the absence of indications to the contrary, the 'narrative past tense' typically evokes." The imperfective is typically used in narratives to represent a situation as ongoing and incomplete, thus it is typical in setting up background information such as description, characterization, and commentary. When a few imperfectives are in use, they overlap or coincide with each other in terms of time, and thus they don’t advance the narrative (Bybee et al. 1994: 125; Binnick 1991: 379, 398). Jespersen even says that the imperfective pauses the narrative and changes its speed (1924: 276). Once the time at which an episode occurred has been established as the narrative time (prototypically past), the speaker can choose instead to carry on the narrative in the present tense, using the device of the historical present. The use of the historical present requires no special treatment as the only thing that distinguishes it from the "genuine" present is the temporal reference point, which coincides with the time of speech for the latter and with the narrative time for the former. When using the historical present the speaker pretends to be present and to witness the events without any temporal distance, thereby presenting events as immediate, vivid, dramatic, and subjective (Binnick 1991: 249, 388-389). Basically, the use of the historical present is a matter of style and individual preference. Fleischman relate to the historical present as the marked tense of the narrative. The use of the historical present, she claims, transforms a routine narration into "performed stories", emphasizing its value as entertainment and as a piece of verbal artistry. Rather than a narration spoken by an historian, it purports what a performer sees as he sees it. The historical preset's major function is to announce the narrative as an anti-narrative, opposing to the norms of narrative discourse and taking it towards a monologic or dialogic discourse, which is typical of the lyric and drama genres (Fleischman 1991: 81-82, 86, 93). The historical present is used both in oral and written narratives, but also in other genres such as history, epic, and reportage (Timberlake 2007: 313). Lyons claims that the historical present is not a tense, since its function is not deictic. He notes that it is used to narrate serially ordered events regardless to their pastness, presentness or futurity (1977: 689). Since time is established by the immediately preceding linguistic context, perfects are quite rare in narratives. When they appear, they are used for situations that 19
occurred earlier but are relevant to the events located in the time of the narrative (Bybee et al. 1994: 54). The perfect can be also used in the historical present (Binnick 1991: 377). When the past perfect appears, it create a flashback to an earlier time than that defined by the narrative (Dahl 1985: 138). Forms denoting the future or irrealis usually appear in background portions of the narrative (Binnick 1991: 379-380). Based on Givón (1982: 119), we can summarize the pragmatic functions of the TAM categories in a narrative as follows: Tense-aspect Past-action, present state Non-punctual, continuous, habitual, iterative Future, conditional, irrealis, imperative Perfect, past perfect
Pragmatic function in narrative Foreground; events in natural sequence of occurrence. Background; describe habitual or short-term states which form the temporal and explicatory background for the main events. Used as probabilistic statements in background portions where action-continuity is broken; appear very frequently in quoted/reported speech of story participants. Appear as flashback in background portions; reverse the actual temporal order of events; very frequent in embedded clauses such as complement clauses, relative clauses, and adverbial clauses.
1.1.4.2 Dialogues vs. narrative discourse Although narratives are an important part of our daily lives, conversations and dialogues are more frequently produced. A narrative consists of a narrator and a story, but unlike other types of texts that consist of both, in a narrative the narrator is very prominent. The narrator mediates between the story and the addressee and minimizes the distance between them. The narrator is the only access of the addressee to the story, although in some narratives he/she can be almost absent. A narrative consists of a certain level of artificial structuring that is absent from a spontaneous conversation. The sequence of events and their rhythm are pre-planned. A narrative consists of certain parts that were already seen or heard before. The narrative has a path – it leads somewhere, develops, and usually ends up with a solution or a conclusion. We expect a narrative to have a beginning, a body, and an end. Narratives make use of displacement – the ability of a human language to refer to things or events that were displaced in time and space. A narrative mentions occurrences that might be far from the narrator and the addressees in space and time (Toolan 2001: 1, 4). A dialogue is a type of discourse that highlights the addressee. In dialogues and conversations the speaker speaks from the heart seeking to persuade the addressee by explaining, elaborating causes, and contextualizing. Dialogues are vivid and colloquial. They show partisan use of vocabulary and colorful language. Stubbs even describes dialogues as chaotic and order-less. Dialogues are characterized by the use of interrogatives and the use of first and second person. In dialogues the "here and now" point corresponds to the moment of speech, a significant fact in terms of verbal oppositions, since they refer to the "here and now" and thus encode temporal values. Although any verbal form can appear in a dialogue the unmarked tense of dialogues is the present and their unmarked aspect is the imperfect. Perfects and unreal modalities 20
are also a common feature of dialogues. Uncanonical syntactic structures might appear in a dialogue, for instance, in terms of word order. The sentences of a dialogue are usually coordinated rather than subordinated to each other. Referents are frequently omitted, as well as whole clauses. Syntactically ungrounded predications might occur. Vocatives and focus are typical phenomena of dialogues. A dialogue requires time synchronization - the interlocutors of a dialogue tend to obey the rule of "one at a time". It requires a constant feedback. When a misunderstanding occurs, the interlocutors spontaneously make corrections (Ducrot 1979: 304; Toolan 2001: 125; Scott 2005: 239; Stubbs 1983: 19-23; Timberlake 2007: 330; Cohen, E. 2006: 36-37). To complete the picture, we can say that narratives are defined negatively from dialogues. In terms of person, the third person is characteristic of the narrative, although first person narratives also exist. In addition, modality, interrogatives, vocatives, and focus are rare in use in narratives. Finally, the narrative is carried out along the narrative's temporal line using either the past or the historical present (Cohen, E. 2006: 38-40; 2012: 353). 1.1.5 Overlap and markedness of grams denoting tense and aspect Binnick acknowledges that the search for a unique meaning of each category of tense or aspect is futile since each has multiple uses. Moreover, he says that it is dangerous to assign a "Gesamtbedeutung" to each category as it will be very general or vague (Binnick 1991: 104). According to Binnick, in a discourse the speaker can utter a particular situation in virtually any tense (idem: 419). Bybee et al. stress that the grammatically expressed temporal-aspectual categories do not necessarily have to form maximal contrasts. Sometimes two constructions have considerable overlap in their usage. They interpret such overlap as a process in which a more recently developed construction is gradually taking over some of the functions of an older construction (Bybee et al. 1994: 148-149). Thus, the notion of markdeness is important in the discussion about tense and aspect markers. When two forms overlap, it should be expected that one form will be regarded as marked for a specific feature while the other will be unmarked for it. The marked category signals the presence of some feature, while the unmarked category simply says nothing about its presence or absence. Unmarked categories tend to have less morphological material than marked categories. In addition, there is greater likelihood of morphological irregularity in unmarked forms (Comrie 1976: 112, 114). Many scholars agree that the present tense is the unmarked tense in the temporal system since "it has the greatest range of reference, its information is the least specific, and its possibilities for variation of interpretation in context are greatest" (Binnick 1991: 383). Indeed there are languages in which present tense grams express the progressive, habitual, stative, and gnomic, i.e. present imperfective meanings (Bybee et al. 1994: 140). It is possible, however, for a generally unmarked category like the present tense to be marked in specific contexts (Comrie 1976: 118). This is the case with the historical present, for example.
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1.1.6 Modality Modality is a linguistic category that was described in many different ways and under which a large variety of phenomena were included. Narrog quotes the Japanese linguist Hiroshi Kudo who wrote that "modality [has become] the dustbin of grammatical categories". The definition that Narrog suggests sees modality as "a linguistic category referring to the factual status of a state of affairs. The expression of a state of affairs is modalized if it is marked of being undetermined with respect to its factual status, i.e. is neither positively nor negatively factual" (2005: 166, 184). Bybee et al. define modality as the grammaticalization of the speakers' subjective attitudes and opinions (1994: 176). According to Palmer modality concerns "the status of the proposition", which can be either real (realis) or unreal (irrealis). He adopts Mithun's definition of realis and irrealis: "The realis portrays situations as actualized, as having occurred or actually occurring, knowable through direct perception. The irrealis portrays situations as purely within the realm of thought, knowable only through imagination". As far as Palmer concerns, a modal proposition is an unreal one (2001: 1). A somehow broader approach to modality defines it as "the semantics of a clause type" (Allan 2006: 267). According to this approach speakers use language to transmit information such as statements, questions, commands, requests, exclamations, threats etc. Each of these represents a different intention on behalf of the speaker in producing the utterance, and consists a different type of illocutionary force. Illocutionary forces are manifested by illocutionary acts, which are grammaticalized in many languages by modal means (Lyons 1977: 725, 731). 1.1.6.1 Categories of modality The different approaches to modality create a great deal of diversity in its subdivision into categories. Nevertheless, Palmer's division into event modality vs. propositional modality seems to capture its two basic departments. The former concerns with the speaker's attitude towards a potential future event, whereas the latter concerns with the speaker's judgment of the proposition (2001: 7-8). Event modality includes dynamic modality, which focuses on notions like ability and willingness, and deontic modality, which focuses on notions like necessity, obligation, and permission (idem: 9-10). As for Timberlake, in propositions of deontic modality "a general authority asks a proxy authority to act in one way […] rather than in the opposite way" (2007: 329). Bybee et al. make a different subcategorization of the modal categories which correspond to Palmer's event modality. They divide it into agent-oriented modality and speaker's-oriented modality. Whereas the former focuses the existence of conditions on an agent with respect to the completion of the action expressed in the main predicate, the latter allows the speaker to impose such conditions on the addressee. Agent-oriented modality includes obligation, necessity, ability, and desire, while speaker-oriented modality includes directives (1994: 177-179). Directives are defined by Lyons as "utterances which impose, or propose some course of action or pattern of behavior and indicate that it should be carried out". More specifically, 22
speaker-oriented modality includes: Imperative – a command to a second person; Prohibitive – a negative command; Optative – a wish or hope; Hortative – an encouragement for action; Admonitive – a warning; Permissive – a permission (1977: 745). Propositional modality is divided into epistemic and evidential modality. According to Timberlake, epistemology concerns with knowledge about the events and the world. Bybee et al. elaborate some more saying that epistemic modality reports "the extent to which the speaker is committed to the truth of the proposition". It concerns with notions such as possibility and probability. Evidential modality indicates something about the source of the information in the speaker's assertion – whether the speaker has actually witnessed it or was indirectly informed about it. If the information was achieved indirectly, it could have been inferred by reasoning or rather as a result of reported evidence, in which case it can be also quotative, i.e. acquired through the speech of another speaker (Palmer, 2001: 8-9; Bybee et al. 1994: 95, 179; Timberlake 2007: 316-317). Timberlake adds a third category of modality, contingency, in which one situation is responsible for the existence of another situation. Contingency is usually manifested in conditional constructions. Timberlake defines three types of conditionals (idem: 321-325):
General conditionals – universally valid and thus usually relate to the present, although they can also be displaced in the past or in the future. They are often iterative. There can be harmony in tense and aspect between the protasis and the apodosis, but they can also be marked differently. Counterfactual conditionals – the condition is known to be not actual. They are usually hosted in past tense, as the tense of greatest certainty. Potential conditionals - their fate is uncertain and so they have a strong affinity with the future.
1.1.6.2 Modal markers and mood Modality can be marked by individual suffixes, clitics, and particles, by modal verbs or by morphological inflections. The latter is usually referred to by the term mood. Timberlake defines mood as "modality crystalized as morphology". Not all the languages have moods, and the ones that do, don't necessarily have all categories of mood. Moreover, moods don't necessarily mark modality (Palmer 2001: 3, 19; Timberlake 2007: 326; Narrog, 2005: 167). Still, certain categories of mood are important for our discussion. Palmer sees the distinction between the realis mood of assertions, namely the indicative, and the irrealis mood of non-assertions, namely the subjunctive, as an integral part of the system of moods, in which the indicative is the unmarked category (2001: 6). According to Lyons the indicative simply tells the addressee that something is so (1977: 751). The subjunctive is commonly used in contexts that "attenuate the certainty of the reported situation" (Timberlake 2007: 326). Binnick stresses, on the other hand, the 23
use of the subjunctive, as its name suggests, to indicate subordination of one verb to another. He even remarks that it "has no clearly defined attitudinal characterization". It can be used in effect also in main or independent clauses, where it serves a syntactic and pragmatic function rather than marking attitude. Indeed, much was written about the meaning behind the subjunctive use. Some relate it to subjectivity, some to factuality, some to assertion, and some say that the choice of this mood is often governed by the choice of verb or conjunction. It is controversial whether the subjunctive actually carries meaning or it is semantically empty and is rendered to syntactic constraints. In practice, when embedded within another clause, an independent indicative clause may be replaced in many languages not only by a dependent clause in a subordinate finite mood such as the subjunctive, but also by a non-finite mood, the infinitive. The infinitive was maybe a separate class of grammatical mood, but is in fact used in many of the same syntactic contexts as the subjunctive, subordinated to intentional verbs or directives. When the subjunctive or the infinitive are embedded within another clause they lack an independent existence and depend on the structures which include them. Other than determining the mood of the dependent proposition, the structure can also determine its tense. Aspect, however, is usually not effected by dependency (Binnick 1991: 67, 7273, 76-77, 83, 85; Bybee et al. 1994: 213; Timberlake 2007: 326). Jespersen claims that in many languages there is a strong tendency to get rid of the subjunctive (1924: 318). Indeed, many languages lack morphological marking of the subjunctive. In fact, cross-linguistically there is no one-to-one correspondence between illocutionary force and grammatical structure. For example, there is probably no language that uses a distinctive mood for questions. On the other hand, mood categories like the indicative and the imperative are almost universal (Lyons 1977: 748; Timberlake 2007: 326). The imperative is the mood hosting mands. Mands include commands, demands, requests, entreaties, etc., and according to Lyons the person issuing them must want the proposed course of action to be carried out. This stands in opposition to other types of directives such as warnings, recommendations, and exhortations. The different types of mands also bear a slight semantic difference. Commands, unlike requests, don’t leave for the addressee the option to refuse to comply. Demands differ from commands and requests in that they are not necessarily addressed to those upon whom the obligation of fulfillment is imposed. These differences, however, are not ones of illocutionary force but rather of the nature of social interaction and communication, thus enabling to label commands, demands, and requests under the category of mands. Mands are restricted in terms of tense and person. The imperative usually refers to the immediate future and to the second person. Accordingly, first and third person imperatives are not true imperatives as their subject does not refer to the addressee (Lyons 1977: 745-747, 751, 753). 1.1.6.3 Future One of the essential questions regarding the future is whether it is a tense or a mood. Comrie says that the future is speculative, but claims that non-modal future time references are possible, like in the sentence "it will rain tomorrow" in contrast to "it 24
may rain tomorrow". There are those who claim that auxiliaries such as "will" are simply modal, and that all modal auxiliaries have future implication. Thus, they say, no special futurative quality should be assigned to the future auxiliary, which means that English has no future tense. Dahl writes that the semantics of future involves features like intention, prediction, and future time reference. Unlike future time reference, the first two are modal in essence, and might be involved in the situation. Bybee et al. share Dahl's approach and say that the future is a less temporal category and rather one denoting epistemic modality. Epistemology is sometimes involved with futurity in the sense that there are languages in which a future marker also conveys the certainty or possibility of the occurrence of a future situation (Comrie 1985: 44; Binnick 1991: 251; Dahl 1985: 106, 108; Bybee at al. 1994: 247, 280). It is common for a language to have several grammatical means to mark the future, each used in a different range of situations. In many languages there is no grammatical distinction between present and future. In these languages future constructions are marked and have additional modal meaning. There are languages with realis vs. irrealis grammatical distinction, where the future is one of the interpretations of the irrealis (Binnik 1991: 389; Bybee et al. 1994: 243; Comrie 1985: 44). Even in languages that can overtly mark the future, the use of the present tense to mark the future exists in parallel. This use is termed futurate. Binnick notes that the use of the future implies a definite absolute occasion, whereas the use of the futurate is indefinite and relative. Comrie claims that the use of the present for a future situation is possible only if it is a scheduled one. The future and the futurate overlap since the only requirement of the present tense is that the situation time will not wholly precede the speech-act time. The use of the futurate is not neutral since it attaches the notion of present relevance to the future situation. According to Fleischman "the future situation […] is viewed by the speaker as growing out of, or somehow in relation to, the present world state". She interprets the use of the futurate as pragmatic and claims that it expresses the speaker's subjective view of the situation, his interest or his personal involvement in it (Binnick 1991: 120, 252, 390; Comrie 1985: 47; Fleischman 1983: 190). The following are cross-linguistically found to be sources for future grams (Bybee et al. 1994: 244, 276, 278):
Movement verbs - they imply movement in time and space, that the agent is already on the path and that the movement is in progress. Thus the action is inherently progressive. Movement verbs are the most frequent source for future grams. Temporal adverbs. Markers of obligation, desire, and ability. A form whose principle function is to mark present tense or imperfective aspect. The presents used as futurates tend to be highly generalized, having progressive, habitual, and gnomic uses. Thus, the more specific meaning that they used to have, has extremely generalized to be heavily dependent on the context. The development of a new present can have the effect of limiting an old present to future uses. 25
1.1.6.4 Indirect speech and the quotative Many languages mark indirect speech grammatically. In some Indo-European languages, for example, it involves a change in mood or tense. When tense changes, it shifts to a one step previous tense. Comrie sees it as a pure syntactic rule, whereas other scholars, like Jespersen, talk about the change of the deictic center to the here-and-now, and explain it by the fact that the indirect speech tells us nothing about the moment of the situation in the utterance in relation to the present moment, but only with relation to the time when it was uttered. Jespersen also sees the iconicity in the shifting, as it shifts the responsibility for the content to the original speaker while the reporter utters an unreal sentence (Comrie 1985: 109; Jespersen 1924: 293-294). Dahl mentions a category that he terms as "quotative", which is also known by "non-witnessed" or "second hand information". This category indicates "that the speaker has not experienced the things that he is reporting himself, but rather has it from a secondary source. Normally this secondary source is the verbal report of some other person". This doesn’t imply, however, that the speaker doesn't want to commit to the true value of the proposition, but only that something that the speaker has not seen himself is told. In Dahl's view, the quotative is the most modal category among the "major TAM categories" that he has surveyed (1985: 148, 150, 190). 1.1.7. Grammaticalization of TAM markers Grammaticalization is the process in which, as per Hopper & Traugott, "particular items become more grammatical through time". They mention two mechanisms that lead to grammaticalization, namely reanalysis and analogy. Reanalysis is a change in the constituency, hierarchical structure, category labels, grammatical relations, or cohesion of a linguistic expression, which doesn’t involve an immediate change of the signifier. The change involves a shift in the interpretation or the meaning of the syntactic structure, but, at first, not in its form. It is an unrevealed process of exchanging an old structure with a new one. Reanalysis is a precondition for analogy, and thus is considered the most important mechanism of grammaticalization. Analogy is a generalization or an optimization of a linguistic rule or structure, on the basis of which extant forms are attracted to already existing structures. Analogy normalizes the exceptions of the grammar. The motivation behind it is the tendency to substitute a limited form with a more general one. Analogy itself is not the reason for linguistic change, but rather the one that is responsible for the surface changes, thus contributing to spread the change. Whereas reanalysis operates on the syntagmatic axis the analogy operates in the paradigmatic one. Despite the fact that only reanalysis is able to create a new grammatical structure, one should not underestimate the role of analogy – it is revealed and bares the first evidence for the change (Hopper & Traugott 2003: 2, 51-52, 63-64). Haspelmath doubts the common conception according to which grammaticalization is explained by diachronic reanalysis. He claims that most of the syntactic changes are pure grammaticalization which doesn’t involve reanalysis. Haspelmath distinguishes three terms. Grammaticalization is the gradual drift towards tighter, more cohesive structures, and toward limited freedom of the use of linguistic expressions. More specifically, lexical items are developed into grammatical ones and 26
independent words turn into clitics or affixes. Through grammaticalization the autonomy of the linguistic signs is gradually lost. Reanalysis, on the other hand, does not require an item to become more grammatical as a result of the change. It doesn’t involve a transition from a lexical item into a grammatical one. Reanalysis creates new syntactic ties, but it is not gradual but rather a big leap from an old structure to a new one. Haspelmath claims that as opposed to grammaticalization which is unidirectional, reanalysis is reversible and that the linguistic signs do not lose their autonomy. As for analogy, it is a limited adjustment of one pattern to another. According to Haspemath most of the linguistic changes involve grammaticalization and analogy, and not reanalysis (1998: 315, 318-319, 325, 327). Relevant literature regarding common grammaticalization paths of TAM markers cross-linguistically will be detailed under the discussion of the specific markers in JB. However, since TAM markers include moods, auxiliary verbs, affixes, clitics14, and the like, a general note about the process behind the developments of such markers is in order. Two types of changes are mentioned by Bybee et al. (1994: 106-107, 110, 113): 1. Phonetic reduction, as the term implies, is the reduction of phonemic bulk. It can be manifested in any of the segmental or suprasegmental features of the phonetic string. Loss of stress and reduction to a natural tone are early indicators of reduction. These are usually accompanied by shortening and reduction of vowels. Consonants can also be reduced by shortening, voicing, or loss of secondary features. In addition, both vowels and consonants can be completely lost. Thus, grammaticalized material tends to be shorter and the degree of semantic grammaticalization is reflected in the degree of formal reduction or shortening. 2. Loss of autonomy is the fusion of the grammaticalizing material to the surrounding material on which it becomes phonetically dependent. Loss of autonomy can be of two types. The first, which Bybee et al. term as "dependence", simply indicates a general loss of autonomy. The second is termed "fusion" and refers to situations in which the gram joins or affixes to the verb. Fusion is partly governed by the semantic relevance of the gram to the stem. As grammaticalization proceeds, the gram tends to occur closer to the verb, until it is in constant contact with it. Naturally, phonetic reduction and loss of autonomy do not contradict. Many times both occur. 1.1.8 Summary The above summary of the main features related to tense, aspect, and modality is by no means an exhaustive one but it should suffice in the framework of the following investigation concerning the values and uses of the preverbal particles in JB.
14
Both clitics and affixes are bound morphemes, but the former have characteristics of an independent word. Clitics are syntactically independent from their host, unlike affixes that can only attach to hosts that match their part-of-speech category. In addition, clitics are often a phonetically reduced version of a free counterpart, while affixes are not (Veluppilai 2012: 92-93).
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It is clear that one cannot investigate the value of a specific particle in the verbal system without looking at its oppositions with other particles and forms of the system. Thus, an understanding of all the components of the verbal system and their interactions and oppositions is necessary to complete the task. An analysis of the verbal system of a specific dialect should consider various factors that contribute to the specific meanings and use of each form. These are:
Tense – the location of the situation in relation to the here-and-now of speech. Grammatical aspect – the inner temporal structure of the situation as usually reflected by the morphological system. Aktionsart – the inner temporal structure of the situation as an inherent part of the lexical verb and its interaction with the context. Syntactic context – sentence and phrase structure, coordination, subordination, etc. Text type and the development of the textual information. Modality and the illocutionary force of the clause in which the verb phrase occurs. All these will be combined in our analysis of the verbal system in JB.
1.2 TAM in Arabic The Arabic verbal system, including that of CA, MSA, and the modern dialects, exhibits two main verb forms, one to which suffixes are added when conjugated, and another to which prefixes are added. The CA and MSA forms are /faˁala/ and /yafˁalu/, and they are traditionally referred to as the prefect and the imperfect respectively. Thus, the basic assumption about them is that they convey an aspectual opposition. There are scholars, however, who attribute this opposition to the temporal axis and see it as a past vs. non-past opposition. In fact, the dispute whether the verbal system encodes aspectual or temporal oppositions is a much wider one, as it refers not only to Arabic, but to the Semitic family as a whole. This dispute is ongoing, as the following paragraphs will show. To avoid any judgement in this regard, I chose to refer to the two forms by using the neutral terms Suffix-conjugation (henceforth: SC) and Prefixconjugation (henceforth: PC)15. The Arabic grammarians perceived the verbal forms as indicating time by necessity. Horesh cites the medieval scholar az-Zamaxšarī16, who wrote that the verb is "what indicates a combination of event and time" (2009: 455). The Arabic grammarians interpreted the SC as preterit, al-māḍī, and the PC as not-preterit, al-muḍāriˁ17. Thus,
15
In this I follow Horesh, who terms them so (2009: 454); Quite similarly, Beeston terms them suffix and prefix system (1970: 76); Holes terms them s-stem and p-stem (2004: 217). 16 ˀAbū l-Qāsim Maḥmūd ˀibn ˁUmar az-Zamaxšarī (1074 or 1075 – 1143 or 1144) - a medieval Muslim scholar of Iranian origin who wrote in 1323 the book "al-Mufaṣṣal fī ˁilm al-ˁarabiyya", from which this quote is taken. 17 The term al-muḍāriˁ came to stress the resemblance (muḍāraˁa) between the PC and the active participle (Marmorstein 2016: 32-33).
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Aartun quotes Sībawaih18 in German: "[…] was vergangen ist, ist /qatal-/ […] und was noch nicht eingetreten ist, ist als Befehlsform /uqtul-/ und als Aussageform /yaqtul-/. Und so ist auch der Bau dessen, was nicht abgeschlossen ist, sondern stattfindet, wenn man es aussagt." (1963: 17, 25). The European Arabists followed these definitions, at first, and some, like Johann David Michaelis in 1815, even adopted the term aorist for the PC. Later the terms perfect and imperfect were set by Heinrich Ewald in 1831-3. The first to say that the Arabic forms denote Aktionsarten19 rather than tense was August Klingenheben in 1928 (idem: 17-18, 22). The western grammarians in the past decades, as we already noted, are mainly concerned with whether the system is primarily one of tense or of aspect. Some say that it indicates tense, some say aspect, and some say both (Horesh 2009: 454-458). In fact, even linguists who are primarily concerned with the cross-linguistic categories of TAM referred to this dispute. Binnick says that the older Semitic languages, such as Biblical Hebrew and CA, do not show anything quite like absolute tense. He mentions, however, that it doesn't mean that they are tenseless, as some believe. According to Binnick, the SC and PC correspond to the distinction between perfective and imperfective aspect, but in Arabic "perfective forms are normally interpreted, out of context, as past and never as present or future, while the reverse is very nearly true of the imperfective" (1991: 128, 437). As for Comrie, he writes that the SC indicates both relative past time and perfective meaning, while the PC indicates relative non-past tense or imperfective meaning (1976: 80). Finally, Timberlake describes the Arabic system as "a binary system [that] should be taken as more aspectual than temporal […]: perfective, which implies past, is opposed to imperfective, which implies present." (2007: 298). A rather different approach, textual in essence, was adopted by Semiticians like David Cohen who recognized that tense and aspect opposition in Semitic languages is texteme-sensitive. He paraphrases the opposition by noting that in dialogues the imperfective vs. perfective opposition is a temporal one (non-past vs. past), whereas in narratives the imperfective vs. perfective opposition is an aspectual one (1989: 85). As for scholars who focus on Arabic linguistics, Aartun claims that in CA the forms denote, as the Arabic grammarians noted, preterit and non-preterit, and that other tenses are built on basis of auxiliary verbs. Moreover, he writes that verbal contrasts like perfective vs. imperfective in Russian or the Greek aorist vs. imperfective are absent from Arabic (1963: 113-114). The recent detailed research of /yafˁalu/ in CA made by Marmorstein clarifies that the discussion about the forms is more complicated and cannot be condensed into a mere temporal-aspectual one. Rather, lexical, textual,
18
ˀAbū Bišr ˁAmr ˀibn ˁUṯmān ˀibn Qanbar al-Baṣrī (760–796) – a linguist of the Arabic language of Iranian origin who wrote the first written grammar of the language, "al-Kitāb". 19 It is important to note that the Arabic verbal stems also play a role as aktionsarten, although it is limited. Some of them have inherent aspectual meaning, for example the intensive or iterative meaning that can accompany the use of stem II or V. However, this is not a rule, and the system is unstable. Stem I, for example, is neutral in this respect, and can represent any class of aktionsart (Blohm 1989: 14).
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and syntactic considerations join tense and grammatical aspect in determining the value of a form in a given context (2016: 234-239). As for MSA and modern Arabic dialects, according to Beeston the aspectual criteria is more important than the tense criteria in MSA. He distinguishes two aspects, the dynamic and the stative, and claims that time reference is usually relevant only to dynamic situations. For him, the distinction between the SC and the PC has to do with factuality – the SC denotes a fact whereas the PC a notional concept (1970: 76). Holes writes that the SC vs. PC distinction was historically one of aspect, although synchronically it is evolving, in both MSA and in the dialects, towards a tense system. He claims that in all varieties of modern Arabic the SC expresses completed, factual situations, whereas the PC expresses non-completed, ongoing, notional ones. According to Holes, in virtually all the dialects a system of prefixes was developed to express different aspectual, temporal, and modal values, all conveyed by the PC in MSA. Temporal distinctions, for example, are mainly made by the auxiliary "to be" in the SC or the PC (Holes 2004: 217, 219, 232). Eisele, on the other hand, claims that the verbal system of Arabic dialects expresses more overtly aspectual notions. He adds, however, that aspectual information is also delivered through the lexical base and the syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic context (2006: 196). Indeed, Eksell gives the verbal system of modern Arabic dialects as an example for the diachronic change in Arabic. She describes a general drift towards an analytic system. Specifically, the modern dialects' innovations include the introduction of a verbal particle for what she calls the present durative, the use of serial verbs20, and the expansion of modal expression through the use of pseudo-verbs21. According to Eksell the development of these innovations is an ongoing process. She claims that these innovations, which mainly concern the PC, fill out an empty space in the temporal and modal system of the verb in Arabic (1995: 64-66). As for the developments in specific dialects, the innovations are more pronounced in urban dialects. In regional terms, the dialects of the Arabian Peninsula are conservative and mainly aspectual, while the sedentary Levantine dialects developed an elaborative tense system (Eades & Watson 2013: 26; Holes 2004: 226; Persson 2008: 28-29). 1.2.1 The functions of the verbal forms in CA and MSA CA and MSA mark two verb forms morphologically, the SC and the PC. We should add to them, however, the participles, or more specifically the active participle (henceforth: AP) that can function as predicates, and the imperative mood. In terms of mood, other than the imperative, the indicative is conveyed either by the SC or the PC. The subjunctive and the jussive are expressed by forms that are related to the PC /yafˁala/ and /yafˁal/ respectively. The SC indicates an act completed at some past time. It is the main forms in narratives, as it indicates factness. In terms of Aktionsart it can be inchoative: /nāma/ "he slept", or telic. As for particles that modify the SC, a preceding /qad/ expresses either past in the past or just the fact that a situation is undoubtedly completed. When /kāna/ or /yakūnu/ precede both /qad/ and the SC they indicates past perfect and future 20 21
Refers to verbs like /qām/ and /qaˁad/, which we term here aspectual verbs (see 3.5). Refers to modal particles like /lāzǝm/ and /bidd-/ (see Chapter 4).
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perfect respectively. In subordinate clauses the SC marks a relative time reference. The SC May have a modal conditional meaning. According to Brockelmann, it can also establish undoubtful facts: /ˀallahu taˁālā/ "God all mighty"; stirrings of the soul and the intellect: /ˁalimtu/ "I know" or /ˀištahaytu/ "I wish"; and conclusions of contracts or swears: /ḥalaftu/ "I swear" (Brockelmann 1948: 119-121; Wright 1896-1898: 1, 22). The PC is used to express the present, the historical preset, the future, duration or repeat in the past. It can also be used in circumstantial clauses after a verb in the SC (Brockelmann 1948: 121-126). When the particle /qad/ precedes it, it expresses possibility or a repeated pattern (Beeston 1970: 76). The AP in MSA, like the SC and the PC, according to Holes, has no intrinsic time marking and its temporal value depends on the context (2004: 220). However, the aktionsart category, namely whether the verb is stative or dynamic, is relevant to the contextual interpretation. The AP of dynamic verbs has often a future reading, whereas that of stative verbs usually indicates a situation coexisting with the time of the utterance (Beeston 1970: 76). Though CA and MSA depend mainly on the above mentioned morphological forms, other grammatical means can precede them to create verbal compounds that give a specific shade of tense, aspect or modality. Other than /kāna/ and /qad/ that were already mentioned, /sa/ or /sawfa/ preceding the PC denote future tense. There are particles that precede the different moods to convey different modal categories. For example, the particle /lā/ before the jussive expresses prohibition or negative wish, or the particles /kay/, /li/ or /ḥattā/ precede the subjunctive to express finality (Wright 1896-1898: 18-19, 35-36, 38-39). 1.2.2 The function of the verbal forms in modern dialects In Arabic dialects, according to El-Hassan, the indicative mood is mainly used in declarative sentences to state facts, but providing appropriate intonation, it can be also used in interrogative sentences, or to express surprise. The subjunctive mood is used for speech acts of suggesting, inviting, imploring, exhorting, praying, and similar performative illocutions (2007: 263). Brustad claims that the categories of perfective, imperfective, and perfect correspond to the Arabic forms SC, PC, and AP respectively (2000: 165). The following is a recap of the uses of the three forms: Fischer & Jastrow determine that the SC and the PC indicate a completed state of affairs in the past, and a non-past, uncompleted situation respectively (1980: 74). According to Holes, in all varieties of modern Arabic the SC and PC have no particular time value out of context. The SC can be used used in conditional, optative, and performative situations, where its "pastness" is not central to the meaning. The PC conveys a wide range of meanings such as habitual, iterative, durative, gnomic, nonpunctual past or present situation as well as circumstantial clauses, future statements etc. (2004: 218-9). Looking at the distinction between the two forms from a textual angle, Brustad says that the SC is used to narrate whereas the PC is used to describe (2000: 188).
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According to Holes, the AP in the dialects, in contrast to MSA, often denotes the perfect. Thus, when a dynamic verb is used with the AP, it focuses on the state resulting from the situation, whereas with the SC the completed characteristic of the situation is in focus. Stative verbs in the AP, on the other hand, are used to describe a "concomitant state". As for the time reference of the AP, Holes says that the AP is a tenseless form (2004: 189, 220-221). Brustad phrases it differently and says that the AP denotes "a state resulting from a prior act and concurrent and relevant to the speech context". She says that the AP can refer to past, present or future time, and that the time reference is established by the context or by temporal adverbs (2000: 183, 229). All the dialects use additional verbal modifiers to extend the system and to specify an aspectual or temporal meaning. Most of them are proclitics, developed out of decayed lexical elements, that join the PC and don't influence the stress of the verb (Sasse 1971: 157; Holes 2004: 226). Fischer & Jastrow give a concise summary of the verbal modifiers that are used throughout the Arab speaking world. They sort it according to the semantic category that the modifiers mark (1980: 74-77):
The general present is indicated in most of the dialects by the unmodified PC. In Syria and Cairo the general present is expressed by the prefix /b(i)-/ preceding the PC, which can also indicate a habitual present. In Morocco the preverbal particles /ka-/ or /tā-/ are used in that function. Actual present is indicated in the Arabian Peninsula by the particle /b(i)-/; in Syria and Cairo by /ˁam/ or /ˁammāl/; in Anatolia by /kū/, which originates from the verb "to be"; in Morocco and Algeria by /ta/ or /kā/, which originates from the AP of the verb "to be" /kāˀin/; in Iraq, Sudan, and among the Jews of Tunisia the particles /qāˁid/, /gāˁid/, or their equivalent prefixes /qa-/ and /da-/ are in use. The future is expressed in many dialects by particles that originate from motion verbs such as /rāyiḥ/ or modifiers that developed from it like /rāḥ/, /raḥ/, /ḥa/; in southern Iraq /ǧāy/ is in use; in Tunisia /māš(i)/ indicates immediate action; among the Bedouins /yibġi/ or /yibġa/ "he wants" and their reduced particles /b(i)-/ or /bā-/ are in use; and in Anatolia and southern Tunisia /tā/ or /tǝ/, which originate from /ḥattā/ "so that". Past tense is mainly expressed by the unmodified SC. The particle /qām/ is used in many dialects to denote an inchoative situation. The auxiliary /kān/, as in CA, is used as a past marker. When it precedes the SC, for example, it indicates remote past. Before the PC, however, it indicates a habitual actual situation. Unmodified PC is used to indicate the subjunctive in subordinate clauses, in relative clauses, and to express wish, doubt, conditions, commands etc. A command is expressed by the imperative mood, which can be extended by a prefix, like /d(i)-/ in MB. Prohibition is denoted by a negator preceding the PC.
1.3 The existing research on the preverbal particles in JB Only two scholars commented so far about the verbal system of JB, namely Blanc and Mansour. Both of them were primarily occupied with the morphology of the verbal system rather than its syntactic and semantic categories. Thus, for example, neither Blanc nor Mansour comment on what are the functions of the SC, the PC or the AP. They did comment briefly, however, on the preverbal particles in the dialect. The
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following is a summary of their findings based on Blanc (1964: 115-118) and Mansour (1991: 42-43; 2011: 82-83).
22
/qa(d)-/ preceding the PC specifies, "roughly speaking, present time and noncontingency", in Blanc's own word. Mansour simply terms the particle as "present marker". Blanc notes that the allomorph /qad/ occurs only before 1s, and claims that the /t/ or /n/ prefixes of the PC gemintate if they are followed by a vowel: /qattǝmši/ "she's walking". /ġaḥ/ preceding the PC denotes futurity, as well as /(s)sa/ or the full form from which it derives /hassa/. Blanc translates both /ġaḥamām/ and /(s)saˀanām/ as "I will sleep". /da-/ preceding the first person of the PC has an "optative function" according to Blanc. He translates the example /danqūl/ as "let's say". Mansour notes that the particle can convey a wish, a request or an urge. Blanc mentions the use of this particle in MB and CB to open purpose clauses, but he doesn’t refer to it in JB and notes only /ḥǝtti/ for this function. /xall(i)/ preceding the first and third persons of the PC is termed by Blanc as an "optative morpheme": /xallinām/ "let him sleep". Mansour notes this particle as bearing "a similar meaning" to that of /da-/. According to Blanc, the fully inflected IMP of /xalla/ is used in a similar sense "only when addressing, and making a request of, a specific person": /xallīni anām/22 "(you there) let me sleep". /ma/ preceding the second person of the PC is used, according to Blanc, "in directives that seem somewhat more energetic than the plain imperative": /matǝktǝb/ "(come on and) write". Mansour terms the particle as "an emphatic imperative particle". Blanc and Mansour also mention that unlike the particle /ma/ which is used for negation, the stress of the particle /ma/ in its imperative use falls on the verb. /d(ǝ)/ preceding the IMP is, according to Blanc, "a shade more energetic than the plain imperative and a shade less energetic than the imperfect plus /ma/: /dǝkǝlu/ "eat (p)!". /la/ preceding a stressed PC verb denotes fear or doubt, according to Mansour. It can be used "in expressions implying apprehension or doubt", as put by Blanc. He gives one example from JB: /whāḏa lxǝṭṭāġ laykūn yǝstaḥi/, and translates it as "and that guest may feel shy". Mansour mentions the particle /ašu/, and writes that preceding the PC or the IMP it is a modal particle conveying a request or an urge: /ašu tālu/ "will you come (for a second)". Preceding the SC, the AP, and the particle /qa-/, on the other hand, it conveys a message of an occurrence that doesn't correspond with one's expectations: /ašu ma ǧīt?/ "how come you didn't come? (I was expecting you)". Blanc mentions /kǝn/ preceding the SC in CB as a perfect marker, and claims that it is absent from JB. /taġa/ is noted by Blanc as a "filler" particle with little semantic content of its own. He gives examples only from MB, but says that its use in JB is analogous.
The JB form should be /xǝllīni anām/, and so, Blanc probably cites MB and CB forms of this verb.
33
Chapter 2 A phonological and Morphological sketch of JB The phonology and morphology of JB were described in detail by Blanc already in 1964. In 1991 Mansour published a thorough phonological analysis of the dialect. Unfortunately, Mansour's detailed investigation treated only a few specific morphological issues. Nevertheless, the combination of the works of Blanc and Mansour leaves us with quite a precise picture of the phonological and morphological system of JB. The following paragraphs give an overview of its main features based on the work of Blanc and Mansour as well as a few new discoveries that have arisen as a by-product of building a corpus and analyzing the verbal forms of JB. As this dissertation is mainly concerned with an issue in the syntactic level of description, the following summary doesn’t intend to be an exhaustive one. It is rather meant to enable readers who are not familiar with the dialect or even with the Arabic language to access the examples and the texts in the appendix. 2.1 Phonology 2.1.1 Consonants 2.1.1.1 General overview Consonants Bilabial
stop VL 23
V
p
b
fricative V V L
Labiodental
f
v25
Interdental
ṯ
ḏ
Dental
t
affricative V V L
approximant
nasal
emphatic
w
m
[ḅ]24; [ẉ]; [ṃ] ḏ̣ ṭ
d
alveolar
s
postalveolar
š
z ž
r 26
č
l
n
ṣ; [ẓ]; [ḷ]; [ṇ]
ǧ
palatal
y
velar
k
uvular
q
pharyngeal glottal
trill
ˀ
g
x
ġ
ḥ
ˁ
h
23
In this table "VL" indicates voiceless consonants and "V" indicates voiced ones. Emphatic consonants in brackets are secondary (see 2.1.1.2.6). 25 The phoneme /v/ is very rare and usually appears in loanwords from Indo-European languages. Mansour mentions that its status as a phoneme is questionable (2006: 233). 26 According to Mansour, the postalveolar voiced affricative /ž/ is an allophone of the postalveolar voiced fricative /ǧ/ when the latter is followed by another consonant. This corresponds to examples like: /ždīd/ "new"; /tzuwažtu/ "I married"; /ǧāb/ "he brought". He explains it as a strategy to avoid three consonants' cluster, since the consonant /ǧ/ is actually a combination of two consonants /dž/ (1991: 56). This theory seems limited, though, since there are occurrences of /ǧ/ before another consonant, for example: /ǧġēdi/ "rat". 24
34
2.1.1.2 Reflexes of CA consonants 2.1.1.2.1 Reflexes of CA /ˀ/, /w/, and /y/ /ˀ/, /w/, and /y/ are phonemically stable unless they open the word, followed by their corresponding vowel and preceded by a prefix - then they zero out. In certain cases their zeroing-out results in the elongation of the corresponding vowel (see 2.1.2.2). /a/: /tˀaxxaġ/ "he was late"; /ˀṣīl/ "well born"; /ˀǝsm-ak/ "your (ms) name"; /ˀiyām/ "days"; /l-aswad/ "the black one". /w/: /hawa/ "wind"; /walad/ "boy"; /l-walad/ "the boy"; /l-ūlād/ "the children". /y/: /yhūd/ "Jews"; /mǝbyūˁ/ "it (ms) is bought"; /l-īhūd/ "the Jews". 2.1.1.2.2. Reflexes of CA interdentals Interdentals are retained: /ṯnēn/ "two"; /hāḏa/ "this". Both CA /ض/ and /ظ/ are pronounced as interdental emphatic voiced fricative /ḏ/:̣ /ḏall/ ̣ "he remained"; /ˀaġḏ/̣ "land". 2.1.1.2.3 Reflexes of CA /r/ The alveolar trill /r/ is realized as voiced velar fricative /ġ/ in words of overt Arabic origin: /qdaġtu/ "I could"; /nahᵊġ/ "river"; /yġīd/ "he wants"; /ysāfǝġ/ "he travels". It is pronounced as the trill /r/ in:
Modern Arabic words: /siyāra/ "car"; /mudīr/ "manager". words of Hebrew origin: /ráššam/ "he wrote"; /tōra/ "bible"; /sēfǝr/ "bible"; words of Turkish or Persian origin: /kōndra/ "shoe"; /parda/ "curtain"; /sǝṭra/ "jacket". proximity to /x/: /ˀāxǝr/ "last"; /xarbaṭ/ "confused, damaged".
2.1.1.2.4 Reflexes of CA /q/ The preservation of the uvular pronunciation of the consonant /q/ is one of the primary features of qǝltu dialects. JB is no exception: /qalb/ "heart"; /qǝltu/ "I said". In a few words the acceptable pronunciation is voiced velar stop /g/, because of MB influence: /garāyǝb/ "acquaintances". These cases are, however, rare (Mansour 2006: 233). 2.1.1.2.5 Foreign borrowed consonants The consonant /g/ can also appear in loanwords: /gḷāṣ/ "glass"; /zangīn/ "rich" (from Turkish). The consonant /č/ occurs in loanwords from Persian and Turkish: /čāra/ "choice, solution, option"; /čāy/ "tea". The consonant /p/ appears as well in loanwords from Persian and Turkish: /qapaġ/ "lid"; /čarpāya/ "bed". It also appears in Hebrew words: /pēṯi/ "fool". /p/ can 35
sometimes hark back to an original /b/, especially in words of Indo-European origin: /pās/ "bus"; /paysə́gǝl/ "bicycle". 2.1.1.2.6 Emphatic consonants There are three stable emphatic consonants in JB: /ṭ/, /ṣ/, and /ḏ/.̣ Some other consonants, as /l/, /m/, /b/, and others, can be realized as emphatic in certain contexts: /ṃāy/ "water"; /ḷaṭma/ "slap"; /ṃāḷ/ "of". Their emphatic articulation is unstable and it usually occurs under the influence of another emphatic consonant in the word. Mansour distinguishes the two groups of emphatic consonants, i.e. the three stable emphatics and the optional ones, and terms them "primary and secondary velarized consonants" respectively (1991: 59). However, emphasis can be a distinctive feature even when it comes to secondary emphatic consonants. For example in the pair /ḅāḅa/ "father" vs. /bāb-a/ "her door" the former is constantly articulated with emphatic consonants. Emphatic consonants are frequently found in loanwords, for instance: /gḷāṣ/ "glass"; /ˀaḅēḷ/ "grief". 2.1.1.3 Phonetic changes in consonants 2.1.1.3.1 Assimilations 1. As mentioned above, non-emphatic consonants can become emphatic as a result of the existence of emphatic or velar consonants in their environment27: /ẓaġġ/ "he became smaller"; /nǝṣṭanḏaġ/ ̣ "we wait"; /ṣuḷṭān/ "sultan". In the case of /ḅḅaḥd-ak/ "by yourself", the emphatic consonant is secondary result of the assimilation of the original /w/: /bwaḥd-ak/ > /ḅḅaḥd-ak/. 2. Voiceless consonant might voice under the influence of a neighboring voiced consonant: /tzūwaǧ-a/ "he married her" > /dzūwaǧ-a/. The opposite case, namely of a voiced consonant turning into a voiceless one under the influence of a neighboring voiceless consonant, also occurs: /dxalna/ "we entered" > /txalna/. In some cases is can lead to a complete assimilation: /ˀatḏakkaġ/ "I remember" > /ˀaḏḏakkaġ/. 3. The consonant /ġ/ in the environment of /x/ or /q/ might assimilate: /lǝxxi/28 "other (fs)"; /qqētu/ "I read". When followed by /ḥ/, the /ġ/ might be pronounced closely to /w/: /fǝġḥan/ ~ [fǝwḥān] "glad". /ġ/ can also drop altogether: /ma aˁġǝf/ "I don't know" > /maˁǝf/. 4. /m/ can assimilate into /n/: /tǝmṭǝġ/ "it rains" > /tǝnṭǝġ/. The opposite change can also happen: /zǝnbūġ/ "bee" > /zǝmbūġ/. 5. /l/ is easily assimilated into /n/: /qǝnna/ "we said". The article /l-/, as well as the relative marker, the preposition, and the direct object marker, which share the same allomorph /l-/, assimilate into the following consonant: /l-šams/ "the sun" -> /š-šams/. This can also occur with particles that end with /l/, like the preposition /māl/ "of": /mār-raǧˁa/ "of the return".
27
This phenomena is frequently termed tafxīm or velarization. This form originates from the combination of the article /l-/ and OA /ˀuxrā/ "other (fs)" as follows: /luxrā/ > /l-ǝxġi/ > /lǝxxi/. 28
36
2.1.1.3.2 Additional phonetic changes 1. When a preposition like /l-/, /b-/ or /mǝn-/ precedes deictic words that open with /h/, the /h/ can fall: /l+hāḏa/ "to this (m)" -> /l-āḏa/; /l+hōn/ "to here" -> /l-ōn/. 2. Metathesis occurs in words like: /yǝnˁal/ "curses" where the /l/ and the /n/ change their places. 3. Gemination if final position is unstable. It is sometimes pronounced as a single consonant regardless to three consonants' cluster's production considerations. Particles like /fǝd/ "a/some" and /lax/ "other" are mostly articulated without final gemination, although their final consonant originated from two different ones. As for C2C3 roots in word final position, their final gemination is not always articulated, but for diachronic considerations it will be noted. 2.1.2 Vowels 2.1.2.1 General overview 2.1.2.1.1 Long vowels Long Vowels high mid low
front ī ē
central
back ū ō
ā
Long vowels appear in principle only in stressed syllables, otherwise they shorten or change their value as will be detailed below. 2.1.2.1.2 Short vowels Short Vowels high mid low
front i e
central ǝ a
back u o
1. Short vowels don’t occur in an open pre-stressed syllable29: /ktabtu/ "I wrote"; /ktāb/ "book". 2. /a/ can occur in any syllable type, except for an open unstressed one: /katab/ "he wrote"; /qaddam/ "he served"; /ṣadīq/ "friend". 3. Mid, central /ǝ/ is limited to open stressed syllables or to closed syllables and it usually originates from one of CA short vowels /u/, /i/30 or /a/: /qǝfǝl/ "lock"; /qǝbba/ "room"; /mǝlḥ/ "salt"; /kǝtbǝt-u/ "she wrote it (ms)". 4. /u/ and /i/ are usually a result of shortening of their long equivalents due to stress shift: /yqulōn/ "they say". They can be also reflexes of an unstressed historical diphthong /aw/ or /ay/ (see 2.1.2.3.3 and 2.1.2.3.6): /yumēn/ "two days"; /bitēn/ "two houses". Both vowels can appear in loanwords from foreign languages of
29
Unless when they originate from a long vowel that shortened due to stress shift: /yǧibōn/ "they bring", or in loanwords: /mudīr/ "manager". 30 Mansour notes that /ǝ/ is a centrally articulated vowel between /u/ and /i/. This supports his claim that in certain environments /ǝ/ and /i/, and /ǝ/ and /u/ can have a very close value: /lí-qǝddām/ "in advance" (i~ǝ); /ḅǝṭǝl/ "bottle" (ǝ~u) (1991: 36).
37
from standard Arabic: /muḥāmi/ "lawyer". In any case, they are restricted to an open unstressed syllable. 5. /o/ and /e/ are quite rare and they result from shortening of their long equivalents due to stress shift31: /yǧibo-l-yā-na/ "they bring it/them to us". 2.1.2.2 Long vowels shortening The rule according to which an originally long vowel shortens in an unstressed position is a central rule of JB vowels system. Blanc and Mansour note this rule, but there are some differences in their analysis. The two cite several examples that follow the rule as well as some that don't without providing a thorough explanation or proof. That can be understood in the absence of technical tools with which the rule could have been examined. An empirical phonetic analysis of this rule allows us to approve the validity of it in JB , but also to note a few cases that do not follow it: 32
1. The first vowel of stem I active participle does not shorten: /sēmˁīn/ "are hearing". 2. Most occurrences of the monophthongs /ī/ and /ū/ that result from diphthongs in an unstressed position do not shorten. This applies to cases like the first vowel of stem I passive participle of C1-w roots, C2-w/y roots in stem II and V as well as other cases: /mūǧūda/ "is (f) present"; /sūwēt-a/ "you (ms) did it (f)"; /l-ūlād/ "the children". On the other hand, in the case of the word /siyāra/ "car" this rule doesn’t apply. 3. When the stress shifts to a previous particle33, the following long vowel does not shorten: /lí-hōni/ "to here". 2.1.2.3 Reflexes of CA vowels and diphthongs 2.1.2.3.1 CA /u/
CA /u/ in closed syllables > /ǝ/. For example: /qubba/ "room" > /qǝbba/; /qubbatu-hu/ "his room" > /qǝbbǝt-u/; /qufl/ "lock" > /qǝfᵊl/34. CA /u/ in an open unstressed syllable > ∅35. For example: /fulān/ "anonymous" > /flān/.
Remark - /u/ in loanwords can be realized as /u/. For example: /muḥāmi/ "lawyer".
31
Blanc agrees that /ē/ and /ō/ in an unstressed position are shorter, but he doesn't cite them as short vowels (1964: 33). Mansour, on the other hand, cites some cases in which /ē/ and /ō/ shorten when unstressed. These include cases of stress shift in the double object pronoun conjugation, of construct state and of loanwords (1991: 96-98). 32 More accurately put, it is safe to say that from the phonetic point of view the originally long vowel is shorter in an unstressed position in relation to other long vowels in the same morphosyntactic word, see Bar-Moshe, forthcoming. 33 Except for /ˀaš-/. 34 The diachronic analysis is based on the CA closed monosyllabic form /qufl/. The fact that an anptyctic vowel is added in certain cases in JB (see 2.1.4.2) doesn’t influence this analysis. 35 There are rare cases in which /u/ can change into /ǝ/ in an open unstressed syllable. In the words /ǧǝnūd/ "soldiers" and /ḥǝdūd/ "boarder" the speakers seem to pronounce /ǝ/. The informants agree, however, that the forms /ǧnūd/ and /ḥdūd/ also exists.
38
2.1.2.3.2 CA /ū/
CA stressed /ū/ > /ū/. For example: /yqūl/ "he says". CA unstressed /ū/ > /u/. For example: /yaqūlūna/ "they say" > /yqulōn/; /ˀáškūn/ "what" > /ˀáškun/36.
2.1.2.3.3 CA diphthong /aw/
CA /aw/ in a stressed syllable > /ō/. For example: /yawm/ "day" -> /yōm/. CA /aw/ in an unstressed syllable > /u/. For example: /yawmayni/ "two days" > /yumēn/; /sawdā́/ "black (fs)" > /sudā́/.
The change of vowel quality from /ō/ to /u/ due to stress shift can be seen in the following examples: /katbu/37+/-nu/ "they wrote"+3ms -> /kǝtbō-nu/ "you wrote it (ms)"; /tǝlǝfizyōn/+/-āt/ "television"+P -> /tǝlǝfizyunāt/ "telvisions". There are cases in which unstressed /ō/ shortens to /o/ rather than changes to /u/: /solaftu/ "I talked"; /ˀašlon/ "how". There are also cases in which the combination /aw/ retains: /ˀawqaf/ "I stand"; /sawwa/38 "he did". 2.1.2.3.4 CA /i/
CA /i/ in closed syllables > /ǝ/. For example: /miftāḥ/ "key" > /mǝftāḥ/; /nimtu/ "I slept" > /nǝmtu/; /ṣidq/ "true, right" -> /ṣǝdᵊq/39. CA /i/ in an open unstressed syllable > ∅. For example: /kitāb/ "book" -> /ktāb/.
Remark - /i/ in loanwords might keep its value. For example: /tǝlǝfizyōn/ "television". Also in certain compounds that open with the CA preposition /li-/ "to", in which the stress falls on the preposition, the vowel retains its value as /i/. For example: /lí-hassa/ "till now". 2.1.2.3.5 CA /ī/
CA stressed /ī/ > /ī/. For example: /yǧīb/ "he brings". CA unstressed /ī/ > /i/. For example: /yurīdūna/ "they want" > /yǧidōn/.
2.1.2.3.6 CA diphthong /ay/
CA /ay/ diphthong in a stressed syllable > /ē/. For example: /bayt/ "house" > /bēt/. CA /ay/ diphthong in an unstressed syllable > /i/. For example: /baytayni/ "two houses" > /bitēn/; /bayḏạ ̄ ́ / "white (f)" > /biḏạ ̄ ́ /.
36
The compound preserves the long vowel in the phrase /ma ˀaˁġǝf ˀaškūn/ "I don't know what". The 3p SC suffix /-u/ is probably analyzed as originating from the diphthong /aw/ (Blanc 1964: 62). 38 The diphthong /ǝw/ that might result from an unstressed /aw/ in the case of C2-w roots in stem II changes into /ū/: /sawwa/+/-nu/ "he did"+3ms" -> /sǝwwā-nu/ -> /sūwā-nu/ "he did it (ms). 39 The diachronic analysis is based on the CA closed monosyllabic form /ṣidq/. The fact that an anptyctic vowel is added in certain cases in JB (see 2.1.4.2) doesn’t influence this analysis. 37
39
The change of vowel quality due to stress shift can be seen in the following examples: /ktǝbi/40+/-nu/ "write (fs)!"+3ms -> /kᵊtbē-nu/ "write (fs) it (m)!"; /kēk/+/ēn/ "cake"+DU -> /kikēn/ "two cakes". There are cases in which an unstressed /ē/ shortens to /e/ rather than changes into /i/: /beġaktu/ "I blessed". There are cases where its quality doesn’t change: /sēmˁīn/ "are hearing". There are also cases in which the combination /ay/ retains: /ˀaybas/ "I dry"; /sayyab/41 "he left". 2.1.2.3.7 CA /a/
CA /a/ in stressed syllables > /a/. For example: /ǧamal/ "camel". CA /a/ in closed post-stressed syllables > /a/. For example: /katab/ "he wrote". CA /a/ in pre-stressed closed syllables > /ǝ/. For example: /xabbāz/ "baker" > /xǝbbāz/; /sakġān/ "drunk (ms)" > /sǝkġān/; /maftūḥ/ "opened (ms)" > /mǝftūḥ/. CA /a/ in unstressed open syllables > ∅. For example: /ṯaqīl/ "heavy" > /ṯqīl/.
Remarks: 1. The vowel following the prefixes of the PC is /ǝ/: /yaftahimu/ "he understands" > /yǝftahǝm/. This is the case in many Arabic, and it probably reflects a change from /i/ rather than /a/ into /ǝ/ (Versteegh 1997: 134). 2. There are certain cases in which CA /a/ in a stressed syllable changes into /ǝ/: /šǝhᵊġ/ "month". These cases are not systematic, as other roots in the same nominal pattern don’t change their vowel. 3. There are many cases in which CA /a/ in an unstressed open syllable keeps its value: /ṣadīq/ "friend"; /ṭarīq/ "road"; /madārǝs/ "schools"; /ǧamāˁa/ "group"; /raˀīs/ "president"; /baˁád-u/ "he is still". The CA /a/ of these patterns does zeroout with other roots, however: /mlīḥ/ "good (ms)"; /ṭḥīn/ "flour"; /mḥābǝs/ "wedding rings". 4. In cases where CA /a/ is preceded by initial /ˀ/ it is usually retained even if unstressed. For example: /ˀaxū-nu/ "his brother". 2.1.2.3.8 CA /ā/
CA stressed /ā/ > /ā/. For example: /ˁāyan/ "he saw". CA unstressed /ā/ > /a/. For example: /ˁāyantu/ "I saw" > /ˁayantu/.
Remarks: 1. Unstressed /ā/ might keep its long value in loanwords. For example: /rādyō/ "radio". 2. Inner ˀimāla: a. Inner ˀimāla occurs in certain morphological patterns as a result of an existing /i/ or /ī/ around the /ā/. In most cases in JB the inner ˀimāla changes the vowel /ā/ into /ī/. For example: /kilāb/ "dogs" > /klīb/. b. Specifically for CA qātil pattern, the ˀimāla is morphologically conditioned: 40
The 2fs imperative suffix /-i/ is probably analyzed as originating from the diphthong /ay/ (Blanc 1964: 62). 41 The diphthong /ǝy/ that might result from unstressed /ay/ in the case of C2-y roots in stem II changes into /ī/: /sayyab/+/-u/ "he left"+3ms -> /sǝyyab-u/ -> /sīyáb-u/ "he left him".
40
When it represents an adjective: /ā/ > /ī/. For example: /bīġǝd/ "cold (ms)" When it serves as a verb: /ā/ > /ē/. For example: /kētǝb/ "is writing". When it represents a noun: /ā/ retains. For example: /kātǝb/ "author".
2.1.2.3.9 Final vowels Final vowels are articulated as short ones, and thus will be written as short vowels42. There is no phonemic contrast, though, between long and short vowels in final stressed or unstressed word position. Examples: /qǝltu/ "I said"; /ktǝbi/ "write! (2fs)". Remark - final vowels elongate when suffixes are added to them. For example: /qǝlnāl-u/ "we told him"; /fǝtḥī-ha/ "open (fs) it (fs)". 2.1.2.3.10 Final ˀimāla Final ˀimāla changes a final /a/ into /i/. This, however, doesn’t always take place43, as can be seen from the following examples: /ǧiǧi/ "hen"; /ˀaˁmi/ "blind (ms)"; /skāġi/ "drunk (p)"; /kalba/ "dog (f)". Remark - there are cases in which the ˀimāla results in final /ē/: /hublā/ "pregnant" > /hǝblē ́ /; /ḏulma/ "darkness" > /ḏǝlmē ́ /. ̣ ̣ 2.1.2.3.11 Final CA /āˀ/ In qatlāˀ and qutālāˀ patterns the final glottal stop /ˀ/ drops but the preceding vowel /a/ keeps its long and stressed value. For example: /sudā́/ "black (fs)"; /tlaṯā́/ "Tuesday". In some cases of these patterns, however, it seems that the /ˀ/ drops, the final /ā/ shortens, and the stress moves to the preceding syllable: /ˁáḏra/ "virgin". This happens also in words like /mása/ "evening". There are cases in which the final /āˀ/ changes into /i/ as a result of final ˀimāla, like in: /šǝti/ "winter". 2.1.3 Stress The stress falls on a syllable according to two basic rules: 1. Stress in JB is on VKK or V̄K closest to the end of the word. If neither VKK nor V̄K occur, the stress falls on the first V. Examples: /ǧə́bna/ "we brought" (VKK) /ǧǝbnā́k/ "we brought you" (V̄K) /ǧı̄b́ u/ "bring (p)!" (V̄K) /lēbsı̄ń / "are wearing" (V̄K closest to the end of the word) /wálad/ "boy" (on the first V)
42
Except for final /ō/ and /ē/, and for some special verbal cases. Examples: /rādyō/ "radio"; /hǝblē ́ / "pregnant"; /ǧā/ "he came". Specifically, final /ē/ is always stressed and is constantly long. 43 For the conditions see 1.2.4.2.1.1.
41
2. When a suffix is added to nominal and verbal patterns, the stress shifts to the syllable that precedes the suffix regardless to the syllable structure. For example: /lēbǝs/ "is (m) wearing" vs. /lēbə́s-u/ "is (m) wearing it (m)"; /kammal "he completed" vs. /kǝmmál-a/ "he completed it (f)"; /xāybə́t-a/ "poor her". Exceptional cases: a. There are two quantifiers in which the stress doesn’t shift to the preceding syllable when a suffix is added: /kə́llǝt-a/ "all of it (fs)" or /ṯnē ́ nǝt-ǝm/ "the two of them"44. This also happens in the temporal coordinator /tā́li-ya/ "afterwards". b. In the PC of stems VII and VIII, the stress falls on the first syllable of the base form /-nqatǝl/ or /-qtatǝl/, unless one of the long suffixes /-ōn/ or /-ēn/ is presented. For example: /ˀaftáhǝm/ "I understand"; /ˀanházǝm/ "I flee" but /tǝnhǝzmēn/ "you (fs) flee". c. A frequent stress shift occurs in a number of pre-posed particles, such as the prepositions /li-/, /b-/, /mǝn-/, /ˁal-/, the determiner /fǝd/, and the interrogative /ˀaš-/. The particle might draw the stress as near to itself as possible: /lí-qǝddām/ "in advance"; /mə́n-bēt lí-bēt/ "from house to house"; /ˀáš-aku/ "what's the matter?"; /ˀáš-ǝsm-ak/ "what's your name?". The negators /ma/ and /la/ are always stressed and so they are written separately from the following word to distinguish them from their homophonic modal particle. d. As mentioned, CA patterns qatlāˀ and qutālāˀ usually keep their final stress despite the drop of the final glottal stop /ˀ/ (see 2.1.2.3.11): /tlaṯā/ "Tuesday". When final ˀimāla results with /ē/, the stress also falls on the final syllable (see 2.1.2.3.10). When the stress of a phonological word corresponds to rules 1-2 above it will not be marked. In cases where these rules do not apply, like exceptional cases a-c and other unstable cases, the stress will be marked by /V́/. 2.1.4 Anaptyxis 2.1.4.1 Three consonants' cluster A cluster of three consonants might occur in the following cases: 1. /št/ or /st/ followed by a third consonant, like: /štġaltu/ "I worked"; /stḥētu/ "I was ashamed"; /kǝštbān/45 "thimble". 2. /rt/ or /rṭ/ followed by a third consonant, like: /pǝrṭqāl/ "orange". 3. When /n/ is first in the cluster and is followed by two consonants: /kōndra/ "shoe"; /ˁǝnd-kǝm/ "with you (p)". Other cases of three consonants' cluster, either in a single word or in two that are uttered as one sequence, are frequently broken by the anaptyctic vowel /ᵊ/, which usually separates the first and the second consonants, for example: /ˀaǧīb-ᵊl-kǝm/ "I bring for you (p)"; /qam-ᵊṭġad-a/ "he expelled her". Remarks: 44 45
See Mansour, 1991, p.167. Though the form /kǝšᵊtbān/ exists in parallel.
42
1. An anaptyctic can appear in between words also when the first word ends with a two consonants' cluster and the second word opens with a two consonants' cluster. For example: /bǝnt ᵊl-bēt/ "the girl of the house"; /mn-ᵊl-bēt/ "from the house". 2. When words that open with a cluster of two consonants are preceded by the definite article, the anaptyctic comes between the article and the word. For example: /lᵊ-ṭbīx/ "the dish"; /lᵊ-kbīġi/ "the elder (f)". 3. When the addition of a definite article does not create a three consonants' cluster, no anaptyctic is inserted. For example: /ˀaṭˁī-hǝm l-ūlād-i/ "I will bring for my children". 4. In stems VII and VIII in the SC an anaptyctic is inserted to avoid three consonants' cluster in the first and second persons: /nᵊǧġaḥtu/ "I got injured"; /fᵊthamtu/ "I understood". 5. In stem X, an anaptyxtic vowel is introduced in the 3fs and the 3p of the SC: /staˁᵊǧlu/ "they hurried". 6. A three consonants' cluster might result in certain persons from the gemination of stem II or V in combination with an additional consonant. In these cases, however, the gemination is not articulated as a strategy to avoid the cluster. For the sake of diachronic clarity, the gemination will be nevertheless noted, for example: /mqaṭṭˁa/ "cut into pieces (f)"; /yṭǝllˁō-nu/ "they take it (ms) out". 7. In the PC of the 2fs, 2p, and 3p in stems VII, VIII, and X an anaptyctic vowel is inserted between C1 and C2: /tǝftᵊhmēn/ "you (fs) understand"; /yǝstǝqᵊblōn/ "they welcome"; /tǝnkᵊsrōn/ "you (p) break". This happens also in the plural form of the AP in stems VIII and X: /mǝǧtᵊmˁīn/ "are meeting". 8. When a word opens with two consonants' cluster it is sometimes necessary to introduce a prosthetic vowel in order to facilitate the realization of the initial cluster: /ᵊnzūl/ "plague" (Mansour 2006: 235). This, however, doesn't always happen and should further investigated. 2.1.4.2 Two consonants' cluster Two consonants' cluster is generally not broken, unless if it appears at the end of the word in one of the patterns qatl, qutl, or qitl. This, however, doesn’t always happen. Blanc notes that it occurs when the first consonant of the cluster is either /ḥ/, /ġ/, /ˁ/ or /h/ (1994: 55-56), for example: CA /laḥm/ "meat", /duhn/ "oil" -> JB /laḥᵊm/ /dǝhᵊn/. As a matter of fact, there are many other cases that do not follow this rule, in which an anaptyctic is still inserted: /ˀakᵊl/ "food"; /ṣǝdᵊq/ "true"; /qabᵊl/ "before", and others. Jastrow suggests that an anaptyctic is inserted only when the last consonant is a liquid (2007: 418), i.e. either /r/, /ġ/, /l/, /m/ or /n/, but examples like /ṣǝdᵊq/ above or /samᵊk/ "fish" prove that the reality is more complex. Mansour says that the factor that determines the need for an anaptyctic vowel is the relative sonority of the consonants. When the first consonant of a final cluster has less sonority than the last one, there is a need for an anaptyctic vowel (1991: 107-109.). Such is the case with /qabᵊl/ "before". The opposite consonant cluster, on the other hand, does not require one: /qalb/ "heart". Remark - when a non-consonantal suffix is added there is no more need for the anaptyctic: /laḥm-u/ "his meat". The anaptyctic changes its position when the next word opens with the article: /ˁǝlč ᵊl-ṃāy/ "(the) Acacia Gum" vs. /ˁǝlᵊč ṃāy/ "Acacia Gum". 43
2.1.5 Glide When a suffix that opens with a vowel is attached to a noun or a preposition that ends in a vowel a glide is inserted. The glide is /y/ if one of the vowels is /i/, whereas it is /w/ if one of the vowels is /u/, /ū/ or /ō/. The combination of /u/+/i/ produces the glide /y/. A few examples: /skamliyāt/ "chairs"; /ˀabū-yi/ "my father"; /bī-yi/ "in me"; /wiyāyi/ "with me"; /palṭuwāt/ "coats"; /ṣlawōṯ/ "synagogues". Remark - when a word ends with /i/ before the 3fs suffix /-ha/, the /h/ of the suffix can be glided into /y/ instead, for example: /bi/ "in" +/-ha/ "3fs suffix" can simply develop into /bī-ha/ "in her", but has also the variation /bi-ya/46. The same holds for words that end with /w/ before the 3fs suffix, in which the glide /w/ can be inserted: /ˀabū-ha/ "her father" or /ˀabu-wa/.
2.2 Morphology 2.2.1 Pronouns JB has preserved the basic pronominal system of CA, though the gender differences in the plural persons is lost as well as the dual pronouns. The different types of pronouns are be detailed below. 2.2.1.1 Personal pronouns 1s 2ms 2fs 3ms 3fs
ˀana ˀǝnta ˀǝnti hūwi hīyi
1p
nǝḥna/ˀǝḥna
2p
ˀǝntǝm
3p
hǝmmi
2.2.1.2 Pronominal suffixes C-47 1s 2ms 2fs 3ms 3fs
-ak -ǝk -u -a
V-48 -i (-yi); -ni49 -k -ki -nu -ha (-ya/wa)
1p
C-
V-na
2p
-kǝm
3p
-ǝm
-hǝm
2.2.1.3 Direct and indirect object pronouns Verbs to which both a direct and an indirect object are attached are common in the Baghdadi dialects. In JB the indirect object marks gender, number, and person while 46
According to Mansour the long vowel of the preceding word is shortened when a glide changes the /h/ of the 3fs suffix (1991: 73). 47 "C-" indicates that the previous word ends with a consonant. 48 "V-" indicates that the previous word ends with a vowel. 49 The 1s suffix /-ni/ appears only after verbal bases and some prepositions: /ǧāb-ni/ "he brought me"; /llǝ-ni/ "for me". Noun bases and other prepositions take the suffix /-i/: /bēt-i/ "my house"; /ṣōb-i/ "near me".
44
the direct object generally does not. The affixation of the object pronouns can be implemented in one of three strategies: 1. The direct object's marker /yā/, which always bears the stress, is infixed between the indirect object's preposition /l/ and the pronoun suffix that indicates the indirect object. The morphemes order is thus: verb+l+yā+indirect object's suffix pronoun. Example: /ǧabo-l-yā-ni/ "they brought him/her/it/them to me". 2. The indirect object's preposition /l/ is attached to the indirect object's suffix pronoun and only then comes the stressed direct object's marker /yā/. The morphemes order is thus: verb+l+indirect object's suffix pronoun+yā. Example: /ǧabo-l-ni-yā/ "they brought him/her/it/them to me". 3. The indirect object and the direct object are separated into two different phonological words – in the first one the direct object's pronoun is suffixed to the verb, and in the second one the indirect object's pronoun is suffixed to the non-enclitic allomorph of the indirect object's preposition /llǝ-/. Unlike the previous two strategies, in using this strategy the speaker marks also the gender, number, and person of the direct object. Example: /ǧabō-nu llǝ-ni/ "they brought him/it to me". 2.2.1.4 Demonstratives and deixis JB presents a double dimensional demonstratives system of proximal and distal demonstratives: ms fs p
Near hāḏa hāyi haḏōli
Far haḏāk(i) haḏīk(i) haḏōk(i)
Other deixis: /hōn(i)/ "here"; /wnīk(i)/ "there"; /hēkǝḏ/ "like this"; /hassa/ "now". 2.2.1.5 Interrogatives The following is a list of the frequent interrogatives in JB:
50
/ˀaš/ "what?": /ˀaš ṣāġ?/ "what happened?". Preceded by a preposition, its allomorph is /ˀēš/: /ˁala ˀēš qa-tǝḥkōn?/ "What are you talking about?". Compounds built with /ˀaš/ are common: /ˀaškun/ "what?"; /ˀašlon/ "what kind of?"; /ˀašqad/ "how much?". /ˀaš/ can also be suffixed to the compound, in which case its allomorph is usually, but not necessarily, /-ēš/: /bēš/ "how much?"; /lēš/ "why?"; /xatġaš/50 "for what?". /mani/ "who?" /hayyi/ or /hayyu/ "which?". It can be used adjectively: /hayyi ktāb?/ "which book?" or pronominally: /hayyi l-akbaġ?/ "which one is the biggest?".
The /ġ/ frequently assimilates to the preceding /t/: /xattaš/.
45
/wēn/ "where?". The compound /mnēn/ "from where?" compounds the interrogative with the preposition /mǝn/ "from". /ˀǝmta/, /yǝmta/ "when?". /kēm/ and /kam/ "how much?".
2.2.2 The verb JB's verbal system is based on the stem system of CA. Like in other Arabic dialects, stem IV is no longer in use. In each stem we find the SC, the PC, and the IMP. These are inflected in paradigms of persons and numbers as will be specified below. 2.2.2.1 Derivation The changes in the derivation of the stems in JB in comparison to CA can be inferred when the phonological rules of JB, as laid out in 1.1, are taken into consideration. Therefore, the diachronic changes that led to each and every derivation base will not be detailed here. Instead, conjugation tables of sound and weak roots in each stem will be given below. 2.2.2.2 Inflection 2.2.2.2.1 The SC Free51 -tu -t -ti ∅ -ǝt
1s 2ms 2fs 3ms 3fs
Bound52 -tū-; -tō-t-tī-;-tē∅ -ǝt-
1p
Free -nā
Bound -nā-
2p
-tǝm
-tǝm-
3p
-u
-ū-;-ō-
2.2.2.2.2 The PC Free 1s 2ms 2fs 3ms 3fs
t-…-ēn
Bound ˀatt-…-ī-; t-…-ēyt-
Free 1p
Bound n-
2p
t-…-ōn
t-…-ū-; t-…-ō-
3p
y-…-ōn
y-…-ū-; y-…-ō-
2.2.2.2.3 The IMP Free 2ms 2fs
-i
Bound ∅ -ī-; -ē-
Free 2p
51
-u
Bound ū-; -ō-
"Free", in contrast to "Bound", relates to the bare verb itself, when no pronominal suffixes are added to it, in which case, the syllable to which the ending belongs is never stressed. 52 When two allomorphs appear in the paradigm, the left one is used before the 3fs /-ha/, whereas the right one is used before the rest of the suffixes. In both cases the syllable to which the suffix belongs is stressed. This is true also for the suffixes of the next two paragraphs (2.2.2.3.2 and 2.2.2.3.3).
46
2.2.2.3 Verbal conjugation paradigms The following tables will cover the important conjugation paradigms in JB. 2.2.2.3.1 The SC conjugation of sound roots in all stems and persons 1s 2ms 2fs 3ms 3fs 1p 2p 3p 1s 2ms 2fs 3ms 3fs 1p 2p 3p
Stem I ktabtu ktabt ktabti katab katbǝt ktabna ktabtǝm katbu Stem VII nᵊǧġaḥtu nᵊǧġaḥt nᵊǧġaḥti nǧaġaḥ nǧaġḥǝt nᵊǧġaḥna nᵊǧġaḥtǝm nǧaġḥu
Stem II kǝmmaltu kǝmmalt kǝmmalti kammal kammlǝt kǝmmalna kǝmmaltǝm kammlu Stem VIII fᵊthamtu fᵊthamt fᵊthamti ftaham ftahmǝt fᵊthamna fᵊthamtǝm ftahmu
Stem III safaġtu safaġt safaġti sāfaġ sāfġǝt safaġna safaġtǝm sāfġu Stem IX ṣfaġġētu ṣfaġġēt ṣfaġġēti ṣfaġġ ṣfaġġǝt ṣfaġġēna ṣfaġġētǝm ṣfaġġu
Stem V tkǝmmaltu tkǝmmalt tkǝmmalti tkammal tkammlǝt tkǝmmalna tkǝmmaltǝm tkammlu Stem X stǝˁǧaltu stǝˁǧalt stǝˁǧalti staˁǧal staˁᵊǧlǝt stǝˁǧalna stǝˁǧaltǝm staˁᵊǧlu
Stem VI tsamaḥtu tsamaḥt tsamaḥti tsāmaḥ tsāmḥǝt tsamaḥna tsamaḥtǝm tsāmḥu
2.2.2.3.2 The PC conjugation of sound roots in all stems and persons 1s 2ms 2fs 3ms 3fs 1p 2p 3p 1s 2ms 2fs 3ms 3fs 1p 2p 3p
Stem I ˀaktǝb ˀabˁaṯ tǝktǝb tǝbˁaṯ tkǝtbēn tbǝˁaṯēn yǝktǝb yǝbˁaṯ tǝktǝb tǝbˁaṯ nǝktǝb nǝbˁaṯ tkǝtbōn tbǝˁṯōn ykǝtbōn ybǝˁṯōn Stem VI Stem VII ˀatsāmǝḥ ˀanǧáġǝḥ tǝtsāmǝḥ tǝnǧáġǝḥ tǝtsamḥēn tǝnǧᵊġḥēn tǝtsāmǝḥ tǝnǧáġǝḥ yǝtsāmǝḥ yǝnǧáġǝḥ nǝtsāmǝḥ nǝnǧáġǝḥ tǝtsamḥōn tǝnǧᵊġḥōn yǝtsamḥōn yǝnǧᵊġḥōn
Stem II ˀakammǝl tkammǝl tkǝmmlēn ykammǝl tkammǝl nkammǝl tkǝmmlōn ykǝmmlōn Stem VIII ˀaftáhǝm tǝftáhǝm tǝftᵊhmēn yǝftáhǝm tǝftáhǝm nǝftáhǝm tǝftᵊhmōn yǝftᵊhmōn
Stem III ˀasāfǝġ tsāfǝġ tsafġēn ysāfǝġ tsāfǝġ nsāfǝġ tsafġōn ysafġōn Stem IX ˀaṣfaġġ tǝṣfaġġ tǝṣfǝġġēn yǝṣfaġġ tǝṣfaġġ nǝṣfaġġ tǝṣfǝġġōn yǝṣfǝġġōn
Stem V ˀatkammǝl tǝtkammǝl tǝtkǝmmlēn yǝtkammǝl tǝtkammǝl nǝtkammǝl tǝtkǝmmlōn yǝtkǝmmlōn Stem X ˀastaˁǧǝl tǝstaˁǧǝl tǝstᵊˁǧlēn yǝstaˁǧǝl tǝstaˁǧǝl nǝstaˁǧǝl tǝstᵊˁǧlōn yǝstᵊˁǧlōn
2.2.2.3.3 The IMP conjugation of sound roots in all stems and persons 2ms 2fs 2p
Stem I ktǝb bˁaṯ ktǝbi bˁaṯi ktǝbu bˁaṯu
Stem II kammǝl kammli kammlu
Stem III sāfǝġ sāfġi sāfġu
47
Stem VIII ftahǝm ftahmi fthmu
Stem IX ṣfaġġ ṣfaġġi ṣfaġġu
Stem X staˁǧǝl staˁǧli staˁǧlu
2.2.2.3.4 SC and PC derivation bases of sound and weak roots in representative persons in all stems SC 3ms Sound Weak
PC /ǝ/ PC /a/ C1-ˀ C1-w/y C2-w/y
C3-y C2C3 Sound Weak
C3-y C2-w+C3-y
quadriliteral Sound
/ā/ type /ō/ type /ē/ type
Sound quadriliteral Sound
Sound Weak
Sound Weak
/ā/ type /ē/ type
C1-w C2-w/y C3-y C2C3
C1-w C2-w/y C3-y C2C3
Sound Sound Weak
C2-w/y
1s Stem I katab ktabtu fataḥ ftaḥtu ˀakal ˀakaltu waqaˁ wqaˁtu yabas ybastu nām nǝmtu qām qǝmtu ṣāġ ṣǝġtu bana bnētu baqa bqētu sadd sǝddētu Stem II kammal kǝmmaltu xalla xǝllētu sawwa sūwētu naxbaš nǝxbaštu Stem III sāfaġ safaġtu sōlaf solaftu bēġak beġaktu Stem V tkammal tkǝmmaltu txarbaṭ txǝrbaṭṭu Stem VI tsāmaḥ tsamaḥtu tbēġak tbeġaktu Stem VII nǧaġaḥ nᵊǧġaḥtu nwalad nūladtu ndāġ ndaġētu nˁama nᵊˁmētu nḥabb nḥǝbbētu Stem VIII ftaham fᵊthamtu ttafaq ttǝfaqtu ˁtāz ˁtazētu štaġa štġētu štamm štǝmmētu Stem IX ṣfaġġ ṣfǝġġētu Stem X staˁǧal stǝˁǧaltu strāḥ stġaḥētu
48
PC 3ms
2fs
yǝktǝb yǝftaḥ yākǝl yūqaˁ yǝbas ynām yqūm yṣīġ yǝbni yǝbqa ysǝdd
tkǝtbēn tfǝtḥēn taklēn twǝqˁēn tyǝbsēn tnamēn tqumēn tṣiġēn tǝbnēn tǝbqēn tsǝddēn
ykammǝl yxalli ysawwi ynaxbǝš
tkǝmmlēn txǝllēn tsūwēn tnǝxᵊbšēn
ysāfǝġ ysōlǝf ybēġǝk
tsafġēn tsolfēn tbeġkēn
ytkammal ytxarbaṭ
tǝtkǝmmlēn tǝtxǝrᵊbṭēn
yǝtsāmaḥ yǝtbēġak
tǝtsamḥēn tǝtbeġkēn
yǝnǧáġǝḥ yǝnwálǝd yǝndāġ yǝnˁámi yǝnḥabb
tǝnǧᵊġḥēn tǝnwᵊldēn tǝndaġēn tǝnᵊˁmēn tǝnḥǝbbēn
yǝftáhǝm yǝttáfǝq yǝˁtāz yǝštaġi yǝštamm
tǝftᵊhmēn tǝttᵊfqēn tǝˁtazēn tǝštġēn tǝštǝmmēn
yǝṣfaġġ
tǝṣfǝġġēn
yǝstaˁǧǝl yǝstġāḥ
tǝstᵊˁǧlēn tǝstġaḥēn
2.2.3 The participle Participles are derived from the verbal stems and can be used as verbs, as adjectives, and as nouns. As a verb the participle has an active form (the AP) and in some of the stems also a passive form (the PP). Each of these forms is conjugated for the masculine singular, the feminine singular, and for the plural. The following table presents the main cases of declension of sound and weak roots of the participle in the different stems53: Stem I
Sound
Stem II
Sound
Stem VIII
Weak C3-y Sound Sound Weak Sound Weak
Stem IX Stem X
Sound Sound
Stem III Stem V
C3-y C3-y C2C3
AP PP AP PP AP PP AP AP AP AP/PP AP/PP PP/PP AP AP PP
ms kētǝb mǝktūb msallǝm msallam mxalli mxalla msāfǝġ mǝtˁallǝm mǝtġaddi mǝmtaḥǝn mǝštaġi mǝštamm mǝḥmaġġ mǝstaˁǧǝl mǝstaˁǧal
fs kētbi mǝktūba msallmi msallma mxalli mxǝllāyi msāfġi mǝtˁallmi mǝtġǝddāyi mǝmtaḥni mǝštġīyi mǝštammi mǝḥmǝġġāyi mǝstaˁǧli mǝstaˁǧli
p kētbīn mǝktubīn msǝllmīn msǝllmīn mxǝllīn mxǝllayīn msafġīn mǝtˁǝllmīn mǝtġǝddayīn mǝmtᵊḥnīn mǝštġiyīn mǝštǝmmīn mǝḥmǝġġayīn mǝstaˁǧlīn mǝstᵊˁǧlīn
2.2.4 Nouns and adjectives Nouns and adjectives are based on patterns. They are marked for gender, namely masculine or feminine, and number, namely singular, dual or plural. 2.2.4.1 Number 2.2.4.1.1 Dual The dual suffix /-ēn/ is still quite productive in JB: /sbuˁēn/ "two weeks"; /sǝntēn/ "two years"; /duġṭēn/ "twice"; /mitēn/ "two hundred"; /mǝṭrēn/ "two meters"; /qaṭēn/ "double"; /ˀakᵊltēn/ "two dishes"; /nuˁēn/ "two types"; /mkanēn/ "two places"; /gḷaṣēn/ "two cups". As the list above shows, it is not restricted in use for nouns denoting time, measurments, quantities, or numbers. 2.2.4.1.2 Plural Two strategies are used to make a plural noun: 1. Sound plurals – use the singular form as a base, to which a plural suffix is added. The mp suffix in JB is /-īn/, and it is common mainly with adjectives and participles: /nēymīn/ "are sleeping". The feminine plural is /-āt/, and besides adjectives and participles it is also very common with nouns: /marra/ "time" vs. 53
When the participle is used as a noun or an adjective it can have different forms than the ones described in the table.
49
/mǝrrāt/ "times"; /mkan/ "place" vs. /mkanāt/ "places". The suffix /-āt/ is also productive as a plural suffix for foreign words: /ˀapartmenāt/ "apartments". JB also borrowed the Hebrew mp suffix /-īm/ and the fp one /-ōṯ/ which are used in loanwords: /sēfǝr/ "Torah book" vs. /sfarīm/54 "Torah books"; /brāxa/ "blessing" vs. /braxōṯ/ "blessings". 2. Broken plurals – involve a change of the singular base: /nahᵊġ/ "river" vs. /nhūġa/ "rivers"; /šamˁa/ "candle" vs. /šmīˁ/ "candles". Broken plurals are based on morphological patterns. Remark - there are some plural forms which involve both a change in the base of the singular form and an addition of a sound plural ending: /dǝhᵊn/ "oil" vs. /dhunāt/ "oils"; /damm/ "blood" vs. /dmayāt/ "blood (p)"; /ǧġēdi/ "mouse" vs. /ǧǝġdīn/ "mice". 2.2.4.2 Gender Feminine nouns and adjective are usually identified by the feminine ending /-a/ or its allomorph /-i/. A singular noun that ends differently is most probably a masculine one. 2.2.4.2.1 The feminine ending 2.2.4.2.1.1 Isolated nouns JB has either /-a/ or /-i/ as a feminine ending in isolated nouns, depending on the phonemic structure of the preceding syllable: 1. When the preceding syllable contains /y/, /i/, or /ē/ the feminine ending is /i/: /kbīġi/ "big (fs)"; /bēḏi/̣ "egg"; /zġayyġi/ "small (fs)". 2. When the preceding syllable contains /ǝ/ or ∅ that originate diachronically from /i/, the feminine ending is /i/: /sēmˁi/ "is (f) hearing". 3. In all other cases the feminine ending is /-a/: /ġaqba/ "neck"; /sana/ "year". There are a few exceptions to the above rules, like: /ḥǝnta/ "weat"; /swayya/ "a little"; /mlīḥa/ "good (fs)". Some of the exceptions, like: /ˁāˀila/ "family"; /šarika/ "company" might be considered loanwords. 2.2.4.2.1.2 In sandhi When the word with the feminine suffix is in sandhi, the suffix's allomorph is /-t-/ in an originally open unstressed syllable or /-ǝt-/ for the rest of the cases. In practice:
The allomorph is always /-ǝt-/ when a possessive pronominal suffix is added: /qǝbbə́t-ak/ "your room"; /siyarǝt-i/ "my car". The allomorph is always /-t-/ preceding a dual suffix: /qǝbbtēn/ "two rooms"; /sǝǧᵊġtēn/ "two trees". When a noun ending with the feminine suffix is in the construct state and is compounded to another noun, the feminine suffix's allomorph is chosen in a
54
The phonemic structure of the singular form changes when the plural suffix is added. This change is predictable in Hebrew, and so it is not considered as a broken plural.
50
manner that avoids the occurrence of a three consonants' cluster: /sǝǧġǝt tǝffāḥ/ "apple tree"; /qǝbbǝt nōm/ "bedroom"; /ǧīǧt ᵊs-sūq/ "the chicken of the market". 2.2.4.3 Other nominal related morphemes 2.2.4.3.1 The relational suffix (nisba) The primary relational suffix in JB is /-i/: /yhūdi/ "Jew"; /rasmi/ "officially". However, there are other, more specific relational suffixes like: /-či/ for agent nouns that denote habitual activities and professions: /qamarči/ "gembler", or /-li/ and /-āwi/ that usually denote geographical origin: /ṃaṣlāwi/ "someone from Mosul"; /Karkūkli/ "someone from Kirkuk". The feminine singular relational suffix is /-īyi/: /msǝlmīyi/ "Muslim (fs)"; /ˀadmīyi/ "person (fs)". This morpheme is also used for adverbs that denote frequency: /yuṃīyi/ "daily". The plural relational suffixes are /-iyīn/ for the masculine and /-iyāt/ for the feminine. 2.2.4.3.2 Diminutive suffix The suffix /-ūn/ marks a diminutive: /zġayyǝġ/ "little (ms)" vs. /zġayyġūn/ "petite (ms)". This suffix can be extended by the feminine suffixes /-a/: /zġayyġūna/ "petite (fs). 2.2.4.3.3 Kinship suffix The suffix /-u/ is attached to nouns denoting family members to convey kinship: /ˁammu/ "(my) paternal uncle"; /xālu/ "(my) maternal uncle". 2.2.4.3.4 Singulative nouns Singulative nouns can be formed with the feminine ending: /samak/ "fish" vs. /samka/ "a fish"; /ǧōz/ "nut" vs. /ǧōza/ "a nut". There are words, however, which exhibit the singulative noun with the suffix /-āyi/: /pǝrṭqāl/ "orange" vs. /pǝrṭqalāyi/ "an orange"; /ˀalmasāyi/ "a diamond". When the noun ends with /i/, the singulative noun suffix is rather /-īyi/: /nūmi (ḥāmǝḏ)/̣ "lemon"; /numīyi ḥāmḏi/̣ "a lemon". 2.2.5 Numerals 2.2.5.1 Cardinal numbers 2.2.5.1.1 The numeral "one" The numeral "one" is used as an adjective and is inflected for gender. The ms form is /wēḥǝd/ and the fs form is /waḥdi/. 2.2.5.1.2 The numeral "two" When the numeral /ṯnēn/ is used to modify a noun it can either follow it: /bnāt ᵊṯnēn/: "two girls" or precede it: /ṯnēn ᵊbnāt/. The second strategy is rarer, but in any case the different word order doesn’t seem to bear a semantic distinction. Having said that, the use of the dual ending suffixed to the noun is the most frequent strategy: /bǝntēn/ (see 2.2.4.1.1). 51
2.2.5.1.3 The numerals 3-10 The numerals 3-10 have three different allomorph classes: 1. Allomorph class A – the isolated numerals, i.e. when they don't modify a noun. 2. Allomorph class B – the numerals as noun modifiers, in which case the numeral precedes the noun. 3. Allomorph class C – the numerals preceding specific nouns that denote time or quantity, with which a compound is produced. The following table presents the different forms: 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Class A tlāṯi ˀáġ(ᵊ)bˁa xamsi sǝtti sabˁa ṯmīni tǝsˁa ˁašġa
Class B tlǝṯ ˀaġbaˁ xams sǝtt sabˁ ṯmǝn tǝsˁ ˁašġ
Class C tlǝttiyām55 ˀaġbaˁtǝšǝġ xamᵊstalāf sǝttiyām sabᵊˁtǝšǝġ ṯmǝntiyām tǝsᵊˁtǝšǝġ ˁašᵊġtalāf
2.2.5.1.4 The numerals 11-19 /ˀidaˁš/ "11"; /ṯnaˁš/ "12"; /ṭlǝṭṭaˁš/ "13"; /ˀaġḅaṭaˁš/ "14"; /xṃǝṣṭaˁš/ "15"; /ṣǝṭṭaˁš/ "16"; /ṣḅaṭaˁš/ "17"; /ṯṃǝṇṭaˁš/ "18"; /ṭṣaṭaˁš/ "19". 2.2.5.1.5 Tens The tens can be derived from CA following JB's phonological rules: /ˁǝšġīn/ "20"; /tleṯīn/ "30"; /ġǝbˁīn/ "40"; /xǝmsīn/ "50"; /sǝttīn/ "60"; /sǝbˁīn/ "70"; /tmenīn/ "80"; /tǝsˁīn/ "90". 2.2.5.1.6 Hundreds The numeral one hundred is /mīyi/. When it precedes a noun in the construct state its form changes into /mīt/: /mīt ᵊbnāt/ "one hundred girls". The numeral two hundred is formed as a dual noun: /mitēn/. The numerals 300-900 are formed by compounding a numeral from allomorph class B with the morpheme /-mīyi/ or /-mīt/: /sabᵊˁmīyi/ "seven hundred". 2.2.5.1.7 Thousands The numeral one thousand is /ˀalf/: /ˀalᵊf Lēra/ "1,000 Lira". The numeral two thousand is formed as a dual noun: /ˀalfēn/. The numerals 3000-9000 are formed by compounding a numeral from allomorph class C with the morpheme /-alāf/: /ṯmǝntalāf/ "eight thousand".
55
The interdental /ṯ/ assimilates to the following /t/.
52
1.2.5.2 Ordinal numbers The ordinal number "first" is /ˀawwal/ and its feminine form is /ˀūla/. The ordinal numbers second-tenth are based on qītǝl pattern: /ṯīni/56 "second"; /xīmǝs/ "fifth"; /sīdǝs/ "sixth". The fs is formed with the addition of the feminine suffix /-i/. Ordinal numbers can follow the noun and agree with it: /l-bǝnt ᵊl-xīmsi/ "the fifth girl", or precede it, in which case the ms form is used also for the feminine: /xīmǝs bǝnt/ "the fifth girl".
56
Derived from a C3-y root. This form is used both for the ms and the fs.
53
Chapter 3 The temporal-aspectual system of JB This chapter focuses on the verb forms, particles, and auxiliaries that contribute semantic meanings within the frame of tense and aspect in JB. At this point, and in light of the current disagreement among linguists regarding the essence of tense and aspect and their subcategorization (as is also reflected from the literature summary in Chapter 1), it would be wise to toe the line about the different terms which will be used below. The approach to tense follows Reichenbach's model (see 1.1.1) and that to aspect follows Comrie. Thus, the perfective vs. imperfective opposition is analyzed here as looking at the situation as a one whole unit vs. looking at its internal structure. I also follow Comrie in the categories he considers under the imperfective umbrella, namely habitual and continuous. The continuous is further subcategorized into progressive vs. non-progressive situations. The definitions of these categories as well as of some additional ones, such as gnomic, iterative, inchoative, etc. are given in Sections 1.1.2.1 and 1.1.3.1.1. The four vendlerian categories of Aktionsarten, namely states, activities, accomplishments, and achievements (see 1.1.2.2), will also be taken into consideration. Although this dissertation concerns with the preverbal particles of JB, they don't operate in an empty space. Their value is determined, among other factors, by their contrastive relations with other verb forms, particles, and auxiliaries. Thus, the analysis of the preverbal particles requires a thorough analysis of each and every form that takes part in the verbal system of JB and not only of the preverbal particles themselves. The following analysis will focus on the four main members of JB's verbal system, namely the SC, the PC, the AP, and qa-PC57. The first three constitute a part of Old Arabic verbal system, but nevertheless their use has changed along the years. qaPC, a construction that results from the combination of the PC and the preverbal particle /qa/, is, on the other hand, a later innovation. Even though it doesn’t constitute a new conjugation pattern it is frequent and prominent in the verbal system of JB, as will be shown below. Thus, it is regarded as a central member of the system. Additional auxiliaries and preverbal particles play a secondary role in the system, but nevertheless will receive a thorough treatment as well. As was already emphasized, the occurrence of a specific verb form depends on different variables like tense, aspect, aktionsart, textual context, syntactic constraints, etc. To enable us to examine the forms thoroughly, we need to fix one variable at a time and to check the effect on the occurrence of the forms. The first few sections of this chapter will be dedicated to a fixed variable. The first variable that will be fixed is the verb form itself. In Section 3.1 a survey of the main temporal and aspectual functions of each of the forms will be given. This will enable us to get acquainted with the verb forms and to explore the richness of their temporal-aspectual functions. The survey will be, however, general and conclusive. The
57
Preceding the 1s of the PC the particle /qa-/ can have the allomorph /qad/.
54
following sections will supply the reader with a detailed analysis to prove the general statements of Section 3.1. In Section 3.2 we will analyze how different text type effect the verbal forms in use. The analysis will be conducted separately to narratives, dialogues and conversations, and other text types. The classification of a specific textems as narrative or as dialogue was determined in accordance with the typical features that define each of these textemes as laid out in 1.1.4. In Section 3.3 the micro-syntactic environment in which the verb forms occur will be fixed in order to determine which one occurs in which types of clauses and sentences. This section will also address the question of coordination vs. subordination, taking into consideration both the syntactic and the temporal perspective. The variable that will be fixed in Section 3.4 is the aktionsart. We will examine the role that aktionsarten categories play in JB and the way in which they interact with grammatical aspect. The deep analysis of aktionsarten will also enable us to address one major case of overlap, namely that between the AP and qa-PC. To complete the picture Section 3.5 will survey additional aspectual categories that JB marks. Finally, in Section 3.6 we will refer to the second case of overlap – that between the PC and qa-PC. The analysis will enable as to draw some assumptions about the diachronic development of qa-PC construction. The conclusions of all the sections will be eventually integrated into a conclusive discussion of the temporal-aspectual system of JB under Section 3.7. 3.1 The main functions of JB's verb forms The following section targets to survey the main functions of the common verbal forms in JB. Before we commence, it is important to note that the discussion in this section is a general one. It is based on the temporal-aspectual impression that a verb phrase gives when it is considered in its context. The following sections will serve as a proof for the claims and statements in this section, as they present macro- and microsyntactic minimal pairs. Our goal is to be able to define by the end of this section the functions of each form and to highlight some cases of forms that overlap in function. To achieve this goal we will address the four central verb forms, namely the SC, the PC, qa-PC, and the AP, along with two periphrastic verb constructions, kan+AP and kan+qa-PC, which are of importance to the temporal-aspectual system. Other constructions will be discussed in the following sections, mostly since they are restricted in function to a specific aspectual or modal use. In addition, not all the functions of each form will be mentioned in this section. Some less central functions will be discussed as well in the following sections. 3.1.1 The Functions of the SC 3.1.1.1 Perfective past situations The SC is mainly used to mark perfective past situations. In this respect it corresponds to Dahl's cross-linguistic ruling that past is most commonly marked morphologically, and in most cases suffixally (1985: 117). Naturally for the perfective aspect, the inner structure of these situations and the aktionsart's category of their verb are irrelevant. 55
The SC is frequently used to develop the plot of a narrative: (1)
ǧabō-l-a
ǧūd,
bring.SC.3p-DAT-3fs
hot bottle
[Text 4]
They brought her a hot bottle, xǝllo-l-yā
bēn-ᵊġǧūl-a.
put.SC.3p-DAT-ACC
between-legs-3fs
they put it between her legs. nazlǝt
Rimō n.
come down.SC.3fs
PN
Rimōn (the baby) came down. This piece of narrative describes the occurrences that led to Rimōn's burning marks after her mother felt cold during her birth. Three of these occurrences are denoted here by the SC. The first, /ǧabō-l-a/, refers to a hot bottle that the nurses brought to Rimōn's mother to make her feel warm. Then /xǝllo-l-yā/ describes how the nurses put the hot bottle between her legs. Finally Rimōn /nazlǝt/ "came down", meaning that she fell down on the hot bottle and thus got burnt. The use of the SC to mark a perfective past is not restricted to narratives: (2)
ġǝdtu
ˀaqǝl-l-a
l-ṃāṃa.
want.SC.1s
say.PC.1s-DAT-3fs
ACC-mother
[Text 29]
I wanted to tell my mom. The sentence in this example was uttered as a part of a conversation. The interlocutors sit in the living room. One of them complains that the chair on which he sits is broken. The speaker responds saying that she knows, and that she /ġǝdtu/ "(I) wanted" to tell her mother about it. Thus the SC here also denotes a past perfective situation, but in a conversation. 3.1.1.2 Unreal situations 3.1.1.2.1 Conditional sentences The SC can be used in conditional sentences, primarily to denote an unreal or a counterfactual situation. The following example is taken from a story about two Jewish girls who were accused of having lice in their hair as a pretext for their expulsion from school. Their elder brother went to the police and told them to delouse the girl's hair to see if indeed they have lice. His words to the police officers are quoted by the narrator: (3)
ˀǝḏa
šǝftǝm
qamla,
if
find.SC.2p
louse
[Text 9]
If you find a louse,
56
ˀaš
ma
tǝġdōn ˀaṭˁī-kǝm.
what
NMLZ want.PC.2p
give.PC.1s-2p
I will give you whatever you want. The protasis contains the verb /šǝftem/ "you (p) saw", a SC that marks the situation as counterfactual. The apodosis contains the verb /ˀaṭˁī-kǝm/ "I give you" as a main verb as well as a content clause with the verb /tǝġdōn/ "you want". Combined together the sentence means "If you find a louse, I will give you whatever you want". The role of the SC in conditional sentences will be discussed in details under 4.3. 3.1.1.2.2 Optative A verb in the SC is used as optative in modal utterances like curses and wishes. Its use is performative and implies that by the sole articulation of the utterance its content has already been realized. (4)
ṭfā-ha
l-aḏīki
s-safra!
extinguish.SC.3ms-3fs
ACC-DEM.fs
DA-trip
[Text 30]
Damned be that trip! In this example the speaker curses a very bad trip he has experienced. The verb /tfā-ha/, literally meaning "he extinguished it (f)", refers to God, i.e. it means "may God extinguish it". The verb itself is in the SC, as if the God had already extinguished it. The optative use of the SC will be further discussed under 4.1.8.1. 3.1.2 The functions of the PC 3.1.2.1 Habitual, iterative, and gnomic situations (5)
hāyi
ham
tǝˁˁǝf
ṭǝbb
mal-ˁarab.
PDEM.fs
also
know.PC.3fs
medicine
of-Arab.p
[Text 1]
She also knows Arabic medicine. This sentence was uttered as a parenthetic comment during a narrative, giving additional necessary information about one of the protagonist of the story – the fact that she knows Arabic medicine. This fact refers to a charachteristic of the protagonist, which is stative and habitual. (6)
kǝll
yōm
tǝǧi
tnaxbǝš
b-ᵊz-zǝbǝl,
every
day
come.PC.3fs
scavenge.PC.3fs in-DA-garbage
[Text 31]
Every day she comes and scavenges in the garbage, wu-kǝll
ma
ˀamši
and-every
NMLZ walk.PC.1s
ˀaˁayǝn-a. see.PC.1s-3fs
and every time that I walk (there) I see her. In this example the habituality can be seen by the use of the frequency adverb /kǝll yōm/ "every day" and the frequency subordinator /kǝll ma/ "every time that". All 57
four verb forms in the example are in the PC, which means that it is compatible with habituality. Unlike the previous example, in which the habituality was stative, in this case the habituality is dynamic and also involves iterativity. It is important to note that even if we omit the frequency adverbs, the iterative and habitual interpretation of the PC keeps its validity. Habituality and iterativity don't always go along when dynamic verbs are used: (7)
kǝll
sāˁa
ysūwī-l-i:
[Text 30]
every
hour
do.PC.3ms-DAT-1s
Every minute he told me: (Lit. every hour he did to me) ˁāyǝn
hāyi
look.IMP.2ms PDEM.fs
l-wǝṣla
ˀášlon-a?
DA-piece
how-3fs
Look at this hot girl. (Lit. look how is this piece) This was uttered as a part of a narrative in which the speaker describes a ride that he took with a weird driver, who frequently looked out of the window and indicated how beautiful a girl that he saw was. The first sentence here is still a part of the narrative while the second is included in a dialogue in which the driver is quoted. The first sentence is, however, of our interest here. It consists a frequency adverb /kǝll sāˁa/ which literally means "every hour" but in practice means something closer to "all the time". Adverbs denoting frequency are typical of habitual sentences, but this is not the case here. Although the driver was saying this sentence very frequently, it was limited to the single situation of the ride. Thus, it doesn’t fall under the definition of habituals as denoting a characteristic of an extended period of time. This situation can be treated as simply an iterative one, parallel to Comrie's example: "the lecturer stood up, coughed five times, and said…" (1976: 27). Both situations are simply ones in which an instance is repeated a limited number of time and thus are viewed as a single situation. The following sentence was uttered during a political conversation about the situation in Egypt. It relates to the Egyptian strikes on Gaza Strip, which one of the participants in the conversation hopes that will assist in putting an end to the terror from Gaza. The speaker doesn’t believe it can happen and wants to convey the message that the situation is irreversible using the following metaphor: (8)
hāḏa y…
ᵊǧ-ᴱᴳ(ǧīni)ᴱᴳ,
PDEM.ms
DA-genie
[Text 32]
This genie, mǝn
yǝṭlaˁ
ᵊmn-ᵊl…
mn-ᵊl…
mn-ᵊl-ḅǝṭǝl,
when
get out.PC.3ms
from-DA
from-DA
from-DA-bottle
when it comes out of the bottle,
58
baˁᵊd
ma
tǝqdaġ
ᵊtġǝdd
anymore
not
be able.PC.2ms return.PC.2ms
ᵊtrǝǧǧǝˁ-u. put back.PC.2ms-3ms
you cannot make it go back in anymore. According to the metaphor once the genie got out of the bottle it is impossible to put it back in. Since it is meant as a rule of nature, namely a timeless gnomic situation as for Lyon's definition (see 1.1.3.1.1), the bare PC is used gnomically both in the temporal clause that opens the metaphor and in the main clause that follows. The first verb /yǝṭlaˁ/ "he gets out" is preceded by the temporal subordinated marker /mǝn/ meaning "when", or in this case rather "every time that". Thus, the situation can be also regarded as repetitive, i.e. denoting an iterative aspect. Since the situation in the main clause depends on the results of the repetitive situation in the first clause, the same analysis can apply also to its verb /tǝqdaġ/ "you (ms) can". 3.1.2.2 Bound present situations 3.1.2.2.1 Non-progressive situations Ex.5 above shows that a stative situation can be interpreted as habitual if it occupies a long span of the time axis. However, stative situations that are limited to a specific present situation can also be hosted by the PC: (9)
ˀana
ˀaġīd
hassa l-yōm ˀamši.
I
want.PC.1s
now
[Text 10]
DA-day travel.PC.1s
I want to travel (back) today. This sentence was uttered in a conversation between a Jew and his smuggler. The speaker insists on traveling on that specific day, and uses the verb /ˀaġīd/ "I want" to express his stative state of mind. In this case the situation is bound in time to that specific situation, i.e. it cannot be interpreted as habitual, but rather as a non-progressive one. 3.1.2.2.2 Progressive/iterative situations (10)
nǝmši
wu-māku
wu-ndawwǝġ
wu…
walk.PC.1p
and-there isn't
and-search.PC.1p
and
[Text 8]
We walk and (there is) nothing and we search and… wu-ˀamši
wu-ˀabki
and-walk.PC.1s and-cry.PC.1s
wu-ˀaˁayyǝṭ. and-scream.PC.1s
And I walked and cried and screamed. The example is taken from a story about a child who gets lost. It describes the desperate way in which his grandmother and her friend looked for him. All the situations are dynamic, i.e. progressive. Nevertheless, the use of the PC here gives the impression of an iterative situation, as if all these activities were repeated. This way the narrator, who happens to be the grandmother herself, stresses out her desperateness at that time. It is important to note that no example of a progressive use of the PC that 59
doesn't involve iterativity was found in the corpus. Thus, it is possible that the PC is incompatible with progressivity. 3.1.2.2.3 Punctual situations (11)
ˀaxḏǝt-u
l-ǧazdān
ṃāṃa Zbēda fǝtḥǝt-u
take.SC.3fs-3ms
ACC-purse
mother PN
tˁāyǝn
ᵊl-…
see.PC.3fs
ACC-
[Text 5]
open.SC.3fs-3ms
Mama Zbēda took the purse, opened it, and sees the… hāyi
lᵊ-snūn
b-ᵊl-ǧazdān.
PDEM.fs
DA-teeth
in-DA-purse
the teeth inside the purse. When a narrative is told from the point of view of the historical present, the situations are perfective in the sense that their internal structure is of no relevance. Thus, in the example above the verb /tˁāyǝn/ "she sees" seals a series of verbs in the SC. This PC verb is, nevertheless, still a part of the foreground. In fact it indicates the result of a story. The PC is used here as a perfective present58. 3.1.2.3 Unreal situations (12)
ˀana
ˀaḏġ̣ ǝb
ǧadri?
I
inject.PC.1s
smallpox
[Text 10]
I would get the vaccine against smallpox? This sentence was uttered as a commentary by a narrator telling the story of how he left Iraq. In order to get a passport he was required to show that he was vaccinated against smallpox. The narrator forged the document of vaccination. He explains it to the listener using the rhetorical question quoted here. Literally the question says "I will get injected smallpox?" but in practice the speaker wants to say that he would never get vaccinated, an unreal situation expressed by the bare PC /ˀaḏġǝb/. ̣ (13)
tǝqdaġ
taxǝḏ-a
ᵊl-PN?
can.PC.2ms
take.PC.2ms-3fs
ACC-PN
[Text 26]
Can you take PN? This sentence conveys a polite request equivalent to the English "can you?". The PC, as the main verb, denotes an unreal situation. The following verb /taxǝḏ-a/ "you take her" has to appear in the PC as a subjunctive complement to the verb it follows. 58
Comrie claims that the perfective present occurs in "cases where the Present Tense is used in ways that are not strictly referring to the present moment". He notes its use in South Slavonic and gives examples from Bulgarian, where it is used in the narrative present (1976: 67, 69). According to Bertinetto the perfective present occurs in performative or reportive present (2001: 184).
60
Unreal situations are frequent in conditional sentences, as can be seen from the apodosis in Ex.3. An additional example: (14)
ˀana
ˀǝḏa
ˀalqi,
[Text 22]
I
if
find.PC.1s
If I will find, ˀana
ˀašġī-l-ǝk.
I
buy.PC.1s-DAT-2fs
I will buy it for you. One of the participants in the conversation is looking for a certain type of tangerine and says that she can't find it in the markets. The speaker of this sentence promises that if /ˀalqi/ "I find" this type of tangerine then /ˀašġī-l-ǝk/ "I buy for you (fs)". His promise is phrased as a conditional sentence. Both the verbs of the protasis and the apodosis contain a verb in the PC to denote an unreal future situation. Conditional sentences will be further discussed under 4.3. However, unreal future situations are marked by the PC also when they are not included in conditional sentences: (15)
muˁāmala
wāḥdi ˀasawwi.
application
one
[Text 11]
make.PC.1s
I will make one application. This sentence was uttered by a Muslim friend who was asked to do a favor and to arrange passports for some Jews that wanted to flee from Iraq. The friend agreed to apply only for one Jew. The verb /ˀasawwi/ "I (will) make" is interpreted in this context as a future situation. The use of the PC instead of other means (see 4.2.2.) to mark a future situation strengthens the uncertainty. Thus a future situation marked by the PC is also marked as unreal. Another example for the future unreal function of the PC: (16)
lāzǝm ᵊmkān ˁadᵊl
wu-lāzǝm
fǝd-šǝhᵊġ
lāzǝm
straight.ms
and-lāzǝm
IDA-month
ˀazyad m…
lǝmman
yṭīb
wu-hāyi.
more
till
get well.PC.3ms and-PDEM.fs
place
[Text1]
(You) should (lay) on a straight place for a month or more… till it will get better. The doctor gives a series of instructions to the patient. When he finishes he says /lǝmman yṭīb/ "till it will get better". He uses the PC /yṭīb/ "will get better" preceded by the conjunction /lǝmman/ "till". Together they denote an unreal future situation. The PC is also used as an optative to express wishes. This use is typical for blessings like: 61
(17)
ˀaḷḷa
yǝġḥam-u.
[Text 30]
God
bless.PC.3ms-3ms
God bless his (soul). or: (18)
ˀaḷḷa
yxǝllī-k
God
put.PC.3ms-2ms
[Text 11]
God help you. In these examples the verb refers to God as its agent. The fact that the verb is in the PC marks the predicate as an optative one. The optative use of the PC can be also seen in curses: (19)
ˀinšaḷḷa dōm-kǝm
ᵊtlǝṭmōn!
may
beat.PC.2p
eternity-2p
[Text 27]
I wish you will beat your chest forever. We can conclude that unreal and optative situations can be denoted by the PC. 3.1.2.4 Subjunctive The subjunctive is not a separate category of mood in JB, i.e. it doesn’t have a dedicated morphological form. Rather, one finds the PC in syntactic positions where the subjunctive mood would otherwise be expected, namely as the verb form of subordinate clauses. Thus, the PC serves both as the indicative (see 3.1.2.1-3.1.2.2) and the subjuncrive in JB. Bybee et al. mention the grammaticalization of the present indicative into present subjunctive as a cross-linguistic grammaticalization path (1994: 235). In JB, and probably in other Arabic dialects, the identity of the two moods is probably a result of final vowels' reduction that occurred in both, which resulted in a single morphological form. Not every type of subordinate clause forces the occurrence of the PC.The subjunctive is used after modal verbs of desire, ability, obligation, etc.: (20)
ma
qad-aqdaġ
ˀatḥarrak.
not
qa-can.PC.1s
move.PC.1s
[Text 1]
I can't move. (21)
tġīd-na
nāxǝḏ
taksi.
want.PC.3fs-1p
take.PC.1p
taxi
[Text 26]
She wants us to take a taxi. The first example shows a verb derived from the root
qdġ "can/to be able"
followed by a verb in the PC. In the second example a verb derived from the root ġwd "to want" is followed by one in the PC. In both examples the PC is a subjunctive. As 62
the examples show, there are no constraints in regard to the form of the modal verb itself. There is also no specific need for agreement between the modal verb and its subjunctive complement, as the second example shows. Both modal verbs in the examples above can be inflected for person and number in almost all morphological forms available. There are, however, fossilized modal particles that require a subjunctive PC to follow. Some of these are: /lazǝm/ "must"; /xalli/ "let's"; /ma yṣīr/ "it is prohibited"; /yǝnġad/ "should" (see 4.1). For example: (22)
yǝnġad-txǝllē-l-u
mxadda
l-āḏa.
yǝnġad-put.PC.2fs-DAT-3ms
pillow
to-DEM.ms
[Text 29]
You should put a pillow to it. The modal particle /yǝnġad/ literally means "it is wanted" conveys necessity and requires a following PC. There are also subordinate conjunctions that require the occurrence of a following subjunctive. One of them is /xaṭaġ/ "in order to": (23)
kanu-ybǝˁṯō-nu
ˁa-l-ˁašāyǝr,
be.SC.3p-send.PC.3p-3ms
on-DA-tribes
[Text 20]
They used to send him to the tribes, xaṭaġ
yṣǝllǝḥ-ǝm
wiya-l-ǝnglēz.
in order to
make peace.PC.3ms-3p
with-DA-PN
so that he will make peace between them and the English. Thus, following certain modal verbs or particles the verb is syntactically required to occur in the PC as a subjunctive complement. In this respect it lacks independent existence and depends on the structure in which it is included, thus it can be regarded as semantically empty. It is possible, however, that a subjunctive verb will appear without being preceded by an overt modal verb or a subordinate particle: (24)
mǝn-kǝll
wēḥǝd
ˀaxaḏ
ᵊflūs,
from-each
one
take.SC.3ms
money
[Text 35]
He took money from each one (of his siblings), yqīm
daˁwa
ˁala-hāyi,
sue.PC.3ms
demand
on-PDEM.fs
to sue this (lady). This short section of story opens with a verb in the SC, /ˀaxaḏ/ "he took", denoting a past perfective situation. The following form /yqīm/, literally means "he establishes", but followed by the noun /daˁwa/ it gets a legal context and can be simply translated as "he sues". The use of the PC in this context is explained by the fact that this verb opens a final clause. This final clause is not marked by any final subordinate 63
marker like /xaṭaġ/ "in order to" but rather by prosody, and still, the verb occurs in the PC, which might imply that it is used as a subjunctive. (25)
tǝḥmǝs
baṣla wu-šwayya
ᴴᴱ(šēmen)ᴴᴱ,
fry.PC.2ms
onion
oil
and-little
[Text 43]
you fry onion and a little bit of oil, wu-txǝllī-l-a
šwayya
and-put.PC.2ms-DAT-3fs little
mǝˁǧūn
wiyā-ha.
paste
with-3fs
ṃāy m…
ṭaṃāṭa
water
tomato
and you put a little bit of water to it… tomato paste with it. This example is taken from a receipt, in which the speaker uses the second person of the PC. This use might be interpreted as one that convey mands. Thus, it is close in function to the imperative and can be interpreted as demonstrating a subjunctive use of the PC. In addition, the optative use of the PC (see Ex.17-Ex.19) is referred to as subjunctive by scholars like Brustad (2000: 232). The use of the PC without a preceding modal particle or subordinate conjunction might suggest that the subjunctive in JB is not a mere syntactic mean but should rather be treated as a semantic category in certain cases. 3.1.3 The functions of qa-PC 3.1.3.1 Present situations The following sentence was uttered by a third party in a conversation: (26)
ˁala-ˀēš
qa-tǝḥkōn?
about-what
qa-speak.PC.2p
[Text 42]
What are you talking about? The third party just arrived, and so she askes the interlocutors what they are currently talking about in order to be able to join the conversation. The talking, which is a progressive situation, is conveyed by qa-PC. (27)
PN
ma
qa-tġīd
ˀaḥḥad
PN
not
qa-want.PC.3fs
anyone
ᵊl-yōm. DA-day
PN doesn't want anyone (to come) today. qad-asūwī-ha
l-wǝčč-a.
qa-make.PC.1s-3fs
ACC-face-3fs
I am treating her face.
64
[Text 26]
The first situation in this piece of dialogue is /qa-tġīd/ "she wants", referring to a stative present situation, i.e. non-progressive one. The second situation, /qad-asūwīha/ "I am making for her", uses a dynamic verb, and thus a progressive present situation is denoted by it. Hence, both progressive and non-progressive situations in the present can be denoted by qa-PC. Theoretically, qa-PC is able to host punctual situations with verbs of achievement, or more specifically with a certain type of them that indicates physical change. Such examples don’t appear in the corpus, but a full discussion of the phenomenon can be found under 3.4.4.1. 3.1.3.2 Habitual, gnomic, and iterative situations The preverbal particle /qa-/ can join the PC to denote habituality: (28)
ˀawādǝm
baˁᵊd ma
qa-tǝˁǧǝb-ǝm
hāyi
people
already not
qa-be likeable.PC.3fs-3p
PDEM.fs
l-ᵊḥkiyāt. DA-things
People don't like these things anymore. qa-yḏụ ǧōn
mǝnn-a.
qa-be annoyed.PC.3p
from-3fs
They are sick and tired of them. This utterance was said during a discussion about the "Shiv'a" tradition that attracts less and less audience nowadays. The two verb phrases of the utterance consist of a PC preceded by the particle /qa-/ and denote a stative habit. In fact, we can argue that this sentence is gnomic, or more specifically, omnitemporal gnomic, as per Lyons definition (see 1.1.3.1.1), since it denotes an opinion about tendencies or assumed regularities. There are cases in which a dynamic verb in qa-PC conveys habituality: (29)
kǝll
ma
qa-tsawwi
every
NMLZ qa-do.PC.3fs
hēkǝḏ qa-ddūx
wu-b-ᵊl-faġš…
thus
and-in-DA-bed
qa-get dizzy.PC.3fs
Every time she does this she gets dizzy and (needs to stay) in bed… This sentence is an example of habituality combined with iterativity, which is strengthened also by the frequency subordinator /kǝll ma/ "every time that". Examples of iterativity that doesn’t involve habituality in qa-PC are not common and arguable:
65
(30)
qa-ydǝqq.
[Text 37]
qa-ring.PC.3ms
It rings. This sentence refers to the sound of the phone. One of the interlocutors complained that the phone doesn’t work, and so another participant tried make a call. When he succeeded and the phone made a ringing sound he uttered this sentence. A ringing sound of a specific phone call is bound but iterative. Thus we may say that qaPC can be used do mark iterative situations. However, it can be claimed that the situation is looked at as a single whole, i.e. as a progressive situation, and that the iterative interpretation is inherent to a lexical verb such as "to ring". The following example also demonstrates that it is not always easy to put a clear border between the different aspectual values that qa-PC can host: (31)
kǝll-ǝm
qa-yġuḥōn
yǧibōn
pǝrtqāl.
all-3p
qa-go.PC.3p
bring.PC.3p
oranges
[Text 8]
Everybody is going to grab oranges. This sentence is a part of a dialogue embedded in the narrative about a baby that was lost in an orchard. At the beginning of the story the speaker wants to convince her friend to come with her to the orchard, and so she utters this sentence. She says that everybody is going to pick oranges, so they should also. The verb phrase /qa-yġuḥōn yǧibōn/ "they are going to bring" can be interpreted as a progressive present, but it can also be interpreted as a characteristic situation of the days of the narrative. As already mentioned, Comrie defined habituality as characteristic of an "extended period of time". The problem is that there is no objective definition of what an "extended period of time" is. As it is open for subjective interpretation, there would be people who would see this sentence as habitual and there would be those who would simply relate to it as a progressive one. Both interpretations are not contradictive. 3.1.3.3 Circumstantial clauses qa-PC is very frequently used in circumstantial clauses at the background of a narrative: (32)
wu-ǧō
l-ūlād
and-come.SC.3p DA-children
qa-yǝbkōn.
[Text 3]
qa-cry.PC.3p
And the children came back crying. The verb phrase /qa-yǝbkōn/ "they are crying" complements the preceding verb /ǧō/ "they came". It supplements it with information about the way in which the children came, namely they came crying. qa-PC in this case opens a ḥāl circumstantial clause, which, in Brustand's words "describes the state or circumstances of a sentence agent or topic" (2000: 209). qa-PC can open yet another type of circumstantial clauses, namely final clauses: 66
(33)
ǧǝt
ˀAmal qa-tsūwī-ha.
come.SC.3fs
PN
[Text 10]
qa-do.PC.3fs-3fs
Amal came to do it. The verb phrase /qa-tsūwī-ha/ "she is doing it" completes the verb /ǧǝt/ "she came". The connection between the verb phrases can be interpreted as one of action and purpose, i.e. she came in order to do it. 3.1.3.4 Planned future The temporal reference of qa-PC in certain cases can refer to the future: (34)
hūwi
qa-yǝmši
ġada.
he
qa-travel.PC.3ms
tomorrow
[Text 30]
He is traveling tomorrow. At the present point in which this sentence was uttered the travel hasn’t take place yet. One can claim, however, that at the narrative time it was already planned and scheduled. It is important to note that the use of qa-PC to denote a planned future situation is not restricted to motion verbs: (35)
qa-tǝzzawwaǧ
Hanā.
qa-get married.PC.3fs
PN
[Text 5]
Hanā was getting married. At the narrative time, from which perspective this utterance is articulated, the verb phrase /qa-tǝzzawwaǧ/ "she is getting married" refers to a future situation. This retrospective use of qa-PC, i.e. the relation of a future situation with the present state of affairs is not uncommon cross-linguistically and is interpreted by Comrie as a mirror image of retrospective forms such as the perfect (1976: 64). Thus, in the same way that the perfect marks the current relevance of a past situation, the futurate use of qa-PC marks the relevance of a future one to the present state of affairs. 3.1.4 The functions of the AP 3.1.4.1 Present situations The AP is used to denote progressive situations in the present: (36)
ˀašu-ˀǝnti
nēymi
b-ᵊl-aġḏ.̣
ˀašu-you.fs
sleep.AP.fs
on-DA-floor
[Text 1]
I see you are sleeping on the floor. This sentence consists a part of a dialogue. It quotes someone who came into a house and saw the owner sleeping on the floor. The utterance conveys her surprise. It uses the AP /nēymi/ "you (fs) are sleeping" to indicate a progressive present situation. 67
The AP can also be used for stative present situations: (37)
hāyi
ˀašlon ˁāyši?
PDEM.fs
how
[Text 23]
live.AP.fs
How does she live? The example is taken from a gossip conversation about a neighbor whose husband died. The speaker wonders if she has any money to live from. He uses the AP /ˁāyši/ "she lives" to indicate a stative present situation. In this respect, the situation can also be interpreted as habitual. This is the case in the following example as well: (38)
hāyi
l-īhūd
kǝll-ǝm
ˁǝnd-ǝm
PDEM.fs
DA-Jews
all-3p
by-3p
[Text 52]
ˁaqīda bī-ha. faith
in-3fs
All the Jews have faith in it. mǝˁtǝqdīn
bī-ha.
believe.AP.p
in-3fs
They believe in it. These utterances make up the closing remark of a description of a ceremony devoted to fighting against the evil eye. The speaker says that all the Jews in Iraq believe in it. She uses the AP /mǝˁtǝqdīn/ literally meaning "are believing" to express it. This can be interpreted simply as a non-progressive present situation, but also as a stative present habit or even an omnitemporal gnomic situation. Here again, the answer to the question whether a situation should be interpreted as gnomic or habitual is subjective. 3.1.4.2 Circumstantial clauses The AP is also used as the predicate of a circumstantial clause: (39)
b-ᵊl-lēl
nēymi,
[Text 7]
in-DA-night
sleep.AP.fs
When she was sleeping at night, ṭˁū-ha
ˀaġbaˁ ᵊˁġūq mal-ᵊl…
lūbya.
give.SC.3p-3fs
four
black eyed pea
leaves
of-DA
they gave her four seed-pods of black eyed pea. The verb phrase /nēymi/ "she is asleep" is used here in a ḥāl clause describing the circumstances – she was asleep at the moment in which they gave her black eyed pea leaves.
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3.1.5 The auxiliary verb /kan/ The auxiliary verb /kan/, a reduced form of the existential /kān/59, can precede any of the four verbal forms to denote specific temporal, aspectual or modal meanings. When it precedes the AP or qa-PC it denotes an imperfective past. The Imperfectivity can be of several kinds such as progressive, non-progressive, and habitual. These constructions can also be used to sequence two past events, i.e. to denote a past perfect. (40)
ˀəḥna lí-qabl
ᵊl-ᴴᴱ(mǝlḥamá)ᴴᴱ
waḷḷa kənna-xēyfīn [Text 10]
we
DA-war
indeed be.SC.1p-afraid.AP.p
to-before
ˀaššon qa-yǝtt…
qa-yǝttǝmmōn.
how
qa-gather.PC.3p
We, (even) before the war, were afraid (from) how they (the Arab armies) were gathering. The verb phrase /kənna-xēyfīn/ can be interpreted as non-progressive past, i.e. a stative past continuous situation in the meaning of "we were afraid". It can also be interpreted as past habitual, meaning "we used to be afraid". This depends on the subjective interpretation of the duration of the situation. (41)
marra ˀakal-a
ˀakla
faḥᵊm.
time
meal
coal
eat.SC.3ms-3fs
Once he was really in a bad shape. (Lit. he ate it, a portion of coal) kan-qa-ymūt. be.SC.3ms-qa-die.PC.3ms
He almost died. The speaker says that someone almost died using the verb phrase /kan-qa-ymūt/ literally meaning "he was dying". The verb here denotes a continuous development with an inherent end point, thus we can interpret it as a progressive past situation. We can also interpret it as a past perfect one – the situation of "he almost died" precedes the situation of "he actually didn’t die in the end". Finally, the use of kan+qa-PC many times indicates that the situation occurred, or in this case hasn't occurred, "contrary to the expectations". For a complete discussion of the meaning of kan+AP vs. kan+qa-PC and the differences between them see 3.4.4.2. kan+PC and kan+SC have a very specific function. The former is used to convey habitual past and will be discussed in details under 3.5.1. The latter marks a counterfactual situation and will be referred to under 4.3.3. 59
Prosodically, the auxiliary consists an inseparable part of the compound verb phrase and thus it becomes unstressed and loses its long vowel.
69
3.1.6 Conclusion Section 3.1 surveyed the functions of the four central verb forms in JB. The main functions are summarized in the following table: Function/form Past
PC
qa-PC
AP
Present
nonprogressive; punctual; iterative
Progressive; nonprogressive
Future Timeless
Unreal Habitual, iterative, gnomic
Progressive; nonprogressive; punctual; iterative Planned Habitual, iterative, gnomic ḥāl; final
Circumstantial Unreal
Other
SC Perfective
Perfective
counterfactual; optative
kan+AP/qa-PC Imperfective (progressive; nonprogressive; habitual)
Habitual
ḥāl
conditional; future; optative Subjunctive
The table above shows a great deal of overlap between forms and functions. This is mainly apparent in the realm of the present – the PC, qa-PC, and the AP can denote a non-progressive present. The AP and qa-PC can denote a progressive present. Moreover, both the PC and qa-PC can denote punctual and iterative present situations. An overlap also exist in the marking of habitual situations, which can be done by the PC, qa-PC, and the AP. The first two also overlap in marking iterative and gnomic situations. In addition, both the AP and qa-PC can serve as the predicate of a ḥāl clause. Finally, although we only discussed it shortly, an overlap occurs also in the functions of kan+AP and kan+qa-PC. Now that the overlapping cases are highlighted we will address them in the following sections. Each section will isolate a specific variable in order to determine whether it can shed some light on existing differences in the uses of the forms. We will commence by examining the functions of the forms in different text types.
3.2 Textual implications on the verbal system This section targets to examine the dynamics of the use of the different verbal forms in different macro-syntactic units, i.e. textemes. First, the verbal system of narratives will be analyzed and then that of dialogues and conversations. The analysis, which will be supported also by statistical data, will enable us to draw some conclusions about the occurrence of the verb forms in these textemes. Other textemes will be examined as well, though shortly, just in order to give the readers some taste of other text types.
70
3.2.1 The verbal system of narratives Our goal in this section is to determine the function of the four central members of JB's verbal system in a narrative. The function will be defined in terms of tense and aspect. Before we commence, a few theoretical clarification and methodological remarks are in order: 1. Temporal point of view Following the principles of Reichenbach's tense model described above (see 1.1.1.), we can say that a narrative is told by a narrator at a certain point of time which will be related to as "absolute present". Looking from the point of view of the absolute present the story usually takes place in the past. However, when a narrative is told using the historical present, as if it takes place at the moment of telling, this present is not the absolute present but rather the "relative present", which we will term "narrative time". The use of the word "relative" in this case implies that it is present from the point of view of the past. We can sum it up by saying that the relative present equals the past from the point of view of the absolute present, as the following diagram shows: past=relative present/narrative time
absolute present
The transition from the past to the historical present is not the only reason for a change in the temporal perspective of a narrative. In the course of narration the narrator can sometime stop to give some interpretation or commentary. This kind of information, which can be regarded as parenthetic, is given from the absolute present point of view, and it refers to the absolute present itself. In fact, it shouldn’t be treated as a part of the narratives itself but rather as a part of the dialogue between the narrator and the hearers. There are, naturally, types of narratives which has no temporal anchoring. Folktales, for instance, tend to use the past tense. This is a result of the linguistic habit to use the past tense in narratives, and should not be considered as an actual reference to the past time. 2. Textemes A narratives is not a uniform entity. It tends to combine "pure" narratives and dialogues. "Pure" narratives have a reportative character and use indirect speech, whereas dialogues use quotes, i.e. a direct speech strategy. As a matter of fact, embedded dialogues don’t differ from other types of dialogues (see 3.2.4) and thus will be treated under Section 3.2.2. This section will be dedicated to "pure" narratives. 3. Backgrounding and foregrounding As described in 1.1.4.1., a distinction between "background information" and "foreground information" is of importance in the analysis of a narrative. This distinction will also be addressed below.
71
3.2.1.1 The SC The SC in narratives typically indicates a past perfective situation: (42)
xallǝt
gǝdᵊr ˁal-ᵊl-ṭǝḅḅāx,
put.SC.3fs
pot
[Text 1]
on-DA-stove
She put a pot on the stove, wu-ǧābǝt
ṣǝnīyi…
and-bring.SC.3fs tray
and brought a tray… (…) ṣ-ṣǝnīyi
xallǝt
fōq-u.
DA-tray
put.SC.3fs
above-3ms
She put the tray on top of it. b-ᵊl-ᵊḅaxx
mal-ᵊl…
with-DA-steam of-DA
l-hāḏa
māˁ
ᵊl…
DA-PDEM.ms
melt.SC.3ms
DA-
It (the gum) melted with the steam of the… baqa
faġšǝt
ˁal-ᵊṣ-ṣǝnīyi
l…
xām.
but
spread.SC.3fs
on-DA-tray
ACC
cloth
Then she spread the cotton cloth on the tray. In this piece of narrative we can see five occurrences of verbs in the SC. All of them represent situations that occurred in the narrative time, i.e. in the past, relatively to the moment of narration. In this respect all the situations are also perfective. It is important to note that this piece of the text contributes foreground information to the narrative, as it represents a series of actions that promote the plot. The example above is taken from a narrative of memories, i.e. it describes events that actually took place in the past. Moreover, in this case the narrator itself is involved in the occurrences, as she tells a story about something that happened to her. Thus, the past time reference of the SC is relative to the moment of speech. The temporal reference is irrelevant, however, in other types of narratives like folktales: (43)
sāfaġ
wu-raǧaˁ.
Travel.SC.3ms
and-return.SC.3ms
[Text 2]
He traveled and returned.
72
raǧaˁ
ᵊmn-ᵊl-Ḥaǧǧ,
return.SC.3ms
from-DA-PN
He returned from the Hajj, ṣāḥ-l-ǝm
lᵊ-bnāt-u.
call.SC.3ms-DAT-3p
to-daughters-3ms
(and) called for his daughters. This piece of narrative is taken from a tale about a king who traveled to the Hajj and brought gifts to his daughters. This specific episode describes his travel and his return, upon which he called for his daughters. The use of the SC here serves a perfective goal of promoting the narrative by sequencing events. Folktales are disconnected from a specific temporal anchor since the events didn’t really take place. Thus, their past time reference is implicative but nevertheless imaginary. The occurrence of the SC in the background of a narrative is rare and in most cases arguable: (44)
kānu
wlād
Gilda kǝll-ǝm
be.SC.3p
children PN
all-3p
hōni,
[Text 3]
here
The children of Gilda were all here, wu-ġǝḥtǝm
qa-tlǝˁbōn,
and-go.SC.2p
qa-play.PC.2p
and you went to play, wu-kānǝt…
kān
čōla
baˁad-u.
and-be.SC.3fs
be.SC.3ms
deserted place
still-3ms
(in a place that) was still deserted. This example is taken from the opening of the narrative. Three verbs in the SC occur here. It opens with the existential verb /kānu/ "they were", referring to the children of Gilda, thus providing the hearers with the time and the place of the story – the story takes place in the period of time when Gilda's children where here, namely at the same place where the narration is currently taking place. This verb, thus, is used for backgrounding. The next SC, /ġǝḥtǝm/ "you went", denotes a perfective past situation. One can argue that it opens the foreground part of the story, meaning that it is the first situation in the plot. It can also be argued, however, that it is still a part of the background part of the story, implying that the fact that the children went to play still gives supportive information to the following occurrences. This assumption could be reinforced by the fact that the verb is preceded by the conjunction /wu-/ "and", coordinating it with the preceding SC /kānu/, which, as we already saw, is undoubtedly a part of the background. Another evidence to support the argument that /ġǝḥtǝm/ provides background information is the fact that it is followed by /qa-tlǝˁbōn/, which literally means "you (p) are playing" and constitutes a circumstantial clause. This circumstantial clause gives background information about the children's goal – they 73
went in order to play. Furthermore, the following verb is the existential /kānǝt/ "it (fs) was", referring to the location of the occurrences, which back then was deserted. This example demonstrates the difficulty in defining whether a predicate belongs to the foreground or to the background part of a narrative in certain cases. We see that the SC /ġǝḥtǝm/ is surrounded by background situations and is even coordinated to them, which can lead us to the conclusion that it represents a background situation as well. On the other hand, it can be argued that it is the first predicate of the foreground and that background information follows it as an afterthought. It is difficult to make a clear cut conclusion on the matter. Either way, cases in which the SC doesn’t clearly constitute a part of the foreground are not common. The existential verb, which appeared twice in Ex.44, is morphologically a SC, but nevertheless it is clearly used for backgrounding. It should be regarded as a separate category in the realm of the SC. The latter, as we established, typically denotes a past perfective situation in the foreground of the story. 3.2.1.2 qa-PC The construction of the PC preceded by the preverbal particle /qa-/ can be used for backgrounding. This can be seen, for example, from the following opening of a narrative: (45)
mǝn
ᵊnwaldǝt,
when
be born.SC.3fs
[Text 4]
When she was born, sāˁt ᵊl…
l-ᵊnwaldǝt,
hour
REL-be born.SC.3fs
at the time of birth, qa-yǝbġad-l-a
qa-yǝbġad-l-a.
qa-be cold.PC.3ms-DAT-3fs
qa-be cold.PC.3ms-DAT-3fs
she (the mother) was cold, she was cold. Xālda. PN
Xālda (the mother). This example provides the background for the occurrences that led to Rimōn's burning. She got burnt by a hot bottle which was given to her mother who felt cold. The verb phrase /qa-yǝbġad-l-a/ would be literally translated into "it is cold to her", in which the 3ms person of the verb form is actually a dummy subject60. The use of the preverbal
60
A similar phenomenon is known from Indo-European languages where it is also common with verbs relating to weather, for example, the dummy pronoun "it" in the English "it is raining", the equivalent use of "es" in German phrase "es regnet", or simply the use of the 3s in the Spanish equivalent /llueve/.
74
particle /qa-/ describes this situation from the narrative time's perspective, following a verb in the SC which set the temporal frame of the story in the past. (46)
mǝn
ǧā
l-ˁīd,
[Text 17]
when
come.SC.3ms
DA-holiday
When the holiday came, qa-yˁāyǝn
ma qa…
ma
qa-yṭīq
yḥaṣṣǝl
qa-see.PC.3ms
not
not
qa-able.PC.3ms earn.PC.3ms
ᵊflūs, money
he sees that he can't earn (enough) money, wu-ma
qa-yǝˁġǝf
ˀaš
and-not
qa-know.PC.3ms what
ysawwi, do.PC.3ms
and he doesn't know what to do, ˀašlon yǝštáġi
akᵊl
l-ᵊl-ˁīd.
how
food
for-DA-holiday
buy.PC.3ms
how (could he) buy food for the holiday. This piece of background provides the reason why Dayyenu, the protagonist of the narrative, stole a diamond from a church – he needed money to provide a Passover feast for his family. Here again the chunk opens with a verb in the SC. In this case it is a folktale and thus the SC does not locate the story in the past but rather simply enables locating one situation relatively to another on the time axis. Then the narrator starts using a series of verbs in qa-PC, thus she changes the perspective into the narrative time. Three verbs are inserted into three verb phrases whose main verb is in qa-PC. The first, /qa-yˁāyǝn/, literally meaning "he sees", but in fact referring to cognitive understanding, thus a stative verb. The second /ma qa-yṭīq yḥaṣṣǝl/ "he can't earn" also denotes a stative situation, but this time it is also preceded by a negator. So does the third, /ma qa-yǝˁġǝf/ "he doesn’t know", in which a negative stative situation is conveyed. The common use of qa-PC in circumstantial clauses turns this construction into a frequent mean of backgrounding: (47)
lēš-ma ġāḥ
l-ᵊl-ḥāra
mal-īhūd.
then
to-DA.quarter
of-Jews
go.SC.3ms
Then he went to the Jewish quarter. sāˁa
ᵊl-masa
l-ˁaṣᵊġ,
hour
DA-evening
DA-afternoon
In the evening,
75
[Text 17]
qa-yǝsmaˁ
mǝn-kǝll
qa-hear.PC.3ms from-every
bēt: house
he is hearing from every house: Dayyēnu. PN
Dayyēnu. ġāḥ
qa-yǝmši
šwayya
go.SC.3ms
qa-walk.PC.3ms little
lāx, more
He is walking a bit further, qa-yǝsmaˁ
Dayyēnu.
qa-hear.PC.3ms PN
and hearing Dayyēnu. This piece opens with a temporal conjunction, /lēš-ma/ "then", that typically marks the beginning of a foreground chunk. The first verb appears in the SC and then the verb forms change into qa-PC to describe the situations as if they are ongoing at the moment on narration. The verb /qa-yǝsmaˁ/ "he is hearing", which is repeated twice here, accompanies Dayyenu's walk. Thus, it can be interpreted as circumstantial, highlighting the background status of the information it supplies. In the same fashion the verb /qa-yǝmši/ "he is walking", which is a dynamic motion verb, is preceded by /ġaḥ/, a verb in the SC, which also turns /qa-yǝmši/ "he is walking" into a verb in a circumstantial clause. Combining the two together they can be translated as "he went walking". Another example of the use of qa-PC in circumstantial clauses for backgrounding can be seen in Ex.44 above. As already discussed, the verb phrase /qatlǝˁbōn/ serves as the predicate of the circumstantial clause - it gives background information about the children's goal. When qa-PC is used in circumstantial clauses it completes a verb in the SC. Hence, qa-PC supplies background information although it completes a verb which is used for foregrounding. qa-PC which denotes a planned future situation can also appear in the background of a story. The following example extends Ex.35 in which we saw such a use of the construction: (48)
qa-tǝzzawwaǧ
Hanā,
qa-get married.PC.3fs
PN
[Text 5]
Hanā was getting married,
76
b-Bǝġdād
ġēġ,
in-PN
ġēġ
in Baghdad obviously, ˁǝnd-na
b-ᵊl-bēt.
by-1p
in-DA-house
in our house. wu-xāla
Lūlu
b-ᵊd-Diwanīyi kānǝt.
and-aunt
PN
in-PN
be.SC.3fs
And aunt Lūlu was in Diwanīyi. wu-kānu
bēt
Dahūd…
and-be.SC.3p
family PN
And the family of Dahūd… Dahūd wu-Ēvlīn
kānu
b-ᵊd-Diwanīyi,
PN
be.SC.3p
in-PN
and-PN
Dahūd and Ēvlīn were in Diwanīyi, qa-yǝǧōn
l-ᵊl-Bǝġdād,
qa-come.PC.3p
to-PN
they were coming to Baghdad, This piece of narrative sets the background of the story – it presents the protagonists – aunt Lūlu, Dahūd, and Ēvlīn, and it establishes the circumstances – it occurred on the way from Diwanīyi to Baghdad as the three drove to take part in a wedding. Typically for backgrounds we find three occurrences of the existential verb. Along with them we find two occurrences of qa-PC. The first, /qa-tǝzzawwaǧ/, "she is getting married" actually refers to a planned future situation from the point of view of the narrative time. The second, /qa-yǝǧōn/ "they are coming", seals this background chunk. One might interpret it in two ways. It can be an additional reference to a future situation from the narrative time's perspective, i.e. at the point of time in which the narrator locates us they didn’t arrive to Baghdad and so their arrival is considered as a planned future situation. However, it can also be interpreted as a currently occurring situation in the historical present, meaning that they are in the process of coming to Baghdad. Either way, both occurrences of qa-PC constitute a part of the background of the story. qa-PC can be used also for foregrounding in narratives. When this is the case it is usually preceded by a verb in the SC that sets the temporal frame at the narrative time.
77
(49)
wṣaltu
l-ᵊs-Slēmānīyi,
arraive.SC.1s
to-DA-PN
[Text 10]
I got to Slēmānīyi, … qa-yˁanū-ha
l-hawīyi
wu-ma
qa-yqulōn
qa-look.PC.3p-3fs
ACC-identity card
and-not
qa-say.PC.3p
šēn. thing
they are looking at the identity card and don't say a thing. This example is taken from a narrative about a family of Jews that tried to escape out of Iraq trough the Iranian border. The father of the family describes how he arrived to Slēmānīyi in north Iraq, and how the soldiers in the inspection point were checking his identity card. The SC verb /wṣaltu/ "I arrived" opens this episode and locates it in the past. Then two verbs in qa-PC advance the plot from the point of view of the narrative time. This transition has a dramatic effect of describing the occurrences as if they are taking place right now in front of the listener. The verb phrase /qa-yˁanū-ha/ "they are looking at it (the identity card)" raises the suspension as the hearers are desperate to know whether the soldiers will notice that something is wrong. The second qa-PC, /ma qa-yqulōn/ "they don’t say (a thing)", enables the listeners to sigh in relief. Thus, one can interpret this use of qa-PC as a foregrounding tool from the narrative time's perspective. Accepting this interpretation implies, however, that qa-PC is a mean to achieve an imperfective foregrounding, i.e. not only that it advances the plot, it also does it through looking into the internal structure of the situation. Imperfective foregrounding might sound like an oxymoron, and maybe it is. One cannot exclude the possibility that the fact that qa-PC indicates an imperfective situation in this case might assign the form to the background of the narrative. (50)
qāmǝt
sūwə́t-l-ǝm
ᵊˁzīmi kbīġi.
get up.SC.3fs
make.SC.3fs-DAT-3p
feast
[Text 2]
big.fs
She made a big feast for them. wu-ma xǝllǝt-l-ǝm
wǝla
nǝqṭāyi
mǝlḥ,
and-not put.SC.3fs-DAT-3p
even not
a little
salt
And she didn't put even a little bit of salt for them, bī-nu
lᵊ-ṭbīx.
In-3ms
DA-food
in the food.
78
ǧō
qaˁdu
qa-yaklōn,
come.SC.3p
sit.SC.3p
qa-eat.PC.3p
They started to eat, ma
qa-yṭiqōn
yaklōn.
not
qa-able.PC.3p
eat.PC.3p
and they can't eat. This piece of foreground consists mostly of verbs in the SC that denote a perfective situation. So are the verbs /ǧō/ "they came" and /qaˁdu/ "they sat down", which are followed by /qa-yaklōn/ "they are eating". This verb phrase opens a final clause that provides background information. The following verb phrase /ma qa-yṭiqōn yaklōn/ "they can’t eat" hosts a stative verb in qa-PC, which is preceded by a negator. The fact that they couldn’t eat promotes the plot, and so it is should be considered as a part of the foreground. In fact, like the case in the last example, it seems common to end a foreground episode with a verb in qa-PC. This use of qa-PC freezes the end result of the episode. In this way the resultative situation can be interpreted also as background for the following occurrences. In the previous example, the fact that they couldn't eat is crucial to the following developments. This is also the case in the next example: (51)
qalō-l-a:
[Text 5]
say.SC.3p-DAT-3fs
They told her: yāba! INT
Please! dǝ-ḏkǝġi
wēn
xǝllitī-ha.
dǝ-remember.IMP.2fs
where
put.SC.2fs-3fs
Try to remember where you put them. ma
qa-tǝḏkǝġ.
not
qa-remember.PC.3fs
She doesn't remember. This example opens with a verb /qalō-l-a/ "they told her", which appears in the SC and marks the opening of a following dialogue. The next verb phrase, /dǝ-ḏkǝġi/ "remember (fs)!", is an IMP modified by the deontic particle /dǝ-/ (see 4.1.1.2), which is typical for dialogues. Then, the result of the IMP is reported by the narrator, using the verb phrase /ma qa-tǝḏkǝġ/ "she doesn’t remember". It provides a piece of information that promotes the plot from the perspective of the narrative time and also serves as background to the following developments. 79
The fact that in both Ex.50 and Ex.51 the verb is preceded by a negator might mislead us to suggest that negative situations tend to be marked by qa-PC. This is, however, not the case. Ex.50 actually includes two episodes. The first one ends with the verb phrase /wu-ma xǝllǝt-l-ǝm/ "and she didn’t put for them", which consists of a negator followed by a verb in the SC. Moreover, the verb phrase is preceded by the coordinator /wu/ "and", which puts a boundary to the episode. So why does this episode end with a negative SC whereas the episodes in the end of Ex.50 and Ex.51 don't? This probably has to do with information structure considerations. Episodes that end with a verb phrase in the historical present focus on the piece of information that they provide. This piece of information is highlighted as background for the following occurrences. This is a marked strategy. The unmarked one uses the SC among other SCs, thus not assigning it with higher prominence or importance. Hence we can conclude that when qa-PC is used in narratives it usually highlights the background status of the situation. Even when qa-PC is embedded in a foreground chunk it seems to mark the end result of the episode, which is focused and used as background for the following occurrences in the narrative. As for the temporalaspectual value of qa-PC, the examples above show that it is used to predicate a progressive or a non-progressive situation simultaneous to the narrative time, regardless to whether it is used for foregrounding or backgrounding. The only arguable case in this regard is the use of qa-PC to denote a planned future situation, but also in this case the plan or the intention itself can be considered as continuous and simultaneous to the narrative time 3.2.1.3 The PC The PC is quite frequently used in the background of narratives: (52)
ˀaku
kōma…
[Text 18]
there is many
There were many… fǝd-ˀaġbaˁ
xams ᵊġǧīl
yhūd,
IDA-four
five
Jew.p
men
around four or five Jewish men, kǝll
šǝbbaṯ
ytǝrsōn
ᵊǧyūb-ǝm
ḥabb
raqqi,
every
Saturday
fill.PC.3p
pocket-3p
seed
watermelon
every Saturday they used to fill their pockets with watermelon seeds, wu-ˀaku
qaḥwa,
and-there is
coffee shop
and there was a coffee shop,
80
yġuḥōn
yqǝˁdōn
b-ᵊl-qaḥwa.
go.PC.3p
sit.PC.3p
in-DA-coffee shop
they used to go and sit in the coffee shop. This piece, taken from the opening of the narrative, describes the story's background – its participants and its location. Only verbs in the PC are included in this piece. The first, /ytǝrsōn/ "they fill", conveys a habitual and iterative situation, which is strengthened by the frequency adverb /kǝll šǝbbaṯ/ "every Saturday" that precedes it. The same goes for the second verb, /yġuḥōn/ "they go", which also occurs every Saturday. The third PC, /yqǝˁdōn/ "they sit", follows it and completes it by providing information about their goal – "they go in order to sit (in the coffee shop)". As for the temporal setting of this chunk, since it is included in a folktale it can be regarded as timeless, as if these hypothetical men repeat these actions every Saturday. Thus the PC is used here to convey a habitual and iterative situation which is not anchored in time. (53)
kān
walad,
be.SC.3ms
boy
[Text 21]
(When he) was a child, ˁǝmġ-u
ˁašġ
ᵊsnīn
hēkǝḏ šēn,
age-3ms
ten
years
thus
thing
he was ten years old or so, kǝššāfa. scouts
scouts. yġīd
yġūḥ
l-ᵊl-kǝššāfa.
want.PC.3ms
go.PC.3ms
to-DA-scouts
He wanted to join the scouts. … yǝbki
wu-hāḏa…
cry.PC.3ms
and-PDEM.ms
He cried and… ma
yqǝblōn
yǝšġō-l-u.
not
agree.PC.3p
buy.PC.3p-DAT-3ms
they didn't agree to buy it for him. The example gives the background for a story about a friend of the narrator who wanted to go to the scouts but his family didn’t have the money to buy him the uniform. The boy's will to go to the scouts is denoted by the verb phrase /yġīd yġūḥ/ "he wants to go". Since it is based on a true story, one should interpret the use of the PC here as 81
marking a stative situation, i.e. a non-progressive one, in the narrative time. The verb phrases /yǝbki/ "he cries" and /ma yqǝblōn yǝšġō-l-u/ "they don’t agree to buy for him" are still a part of the background. Both of them are conveyed from the narrative time's perspective. The first denotes a habitual and iterative situation, meaning that the boy used to cry regularly for a significant period of time. Respectively, the second verb phrase denotes a non-progressive situation, meaning that during that period they didn’t agree to buy the uniform for him. (54)
ḥaḏṛ ǝt-ak
ˀǝnta
tġīd
ᵊtˁāyǝn
ˀaš-aku
honor-2ms
you.ms want.PC.2ms
see.PC.2ms
what-there is
ǧuwāt-a
l-āyi
l-nǝqġa.
under-3fs
GEN-DEM.fs
DA-pit
[Text 3]
You want to see what is under the pit. mǝddēt
ġās-ak
wu-ṭmaṣt
ḅ-ḅaṭn-a
turn.SC.2ms
head-2ms
and-sink.SC.2ms in-interior-3fs
wqaˁt. fall.SC.2ms
You turned your head and sunk into it, you fell. The first sentence in this piece of narrative puts an end to the background section. It supplies the circumstances for the fallowing occurrence, specifically for the child's tumble into the pit. It happened because the child was curious to see what's down in the pit. This is conveyed by the PC /tġīd/ "you (ms) want", which takes the hearers to the narrative time. The following PC /tˁāyǝn/ "you (ms) see" is an obligatory subjunctive complement to the verb /tġīd/. Then the plot commences with the SC /mǝddēt/ "you (ms) turned". In Ex.46 above the PC occurs twice in interrogative sentences. The questions in these sentences are actually rhetorical. No answer is given to them. In fact the narrator uses them to convey background information. The question /ˀaš ysawwi/ "what will he do?" means to say "he couldn’t do anything". The question /ˀašlon yǝštáġi akᵊl l-ᵊl-ˁīd/ "how will he buy food for the holiday" means to say "he couldn’t buy food for the holiday". These pieces of background information are constructed as normal interrogative sentences. Thus, they contain an interrogative pronoun, they end with a rising pitch, and they contain a verb in the PC, which marks the situation as unreal. The PC is used for foregrounding in parts of the story that are narrated from the perspective of the narrative time:
82
(55)
ᵊrǧaˁtu
ˀaġīd
come back.SC.1s want.PC.1s
ˀatḥarrak
baˁᵊd
move.PC.1s
anymore
ma qad-aqdaġ
mǝn-ḏạ hġ-i.
not qa-can.PC.1s
from-back-1s
[Text 1]
When I came back I couldn't move anymore because of my back. This sentence is literally translated as: "I came back, I want to move, I can't anymore from my back". The first verb /rǧaˁtu/ "I came back" is in the SC and denotes a past perfective situation as a part of the foreground of the story. Once the past time reference was established, the narrator changes the temporal perspective to the historical present, which gives the hearers a dramatic effect, as if they are currently witnessing the occurrences in front of them. The historical present part opens with the verb /ˀaġīd/ "I want (to move)", which in this context actually means "I am trying (to move)", i.e. an activity rather than a stative verb. As a constituent of the foreground, the internal structure of the situation is of no importance. The situation is just another one in a series of situations that promote the plot. The following PC, /ˀatḥarrak/ "I move", is syntactically obligatory as a subjunctive complement of the verb /ˀaġīd/. The verb phrase that closes the episode reports its result /ma qad-aqdaġ/ "I can't". This use of qa-PC is similar to the one we discussed in Ex.50 and Ex.51. (56)
tā́li-ya,
[Text 5]
after-3fs
Finally, ˀaxḏǝt-u
l-ǧazdān
ṃāṃa Zbēda fǝtḥǝt-u
take.SC.3fs-3ms
ACC-purse
mother PN
tˁāyǝn
ᵊl-…
see.PC.3fs
ACC-
open.SC.3fs-3ms
Mama Zbēda took the purse, opened it and sees the… hāyi
lᵊ-snūn
b-ᵊl-ǧazdān.
PDEM.fs
DA-teeth
in-DA-purse
the teeth inside the purse. This example opens with the temporal conjunction /tā́li-ya/ "finally", which marks the beginning of the conclusion part of the story. It is followed by two verbs in the SC that convey foreground past perfective situations. The result of the last situation is denoted, however, by a verb in the PC /tˁāyǝn/ "she sees". This use of the historical present for a foreground has a dramatic effect, as if we zoom in into the situation. In this respect the use of the PC seems similar to the use of qa-PC to highlight the end result of an episode. However, the PC is used in the resolution part of the story and marks the end of the story, whereas qa-PC highlights the end of an episode.
83
To sum up, the PC can be used for backgrounding and foregrounding. Its temporal anchoring is the narrative time. When it is used for backgrounding the aspectual value of the situation can be habitual, iterative or non-progressive. It is also used to mark unreal situations and in interrogative sentences. Unlike the historical present use of qa-PC, which, if actually exists, is imperfective in essence, the use of the PC for foregrounding is perceived as perfective. Finally, we also demonstrated the use of the PC to highlight the final resolution of the story. 3.2.1.4 The AP The AP can be found mainly in the background of narratives: (57)
wu-kǝll-ǝm
ynǝz... qa-ynǝzlōn,
and-all-3p
[Text 27]
qa-get down.PC.3p
And all of them are getting down, wu-yġuḥōn
l-āyi…
and-go.PC.3p
to-DEM.fs
and they are going to… lēbsīn
lᵊ-ḥwās
ᵊs-sūd.
wear.AP.3p
ACC-clothes
DA-black.p
Wearing black clothes. wu-yǝbdōn
ylǝṭmōn.
and-start.PC.3p beat.PC.3p
And they start beating (themselves). This example is taken from a description of a Shi'ite ceremony. The narrator describes how the religious followers arrive with busses, and then they get down from the busses and go to participate in the ceremony. The verb phrase /qa-ynǝzlōn/ "they are getting down (of the busses)" promotes the plot, as it opens a series of actions done by the religious followers. It is uttered from the narrative time's perspective. The next verb /yġuḥōn/ "they are going" appears without the preverbal particle /qa-/, but syntactically it should be considered as modified by it as well. In the middle of this foreground piece the AP /lēbsīn/ "are wearing" occurs. It opens a circumstantial ḥāl clause which describes the way the followers are dressed. Taking it into account with the previous utterance, they can be translated as "and all of them are getting down (of the busses) and going to (the ceremony), wearing black cloths". The next predicate, /yǝbdōn ylǝṭmōn/ "they start to beat (themselves)", takes us back to the foreground. Thus, the AP is used for backgrounding in narratives, where it usually appears in circumstantial clauses. 3.2.1.5 Verb phrases modified by /kan/ The auxiliary verb /kan/ modifies different verb forms to denote different shades of imperfective past situations in narratives: 84
(58)
kǝnna be.SC.1p
qa-n… nǝṣṭanḏǝ̣ ġ
yṣīġ
ˁǝmġ-a
qa-wait.PC.1p
become.PC.3ms age-3fs
[Text 6]
ġǝbˁīn ᵊl-Amal, 40
GEN-PN
We were waiting till Amal would be 40 (days) old. The verb phrase /kǝnna-qa-nǝṣṭanḏǝġ/ ̣ "we were waiting" opens the story about Amal's eye disease. It supplies the temporal frame of the following story – it happened in the period between Amal's birth and the day in which she turned 40 days old. The verb phrase consists of a qa-PC, which is preceded by the auxiliary /kan/, conjugated in the 1p. It denotes a past progressive situation in the background of the narrative. (59)
qabᵊl-sǝntēn,
[Text 27]
before-two years
Two years ago, kǝntu-rēhǝm
b-ᵊl-Arbaˁīn… b-ᵊl-Arbaˁīn
māl-ǝm.
be.SC.1s-fit.AP.ms
in-DA-PN
of-3p
in-DA-PN
I was present (Lit. fit exactly) in their Arbaˁīn. This utterance opens an episode in which the speaker describes what he experienced when he witnessed a Shi'ite ceremony. It provides background information to the following narrative – it happened two years ago while the narrator was present in the ceremony. The verb phrase /kǝntu-rēhǝm/, literally meaning "I was (exactly) fixed", is built on basis of the AP. It is preceded by the auxiliary /kan/, which, in this case, is conjugated in the 1s. It locates the situation in the past and expresses a past progressive situation. Ex.58-Ex.59 demonstrate two different ways to construct an imperfective past situation. Typically for the imperfective, they are used for backgrounding. In fact they stand in complementary distribution with the SC, which, as we already saw, is used for foregrounding and denotes a perfective situation. When the auxiliary /kan/ precedes the PC it specifically denotes a past habitual situation: (60)
kan-idǝqq
ǧaras mǝṯl
ᵊl-ᵊnafṭ.
be.SC.3ms-ring.PC.3ms
bell
REL-oil
like
[Text 1]
He used to ring the bell like the (person that brought the) oil. This sentence appears in the background part of the narrative. It describes the man that used to distribute gas cylinders between the houses in Baghdad, saying that he used to ring a bell to announce his arrival. The verb phrase /kan-idǝqq/ "he used to ring" consists of a PC preceded by the auxiliary verb /kan/. The auxiliary not only locates the event in the past but also colors the situation with habituality. Thus, similarly to the
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cases described in Ex.58-Ex.59, also in this case the auxiliary /kan/ modifies a verb to denote an imperfective past situation in the background of the narrative. 3.2.1.6 Conclusion The verbal forms in narratives show the following functions: 1. The SC is used for foregrounding perfective situations from the absolute present's point of view. Specifically for narratives in which the narrator is involved or those that describe memories, one can add past time reference to the value of the SC. The SC's occurrence in background chunks is rare or even doubtful. The existential /kān/, on the other hand, is a property of the background. 2. The PC and qa-PC can be used for foregrounding or backgrounding. In both cases they behave like presents, which are in fact relative presents and are temporally anchored in the narrative time. qa-PC marks the simultaneity of the situation to the narrative time. It is used in background chunks in both circumstantial and independent clauses. In the letter case its aspectual value can be progressive or non-progressive. The use of qa-PC to mark planned future situations was also found in background pieces. As for qa-PC's occurrence in foreground pieces, it seems quite limited and can be narrowed down to final parts of episodes, in which the result of the episode is reported. It contributes a dramatic effect and hosts imperfective situations. In this respect we claimed that its use can also be interpreted as highlighting the background for the following occurrences in the narrative. The PC was found to host habitual, iterative, non-progressive, and unreal situations in background parts of the narrative. Its occurrence in foregrounds corresponds to the traditional use of the historical present to promote the plot, i.e. it is aspectually perfective. The PC was also found to mark the final situation in the resolution part of narratives. 3. The AP is used in circumstantial clauses in the background of narratives. 4. When the auxiliary /kan/ precedes the AP, the PC or qa-PC it denotes an imperfective past in the background of narratives. The functions of the different verb forms in narratives are summarized in the following table:
Background
Foreground
Past (actual/implicated) SC kan+PC/AP/qaPC kān Imperfective
Perfective
Narrative time (present/timeless) qa-PC PC Circumstantial Non-progressive progressive Planned future Result of an episode (progressive/nonprogressive
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Habitual Non-progressive Iterative Unreal situations Result of a story (perfective) Perfective
AP Circumstantial
The table shows quite a neat distribution of the different functions between the verbal forms. However, there is still an overlap in the use of the PC and qa-PC to mark non-progressive present situations, and in the use of the AP and qa-PC in circumstantial clauses. Before we address this overlap, in the next section we will examine the use of the above mentioned verbal forms in dialogues and conversations. 3.2.2 The verbal system of dialogues and conversations Dialogues and conversation involve only one temporal reference point – the one of the moment of speech. In addition, the notion of foreground and background is irrelevant for dialogues and conversations. As will be proved in 3.2.4, the grammar of dialogues that are embedded in a narrative is not different from that of "natural" dialogues. This is not surprising, since embedded dialogues imitate "real" dialogues and thus share their characteristics. As such both will be also discussed in the paragraphs below. 3.2.2.1 The SC The SC denotes past perfective situations: (61)
A:
hāyi
ˀašlōn ˁāyši?
PDEM.fs
how
[Text 23]
live.AP.fs
How is she living? xǝlla-l-a
flūs?
put.SC.3ms-DAT-3fs
money
He left her money? B:
wī
ˀaḅēš!
oh
grief
Oh my god! xǝlla-l-a
bēt
b-Párdeṣ Kāṣ.
put.SC.3ms-DAT-3fs
house
in-PN
He left a house for her in Pardes Katz. mˀaǧrǝt-u. rent.AP.fs-3ms
She is renting it out.
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wu-xǝlla-l-a
flūs
ᵊmqad
ġās-a.
and-put.SC.3ms-DAT-3fs money as much as
head-3fs
And he left her a lot of money. (Lit. the size of her head). A:
ˀi? yes
Really? B:
wu-hīyi
mēyti
qbūġ.
and-she
be dead.AP.fs
graves
But she is wretched. (Lit. dead like graves). The speakers are gossiping about a neighbor. They wonder what she lives from after her husband died. The SC verb form /xǝllā-l-a/ "he left (for) her" is repeated three times in the dialogue. In all three occurrences it refers to the husband who left some money and property for his wife, thus past perfective. 3.2.2.2 The AP Ex.61 presents three verb forms in the AP. The first, /ˁāyši/ "she is living", refers to the wife and denotes a stative, non-progressive, habitual situation. The second /mˀaǧrǝt-u/ "she is renting it (ms) out" refers to the house in Pardes Katz. In this case the AP marks the present perfect – the house was rented out in a certain point in the past and since then it is in a situation of being rented out. In this respect one can think of it also as reporting a stative, non-progressive, habitual situation – the house is rented out. The third AP appears in the literary phrase /mēyti qbūġ/, which literally means "she is dead graves". The AP here denotes again a stative, non-progressive, habitual situation. The AP can also denote a progressive situation in the present as the verb /nēymi/ "you (fs) are sleeping" in Ex.36 shows. 3.2.2.3 qa-PC (62)
A:
ˁāyǝn
ᵊbdāl-ak
b-ᵊl… b-ᵊl-Hāy-Tēk…
look.IMP.2ms
dear
in-DA
[Text 22]
in-DA-High-Tech
b-ᵊl-Hāy-Tēk
qa-ysūwōn… ḥǝtti
ᴴᴱ(pērōt)ᴴᴱ
qa-…
in-DA-High-Tech
qa-make.PC.3p
fruits
qa-
even
Look my dear… in High-Tech… in High-Tech they make… even fruits… B:
qa-yzūwǧū-ha
l-ᵊl…
l-l-ᵊᴴᴱ(klemantīna)ᴴᴱ.
qa-marry.PC.3p-3fs
ACC-DA
ACC-DA-tangerine
They "marry" the tangerine. 88
A:
qa-ysūwū-ha
kǝll-a
ġēġ
šǝkᵊl.
qa-make.PC.3p-3fs
all-3fs
other
kind
They make it all different. This dialogue is taken from a discussion about the weird taste of a tangerine that both speakers tried. The two assign its weird taste to modern genetic engineering of fruits. Three qa-PC constructions are uttered one after the other to describe the current habit of scientists: /qa-ysūwōn/ "they are making"; /qa-yzūwǧū-ha/ "they marry it (the tangerine)", referring in a sarcastic manner to the experiments; and /qa-ysūwū-ha/ "they are making it (the tangerine)". All three verb phrases describe habitual activities. The following example from the same discussion presents a different function of qa-PC: (63)
qad-aġīd
pǝrṭqāl
mǝn-hāḏa
qǝšġ-u
qa-want.PC.1s
orange
from-PDEM.ms peel-3ms
[Text 22]
lᵊ-ṯxīn. DA-thick.ms
I want orange of the kind whose peel is thick. The speaker says that she wants to buy oranges with thick peel. She conveys her will by the verb phrase /qad-aġīd/ "I want" in qa-PC. In this case it marks a current stative situation, i.e. non-progressive present. The next example from the same dialogue shows another use of qa-PC: (64)
A:
šū
ḏụ qi-ya
bdāl-ǝk.
šū
taste.IMP.2fs-3fs
dear-2fs
[Text 22]
Will you taste it my dear. D:
lā, no
No, hāyi
l-ˁǝd-na…
PDEM.fs
REL-by-1p
the one we have… ma
qa-nǝšġab
qaḥwa.
ma
qa-drink.PC.1p
coffee
But we are drinking coffee. Speaker A wants speaker D to taste the tangerine. Speaker D refuses saying that she is currently drinking coffee. The refusal is conveyed by the verb phrase /ma qa-
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nǝšġab/ in which the focus particle /ma/ precedes a verb in qa-PC meaning "we61 are drinking". In this case, qa-PC denotes the present progressive a progressive present situation. Yet another use of qa-PC can be seen from the following example: (65)
A:
yaḷḷa!
[Text 24]
oh God
Let's go! ˀǝḥna qa-nqūm. we
qa-get up.PC.1p
We are going. B:
xalli-yǝǧi
yāxǝḏ
laffa
wu-ˀǝḥna
xalli-come.PC.3ms
take.PC.3ms
sandwich
and-we
qa-nġūḥ. qa-go.PC.1p
Let him take a sandwich and (then) we will go. This example demonstrates a performative use of qa-PC. Speaker A announces that the meeting is over by saying /qa-nqūm/, literally meaning "we are getting up". In this context "getting up" means "leaving". It is modified by the preverbal particle /qa-/ to describe it as a progressive situation in the sense of "we are starting the process of leaving". The use of /qa-/ can be also be interpreted as a denoting a planned future situation. In the same fashion speaker B says /qa-nġūḥ/ "we are going", which can be interpreted similarly. The above examples show that qa-PC is a dominant verb form in dialogues and conversations. It covers a variety of aspectual functions like progressive, nonprogressive, habitual, and planned future. 3.2.2.4 The PC (66)
hūwi
yqǝl-l-ak
hāyi
ham
he
say.PC.3ms-DAT-2ms
PDEM.fs
also
[Text 25]
hassa-tǝnˁáġǝǧ. hassa-become crooked.PC.3fs
He (the doctor) says this will also become crooked. 61
The 1p is used here to refer to the 1s as a mean to avoid embarrassment as a result of the refusal.
90
This sentence was uttered during a discussion about osteoporosis. The speaker indicates another finger that, according to the doctor, will become crooked in the future. She uses the PC /yqǝl-l-ak/, literally meaning "he (the doctor) tells you (ms – the hearer62)". This predicate simply means "he says" and it can be analyzed as a habitual and iterative situation, i.e. something that the doctor has been telling the speaker several times for a while now. (67)
da-aġīd
ˀaǧīb
ᴴᴱ(pamēlla)ᴴᴱ,
da-want.PC.1s
bring.PC.1s
pomelo
[Text 22]
I want to bring pomelos. ˀana
tǝˁǧǝb-ni.
I
be likable.PC.3fs-1s
I like it. This example is uttered as a part of a dialogue embedded in a narrative. The speaker quotes herself telling her addressee in the narrative that she wants to buy pomelos, since she likes them. The PC /tǝˁǧǝb-ni/ "I like it" conveys a stative, nonprogressive, habitual situation. In fact, it conveys the speaker's tendency and thus can be regarded as omnitemporal gnomic situation. Ex.16 above, which is also taken from an embedded dialogue, presents the PC /yṭīb/ "it (ms) gets better", which is preceded by the temporal conjunction /lǝmman/ "until". Together they covey an unreal future situation – until the medical situation gets better. (68)
hǝmmi
l-ūlād
lᵊ-zġāġ
mǝn… ˀawwal
they
DA-kids
DA-little.p
as
ma
yǝǧōn
NMLZ come.PC.3p
[Text 4]
first
l-ᵊd-dǝni
yqumōn-yǝbkōn.
to-DA-world
get up.PC.3p-cry.PC.3p
They, the small children, when… when they just come to the world they start crying. This sentence quotes some people's reaction to the crying of Rimōn who got burnt from a hot bottle. In order to calm the mother they recited that all the babies cry when they are born. This timeless gnomic situation, a law of nature, is conveyed by the PC /yǝǧōn/ "they come (into the world)". As we saw from Ex.19 above, the PC is also used as an optative in dialogues. The examples of the use of the PC in dialogues and conversations revealed a variety of aspectual functions that the form fulfils in these textemes – iterative, nonprogressive, habitual, gnomic, unreal, and optative situations.
62
By the use of the ethical dative in the verb form the speaker involves the hearer personally in her situation.
91
3.2.2.5 Additional verb forms Other than the four main verb form, dialogues and conversation basically host all the existing forms in the dialect's verbal system. These include: 1. Verb phrases modified by the auxiliary /kan/ preceding the AP, the PC, or qaPC to convey imperfective past situations in a similar manner to that described in 3.1.5. 2. A vast inventory of verb forms, auxiliaries, and particles with a modal function. Some of them can be seen in the examples given in this section such as: the IMP in Ex.62 and Ex.64; the preverbal particle /šū/ in Ex.64; the preverbal particle /ma/ in Ex.64; the preverbal particle /xalli/ in Ex.65; the preverbal particle /hassa/ in Ex.66; the preverbal particle /da-/ in Ex.67; and the preverbal particle /lāzǝm/ in Ex.16. The rich use of modal particles is typical to dialogues and conversations. A detailed discussion of the different particles will be carried out in Chapter 4. 3. Aspectual auxiliaries that mark the inchoative, the iterative, the continuative etc. One instance of the inchoative can be seen with the use of the auxiliary /yqumōn/ in Ex.68. The functions of these auxiliaries will be discussed under 3.5. 3.2.2.6 Conclusion All types of verb forms, auxiliaries, and particles occur in dialogues and conversations, regardless to whether they are embedded in a narrative or not. The following table summarizes the main functions of the central forms: Past SC Dialogues and conversations
Perfective
kan+PC/AP/qaPC Imperfective
Non-Past qa-PC Nonprogressive Progressive Planned future Habitual
PC
AP
Nonprogressive Iterative Unreal Habitual Gnomic
Non-progressive Progressive Perfect
As the table shows, there is an overlap in the use of the AP, the PC, and qa-PC to mark a non-progressive present. There is also an overlap between qa-PC and the AP in conveying a progressive present. Finally, the PC and qa-PC overlap in their ability to denote a habitual situation. Before we address this overlap and compare it with the overlap that we encountered in narratives, we should take a look at other types of texts. This will be carried out in the following section.
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3.2.3 The verbal system of additional text types 3.2.3.1 Recipes The following examples are taken from recipes: (69)
hēkǝḏ yaxḏōn
waḥdi waḥdi ykǝbbᵊbū-ha
hēkǝḏ, [Text 42]
so
one.fs
so
take.PC.3p
one.fs
make ball.PC.3p-3fs
They take one after the other and make a ball shape like this, wu-yxǝbzū-ha. and-bake.PC.3p-3fs
and they bake it. All the verb forms in this example are PCs in 3p, which should be understood as an impersonal use of this person. The use of the PC in this case can be interpreted as habitual and iterative. In Ex.25 we saw the use of the 2ms of the PC in a recipe. Like in the previous example, also in this case the use of the PC can be interpreted as denoting a repetitive habit, only that this time it is described in a direct manner, using the second person rather than the impersonal. We also claimed that the use of the PC in Ex.25 can be seen as a subjunctive use, as if it notionally complements deontic modal verbs like /yǝnġād/ "should" or /lāzǝm/ "must". If indeed this is the case, the PC is used to convey mands in a soft manner. As for the IMP mood itself, it can also be found in recipes: (70)
qǝṣqǝṣ-a,
[Text 44]
cut.IMP.2ms-3fs
Cut it, wu-xǝllī-ha
wiyā-nu.
and-put.IMP.2ms-3fs
with-3ms
and put it with it. The recipe is uttered as a sequence of commands, thus, the leading verb form is the IMP. (71)
nǝˁǧǝn-u
l-ᵊl-bǝrġǝl,
[Text 45]
knead.PC.1p-3ms
ACC-DA-bulgur
we knead the bulgur, nxǝllī-l-u
šwayya
mǝlḥ…
put.PC.1p-DAT-3ms
little
salt
we put a bit of salt to it… 93
The speaker uses here the 1p of the PC to denote an impersonal iterative habit. (72)
wu-baˁᵊd
ˀaš
kǝntu-ˀaxalli?
and-else
what
be.SC.1s-put.PC.1s
[Text 47]
And what else did I use to put? This example shows an additional verb form that, although less common, still appears in recipes, namely the habitual past. This form is derived from the auxiliary /kan/ that precedes a verb in the PC. As the example above shows, this form is used to describe the process of making a dish as a series of habitual situations made by the speaker. The fact that each of Ex.69-72 and Ex.25 present a consistent use of a single verb form shouldn’t imply that recipes are uniform. In fact, there are recipes in which the speaker changes the verb forms several time during the description. To conclude, we saw a variety of verb forms that can be used in recipes. A recipe can be described as a sequence of commands using the IMP. Similarly, the use of the second person of the PC can be interpreted a subjunctive use conveying deontic modal meaning. The use of the PC in general can be grasped as habitual and iterative. When it is used with the 1p, the situations are marked as impersonal, but nevertheless, the recipe is described from the speaker's own experience. The use of the second person involves a more direct approach towards the hearer. When the third person is used, an impersonal perspective is adopted. Finally, past habitual is also in use, although less commonly. Hence, if we disregard the deontic characteristics of some of the predicates in recipes, aspectually they tend to mark habitual and iterative situations by the PC. This finding goes along with our previous observations about the form. 3.2.3.2 Traditions' descriptions The leading verb form in textemes that describe traditions is the past habitual. This can be seen from the following example: (73)
mqadd
hāḏa
ṣ-ṣalōn
kǝnna-nsawwi
size
PDEM.ms
DA-living room be.SC.1p-make.PC.1p
[Text 50]
sǝkka. sukkah
We used to build a sukkah as big as this living room. The verb phrase /kǝnna-nsawwi/ "we used to make" describes how sukkahs were used to be built in Iraq. It consists of the auxiliary /kan/ that precedes the PC. The PC itself can also appear quite freely in narratives that describe traditions:
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(74)
yxǝllō-nu
ᵊqbāl-ǝm
l-ᵊl-meyyǝt
put.PC.3p-3ms
in front-3p
ACC-DA-dead.ms
wu-ywǝqfōn
[Text 48]
ylǝṭmōn.
and-stand.PC.3p beat.PC.3p
They put the dead in front of them and beat their chests. The speaker describes what the habit in Iraq was when someone died. She says that they used to put the dead in front of them and beat their chests, using the 3p as an impersonal. All the verb forms in this example are in the PC. This use of the PC can be interpreted as iterative and habitual. Interestingly, the speaker doesn’t use the habitual past construction like in the previous example, despite the fact that this tradition belongs to the past. There are two possible explanation for that. Either the speaker relates to the tradition as a still living one and thus uses the PC to express a timeless habitual situation, or she describes the tradition from the historical present's perspective. If the latter is the case, then descriptions of traditions could be classified as a type of narrative. That descriptions of traditions can be presented using the historical present can be also seen from the following example: (75)
tǝmši
b-ᵊl… b-ᵊš-šārǝˁ,
walk.PC.2ms
in-DA
[Text 49]
in-DA-street
You walk in the street, ḥǝss
ᵊl-ǧīǧ
qa-yˁiyṭōn.
sound
DA-chicken
qa-scream.PC.3p
(and you hear) the screams of chicken. The speaker chooses to tell the listeners about Yom Kippur's tradition using the historical present, as if the listeners are right now in the streets of Baghdad experiencing it. She starts with the verb /tǝmši/ "you (ms) walk" in the PC. The use of the PC can be simply regarded as denoting a situation that occurs in the relative present. However, it can also be interpreted as a hypothetical unreal situation. Next, the speaker uses a verb phrases that contains the particle /qa-/ preceding the PC to describe a progressive situation that takes place while the walking occurs – the chickens are screaming. To sum up, textemes that describe traditions usually present the use of the habitual past. They can also make use of the PC, in which case it may be interpreted as referring to a narrative time. When the 3p impersonal is in use, the PC denotes a habitual and iterative situation, whereas when the second person is used it probably denotes a hypothetical one. 3.2.4 Statistical analysis of JB verb forms in textemes The analysis above was based on occurrences of the different verbal forms in different textemes. Due to space limitations only representative examples were given. In order not to leave the reader with the impression that the conclusions are based on
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limited number of occurrences of the verbal forms, the following table presents some statistics about the distribution of the different verbal forms in JB: Total SC kān PC AP qa-PC kan+PC kan+AP/qa-PC Background Narratives Foreground Total Embedded Dialogues Non-embedded Total Total
43 208 251 82 169 251 502
1 146 147 17 41 58 205
12 0 12 0 4 4 16
27 15 42 31 51 82 124
2 1 3 1 8 9 12
19 10 29 8 23 31 60
4 0 4 1 7 8 12
0 0 0 0 1 1 1
Aspectual auxiliaries qam/bada/ġadd 2 7 9 0 0 0 9
Modal 0 2 2 24 31 55 57
The information in the table is based on a total of 502 verb forms, out of which 251 are included in narratives and 251 in dialogues63. The table reflects the following situation: The SC is significantly more frequently used in narratives, as 72% of its occurrences were attributed to this texteme in comparison to 28% in dialogues. The more interesting evidence is, however, that if we look at the distribution of the SC in narratives we can see that all of them but one occur in foreground chunks of the narrative. For the existential verb /kān/ we get quite similar results in respect to its distribution in narratives vs. dialogues, namely 75% of the occurrences of the existential are in narrative samples. The inner distribution of the existential in narratives shows the exact opposite tendency to that of the SC, as 100% of them appear in background chunks and none in foreground ones. The PC favors dialogues - 66% of the PC verbs appear in dialogues. As for their distribution in narratives, it seems that 66% appear in the background. The distribution of qa-PC in narratives vs. dialogues is more or less even. Like the PC, this construction also seems to favor background chunks, in which 64% of its occurrences in narratives were attested. The sample includes only 12 occurrences of the AP, which makes it difficult to make clear cut conclusions about the form. In a bigger sample in which the AP appeared 38 times there doesn’t seem to be a significant difference in their distribution in narratives and dialogues. However, 24 out of 25 occurrences in narratives were attributed to their background.
63
Only "pure" narratives, such as those presented under 3.2.1, were considered here as narratives. Dialogues embedded in narratives are considered as dialogues since they share the same characteristics with "pure" dialogues. This can be seen, for example, from the similarity in verb forms' distribution. Out of 251 verb forms that appear in dialogues 82 occur in dialogues which are embedded in narratives and 169 in conversations, thus we can say that the embedded dialogues' sample consists more or less half of the sample of non-embedded dialogues. Taking this into account, i.e. if we double the number of occurrences of each verb form in embedded dialogues, we will get more or less the same figures that appear in the sample of non-embedded dialogues. For example, the SC occurs 41 times in nonembedded dialogues, which is roughly twice more than in embedded dialogues, where it occurs 17 times. Hence we can conclude also empirically that there is no considerable difference in verb forms distribution between the two types of dialogues.
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The auxiliary verb /kan/ preceding the AP or qa-PC appeared only once in the sample. A bigger sample of 8 occurrences shows, however, that all of them occur in background chunks of narratives. The occurrence of the auxiliary before the PC is, on the other hand, not restricted to narratives. However, when it appears in narratives it's only in their background chunks, whereas it is completely absent from foreground ones. The use of aspectual auxiliaries such as the inchoative markers /qam/ and /bada/ or the single iteration auxiliary /ġadd/ (see 3.5) seems to favor narratives. Modal particles such as those that convey different shades of imperative, future, need, necessity etc. (see Chapter 4) are an overt characteristic of dialogues, as 96% of them occur solely there. To sum up, we see that the SC is characteristic of foregrounds, while the AP, the existential and verbs that are modified by the auxiliary /kan/ are characteristic of backgrounds. The bare PC is quite evenly distributed between narratives and dialogues, and so does qa-PC. Both forms also tend to favor background chunks of narratives. Finally, the occurrence of modal particles is an overt characteristic of dialogues. 3.2.5 Summary If we add our descriptive conclusions about the functions of the verbal forms to the statistical information presented above we get to the following results: 1. The SC denotes a perfective situation. In dialogues and narratives in which the narrator is involved or those which are based on memories the SC also marks a past time situation. This time reference is irrelevant for folktales, where the SC is purely used to sequence events. In any case, the SC is much more frequent in use in narratives than in dialogues, and specifically in contributing to the foreground of the narrative. 2. The PC denotes a non-past situation of various aspectual values like nonprogressive, habitual, iterative, gnomic, perfective etc. It is quite evenly frequent in narratives and in dialogues. Within narratives it is mainly used for backgrounding. In any case, both backgrounding and foregrounding using the PC are done from the narrative time's perspective. The perfective use of the PC was attested only in foregrounds. Sometimes the final result of the narrative is dramatically highlighted by the PC. Finally, the form can mark an unreal (future) situation in both textemes. 3. qa-PC mainly denotes a situation simultaneous to the narrative time in narratives, or to the moment of speech in dialogues and conversations. Aspectually it marks progressive and non-progressive situations. In dialogues and conversations it can also mark a habitual situation. Like the PC, it is equally distributed between dialogues and narratives. When it appears in narratives, it is mainly in the background parts of it, where it is frequently included in circumstantial clauses. Its occurrence in foreground chunks seems to be restricted to the part where a result of an episode is conveyed, in which case qaPC highlights the result as background information for the next episode. Finally, qa-PC denotes planned future situations in both temtemes.
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4. The AP denotes a situation that started at a certain point in the past and is ongoing at the temporal reference point. It can be analyzed as marking the present perfect, a stative habitual present or even a continuous situation. It appears both in narratives and dialogues. In narratives, however, it is overtly a property of the background chunk, where it appears in circumstantial clauses. 5. The existential /kān/ is mainly used for backgrounding in narratives, and denotes a stative past situation. 6. The main function of the auxiliary /kan/ is to locate a situation in the past, while the aspectual properties of the situation are denoted by the following verb form. Thus, unlike the SC, which marks a situation as perfective, verb phrases modified by /kan/ mark imperfective situations. In practice it is mainly a property of background chunks of narratives. When it precedes the PC, however, it can appear in both narratives and dialogues and it denotes a past habitual situation, which can also be an iterative one. 7. Aspectual auxiliaries (see 3.5) such as the inchoative /qam/ and /bada/ and the single interval iterative /ġadd/ are mostly typical of narratives. 8. Modal particles are overtly a property of dialogues. Their functions will be discussed in details in Chapter 4. The following table compares the functions that the forms cover in narrative and those that they cover in conversations and dialogues. Thus, the categories which are marked in italics indicate, this time. an overlap in the use of a specific form in narratives vs. dialogues and conversation:
Narrative's background
Past (actual/implicated) SC kan+PC/AP/qaPC kān Imperfective
Narrative's foreground
Perfective
Dialogues and conversations
Perfective
Imperfective
Narrative time/non-past/timeless qa-PC PC AP Circumstantial Non-progressive progressive Planned future Result of an episode (progressive/nonprogressive Non-progressive Progressive Planned future Habitual
Habitual Nonprogressive Iterative Unreal Result of a story (perfective) Perfective Nonprogressive Iterative Unreal Habitual Gnomic
Circumstantial
Nonprogressive Progressive Perfect
We can see that the forms share some temporal and aspectual features in both narratives and dialogues:
The SC denotes the (past) perfective. The PC denotes a non-past situation of different aspectual properties such as non-progressive, habitual, iterative, as well as unreal situations. qa-PC denotes a present continuous situation and a planned future one. 98
The AP denotes a present continuous situation. The auxiliary /kan/ denotes a (past) imperfective situation.
There are, however, certain points in which the verb forms in dialogues and conversations behave differently than in narratives:
The occurrence of qa-PC and the AP in circumstantial clauses seems to be a property of narratives64. The perfective use of the PC is restricted to foregrounds of narratives. The habitual use of qa-PC is restricted to dialogues. The perfect meaning of the AP seems to occur in dialogues. The vast use of modal particles is a clear characteristic of dialogues.
Thus, the detailed discussion above enabled us to narrow down the overlap between some verb forms in terms of textual constraints. Still, we remain with a great deal of overlap, which requires a deeper look into the syntactic and semantic value of the forms. These will be carried out in the following sections. 3.3 Syntactic constraints and their temporal implications After examining the macro-syntactic constraints that operate on the verbal forms in JB, it is time to go deeper into the micro-syntactic constraints. The following analysis will examine the occurrence of the different forms in different clause types. A crucial distinction will be made between coordinative and dependent clauses. In this respect it will be shown that dependency in JB is not restricted to an overt syntactic marker. In certain clause type the dependency can be manifested, for instance, by the change in temporal perspective. 3.3.1 Coordinating clauses Coordination is usually achieved by placing the coordinator /wu/ between the coordinated verbs: (76)
ǧō
wu-ṭˁū-ha
ˀaġbaˁ lūbya.
come.SC.3ms
and-give.SC.3ms-3fs
four
[Text 7]
black eyed pea
They came and gave her four black eyed peas. The verb /ǧō/ "they came" is coordinated to the verb /ṭˁū-ha/ "they gave her" by means of the coordinator /wu/. The verbs refer to the same person and to two successive events in the foreground of a narrative – thus they both appear in the SC. Naturally, coordinated situations don't necessarily occur with the same verb form:
64
Theoretically the AP can occur in circumstantial clauses in dialogues and conversations, but no such examples appear in the corpus.
99
(77)
xalṣǝt
lᵊ-mǧalla
wu-hassa-yǝǧi
finish.SC.3fs
DA-PN
and-hassa-come.PC.3ms
ˁīd
[Text 17]
lᵊ-fṭīġ.
holiday GEN-PN.
Purim is over and Passover is about to come. In this example one situation is over and the second hasn’t occurred yet. Thus the former is conveyed by the SC and the latter by hassa-PC, a construction that denotes a certain future situation (see 4.2.2.3). When more than two situations are coordinated, the coordinator usually appears only before the last one. The coordination of the previous situations is achieved by prosody – each coordinated unit is articulated with a continuous tone, and a slight pause separates between them: (78)
ˀana
ma
ˀaġīd
taxḏū-ha,
I
not
want.PC.1s
take.PC.2p-3fs
[Text 7]
I don't want you to take her, tšǝġġḥū-ha, operate.PC.2p-3fs
operate on her, wu-tlǝˁbōn
bī-ha.
and-play.PC.2p
in-3fs
and play with her. In fact, there are cases in which two verbs are coordinated only by prosodic means and no formal coordinator appears: (79)
yġidōn
yaxḏū-ha
ydǝfnū-ha.
want.PC.3p
take.PC.3p-3fs
bury.PC.3p-3fs
[Text 7]
They want to take her and bury her. The verbs /yaxḏū-ha/ "they take her" and /ydǝfnū-ha/ "they bury her" can be understood to be coordinated with no coordinator in use. However, the absence of a coordinator makes this sentence syntactically ambiguous, as we shall shortly see (see 3.2.2.2). When two verbs are modified by the same preverbal particle or auxiliary verb there is no need to repeat the particle or the auxiliary. The use of a coordinator is, however, obligatory. This phenomenon is a cross-linguistic tendency which Comrie terms "tense neutralization". He stresses out that the fact that the tense is not marked overtly in the subsequent verbs doesn’t imply that they don’t share the temporal value of the first verb (1985: 102). 100
(80)
tāl
da-nqǝššǝġ-a
wu-nḏụ̄ q-a.
[Text 22]
come.IMP.2ms
da-peel.PC.1p-3fs
and-taste.PC.1p-3fs
Let's peel it and taste it. The verb phrase /nqǝššǝġ-a/ "we peel it" is modified by the preverbal particle /da-/ (see 4.1.4) and it is coordinated to the verb phrase /nḏūq-a/ "we taste it". The ̣ modification is inherently applied also to the latter due to the coordination. (81)
hāḏa
ǧā
qa-yǝtmandal yōm
ᵊš-šǝbbāṯ
PDEM.ms
come.SC.3ms
qa-boast.PC.3ms day
PN
wu-qa-ysǝbb
wu-yšattǝm
b-ᵊl-īhūd.
and-qa-insult.PC.3ms
and-curse.PC.3ms
on-DA-Jews
[Text 18]
He came by all cocky on Saturday insulting and cursing the Jews. The verb /qa-yǝtmandal/ "he is boasting" is modified by the preverbal particle /qa-/ and actually opens a circumstantial clause which describes the way the man behaved when he came by. The next verb phrase /qa-ysǝbb/ "he is insulting" is the second verb in this sentence. In this case it is coordinated by /wu-/ and nevertheless the preverbal particle /qa-/ appears. This is probably due to the fact that the temporal adverb /yōm ᵊš-šǝbbāṯ/ "Saturday" comes between the two coordinated verbs. The third verb of the clause /yšattǝm/ "he is cursing" immediately follows the second, and thus there is no need to repeat the preverbal particle. The occurrence of the coordinator is, however, obligatory. Hence, coordination of situations is typically achieved by placing a coordinator in between them. This doesn’t imply, however, that both situation occur in the same verbal form since each situation is independent and can have its own temporal-aspectual value. When two situations are modified by the same auxiliary or particle, the particle usually precedes only the first, but the occurrence of a coordinator is a must. Coordination can also be achieved by prosodic means, which in certain cases might invoke structural ambiguity. This issue will be further addressed below. 3.3.2 Circumstantial clauses As we already saw, qa-PC is quite often used in circumstantial clauses. Circumstantial clauses complete a verb by supplying adverbial information like manner and goal65. There is, however, a difference between these two types of clauses: 3.3.2.1 Ḥāl clauses Let us look first at manner circumstantial clause, which are commonly called ḥāl clauses in the Arabic grammatical tradition. The following example was already presented, but will be repeated here to open the discussion:
65
Only adverbial clauses which are not introduced by a subordinating conjunction are treated here as circumstantial.
101
(32)
ǧō
l-ūlād
qa-yǝbkōn.
come.SC.3p
DA-children
qa-cry.PC.3p
[Text 3]
The children came back crying. qa-PC in a circumstantial clause always completes a verb in the SC. In addition, the situation denoted by the verb of the circumstantial clause is always simultaneous to that of the SC. Thus, in the above example the children were crying when they came back. These can be seen also from the following example: (82)
lqitō-nu
qa-yǝmši.
find.SC.1s-3ms
qa-walk.PC.3ms
I found him walking. In this example the person was walking at the moment in which the meeting took place. The AP can be also used in a similar way in ḥāl circumstantial clauses66: (83)
fǝd-yōm
ġǝbša
ˁayǝntū-ha
nēymi.
IDA-day
morning
see.SC.1s-3fs
sleep.AP.fs
[Text 31]
One day in the morning I saw her sleeping. In this case the AP /nēymi/ "(she is) sleeping" describes the object's situation at the moment in which she was seen. Unlike circumstantial clauses whose verb is qa-PC, those whose verb is in the AP are not restricted in terms of the verb that they complete. This is the case, for instance, in Ex.57, where the AP /lēbsīn/ "they are wearing" completes a verb in the PC /yġuḥōn/ "they are going". The use of qa-PC in this case instead of the AP would be ungrammatical. Ḥāl clauses in JB are usually asyndetic, like in the three examples above, but they might also be syndetic, in which case /wu-/ might precede them: (84)
lǝmman
šǝfnā-k
b-ᵊmkān-ak.
till
find.SC.1p-2ms
in-place-2ms
[Text 8]
Till we found you in your place. qēˁǝd. sit.AP.ms
Sitting.
66
The use of the AP in ḥal clauses was noted by Jastrow in the Anatolian qǝltu dialect of Kǝndērib. Jastrow says, however, that it is limited to motion verbs and gives the following example: /hūwe ǧēye aṛawhu ṯnayn/ "Als er auf dem Heimweg war, sahen ihn zwei (Männer)" (2003: 17-18).
102
l-ᴴᴱ(mǝṣṣēṣ)ᴴᴱ
ᵊb-ḥalq-ak
wu-qēˁǝd.
DA-pacifier
in-mouth-2ms
and-sit.AP.ms
The pacifier in your mouth and you are sitting. This is the ending point of a narrative telling the story of a baby that got lost. In the end his grandmother and her friend found him. The AP /qēˁǝd/ "you (ms) are sitting" occurs twice in this piece. In both cases it denotes the situation in which the baby was found. In the first occurrence the AP is asyndetically completing the SC, whereas in the second occurrence it is preceded by /wu/. The use of syndetic constructions probably goes back to CA where some of the ḥāl constructions also require /wa/ to open the circumstantial clause, for example: /qama Zaydun wa-huwa bākin/ "Zaid rose up weeping" (Wright 1896-1898: 330). Thus, the constraints on the verb forms in the main clause and the ḥāl clause are: Main clause SC PC qa-PC
ḥāl clause AP qa-PC AP AP
3.3.2.2 Final clauses Final circumstantial clauses can also consist of a verb in qa-PC which completes a verb in the SC. This can be seen from the following sentence, which we already saw as part of Ex.44: (44)
ġǝḥtǝm
qa-tlǝˁbōn.
go.SC.2p
qa-play.PC.2p
[Text 3]
You went to play. In final clauses, unlike the case of ḥāl clauses, the verb in qa-PC is not simultaneous to the verb in the main clause, but rather follows it or starts once the situation of the main clause finishes. Thus, in this example, for instance, they went and only once they arrived they actually played. The following sentence is taken from Ex.50: (50)
ǧō
qaˁdu
qa-yaklōn.
come.SC.3p
sit.SC.3p
qa-eat.PC.3p
[Text 2]
They came and sat down to eat. The connection between the verb /ǧō/ "they came" and the following verb /qaˁdu/ "they sat" is one of sequencing and cannot be interpreted otherwise. This is a case of prosodic coordination, as was discussed above (see 3.3.1). The connection between /qaˁdu/ "they sat down" and /qa-yaklōn/ "they eat", on the other hand, can be
103
interpreted as a main verb and a completing final clause – "they sat down in order to eat". A deeper look into final clauses that open with /qa-/ shows that the main verb in most of them is derived from roots like ġwḥ "to go"67, ǧyˀ "to come", or qˁd "to sit". We can generalize and say that the main verb of a final circumstantial clause in JB must be translocative. A final clause doesn’t necessarily open with /qa-/: (85)
ǧā
sakan
b-ᵊl-Ḥǝlli.
come.SC.3ms
live.SC.3ms
in-DA-PN
He came to live in Ḥǝlli. In this example the final clause follows the main verb /ǧā/ "he came" but consists of a verb in the SC rather than one that opens with /qa-/. In this respect the connection between the two verbs can be also interpreted as parataxis rather than subordination. This means that rather than interpreting the sentence as "he came (in order) to live" we can interpret it as "he came and lived". As we saw in 3.3.1, the second interpretation is possible thanks to prosodic coordination that doesn’t require the formal occurrence of a coordinator. Not only that the verb form of the final clause is not restricted to qa-PC, but also the main verb is not restricted to the SC: (86)
tġūḥ
ᵊtǧīb
ḥǝnṭa.
go.PC.3fs
bring.PC.3fs
wheat
[Text 51]
She goes in order to bring wheat. In this example the main clause consists of the verb /tġūḥ/ "she goes" in the PC. The final clause also consists of a verb in the PC. The agreement in form between the verb of the main clause and that of the final clause enables us to interpret this case also as a case of prosodic coordination. Does this mean that we should treat cases of asyndetic final clauses as instances of parataxis rather than subordination? Let's consider the following example: (87)
ˀawādǝm
qa-yǝǧōn
yhǝmšōn
w-iġuḥōn.
people
qa-come.PC.3p
grab.PC.3p
and-go.PC.3p
[Text 8]
People are coming to grab (some oranges) and they go. In this example the main verb is a translocative verb in qa-PC. The following verb, however, appears in the PC. Thus there is no agreement between the main verb and the verb of the final clause. This can be clarified in two ways. First, we saw that when verbs that are modified by a preverbal particle are coordinated the particle doesn’t necessarily repeats itself. This means that this case can be interpreted as one of 67
Quite similarly, Bybee et al. noted the use of the construction "go and" in English in the past "to emphasize the deliberateness and finality of an action" (1994: 60)
104
parataxis. However, a second explanation can be one that treats the occurrence of the second verb (and the third) in the PC as subjunctive, thus presenting a subordinate clause. So is it a case of parataxis or subordination? As we saw, when the translocative verb is in the SC the verb of the final clause can appear in the SC, in qa-PC, or, in fact, even in the PC. This situation cannot be explained by prosodic coordination, which leaves us with the conclusion that the relationship between the main verb and that of a circumstantial clause is one of subordination. It is possible, however, that the diachronic mechanism which led to the current situation is analogy to coordinating constructions. We can assume that asyndetic final clauses were developed out of coordinative sentences in which the first verb is translocative. At first these constructions required agreement in form, person, and number between the translocative verb and the verb of the final clause. Then, in analogy to asyndetic circumstantial ḥāl clauses, circumstantial final clauses in which the translocative verb is in the SC but the verb of the final clause is in qa-PC started to develop. Once the agreement was broken and a combination of SC in the main clause and qa-PC in the final clause has developed, the SC was generalized to be a flexible form, which led to the current state in which the PC can also complete it. Thus, translocative verbs in any verbal form may lose their autonomy and trigger the opening of a final clause. The constraints on the verb forms in the main clause and the final asyndetic clause can be summarized as follows: Main clause (translocative verb) SC PC qa-PC
Final clause SC qa-PC PC PC PC
It should be pointed out that when the main verb is in the SC, semantically, there is no temporal difference between a final clause that consists of a verb in the SC, in the PC or in qa-PC. The situation denoted by the final clause is always a future one in relation to the main verb. In addition, final clauses can also be opened using a conjunction like /ḥǝtti/ or /xataġ/ (see Ex.23), or using the preverbal particle /da-/ (see 4.1.4). In all these cases a PC follows. Moreover, Ex.24 showed that final clauses whose verb is a PC are not necessarily preceded by a final conjunction. This use of the PC should be seen as a subjunctive use, which strengthens our claim above that final clauses are subordinate. 3.3.3 Temporal clauses Temporal clauses open with a temporal conjunction. Their verb is not limited to the PC, i.e. it is not a subjunctive. In fact the verb form of the temporal clause and that of the main clause seem to correspond, as the following examples show:
105
(88)
mǝn
tǝsmaˁ
ḥǝss,
when
hear.PC.3fs
sound
[Text 19]
When she hears (its) sound, tǝġǧǝf, shiver.PC.3fs
she shivers. In this example the conjunction /mǝn/ "when" is followed by a verb in the PC and the main verb also occurs in the PC. (89)
ǧabō-l-a
dhunāt māl… mal-samak,
give.SC.3p-DAT-3fs
oils
[Text 4]
of-fish
They brought her fish oils, lǝmman
ṣǝdᵊq ᵊšwayya
našfǝt.
until
really
dry.SC.3fs
a little
till (the blisters) really dried a bit. /lǝmman/ is used as a temporal conjunction in the meaning of "until". In this case both verbs are in the SC. This is also the case in the following example: (90)
ˀawwal-ma
dxalna
l-ūnīki…
As-NMLZ
enter.SC.1p
to-there
[Text 14]
At the moment we got inside… miyat-a
n-nafs-u.
pretend dead.SC.3ms-3fs ACC-REF-3ms
he acted as if he is going to die. This example demonstrates the use of a temporal conjunction that consists of the nominalizer /ma/. The conjunction /ˀawwal-ma/ "as/at the moment that" is followed by the SC and so does the verb in the main clause. (91)
yqǝˁdōn
ᵊṣ-ṣbāḥ,
get up.PC.3p
DA-morning
[Text 41]
They get up in the morning, ˁaqᵊb-ma
yḥǝssōn
ᵊmn-ᵊn-nōma.
After-NMLZ
wake up.PC.3p
from-DA-sleep
after they wake up from their sleep. The conjunction /ˁaqᵊb-ma/ "after", which also makes use of the nominalizer /ma/, is followed by a verb in the PC. The main verb in this case is also in the PC.
106
There are, however, examples in which the verb of the temporal clause is not similar to that of the main clause: (92)
ˀaxǝllī-l-a
flūs
b-ᵊn-naylōn
put.PC.1s-DAT-3fs
money in-DA-bag
mǝn
hīyi
nēymi. [Text 31]
when
she
sleep.AP.fs
I put money for her in the bag when she is asleep. The verb form of the main clause in this example is the PC whereas that of the subordinate clause is the AP. Despite the fact that they are not similar in form they are similar in their temporal value. In this case both are timeless, referring to a habit. So it the case in Ex.16 above, in which the verbs in the main clause and in the temporal clause indicate an unreal situation. Thus, temporal clauses are not restricted as for the variety of verb forms that they can host but rather in their requirement to correspond with the verb of the main clause in terms of temporal value. In this respect they should be considered as subordinate clauses. 3.3.4 Causal clauses The verb of a causal clauses can appear in any form and it doesn’t have to correspond to the verb form of the main clause: (93)
ma
yaklōn
ˁǝnd-u
lēn
yākǝl
not
eat.PC.3p
by-3ms
because eat.PC.3ms
[Text 16]
laḥᵊm xǝnzīġ. meat
pork
They don't eat in his house because he eats pork. (94)
ḅaḅa
kan-yḥǝbb-a
kǝllǝš,
father
be.SC.3ms-love.PC3ms-3fs
very
[Text 38]
My father loved her very much, kēf
ᵊl-kə́llǝt-na
because ACC-all-1p
wǝldǝt-na. deliver.SC.3fs-1p
since she delivered all of us. Ex.95 ˀana I
ma
ˀaḏə̣ ll
lēn
qad-axāf.
not
stay.PC.2s
because qa-afraid.PC.1s
[Text 10]
I won't stay because I am afraid. Ex.93-95 present two the causal conjunctions, /lēn/ and /kēf/, both meaning "because" and in fact are interchangeable. The examples prove that there are no constraints on the use of verbal forms in the main clause and in the causal clause when these conjunctions are used. In Ex.93 both the situation in the main clause and that of the causal clause are gnomic. In Ex.94, the verb in the main clause denotes a stative 107
habitual situation in the past, whereas the one in the causal clause denotes a perfective past one. Finally, in Ex.95 the predication in the main clause refers to the future, while that of the clause refers to the present. Thus, a causal clause is syntactically and temporally independent. 3.3.5 Content clauses Content clauses open after certain verbs of perception, cognition, and communication: (96)
xamlu
qa-tmūt.
think.SC.3p
qa-die.PC.3fs
[Text 7]
They thought she was going to die. (97)
nasǝt
wēn
xǝllǝt-a.
[Text 5]
forget.SC.3fs
where
put.SC.3fs-3fs
She forgot where she put them. (98)
qālu
yrǝǧˁōn
ᵊṣbāḥ.
say.SC.3p
return.PC.3p
morning
[Text 7]
They said that they will come back in the morning. (99)
qāl
yġīd
ṯmǝnmīt
dinār.
say.SC.3ms
want.PC.3ms
800
PN
[Text 10]
He said that he wants 800 Dinar. (100) qāl say.SC.3ms
hūwi
qa-yǝmši
ġada.
[Text 30]
he
qa-travel.PC.3ms tomorrow
He said that he is going tomorrow. (101) qālu say.SC.3p
ˀənnahu
ğō
ğamāˁa.
CONJ
come.SC.3ms
group
[Text 10]
They said that a group came. The examples above show that both the verb of the main clause and that of the subordinate clause are not restricted in terms of their verb form. In Ex.101 one can see the use of the conjunction /ˀənnahu/ "that" to open the content clause, which is synchronically quite rare in use in JB. A deeper look at Ex.98-Ex.101 proves that the temporal value of the content clause is relative to the temporal value of the main clause. The four examples are taken from memory-based narratives of real stories, and the main verb of all of them is derived from the root qwl "to say" in the SC, denoting a past perfective situation relatively to the moment of narration. The verb of the content clause is uttered from the perspective of the narrative time, as if it is present. Thus, in Ex.98 they will come in a future point 108
in time relatively to the narrative time; in Ex.99 the person's will is simultaneous to the narrative time; in Ex.100 a planned future situation relatively to the narrative time is denoted by qa-PC; And finally, in Ex.101 the group came before the saying occurred, i.e. a past time situation relatively to the narrative time. A second type of content clauses opens with an interrogative pronoun: (102) xǝḏ take.IMP.2ms
ˀaš
qa-tġīd.
[Text 10]
what
qa-want.PC.2ms
Take whatever you want. (103) ˀaš what
ma
tǝġdōn
ˀaṭˁī-kǝm.
NMLZ want.PC.2p
[Text 9]
give.PC.1s-2p
I will give you whatever you want. These examples show that when a content clause opens with an interrogative pronoun its verb form is not restricted. The verb form of the main clause is also not restricted. Here again, just like the case of the first type of content clauses presented above, the temporal value of the content clause is relative to that of the main clause. There is yet a third type of content clauses that open following deontic modal verbs. The verb of the content clause must appear in the PC, and thus can be considered a subjunctive: (104) qa-yġīd
yġūḥ
l-ᵊl-ˁIrāq.
qa-want.PC.3ms go.PC.3ms
[Text 36]
to-DA-PN
He wants to go (back) to Iraq. (105) mnēn from where
ᵊnṭīq
nakǝl-u?
be able.PC.1p
eat.PC.1p-3ms
[Text 2]
How can we eat it? (106) ma not
yǝqbal
ybīˁ-ᵊn-na.
[Text 12]
agree.PC.3ms
sell.PC.3ms-DAT-1p
He doesn’t agree to sell to us. These examples show modal verbs that denote will, ability, and permission which are proceeded by a content clause that consists of a verb in the PC. The verb form of the modal verb itself, on the other hand, is not restricted. The use of the subjunctive forces the same temporal value of the main clause on the content clause. To sum up, content clauses behave in two different ways. Those whose main verb is a deontic modal verb are syntactically subordinated, which is reflected by the use of the subjunctive PC. Their temporal value is, thus, identical to that of the main clause. Those whose main verb is a verb of communication, cognition, or perception and those that open with an interrogative pronoun can host a variety of verb forms. Their temporal value is relative to that of the main clause. Hence, although they lack 109
any formal marker of subordination, one can claim that they are temporally subordinated. 3.3.6 Relative clauses The following are three representative examples of relative clauses: (107) wēn where
yšūf-u
l-hāḏa
meet.PC.3ms-3ms
ACC-PDEM.ms DA-person
l-axaḏ-a
l-almasāyi?
REL-take.SC.3ms-3fs
ACC-diamond
l-bǝniˀādam
[Text 17]
Where will he find the person who took the diamond? (108) ḥasab according to
ᵊl-kǝmmīyi
l-tġīd
tǝṭbǝx-a.
DA-amount
REL-want.PC.2ms
cook.PC.2ms-3fs
[Text 43]
According to the amount that you want to cook. (109) fǝd-šǝkᵊl
nabāt ysǝmmō-nu
kġafs ᵊl-bīġ
IDA-type
plant
PN
yǝnbǝt
b-ᵊl-ˁIrāq.
grow.PC.3ms
in-DA-PN
call.PC.3p-3ms
[Text 53]
A kind of plant they called Kġafs ᵊl-bīġ (that) grows in Iraq. The first two examples present a relative clause that opens with the relative pronoun /l-/, whereas in the third example the relative clause is asyndetic, i.e. it is not preceded by a relative pronoun. In Ex.107 the verb form of the clause is the SC, and it denotes a perfective situation preceding the narrative time. The verb of the main clause, on the other hand, indicates an unreal situation. Ex.108 was uttered as a part of a receipt. It is an answer to the listener's question about the amounts of an ingredient that should be put. The speaker's answer consists only of the focus, i.e. she doesn’t repeat the topic. Thus, the main clause is verbless. The verb of the relative clause is in the PC, indicating an unreal situation. The main clause of the third example, Ex.109, is also verbless for pragmatic reasons. The relative clause consists of two coordinated verbs (or rather two coordinated relative clauses). Both verbs are in the PC and denote a gnomic situation. Thus, the temporal value of a relative clause is not dependent on that of the main clause but rather by the temporal line of the texteme in which it is consisted. 3.3.7 Discussion and conclusions Our discussion above surveyed different types of clauses. Each clause type was examined in terms of syntactic and temporal subordination. Clauses in coordination are syntactically and temporally independent, meaning that the syntactic status of their verb equals that of the main verb and that their verb form and temporal-aspectual value does not depend on that of the main clause. 110
From the temporal and the syntactic perspective this is also the case with causal and relative clauses. The occurrence of a formal causal conjunction or a relative pronoun is not sufficient to determine subordination. Thus, we claimed here that they are independent clauses. Content clauses are subordinate both syntactically and temporally. This is manifested in two different ways, according to the clause type. The temporal value of clauses that complete a verb of communication, cognition, or perception and those that open with an interrogative is relative to that of the main clause. This change in temporal perspective forces the predicate of the subordinate clause to be unequivocally marked in terms of tense. In this respect, the occurrence of the SC in the content clause denotes a past situation relatively to that of the main clause, qa-PC denotes a simultaneous one, and the PC a habitual or unreal future situation. On the other hand, the temporal value of a content clause whose main verb is a deontic modal one is similar to that of the main clause. This is so because their verb is an obligatory subjunctive PC, which formally marks the subordination. The verb form of a final clause that opens with a final conjunction is also a subjunctive PC. Thus, its syntactic and temporal characteristics are similar to those of a content clause that complete a modal verb. The verb of a temporal clause corresponds to the verb of the main clause in time reference. This doesn’t mean, however, that they must share the same form. In fact, their aspectual value might be different. Finally, circumstantial clauses have strict limitations on the use of verb forms. Ḥāl clauses can host only the AP or qa-PC. The latter is even less flexible as it can be combined only with the SC in the main clause. Regardless to the verb form, ḥāl clauses are always simultaneous to the situation in the main clause. Final clauses are more flexible in verb form combination, which can be assigned to further grammaticalization processes, but are nonetheless limited. Temporally the situation denoted by a final clause follows, even if immediately, that of the main clause. The following table summarizes the above conclusions: Clause type
(A)syndetic
Coordination
Any
Relative
A/Syndetic
Content
Temporal
Asyndetic
Formal marker Coordinator/ prosody Relative pronoun X
Clause verb form Any
Temporal subordination X
Any
X
PC
V (similar to the main clause) V (relative to the main clause) V (relative to the main clause)
Asyndetic
X
Any
Asyndetic
X
Any
Syndetic
Temporal conjunction
Any
111
V (similar to the main verb)
Remarks
Deontic modal verb in the main clause Opens with an interrogative A verb of perception, cognition, or communication in the main clause
Causal
Syndetic
Final
A/syndetic
Causal conjunction Prosody/final conjunction
Asyndetic
A/syndetic
Ḥāl
Syndetic coordinator /wu/
Any
X
PC Any but the AP
V (similar to the main clause) V (following the main verb)
qa-PC or AP
V (simultaneous to the main verb)
Restrictions on main-subordinate verbs combination Restrictions on main-subordinate verbs combination
3.4 Grammatical aspect and aktionsarten implications of the verbal system The following analysis will describe the ways in which grammatical aspect and aktionsarten are involved in determining the aspectual value of a verbal predicate. We will commence by checking whether the verbal forms in JB are restricted in terms of the aktionsart classes that they host. Then we will see how the same lexeme in two supposedly overlapping verb forms changes its aspectual meaning thanks to a change in the aktionsart category. 3.4.1 Aktionsarten constraints on verbal forms Taking into consideration the situation taxonomy of Vendler presented in 1.1.2.2, it seems that the verbal forms of JB are generally not limited in terms of the aktionsarten classes that they denote, as the following analysis will show: 3.4.1.1 The PC The PC can denote: States (5)
hāyi
ham
tǝˁˁǝf
ṭǝbb
mal-ˁarab.
PDEM.fs
also
know.PC.3fs
medicine
of-Arab.p
[Text 1]
She also knows Arabic medicine. (67)
ˀana
tǝˁǧǝb-ni.
I
be likeable.PC.3fs-1s
[Text 22]
I like (pomelo). In the first sentence the PC /tǝˁˁǝf/ "she knows" refers to somebody's knowledge of Arabic medicine. In the second the PC /tǝˁǧǝb-ni/ "I like it" denotes the speaker's love for pomelos. Both are stative situations. Activities (110) tǝmši walk.PC.3fs
tǝtqayya
b-ᵊṭ-ṭarīq.
vomit.PC.3fs
in-DA-way
She is walking and vomiting on the way.
112
[Text 5]
(10)
wu-ˀamši
wu-ˀabki
and-walk.PC.1s and-cry.PC.1s
wu-ˀaˁayyǝṭ.
[Text 8]
and-scream.PC.1s
And I walked and cried and screamed. (111) ma not
ˀaˁġǝf
ˀaš
kān
ˀǝsm-a.
know.PC.1s
what
be.SC.3ms
name-3fs
[Text 1]
I also don't remember her name. The first sentence contains two verbs in the PC /tǝmši/ "she is walking" and /tǝtqayya/ "she is vomiting", denoting an activity at the narrative time. In the same fashion, the series of the PCs in the second sentence expresses an ongoing situations with similar intervals, each requires an input of energy. This is also the case in Ex.111, where the narrator tries to remember some character's name but can't. The predicate /ma ˀaˁġǝf/, literally meaning "I don't know", should be interpreted in this case as "I can't remember". It doesn't denote a stative situation, as one might think, since it is limited to that specific situation. In a few minutes the speaker might remember. This meaning is produced by the combination of the verb and the negator and the textual context. Accomplishments (112) ymǝṣṣ-u
l-ᵊl-waǧaˁ.
suck.PC.3ms-3ms
[Text 1]
ACC-DA-pain
It extracts the pain. (15)
muˁāmala
wāḥdi ˀasawwi.
application
one
[Text 11]
make.PC.1s
I will make one application. The first sentence relates to a medical situations that will cure and get to a terminal point as a result of a developing curing process. The second refers to filling an application, a process that has an end point. Achievements (14)
ˀǝḏa
ˀalqi
ˀana
ˀašġī-l-ǝk…
if
find.PC.1s
I
buy.PC.1s-DAT-2fs
[Text 22]
If I find, I will buy for you. The speaker of the utterance that preceded this one said that she wants to buy a specific type of tangerine which she can't find. As a response, the utterer says that if he finds this specific type of tangerine he will buy it for her. In both the protasis and the apodosis of the conditional sentence that he utters he use a PC which denotes a punctual, bound achievement, namely /ˀalqi/ "I find" and /ˀašġī-l-ǝk/ "I buy for you".
113
Thus, a verb in the PC can be classified as a state, an activity, an accomplishment or an achievement. The specific classification depends on the verbal context. In addition, examples in which the same root is classified under two aktionsart categories were given here – the root ˁġf can denote an activity, in a sense closer to "not being able to remember something in a specific situation", like in Ex.111, or a state, in a sense closer to "have knowledge", like in Ex.5. 3.4.1.2 qa-PC The PC preceded by the particle /qa-/ can denote: Activities (113) qa-yǝṭlaˁ
wiyā-ha.
qa-date.PC.3ms with-3fs
He is dating her. (114) qa-tˁanē-nu qa-see.PC.2fs-3ms
hāḏa
ˀǝbn-ǝk?
PDEM.ms
son-2fs
[Text 20]
Do you see your son? The verb phrases /qa-yǝṭlaˁ/ "he is dating" in the first sentence and /qa-tˁanē-nu/ "you are seeing him" in the second denote a continuous situation that requires an input of energy. Both were uttered in dialogues and describe a current present situation. Specifically for the second example, the speaker wants the addressee to look at her son while she is going to say something about him. States (115) hēkǝḏ ˁēn-a thus
eye-3fs
wu-ma
qa-tˁāyǝn.
and-not
qa-see.PC.3fs
[Text 6]
Her eye is like this and she can't see. (116) ᵊl-ᴴᴱ(pamēlla)ᴴᴱ DA-pomelo
ham
qa-tǝˁǧǝb-ni.
also
qa-be likeable.PC.3fs-1s
[Text 22]
I like pomelos as well. In the first sentence the verb /(ma) qa-tˁāyǝn/ "she (can't) sees" refers to her sight. The negator in this case doesn’t change the aktionsart class of the verb. In the second sentence the verb phrase /qa-tǝˁǧǝb-ni/ "I like it" refers to the speaker's love for pomelos. In both cases it denotes a stative situation. At this point we should extend the discussion about the fact that the use of stative lexemes is natural with a form like qa-PC. As we shall see in 3.6.2, this form and its equivalents in surrounding Arabic dialects, were compared by several scholars to the English progressive construction, namely the construction that consist of the auxiliary verb "to be" which precedes a gerund, ending with the /-ing/ suffix. This construction in English is very sensitive in terms of aktionsart and is rarely used with 114
stative verbs. In JB, on the other hand, this restriction is not valid. On the contrary, the table below shows that 24 out of a sample of 88 occurrences of qa-PC are assigned to stative verbs, which makes it the second most used aktionsart category of the form after sctivities.
Narratives Dialogues Total
State 9 15 24
qa-PC Activity Accomplishment 24 9 18 9 42 19 88
Achievement 3 1 4
This tells us that the qa-PC construction is not limited to progressive situations, i.e. continuous dynamic ones, but can also host non-progressive situations, namely, continuous stative ones. In this respect qa-PC denotes a continuous situation, as for Comrie's definition in 1.1.2.1. This seems to defy Comrie's generalization that "verbs tend to divide into two disjoint (non-overlapping) classes, those that can appear in the progressive forms, and those that cannot. Moreover, this distinction corresponds to that between stative and non-stative verbs". Comrie adds, however, that the classification of stative-non-stative verbs can differ between languages, and that some verbs can be both, depending on the sentence (1976: 35). In JB not only that some lexemes can be read as dynamic or stative in different contexts, but they can also be read in both ways in the same morphological form. This is the case, for example, with the root ˁyn "to see" which in Ex.114 denotes an activity whereas in Ex.115 it denotes a state, both under the same form – qa-PC. Bybee et al. refer to Comrie's classification of the progressive and the nonprogressive under the continuous category and say that they found no evidence in their cross-linguistic survey for grams that can be assigned to the non-progressive or to the continuous categories (1994: 139). qa-PC construction of JB is, however, a gram representing the continuous, namely denoting both progressive and non-progressive situations. Accomplishments (65)
ˀǝḥna qa-nqūm. we
[Text 24]
qa-get up.PC.1p
We are going. (Lit. getting up). The verbal lexeme of the verb phrase /qa-nqūm/ is usually translated as "to get up", but in this context it should be interpreted as "we are going". At the end of a meeting the speaker utters this sentence as an announcement, meaning to say that they are starting the process of going. This process will end, however, at the moment that they will actually leave.
115
Achievements (117) qa-tˁāyǝn qa-see.PC.2ms
ˀaš
sūwēt
bi-yi?
what
do.SC.2ms
in-1s
[Text 8]
Do you understand what you did to me? The verb phrase /qa-tˁāyǝn/ means "you understand" in this context. It can be compared to the use of the verb "to see" in English in the meaning of "to understand". It denotes a bound punctual situation of pure change, i.e. an achievement. Hence, similarly to the case of the PC, verbs structured by qa-PC can also fall under any of the four aktionsart classes. Moreover, in the case of qa-PC we also see verbs derived from the same lexeme which were classified into different categories such as /qa-tˁāyǝn/ which can denote an achievement, in the meaning if "to understand", like in Ex.117, a stative situation when sight deficiency is involved, like in Ex.115, or an activity of physically looking at something for a while, like in Ex.114. If we compare some of the examples that we cited of the PC and of qa-PC, we can observe another interesting finding, namely that the same verb in the PC, /tǝˁǧǝbni/ "I like it" in Ex.67, and in qa-PC /qa-tǝˁǧǝb-ni/ in Ex.116, fall under the same class of aktionsart - a stative situation. This overlap will be discussed under 3.6, but at this point we can conclude that the opposition between the PC and qa-PC is not one of aktionsart. To sum up the discussion so far, we saw that a certain verb form is not necessarily restricted as for its aktionsart class and that different verbal forms can denote the same aktionsart category with the same root. But maybe a specific verbal form in a specific function is restricted in terms of aktionsart? 3.4.2 Aktionsarten constraints on aspectual functions Indeed, a marked use of a verb form68 might be restricted in terms of aktionsart. For example, when qa-PC is used to denote a planned future situation, the aktionsart class of the verb is always of achievement. This is the case in the following examples: (118) qa-ysāfǝġ qa-travel.PC.3ms
l-ᵊl-Ḥaǧǧ.
[Text 2]
to-DA-PN
He is traveling to the Hajj. (119) qālu
qa-yˁǝdmō-hǝm.
say.SC.3p
[Text 28]
qa-hang.PC.3p-3p
They said they are going to kill them by hanging.
68
Assuming that a verb form has a prototypical function, which is the most frequent in use and thus unmarked, but also a/some secondary function/s which is/are usually a result of further diachronic development and are rarer in use.
116
Ex.118 was uttered as a part of a narrative which tells the story of a king who plans to go to the Hajj in the near future. As for Ex.119, the speaker describes what he heard on the news – the correspondent said that Jews are going to be hung on the following day, a future situation in relation to the point of time at which the news were given. The situations in both these examples are punctual future occurrences with an inherent end point that initiates a new state, i.e. achievements. In the same fashion, if we look at the verbs that take part in ḥāl circumstantial clauses which open with /qa-/ we find that all of them to convey activities. This is the case in Ex.32 and Ex.82 that were cited above. The "crying" in the former and the "walking" in the latter are continuous unbound situations simultaneous to the verb in the main clause. The verbs of final clauses that open with /qa-/ don't seem to be restricted, however. The verb phrase /qa-tsūwī-ha/ "she is doing it" in Ex.33 conveys an achievement since if the situation is stopped in the middle it cannot be regarded as done. This is in contrast to the verb of Ex.44, /qa-tlaˁbōn/ "you are playing", which denotes an activity. One can think also of stative verbs like "to want" or "to know" in final clauses as such, but no such example was found. There are verb forms that are unnatural with some of the aktionsart classes. For example, past habitual predicates marked by kan+PC are never telic. They are either stative or atelic: (120) kǝnna be.SC.1p
qabᵊl yǝˁǧǝb-na
ˁǝlᵊč-ṃāy
before
Acacia Gum
be likeable.PC.3ms-1p
[Text 1]
nǝlˁǝs. chew.PC.1p
We used to like to chew Acacia Gum in the past. (121) ˀašlon kǝnna-nǝftarr how
wiyā-hǝm?
be.SC.1p-hang around.PC.1p
[Text 27]
with-3p
How did we use to hang around with them? The verb phrase /kǝnna yǝˁǧǝb-na/ "we used to like" denotes a stative past habit, whereas /kǝnna-nǝftarr/ "we used to hang around" denotes a dynamic one. Inchoative predicated marked by the auxiliary verb qam+PC are also never telic: (122) qǝmna-nlǝflǝf-a get up.SC.1p-wrap.PC.1p-3fs
wu-qǝmna-nxāf and-get up.SC.1p-fear.PC.1p
ˁala-ġās-a. on-head-3fs
We started to wrap her and to keep her head.
117
[Text 6]
The first verb phrase of the sentence /qǝmna-nlǝflǝf-a/ "we started to wrap her" denotes the inception of a continuous dynamic situation, whereas the second /qǝmnanxāf/ literally meaning "we started to fear (for her head)" denotes the inception of a continuous stative situation. The incompatibility with telicity in Ex.120-Ex.122 doesn’t mean that the situations don’t have an end point, but rather that in these specific situations their habitual or inchoative essence is in focus. For example, each inner interval of Ex.121 in which Jews hung around with Shi'ites has an ending point, but the habituality, indicated by the auxiliary /kan/, doesn’t look at a specific interval but rather at all the intervals as a complex. Thus, the potential telicity of each interval is irrelevant. The evidence above still don’t prove the essential function of aktionsarten in JB. The fact that, for example, qa-PC which marks a ḥāl clause is used only with activities can be explained as an implicature of its simultaneity with the situation indicated by the main verb. Moreover, in the case of qa-PC, as we already know, predicates classified as activities are not restricted to circumstantial clauses: (123) nǝḥna qa-nǝḥki we
qa-talk.PC.1p
ˁal-Baṣġa.
[Text 28]
about-PN
We are talking about Baṣġa. This sentence describes an on-going dynamic situation. It is not included in a circumstantial clause but still modified by /qa-/. 3.4.3 Interim summary Summarizing our discussion so far, we found that: 1. Both qa-PC and the PC can host lexemes of all four aktionsart categories. 2. A specific lexeme in a specific form is not necessarily restricted to a certain aktionsart category. 3. A marked function of a verb form might be restricted to certain aktionsart classes, but this can be looked at as a pragmatic implicature of the function. 4. A specific aktionsart class in a specific verb form is not restricted to a certain function. This leaves us with a crucial question - is JB's verbal system indifferent to aktionsarten? The answer is no, as the following paragraphs will demonstrate.
118
3.4.4 The role of Aktionsarten in solving potential ambiguities Aktionsarten play a role in specific cases when two forms overlap and denote the same tense-aspect function. In this case the aktionsart might be interpreted in a certain way in one form and in another way in the other. We will demonstrate this point by a comparison between the AP and qa-PC, which can both denote a continuous present situation. 3.4.4.1 The AP vs. qa-PC The AP is quite rarely productive for stative verbs. In most cases qa-PC (or the PC) is used as their productive host. This is the case, for example, with the root ḥbb "to love", which occurs only with qa-PC, like in: (124) mlīḥ good
qa-yḥǝbbō-nu. qa-love.PC.3p-3ms
It is a good thing that they like him. In the rare cases where an AP is used for stative verbs, it denotes a nonprogressive unbound present situation, for example: (125) A:
wēn
sēkǝn?
[Text 35]
where
live.AP.ms
Where does he live? (…) B:
sēkǝn
hōni.
live.AP.ms
here
He lives here (in Israel). The use of the AP in this sentence implies that the speaker lives in Israel for a while now, and if nothing surprising happens, he will continue to live in Israel in the future. It might be also interpreted, then, as a present habitual situation. When the AP is derived from a verb of accomplishment or achievement it denotes a past situation that has implications on the current state of affairs, i.e. present perfect, or more specifically perfect of result: (126) kētǝb-u write.AP.ms-3ms
rasmi
l-mġāt ˀaxū-nu.
officially
to-wife brother-3ms
[Text 35]
He officially left (Lit. has written) it to the wife of his brother. The sentence was uttered about someone who ordered to give his house to his brother's wife after he dies. It is included in a part of a narrative which describes his nephew who, nevertheless, wanted the house to himself. At the narrative time, the action of ordering the house to the brother's wife has already been accomplished, and thus only its implications on the narrative time are valid. The AP usually denotes a 119
continuous situation, and thus we can refer to the implication of the situation on the present state of affairs as a continuous one, i.e. since the day that the uncle ordered the house to his brother's wife up to the moment of the narrative, the house is in a continuous situation of being ordered to that woman. This leads us to a frequently asked question in many languages that grammaticalize the distinction between perfect and perfective - why didn’t the speaker simply use the SC? Well, as we already saw, the SC is used in narratives to sequence events, thus serving a different goal, namely that of advancing the narrative, foregrounding. The perfect in narratives, on the other hand is used for backgrounding, namely, supplying the circumstances for the narrative's plot. Hence, the use of the SC instead of the AP in this example would suggest that this predicate is a part of the foreground rather than the background part of the narrative. When an activity is in the AP, a present progressive situation is denoted, as can be seen from Ex.36, which will be repeated here: (36)
ˀašu
ˀǝnti
nēymi
b-ᵊl-aġḏ.̣
[Text 1]
ˀašu
you.fs
sleep.AP.fs
on-DA-floor
I see you are sleeping on the floor. The AP /nēymi/ "(you are) sleeping" describes the object's current progressive situation – she is sleeping on the floor. Many times present progressive situations that are denoted by the AP are included in a ḥāl clause. This is the case in Ex.84 and Ex.83, for instance. Some of the functions of the AP mentioned above seem to overlap with the use of qa-PC. In the following paragraphs we will examine the difference between the semantic meanings that the two forms assign to their predicates. As it is not easy to find minimal pairs in the corpus, some of the examples were invented and brought to native JB speakers for their judgment. All the examples were approved by the speakers to be natural and grammatical. Moreover, bringing examples of minimal pairs to the attention of the informants made it easier for them to explain the differences between the uses and to define situations in which a specific sentence can be valid. (127)
ˀana
šēġǝb
qaḥwa.
I
drink.AP.ms
coffee
qa-ˀašġab qa-drink.PC.1s
I have drunk coffee.
qaḥwa. coffee
I am drinking coffee.
As we saw, the use of accomplishments or achievements in the AP denotes the perfect of result. So is the case with the sentence on the left - the drinking was already done in the past, but its consequences are still valid. This sentence can be uttered, for example, as a refusal to a coffee offer. What happens when we insert the same roots into the qa-PC construction? Well, the use of qa-PC of an accomplishment verb indicates an ongoing progressive situation, one that started before the moment of speech and will continue into the future until it finishes. In this case it implies that the speaker already started drinking his coffee and didn’t finish yet. To be more accurate, it is possible that the speaker didn’t even have one sip from the coffee yet, but nevertheless 120
the use of the qa-PC indicates that the speaker is already within the situation of drinking coffee. The following pair demonstrates the different interpretation of a stative lexeme in both forms: (128)
ˀana
sēkǝn
hōni.
I
live.AP.ms
here
I live here.
qa-ˀaskǝn
hōni.
qa-live.PC.1s
here
I am living here.
The sentence on the left was already introduced and we concluded that the use of a stative verb with the AP indicates a non-progressive unbound present situation that might be also interpreted as a habitual one. The insertion of the same root to qa-PC is also possible. In this case the speaker means to say that he is currently living here. The English translation of the two sentences might assist us in understanding the slight difference between the situations. While the sentence on the left is non-progressive "I live here", the sentence on the right can be understood as progressive "I am living here". The "living" is being stressed as the present situation. Bertinetto finds that the insertion of some stative verbs into a progressive construction "suggests a temporal delimitation of the event" (2001: 180). In this case the speaker relates to the present situation. Whether the situation was relevant before or will be relevant after the present moment is irrelevant. Thus, the habitual reading of the situation is less prominent than in the case if the AP. In addition, the insertion of the root into qa-PC stresses out the agentive force, namely that the decision to live here is in the hands of the speaker, who can change his mind. The emphasis on the presentness of the situation and on the agentive force puts the stative aktionsart status of the verb in this construction in question. Its interpretation as an activity, denoting a progressive situation, should not be altogether excluded. Bertinetto indeed claims that it is typologically common that a progressive "has a 'destativizing' effect on statives" (2003: 155). (129)
hūwi
lēbǝs
qāṭ.
he
wear.AP.ms
jacket
He wears a jacket.
hūwi
qa-yǝlbǝs
qāṭ.
he
qa-wear.PC.3ms jacket
He is putting a jacket on.
The first sentence indicates a progressive activity, i.e. an ongoing situation in which he is wearing a jacket. The sentence on the right, on the other hand, indicates that he is now doing the action of putting the jacket on. Putting a jacket on is not an activity but rather a telic situation. To be more specific it is an achievement, i.e. a punctual bound situation. This means that for this specific root, the use of the AP or qaPC not only changes the grammatical aspect denoted, but also the aktionsart category. Whereas JB uses the same lexeme but different forms to distinguish the two situations, the English translation of the sentences shows that English uses two different lexemes to distinguish them. Interestingly, the use of the progressive form in English, "he is wearing", is ambiguous and can fit both situations.
121
(130)
hūwi
nēyǝm.
he
sleep.AP.ms
He is asleep/is sleeping.
hūwi
qa-ynām.
he
qa-sleep.PC.3ms
He is falling asleep.
The AP in the first sentence conveys a progressive activity, which implies that he started to sleep some time ago and will continue to be asleep for some time. The qaPC in the second sentence changes the meaning into "falling asleep". Here again the use of the qa-PC involves a change in the asktionsart of the situation to an achievement. (131) hūwi
qēˁǝd.
he
sit.AP.ms
He sits/lives/is sitting.
hūwi
qa-yǝqˁǝd.
he
qa-sit.PC.3ms
He is sitting down.
The AP /qēˁǝd/ in the first sentence is ambiguous. When the root qˁd "to sit" is inserted into the AP it can mean either "to live" or "to sit", depending on the context. So for example if the sentence would be /hūwi qēˁǝd b-Landǝn/ it would mean "he lives in London" whereas the sentence /hūwi qēˁǝd b-ᵊṣ-ṣalōn/ means "he is sitting in the living room". Thus this root may have a stative meaning or an atelic one. When qa-PC is used, however, it means "to sit down" is valid. In this case the situation is seen as a punctual and bound one, i.e. an achievement. It focuses on the action of sitting down. Ex.129-Ex.131 presented cases in which verbs are interpreted as activities in the AP but as achievements in qa-PC. This parallelism is, however, not systematic and seems to be a characteristic of verbs that denote a physical change on the agent. If we consider the root wṣl "to arrive", for example, it denotes an achievement in qa-PC: /qa-yūṣal/ "he is arriving", whereas it denotes the perfect or result in the AP: /wēṣǝl/ "he has arrived". This is the case also with verbs of accomplishment, as we saw in Ex.127. Thus we can generalize and say that telic verbs in qa-PC denote the perfect in the AP, unless if they convey a physical change on the agent. The following table compares the aktionsart categories and the grammatical aspect's interpretation of different verbal lexemes in the AP and qa-PC:
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qa-PC Aktionsart
Stative
Achievement (physical change on the agent)
Grammatical aspect qa-yxāf Nonqa-yġīd progressi- qa-yˁīš ve/habitual qa-yǝskǝn NA qa-yūqaf qa-ynām Punctual qa-yǝlbǝs qa-yǝqˁǝd
qa-yǝtzawwaǧ qa-ymūt qa-yǝṭlāˁ Achievemqa-yǝǧi ent qa-yūṣal qa-yġūḥ qa-yǝmši qa-yǝktǝb qa-yǝšġab qa-yǝbni Accomplishment Progressive qa-yākǝl (NP)/activity qa-yḥǝṭṭ qa-yˁallǝq qa-yǧīb Progressive (planned situation); punctual (final interval)
AP GrammatiAktionsart cal aspect
Example He is afraid He wants He is living He is living NA He is standing up He is falling asleep He is putting on He is sitting down He is getting married He is dying He is going out He is coming He is arriving He is going He is traveling He is writing (NP) He is drinking (NP) He is building (NP) He is eating (NP) He is putting (NP) He is hanging (NP) He is bringing (NP)
Stative
Activity
xēyǝf NonNA progressiv- ˁēyǝš e/habitual sēkǝn qēˁǝd wēqǝf Progressi- nēyǝm ve lēbǝs qēˁǝd
Achievement Perfect (result)
Accomplishment
Example
mzawwaǧ mēyǝt ṭēlǝˁ ǧēyyi wēṣǝl ġēyǝḥ mēši kētǝb šēġǝb bēni mēkǝl ḥēttīn mˁallaq ǧēybīn
He is afraid NA He lives He lives He lives He is standing He is sleeping He is wearing He is sitting He is married He is dead He is out He has come He has arrived He is/has gone He is on a travel He has written He has drunk He has built He has eaten They have put It is hung They have brought
The table shows that the overlap between the AP and qa-PC may occur in practice only with stative verbs that convey a non-progressive situation, which can be interpreted also as habitual. The overlap occurs, however, only in the rare cases in which a lexeme is productive in both constructions. Moreover, as we saw, a stative verb in qa-PC is destativized, meaning that its use gives a sense a dynamic situation rather than a stative one. Verbs of achievement in qa-PC mark a situation that can be perceived either as progressive or punctual. When we further classify them into verbs that denote a physical change on the agent and those that don't, we find that the former can be uttered only when the physical action was already in move while the latter can be uttered when it is already planned. For example, /qa-yūqaf/ "he is standing up", can be uttered only when the agent has already got up of his sitting posture, whereas, /qa-yǝmši/ "he is traveling" can be uttered when the travel is merely contemplated and the agent hasn’t started his/her travel yet. In this respect, while the whole situation is perceived as punctual with verbs of physical change, the planned interval of verbs that don’t convey a physical change is perceived as progressive and only the final interval, in which the situation is actually realized, is punctual. This sub-classification to achievements that denote physical change on the agent and those that don’t is useful because it also corresponds to the marked functions that these two classes can be used for – achievement that denote physical change on the agent can occur in ḥāl clauses, whereas other achievements don’t. On the other hand, achievements that denote physical change on the agent are incompatible with planned future situations, whereas other achievements are natural with them. Moreover, this division is useful because it corresponds also to different functions that both classes mark in the AP. While verbs that denote physical change on
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the agent are interpreted as activities and produce a progressive situation, other achievements denote a perfect of result. At the bottom of the table we can see that for certain lexemes qa-PC can be interpreted as denoting an accomplishment or an activity. This depends on whether a noun phrase follows the verb form or not. Thus, for example /qa-yǝktǝb mǝktūb/ "he is writing a letter" denotes an ongoing bound situation, namely an accomplishment, whereas /qa-yǝktǝb/ "he is writing" denotes an activity. In any case, their grammatical aspect would be progressive. When the same lexeme occurs in the AP, on the other hand, they can be interpreted only as accomplishments, and so they denote a perfect of result. Thus, for the AP, telic verbs, regardless of their subcategorization as achievements or accomplishments, denote the perfect of result; achievements denote a progressive situation; and stative verbs denote a non-progressive situation, which can be also seen as habitual. If we try to find a common feature for the use of the AP we can say that it denotes only homogeneous situation, i.e. situations whose internal structure is uniform. In this respect, while telic verbs denote perfect of result, stative and atelic verbs can be interpreted as denoting perfect of persistent situation. The verb /sēkǝn/ "he lives", for example, conveys a homogeneous persistent situation that started once the agent moved into the place where he lives. In the same fashion the activity /wēqǝf/ "he is standing" conveys a homogeneous persistent situation that started once the agent finished the action of standing up. As for telic verbs, with which the AP marks the perfect of result, their result can also be seen as homogeneous and persistent. The verb /kētǝb/ "he has written", for instance, conveys a result – the fact that something was written, which can be seen as homogeneous and persistent from the moment in which the writing was finished and on. Thus, in some way all the situations that are conveyed by the AP seem stative. This conclusion complements our previous finding about qa-PC, namely that its stative value is arguable even when typical stative lexemes occur with it. As for the interpretation of qa-PC as denoting a perfect of persistent situation, it is indeed possible in some cases such as when the verb denotes a state or an activity. For example, the action denoted by an activity like /qa-yǝktǝb/ "he is writing" actually began before the moment of speech. From the moment that the writing has started, it can be perceived as a persistent situation. Comrie notes that many languages use the present tense for perfect of persistent situation (1976: 60). qa-PC might correspond to this statement for certain classes of aktionsart, although, as we already stated, the use of qa-PC puts the focus on the presentness of the situation. One of the fascinating facts that the above discussion led us to is that when a specific lexeme occurs in two different verb forms, not only can its interpretation of grammatical aspect change, but at the same time its lexical aspect class can change. The root √lbs "to wear", for instance, denotes a progressive activity, "is wearing", with the AP, whereas with qa-PC it denotes a punctual achievement "is putting on". Another interesting fact that we were able to encounter along our analysis is that qa-PC may host a punctual situation. This occurs with verbs of physical change on the agent and is probably a result of the grammaticalization process that qa-PC has 124
underwent. We will get back to this point in our discussion about the diachronic development of the construction under 3.6.2. 3.4.4.1.1 A note on the function of the AP in neighboring Arabic dialects At this point it would be interesting to see the function that the AP fulfills in neighboring Arabic dialects. Jastrow makes a general statement according to which the perfect in many Mesopotamian dialects outside of Anatolia is marked by the AP. He doesn't specify, however, any dialect other than Dēr izZōr for this characteristic (1978: 308). The AP in gǝlǝt dialects marks the "perfective (resultative)" (Jastrow 2007: 423). Erwin explains that in MB it usually refers to a present situation which has come about as a result of some previous action, or in other words, to a past action of which the results are still apparent or of interest. He gives the following example of its use: /šlāzim b-īdak?/ "what are you holding in your hand?" (2004: 338). In Syria, according to Cowell, the AP "may refer to past events only if the consequent state is currently in force" (1964: 330). Nawama notes that the use of the AP indicates strong connection in the moment of speech between a past event and its resultative situation when the result hasn't realized yet. The AP is also used, as per Nawama, to express a present durative situation in Damascus (2009: 294). The AP in Kuwaiti denotes, as per Johnstone, a present continuous action with motion verbs, and by extension an action in the recent past or proximate future: /int wēn rāyiḥ?/ "where are you going? (now or soon)"; /mnēn int yayy?/ "where are you coming from?/where have you come from". With verbs other than motion verbs, the AP in certain contexts has a past meaning, referring to the state of having performed the action of the verb: /id-dikkān sādd/ "the shop has shut up". Past tense meaning is also noted for the AP in Qaṭari. In most of the cases in Baḥraini the AP can be replaced by a verb in the SC with little or no change in meaning: /š-daˁwa, ṣ-ṣāyir/ "what's the trouble? what has happened?" (Johnstone 1967: 142-144, 151-153, 162-164). Eades & Persson's investigation of the AP in Gulf Arabic concludes that it is used to indicate stativity, unlike the use of the PC that refers to activities or events. Other than that, "the active participle can be exploited also to express assertion and emphasis, relevance to the moment of speech, personal experience, and other aspects". The two also mention that it can be used as a futurate (2013: 364-365). Thus, the use of the AP in JB seems quite similar to its use in Syria, as both denote perfect situations or present continuous ones. The perfect function of the AP is also generally noted in Mesopotamian dialects, but no deep investigation that involves the role of the aktionsarten was conducted in any of them. JB shares some of the functions that the AP denotes with the dialects of the Gulf, where its use to convey the perfect and its stative value were also noted. Brustad's research of spoken Arabic also stresses the role of aktionsarten in the interpretation of the meaning of the PC and the AP. Specifically for the AP she claims that "if the meaning is telic the AP will give a 'resultant state reading', referring to the perfect. If the meaning is atelic, the AP may be used only to express progressive reading
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for states and verbs of motion" (2000: 166, 172). Despite some differences in the terminology, her findings are quite similar to ours. 3.4.4.2 kan+AP vs. kan+qa-PC The only auxiliary verb that can modify the AP is /kan/. The same auxiliary can also precede qa-PC. In fact, there seem to be an overlap in use also between kan+AP and kan+qa-PC. In the following we will examine the functions of both constructions and see their interaction with different aktionsart categories. 3.4.4.2.1 kan+AP With stative verbs kan+AP can be interpreted as expressing either nonprogressive past, stative habitual past or past perfect: (132) kǝntu-sēkǝn be.SC.1s-live.AP.ms
hōni. here
I was living here/I used to live here (when…)/I had lived here (before…) This sentence can be translated as "I was living here", i.e. a non-progressive past situation, or as "I used to live here", which adds the notion of habituality. Given the appropriate context of following situations, it can be also interpreted as denoting the past perfect. The past perfect can be of a persistent situation if it interrupts the following situation or it is simultaneous to it, i.e. when the combination of both situations is translated as "I was living here when…". The past perfect can also mark anteriority, i.e. denote sequencing of situations in the past, in which case it will be translated as "I had lived here before…". Also Ex.40 (see 3.1.5) shows the same tendencies for a stative verb in kan+AP. The verb phrase /kənna-xēyfīn/ can be interpreted as a non-progressive past situation – "we were afraid", a habitual past - "we used to fear", or a past perfect of persistent situation, namely "we had been afraid". With an activity the situation can be interpreted as a past progressive one. Given a specific context it can also be interpreted as past habitual or as past perfect: (133) kan-nēyǝm be.SC.3ms-sleep.AP.ms
hōni. here
He was sleeping here/he used to sleep here (when…)/he had spelt here (before…). As for verbs of accomplishment or achievement, they always denote a past perfect situation. More specifically they sequence events in the past: (134) kan-šēġǝb be.SC.3ms-drink.AP.ms
qaḥwa mǝn
ǧō
ˀaxḏō-nu.
coffee
come.SC.3p
take.SC.3p-3ms
when
He had drunk coffee when they came to take him.
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(135) ma not
ġād
čāy
kēf
kan-šēġǝb
qaḥwa.
want.SC.3ms
tea
because be.SC.3ms-drink.AP.ms
coffee
He didn’t want tea since he had drunk coffee. The two examples above were invented, but were approved by JB speakers as providing relevant context to the occurrence of this verb in kan+AP. In the first example the agent finished drinking the coffee before they came to take him, i.e. it denotes a past perfect and serves to sequence the two events. In the second example, the results of the past perfect situation are still in force in the point in time when he was offered tea, thus denoting a past perfect of result. The following example is taken from the corpus and consists of both an achievement and an activity in kan+AP: (136) b-ᵊs-sabˁa
wu-səttīn
b-aḏāki
l-waqt
kān
In-DA-seven
and-sixty
in-DEM.ms
DA-time
be.SC.3ms
wēḥǝd
wazīr ṣaḥḥa ᴴᴱ(sōni
ˀIsrāˀel)ᴴᴱ.
one
minister health
PN
hater.ms
[Text 10]
In 1967, at that time, there was a health minister who hated Israel. kan-muqtarǝḥ
ˁa-l-wizāra
be.SC.3ms-suggest.AP.ms
on-DA-ministry that
ywǝddō-hǝm
ᵊb…
ᵊb-ᴱᴳ(kamp)ᴱᴳ.
take.PC.3p-3p
in
in-camp
ˀənnahu
l-īhūd DA-Jews
He had suggested to the government to take the Jews to a camp. ˁaqᵊb Bǝġdād ᵊğ-Ğadīda
kanu-bēnı̄n
ᵊmkān māl…
after
be.SC.3p-build.AP.p
place
PN
mustašfa
mal-ᵊmğanīn.
hospital
of-crazy.p
of
Out of Bǝġdād ᵊğ-Ğadīda they were building a place for… a psychiatric hospital. This piece is taken from a narrative about the situation of the Jews in Iraq in 1967. It consists only of background information. The first sentence of the texteme presents the topic of the paragraph - the minister, and tells us about his beliefs. The second sentence gives us information according to which this minister advised the government to concentrate the Jews in a camp. The verb phrase /kan-muqtarǝḥ/ "he had suggested" consists of a verb of achievement and denotes a past perfect situation. It locates the suggestion of the minister in time before the following situations that will be narrated soon. As for the last sentence of the texteme, the speaker gives information about the place in which the camp should have been located - in a neighborhood where a psychiatric hospital was being built. The verb phrase /kanu-bēnīn/ "they were 127
building" consists of an activity which indicates a progressive past situation from the point of view of the absolute present. Regardless of the aktionsart category of the verb, kan+AP always denotes a past situation, i.e. one that doesn't hold anymore. This raises the question of whether it overlaps with the SC. Well, whereas the SC is limited to perfective situations, kan+AP is the available mechanism to denote a continuous past situation. Moreover, unlike the SC which, as we already saw, is the advancing vehicle of the narrative, kan+AP gives only background information. As we said, with atelic and stative verbs kan+AP denotes a situation that started prior to the narrative's present point of time and that is still ongoing at that moment. We also said that for stative verbs kan+AP can be interpreted as a perfect of persistent situation from the point of view of the narrative time. In this respect it resembles the use of the existential /kān/ in narratives' backgrounds. /kān/ precedes a noun or an adjective, as the following example shows: (137) kān be.SC.3ms
wǝčč-a
ˀabyaḏ ̣
ˀaḥmaġ.
face-3fs
white.ms
red.ms
[Text 38]
Her face was white (and her cheeks were) red. In this example, at the point of time of the narrative the lady's face was whitered. This was, however, her characteristic, i.e. it wasn't bound to the time of the narrative but rather started before and was ongoing during that time. The similarity between kan+AP and the existential /kān/ shouldn't surprise us, since nouns and adjectives can be also derived from the AP. To conclude this point, both kan+AP of stative verbs and the existential can be interpreted as denoting a continuous past situation or a past perfect of persistent situation. In conclusion, kan+AP is a marker of imperfective past in the sense that it conveys aspectual meanings in the past. It is used in background parts of narratives to denote a past continuous or a past perfect situation. With stative verbs it denotes a nonprogressive past situation and with activities a progressive past. Given the right context, activities and states can also be interpreted as denoting past habitual or past perfect situations with kan+AP. Specifically for the past perfect, it can be used for event sequencing, i.e. locating two situations relatively to each other in the past. It can denote, however, in the case of stative situations, apast perfect of persistent situation, i.e. an event that started in some point in the past and continued into another point in the past. With verbs of accomplishment and achievement kan+AP denotes past perfect that serves to sequence two past situations or that of result. These functions are summarized in the following table: Aktionsart Stative Activity Telic
Tense-aspect Non-progressive past Progressive past Past perfect (sequencing/result)
Possible additional meanings Past habitual/ past perfect (persistent/sequencing) Past habitual/ past perfect (persistent/sequencing)
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3.4.4.2.2 kan+qa-PC Stative verbs in kan+qa-PC share the same meanings as stative verbs in kan+AP: (138) Abrahām
ma
kan-qa-yġīd
ybīˁ-a.
PN
not
be.SC.3ms-qa-want.PC.3ms
sell.PC.3ms-3fs
Abraham didn't want to sell it. lakan Yusēf
hlak-u.
but
exhaust.SC.3ms-3ms
PN
But Yosef exhausted him. The verb phrase /kan-qa-yġīd/ denotes a non-progressive past situation derived from the stative verb "to want". A past habitual interpretation is also possible here, and so does an interpretation of past perfect, namely a non-progressive past situation that was interrupted in the past moment in which Abraham sold the property. All three functions can be in principle denoted also by kan+AP, only that an AP of the root ġwd is not productive. Moreover, kan+qa-PC adds another semantic layer – that of a situation that was planned to occur, but in the end didn’t. In this case, Abraham didn’t want to sell, but eventually sold. This special feature of kan+qa-PC is valid for verbs from different aktionsart classes: (139) ˀašqad how much
ᵊsḥētu
mǝn-PN,
be ashamed.SC.1s
from-PN
[Text 26]
And I felt so embarrassed in front of PN. kanǝt
ham
qa-tǝǧi
ˁǝd-na
be.SC.3fs
also
qa-come.PC.3fs by-1p
tǝšġab
ᴴᴱ(kōs)ᴴᴱ
drink.PC.3fs
glass
hāyi… PDEM.fs
She was also supposed to come to us to drink a cup of… The speaker says that she felt embarrassed since a friend was planning to come to drink a glass of coffee, but in the end she didn’t come since another friend didn’t want her to. The verb phrase /kanǝt-qa-tǝǧi/ "she was supposed to come" denotes a planned situation that eventually didn’t take place. In this case the aktionsart class of the verb is one of achievement. However, the "contrary to the plan" meaning is not always involved when a verb phrase is in kan+qa-PC:
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(140) hūwi he
kan-qa-yǝštaġǝl,
[Text 33]
be.SC.3ms-qa-work.PC.3ms
He had worked, ḥawa
flūs,
gather.SC.3ms
money
gathered money, wu-ˀaxaḏ-a
l-ᴱᴳ(apartment)ᴱᴳ.
and-take.SC.3ms-3fs
ACC-apartment
and bought the apartment. The verb phrase /kan-qa-yǝštaġǝl/ "he had worked" cannot be interpreted as "he was supposed to work" in this piece of narrative. It is clear from the context that he actually worked. The possible interpretations are that of past progressive, meaning "he was working", and that of a past perfect, namely the situation of working preceded the situation of gathering money that enabled him to buy the apartment. A habitual interpretation "he used to work" is also possible. The verb in this case is one of activity. If we compare its possible functions here with those of activities in kan+AP we can see that they overlap. However, the AP of the root šġl is not productive, and thus the kan+AP cannot occur instead. Before we summarize, let's take another look at Ex.41: (41)
marra ˀakal-a
ˀakla
faḥᵊm.
time
meal
coal
eat.SC.3ms-3fs
Once he was really in a bad shape. (Lit. he ate it, a portion of coal) kan-qa-ymūt. be.SC.3ms-qa-die.PC.3ms
He almost died. As we already stated, the verb phrase /kan-qa-ymūt/ can be interpret as denoting a progressive past situation, a past perfect, or a situation that occurred contrary to the expectation. At this point we can add that interestingly, an AP can be derived from the root √mwt "to die", but rather than conveying an accomplishment it conveys a stative situation. Thus, /kanǝt-mēyti/, for example, means "she was dead". Hence, although both kan+AP and kan+qa-PC are productive for this root, each produces a different aktionsart class, and so they are semantically incompatible. To sum up, kan+qa-PC denotes a past continuous situation - a progressive one with activities and telic verbs and a non-progressive one with stative verbs. Depending on the context, the construction can also convey a planned or an expected situation that finally didn't realize. This message is always conveyed when telic verbs are involved.
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3.4.4.2.3 Summary The following table compares the uses of kan+AP and kan+qa-PC: Aktionsart Stative
Activity
Telic
kan+ AP
Tenseaspect Nonprogressive past
Additional meanings Possible: past habitual/ perfect (persistent/ sequencing)
Progressive past
Possible: past habitual/ perfect (persistent/ sequencing)
Past perfect (sequencing/ result)
Tenseaspect Nonprogressive past
kan+qaPC
Progressive past
Progressive past
Additional meanings Possible: past habitual/ perfect (persistent/ sequencing) / contrary to expectations/ plans Possible: past habitual/ perfect (persistent/ sequencing) / contrary to expectations/ plans Always: contrary to expectations/ plans
The table shows a great level of overlap between kan+AP and kan+qa-PC69. Generally speaking both mark a continuous past situation which is progressive with activities and non-progressive with stative verbs. In these cases the situations can also be interpreted as habitual or past perfect. However, similarly to the AP vs. qa-PC, cases of real overlap are very rare. This is so for two completing reasons. The first is that cases in which a lexeme is productive in both the AP and qa-PC are rare. The second is that when such cases exist the verb doesn’t preserve its aktionsart class – it is interpreted as one class in kan+AP and as another in kan+qa-PC. As for verbs of accomplishment or achievement, they have a totally different function in kan+AP and kan+qa-PC. In the former they sequence two past events, i.e. denote a past perfect, whereas in the latter they denote a progressive past situation that, contrary to the expectations or plans, didn’t continue. This semantic meaning can sometimes be also involved with states and activities in kan+qa-PC. Thus, cases of real overlap in function between kan+AP and kan+qa-PC are rare, or don’t occur at all, thanks to the limited morphological productiveness of lexemes in the AP and the mechanism of aktionsart. 3.4.4.2.4 A note on the past perfect and equivalent constructions in neighboring Arabic dialects When we examine how the past perfect is expressed in neighboring Arabic dialects we find different tendencies than the ones presented above. In Mosul, when a conjugated /kān/ precedes the SC it denotes the past perfect, as shown in the following example: /kān qallu qabǝl/ "er hatte ihm zuvor gesagt" (Jastrow 1979: 47-48). /ka/ 69
The non-overlapping cases are in italics.
131
preceding the SC is noted for accomplished events70 in the past in Siirt: /ka-šǝrṛobtuwa/ "I drunk it", whereas the combination of /ka/+/kǝl/ preceding the SC indicates past in the past: /ka-kǝl-akaltu w baˁdēn ǧǝttu/ "I had eaten and then came" (Grigore 2014: 178179). This is the case also in Diyarbakɪr. In Mardin, the form /kān/ rather than /ka/ is combined with /kǝl/ in this use (Jastrow 1978: 309). In MB /čān/ preceding the AP denotes "a situation in the past which resulted from some previous action": /čān mākil min xābarta/ "he had eaten when I phoned him" (Erwin 2004: 343). Thus, in denoting the past perfect, JB behaves similarly to MB rather than to other qǝltu dialects, including those of the Tigris group like the Muslim dialect of Mosul. In the latter, a gram derived from the auxiliary /kān/ is used before the SC, a construction which in JB is reserved for counterfactuals (see 4.3.3). As for equivalent constructions to kan+qa-PC, the only dialect in which one was found is MB, where the combination of /čān/ and /da-/71 yields a past progressive meaning, as the example from Altoma shows: /čān dayiktib/ "he was writing" (1969: 66). 3.4.5 Conclusion The above discussion demonstrated the function of aktionsarten in JB. The main verb forms in JB are not restricted in terms of aktionsart and they can host lexemes of all four classes. In addition, different verb forms can denote the same aktionsart category with the same lexeme. Marked uses of certain verb forms, like the use of qaPC for circumstantial clauses or qam+PC for inchoative situations, are limited in terms of the aktionsart classes that they host, but this can be explained as an implicature of the specific semantic meaning that they denote. The role of aktionsarten reveals itself in two cases: 1. When a form can be used for different functions. 2. When two forms overlap in function. We exemplified these points in a detailed discussion about qa-PC and the AP. In relation to the first point, qa-PC, for example, can denote a progressive, a nonprogressive, a habitual, and even a punctual situation, depending on the aktionsart class of its verb. As for the second point, we saw a tricky mechanism of change of grammatical and lexical aspect when a lexeme occurs in the AP or in qa-PC. Thus, for example, an activity that denotes a progressive situation using qa-PC, would be interpreted as telic and perfect in the AP. This mechanism prevents the overlap in many cases, and narrows it to a minimum. In fact the overlap between the AP and qa-PC occurs only with stative verbs, where the morphological productiveness of the AP is very limited anyway. Thus we can say that aktionsarten play a role in indicating the exact aspectual function of a verb conjugated in a form that has multiple aspectual functions. Very rarely they are also used as a mechanism to solve possible ambiguity in the aspectual 70
The SC barely occurs without a preverbal particle, but when it does it denotes a completed action with respect to the moment of speech (Grigore 2014: 177). 71 The particle /da-/ in MB is the equivalent counterpart of JB /qa-/ (see 3.6.2.2.2).
132
value that a specific lexeme can have in two overlapping verb forms. In this case, the aktionsart class simply changes between one form and the other. There are, however, functional overlaps between forms which cannot be resolved or explained by aktionsarten. Such is the overlap in use between the PC and qa-PC that will be discussed in Section 3.6. Before we do so, we need to complete the picture with additional aspectual categories that JB's verbal system can mark. This will be carried out in the next section.
3.5 Additional aspectual categories marked in JB JB marks additional aspectual categories using aspectual auxiliary verbs. The following paragraphs will survey them and describe their syntactic constraints as well as their semantic value. In certain cases where the aspectual meaning can be denoted by additional means, these means will be discussed as well. Before we commence, a general note about aspectual auxiliaries seems to be in order. The use of aspectual auxiliaries is not unique for JB. Holes refers to these constructions as idioms of verb+verb string, and says that they are "lexicalized and idiomaticalized in both MSA and the dialects" (2004: 223). The first verb in the string, which is a result of grammaticalization process, is the one that contributes the aspectual meaning. 3.5.1 Habitual past Past habitual situations are usually marked by the auxiliary /kan/ preceding the PC and usually agreeing with it. (141) ˀaš what
kanu-yǧibōn
b-ᵊl-braxōt?
be.SC.3p-bring.PC.3p
in-DA-blessings
[Text 48]
What did they use to bring for the blessings? This sentence refers to the costumes of Shiv'a in Baghdad. In this case the habitual past is also iterative in the sense that it denotes a situation that typically occurred in each and every Shiv'a. Prosodically, the auxiliary consists an inseparable part of the compound verb phrase. Therefore it becomes unstressed and loses its long vowel. There is a cases in which the auxiliary doesn’t agree with the following PC. This happens only when the PC is in the 3p, then the singular auxiliary /kan/ can appear: (142) kan-yǧibōn be.SC.3ms-bring.PC.3p
nabq.
[Text 42]
PN
They used to bring (a plant called) Jerusalem Thorn. This sentence refers to an ingredient that was traditionally used in a medical treatment carried out to cure some disease. Here as well, iterativity is involved in the habituality. The fact that /kan/ doesn’t agree with the following verb in number suggest 133
a further step in its grammaticalization into a clitic. Indeed, Holes found that in some dialects the aspectual auxiliary is already uninflected (idem: 223). That /kan/ has grammaticalized into a clitic can be also proved by the fact that the auxiliary doesn't have to be attached to the PC, namely, they might be separated by other components of the sentence, as the following example shows: (143) kan
kǝllǝš yqǝddǝr-a,
be.SC.3ms
very
[Text 38]
respect.PC.3ms-3fs
He used to respect her very much, kǝllǝš yḥǝbb-a. very
love.PC.3ms-3fs
to love her very much. This example also shows us that in coordination, as we already noted, there is no need to repeat the auxiliary. The habituality in this case is a stative one – it describes the feelings that someone used to have for someone else. Thus, regardless to whether the habituality is stative or dynamic, it can be modified by kan+PC. 3.5.1.1 A note on past habitual marking in neighboring Arabic dialects The use of a particle derived from the verb "to be" before the PC to denote habitual past is common in surrounding dialects. The verb /kān/ preceding the PC and conjugated in agreement with it denotes a habitual past or an uncompleted past in Mosul: /kǝnna nǝxbǝz/ "wir pflegten Brot zu backen" or "wir backen gerade Brot" (Jastrow 1979: 47-48). This is also the case in Bǝḥzāni, where /kān/ is sometimes fossilized (Jastrow 1978: 304). In ˁAqra and Arbil it marks a continuous action in the past with a habitual or iterative character (Jastrow 1990: 66). It is used also in Kirkuk for continuous or repeated event in the past (Jastrow 1992: 248). /ka/ is used in Rabīˁa before the PC to refer to a continuous past action: /ka yǝsqūhǝn/ "they used to water them". Abu-Haidar mentions that it probably originates from OA /kān/ (2004: 10). The same particle indicates "habitual past" or "uncompleted past" in Kǝndērib. Jastrow gives /ka-yṣalli/ "er war am Beten" as an example for this use (2003: 13). Sasse terms it as past imperfective and gives the following example with several possible translations from Mḥallamīye: /kayǝktǝb/ "er schrieb; pflegte zu schreiben; war beim schreiben" (1971: 158). Wittrich notes this particle with a long vowel /kā/ as imperfect in the past, and describes it as originating from /kān/ "er war". She also mentions that sometimes /kān/ stands independently, i.e., not as a prefix, before the PC, and gives /kān īftaḥ/ "er pflegte zu öffnen" as an example (2001: 74). The full form /kān/ is also in use in Mardin (Jastrow 1978: 305). In Diyarbakɪr the allomorph of the particle is rather /kǝn/: /kǝnǝnǧību/ "wir pflegten es zu bringen" (ibid). In MB /čān/ preceding the PC marks habitual or recurrent action in the past, as per Erwin (2004: 339).
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3.5.1.2 Conclusion The use of a particle derived from the auxiliary /kān/ to denote the habitual past is characteristic of Mesopotamian dialects. In some dialects it also expresses an uncompleted or continuous past, a use which is absent from JB72. In previous sections we saw that stative habitual past can be also denoted by kan+AP (see Ex.40). In addition, when the PC in used in backgrounds of narratives from the narrative time's perspective, it marks a present habitual situation, which is a past habitual one from the absolute present's perspective (see Ex.52). In the case of kan+AP, however, the habitual interpretation seems secondary to the non-progressive past one. In the case of the PC in the narrative time it is a marked strategy to convey background information in a vivid manner. Thus, kan+PC is the unmarked way to denote a past habitual situation, whereas the other two strategies are implicative or marked. 3.5.2 Reduplication - between iterative, intensive, and durative As was already mentioned and demonstrated the PC is the main vehicle by which iterative situations are marked (see 3.1.2.1). In addition Ex.7 showed us that although Iterativity commonly goes along with habituality, it doesn’t always have to be the case. There is, however, another strategy for conveying iterativity - by reduplication of the verb: (144) nǝmši
wu-nǝmši
walk.PC.1p
wu-nǝmši
wu-tǝ,
[Text 8]
and-walk.PC.1p walk.PC.1p-walk and-IDP
We are walking and walking and walking and suddenly, ḏị yǝˁnā-k. lose.SC.1p-2ms
We lost you. In this example the speaker repeats the verb /nǝmši/ "we are walking" to denote a repetitive situation in the narrative time. If the verb wouldn’t have been reduplicated the situation would have still been interpreted as iterative. However, the iterativity here is involved also with intensivity or durativity, as the narrator simply wants to convey the message that they were walking a lot or for a relatively long period of time. (145) ˀǝxt-a sister-3fs
qaˁdǝt…
xǝllō-l-a
skamli
sit.SC.3fs
put.SC.3p-DAT-3fs
chair
ṣōb-na, near-1p
They put a chair for her sister so she could sit next to us,
72
For the use of kan+PC as counterfactual see 4.3.3.
135
[Text 26]
wu-qa-tǝftarr
wu-qa-tǝftarr.
and-qa-go around.PC.3fs and-qa-go around.PC.3fs
and she was going around and going around. The verb /qa-tǝftarr/ "she is going around" is repeated twice to denote a repetitive situation in the narrative time. In this case the repeated verb is in qa-PC, which otherwise would have been interpreted as a progressive situation. Like in Ex.30, the iterative essence of a verb like "to go around" can be claimed to be inherent to the verbal lexeme itself. In any case, here again the reduplication contributes also to the intensivity and durativity of the denoted situation. To complement the discussion about qa-PC's ability to denote iterative situations we should remark that no example of the construction denoting an iterative but non-habitual situation was found in the corpus. Hence, it seems safe to claim that qa-PC can mark iterativity only when it is also involved with habituality. The following example was already mentioned in 3.2.1.2 but will be repeated here since it adds also to our discussion about the semantic value of reduplication in the dialect: (45)
mǝn
ᵊnwaldǝt,
when
be born.SC.3fs
[Text 4]
When she was born, sāˁt ᵊl…
l-ᵊnwaldǝt,
hour
REL-be born.SC.3fs
at the time of birth, qa-yǝbġad-l-a
qa-yǝbġad-l-a.
qa-be cold.PC.3ms-DAT-3fs
qa-be cold.PC.3ms-DAT-3fs
she (the mother) was cold, she was cold. Xālda. PN
Xālda (the mother). It is more difficult to claim that the reduplication in this example is iterative since it denotes a stative situation. In this respect the reduplication seems to contribute only intensivity and durativity to the situation. Hence, reduplication is an iconic marker of an intensive and durative situation, which, given a dynamic predicate, is also iterative. 3.5.3 Single interval iteration There is yet an additional type of iterative situations which JB marks periphrastically. Unlike the ones that were discussed so far, they denote a single interval 136
of repetition of a previous situation. In this respect it is equivalent to the sense denoted by the English adverb "again". Brustad stresses the narrative effect of equivalent auxiliaries in spoken Arabic as "bringing a section of narrative "full circle'" (2000: 197). This type of iterativity is marked by an auxiliary verb derived from the root ġdd "to return": (146) yġǝdd return.PC.3ms
yġūḥ
ᵊl- Ḥāyfa.
go.PC.3ms
to-PN
He is going to Haifa again. This example describes a single occasion of repetition of the situation "going to Haifa". (147) ġǝddēna return.SC.1p
rğaˁana
l-ᵊl-bēt.
come back.SC.1p
to-DA-house
[Text 10]
We came back again to the house. In this sentence the occasion "coming back home" is repeated once again. In Ex.100 the auxiliary is in the PC and in Ex.101 it is in the SC, thus enabling the location of such repetitive situations at any point of time. In principle, the auxiliary can appear also in qa-PC, but such examples are absent from the corpus. When the auxiliary is in the PC or in qa-PC, the following verb must appear in the PC. When the auxiliary is in the SC, the following verb can appear in either the SC, the PC or qa-PC. In any case, agreement in person and number between the auxiliary and the verb it modifies is syntactically required when using this modifier. The constraints on the auxiliariy's verb forms and the main verb can be summarized as follows: Auxiliary
ġ
Main verb SC qa-PC PC PC PC
SC PC qa-PC
3.5.4 Between inchoative and consecutive Verbs derived from the root qwm "to get up" or bdˁ "to start" are used as auxiliaries to denote the inchoative, i.e. the inception of a situation: (148) bdēna
qa-nšattǝx.
start.SC.1p
[Text 51]
qa-read the Haggada.PC.1p
We started the reading of the Haggada. (149) yqum-ynaššǝf get up.PC.3ms-dry out.PC.3ms
mǝṯl-ᵊt-tǝmman. like-DA-rice
137
[Text 46]
It will start to dry out like rice. (150) qǝmna-nxāf
ˁala-ġās-a.
get up.SC.1p-fear.PC.1p
[Text 6]
on-head-3fs
We started to fear for her head. (151) wu-baˁdēn and-later on
qam-qa-yǝṭbǝx. get up.SC.3ms-qa-cook.PC.3ms
And then he started to cook. The examples above show that the auxiliary itself can appear in the PC or in the SC. It can also appear in qa-PC, but no such examples are available. Each of these forms marks the inchoative event differently in terms of tense and aspect. The auxiliary always agrees with the verb it modifies in person and number. As for agreement in form, it is similar to the case of the auxiliary derived from ġdd , namely when the auxiliary is in the PC or in qa-PC, only a PC can follow; when it's in the SC, the following verb can be either in the SC, in the PC or in qa-PC. Typically for auxiliary verbs, both auxiliaries can be separated from the verb by other components in the sentence. In addition, when two inchoative verbs are coordinated, the auxiliary is usually not repeated. Specifically for the auxiliary derived from the root qwm "to get up", when it is in the SC and precedes another verb in the SC with which it agrees in person and number, it might serve a different function: (152) qam
ᵊṭġad-a.
get up.SC.3ms
[Text 2]
expel.SC.3ms-3fs
He expelled her. An inchoative reading is impossible with the verb "to expel" since it denotes a punctual achievement, one that is over once it is done and that cannot be repeated or continuous. In this case the auxiliary has a discursive function – it bears a consecutive meaning, i.e. it follows a preceding occurrence to which it is coordinated. In this sense in can be translated by the English "then". The consecutive interpretation of the auxiliary is possible only in narratives and when it occurs in the SC and followed by the SC. In this case its interpretation as consecutive or inchoative depends on the context. (50)
qāmǝt
sūwə́t-l-ǝm
ᵊˁzīmi kbīġi.
get up.SC.3fs
make.SC.3fs-DAT-3p
feast
[Text 2]
big.fs
Then she made a big feast for them / She started to make a big feast for them.
138
(153) qam get up.SC.3ms
nazal
ˁál-aḏāki.
get down.SC.3ms
on-DEM.ms
[Text 14]
He started to come down hard on that guy / Then he got down hard on that guy. In certain cases the prosody also assists in indicating the function – the inchoative auxiliary tends to create a single phonological word with the verb it precedes, whereas the consecutive one consists of a separate phonological word. This is, however, not a clear cut rule. In both examples a short pause occurred after the auxiliary, but nevertheless the informants say that both interpretations are possible. Before we move on it is important to note that other than the rare consecutive use of the root qwm, the particle /baqa/ is used extensively in narratives to mark a consecutive situation: (42)
baqa
faġšǝt
ˁal-ᵊṣ-ṣǝnīyi
xām.
baqa
spread.SC.3fs
on-DA-tray
cloth
[Text 1]
Then she spread the cotton cloth on the tray. 3.5.4.1 Similar constructions in neighboring Arabic dialects /qām/ marks the beginning of an event in the past in the dialect of Khawētna. Talay gives an example of its use both preceding the PC and the SC, and translates both using "dann", which rather implies a consecutive use, for example: /hāḏi, qāmǝt ǝlˁaǧūz ǧābǝt xēṭ/ "diese, die Alte brachte dann eine Faden" (1999: 184-185). Khan notes /qām/ only before the PC as an incipient action marker in the dialect of the Karaite Jews in Hīt (1997: 92). Firanescu's investigation of this particle /qām/ in Syrian speech resulted in the following functions: inchoative: /ṭalabt(e) minn-o tafaṣīl, qam ḥakā-li lǝ-ḥkāye kǝlla/ "I asked him for all the details and he started to tell me the whole story"; surprise: /kān bērik ˁandi mabsūṭ, qām rāḥ ma b-aˁref šu-s-sabab/ "he was happy in my house, suddenly he went away, I don't know what's the reason"; consecutive, in the meaning of "immediately then": /lamma samaˁ kalām-o qam nxajal w ma ˁad yaˁref šu lāzem yejaweb/ "when he heard his words he was ashamed and he didn’t know what to answer"; and concessive: /ˀalte-lo ma yǝdxol, qam daxal ˀal-la:…/ "I told him not to enter but entered and he told him:…" (2003: 483-484; 489-491). /gām/ preceding the PC bears in Kuwaiti, according to Johnstone, the meaning of "to begin to" /gimna nsōlif/ "we began chatting" (1967: 142-144). Brustad found that subsequent actions in narrative, and particularly sudden or immediate ones, are often introduced by verbs whose lexical meaning is "to get up" or "stand up" (Brustad 2000: 194). As for the particle /baqa/, it is probably derived from the verb of the same form meaning "he remained". In Kǝndērib the particle /baq/ preceding the PC serves for an insertion of an event in the past, i.e. the beginning of an action in the past, as exemplified by Jastrow: /ṭalaˁtu lǝ-ṣṣayd, baq adawwǝṛ mǝn hawne lǝ-hawne/ "Ich ging auf die Jagd und began, hier und dort umherzustreifen" (2003: 14). Grigore simply terms it "inchoative" (2000: 374-375), and so does Sasse, who gives the following simple example from Mḥallamīye: /baqǝktǝb/ "er beginnt/begann zu schreiben" (1971: 160-162). 139
3.5.4.2 Conclusions We can see that both the inchoative and the consecutive meaning of the root qwm as an auxiliary verb occur in surrounding Arabic dialects. The fact that this construction can mark two different semantic meanings might suggest that one of them is a latter development. It is possible that the inchoative meaning has developed as a pragmatic implication out of the consecutive one. At first it was restricted only to the auxiliary in the SC which was followed by the SC, and then in analogy to other auxiliaries in JB, it extended into other forms, as the following table shows: Auxiliary
Main verb SC qa-PC PC PC PC
SC PC qa-PC
The combination of SC+SC is marked in italics since it can be interpreted both as bearing a consecutive or an inchoative meaning. The rest of the cases in the table are restricted to the inchoative. As for /baqa/, taking into consideration its inchoative use in Anatolian dialects one can think also on Ex.42 as denoting an inchoative situation. This reading is possible, but seems secondary to the consecutive reading. The role of the particle in contributing to the structure of the narrative seems more dominant. To sum up, inchoativity plays an important role in the aspectual spectrum of JB. It is overtly marked by an auxiliary verb, in which case it can be denoted by one of three roots - qwm "to get up", bdˀ "to start", and qˁd "to sit". When the root qwm is in the SC and is followed by a verb in the SC it can either denote the inchoative aspect, or mark the following verb as a consecutive one. A commoner marker of the consecutive is, however, /baqa/, which can also be regarded as inchoative in certain contexts. Thus, there seem to be a close diachronic connection between the consecutive and the inchoative, as the latter has probably developed from the former. 3.5.5 Continuative Verbs derived from the root ḏ̣ ll "to stay" denote the continuative aspect. This corresponds to Bybee et al.'s finding according to which the verb "to remain" serves, among other verbs, as a cross-linguistic source for continuatives (1994: 165). It conveys a situation which is continuous due to strong agentive interference. (154) ˀaḏǝ̣ ll
ˀaqəl-l-u.
stay.PC.1s
[Text 10]
say.PC.1s-DAT-3ms
I keep on telling him.
140
(155) ḏǝ̣ llētu stay.SC.1s
ˀafakkǝr
ˀənnhu…
think.PC.1s
that
[Text 10]
I kept on thinking that… (156) ḏǝ̣ llēna
qa-nǝṣṭaṇḏǝ̣ r.
stay.SC.1p
[Text 10]
qa-wait.PC.1p
We kept on waiting. Like the previous auxiliary verbs, also this one can appear in the PC or in the SC. It can appear in qa-PC as well, but no such examples are available. Each of these forms marks the continuative situation differently in terms of tense and aspect. When the auxiliary is in the PC or in qa-PC, only a PC can follow; when it's in the SC, the following verb can occur either in the PC or in qa-PC. Like other auxiliaries, another component of the sentence can come between it and the verb it modifies, and when two verbs are coordinated the auxiliary is usually not repeated. The continuative aspect usually involves iterativity, as is clearly the case in Ex.154. As for the last two examples, their interpretation as iterative seems more problematic, as they denote stative situations. In addition, in Ex.155 the continuative involves a stative verb, which contradicts Bybee et al.'s assumption that the continuative aspect is restricted to dynamic situations (ibid). This doesn’t seem to be the case in JB. 3.5.6 Conclusion Other than the aspectual essence that corresponds to the use of a specific form or that which is derived from the aktionsart's category of the verb, JB uses periphrastic constructions to express a specific aspectual shade like habitual, iterative, inchoative, continuative, etc. Some of these aspectual meanings can be expressed in additional strategies, as was shown in previous sections. The above analysis surveyed the use of a few aspectual auxiliaries and provided information about their syntactic constraints and their semantic coloring. These auxiliaries, which were grammaticalized from lexical verbs, generally show the same syntactic tendencies: 1. They occur in the SC, PC or qa-PC, thus carrying the specific temporalaspectual values of these forms. 2. They tend to be followed by the PC, but when they occur in the SC, they can be followed also by the SC or qa-PC. 3. They agree with the following verb in person and number. 4. They can be separated from the verb they modify by another component of the sentence. 5. When in coordination they can modify more than one verb by overtly preceding only the first one. All these prove that these auxiliary verbs are used as clitics. They still show some rate of syntactic independence in comparison to the preverbal particle /qa-/, for 141
instance, which is a dependent affix. In this respect the auxiliaries are less grammaticlized than /qa-/ and most other preverbal particles that will be presented in Chapter 4. Interestingly, the five syntactic features detailed above are also presented by the asyndetic final clauses which were discussed in 3.3.2.2. When we discussed asyndetic final clauses, however, we analyzed them as following a translocative verb in the main clause. Now we see that this translocative verb behaves syntactically like a clitic. This raises an interesting question – rather than relating to the construction of a verb preceded by a translocative verb as one of a main clause and a final clause, can we simply interpret the translocative verb and the verb that follows it as an additional case of an auxiliary verb and a main verb? To clarify the question let's consider Ex.85 example again: (85)
ǧā
sakan
b-ᵊl-Ḥǝlli.
come.SC.3ms
live.SC.3ms
in-DA-PN
He came to live in Ḥǝlli. In 3.3.2.2 we claimed that the verb /ǧā/ "he came" belongs to a main clause that is followed by a final subordinate clause whose verb is /sakan/ "he lived". Now that we know that /ǧā/ behaves syntactically in a similar way to an auxiliary verb, can we argue that it is if fact an auxiliary verb? Well, the answer is no. As we said, all the cases of asyndetic final clauses can be interpreted also as cases of coordination. In fact, in some cases the coordinator /wu/ precedes the subordinate verb. Quite differently, if the coordinator /wu-/ would have been inserted between one of the aspectual auxiliaries and the verb it modifies, the auxiliary should have been interpreted in its lexical meaning. Thus, for example, the inchoative auxiliary /qam/ in Ex.152 would have lost its inchoative meaning and would have been translated literally as "he got up (and expelled her)". This means that the syntactic considerations are not the only ones that matter but also the grammaticalization process that each of the constructions has underwent. The current constructions in both cases probably go back to two coordinated verbs. In both cases the occurrence of an overt coordinator was eroded throughout the years. This opened the door for a pragmatic reanalysis of the relation between the two verbs. As a first step the coordinative relation turned into a subordinate one. This is still the case with asyndetic final clauses. The aspectual auxiliary verbs went one step further and turned into clitics that modify the verb they precede. Syntactically both steps share the same characteristics, but there is nevertheless a phonological difference between them – whereas the aspectual auxiliaries lost their phonetic independence and they constitute a single phonological word with the verb they precede, the translocative verbs that provoke the opening of a subordinate final clause are phonetically independent. The translocative verb in the main clause and the subordinate verb are articulated as two separate phonological words. The auxiliary /kan/ that precedes the PC to convey habitual past behaves differently from the rest of the aspectual auxiliaries. It appears only as a SC and in 142
certain persons it can fossilize, thus exhibiting a higher degree of grammaticalization. This is probably a result of the frequent use of this auxiliary in comparison to the other ones. Other form combinations of an auxiliary derived from the root √kwn and the following verb exist but convey specific modal meanings, as will be shown in Chapter 4.
3.6 The overlap between the PC and qa-PC It is time now to address the most prominent overlap that JB's verbal system presents, namely that between the PC and qa-PC. Our analysis in the previous sections enabled us to narrow down the overlap as follows: In Section 3.1 we saw that both the PC and qa-PC are able to convey progressive, non-progressive, punctual, and iterative present situations. As for timeless situations, both can also convey habitual, iterative, and gnomic situations. Our textual analysis in Section 3.2 revealed that the PC and qa-PC are quite evenly common in narratives and in dialogues. When they occur in narratives the temporal perspective changes to the narrative time and they are mainly a part of the background. The PC can be used to advance the plot, i.e. for foregrounding, which makes it aspectually perfective. Quite frequently the PC is used as a dramatic mean to convey the final result of the narrative. As for qa-PC, it conveys a situation simultaneous to the narrative time in narratives, or to the moment of speech in dialogues. Aspectually, it marks a continuous – progressive or non-progressive – situations. The habitual use of qa-PC is restricted to dialogues, whereas that of the PC is unrestricted textually. When qa-PC is used for backgrounding, it is mainly included in circumstantial clauses. Its occurrence in foregrounds is restricted to the final result of an episode, where it can be argued to be used as background for the following occurrences. Hence, the overlap between the two forms can be actually narrowed down to non-progressive situations in the background of narratives and in dialogues, and to habitual situations in dialogues. Section 3.3 enabled us to define the micro-syntactic constraints on the occurrence of the two forms. Most types of clauses can host both the PC and qa-PC. However, the verb of content clauses that are triggered by a deontic modal verb or of final clauses that follow a final conjunctions is restricted to the subjunctive PC. On the other hand ḥāl clauses cannot host a verb in the PC. In Section 3.4 we tried to examine whether each of the forms is restricted in terms of the aktionsart classes that it can host. The answer was negative. Both the PC and qa-PC can host verbs of all four aktionsarten. Moreover, we found out that a specific lexeme in a specific form can change its aktionsart class in different contexts. We realized, however, that a marked function of a verb form might be restricted to a certain aktionsart. Thus, a qa-PC verb of a ḥāl clause is always one of activity, and that of a planned future situation is always telic. Another important point that our analysis revealed is that the punctual interpretation of a verb in qa-PC is restricted to a small group of verbs that denote a physical change on the agent. Finally, we saw that even when qa-PC hosts a stative verb it seems that what's in stake is the actuality of the 143
stative situation to the reference time rather than its stative essence. Thus, the stative value of qa-PC is arguable. Taking the above textual, syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic constraints into consideration, we are left with a smaller range of overlap between the forms, namely non-progressive situations in backgrounds of narratives and habitual situations in dialogues. In the following paragraphs we will address these cases. 3.6.1 The non-progressive and habitual use of the PC and qa-PC Let us first look at non-progressive situations using the following two examples: (157) A:
dǝ-ḏụ̄ q!
[Text 22]
de-taste.IMP.2ms
Taste! B:
lā, no
No, ma
ˀaġīd,
not
want.PC.1s
I don't want, qa-ˀašġab
qaḥwa.
qa-drink.PC.1s
coffee
I am drinking coffee. In this short piece, speaker A asks Speaker B to taste a tangerine using the verb phrase /dǝ-ḏūq/ ̣ "taste (ms)!". Speaker B says, /ma ˀaġīd/ "I don’t want", in response, using the PC to denote a non-progressive present situation. He explains his refusal by /qa-ˀašġab/ "I am drinking (coffee)", which is a present progressive situation, that as we already saw, cannot be marked by the PC. (27)
PN
ma
qa-tġīd
ˀaḥḥad
ᵊl-yōm,
PN
not
qa-want.PC.3fs
anyone
DA-day
[Text 26]
PN doesn't want anyone (to come) today, qad-asūwī-ha
l-wǝčč-a.
qa-make.PC.1s-3fs
ACC-face-3fs
(because) I am treating her face. In this piece of dialogue we see that the verb /qa-tġīd/ "she is wanting" is marked by qa-PC and so does the verb /qad-asūwī-ha/ "I am making for her". The two situations in this example are equivalent to those in the previous example in that the former is stative and the latter is dymanic. Thus the former is a non-progressive present situation 144
and the latter is a progressive present one. However, whereas in the previous example the non-progressive present was denoted by the PC, in this example it is denoted by qaPC. In both cases the same stative lexeme is in use. What is the reason for the use of different verb forms? The answer is that probably there is no difference, and that the PC and qa-PC are interchangeable in their ability to denote non-progressive situations. This can be seen also in the following example: (158) qal-l-ǝm:
[Text 2]
say.SC.3ms-DAT-3p
he told them: hūwi
qa-yġīd
ysāfǝġ
l-ᵊl-Ḥaǧǧ.
he
qa-want.PC.3ms travel.PC.3ms
to-DA-PN
He wants to travel to the Hajj. (…) hūwi
yġīd
yġūḥ
l-ᵊl-Ḥaǧǧ…
he
want.PC.3ms
go.PC.3ms
to-DA-PN
He wants to travel to the Hajj… This example is taken from a narrative about a king who plans to travel to the Hajj. It opens with the verb /qal-l-ǝm/ "he told them" in the SC, referring to the notice that the king gave to his daughters about his planned travel. The narrator then uses the verb phrase /qa-yġīd ysāfǝġ/ "he wants to travel". The occurrence of the second verb in the phrase, /ysāfǝġ/ "he travels", in the PC is obligatory as a subjunctive complement to the verb /yġīd/ "he wants". Interestingly, the narrator is distracted by the sound of the TV in the background, and she repeats the same message again. This time she utters the verb phrase /yġīd yġūḥ/ "he wants to go". Unlike the first time that this massage was uttered, the verb /yġīd/ is not preceded by the preverbal particle /qa-/. Ex.157, Ex.27, and Ex.158 above presented minimal pairs that prove that both the PC and qa-PC are able to mark non-progressive situations. Now let's check whether there a similar overlap in the use of PC and qa-PC to mark habitual situation: (159) A:
ᴴᴱ(ˀaškoliyōt)ᴴᴱ…
ma
tǝˁǧǝb-ni.
grapefruit
not
be likeable.PC.3fs-1s
Grapefruit… I don't like it. ˀana… I
I…
145
[Text 22]
B:
ˀana
tǝˁǧǝb-ni
ᴴᴱ(ˀaval)ᴴᴱ
ma
ˀaqdaġ
I
be likeable.PC.3fs-1s
but
not
can.PC.1s
ˀakǝl-a. eat.PC.1s-3fs
I like it but I can't eat it. A:
ᴴᴱ(ˀaval)ᴴᴱ
ᵊl-ᴴᴱ(pamēlla)ᴴᴱ
ham
qa-tǝˁǧǝb-ni,
but
DA-pomelo
also
qa-be likeable.PC.3fs-1s
But pomelo, I like it as well. The conversation starts with the topic, grapefruit. Then speaker A says that she likes grapefruits using the verb /tǝˁǧǝb-ni/ "I like (them)". Speaker B agrees and uses the same verb in the PC. Then speaker A changes the topic to pomelo and says that she likes them as well. This time she uses the verb phrase /qa-tǝˁǧǝb-ni/ "I like (them)" to convey the same message. Unlike the situations in Ex.157, Ex.27, and Ex.158 that denote a stative present situation, the situation in this example is a stative habitual one. Moreover, as it is timeless and expresses a tendency it can be related to as an omnitemporal gnomic situation, as per Lyons' definition (see 1.1.3.1.1). The minimal pair in this example shows that stative habitual situations, or omnitemporal gnomic situations can be marked by either the PC or qa-PC. However, not every type of gnomic situation can be marked by both forms. Ex.8, which was already cited in Section 3.1, presents a different type of gnomic situation, namely the one that Lyons terms timeless gnomic situation (see 1.1.3.1.1): (8)
hāḏa y…
ᵊǧ-ᴱᴳ(ǧīni)ᴱᴳ,
PDEM.ms
DA-genie
[Text 32]
This genie, mǝn
yǝṭlaˁ
ᵊmn-ᵊl…
mn-ᵊl…
mn-ᵊl-ḅǝṭǝl,
when
get out.PC.3ms
from-DA
from-DA
from-DA-bottle
when it comes out of the bottle, baˁᵊd
ma
tǝqdaġ
ᵊtġǝdd
anymore
not
be able.PC.2ms return.PC.2ms
ᵊtrǝǧǧǝˁ-u. put back.PC.2ms-3ms
you cannot make it go back in anymore. Unlike the situations in Ex.159, which refer to a tendency, the content of the sentence in this example refers to a rule of nature. This type of gnomic situations can be denoted only by the PC. Thus, when the predicate expresses a timeless gnomic situation it is restricted to the PC, whereas predicates that express omnitemporal gnomic situation can appear either in the PC or in qa-PC. This difference can be explained by the fact that omnitemporal situations can be also interpreted as habitual situations which spread over 146
a long interval of time, as we already discussed in 3.1.3.2, where additional examples can be seen. The optional use of the PC or qa-PC is not restricted to stative habitual situations, but it is also a property of dynamic habitual ones. Ex.6 and Ex.29 will be repeated here to demonstrate this point: (6)
kǝll
yōm
tǝǧi
tnaxbǝš
b-ᵊz-zǝbᵊl,
every
day
come.PC.3fs
scavenge.PC.3fs in-DA-garbage
[Text 31]
Every day she comes and scavenges in the garbage, wu-kǝll
ma
ˀamši
ˀaˁayyǝn-a.
and-every
NMLZ walk.PC.1s
see.PC.1s-3fs
and every time that I walk (there) I see her. (29)
kǝll
ma
qa-tsawwi
every
NMLZ qa-do.PC.3fs
hēkǝḏ qa-ddūx
wu-b-ᵊl-faġš…
thus
and-in-DA-bed
qa-get dizzy.PC.3fs
Every time she does this she gets dizzy and (needs to stay in) bed… In both examples habitual and iterative situations are conveyed. In Ex.6 it is the repetitive habit of a lady to scavenge in the garbage as well as the fact that the speaker sees her each time that he walks there. In Ex.29 the speaker refer to someone's chronic medical condition – she is repeatedly doing something that makes her dizzy. The two example show the speakers freedom to choose to denote this situations by the PC or by qa-PC. Hence, we can conclude that as long as habituality is involved a situation can be marked either by the PC or qa-PC regardless to additional aspectual interpretations like iterativity or gnomity. In any case, this overlap is restricted to dialogues since qaPC doesn’t occur in narratives in its habitual use. To sum up, we found minimal pairs that show a synchronic overlap in the use of the PC and qa-PC to mark habitual situations in dialogues and to mark nonprogressive situations in any texteme. These minimal pairs also prove that no semantic, syntactic, pragmatic or other consideration can explain the use of the different forms. It might be the case that rather than bearing any value the overlap results from the diachronic developments in the dialect. This issue will be dealt with next. 3.6.2 The diachronic evolution of qa-PC construction In this section we will try to address the question of how the qa-PC construction has developed and what are its diachronic sources. We will do so by presenting some cross-linguistic tendencies of equivalent grams and by comparing it to parallel constructions in neighboring Arabic dialects. 3.6.2.1 The cross-linguistic sources of the progressive, the habitual, and the gnomic Our discussion about qa-PC resulted in the conclusion that it marks a situation simultaneous to the temporal reference point. In this respect it is mostly used to mark 147
progressive and non-progressive situations, i.e. it can be considered as a candidate for the aspectual category of the continuous. As we already saw, the continuous was described in the linguistic literature as a theoretical category, namely its existence was not found in any language so far. Thus, when we search for literature about parallel cross-linguistic constructions, we are limited to the description of the progressive. The linguistic literature that describes the development of the progressive notes a strong tendency for the progressive to be marked periphrastically, most often by auxiliary constructions (Dahl 1985: 91). As for the sources of progressive grams, Comrie mentions locative coverbs parallel to the English "in" in "she is in working" (1976: 98). Bybee et al. focus on postural verbs like "to sit", "to stand" or "to lie" that develop into auxiliaries to express the progressive. They propose the following meaning for the progressive constructions: "the subject is located in the midst of doing something" (1994: 126, 136). As an additional source Dahl notes that a shift from imperfective to progressive and vice versa is diachronically possible (1985: 92). Bybee et al. stress this point saying that when a language has two grams for the present, "one is older, more grammaticlized (or zero) gram", while the other is younger and developing. In three out of four cases that they surveyed, the younger gram has developed from the progressive (1994: 144). Dahl, on the other hand, says that it is also possible that the progressive will take over the role of an imperfective, while the earlier imperfective develops into a category with a primarily habitual use. He claims that the progressive is quite infrequently extended to habitual meaning (1985: 92). Lyons notes, however, that there are languages in which habituality and progressivity go together, and that in many, and perhaps all languages, the same aspect may be used for both habitual situations and gnomic statements (1977: 679, 716). Gnomic situation, according to Dahl, are frequently expressed with the most unmarked TAM category (1985: 99). 3.6.2.2 Verb modifiers for the present in surrounding Arabic dialects The Arabic dialects of Mesopotamia, the Levant, Cairo, and the Persian Gulf have all developed verb modifiers to denote different aspects in the present. The following is a concise summary of the different modifiers and their functions as presented in the current available literature. 3.6.2.2.1 qǝltu dialects Tigris branch - according to Abu-Haidar /qa-/ preceding the PC denotes in CB an action of limited duration or a habitual action that is actually taking place in the present. She compares it to the English present progressive (1990: 49; 1991: 89). Jastrow terms the same particle in Mosul as denoting actual present. He determines that it originates from the AP of the root "to sit" /qāˁid/ "is sitting" (1978: 302; 1979: 47). In Tikrit the free AP form /qēˁid/ is used "as a modal auxiliary" according to Johnstone. Although he doesn't mention its specific semantic function, the example he gives shows that it refers to actual present: /huwwa qēˁid yiṣṣayyid/ "he is (just now) hunting" (1975: 107). The prefix /b-/ is used in Rabīˁa for habitual actions, probably under Syrian Arabic influence: /baqūm w aqˁǝd/ "I get up and sit down" (Abu-Haidar 2004: 10). In Bǝḥzāni the widespread actual present particle /kū/, which is normally found in Anatolian dialects, is used alongside with its allomorphs /kǝ/, /k/, and /kī/ (1978: 302). 148
Euphrates branch - /qēˁǝd/ preceding the PC denotes actual present in Khawētna. The particle /ˁam/, which is frequent in Syrian dialects, is used in Khawētna in the same meaning but less frequently (Talay 1999: 182). Behnstedt mentions the form /qāˁid/ in Albū Kmāl as "Verbalmodifikator Präsens"73. Blanc notes /ǧāy/ for ˁĀna (1964: 116). Interestingly, Khan didn’t find any evidence for present marker in the dialect of the Karaite Jews of Hīt (1997: 92). Blanc, on the other hand, notes /qaˁad/ for the Muslim dialect of the city (1964: 116). Anatolian branch - /kū/ preceding the PC indicates "actual present" in Kǝndērib and Āzǝx: /kū-tǝftaḥ/ "du (m) öffnest gerade" (Jastrow 2003: 12). According to Wittrich /kū/ is a development of the demonstrative copula 3ms "er ist gerade" (Wittrich 2001: 70). Grigore notes this particle with a short vowel for Mḥallamīye and defines it as denoting "present" with characteristics of "here and now" in contradiction to a "general" present. He gives the following examples as an illustration: /ku-tǝktǝb/ "you are writing" vs. /tǝktǝb/ "you write". Interestingly, Grigore mentions that the particle can also appear in Mḥallamīye before the existential /fī/ and other prepositions, and gives as an example the pair: /ˁinda-hu what/ "he has the time" vs. /ku-ˁinda-hu what/ "now he has time". For Siirt he notes its occurrence before the PC but also before an active participle to mark continuity or duration, and compares it to the V+ing construction in English: /īye ku-tǝṿrob ǝl-ḥawīs ūti/ "she is ironing the clothes". In his article about this particle in Mḥallamīye Grigore discusses two optional origins for /ku/. The first was already cited above from Wittrich, although Grigore doesn't term it a demonstrative copula but rather an enclitic pronoun prefix. The second is simply a reduction of the 3ms PC form of the root √kwn, namely /ykūn/ "il est". In his later article about preverbal particles in Siirt he mentions, however, only /ykūn/ as a possible point of origin (2000: 374-375; 2014: 177). On the other hand, Jastrow, in his survey of qǝltu dialects, mentions only the demonstrative copula as the source of the particle (1978: 300). Interestingly, this particle is absent from the dialect of the city Mardin, a fact that Jastrow attributes to the conservativism of this dialect (2015: 183). Kurdistan branch - /kū/ preceding the PC denotes actual present in the dialects of ˁAqra and Arbil (Jastrow 1990: 62-63). In Kirkuk, on the other hand, actual events are denoted by /qad/, which assimilates to the following consonant unless a three consonants cluster might be produced, for example: /qayyǝnsa/ "er vergisßt (gerade)"; /qattǝnsēn/ "du (f) vergißt (gerade)"; /qatġōḥ/ "du (m) gehst (geraade)" (1992: 247-248). 3.6.2.2.2 gǝlǝt dialects /da-/ preceding the PC expresses, according to Erwin, a present continuous or a habitual action in MB. Erwin compares this particle to the English V+ing construction but notes that some Iraqi verbs can be preceded by /da-/ while their English equivalent doesn't allow the suffixing of /-ing/. He gives as examples the verbs /ftiham/ "to understand" and /gidar/ "to be able". Interestingly, Erwin notes that despite the fact that 73
Behnstedt describes two other dialects in Modern days Syria – Qṣōrāni and Tell bēdaṛ. These can be regarded as intermediate dialects sharing features of both the Anatolian and the Euphrates group. In Qṣōrāni /qēˁǝd/ was noted as "Verbalmodifikator Präsens", and Behnstedt refers to it as an innovation originating from Syria. In Tell bēdaṛ /kayd/, /kad/, /kay/ were noted, and Behnstedt believes that they are a result of a contamination of an old form with /k/, for example, /kū-/, /kǝ-/ or /k-/ from Anatolia, with /qāˁid/ (1992: 40, 43, 47, 49).
149
habitual or recurrent actions are usually denoted by the PC, these kind of actions might also be denoted with the particle. The two strategies bear no difference in meaning, although when /da-/ precedes, it might imply that the action has recently become recurrent or habitual, or will be so only for a certain period of time: /da tumṭur hwāya has-sana/ "it's raining a lot this year" (2004: 139, 337). The particle /da-/ is equivalent in use to the particle /qa(d)/ of JB and CB, and is absent from any other Muslim dialect in Mesopotamia. Thus, as Palva believes, /da-/ has developed under their influence (2009: 21). Durand believes that both /qa-/ and /da-/ are a result of the grammaticalization of /qāˁid/ "sitting, ready to", which is used in other regions like Tunisia and Malta to express, in his own words "un concomitante intensive", i.e. something that occurs simultaneously to the action and accompanies it (2009: 374). Blanc and Jastrow claim that the particle /da-/ in MB is used less frequently than /qa-/ in JB (Blanc 1964: 115; Jastrow 2007: 423). The particle /da-/ has also an optative function, equivalent to the one marked by the same particle in JB (see 4.1.4) and CB, as well as the function marking purpose in constructions like: /rāḥ dayšūfhum/ "he went to see them" (Blanc 1964: 116). Abu-Haidar mentions an old variant /ga/ of the particle, and notes that it is about to disappear from the dialect (1994: 153). The AP form /gāˁed/ is also used in MB as a present continuous marker, although it is more restricted in function than /da-/ (Blanc 1964: 116). Palva mentions that it is imported to MB from rural gǝlǝt dialects (2009: 21). Indeed, in the dialects of Kwayriš, a village in southern Iraq, /ǧāˁid/ is noted, and according to Denz it is not used for verbs denoting generalities like customs, norms, etc. Denz also writes that it can be used for past and present actions, but not for future ones, as in the following examples: /lumman ˀiǧa ˀabūha min ilḥaǧǧ ligāha ǧaˁida titwallad/ "when her father came back from the hajj he found her giving birth"; /ˀāni ǧāˁid ˀamūt/ "I am dying". Denz claims that the distinction between a PC verb with or without the particle is an aspectual one (p1971: 7-8, 82, 110, 120). Blanc adds that the rural dialects of lower Iraq have /da-/, /ǧāˁǝd/, and even /hal/ as present markers, whereas the Bedouin dialects don't show any traces of such a marker (1964: 116). 3.6.2.2.3 Levantine dialects and the dialect of Cairo The particle /b-/ prefixed to the PC marks, according to Cowell, the indicative mood, generalities and non-temporal statements, potentialities, and assumed future events "with no special emphasis on immediacy or on present involvement in the course of events leading up to it" (1964: 324-329). Nawama interprets its function as expressing present, past, future or timeless situations, as well as marking of a habitual aspect (2009: 293). Levin also mentions the marking of habitual situations in the dialect of Jerusalem (1995: 84). In Cairo the particle /bi/ denotes actual present of habitual situations for non-stative verbs and verbs with no inner intervals. For stative and inchoative verbs, and also for motion verbs and verbs denoting sentiments, the particle denotes habitual meaning, whereas the active participle denotes actual present. /bi/ is also used for the historical present in Cairo (Woidich 2006: 280-281). According to Holes this particle consists a part of a three-way mood system in the dialects of the eastern Mediterranean, along with the prefix /ḥa-/ or /rāḥ/, which denote "proximate intent", and the zero prefix that is used for the subjunctive (2004: 226-228). As per Restö, the origin of the prefix, which is used in the Levant, Egypt, Western Arabia, and
150
Africa is the locative preposition /bi-/ thus indicating "being in or at the action" (2014: 65, 70). The particle /ˁam-/ preceding the PC is termed by Cowell "particle of actuality" and designates a state or an activity actually going on at the moment, as opposed to generalities and dispositions. Cowell adds that it is usually translatable with the English progressive /-ing/ forms, although unlike English, /ˁam/ can also designate "psychological-state verbs": /hallaˀ ˁam-bǝdzakkar/ ""now I'm remembering (it is all coming back to me now)" (1964: 320-322). Nawama interprets the use of /ˁam/ as present, in terms of tense, and durative-imperfect, progressive or iterative, in terms of aspect (2009: 292). The particle /ˁammāl/ preceding the PC is used in Cairo to indicate a durative, intensive state of affairs in the actual present (Woidich 2006: 282). According to Firanescu the particle goes back to CA /ˁamila/ "he made" (2007: 237). 3.6.2.2.4 The Arabic of the Gulf, Oman, and Mehri /gāˁid/ preceding the PC indicates present continuous in Kuwaiti and Baḥraini: /gāˁid yaktib/ "he is writing". Johnstone notes that in Baḥraini the particle can precede the AP: /intu gāˁidīn ǝmsawwīnhum činn ila hme (i)ˁarfūn akṯar min ġērhum/ "you are making them (feel) as if they know more than anyone else" (1967: 142-144, 151-153). This particle is rarely used in Sharqiyya Arabic, since the continuous aspect can be inferred from the PC. In Mehri, the particle /ḏa/ can precede both the PC and the SC to denote a continuous action for both events and states (Eades & Watson 2013: 48). 3.6.2.2.5 Aramaic dialects An interesting note should be made regarding several dialects of Aramaic which present preverbal particles to express a similar shade of the present. Senāya, a NENA dialect spoken by Christians in Iranian Kurdistan, uses the preverbal particle /ki-/ to denote the general present. According to Heinrichs it harks back to the particle /qā-/ that marked the actual present in Babylonian-Talmudic. /qā-/ itself originates from the participle /qāˀim/ "standing" (2002: 246). In the NENA dialect of ˁAnkawa, spoken in Arbil's province, the particle /dǝ-/ denotes the present continuous. Borghero identifies the phonetical similarity to particles like /da-/ in MB, but nevertheless raises another possible source – the relative particle /d/ (~dǝ). To support this as a valid grammaticalization path she mentions the present continuous marker /d/ ~ /ḏ/ in Modern South Arabian, which originates as well, as scholars believe, from the relative pronoun (2015: 189-190, 195). The New Western Aramaic dialect of Maˁlūla presents a preverbal particle derived from the root qˁy "to sit" for a sudden incipience of situations that continue persistently (Correll 1978: 82). 3.6.2.2.6 Conclusion To sum up, we surveyed different grams that occur in surrounding Arabic dialects and mark what is mostly referred to as actual or continuous present. As the summary above shows, each scholar uses different terminology to define the functions of the particles. Sometimes their assumptions even seem contradictive. Nevertheless, a general picture can be drawn from the different descriptions:
151
The Tigris group and Euphrates group of qǝltu dialects mainly present verbal modifiers that derive from the AP of the root qˁd "to sit". Some gǝlǝt dialects, as well as some of the dialects of the Gulf, also use a particle derived from the same form. MB has, in parallel to it, the particle /da-/, which might have developed under the influence of qǝltu dialects. The Anatolian and Kurdistan group have /kū/ or /ku/ which probably originate from a demonstrative copula. In Cairo and the Levant two particles are in use, the first, /ˁam/ seems to occupy the function of an actual present marker, while the second, the prefix /b-/, expresses generalities, potentialities, and non-temporal statements. These findings correspond to Versteegh's claim about continuous markers in Arabic, according to which they "derive from the verb /kāna/, or from participle forms meaning 'sitting', 'doing', 'standing'" (1997: 108). While the preverbal particle /qa-/ in JB seems to share some features with the equivalent particles in some of the dialects mentioned above, there are clear occasions of distinctions as well. In the following paragraphs we will attempt, nevertheless, to derive some conclusions regarding the origin of the particle and its function. 3.6.2.3 Conclusion The construction qa-PC seems to accord with some of the above cross-linguistic and dialectal statements. Unlike the PC that comprises an integral part of the verbal system of CA, qa-PC is absent from it. Thus, qa-PC is a later development. The existence of auxiliary verbs such as /qāˁǝd/ or /gāˁǝd/, which are undoubtedly the AP form of the root qˁd "to sit", in surrounding Arabic dialects such as Tikrit, gǝlǝt dialects, and the dialects of Kuwait and Baḥrain, combined with the cross-linguistic tendency for postural verbs like "to sit" to grammaticalize into progressive auxiliaries imply that the preverbal particle /qa-/ originates from the AP /qāˁǝd/ "is sitting"74. Unlike the auxiliaries /qāˁǝd/ or /gāˁǝd/, however, /qa-/ is a result of further steps in the grammaticalization process. Whereas the auxiliaries /qāˁǝd/ or /gāˁǝd/ have only lost their autonomy to consist of a single phonological word with the verb they modify, the particle /qa-/ also reduced some of its phonetic material, namely the consonants /ˁ/ and /d/75, the vowel /ǝ/ that originates from CA /i/, and the length of the vowel /ā/76. The reduction and the loss of autonomy resulted finally in fusion with the following verb. Thus /qa-/ is an unstressed prefix. This diachronic description agrees with Dahl's 74
Cuvalay-Haak agrees that the particle /qa-/ and its equivalents in other dialects, like MB, the dialect of Mosul, and even Maltese, undoubtedly originate from /qāˁid/. He says that they are formally equivalent to MSA /qad/, but apparently they are not related to it, although it is possible that MSA's /qad/ itself had developed from /qāˁid/ but functions, instead, as a present perfect marker (1997: 161163). 75 The /d/ is sometimes preserved before the 1s, in which case the allomorph /qad/ can be used rather than /qa-/. 76 When verbs are hosted in the AP their forms is fēˁǝl, in which inner ˀimāla takes place (see 2.1.2.3.8). This challenges the occurrence of /a/ rather than /e/ in the particle /qa-/. A possible explanation for that involves the root √qˁd, in which the middle consonant /ˁ/ might have influenced the value of the preceding vowel. Indeed, the only root in which there is free variation in the form of the AP is the plural of this specific root, where both /qēˁdīn/ and /qāˁdīn/ exist. On the other hand, the singular forms have only /ē/ synchronically: /qēˁǝd/ and /qēˁdi/. The current variation in the plural form might imply, however, that specifically for the root √qˁd the inner ˀimāla developed in a later stage, and so, at the time when the preverbal particle /qa-/ developed, the AP form of this root was actually /qāˁǝd/.
152
statement that progressives tend to be marked periphrastically. It also agrees with Bybee et al.'s finding regarding the sources of progressive grams, as it developed both from the imperfective and a postural auxiliary verb. As for the development of its semantic value, qa-PC is a younger gram than the PC, and thus the latter is, as Bybee et al. put it, a zero gram, meaning an unmarked category in terms of tense and aspect. The cross-linguistic findings imply that qa-PC was probably used at first to mark a progressive situation, which wasn't specifically marked by the PC. Thus, a great deal of the present situations that were once expressed by the PC were expressed now by qa-PC, leaving the PC with habitual, gnomic, iterative, and non-progressive situations. Later on, the use of the qa-PC to mark the progressive was extended also into non-progressive situations, which are, as we saw, one of the types of present situations that can be also marked by the PC. Thus, qa-PC marked at that stage the continuous aspect. When non-progressive situations occupy a long span of time they can be interpreted also as habitual. When they occupy an even longer one they can be interpreted as onmitemporal gnomic. The definition of length is subjective, however, and since the borders between the categories are many times blur, these categories tend to overlap. Thus, non-progressive situations that were denoted by qa-PC were reanalyzed as habitual or gnomic. This opened the door for denoting all three types of situations using the construction. Once stative habituality was marked by qa-PC it was only a matter of time till dynamic habituality joined. The last development was probably the ability of qa-PC to mark punctual situations. This ability is restricted to a small group of verbs that denote a physical change on the agent. In certain contexts these situations can synchronically denote also habitual situations. Thus, we can assume that the punctual interpretation of this specific group of verbs is a result of a pragmatic reanalysis of their habitual use. The diachronic assumptions above enable us to explain the current overlap in the use of the PC and qa-PC to mark non-progressive or habitual situations. It is simply because synchronically the two forms are still in a battle. qa-PC, the younger form, pushed the older one, the PC, aside and throughout the years of its development took over many of its functions. Thus, whereas the PC got more and more limited and conditioned, qa-PC became more frequent, and synchronically seems to claim its position as the ultimate present marker in JB. This corresponds to Bybee et al.'s claim that an overlap in use between two verbal forms might result from a process in which a more recently developed construction is gradually taking over some of the functions of an older construction (1994: 148-149). Unfortunately, the diachronic description that we suggested above cannot be properly proved due to lack of linguistic material from previous stages of the dialect. Hence we should suffice with the diachronic conclusions above, which can be summarized as follows: Signifier: Lexical verb /qāˁǝd/ "to sit" > prefix /qa-/ Signified: Lexical postural verb "to sit" > progressive > continuous > habitual (and onmitemporal gnomic; can be also iterative) > punctual
153
3.7 Conclusion JB's verbal system is built upon four main verbal forms – the SC, the PC, and the AP, which go back to CA, and the innovative form qa-PC. The high frequency of its use as well as the aspectual-temporal values that it contributes to the system turns qa-PC into a dominant part of the dialect's verbal system. Our aim in this chapter was to understand what are the grammatical categories of tense and aspect that each of the four forms marks. Many variables affect the choice in a specific verb form – the time interval that it indicates – tense; the temporal inner structure of the situation denoted by the form – grammatical aspect; the interaction of the verbal lexeme with the argumental context – aktionsarten; the syntactic environment; and the type of text in which the form occurs. The analysis above isolated each of these variables at a time in order to examine what are the effects on the verbal forms in use. Before we present our final conclusions it is important to note that all along our analysis we encountered the fragility of dichotomic classification – it is very difficult to draw a clear boundary between grammatical categories. Some classifications and interpretations are quite subjective. Thus, for example, a habitual situation can be interpreted as a continuous one if it occupies a relatively short span of the time axis, or a gnomic one if it occupies a relatively long one. The definition of short vs. long is subjective. In addition, the division into background and foreground is tricky in some cases, mainly when a section in the middle of the story seems like foreground from the perspective of the previous section, but like background from the perspective of the following one. Finally, the overlap that we encountered in the use of some forms is a result of grammaticalization processes that haven't fully matured. Thus, some semantic and pragmatic implications are not so clear and prominent, which leads to free variation of certain verbal forms in certain functions. Having said that, conclusions about the verbal system of JB could be nevertheless drawn. Generally we can say that JB's verbal system is sensitive to text types and to aspectual distinctions as well as temporal ones. Like in other Semitic languages, it is difficult to determine whether the system is predominantly one that marks aspectual or temporal distinctions. The fact that temporal marking is never missing might suggest, however, that tense is more essential to the system. Thus, for example, aspectual differences are rarely marked in the past. This assumption can be supported also by the narrative phenomena that enables the use of present tense markers, which encode aspectual information as well, once the temporal perspective was set in the past by a clear past tense marker. On the other hand, the vast range of aspectual nuances that have developed independent grams might suggest that the verbal system is developing into a more aspectual one. Any way we choose to look at it, in most cases both tense and aspect are synchronically embedded into the use of a verb form. Our findings regarding the four verbal forms can be summarized as follows: The SC marks perfective situations. It appears mainly in the foreground of narratives, where it is used to sequence the events, and it is much less characteristic of dialogues. Its use in backgrounding of narratives is rare and disputable. Its temporal value is usually the past, unless it occurs in a folktale, in which case it is actually 154
timeless. More rarely, the SC is used to mark unreal situations - either conditional or optative ones. The PC generally marks imperfective non-past situations. It can be used for a wide range of temporal and aspectual values within the realm of non-past and imperfective. Temporally, it can denote present, future, and even past time situations in the historical present, which functionally behaves like a "normal" present. Aspectually, the PC can denote non-progressive, habitual, iterative, and gnomic situations. As for its textual function, the PC is quite evenly used in narratives and dialogues. When in narratives, its temporal anchoring is the narrative time and it can be used for either backgrounding or foregrounding. In the latter case it is actually perfective. The PC is also used in narratives to highlight the final solution of the story. The richness of temporal-aspectual values that the PC can be used for makes it difficult to conclude sometimes which function it fulfils in a specific proposition. In these cases the context is the main vehicle to decode the specific temporal-aspectual function of the PC. This vagueness is probably the reason behind the development of overt markers which mark some of the functions that the PC denotes. Thus, the PC can be regarded as the unmarked verb form of the system. Vagueness or ambiguity of a tense/aspect marker is not a rare phenomenon cross-linguistically, and as Bertinetto claims, it "is a relevant type of information", which often corresponds with unmarkdness (2003: 147, 166). There are, nevertheless, cases in which only the use of the PC is acceptable, like unreal (future) situations, non-habitual iterative situations, or timeless gnomic situations. The PC is also the only form that plays the role of the subjunctive, following modal verbs or particles. In most cases the subjunctive is a semantically empty category, i.e. its occurrence is syntactically obligatory. There are cases, however, in which the PC plays a modal role without an overt modal markers. In these cases one can argue that the subjunctive function that the PC fulfills bears also semantic value. The only imperfective type of situation that the PC cannot mark is a progressive situation. This is due to the development of qa-PC. The AP is an aktionsarten sensitive form. It marks the perfect of result with telic verbs but a continuous situation, which can be also seen as habitual, with verbs of activities and states. Specifically for stative verbs, it denotes a non-progressive situation. All the situations hosted by the AP are homogenous in terms of their internal structure. Thus, even a dynamic situation in the AP gives a sense of a stative one. The AP occurs both in narratives and in dialogues. When in narratives, however, it appears mainly in their background portions. As a continuous aspect marker, the AP serves quite frequently as the predicate of a circumstantial ḥāl clause. qa-PC is the newest form in the system. The prefix /qa-/ is probably a result of the grammaticalization of the AP of the postural verb "to sit". Temporally it hosts situations which occur simultaneously to the moment of speech or to the narrative time. The structure qa-PC seems to share some of its functions with the PC and some with the AP: 155
Like the PC, it marks an imperfective non-past situation of different temporal and aspectual values. It can denote a habitual (and occasionally iterative) situation, a progressive dynamic situation, and a non-progressive stative one. As a marker of both the progressive and the non-progressive, qa-PC might be considered as a candidate for a grammatical category that was said to exist in theory but seemed absent crosslinguistically, namely that of the continuous. As mentioned above, the AP can also mark a continuous situation. In this respect it overlaps with qa-PC. However, the cases in which a verbal lexeme keeps it aktionsart's class in both forms are rare, as well as the cases in which a lexeme is productive in both forms. Thus, the overlap is avoided due to a delicate mechanism of interaction between grammatical and lexical aspect. In fact, after a thorough analysis of the overlapping cases we ended up with two cases of synchronic overlap between the PC and qa-PC – that of non-progressive predicates and that of habitual ones in dialogues. We attributed this overlap to the diachronic development of qa-PC. The construction was probably developed at first to mark the progressive aspect, a function that the PC was used for unmarkedly as an imperfective gram. With the time qa-PC started to take over other functions such as non-progressive, and by extension habitual situation, both of which can synchronically be marked also by the PC. Thus, qa-PC and the PC were (and still are) in a constant struggle of dominance, in which the former took control over more and more functions whereas the latter got more and more restricted. This is how qa-PC gained its current status as an actual present marker in JB, thus enabling itself to mark even punctual situations with a limited group of lexemes that denote physical change. Specifically for the non-progressive use of qa-PC, we claimed that the stative character of stative lexemes hosted by qa-PC is arguable since one gets the feeling that they rather become dynamic when hosted in this construction. Non-progressive situations denote states that have started in the past, are ongoing in the present moment, and will continue as such unless interrupted. When such situations are hosted by qa-PC it seems that their presentness is stressed rather than the fact that they started before and will continue to be valid. This is also true for habitual situations hosted by the construction. As a continuous marker, qa-PC is extensively used in circumstantial ḥāl and final clauses. In the former case it is temporally simultaneous to the moment of speech or to the narrative time, while in the latter case it proceeds them. In addition, the construction frequently denotes planned future situations with verbs of achievement. In final clauses and as a planned future marker qa-PC denotes a retrospective situation, which might contradict the assumption that the construction denotes temporal simultaneousness. However, the agent's intention or plan might be argued to be pragmatically simultaneous to the moment of speech or to the narrative time. From the textual perspective, qa-PC equaly occurs in narratives and in dialogues. In narratives, it is used for backgrounding. Its use for foregrounding is arguable, and if actually exists, it is restricted to the final result of an episode. Generally speaking, the SC, the PC, and the AP correspond to the three main cross-linguistic aspectual categories, namely the perfective, the imperfective, and the 156
perfect. So is the case in other dialects of Arabic (Brustad 2000: 165). Two remarks in this regard are, however, in order. First, the fourth form of the system, qa-PC, also takes some of the imperfective burden upon itself. Second, the AP marks the perfect only with telic lexemes. In addition, the perfect doesn't only fulfill a temporal role of sequencing situations, but also a pragmatic role of indicating their relevance to the present. Moreover, with states and activities qa-PC can be interpreted as one that marks the perfect, though it is rather the perfect of persistent situation. Aspectual auxiliaries denote special aspectual categories like the inchoative, single interval iterative, or the continuative. They can appear in the SC, the PC or qaPC, thereby adding their inherent temporal and aspectual load to the predicate. They share some syntactic features like: agreement in person and number with the verb they modify; their ability to be separated from the verb by another component of the sentence; or their possible elimination when coordinated. These features indicate their role as auxiliary verbs, which is a further step in the grammaticalization process in comparison to subordination. The latter is the case with asyndetic final clauses, for example, which have probably developed in their own turn from coordinative clauses due to the erosion of a coordinator. Certain aspectual values can be denoted by other strategies such as reduplication as an iconic feature for intensivity, durativity, and iteration. The function of the auxiliary verb /kan/ deserves a separate description. It stands in complementary distribution with the SC in denoting past situations. The SC is the main vehicle used to locate situations in the past, but it is also perfective and so lacks any aspectual load. There are cases, mainly in background portions of narratives, in which aspectual distinctions are, however, relevant to past situations, and these are denoted by the auxiliary /kan/ which precedes qa-PC or the AP. Hence, by using /kan/ as an auxiliary one can denote a progressive or a non-progressive past situation, as well as the past perfect. Here again, we saw that an overlap might arise in the use of kan+AP and kan+qa-PC and concluded that in practice this overlap is rare thanks to morphological constraints and aktionsarten flexibility. In addition, the use of kan+qaPC usually involves the semantics of a situation that occurred contrary to expectations or plans. When the auxiliary /kan/ precedes the PC, it solely marks a past habitual situation, which can be stative or dynamic. In the latter case it can also be iterative. Although the auxiliary /kan/ that precedes the PC shares the syntactic peculiarities of other aspectual auxiliaries, in certain cases it has fossilized and lost its obligatory agreement in person and number with the PC it modifies. Thus, kan+PC went a step further in its grammaticalization in comparison to other aspectual auxiliaries. The following tables summarize the main findings of this chapter. They are but a general sketch of the verbal system and should be considered valid only in combination with the constraints and limitations that were described above.
157
Gram
Aspect
SC
perfective
Tense
Additional functions: ImperNonfective progressive Habitual
PC
Gnomic Iterative Perfective
qa-PC
Additional functions: ImperProgressive fective nonprogressive Omnitemporal gnomic Punctual Habitual
AP
kan+PC
kan+AP
kan+qa-PC
ġ
ˀ
Additional functions: ImperProgressive fective Nonprogressive Habitual Perfect Result Additional functions: ImperHabitual fective Imperfective
Progressive Nonprogressive Habitual Perfect Sequencing Persistent Result ImperProgressive fective Nonprogressive Habitual Perfect Sequencing Persistent Additional functions: ImperIterative fective ImperInchoative fective Imperfective
Textual Aktionsart constraints constraints Past/ Narratives: timeless Foreground; dialogues Irrealis (conditional, optative) Non-past Narratives: Foreground/ background/ Solution; dialogues
Remarks
Might also be iterative
Historical Narratives: present foreground Irrealis (future, conditional, optative); subjunctive Present Narratives: Telic/activity background/ State foreground (episode's State result); dialogues Physical change Dialogues Might also be iterative Circumstantial clauses; planned future (achievements) Present Narratives: Activity background; State dialogues Activity/state Telic ḥāl clauses Past Narratives: Might also background; be iterative dialogues Past Narratives: Activity background; State dialogues Activity/state
Past
Narratives: background; dialogues
Aactivity/state Telic Telic/activity State
Activity/state Activity/state Activity/state Contrary to expectations/plans Single interval Might also be consecutive
Inchoative
158
Gram
Aspect
̠̟
Imperfective Imperfective
Reduplication
Tense
Textual constraints
Aktionsart constraints
Remarks
Continuative Intensive
Durative; might also be iterative
159
Chapter 4 Modality in JB Preverbal particles, auxiliary verbs, moods, and adverbs function as modal markers in JB. Some modal functions were already presented in Chapter 3. These include cases that require the occurrence of a specific verbal form, like the use of the SC or the PC for unreal situations (see 3.1.1.2 and 3.1.2.3), or the use of the subjunctive (see 3.1.2.4). Additional markers will be discussed in this chapter. As Section 1.1.6.1 showed, there is a great deal of diversity in the way scholars defined and subcategorized modality. In one extreme stand those who claim that every utterance is modal. Others limit the discussion to certain specific categories. We will follow here the traditional approach and focus on three types of modalities, namely event modality (deontic and dynamic), propositional modality (epistemic and evidential), and conditionals. The scope of each of these categories will be defined at the beginning of each section. 4.1 Event modality Volition is the central notion on which event modality is focused. In the following paragraphs we will discuss different modal markers that concern with the speaker's will. These include a variety of markers which are designated to issue different types of directives, to convey wish, obligation, necessity and ability. 4.1.1 Imperative As a semantic category the imperative is unmarkedly conveyed by the IMP mood . Additional particles can precede the IMP or the PC to denote different shades of imperative meanings. It is important to note that these semantic shades are not scalar and thus no imperative scale or continuum can be drawn. Rather, their semantic shade is quite specific, as will be demonstrated below. 77
4.1.1.1 The IMP mood The imperative, as a semantic category, can be conveyed by the IMP. The IMP in JB, like in CA, other Arabic dialects, and Semitic languages in general, is a separate mood, i.e. it has a dedicated morphological conjugation pattern. It is productive only with the second person: (160) kǝl
ˁǝnd-l-īhūdi,
eat.IMP.2ms
[Text 16]
by-DA-Jew
Eat at the Jew's (house), (…)
77
An important distinction is made here between the imperative mood, i.e. the morphological pattern fˁǝl, and the semantic category of the imperative. The former will be referred to by "IMP", and the latter simply by "imperative".
160
wu-nām
ˁǝnd-ᵊn-nǝṣġāni.
and-sleep.IMP.2ms
by-DA-Christian
and sleep at the Christian's house. In the above sentence both /kǝl/ and /nām/ are advices which are marked by the IMP mood. Command can be also conveyed by the IMP: (161) qūmi!
[Text 1]
get up.IMP.2fs
Get up! The following is a polite request made with the IMP: (162) ǧibē-l-na
maˁūn bǝla-zaḥma.
bring.IMP.2fs-DAT-1p
plate
[Text 22]
without-trouble
Bring us a plate please. (163) tālu come.IMP.2p
sawwu
bī-ha ᴴᴱ(ṣrīf)ᴴᴱ.
make.IMP.2p
in-3fs
[Text 15]
shack
Come and build a shack in it. Two verbs in the IMP are uttered one after the other in this example, quoting a man who was urging the family to join the town of Šamīyi, which was surrounded by swamps. The examples above show the wide scope of use of the IMP mood to convey commands, requests, recommendations, urges etc. JB has, however, several other means to convey specific shades of the imperative, as will be shown below. 4.1.1.2 The particle /dǝ-/ The preverbal particle /dǝ-/ preceded a verb in the IMP to urge or encourage the hearer: (51)
yāba!
[Text 5]
dear
Dear! dǝ-ḏkǝġi
wēn
xǝllitī-ha!
dǝ-remember.IMP.2fs
where
put.SC.2fs-3fs
Remember where you put it! The addressee lost her fake teeth and although she and the speaker were looking for it, they couldn’t find it. Thus, the speaker urges the addressee to try to remember where she put it. 161
(164) dǝ-ḏụ qi-ya!
[Text 22]
dǝ-taste.IMP.2fs-3fs
Taste it! This example is taken from text 8 in which the speaker wants to convince the addressee to taste a tangerine. There is only one case in which the particle /dǝ-/ does not precede a verb. It rather precedes the interjection /yaḷḷa/ which by itself is used to urge someone. The combination of both strengthens the urge: (165) dǝ-yaḷḷa!
[Text 37]
dǝ-INT
Get going! An equivalent particle to /dǝ-/ is found in Āzǝx, Mḥallamīye, and in CB, where, according to Blanc it denotes a more energetic imperative (1964: 117). In MB /d(ǝ)-/ is used to "add to the imperative a note of impatience or to intensify the sense of the imperative" according to Palva (2009: 21), or in Erwin's words it adds "a note of cajolery" (2004: 140). Since the particle is noted only in Bagdad's dialects and in Mardin, Palva sees it as a rather local development and tends to infer that it is a "trait inherited from medieval MB qǝltu" rather than an MB borrowing from JB or CB (2009: 22). Interestingly, in JB we also find the ideophone /dīˀ/ that conveys an urge or an expectation toward a quick realization of a situation. This ideophone is not restricted to sentences whose predicate is an IMP, however: (166) dīˀ IDP
d-aġīd
ˀalḥaq
ˀalǝqqǝf-ak.
da-want.PC.1s
follow.PC.1s
grab.PC.1s-2ms
[Text 8]
I wanted to grab you quickly. This sentence is taken from the story in which the narrator tells that she lost her grandson and was looking desperately for him. Finally she found him and, at this point of the story, the narrator utters this sentence as a description of her reaction – she wanted to grab her grandson quickly. The ideophone marks the desperateness of the narrator in that occasion. (167) qalō-l-u:
[Text 18]
say.SC.3p-DAT-3ms
They told him (to the donkey's owner): dīˀ! IDP
Quickly!
162
xalli yǝṭ...
ṭǝġdō-nu
l-āḏa,
xalli
kick out.SC.3p-3ms
ACC-DEM.ms
They kicked him out, ˀabu
lᵊ-zmāl.
owner
DA-donkey
the donkey's owner. In this piece of narrative /dīˀ/ is quoted as an ideophone that was uttered to urge someone to kick out the donkey's owner. Jastrow notes that in the city of Mardin, when the particle /dī/ precedes the imperative and is separated from it by a pause, it denotes a stronger imperative: /dī, ǧību faṛási/ "los, bringt mein Pferd!" (1978: 311). Hence, we raise here the possibility that the ideophone /dīˀ/ might have developed into a particle that adds the notion of urge or encouragement to the second person imperative. 4.1.1.3 The particle /šū/ The particle /šū/ precedes the IMP but consists of a separate phonological word: (64)
šū
ḏụ qi-ya
bdāl-ǝk.
šū
taste.IMP.2fs-3fs
dear-2fs
[Text 22]
Will you taste it my dear. Although the use of the IMP involves, by default, volition on behalf of the speaker, it seems that the use of the particle /šū/ emphasizes the speaker's will that the request/command should be realized. Thus in the sentence above, for example, it doesn't simply mean "taste!" but rather "I want you to taste". (168) qˁǝdi,
[Text 1]
get up.IMP.2fs
Get up, šū
qˁǝdi!
šū
get up.IMP.2fs
will you just get up! This utterance consists of two verbs in the IMP. The second is preceded by /šū/ and stresses the speaker's will to see the realization of her command. Thus it can be translated in a free style as "get up, I want you to get up".
163
Mansour cites this particle as /ˀašu/ (1991: 82-83). My informants approve of the existence of /ˀašū/ before an imperative as well, but, it is absent from the corpus. /ˀašu/ might be, however, a possible explanation for the origin of /šū/, as will be shown in 4.2.3.3. 4.1.2 Impatient imperative 4.1.2.1 /ma-/ The preverbal particle /ma/ precedes a verb in the second person of the PC to denote an impatient imperative. Prosodically, ma-2PC constitute a single phonological word. The utterer of the following example started to tell a story and was interrupted by one of the listeners who asked questions that the speaker plans on getting to in his own pace. Thus, instead of answering the questions, he just commands impatiently the hearer to listen: (169) ma-tə́smaˁ!
[Text 40]
ma-listen.PC.2ms
(Won't you just) listen! In the following example, speaker A describes to speaker B how to cook a dish called curry. A third participant, speaker C, interferes, and so speaker B tells her impatiently: (170) B:
ma-txǝllē-na
nǝsmaˁ!
ma-let.PC.2fs-1p
hear.PC.1p
Let us hear! In Ex.169 and Ex.170 the imperative intends to stop an unwelcomed behavior of the listener. The commanded person would probably keep his/hers behavior if he/she wouldn’t be stopped. In this respect /ma-/ denotes an imperative that demands the addressee to change his/hers behavior. Blanc notes a similar use of /ma/ also in CB and claims that it conveys an even more energetic imperative than the one marked by /dǝ-/ (1964: 117). Also Woidich mentions /ma/ preceding the PC in Cairene Arabic: /ma tǧāwib!/ "antworte doch!". He also notes the allomorph /mat/ like in /mat-yaḷḷa!/ "auf geht's!" and interprets it as a reanalysis of /ma-trūḥ/ to /mat-rūḥ/ (2006: 289). Interestingly, the same form, /matyaḷḷa/, exists also in JB, although examples of its use are absent from the corpus. The deontic use of the particle /ma/ was noted by El-Hassan & Mitchell in the Levant and Egypt, where it rather conveys a "mild request". They term it a "hortative ma" (1994: 31). Abu-Haidar mentions that intonation plays an important role in determining the nagator's function in MB – when the intonation is on the particle it expresses negation, 164
but when it is on the verb it loses the negative value and becomes affirmative: /má trūḥ/ "you won't go" vs. /ma trūḥ/ - "you must go" (1994: 160). Altoma refers to the particle /ma/ in MB as "imperative particle" and gives examples of its use also with the third person: /mayiǧi/, which he translates as "let him come" or "why doesn't he come" (1969: 90). At this point it would be in place to make some conclusions about the origin of the particle /ma/. However, this particle also functions a polite request marker, a function which will be elaborated on in the next section, 4.1.3. Thus, the diachronic conclusions about this particle will be discussed there. 4.1.2.2 /baqa/ Impatient imperative can be also expressed by placing the particle /baqa/78 before or after a verb in the IMP mood. It can also follow or precede a verb phrase in dǝ-IMP or ma-2PC constructions. In this use the particle, which originates from the verb /baqa/ "to remain", serves as an adverb meaning "already". Only one example of its use was found in the corpus: (171) baqa baqa
dǝ-ḏụ qi-ya.
[Text 22]
dǝ-taste.IMP.2fs-3fs
Taste it already! 4.1.3 Polite request 4.1.3.1 /ma/ When /ma/ precedes the second person of the PC and opens a sentence with a final rising tone it conveys a request in a rhetorical way: (172) ma ma
tsūwī-l-i
čāra?
do.PC.2ms-DAT-1s
solution
[Text 13]
Would you do me a favor? This sentence is phrased as a rhetorical question meaning "(why) wouldn't you do me a favor?". Unlike its use to denote an impatient imperative (see 4.1.2.1), when the particle /ma/ is used for polite requests it constitutes a separate phonological word and is articulated apart from the verb it precedes. It seems quite straightforward to assume that this use of /ma/ is derived from the negator /ma/. In English, for example, negation is frequently involved in polite requests that open with "wouldn’t" or "couldn't". A further step in the grammaticalization of this construction may be manifested in the above mentioned impatient imperative construction using /ma-/ (see 4.1.3.4). If this is indeed the case, /ma/ further lost its autonomy and became a prefix. In addition, the rising tone was 78
As we already saw, /baqa/ is also used to convey a consecutive meaning, and by implication, an inchoative meaning, or an afterthought (see 3.5.4).
165
replaced by an emphatic falling tone to mark the imperative iconically. The proposed process of grammaticalization can be summarized as follows79: Signifier: independent /ma/ > independent /ma/ in final rising tone utterances > ma-2PC in a final falling tone utterances Signified: negator > polite request > impatient imperative 4.1.3.2 qdġ A modal verb derived from the root qdġ can open an interrogative sentence in which the speaker asks for a favor in a polite manner: (13)
tǝqdaġ
taxǝḏ-a
ᵊd-PN?
can.PC.2ms
take.PC.2ms-3fs
ACC-PN
[Text 26]
Can you give PN a ride? For additional uses of the root qdġ as a modal verb see 4.1.12 and 4.1.14.1. 4.1.4 Volitive and Cohortative The particle /da-/ which precedes the first person of the PC is a deontic modal particle that focuses on the speaker's will: (173) ḥkē!
[Text 26]
speak.IMP.2fs
Tell! da-nˁāyǝn. da-see.PC.1p
Let's see. Previous to this utterance, the addressee said that she has a piece of gossip to share. The speaker is interested and asks her to tell him, using the imperative /ḥkē/. Then he explains his interest by /da-nˁāyǝn/, a verb phrase that consists of the verb "we see", which actually means here "we know", and of the particle /da-/. The particle stresses the will on behalf of the speaker to hear the gossip. Thus, the verb phrase has a close meaning to "we want to know". It can also be interpreted as denoting purpose in the meaning of "so that we could know". Sometimes the particle /šū/ is followed by the particle /da-/ to convey both strong will on behalf of the speaker and purpose:
79
A homonymic particle /ma/ is also used to denote surprise (see 4.2.3.2).
166
(174) A:
ˁāyǝn
ˀaš
ḥǝlu.
[Text 34]
look.IMP.2ms
what
beautiful.ms
See how beautiful it is. B:
wēn-u? where-3ms
Where is it? C:
šū
d-ašūf-a!
šū
da-see.PC.1s-3fs
Let me see it! In the last example the particle /šū/ is intended to express a request which is derived from speaker C's will. The particle /da-/80, in its own turn, precedes a 1s verb form and can be interpreted as "so that I see it". It marks both will and purpose, and might even be considered as a cohortative, namely a first person urge or encouragement. The next examples shed some more light on the particle's essence: (175) ˀaḥsan šēn best
thing
da-nwǝddī-nu
l-ᵊs-Sadda.
da-take.PC.1p-3ms
to-DA-PN
[Text 14]
The best thing would be for us to take him to Sadda. In this example /da-/ can be simply interpreted here as "let's take him", i.e. a cohortative. (176) qal-l-u:
[Text 17]
say.SC.3ms-DAT-3ms
He told him: ᴴᴱ(tōv)ᴴᴱ. ok
OK. d-aǧi. da-come.PC.1s
I will come. 80
As the 1s of the PC opens with the prefix /ˀa/, the combination with the particle /da-/ simply results in /da-/. Here it is separated into /d-a/ to indicate both the particle and the 1s prefix of the PC.
167
Before uttering this sentence the speaker was reluctant to come. In the end he decided to come, conveying it by the above utterance. Thus, purpose or will are not the case here but rather first person encouragement. (177) ġǝmzǝt-l-i
d-adxǝl.
signal.SC.3fs-DAT-1s
[Text 17]
da-enter.PC.1s
She signaled me to come in. dxaltu. enter.SC.1s
(So) I came in. The particle /da-/ here opens a content clause which conveys purpose. Thus, it can be translated as "she signaled me, so that I come in". (178) da-nġīd da-want.PC.1p
naxǝḏ-a
l-ᵊd-daktōr.
take.PC.1p-3fs
to-DA-doctor
[Text 6]
We want to take her to the doctor. The use of the particle in this sentence focuses on the will, which is also clear from the lexical verb /nġīd/ "we want" itself. (179) d-aḥǝbb-ak,
[Text 26]
da-love.PC.1s-2ms
Dear, tǝqdaġ
taxǝḏ-a
ᵊd-PN?
can.PC.2ms
take.PC.2ms-3fs
ACC-PN
Can you give PN a ride? The utterer asks someone to give a ride to someone else. She opens the request with /d-aḥǝbb-ak/ which can be translated as conveying purpose: "so that I will love you", or a cohortative: "let me love you". In any case, it is a common vocative that opens requests in JB, thus it lost its literal meaning over the years and can be simply translated as "dear". /da-/ preceding the PC is attested also in CB, where it is not so common, according to Abu-Haidar, and ordinarily introduces a subordinate clause where the verb of the main clause expresses a command or asks a question. The examples she presents are not restricted to the first person: /xalli l-bāb maftōḥ daṭǝṭlaˁ al-bazzūni/ "Leave the door open so the cat can get out" (1991: 89). Blanc also mentions the use of /da-/ by one of his CB informants to mark purpose in constructions like: /ǧītu daˀašūfak/ "I came to see you". He claims that the particle can be replaced by /ḥatta(ni)/ to express the 168
same meaning (1964: 117). According to Jastrow, /da-/ is used in the Muslim dialect of Mosul before the 1s to denote the future: /daġūḥ/ "I shall go". Jastrow also mentions the particle /dǝ-/ preceding the PC to denote wish, purpose, or possibility in Mosul. He gives the following example: /balki dǝyǝbˁaṯ/ "vielleicht schickt er" (1979: 47). The semantic value of this particle suggests that rather than being analogous to JB's /dǝ-/ (see 4.1.1.2), it is equivalent to JB's /da-/. As for Anatolian dialects, /tǝ/ preceding the PC indicates "future, subjunctive, and optative" in Kǝndērib (Jastrow 2003: 12). For Āzǝx, Mḥallamīye, and Siirt, Wittrich and Grigore mention only the future use. In Siirt the /t/ of the particle can be realized also as /d/, for example: /ġade d-arōḥ ǝl-karm/ "Tomorrow I will go to the vineyard". According to Wittrich and Grigore this particle originates from CA /ḥattā/ "dass, damit, um zu". Wittrich also mentions that the preverbal particle /ta/ precedes the PC of the third person to denote optative meaning. She gives the following example: /táyǧi/ "er soll kommen". Also in Mḥallamīye, other than the future use, Sasse mentions that this particle can have a jussive meaning with all the persons: /tǝykūn naḏif/ "er soll sauber sein". He mentions that it can also mark the subjunctive: /raḥ tǝyǝqtǝlu/ "er ging, um ihn zu töten" (Wittrich 2001: 73, 76; Grigore 2000: 374-375; Sasse 1971: 158, 161; Grigore 2014: 180). According to Jastrow, the optative use of the particle is restricted to the third person, and interestingly, in this use the particle is stressed, while as a future marker it is unstressed. He gives the following pair from Mardin as an example: /tayə́qˁad/ "er wird sich setzen" vs. /táyǝqˁad/ "möge er sich setzen!" (1978: 310). In Bǝḥzāni, although a Tigris group dialect, the particle /ta/, similarly to the Anatolian /tǝ/, marks the future (idem: 303). /tǝ/ is also found in the Kurdistan group of qǝltu dialects as denoting the future. This is the case in ˁAqra and Arbil, for example. As for the particle /da-/, it opens final clauses in ˁAqra: /dalā yǝqaṭṭǝn ǝlxǝbǝz/ "so that the bread will not spoil", while Arbil uses /ḥatta/ for this function (Jastrow 1990: 65). In Kirkuk /d(ǝ)-/ is used to mark the future: /dǝnǝǧi/ "wir werden kommen"; /daǧaġġǝb/ "ich werde versuchen". Interestingly, Jastrow gives only examples with the first person from this dialect (1992: 248). /ta/ preceding the PC denotes in Khawētna future, optative, or, for the first person, also urge and encouragement. An example of its use is given by Talay: /yōmǝn tšūfu tatxāf mǝnnu/ "wenn du ihn trifst, wirst du vor ihm Angst haben". Talay also gives examples of final clauses: /lǝḥǝq ǝlbazzūna tayǝqtǝlha/ "er folgte der Katze, um sie zu töten", and mentions that /ta/ here alternates with /ḥatta/ (1999: 182-183). Khan classifies the particle /ta/ as an optative marker for the first person, as the following example shows: /taˁal tanrūḥ lil mištara/ "come on, let's go to the police". Khan also mentions that it is equivalent to the particle /da-/ in MB and JB (1997: 91-92). As for gǝlǝt dialects, according to Blanc, the particle /da-/ in MB shows similar qualities to those of JB /qa-/ rather than to /da-/ (1964: 115). From the above summary of parallel particles in surrounding dialects we can infer that the particle /da-/ is probably a result of the grammaticalization of CA final marker /ḥattā/ "so that". In Anatolian, Kurdistan, and Euphrates dialects it was reduced to /tǝ/ or /ta/ and turned primarily into a future marker. In some of these dialects its 169
optative and subjunctive functions were also found. In the Tigris branch of qǝltu dialects it was generally reduced into /da-/. So is also the case in JB. The particle's morphological development involved both phonetic reduction and loss of autonomy. CA /ḥattā/ lost its initial /ḥ/, its long /tt/, and its first vowel /a/. In addition, the sound /t/ has changed into its voiced counterpart /d/, and the final vowel /ā/ has shortened. In CA a subjunctive verb proceeded /ḥattā/. It is possible, thus, that the following PC in JB should be actually understood as a subjunctive. It is difficult to determine whether that is actually the case, since synchronically there is no overt distinction between the subjunctive and the indicative. From the semantic perspective, a particle that originally was only used to open final subordinate clauses developed into a future marker in some dialects. Indeed, Palva claims that the sedentary dialects of Mesopotamia in north Syria started to use a future marker originating from /ḥattā/ in the middle ages (2009: 21). In JB, apart from keeping its final meaning, it has also developed volitive meaning and was even further grammaticlized into a cohortative marker. Indeed, according to Bybee et al., desire, intention, purpose, and future grams tend to mutually grammaticalize (1994: 240). The diachronic development of /da-/ can be schematically described as follows: Signifier: /ḥattā/ > /d(a)-/ Signified: final subordinator > future marker > volitive > cohortative To sum up, the particle /da-/ precedes verbs in the first person of the PC. It is a deontic modality particle which can be interpreted as a volitive marker, i.e. one that stresses will, or as a cohortative marker. Purpose is frequently also involved in the use of /da-/. These interpretations overlap and in many cases they complete each other. 4.1.5 Permissive and Jussive When the particle /xalli/ precedes a verb in the PC and is not suffixed by a pronoun, it is a fossilized particle that marks a third person imperative: (65)
xalli-yǝǧi
yāxǝḏ
laffa.
[Text 24]
xalli-come.PC.3ms
take.PC.3ms
sandwich
Let him take a sandwich. In this example /xalli/ modifies a 3ms verb in the PC and it conveys a mand to a third person. It can be also interpreted as a final subordinate marker. Thus, in the case of the above example it can be translated either as "let him take a sandwich" or as "so that he takes a sandwich". (180) mǝn when
yǝstawi
l-tǝmman
yǝlḥaq,
get ready.PC.3ms
DA-rice
already
When the rice is ready,
170
[Text 47]
xalli
baˁᵊd hēl.
put.IMP.2ms
more
cardamom
put more cardamom. xǝllī-nu
l-hēl
ybayyǝn
allow.IMP.2ms-3ms
ACC-cardamom show.PC.3ms
Let the cardamom be dominant. The first occurrence of /xalli/ in this example is as a full verb meaning "put". In its second occurrence, however, it functions as an auxiliary verb equivalent to the English "allow" or "let". It is followed by an accusative pronominal suffix. This is also the case in the next example: (181) ˀazyad mǝn-daqīqi more
than-minute
ma
txǝllī-ni
fētə́ḥ-a.
not
allow.PC.3fs-1s
open.AP.ms-3fs
[Text 27]
She doesn't let me watch it (the channel) for more than a minute. Unlike the previous example, in which the verb derived from the root xly was in the IMP, in this case it is in the PC and it refers to a third person. The PC marks the situation as habitual. Thus, when an accusative pronoun is suffixed to a verb of the root xly it conveys a meaning equivalent to the English "let" or "allow" regardless to the verb form or its person. Semantically, it might indicate a permissive, like in this example, or rather a simple imperative meaning like in the previous example. /xalli/ preceding a pronominal suffix followed by the PC of the first and third person is termed by Abu-Haidar as "compound" imperative in CB: /xallīnu yākǝl aklu/ "let him eat his food". When /xalli/ is preceded by a pronominal suffix it can also serve as, in Abu-Haidar's own words, "an independent imperative in the second persons, where the meaning conveyed is 'to stay'": /xallīki qēˁdi/ "stay (fs) sitting!" (1991: 9495). In Siirt, when /xa/ or /xayy/, which are derived from /xalli/ "let", precede the PC, they mark, according to Grigore, the subjunctive of desire or wish: /xa-ymūt ūwe/ "let him die!". They also denotes indirect order: /xa-yrūḥ mǝn qabǝl ṣalāt ǝǧ-ǧǝmˁa/ "he should go before Friday's prayer" (2014: 180). In MB, according to Erwin, the particle /xal/, a reduced form of the verb /xalli/, corresponds to the English "let". It usually precedes the PC, most commonly the 1p, but is not restricted to it: /xal nāxuḏ taksi/ "let's take a taxi"; /xal yiḥči šgadd ma yrīd/ "let him talk as much as he wants". The MB particle /da-/ can come between /xal/ and the verb: /xal da nrūḥ/ "let's go" (2004: 143). Blanc assigns the occurrence of /da-/ in this construction to the homonymy of this particle in MB81. The ambiguity that the particle creates is resolved using this construction (1964: 116). 81
Refers to the functions of /da-/ as an actual present marker as well as a first person imperative marker (see 3.6.2.2.2 and 4.1.4).
171
The use of xly in JB corresponds, thus, to CB and Anatolian dialects in its use as "let". In MB, /xal/ can be used in the same meaning before the first person, a task that the particle /da-/ undertakes in JB (see 4.1.4). In addition, unlike MB, no particle can come between xly and the verb, which implies a step further in its grammaticalization. The semantic meaning of "stay" that was mentioned by AbuHaidar seems absent from JB. As for the use of /xalli/ as a third person mand, it is also found in Anatolian dialects and in MB. To sum up, when a verb is derived from the root xly and a pronominal suffix is suffixed to it, it conveys a meaning equivalent to the English "let/allow", either as permissive or simple imperative. The fossilized form /xalli/ went a step further in the grammaticalization path and is used as a clitic to mark a jussive. The grammaticalization processes can be summarized as follows: xly +ACC > xalli+3.PC
Signifier: Signified:
permissive/imperative > jussive (third person)
4.1.6 Negative imperative and prohibitive 4.1.6.1 /la/ Negative imperative is marked, like in CA, by the negator /la/ that follows a second person verb in the PC. This PC can be interpreted as subjunctive: (182) la not
txāf.
[Text 12]
fear.PC.2ms
Don't be afraid! In the negative imperative construction /la/ consists of a separate phonological word. Like the IMP, that can denote different types of directives, so does the negative imperative. The sentence above comes to encourage the hearer. The following sentence, however, conveys a prohibition: (183) la not
tǝǧi
baˁᵊd.
come.PC.2ms
again
[Text 17]
Don't come again. The negation particle /la/ is used in MB, according to Erwin, before a third person of the PC for negative indirect commands: /gul-la la-yrūḥ gabuḷ ma ašūfa/ "tell him not to go before I see him" (2004: 328). This use is absent from JB, where the verb following /la/ is limited to the second person. 4.1.6.2 /ma yṣīġ/ Prohibition can be also denoted by the phrase /ma yṣīġ/:
172
(184) ma yṣīġ ma yṣīġ
maġa tmǝdd
ˀīd-a
bī-nu.
woman move.PC.3fs
hand-3fs
in-3ms
[Text 51]
A woman is not allowed to touch it. 4.1.7 Avertive 4.1.7.1 /la-/ When the negator /la/ precedes a PC and joins it to create a single phonological word in which the verb takes the stress, it marks the avertive, namely negative purpose: (185) xāf
la-ylǝzmō-nu
fear.SC.3ms
[Text 13]
la-catch.PC.3p-3ms
He was afraid that they will catch him. As this example shows, the avertive is frequently preceded by a verbal form of the root √xwf "to fear". When so, the combination stresses the meaning of "fearing that". (186) qad-axāf qa-fear.PC.1s
la-yḥǝssōn
b-ˀAmal
la-notice.PC.3p in-PN
ˀǝnnahu
hīyi
that
she
[Text 10]
ṣaydalanīyi. pharmacist.fs I fear that they will notice that ˀAmal is a pharmacist. Both examples above show that this particle is equivalent to the English "lest" or to the Hebrew particles /šema/ or /pen/. An overt verb of the root √xwf is not obligatory, however. When it doesn’t appear the negative purpose can be inferred from the distinctive prosody of the construction. (187) la-ybūq-a.
[Text 23]
la-steal.PC.3ms-3fs
Lest he steals from her. In the background of this example stands the story about someone who doesn’t trust the key for her apartment with anyone, not even with her brother. This sentence was uttered as a response to this story. The utterer justifies this behavior by saying that it is done to prevent the brother from stealing from her. The particle /la/ is used, according to Abu-Haidar, also in MB to denote negative purpose (2002: 5).
173
4.1.7.2 /lǝ(y)kun/ Another particle that marks the avertive in JB is /lǝ(y)kun/. Its use is similar to that of /la/: (188) lǝkun-yǝnnášǝl.
[Text 30]
lǝ(y)kun-catch cold.PC.3ms
Lest he catchs a cold. Unlike the nagator /la/, however, /lǝ(y)kun/ can precede any verb form: (189) qa-yxāf
lǝykun-waṣal
xabaġ ˁlē-nu.
qa-fear.PC.3ms lǝ(y)kun-arrive.SC.3ms
news
[Text 10]
about-3ms
He was afraid lest any news about him had arrived. In this example the particle /lǝykun/ precedes a verb in the SC which denoted a past situation. As can be seen, here again it is preceded by a verb from the root √xwf "to fear". /lǝ(y)kun/ doesn’t have to precede a verb: (190) lǝkun-bī-nu lǝ(y)kun-in-3ms
xǝbᵊz.
[Text 51]
bread.
Lest it consist of bread. This sentence is a nominal one and it opens with /lǝ(y)kun/. In this case the particle marks the nominal predication as unwelcomed. In all the cases above the particle /lǝ(y)kun/ joins the following word to constitute a single phonological word, and thus, it loses its stress, which is manifested by a short /u/. When the particle is stressed and the long vowel /ū/ preserves /lǝ(y)kūn/ is used to issue a plea or prohibition. In this function it precedes a PC in the second person, as the following example shows: (191) lǝkūn twǝddū-ha lǝ(y)kun take.PC.2p-3fs
l-ᵊd-daktōr.
[Text 6]
to-DA-doctor
Don't you dare taking her to the doctor. Blanc interprets /la/ and /lǝykun/ as implying "apprehension or doubt". He gives one example from JB: /whāḏa lxǝṭṭāġ laykūn yǝstaḥi/ and translates it as "and that guest may feel shy" (1964: 118). Our analysis here shows that Blanc's interpretation does not capture the exact meaning, which is "and that guest shouldn't be shy" or "and (I) don't (want) that guest to be shy". The particle /la(y)kūn/ exists also in the Jewish dialect of Zakho, where it is mainly used to issue a plea (Cohen, E. 2012: 388). The form of the particle /lǝ(y)kun/ suggests that it is a result of phonetic reduction and loss of autonomy of /la ykūn/ meaning "will not be" (Woodhead & Beene 174
1967: 413). Both words were compounded into one in which the vowel /a/ changed to /ǝ/. In the case of negative purpose the process went even further as the compound lost its stress and joined the verb it precedes into a single phonological word. As a result, the vowel /ū/ lost its length. Frequently, the /y/ is also reduced from the particle. Synchronically both /lǝykun/ and /lǝkun/ occur in the dialect. As we saw in 4.1.7.1 the particle /la/ also serves as avertive. /la/ might be a result of additional extensive phonetic reduction in which the second word of the compound, /ykūn/, was elided altogether. It can also simply be a result of reanalysis of the negator /la/ as an avertive. The suggested grammaticalization processes can be summarized as follows: Signifier:
1. /la ykūn/ > /lǝ(y)kūn/ > /lǝ(y)kun-/ 2. /lǝ(y)kun-/ > /la-/ or: /la/ > /la-/
Signified:
1. Existential negator > prohibitive > avertive 2. Avertive > avertive or: negator > avertive
4.1.8 Optative 4.1.8.1 The SC and the PC In 3.1.2.3 and 3.1.1.2.1 we saw the use of the PC and the SC as optative markers to convey wishes. In most cases when the PC is used to mark the optative an overt reference to God is involved (see Ex.17-Ex.19). The SC is used when God is implied and in a performative way, as if by the sole articulation of the utterance its content has already been realized (see Ex.4). The following example includes both a verb in the PC and in the SC: (192) wī oh
nqaṭˁǝt
ġūs-ǝm
ˀaġīd!
be cut off.SC.3fs heads-3p
[Text 28]
want.PC.1s
Oh I wish their heads would come off! wī
nmaḥa
l-ǝsᵊm
māl-ǝm!
oh
be earased.SC.3ms
DA-name
of-3p
Oh let their name be erased! In the text from which the example was taken one of the speakers describes what he witnessed on the day in which nine Jews were hung in Baghdad in 1969. In response to his terrible descriptions one of the hearers curses the ones that are responsible for the atrocities. The speaker curses twice. In both cases the curse contains a verb in the SC, as if denoting a situation that has already occurred in the past. In fact the situation didn't occur, and the speaker uses the SC to convey a wish to a future event. This optative use of SC is typical of swears, curses etc. The first curse ends with the verb /ˀaġīd/ "I want", which strengthens the wish and is typical of curses endings. The use of the PC here simply indicates a stative present situation. 175
Brustad refers to the use of the SC in oaths and says that "by expressing a form normally reserved for realized actions, the urgency of the oath is clearly communicated" (2000: 255). Holes notes that the use of the SC for "optatives involving exhortations to God" is a characteristic of CA and MSA, whereas in the dialects the use of the PC is more typical (2004: 178). Indeed, JB combines the two. 4.1.8.2 /ġēġ… kan(PC)+PC/ An additional structure that is used, although very rarely, to convey a wish consists of the auxiliary verb derived from the PC of the root √kwn that precedes another verb in the PC. It usually comes as a part of a second verbal clause, when the first one opens with /ġēġ/, a marker which in this context is equivalent to the English "I wish". Examples for that use are absent from the corpus, and so the following one was artificiality invented by an informant: (193) ġēġ ġēġ
yǝsmaˁ
wu-ykun-ysawwi
mǝṯᵊl-ma
listen.PC.3ms
and-be.PC.3ms-do.PC.3ms
as-NMLZ
qǝlnā-l-u. say.SC.1p-DAT-3ms
I wish he would listen and do as we told him. 4.1.8.3 /bāġi/ The particle /bāġi/ can also denote a wish: (194) bāġi bāri
ḥkī
wiyā-yi
kǝlmi.
speak.IMP.2ms with-1s
[Text 30]
word
I wish you'd say a word to me. bāġi
qūl
fǝd-šēn.
bari
say.IMP.2ms
IDF-thing
I wish you'd say something. In this example the utterer describes an embarrassing ride that he took with someone who didn’t speak a word all along. The speaker goes back to the situation and utters this two sentences, conveying his wish that the driver would behave differently. Abu-Haidar notes that the particle /bāri/ in MB is borrowed from Turkish. When it precedes the SC it is used as an interrogative: /bāri miša/ "you think he left?", whereas when it precedes the PC it is used as to denote a wish: /bāri ygulli wēn ḥaṭṭ il-biṭāqāt/ "at least he should tell me where he put the tickets" (1994: 156). Both functions that Abu-Haidar found for MB are also valid for JB. Examples of its use before the SC, however, are absent from the corpus. Nevertheless, the informants approve of the example given by Abu-Haidar and its interpretation as interrogative. It seems, however, that it also involves optativity. By using the particle the utterer hopes that the answer would be positive. In addition, the optative use of 176
/bāġi/, as Ex.194 shows, is not limited to its occurrence before the PC or the SC. It can also conveys an optative preceding the IMP. 4.1.9 Negative optative The particle /xō(b)/ followed by the negator /ma/ opens a rhetorical question and expresses negative hope: (195) xō
ma
štġēt-l-i
šēn?
xō
not
buy.SC.2ms-DAT-1s
thing
You haven’t bought me anything, have you? Woodhead and Beene refer to /xō(b)/ as "an interjection implying apprehension or hope" (1967: 148). Abu-Haidar elaborates some more about the uses of /xō/ in MB and claims that it is derived from the Turkish particle /hoṣ/ "well!". It has two more variants, /xōš/ and /xōb/, which are less frequent. According to Abu-Haidar, when the particle precedes the SC it carries a nuance of interrogative and disbelief: /xō mišaw/ "did they (really) leave?". When it precedes the PC, on the other hand, it marks "un cohortatif en lui ajoutant une nuance de reproche": /xō yiḥči! lēš ma yiḥči/ "he should speak! Why doesn’t he speak?". With the first person of the PC it marks the fact that the speaker is waiting for affirmation: /xō agdar aštuġul lamman ˁaqli yigṭa/ "but I can work whenever I want (right?)" (idem: 158). The MB uses are, however, more elaborate than those found in JB, where it serves only as negative optative marker. 4.1.10 Admonitive Warnings can be conveyed using the particle /taġa/ preceding the PC. Examples of its use are absent from the corpus. The following example was invented by an informant: (196) taġa taġa
ˀaġūḥ
wu-ˀaxǝllī-k
hōni.
go.PC.1s
and-leave.PC.2ms
here
(I warn you that) I will go and leave you here. Sometimes the semantics of a warning is quite weak, and /taġa/ simply marks a declaration or is used to focus on a piece of information that the speaker wants the listener to know. The above example can, thus, be also interpreted as "(I declare) that I will go and leave you" or "(you should know that) I will go and leave you". In this respect it can be seen also as conveying necessity or even as a presentative, in an equivalent manner to the English "look!" or the French "voilà!". However, when /taġa/ precedes the SC it serves only to focus on an important piece of information from the speaker's perspective.
177
/taġa/ is derived from the verb of the same form, a 2ms PC meaning "you see"82. It was noted in MB by Abu-Haidar as marking assertions before the SC and warnings before the PC. She cites the following examples: /tara galli b muḥiṭ ir-ryāǧīl in-niswān mā lhum ḥaqq yiḥčūn/ "he told me that in the men circle the women has no right to talk"; /tara yiḥtaǧla xōš čillāqa/ "what he needs is a kick in the butt" (idem: 156). Blanc terms this particle as a "filler with little semantic content of its own" (1964: 148). TaineCheikh finds similarities in the use of the Maghrebi /ra(a)/ and the "Middle-Eastern" /tara(a)/ as a presentative and a modal marker (14-16). Thus, it seems that the grammaticalization of forms derived from the root "to see" to denote warnings, declarations or to present a focused piece of information is common in Arabic dialects. The grammaticalization process of /taġa/ can be schematically summarized as follows: Signifier: /tara/ > /taġa-/ Signified: "you see" > (presentative/declaration) > admonitive 4.1.11 Obligation and necessity 4.1.11.1 /lazǝm/ When /lazǝm/ precedes the PC it denotes obligation: (197) lazǝm-tə́ǧi lazǝm-come.PC.2ms
wiyā-yi
l-ᵊl-ḥākǝm.
with-1s
to-DA-judge
[Text 17]
You must come with me to the judge. The fossilized form /lazǝm/ is derived from the AP of the root √lzm "to hold", /lāzǝm/. The particle /lazǝm/ usually joins the following verb and together they constitute a single phonological word in which the stress falls on the verb. This results also in the the shortening of the vowel /ā/. However, other components of the sentence can also come between /lazǝm/ and the verb, which implies for its status as a clitic rather than a prefix. Syntactically, it behaves like kan+PC, meaning that together with the verb it precedes they constitute a single verb phrase, in which /lazǝm/ is unstressed (see 3.5.6). 4.1.11.2 /yǝnġad/ /yǝnġad/ precedes the PC to convey necessity: (22)
yǝnġad-txǝllē-l-u
mxadda
l-āḏa.
yǝnġad-put.PC.2fs-DAT-3ms
pillow
to-DEM.ms
[Text 29]
You should put a pillow on it. The fossilized form /yǝnġad/ originates from the verb /yǝnġād/, a 3ms PC of stem VII, which literally means "it is wanted". Its vowel /ā/ lost its length due to lose 82
The root √ġˀy, however, is not productive in JB.
178
of stress, which results from producing a single phonological word with the verb it modifies. Thus, syntactically it behaves in a similar manner to the particle /lazǝm/ (see 4.1.11.1). It is important to note that in certain contexts the border between obligation and necessity is not so clear and /lazǝm/ is used to convey necessity whereas /yǝnġad/ conveys obligation. 4.1.12 Permissive A verb derived from the root qdġ is commonly used to denote permission. Thus, the utterer of the following sentence asks for permission to send the letter as registered. (198) ˀaqdaġ can.PC.1s
ˀabˁaṯ-a
b-mǝktūb
musaǧǧal?
send.PC.1s-3fs
in-letter
registered.PP.ms
[Text 10]
Can I sent it in a registered letter? As we saw in 4.1.3.2, the root qdġ can also denote a polite request. In 4.1.14.1 we shall see that it can also convey ability. 4.1.13 Volitive The main root that serves to produce modal verbs that mark will is want". As a modal verb it precedes a main verb: (104) qa-yġīd
yġūḥ
qa-want.PC.3ms go.PC.3ms
l-ᵊl-ˁIrāq.
ġwd "to
[Text 36]
to-DA-PN
He wants to go (back) to Iraq. The use of this modal verb forces the occurrence of a following verb as a subjunctive (see 3.3.5). As mentioned above, volitive meaning is involved also in the use of particles such as /šū/ and /da-/ (see 4.1.1.3 and 4.1.4). In fact, since the notion of volition stands in the center of deontic modality, it is involved in many of the categories described under 4.1, including the different types of imperatives and mands. There is a difference, however, between a lexically marked will, such as the one in Ex.104, and a morphologically marked one. In the former the will is reported, and thus it is factual, whereas in the latter the will is expressed, and thus it is non-factual (Cohen, E. 2012: 387). 4.1.14 Ability 4.1.14.1 qdġ Other than denoting permission and polite request (see 4.1.3.2 and 4.1.12), the root qdġ can also produce a modal verb that denotes ability: 179
(199) ˀaqdaġ can.PC.1s
ˀana
ˀasuwī-l-ǝm.
I
do.PC.1s-DAT-3p
[Text 11]
I can arrange (the passports) for them. The utterer of this sentence ascertains the addressee of his ability to arrange the passports. 4.1.14.2 ṭwq A modal verb derived from the root ṭwq also serves to denote ability, usually a physical one: (105) mnēn from where
ᵊnṭīq
nakǝl-u?
be able.PC.1p
eat.PC.1p-3ms
[Text 2]
How can we eat it? This sentence was uttered by people who participated in a feast in which all the food was cooked without salt. The food turned out so tasteless that they couldn’t eat it. 4.1.14.3 ˁġf A modal verb derived from the root ˁġf can also denote ability in cases where the ability is cognitive and has to do with knowledge: (200) kan
ˀaḷḷa
yǝġḥam-u
l-Mnašši
bass
be.SC.3ms
God
bless.PC.3ms-3ms
ACC-PN
only
yǝˁġǝf
ˀǝnglēzi.
know.PC.3ms
PN
[Text 20]
Only Mnašši, God bless his memory, used to know English. Mnašši's knowledge of English can be also interpreted as ability to speak English.
180
4.1.15 Conclusion A wide range of grammatical means were survived above as denoting deontic and dynamic modality, these are summarized in the following table: Gram type
Marker
Semantics
Mood
IMP PC SC dǝ-IMP
Imperative Optative Optative Imperative
ma-PC(2) ma+PC(2)
Imperative Request
šū+IMP da-PC(1) xly-ACC xalli-PC(3) la-PC(2) (√xwf)-laPC (√xwf)lǝ(y)kun
Request Cohortative/volitive Permissive
kan(PC)-PC xō(b)+ma
Optative Negative optative
ma yṣīġ+PC lazǝm+PC yǝnġad+PC
Prohibitive
Clitic/affix
Propositional particle
Modal verb
Involved semantics Unmarked Wishes to God Curses Urge; encouragement Impatient Polite
Single phonological word Separate phonological words; rising tone
Focus on will Purpose
Jussive Negative imperative Avertive Avertive
Phonology/prosody/syntax
Single phonological word Plea (preceding second person, without √xwf)
taġa
Obligation/necessity Necessity/ obligation Admonitive
bāġi
Optative
baqa
Imperative
Single phonological word Rhetorical question; rising tone
Presentative; declaration
Impatient
qdġ
Permissive/ability
ṭwq
Ability
Physical
ˁġf
Ability
Cognitive
ġwd
Volitive
181
Can follow of precede a PC Can follow of precede the VP Can follow or precede any imperative gram
4.2 Propositional modality In this section modal categories that fall under epistemic modality and evidentiality will be discussed. In this respect grammatical markers that convey different degrees of possibility, certainty, or factuality will be surveyed. It is important to note that some of these modal notions, like certainty or factuality, constitute a continuum in which also the edges would be taken into consideration. A full discussion about the future will also be presented in this section since the different grams that mark a future situation in JB differ in terms of propositional modality. They are concerned with the real status of the situation and the degree of certainty of its realization. Finally, some particles which primarily operate as information structure particles have developed modal implications. They can highlight the factual status of the proposition, the source of information, etc. Although their modal implication is secondary to their function in the realm of information structure, they will be shortly discussed here as well. 4.2.1 Possibility Different degrees of possibility are expressed by adverbs such as /garag/ "probably", /balki/ "maybe", /balkǝt/ "maybe", /yǝmkǝn/ "maybe", /yǧūz/ "maybe", /ˀakīd/ "surely". As adverbs, their syntactic position in the sentence is flexible: (201) qa-yǝġdōn qa-want.PC.3p
ybiˁō-nu
garag.
sell.PC.3p-3ms
probably
[Text 39]
Probably they want to sell it. (202) tkǝllǝf-a cost.PC.3fs-3fs
sabᵊˀmīt
ṯmǝnmīt
Dolār
700
800
Dolar
[Text 33]
b-ᵊš-šǝhᵊġ… in-DA-month
balki
tǝsᵊˁmīyi.
maybe 900
It costs her 700-800 Dollars a month… maybe 900. (203) həmmi they
wu-baˁᵊd
yǝmkǝn
šiyāb ᵊṯnēn.
and-more
maybe
old.p
They and maybe two other old people.
182
2
[Text 10]
4.2.2 Future So far we have examined many examples in which a predicate refers to the future. However, we refrained from using the term future tense because future time reference doesn’t seem central to the use of the different grams that are able to mark a future situation. JB doesn’t present a morphological pattern that is solely dedicated to refer to the future. The PC might refer to a future situation depending on the context. qa-PC might refer to a future situation depending on the aktionsart category of the verb that it hosts. Both cases can be claimed to be ones of a futurate, since a primarily present gram is used for a future time reference. In addition, there are two other preverbal particles that designate a future situation. They will be detailed below. The discussion about the future was postponed to the chapter dealing with modality not only because future time reference seems to be implicitly denoted by the tense-aspect system of JB, but also since, as will be demonstrated below, the four grams that are able to mark a future situation differ in the shade of the modal information that they contribute to the discourse. 4.2.2.1 The PC The PC, as a non-past form, can be used to convey future situations: (204) ˀana I
qad-amši
hassa wu-ˀarğaˁ
ᵊˁlē-kǝm.
qa-go.PC.1s
now
for-2p
and-come back.PC.1s
[Text 10]
I am going now and will come back for you. The verb phrase /ˀarǧaˁ/ "I will come back" refers to a future situation. As we already saw in 3.1.2.3 the use of the PC for future situations also stresses their unreal essence. Like in JB, so is the case in many Arabic dialects, and among them, to name but a few, the dialect of Cairo, as well as in Kuwaiti, Baḥraini, and Qaṭari Arabic, where the PC can denote a future situation (Woidich 2006: 272-277; Johnstone 1967: 142144, 151-153, 162-164). 4.2.2.2 qa-PC qa-PC marks a planned future situation with predicates classified as achievements (see 3.1.3.4 and 3.4.2). (35)
qa-tǝzzawwaǧ
Hanā.
qa-get married.PC.3fs
PN
[Text 5]
Hanā was getting married. Hanā is getting married in a few days, i.e. it is a planned future situation which is marked by the preverbal particle /qa-/. Abu-Haidar notes that with verbs of motion and "verbs that do not imply a continuous action" the particle /qa-/ can also refer to the future in CB: /ˁammi qaysāfaġ 183
al-amēġka/ "my (paternal) uncle is traveling to America" (1991: 88-89). As Ex.35 proves, in JB the use of qa-PC to denote a planned future situation is not restricted to motion verbs. As for "verbs that do not imply a continuous action", this definition is vague, but indeed verbs such as /qa-tǝzzawwaǧ/ "she is going to get married" in Ex.35 or /qa-yˁǝdmō-hǝm/ "they are going to hang them" in Ex.119 fall under this category. 4.2.2.3 /hassa/ The particle /hassa/ which precedes the PC marks an imminent future situation: (205) hassa-yğibō-l-na hassa-bring.PC.3p-DAT-1p
lᵊ-bġīl
wu-nǝġkab
ᵊbġīl
DA-mules
and-ride.PC.1p
mules
[Text 10]
wu-nġūḥ. and-go.PC.1p
They will bring the mules soon, and we will ride on them, and go. This sentence is a quote of a smuggler that promised a group of Jews that soon the mules on which they will ride to cross the border will come. Even though only the first verb in the sentence is preceded by /hassa/, the two verbs that follow also enjoy its influence. (77)
xalṣǝt
lᵊ-mǧalla
wu-hassa-yǝǧi
finish.SC.3fs
DA-PN
and-hassa-come.PC.3ms
ˁīd
[Text 17]
lᵊ-fṭīġ.
holiday GEN-PN.
Purim is over and Passover is about to come. /hassa/ serves also as the temporal adverb "now", and thus sometimes it is difficult to determine whether it is used as a preverbal particle to mark imminent future or simply as an adverb: (206) hassa ˀana hassa
I
ˀaġūḥ
l-ᵊd-daxilīyi.
go.PC.1s
to-DA-ministry of internal affairs
[Text 10]
I will go to (the Ministry of) Internal (Affairs). The fact that in this example /hassa/ is separated from the verb by the subject makes it difficult to decide whether it is a preverbal particle or not. Interestingly, an insertion of the adverb "now" in the English translation is also possible and doesn’t harm the future reading of the proposition – "I will go now to the Ministry…". The particle /hassa/ was noted by Khan as a future marker in the dialect of the Karaite Jews of Hīt (1997: 92). Malika also mentions its use as a future marker in MB (1959: 82).
184
It is safe to assume that /hassa/ as a preverbal particle developed from the temporal adverb, which is a well-known cross-linguistic grammaticalization path for the development of future grams (see 1.1.6.3). /hassa/ is a syntactically independent particle, and thus a clitic. This can also be proved by the fact that /hassa/ has a reduced form /sa/, which is, however, rare in use and doesn't occur in the corpus. 4.2.2.4 /ġaḥ/ A much less frequent preverbal particle to mark a future situation is /ġaḥ/. In fact it appears only twice in the corpus: (207) yaˁni
ˀǝnta
meaning
qa-tqūl
haḏōli hǝmmi
you.ms qa-say.PC.2ms
DEM.p they
ġaḥ-yǝḥmū-ha
lᵊ-dawla?
ġaḥ-defend.PC.3p-3fs
ACC-country
So you say that they are going to protect the country? This sentence was uttered sarcastically about the orthodox Jews in Israel, who don't serve in the army. In the previous sentence, another participant in the conversation said that given the demographical characteristics of Israel, the country will have no soldiers in the future. The utterer of this sentence twists his words saying that the intention of the orthodox Jews is to serve in the army and defend the country. This, of course, refers to a future situation. (208) mǝn when
kǝnna, be.SC.1p
kanǝt-qa-tqūl
ġaḥ-yǝzzawwaǧ.
be.SC.3fs-qa-say.PC.3fs
ġaḥ-marry.PC.3ms
When we were here she said that he is going to get married. The speaker of this sentence stresses the intention of someone to get married. It is difficult to infer from two examples what is the semantic meaning that stands behind the use of /ġaḥ/. However, intention seems to be a feature that both of them share. This goes along with our previous finding about the tendency of translocatives to mark purpose (see 3.3.2.2). A particle originating from the root "to go" is common in many Arabic dialects. In CB the future is usually denoted by /ġāḥ/ (Abu-Haidar 1991: 88-89). /rāḥ/ is mentioned by Khan as a future marker in the dialect of the Karaite Jews of Hīt (1997: 92). /ṛāyiḥ/ is used in Dēr izZōr (Jastrow 1978: 304). In MB /rāḥ/ marks the future, and according to Erwin it is comparable to the English "going to" or "will" constructions, as well as to "a present tense form with a future meaning" (2004: 138). Malaika notes the allomorph /laḥ/ as a more commonly used variant of the particle (1963: 82). This encourages Palva to believe that the particle's development was influence by JB and 185
CB's variant /ġaḥ/ (2009: 21). Cowell terms the particle /raḥa-/ in Syrian Arabic as "particle of anticipation" and notes that what the following verb refers to "is impendingin the future, as a consequence of present intentions or a course of events already under way". Cowell says that it is usually translatable as the English "going to", but that it often carries a sense of imminence or immediacy and translated as "about to" (1964: 322-323). The particle /ḥa/ preceding the PC denotes future in Cairene Arabic. Woidich also mentions that it can bear a modal meaning (2006: 278-280). To indicate intention, the particle /rāḥ/ is used in Kuwaiti and Baḥraini: /rāḥ atḥačča/ "I shall speak/am going to speak" (Johnstone 1967: 142-144, 151-153). Thus, as for the diachronic development of /ġaḥ/, it developed out of the 3ms of the CA root rwḥ "to go" in the SC. Its CA form is /rāḥ/ "he went". The form lost its autonomy and consists of a single phonological word with the following verb. As a result of stress lose, the /ā/ of the original form was also shortened. In addition, this particle is fossilized and doesn’t agree with the verb it precedes. The development of a future gram from a verb of motion is also well-known cross-linguistic grammaticalization path (see 1.1.6.3). 4.2.2.5 Conclusion The survey of future grams in surrounding Arabic dialects as well as the crosslinguistic tendencies detailed in 1.1.6.3 indicate that JB is not a special case in relation to the way it denotes the future. A future situation can be conveyed by the PC, in which case it serves as a futurate and it marks an unreal future situation. Particles that precede the PC denote specific shades of the future – qa-PC also serves as a futurate and marks the current relevance of a planned future situation; hassa+PC, which originates from a temporal adverb, marks the future as imminent and certain; ġaḥ-PC, which originate from a motion verb, seems to mark a future intention; da-PC, whose use was described under 4.1.4 might also imply futurity, combined with volition and purpose. Since the different future categories that JB marks are concerned with the certainty of the realization of the future situation and with intention, and since the future tense has no dedicated morphological form of its own, we can say that it should be primarily regarded as a modal category with secondary tense implication. The grammaticalization processes that led to the current future markers in JB can be summarized as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Imerfective > futurate [PC] Progressive > planned future [qa-PC] Temporal adverb > imminent future [/hassa/ > /hassa+/ or /sa+/] Motion verb > future intention [/ġāḥ/ > /ġaḥ-/] Final subordinator > future volition/purpose [/ḥattā/ > /d(a)-/]
4.2.3 Propositional modality implications of information structure particles In the following paragraphs we shall survey a few pragmatic particles, which primarily operate on the level of information structure, but their use provokes, nevertheless, modal implications.
186
4.2.3.1 The particle /xō(b)/ Other than its function as a negative optative marker (see 4.1.9), the particle xō(b) followed by the negator /ma/ also serves in sarcastic contexts to express the meaning of "surely/of course". The particle focuses on the following piece of information to support the previous claim. Thus, it serves as an information structure particle. However, its use bears an epistemic modal implication since the information on which it focuses is designated with a high degree of certainty on behalf of the speaker: (209) balkǝt ᵊstalam. maybe receive.SC.3ms
Maybe he got (the payment). xō
ma
yǝǧi
yqǝl-ᵊl-na?
xō
not
come.PC.3ms
say.PC.3ms-DAT-1p
Surely he will not come to tell us. This example is taken from a conversation about a man that should have received a big inheritance. The hearer asks whether he actually received the money. The speaker replies that it is possible, and adds, sarcastically, that even if he did, he wouldn’t come and tell them. This is conveyed by a rhetorical question opening with /xō ma/. In the first utterance the speaker raises an assumption, and in the following one he supports it by focusing on additional information, thus increasing the certainty of his assumption. 4.2.3.2 The particle /ma/ When the particle /ma-/ is prefixed to any verb form and they constitute together a single phonological word whose stress falls on the verb, it serves to focus a piece of information that stands in contrast to the things that were previously said: (210) ma-qālu ma-say.SC.3p
mǝmnūˁ
hāyi
forbidden.PP.ms PDEM.fs
baˁᵊd. anymore
But they said that it is forbidden from now on. In this example the speaker is surprised from what the previous participant said, and so he utters back a sentence which opens with /ma-/. In many cases, like in this one, it can simply be translated into English as "but". The message that the speaker conveys is, however, closer to "I am surprised since they said that…". In this case, then, /ma-/ also serves as a mirative, i.e. a modal marker that conveys surprise, or a situation that occurred contrary to the expectations. In this respect, the particle /harey/ in Modern Hebrew is used quite similarly. The particle /ma/ can also be used to open rhetorical questions in order to convey a contradictive fact:
187
(211) ma ma
qa-tdīġ-u
l-āḏa
l-ṃāy?
[Text 52]
qa-pour.PC.2ms-3ms
ACC-DEM.ms
DA-water
But you pour the water, don't you? This sentence is uttered as a part of a recipe. The listener interrupts and asks a question in the middle of the recipe's description. The answer has to do with a previous step that was already described, a step in which water is poured. The speaker's answer can be best translated as "we have already established that you pour the water" meaning that the speaker is surprised from the question, because at this point the listener should know that the water was already poured, and thus it is a fact. It should be noted that in the last example the particle /ma/ constitutes of a separate phonological word. In this respect it behaves similarly to the particle /ma/ that denotes a polite request as was demonstrated in 4.1.3.1. When /ma/ denotes a polite request, however, it preceded only the second person of the PC, whereas in the current case it can precede almost any verb form and it is even not restricted to verbs. To avoid possible ambiguity, the PC in the second person will be avoided if the speaker wishes to focus on a factual piece of information using /ma/. /ma/ is used as a mirative in JB also in the construction /ma+verb+ˀǝlla…/. The construction is typical to narratives, where it presents a surprising development. In this construction, /ma/ constitutes a separate phonological word. In addition, the verb in the construction is always one of perception. (212) ma ma
ˀašūf
ˀǝlla
ṣāġ
ᵊqbāl ᵊs-siyāra
see.PC.1s
but
become.SC.3ms in front DA-car
[Text 14]
māl-i. of-1s
Suddenly I see that he is in front of my car. (213) ma ma
ḥǝssētu
ˀǝlla
ᵊl-ˁagāḷ
ṃāl-u
ṣāġ
[Text 14]
feel.SC.1s
but
DA-ˁagāḷ
of-3ms
become.SC.3ms
b-ḥǝǧġ-i in-bottom-1s
I suddenly felt that his ˁagāl is in my bottom In CA /ma/ serves as a mirative as well in construction like: /ma ˀaḥsana Zaydan/ "how great Zayd is". Despite the fact that JB's use of /ma/ is different in syntax and prosody, it might be a result of grammaticalization of this CA particle. Diem believes that CA mirative /ma/ is, itself, a result of the grammaticalization of the CA interrogative /ma/ "what". The connection between the interrogative and the mirative can be seen by the way he translates the mirative into German as "wie sehr" (Diem 2013: 85). 188
In some of the examples given above, however, /ma/ shows great affinity to a negator, which raises the possibility that it a result of its recategorization. Ex.211, for instance, was translated into English using "don't". Thus, it is possible that the contrastive focus meaning that they bear was developed out of the negator /ma/. This meaning was restricted at first to utterances with a rising tone, but was expanded later on also to affirmative utterances such as that in Ex.210. In a separate parallel development, the contrastive focus has developed into a mirative. Thus, the particle /ma/, which is primarily a contrastive focus marker, is used to convey a surprise. The grammaticalization processes of the particle /ma/ as described in this section as well as in 4.1.2.1 and 4.1.3.1 can be summarized as follows: ma-PC(2) [rising tone]
>
ma-PC(2) [falling tone]
ma+ [rising tone]
>
ma- [falling tone]
polite request
>
impatient imperative
contrastive focus
>
Signifier:ma+
Signified:negator mirative
Although it seems less probable, the interrogative /ma/ "what" cannot be excluded as an additional source for the development of some of these functions. 4.2.3.3 The particle /ˀašu-/ The particle /ˀašu-/ can also be used to focus on a surprising situation. It opens a rhetorical question and thus the utterance ends with a rising tone. In addition, it produces a single phonological word with the following component in the sentence, in which the stress falls on the following component. (214) ˀašu-nǝṣṣ ˀašu-half
ᵊl-ᴴᴱ(ᵊkfār)ᴴᴱ
ġǧūl-ǝm
ᵊmqaṭṭˁa?
DA-village
legs-3p
amputated.fs
[Text 41]
(Surprisingly,) the legs of half of the village are amputated. In this sentence the speaker quotes someone who visited the villages in the lake region in Iraq. He saw that the legs of half of people in the village were amputated. He was surprised and conveyed it using /ˀašu-/ to deliver the message of "I am surprised the legs of half of the village are amputated". (215) ˀašu-ḥǝss-ǝk
nāṣi?
ˀašu-voice-2fs
ow.ms
(Surprisingly,) your voice is low. This sentence was uttered over the phone. The speaker barely hears the addressee and worries that it means that she is sick, thus he utters this question. The use 189
of /ˀašu-/ signals the situation as unusual and surprising, and here again, it strengthens the factual status of the utterance. The particle /ˀašu-/ involves many times a pragmatic function. It comes to encourage or to urge the addressee to behave differently from what the utterance suggests. For example, in Ex.215 the addressee is expected to raise her voice. In this respect /ˀašu-/ can be also regarded as a deontic particle. Abu-Haidar notes the particle /ˀašu/ in MB. She traces it back to the verb /ˀašūf/ "I see", which lost its verbal value and became a particle. Abu-Haidar says that the use of /ˀašūf/ itself as a variant of the particle in MB is rare. She also mentions the variant /ahu/ and claims that it is considered very chic and that it is used mainly by women under 40. According to Abu-Haidar, when /ašu/ precedes the SC it expresses surprise as a result of an unexpected completed act: /ašu niǧaḥit bil-imtiḥān šlōn gilit ma raḥ tinǧaḥ/ "well, you did well in the exam, how come you said you are not going to succeed?". When it precedes the PC, on the other hand, it expresses a probable or a questionable situation: /ašu tiqbal tiji wiyyāna/ "will you agree to come with us?" (1994: 155-156). In JB the particle is not limited to a verbal sentence and its interpretation doesn’t change according to the following verbal form. It always conveys a surprise. If we accept Abu-Haidar's claim that /ˀašu-/ is a reduced form of the 1s PC verb /ˀašūf/ "I see", it would add an evidential component to the semantic value of this particle. Thus, Ex.214 can be translated as "I (am surprised to) see that the legs of half of the village are amputated". The use of /ˀašu-/ stresses the factual status of the utterance as a result of personal eye witnessing. However, Ex.215 shows that the particle /ˀašu-/ might be used synchronically to convey factuality that doesn't necessarily result from eye witnessing. In this example the speaker can only hear the low voice, and nevertheless he uses the particle in the sense of "I hear that your voice is low". Another possible source of the particle /ˀašu-/ is the CA /ˀayyu šayˀin/ "which thing", that developed through phonetic reduction in the dialects in Mesopotamia and the Levant into interrogatives meaning "what" such as /ˀaš/, /šū/, /šǝnu/ etc. (Fischer & Jastrow 1980: 85). It is possible that a 3ms pronoun, which as a suffix is reduced to /-u/, has joined the interrogative /ˀaš/. This assumption can be supported by the fact that the prosody of sentences that open with /ˀašu-/ is always of a rising tone, which is typical for interrogative sentences. At this point we should go back to the particle /šū/ that was discussed under 4.1.1.3 as one conveying requests which involve strong volition on behalf of the speaker. /šū/ might also be a reduced form of /ˀašūf/ that has developed a deontic meaning of command/request, which results in something that the speaker could witness. As we already noted, Mansour cites the imperative marker as /ˀašu/ (2011: 8283), a form which was basically approved by the informants, but rather with a final long vowel, namely /ˀašū/. Thus, unlike the evidential marker /ˀašu/, in its imperative use the particle /ˀašū/ constitute a separate phonological word. If we accept that /šū/ has developed from /ˀašūf/ then, for instance, in Ex.64 we can interpret the full meaning of the sentence as something like: "bring it, I want to see
190
it" and in Ex.168 as "get up, I want to see you getting up". This interpretation adds an interesting insight to Ex.174, and so it will be repeated here again: (174) A:
ˁāyǝn
ˀaš
ḥǝlu.
look.IMP.2ms
what
beautiful.ms
[Text 34]
See how beautiful it is. B:
wēn-u? where-3ms
Where is it? C:
šū
d-ašūf-a!
šū
da-see.PC.1s-3fs
Let me see it! The particle /šū/ in this example is intended to express a request which is derived from speaker C's will. In this case it doesn’t modify the verb in a direct manner. The particle /da-/ comes in between. This can imply a further stage in its grammaticalization process towards a lexicalized modal adverb which simply means "please". To sum up, /ˀašu-/ conveys focuses on a surprising situation. The deontic particles /ˀašū/ and /šū/ express a request which is involved with volition, i.e. one which the utterer wants to see realized. It is possible that the three particles have grammaticlized from the verb /ˀašūf/. If this is indeed the case, the absence of a long vowel in /ˀašu-/ in comparison to /šū/ suggest that they developed in two parallel paths. The evidential component of their semantic value, if actually exists synchronically, used to be overt and central to their interpretation. With time the visual essence of the particle wore down. However, the absence of a long vowel in /ˀašu-/ might suggest that it has developed from a different source, which might be the combination of the interrogative /ˀaš/ with a following 3ms pronoun. The suggested grammaticalization paths of these particles can be summarized as follows: Signifier: 1.
/ˀašūf/ > ˀašū+IMP > šū+IMP > šū [falling tone]
2.
/ˀašūf/ > (/ˀašū/ > ) /ˀašu-/ [rising tone] or: /ˀaš/ + /-u/ > /ˀašu-/ [rising tone]
191
Signified: 1.
"I see" > request involved with volition (verb modifier) > request involved with volition (adverb)
2.
"I see" > evidentiality marker (eye witnessing) > general evidentiality marker > mirative or: "what is it?" > mirative
4.2.3.4 The particle /ġēġ/ Other than its optative use discussed in 4.1.8.2, the particle /ġēġ/ is used as an adverb which primarily means "naturally/obviously/of course". It occurs in rhetorical questions to mark high degree of certainty or factuality which results from prior knowledge or common sense. Its position in the sentence is flexible: (216) lēlt
ᵊs-sǝtti,
night
[Text 38]
DA-six
ysūwōn
šašša ġēġ?
make.PC.3p
PN
ġēġ
In the evening of the sixth day (after the birth), they used, of course, to make šašša. This utterance consists a part of a description of the Jewish traditional celebration of a new baby who comes into the world. The speaker uses the particle /ġēġ/ to introduce a piece of background information which she supposes that the addressee is aware of. In this case she says that a ceremony called šašša was held on the sixth day after the birth. (217) hīyi she
ġēġ
laḥᵊm tāza?
ġēġ
meat
[Text 4]
fresh
She is (as a newborn), naturally, fresh meat. This sentence comes to explain how come Rimōn, who got burnt by the hot bottle, was so easily burnt. The occurrences took place when Rimōn just came into the world, and the speaker assumes that the fact that babies' skin is sensitive is within the addressee's general knowledge. Besides marking the factual status of the proposition, the two examples above show that /ġēġ/ has also a pragmatic use, which is, in fact, more prominent. It focuses a piece of information which is assumed by the speaker to be known by the addressee, using a prosodically interrogative utterance in order to verify that the addressee is indeed aware of this piece of information. This use of /ġēġ/ is quite similar to the use of the focus marker /ma/, which, as we saw in 4.2.3.2, also marks factuality. The slight 192
difference between the two is, however, that in the case of /ma/ the information is factual since it was elaborated before by the speaker, whereas in the case of /ġēġ/ the speaker assumes that the information is factual since it is considered general knowledge or common sense. 4.2.3.5 The particle /kǝn/ The particle /kǝn/ precedes only a PC verb in the third person which is derived from the root qwl "to say". The main goal of /kǝn/ is to facilitate the transition between a narrative and an embedded dialogue. In this function, however, it is still a part of the narrative, or more specifically of the foreground chunks of the narratives, where it plays a role of marking a perfective "telling". (218) lᵊ-zġayyġi DA-little.fs
kǝn-tqǝl-l-u:
[Text 2]
kǝn-say.PC.3fs-DAT-3ms
The younger (daughter) told him: tġūḥ
b-ᵊs-salāma
wu-tǝrǧaˁ
b-ᵊs-salāma.
go.PC.2ms
in-DA-peace
and-return.PC.2ms
in-DA-peace
"go in peace and come back in peace". In this example the verb phrase with the particle /kǝn/ opens a quote in a narrative. The particle /kǝn/, however, doesn’t necessarily open a quote: (219) hāyi PDEM.fs
kǝn-ᵊtqūl
tġīd
tǝntaqǝm
kǝn-say.PC.3fs
want.PC.3fs
take revenge.PC.3fs
[Text 2]
ᵊmn-abū-ha. from-father-3fs
She said that she wants to take revenge on her father. In this example the verb phrase modified by /kǝn/ opens a content clause which contains an indirect speech paraphrase of the saying. Thus, it cannot be claimed that the particle /kǝn/ is a direct or a reported speech marker. Abu-Haidar notes the particle /kǝn/ in CB and mentions that it is the only particle that precedes the SC and that it becomes rarer and quickly gets out of use. She traces it back to CA /kān/, and relates to it as a feature distinguishing CB from JB and the rest of the qǝltu dialects. Abu-Haidar writes that it used to precede a verb in all the personas, but that at the time of her research it appeared mainly before a third person verb form. As for the semantic value of the particle, Blanc claims that it doesn’t bear a meaning different than that of the plain SC in CB. According to Abu-Haidar, however, it marks reported speech. Among the examples that she cite one can find the following: /kǝn ˁaǧabu l-fǝlǝm/ which is translated in her own words into "'He liked the film' (That 193
is to say, I am told he liked the film although he did not tell me so himself.)" (AbuHaidar 1990: 51; Abu-Haidar 1991: 87-88; Blanc 1964: 118). Interestingly, in almost all the examples that Abu-Haidar gives she translates the particle as "I am told that…, although I didn't witness it myself". Only one example was translated as "It is a wellknown fact that…, although I did not witness the event myself", which doesn’t exclude the options that it is known because someone said it once. In this respect, CB's /kǝn/ seems to function as an epistemic modality marker to denote anti-evidentiality, i.e. the fact that the speaker didn't witness the content of his/her utterance with his/her own eyes or ears, but the information was delivered to him/her by a third party. In JB /kǝn/ requires an explicit occurrence of a PC verb from the root qwl to follow, and not a SC like in CB. In this respect the particle seems to fit Dahl's definition of a quotative - it indicates that the speaker is reporting something that he/she has from a secondary source, i.e. that he/she didn’t witness the content of the report themselves. The synchronic reality in JB, however, doesn’t support the use of /kǝn/ as a quotative since it is rare is use and in fact absent in many cases where one would expect it. The following is one example of that: (220) qalǝt-l-u: say.SC.3fs-DAT-3ms
She told him: fūt
fūt!
go away.IMP.2ms
go away.IMP.2ms
"Go away, go away!" There are two possible explanations for the synchronic reality of /kǝn/ in JB. Either the quotative use of the particle has worn down, or the development of the particle as a quotative marker is in its initial stages and has not been completed. Dahl found that within the languages of the "Ottoman area", a diachronic development relevant to the quotative occurred, namely the old perfect was extended to quotative use. In some languages the same form is used for both the perfect and the quotative, and in others the perfect is now marked by a different category (1985: 152). Interestingly, a similar particle, /kǝn/ or /kǝl/, marks the perfect in other qǝltu dialects. According to Jastrow, /kǝn/ preceding the SC denotes the present perfect in Mosul. He gives the following example of its use: /kǝnrakkába ˁala ḏahġu/ "er hat sie ̣ auf seinem Rücken aufsitzen lassen (wo sie noch sitzt)". This particle can be also preceded by /kān/ in this dialect to denote a past perfect: /kǝnna kǝnxabazna/ "wir hatten Brot gebacken" (1979: 47-48). In Bǝḥzāni, as in other Anatolian dialects like Mardin and Diyarbakɪr, the particles /kǝl/ or /kǝt/ are in use to mark the perfect (Jastrow 1978: 307; Sasse 1971: 159). The particle /kǝn/ preceding the SC was assigned by Wittrich and Sasse as marking past perfect. This can be seen in the following example from Āzǝx: /kǝnmātǝt/ "sie war gestorben" (ibid; Wittrich, 2001: 78).
194
Taking into consideration the existence of the particle /kǝn/ as a perfect marker in northern qǝltu dialects together with Dahl's finding about the "Ottoman area" we can assume that the particle /kǝn/ was a perfect marker in JB, which lost in time its perfect meaning and developed into a quotative. This development either hasn't been completed or is at its beginning. This can be inferred from the absence of the particle in many occasions where its use would otherwise be expected. Thus, one cannot state that synchronically /kǝn/ is a quotative marker. For the same reason, one cannot claim that it is an obligatory marker for the transition between narratives and dialogues. The use of this particle to mark either of the functions seems mandatory. The above description is, however, only an assumption, which can be summarized as follows: Signifier: kān-SC > kan-SC > kǝn-SC > kǝn-SC qwl > kǝn-PC qwl Signified: perfect > quotative; transition from narrative to dialogue The schematic process suggested for the signifier requires further clarification, specifically for the last stage in which /kǝn-/ started to modify verbs in the PC rather than in the SC. This probably has to do with the homonymy between this particle /kǝn/ and the clitic /kan/83. The clitic /kan/ can be used before the SC to denote counterfactuality, as we shall see in 4.3.3. The homonymy probably led to the gradual loss of kǝn-SC as a perfect marker. The only case where it was still in use was the before verbs that derive from the root qwl. But then even the use of /kǝn/ before a SC form of the root qwl started to feel awkward to the speakers and to be interpreted as counterfactual, which motivated the change of form from the SC to the PC. Indeed, when JB speakers are asked out of context about kǝn- qwl, many times they tend to interpret it as habitual past, which is denoted, as we saw, by the homonymic construction kan+PC (see 3.5.1). 4.2.5 Conclusion Our discussion above surveyed different semantic values that fall under the category of propositional modality. We saw the use of adverbs to convey different degrees of possibility. We discussed four different ways to mark a future situation and stated that they differ in modal terms of certainty and intention. A great deal of the discussion was dedicated to particles that primarily operate in the realm of information structure but nevertheless have modal implications. The particles /ma-/ and /ˀašu-/ convey a surprise. The latter might also involve evidentiality as well as a pragmatic function in signaling that an opposite behavior is expected from the addressee. In this respect it is also deontic. The particle /ġēġ/ in rhetorical questions conveys certainty and factuality. Finally, the particle /kǝn/ has probably developed in order to convey the message that the narrator reports a second-hand information, namely a quotative. Synchronically, however, this semantic value seems absent from its use. All these are summarized in the following table:
83
This is a result of the fact that OA /a/ in a pre-stressed closed syllable changes systematically into /ǝ/ in JB (see 2.1.2.3.7). Since both particles precede the verb and lose their stress, they are articulated in a similar manner.
195
Gram type Mood Clitic/ prefix
Adverb
Marker
Semantics
PC qa-PC hassa+PC ġaḥ-PC ma-
Future Planned future Immanent future Future Mirative
ma+
Mirative
ma+perception verb+ˀǝlla ˀašu-
Mirative
ġēġ
Certainty
xō(b)+ma
Certainty
kǝn+ qwl
(Was/would developed into) quotative Possibility
yǝmkǝn; garag; balki; balkǝt ˀakīd
Involved semantics Irrealis Certain Intention Contrastive focus Focus; repeated information
Mirative
Evidential; calling for opposite behavior Focus; common sense/general knowledge
Phonology/prosody
Single phonological word Separate phonological word; rhetorical question; rising tone
Rhetorical question; rising tone Rhetorical question; rising tone Rhetorical question; rising tone
Transition from narrative to dialogue
Certainty
4.3 Conditional sentences Some conditional sentences were already presented along our discussion. We saw, for instance, the use of the PC and the SC to mark unreal conditional situations (see 3.1.2.3 and 3.1.1.2.1). In the following paragraphs we will examine the occurrence of verbal forms in conditional sentences in more details. The analysis is based on Timberlake's definitions of the three types of conditionals, namely general, potential, and counterfactual (see 1.1.6.1). Before we commence it is important to note that most frequently the protasis in JB is followed by the apodosis. Whereas the protasis usually opens with a conditional marker, the apodosis is not marked by a particle, but rather by prosody. More accurately, the transition from the protasis to the apodosis is marked by prosody – the protasis ends with a continuous tone, then comes a short pause, and then the apodosis. Our discussion will focus on the verb form of the protasis. The verb of the apodosis is of lesser concern to us. In practice almost every verb form can appear in the apodosis, since the choice is not determined by modal considerations but rather by temporal and aspectual ones. The goal of this chapter is to define the differences between the three types of conditional sentences in terms of the modal marker in use, the constraints on the verb in the protasis, and the constraints on the protasis-apodosis verb combination.
196
4.3.1 General conditionals General conditional sentences describe two states of affairs – the one in the apodosis depends on the results of the one in the protasis. In this respect general conditional sentences refer to real situations, and thus they are not modal. Nevertheless, the following paragraphs will be dedicated to general conditionals sentences in order to get a complete picture of conditional sentences in JB. The verb in the protasis of a general conditional sentence is also chosen according to temporal-aspectual considerations as laid out in Chapter 3: (221) ˀǝḏa if
qa-tġuḥōn
l-āḏa,
qa-go.PC.2p
to-DEM.ms
[Text 24]
If you are going to this (shop), ǧibō-l-a
šwayya
ḥadd.
bring.IMP.2p-DAT-3fs
little
spicy
bring a little bit of hot sauce for her. This sentence opens with the conditional marker /ˀǝḏa/, which is the most common conditional marker to open a protasis in JB. It is not restricted to general conditional sentences. The marker is followed by an apodosis which is unmarked in any other way but prosody. Previously to this sentence a participant declared that she and her husband are going to buy something. In response, the speaker of this utterance asks them to bring a spicy sauce from the shop. She does so using a conditional construction in which the protasis's verb is denoted by qa-PC: /qa-tġuḥōn/ "you are going". The use of qa-PC in the protasis in this case conveys a planned future situation. Cases in which the apodosis precedes the protasis also exist: (222) tǝḥmǝs
laḥᵊm,
fry.PC.2ms
[Text 43]
meat
You fry meat, ˀǝḏa
qa-tġīd
txalli
if
qa-want.PC.2ms put.PC.2ms
bī-nu
laḥᵊm.
in-3ms
meat
if you want to put meat in it. The verb of the apodosis appears in the PC. The use of the PC here is equivalent to its use in Ex.25, where we argued that it plays the role of a subjunctive. The verb form of the protasis is qa-PC, which in this case marks a non-progressive situation. (8)
hāḏa y…
ᵊǧ-ᴱᴳ(ǧīni)ᴱᴳ,
PDEM.ms
DA-genie
[Text 32]
This genie, 197
mǝn
yǝṭlaˁ
ᵊmn-ᵊl…
mn-ᵊl…
mn-ᵊl-ḅǝṭǝl,
when
get out.PC.3ms
from-DA
from-DA
from-DA-bottle
when it comes out of the bottle, baˁᵊd
ma
tǝqdaġ
ᵊtġǝdd
ᵊtrǝǧǧǝˁ-u.
anymore
not
be able.PC.2ms return.PC.2ms
put back.PC.2ms-3ms
you cannot make it go back in anymore. In this example, which was already presented in 3.6.1 as conveying timeless gnomic situation, the interpretation of the temporal subordinator /mǝn/ "when" or "every time that" can be easily substituted with "if". In fact, in cases where /mǝn/ can be interpreted as a conditional marker it opens a general conditional protasis whose verb is a PC. This PC denotes a habitual or gnomic situation, whereas when a PC is combined with other conditional markers it encodes a potential condition (see 4.3.2). The grammaticalization of a temporal subordinator into a conditional marker is a well attested path cross-linguistically (Hopper & Traugott 2003: 186). There are cases in which the protasis does not open with a conditional marker. In these cases the prosody is the only hint for the conditional construction: (223) ddūs step.PC.2ms
bī-ha
ᵊl-aġḏ,̣
in-3fs
ACC-earth
[Text 15]
If you step on the earth, ṭaṃṣǝt
ġǝǧl-ak
wu-ṃāy
ṭalaˁ.
sink.SC.3fs
foot-2ms
and-water
come out.SC.3ms
your leg sinks and water comes out. This sentence is uttered from the narrative time's perspective and describes the terrible conditions in the town of Šamīyi, which was basically built on a swamp. The speaker says that wherever you step, your leg would sink. The verb of the protasis is in the PC denoting an iterative and habitual situation. Another interesting insight about this example is the use of the SC in the apodosis. It comes to convey the message of certainty. Thus, the sentence can be more accurately translated as "If you step on the earth, your leg for sure would sink and water for sure would come out". Grigore also notes the notion of certainty that goes along with the use the SC in the apodosis of conditional sentences in MB (Grigore 2005: 279). 4.3.2 Potential conditionals Potential conditionals refer to unreal situations in the future, thus they consist of a PC verb: (14)
ˀana
ˀǝḏa
ˀalqi,
I
if
find.PC.1s
[Text 22]
If I will find, 198
ˀana
ˀašġī-l-ǝk.
I
buy.PC.1s-DAT-2fs
I will buy it for you. This example was already discussed as marking an unreal future situation (see 3.1.2.3) and is repeated here as an example for a potential conditional sentence. Unlike Ex.221, where the future situation was planned, this future situation is uncertain and unreal. Thus, both the verbs of the protasis and the apodosis are in the PC. (224) ˀila if
tǝzˁal
wiyā-yi,
get mad.PC.2ms with-1s
If you will get mad with me, bēš
tǝqtǝl-ni?
in what hit.PC.2ms-1s
with what would you hit me? This sentence opens with the conditional marker /ˀila/. It presents a hypothetical situation, thus it is a potential conditional sentence in which the verb of the protasis occurs in the PC. It is difficult to get into conclusions about the use of /ˀila/ since it rarely occurs in the corpus. Nevertheless, I asked several native speakers to build sentences using it, and it seems that it is interchangeable with /ˀǝḏa/. The informants claim, however, that /ˀila/ is representative of the speech of old people. 4.3.3 Counterfactual conditionals Counterfactual expressions present non-factual situations, ones that cannot be realized: (225) lō if
tǝˁġǝf
ˀaššon sǝkka kānǝt.
know.PC.2ms
how
[Text 50]
sukkah be.SC.3fs
If only you knew what kind of sukkah there were. The speaker starts her description of Sukkot's tradition in Iraq uttering this counterfactual wish. She knows that the hearer cannot go back in time and visit her family during Sukkot. The PC is used here in the protasis to mark the irrealis. The example opens with the conditional marker /lō/, which is not restricted to counterfactual conditionals. Informants who were asked to produce sentences using this marker included it in general and potential conditional sentences as well. It seems, however, that the verb form of a protasis that opens with /lō/ tends to occur in the PC. The occurrence of the SC or qa-PC with /lō/ sounds unnatural to the informants. This implies that /lō/ was originally used to mark only counterfactual conditional sentences, and in the course of time was reanalyzed also as a general on potential conditional marker.
199
Unlike Ex.223, in which the SC was used in the apodosis, the use of the SC in the protasis marks a counterfactual condition: (3)
ˀǝḏa
šǝftǝm
qamla,
if
find.SC.2p
louse
[Text 9]
If you found a louse, ˀaš
ma
tǝġdōn
what
NMLZ want.PC.2p
ˀaṭˁī-kǝm. give.PC.1s-2p
I would give you whatever you want. In this example, that was already presented under 3.1.1.2.1, the speaker knows for a fact that the girls have no lice in their hair, and so he tells the police that if they would find one, which is improbable, he would give them whatever they want. Despite the fact that the SC unmarkedly denotes a perfective situation, in the protasis of conditional sentences it can denote a counterfactual one when it refers to the future. According to Brustad, the more hypothetical the situation, the higher the tendency of the speaker to choose a perfective verb form, whereas, the use of the imperfective indicates a higher degree of possibility for its realization from the speaker's point of view (Brustad 2000: 266). However, the SC is also used in the protasis of a general conditional sentence, as the following example shows: (226) ˀǝḏa if
rabḥu,
[Text 15]
win.SC.3p
If they won, rabḥu, win.SC.3p
they won, xaṣġu, lose.SC.3p
(and if they) lost, xaṣġu. lose.SC.3p
they lost. This utterance consists of two conditional sentences in which both the verbs of the protasis and those of the apodosis are in the SC. The interpretation of a verb in the SC as unreal in this case is impossible, since it denotes actual situations that occurred in the past from the absolute present point of view. In this respect the SC doesn’t mark 200
unreal situations but is rather used unmarkedly to denote past perfective situations. Thus, its function here is temporal rather than modal. The auxiliary verb /kan/ preceding the SC marks a counterfactual situation. In this function /kan/ is fossilized, and it doesn't necessarily occur in conditional sentences. Only one example of this use appears in the corpus: (227) B:
wu-lēš
zōǧ-a
ma
ˀaxaḏ-a?
and-why
husband-3fs
not
take.SC.3ms-3fs
[Text 26]
Why didn't her husband take her? A:
ᴴᴱ(beˀmēt)ᴴᴱ, really
Really, lēš
zōǧ-a
ma
ˀaxaḏ-a?
why
husband-3fs
not
take.SC.3ms-3fs
Why didn't her husband take her? ṭambal-ūna. idiot-DIM.fs
(she is a little) idiot! kan-ǧā
ˀaxaḏ-a
be.SC.3ms-come.SC.3ms take.SC.3ms-3fs
bāġi. at least
At least he should have come to take her. The interlocutors are talking about a past situation in which they expected a different behavior of someone's husband. They say that he should have come to pick up his wife. In fact he didn’t, and so kan+SC marks a counterfactual situation. The following sentence was invented by an informant when he was asked to produce a sentence using /kan-qtǝltō-nu/ "I would have killed him": (228) kan-qtǝltō-nu be.SC.3ms-kill.SC.1s-3ms
lō
kǝntu-ˀaˁġǝf.
if
be.SC.1s-know.PC.1s
I would have killed him if I had known. The use of kan+SC here expresses a counterfactual situation in the apodosis of a conditional sentence. We can see that /kan/ is fossilized and doesn’t agree with the following SC in person. We can also see the use of an auxiliary derived from the root √kwn preceding the PC in the protasis. This construction also marks a counterfactual condition. Thus, we see an additional use of kan+PC84 to denote counterfactual
84
This use of kan+PC is different than its habitual past use discussed under 3.5.1.
201
situations in conditional sentences whose protasis opens with /lō/. The informants reject the option to open such clauses with markers like /ˀǝḏa/ or /ˀila/. The use of kan+SC to mark counterfactual situation was also noted in Syrian, Kuwaiti, Moroccan, and Egyptian Arabic (Brustad 2000: 260). In other qǝltu dialects, however, this combination denotes the past perfect (see 3.4.4.2.4). As for equivalent constructions to kan+PC in its counterfactual use, Anatolian and Kurdistan qǝltu dialects have developed their own constructions to denote similar meanings. For instance, the combination of /kān/ and the future marker /tǝ/ preceding the PC denotes irrealis in the past in ˁAqra and Arbil85: /kān taqtǝlu/ "I would have killed him" (Jastrow 1990: 66). The equivalent combination of /ka/ followed by /tǝ/ before the PC has the same function in Kǝndērib, as exemplified by Jastrow: /nkūn ˁaṛafna hāgge, kattǝnǝmsǝk ṭǝmm ǝǧǧǝbb/ "Wenn wir das gewußt hätten, hätten wir die Öffnung der Zisterne umstellt" (2003: 14). This use was also noted in Siirt, where Grigore terms it as hypothetical (2014: 179). To sum up, the protasis of counterfactual conditionals typically denotes an unrealizable past situation, and thus its verb phrase is either a SC, a kan+SC, or a kan+PC. In the former case the auxiliary is fossilized, whereas in the latter case it can be either conjugated or fossilized. This implies a greater tendency for kan+SC to mark counterfactual situations, an assumption that can be reinforced by the fact that kan+SC can mark counterfactual situations also outside the context of a conditional sentence, whereas kan+PC can't. In fact, kan+PC usually marks the habitual past in JB, and can be interpreted as marking a counterfactual situation only when it follows the conditional marker /lō/. A PC following the conditional marker /lō/ can also be the predicate of the protasis of a counterfactual conditional sentence. In any case, the verb of the apodosis of a counterfactual conditional sentence always occurs in kan+SC. 4.3.4 Conclusion JB uses different strategies to mark the three types of conditional sentences. These might include constraints on the occurrence of a specific conditional marker, on a specific verb form in the protasis, or on the protasis-apodosis verb combination. The following table summarizes our main conclusions in this regard:
85
This parallel construction in JB, kan+qa-PC, is used, as we saw, to denote a situation that occurred contrary to expectations/plans (see 3.4.4.2.2). This semantic value is slightly different from that of counterfactuals.
202
Conditional type General
Marker ˀǝḏa; ˀila; lō; mǝn; ∅
Verb forms Protasis Not restricted
Remarks Apodosis Not restricted
Potential Counterfactual
ˀǝḏa; ˀila; lō lō; ˀǝḏa; ˀila
PC SC; kan+SC; kan+PC; PC
PC kan+SC
/lō/ and /mǝn/ are restricted to the PC, which obtains then a habitual/gnomic value SC in the apodosis marks certainty Real Unreal /kan/ preceding the PC might be inflected kan+SC Not restricted to conditional sentences The PC in the protasis is used only with /lō/ ˀǝḏa, ˀila are rarely in use
4.4. Conclusion The large number of affixes, clitics, modal verbs, adverbs, and moods that were described as denoting modal meaning proves that they play a significant role in JB. Most of them were presented in this chapter, but some other, like the subjunctive and the irrealis were discussed earlier since they also play a significant role in the temporal and the aspectual systems of JB. A concise inventory of the modal grams that were surveyed can be found in the conclusion of the three main sections of this chapter, namely event modality, propositional modality, and conditional sentences. The diachronic development of the modal markers was also discussed in details. As no previous stages of the dialect are available, only assumptions about their grammaticalization process could be made. These were supported by cross-linguistic tendencies and equivalent modal particles in surrounding Arabic dialects. At this point, and with an overview of our findings in mind, three points are worth mentioning: 1. JB has developed a very elaborative system for denoting different types of directives. These range from the imperative mood itself, which is unmarked, through the marker /dǝ-/, which conveys urge and encouragement, the impatient imperative marker /ma-/, which can also denote a polite request, the particle /šū/, which highlights the speaker's will for the realization of the situation, the particle /da-/ for the cohortative, as well as /xalli/ for the jussive, and finally /la/ and /lǝ(y)kun/ for the negative imperative, the avertive, and the prohibitive. 2. A few primarily information structure particles have developed modal implications. We saw that particles like /ma/, /ˀašu-/, /ġēġ/, /kǝn/, and others play a role, even if secondary, in conveying the extent to which a proposition is certain, in elaborating on the source of information, or in expressing the speaker's surprise. 3. There is a tendency for propositional modality grams to grammaticlize into event modality grams. Thus, for example, the particle /da-/ developed its volitive meaning (and finally its cohortative meaning) out of its function as a future marker. In the same manner the verb /ˀašūf/ "I see", which inherently involves evidentiality, developed into a particle that conveys requests. One 203
cannot exclude the possibility that some event modality grams has also developed from propositional modality grams. Although we have no hard evidence for that, there are several cases in which the same gram denotes both propositional and event modality, and it might be possible that in an intermediate stage one has developed from the other. Thus, for instance, the negator /ma/ developed into an impatient imperative marker on the one hand, but into a mirative on the other. Also, the particle /xō(b)/ can denote certainty in some situations but negative optative in others. Finally, a modal verb derived from the root qdġ can be interpreted as denoting a polite request or possibility. These are just a few examples that demonstrate the flexible nature of the diachronic development of the modal system in JB and the close relation between propositional and event modality. The three points above only come to highlight some interesting tendencies which are reflected by the modal system of JB. It would be interesting to evaluate them in the scope of a cross-dialectal or even a cross-linguistic survey.
204
Discussion and conclusions This dissertation targeted the description of one of the most prominent grammatical characteristics of JB, namely its rich inventory of preverbal particles. These particles do not operate in a vacuum, rather they constitute an important part of the verbal system. Thus, a full analysis of their functions requires a full analysis of the verbal system itself. The discussion was divided into two parts. The first, in Chapter 3, covered the temporal-aspectual system, whereas the second, in Chapter 4, covered the modal system. This division probably seemed artificial in certain points since many of the grams investigated play a role in both the modal system and the temporal-aspectual one. Nevertheless, this division was necessary in order to cope with the enormous amount of information. The following is a recap of the main findings: Tense-aspect The verbal system of JB is based upon three verb forms that the dialect inherited from older stages of Arabic, namely the SC, the PC, and the AP, to which a fourth form, qa-PC, has joined. /qa-/ is a preverbal particle derived from the postural verb "to sit" in its AP form, which was grammaticalized into an actual present marker. Unlike other preverbal particles, which play a very specific role in the system, /qa-/ has accumulated different functions along its development. The rich variety of functions that the form qa-PC fulfills makes it worthy to be regarded as a fundamental verbal form in the system. The SC marks perfective situations, which, unless included in a folktale, refer to the past. As such the SC is primarily used for foregrounding. Naturally, it can also appear in dialogues, although to a lesser extent. Unmarkedly, the SC can indicate unreal situations in conditional sentences and as an optative. The PC indicates imperfective and non-past situations. It is found both in dialogues and narratives. In narratives it is mainly used in the background function. It can also be used for foregrounding from the perspective of the historical present, in which case it is perfective. The PC is also found in the solution part of the narrative. As an imperfective gram, the PC can indicate non-progressive, habitual, iterative, and gnomic situations. The PC can also convey unreal future situations as well as potential conditional and optative ones. In addition, the PC is used as the subjunctive after certain modal verbs and subordinating conjunctions. In light of the big variety of functions that the PC can cover, it draws its specific temporal-aspectual value from the context. In this respect it is the unmarked form of the system. The AP can mark either a continuous situation or a present perfect one, depending on the aktionsart class of the lexeme. It conveys a non-progressive situation with stative verbs, a progressive situation with activities, and the present perfect with telic verbs. The AP is found both in narratives and in dialogues. In the former it occurs mainly in the background portions where many times it serves as the predicate of a ḥāl clause. 205
qa-PC denotes imperfective situations in the present. In the realm of the imperfective it can mark continuous situations, i.e. progressive, as well as nonprogressive ones, and habitual situations. With a small group of lexemes that convey a physical change on the agent qa-PC indicates punctual situations. From the temporal perspective, the situation is usually simultaneous to the moment of speech or to the narrative time. However, the temporal reference of a verb in qa-PC can also be a future one, as the construction is used for planned future situations with verbs indicating achievements. In addition, when qa-PC is a predicate of a final clause it refers to the future. qa-PC is found both in narratives and in dialogues. When in narratives, it is either used for backgrounding, or to highlight the end result of an episode. As a backgrounding tool, one can frequently find qa-PC in ḥāl clauses. The survey of the temporal-aspectual functions of the four forms reflects some overlapping cases. A great deal of effort was dedicated along this work to narrow down the overlap and try to resolve the ambiguity. Finally, we were able to narrow it down to two cases: 1. Continuous present situations can be denoted both by the AP and qa-PC. In practice we found that a delicate mechanism, according to which the aktionsarten class of a lexeme changes when it is occurring in each of the formations, spares most of the cases of potential overlap. In addition, cases in which a verbal lexeme is productive in both the AP and qa-PC are quite rare. 2. Habitual situations in dialogues and non-progressive situations can be denoted by both the PC and qa-PC. This case of overlap is a result of the diachronic development of qa-PC. The construction probably developed initially in order to host progressive situations, which indeed are exclusively marked by it. However, the diachronic development of the construction didn't stop at that point. It continued and claimed dominance over non-progressive and, thereafter, habitual situations as well. This led to the current synchronic situation in which habitual and non-progressive situations can be denoted by both the PC and qaPC. Additional grams which play a role in the temporal-aspectual system are either quite rare or more restricted in use. Thus, for example, the auxiliary /kan/ can precede the PC, the AP, or qa-PC to indicate an imperfective past. The former is dedicated solely to the habitual past, while the latter two indicate a continuous past. kan+AP and kan+qaPC overlap in many of their functions in the same manner that their auxiliary-less counterparts do. The good news is that kan+AP and kan+qa-PC also resolve the overlap in the same manner that their auxiliary-less counterparts do, namely the aktionsarten mechanism combined with the restrictions on morphological productiveness reduce the overlap significantly. Additionally, each of the two constructions has its own unique function – kan+qa-PC usually indicates situations that occurred contrary to the expectations or the plans; kan+AP indicates the past perfect with telic verbs. Aspectual auxiliaries and periphrastic constructions other than those modified by /kan/ mark a specific aspectual color like the inchoative, the continuative, the intensive, and the iterative. A table that summarizes the functions of the different grams described above can be found in 3.7. 206
Modality Dozens of different grams were analyzed in Chapter 4 under three categories of modality, namely event modality, propositional modality, and conditional sentences. In the realm of event modality we found that other than the imperative mood, several affixes, and clitics have developed to convey different shades of directives. Thus, dǝ-IMP denotes urge and encouragment; ma-PC (second person) – an impatient imperative; ma+PC (second person) – a polite request; šū-IMP – a request that highlights the speaker's will; da-PC (first person) - a cohortative; xalli+PC (third person) – a jussive; a verb derived from the root xly to which an accusative ending is suffixed – permission; la+PC (second person) – a negative imperative; la-PC or taġa+PC – a warning; lǝ(y)kun-PC – a warning or a plea in case that the second person is involved. In addition, fossilized auxiliaries like /lazǝm/ or /yǝnġad/ convey obligation or necessity, whereas /ma yṣīġ/ conveys prohibition. The optative can be denoted by the PC or the SC when it concerns with wishes to God. Otherwise the particle /bāġi/ can also mark the optative, or also a PC modified by an auxiliary derived from the root √kwn in the PC. Negative optative is conveyed by the particle xō(b) followed by the negator /ma/ and a verb. Modal verbs also play a role in denoting event modality. Specifically the root ġwd denotes will, and the root qdġ denotes permission or ability. Physical ability can be conveyed also by the root ṭwq and ability that results from knowledge by the root ˁġf. Propositional modality concerns with possibility, certainty, and evidentiality. Possibility is conveyed by adverbs such as /garg/ "probably", /balki/ "maybe", /ˀakīd/ "surely", and others. We also discussed the different ways to convey the future under the umbrella of propositional modality. Other than the PC that denotes unreal future, and qa-PC that denotes planned future, JB presents two additional grams – hassa+PC for the imminent future and ġaḥ+PC for a future intention. In addition, a great deal of attention was paid for particles, which essentially play a role in the frame of information structure but have developed modal implications of factuality, certainty, and surprise. Thus, the particle /ma/ focuses on the factual value of previously mentioned information but is also used as a mirative. In the same manner, the particle /ġēġ/ focuses on the factual status of common knowledge. The particle /xō(b)/ is used as a rhematic marker in rhetorical questions but it also conveys high degree of certainty. The prefix /kǝn/ precedes a verb of saying in the PC and serves to code the transition between a narrative and an embedded dialogue but it was probably developed to function as a quotative. Finally, the particle /ˀašu-/ is used as a mirative and can also convey a high degree of certainty that results from witnessing the situation. As for conditional sentences, the constraints on the verb form of the protasis, on the protasis-apodosis verb combination, and on the conditional marker itself dictate whether the sentence denotes a general condition, a potential condition or a counterfactual one. General conditional sentence are non-modal. They are unmarked since they can host any verb in any position as well as any conditional marker. Potential conditional sentences are unreal in essence and thus host a PC in both the protasis and the apodasis. Like general conditionals, they are also not restricted in terms of the modal marker that opens the protasis. Counterfactual conditional sentences use either the SC, 207
kan+SC, or kan+PC in the protasis, whereas the verb of the apodosis is always in kan+SC. In fact, kan+SC is not restricted to conditional sentences as a marker of counterfactuality. Summarizing tables for the functions covered by the above mentioned grams can be found in the conclusion of the relevant sections: for event modality refer to 4.1.16; for propositional modality refer to 4.2.5; for conditional sentences refer to 4.3.4. Other than surveying the different modal grams, Chapter 4 attempted to find their diachronic source. This was done by reference to parallel grams which exist in neighbouring dialects as well as to the available literature about grammaticalization paths of modal grams cross-linguistically. An interesting finding in this respect was the tendency within JB's modal system for propositional modality markers to grammaticalize into event modality ones, and vice versa. A final note about the syntactic nature of the preverbal particles The syntactic and diachronic analysis of the different particles along the dissertation allows us, at this point, to define a continuum of syntactic attachment between the particle and the verb it modifies in relation to their relative phonetic attachment:
On one extreme of the continuum stand prefixes like /qa-/, /da-/, etc., which are a reduced form of an older auxiliary verb. They do not allow any other component of the sentence to intervene between them and the verb, and there is no need to repeat them in coordination. Fossilized auxiliary verbs which precede the PC, like /lazǝm-/ or /kan-/, come next – phonetically they lost only suprasegmental features; like prefixes they don’t agree with their agent and there is no need to repeat them in coordination, but unlike prefixes, other components of the sentence can come between them and the verb. Clitics like /hassa/, which do not originate in auxiliary verbs, also belong to this category. Inflected auxiliary verbs like the aspectual auxiliaries or /kan/ that precedes the AP or qa-PC are next in the continuum – they behave like fossilized auxiliaries, but they agree with their agent.
The particle of the three categories we presented so far, namely, prefixes, fossilized auxiliaries, and inflected auxiliaries, constitutes a part of the VP together with the verb it precedes. The following categories, on the other hand, involve two (or more) different VPs, i.e. two (or more) different clauses.
First in line are subordinate clauses which require the occurrence of a specific verb form. These include content clauses which are provoked by modal verbs and followed by a subjunctive PC, final clauses whose verb is a qa-PC, and ḥāl clauses. Next come subordinate clauses whose verb is not restricted in form but dictated by temporal consideration. These include content clauses which open with an interrogative or those that are provoked by a verb of perception, cognition, or communication, as well as temporal clauses.
208
Finally, on the other extreme of the continuum stand the verbs of coordinate clauses. Causal or relative clauses can be considered as coordinate ones as well since there are no constraints on their verb form. In addition, final clauses whose verb is not a qa-PC can be interpreted as coordinate clauses.
The description above can be summarized by the following sketch: < ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > VP prefix
clitic fossilized inflected auxiliary auxiliary
Subordinate clause verb form temporal value constraints constraints
coordinated clauses
Closing remarks Many considerations are involved in the choice of a specific verb form – temporal, aspectual, textual, syntactical, modal, etc. The choice is done in a way that makes it difficult to say when one category starts and the other ends. Thus, a matrix of variables stands behind the choice of each and every verbal form. This matrix is perfectly coded in the minds of JB speakers, and it was the goal of this dissertation to investigate its structure and mechanism. The analysis in Chapters 3 and 4 isolated each of these considerations at a time in a detailed discussion in order to check the extent of its influence on the verbal system. Thus, one should refer to the conclusive statements and generalizations made this section about the functions of each form cautiously and refer to the relevant section in the analysis for a fuller and a more precise picture. Other than the contribution for the syntactic description of this dialect, I believe that the rich corpus that was produced as a by-product of this dissertation is of great importance to the heritage of the Baghdadi Jewry. I feel fortunate to have been able to edit these materials and investigate them. This task is, nevertheless, not over. There are additional synchronic and diachronic issues in the scope of the TAM system of JB that are still open and deserve a deeper look. In addition, JB presents dozens of other fascinating phonological, morphological, syntactic, and pragmatic issues that are waiting for description. Moreover, other Mesopotamian dialects, among them Jewish and Christian dialects that are about to become extinct, were not as fortunate as JB so far. Many of them were not even described, and the ones that have been are usually limited to a phonological and morphological description. I hope that this dissertation has contributed to the linguistic knowledge of this fascinating region, and that it marks the beginning of extensive research of its variety.
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מנצור ,יעקב .תשע"א .להג הערבית המדוברת של יהודי בגדאד .ירושלים :מכון בן-צבי לחקר קהילות ישראל במזרח. נואמה ,אלי .תשס"ט .היבטים תחביריים-סמאנטיים של צורות הפועל בלהג הערבי של דמשק .ירושלים: האוניברסיטה העברית.
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האמצעים השונים לציון עתיד נבחנים גם הם תחת הפרק הרביעי מאחר וההבחנות ביניהם הן מודאליות בעיקרן .צורת ה PC-מסמנת עתיד לא ממשי ) ,(irrealisלעומת ה PC-שקודמות לה הקידומות qaאו ,hassaהמסמנות בהתאמה עתיד מתוכנן או קרוב ועל כן ודאי .הקידומת ġaḥנפוצה פחות בשימוש ומדגישה את כוונתו של מבצע הפעולה העתידית. שלושה סוגים של משפטי תנאי נבחנים .הראשון ,תנאי כללי ,איננו מודאלי והוא אינו מוגבל מבחינת צורות הפועל ברישא או בסיפא או מבחינת מילת התנאי הפותחת את הרישא .השני ,תנאי פוטנציאלי ,מביע תנאי לא ממשי וככזה הוא מכיל את ה PC-כפועל הן ברישא והן בסיפא .באופן סינכרוני כל מילת תנאי עשויה לפתוח את הרישא של משפט תנאי פוטנציאלי .הסוג השלישי והאחרון של משפטי תנאי ,תנאי בטל ,מאופיין באמצעות ה SC-שקודם לו פועל העזר המאובן kanבסיפא .צורת הפועל של הרישא היא בדרך כלל ה SC-או ה PC-אם או בלי פועל העזר .kanמשפטי תנאי בטל נפתחים בדרך כלל במילת התנאי ,lōאך באופן סינכורני מילות תנאי אחרות עשויות לפתוח את הרישא שלהם גם כן. לסיכום ,העבודה מראה כי בחירה בצורת פועל כרוכה בשיקולים תחביריים ,טקסטואליים ומודאליים המצטרפים לשיקולי זמן ואספקט .כל אלה פועלים יחד בקביעת ערכה הסמנטי של צורת פועל נתונה באופן היוצר מטריצה מורכבת של אפשרויות .עבודה זו שמה לה למטרה להבין את המטריצה ככל שניתן ולחשוף את האילוצים שעומדים בבסיסה.
מצב נסיבתית סימולטני לזה שמתואר בפסוקית הראשית .הפועל המופיע בפסוקיות סיבה או בפסוקיות זיקה אינו כפוף לאילוצים תחביריים מבחינת צורה או זמן. בשל החפיפה בין ה qa-PC ,PC-וה AP-תחת מטריית האימפרפקטיב ,האספקט הלקסיקאלי נבדק כמשתנה נוסף העלול להשפיע על צורת הפועל הנבחרת .אמנם שלוש הצורות עשויות לארח כל קטגוריה של אספקט לקסיקאלי ,אך באופן ספציפי לגבי שתי האחרונות ,קטגורייה שונה של אספקט לקסיקאלי מתקבלת בהצבת לקסמה מסויימת בכל אחת מהן .למעשה רק לקסמות סטטיביות שומרות על ערכן הסטטיבי הן עם ה AP-ועם .qa-PCעם זאת ,נדירות הן הלקסמות הסטטיביות )ואחרות( הפרודוקטיביות מבחינה מורפולוגית בשתי הצורות ,כך שהחפיפה הלכה למעשה היא מינימאלית ביותר .תוצאות דומות מתקבלות במקרה של החפיפה בין אותן הצורות כשקודם להן פועל העזר ,kanהמעביר את המצב המובע על ידי הפועל לזמן עבר. באשר לחפיפה בין ה PC-ל ,qa-PC-הניתוח מעלה שהיא מוגבלת הלכה למעשה לשני מקרים – שתיהן עשויות לציין אספקט לא-פרוגרסיבי או ,בדיאלוגים בלבד ,אספקט הרגלי .החפיפה הסינכרונית בשני המקרים הללו היא תוצאה של ההתפתחות הדיאכרונית של ,qa-PCשככל הנראה במקורה נועדה לסמן אספקט פרוגרסיבי ,אך עם השנים התפשטה לתחומים נוספים במישור האימפרפקטיבי .בנקודת הזמן הסינכרונית בה נבדק הלג שתי הצורות נאבקות על השליטה בתחום הלא-פרוגרסיבי ובתחום ההביטואלי, ועל כן שתיהן עשויות לסמן אותם. מעבר לארבע הצורות מציג הלהג פעלי עזר ומבנים נוספים התורמים מידע אספקטואלי .הפועל kanהקודם ל PC-מציין עבר הרגלי; פועל עזר הנגזר מהלקסמה "לקום" או "להתחיל" משמש לציון כניסה לפעולה ) ;(inchoativeזה שנגזר מ"להישאר" משמש לציון דבקות בפעולה ) ;(continuativeזה שנגזר מ"לחזור" מציין חזרה חד פעמית על פעולה; והכפלה של פועל מסמנת פעולה מתמשכת ואינטנסיבית. הפרק הרביעי סוקר מספר קידומות שפועלות במישור המודאלי .קידומות אלה נחלקות לשתי קטגוריות מרכזיות – אלה שמסמנות רצון ,הכרח ,צורך ,או יכולת מחד גיסא ,ואלה המסמנות אפשרות או ודאות ,או שמוסרות את מקורו של המידע מאידך גיסא .מעבר לניתוח תפקידן של הקידומות המודאליות מוסבת תשומת לב גם לבדיקת מקורן הדיאכרוני של הקידומות .לבסוף ,הפרק סוקר את האמצעים והמבנים השונים להבעת תנאי בלהג. נמצא כי גוונים רבים של הציווי כקטגוריה סמנטית מובעים באמצעות קידומות פועל שונות הבאות לפני צורת הציווי המורפולוגית או אף לפני ה .PC-באופן זה צורת הציווי המורפולוגי מביעה ציווי באופן בלתי מסומן .לעומתה ,הקידומת dǝקודמת לצורת הציווי ומביעה דחף או עידוד; maקודמת לגוף שני של ה PC-וצובעת את הציווי בחוסר סבלנות; šūקודמת לצורת הציווי ושמה דגש על רצונו של הדובר בהתגשמות הפעולה; daקודמת לגוף ראשון של ה PC-ומביעה עידוד עצמי; xalliקודמת לגוף שלישי של ה PC-ומשמשת כיוסיב; ציווי שלילי מובע באמצעות laהקודמת לגוף שני של ה ;PC-אותה הקידומת או מקבילתה lǝ(y)kunמביעות מניעה .בנוסף ,פעלי עזר מאובנים כמו ,yǝnġad ,lazǝmאו ma yṣīġ מציינים חובה ,צורך ,או איסור בהתאמה .איחול או משאלה )אופטטיב( עשויים להיות מובעים באמצעות ה PC-או ה SC-עצמם .הראשון נפוץ בבקשות המערבות את האל בעוד השני נפוץ בקללות .גם המילית bāġiמביעה אופטטיב והמילית ) xō(bאופטטיב שלילי .יכולת מובעת באמצעות פעלים מודאלים הנגזרים מלקסמות כמו "להיות יכול"" ,להיות מסוגל" ו"לדעת". דרגות שונות של אפשרות וודאות מסומנות באמצעות תארי פועל כמו balkiאו yǝmkǝn שמשמען "אולי"" ˀakīd ,בטוח" ודומיהם .בנוסף ,נמצא כי מיליות שממלאות תפקיד במסגרת מבנה המסר פיתחו אימפליקטורה מודאליות .כך לדוגמא ,מילית הפוקוס maמביעה הפתעה; המילית הרמטית ˀašu מביעה גם היא הפתעה ומסמנת ודאות הנסמכת על עדות באמצעות החושים; מילית הפוקוס ġēġמציינת דרגה גבוהה של ודאות וכך גם המילית ) .xō(bלבסוף ,הקידומת kǝnשימשה בעבר לסימון מידע שנמסר מגורם שלישי ,אך משמעות זו ככל הנראה נשחקה וכיום היא משמשת באופן אופציונאלי לסימון המעבר מנרטיב לדיאלוג.
תקציר הערבית היהודית של בגדאד דוברה על ידי הקהילה היהודית בעיר ובדרום עיראק במשך מאות שנים .הלהג ,השייך לקבוצת הלהגים המכונה ,qǝltuשונה מהלהגים שדיברו המוסלמים או הנוצרים בעיר. עבודה זו באה לתאר את אחד מהמאפיינים הלשוניים הבולטים של הלהג -תפקידן של קידומות הפועל שהתפתחו בו ,ובתוך כך תפקידן של היחידות הלשוניות השונות הלוקחות חלק במערכת הפועל. המחקר מתבססת על קורפוס המכיל הקלטות של דוברי הלהג .חלק גדול של ההקלטות תועתק בתעתיק פונמי ,תורגם לאנגלית ומופיע בנספח לעבודה זו .כתוצר לוואי של עבודת התעתיק גובשו אבני היסוד הפונולוגיים והמורפולוגיים של הלהג כפי שניתן למצוא בפרק השני של חיבור זה .אמנם תורת ההגה והצורות של הלהג תוארו כבר על ידי חיים בלנק ויעקב מנצור ,אך מספר גילויים חדשים שעלו מהעבודה על הקורפוס דירבנו אותי לכלול פרק זה בעבודה .יתרה מכך ,הפרק מאפשר למי שאינם בקיאים בלהג לרדת לעומקן של הדוגמאות הרבות המופיעות במהלך העבודה. הלהג מציג עשרות מורפמות דקדוקיות מסוגים שונים הקודמות לפועל ומוסיפות עליו מידע .באופן גס ניתן לחלק את המורפמות הללו ,שלהלן יכונו קידומות פועל ,לכאלה שפועלות על ציר הזמן-אספקט ולכאלה שמוסיפות גוון מודאלי לשיח .הפרק השלישי של העבודה עוסק בראשונות והפרק הרביעי באחרונות. קידומת הפועל המרכזית הנבחנת בפרק השלישי היא ,qaהמופיעה לפני נטיית התחיליות )qa- .(PCהניתוח שנערך בפרק גורס שיש להתייחס ל qa-PC-כצורת פועל רביעית שהצטרפה לצורות שמקורן במערכת הפועל של הערבית העתיקה – נטיית התחיליות ) ,(PCנטיית הסופיות ) (SCוהבינוני הפועל ) .(APעל כן יש להסיק לגבי התפקיד שממלאה הצורה qa-PCתוך בחינת הניגודים המבניים בינה ובין שאר הצורות במערכת .בחינה זו נעשית באמצעות בידודם של מספר משתנים המשפיעים על היקרותן של הצורות. כהקדמה לניתוח פותח הפרק השלישי בהצגת התפקידים המרכזיים שממלאה כל צורה .באופן כללי ניתן לומר שה SC-מציינת זמן עבר ,בעוד ששלוש האחרות זמן הווה-עתיד .מבחינה אספקטואלית הSC- פרפקטיבית במהותה ,בעוד האחרות אימפרפקטיביות .באופן ספציפי ,ה PC-עשויה לסמן מצבים לא- פרוגרסיביים ,הרגליים ,איטרטיביים או אמת כללית; qa-PCעשויה לסמן גם מצבים פרוגרסיביים ואף נקודתיים בנוסף לכל הקטגוריות שמסמנת ה ;PC-ה AP-עשויה לסמן מצבים פרוגרסיביים ,לא- פרוגרסיביים והרגליים ,אך משמשת כפרפקט בתנאים מסויימים .תיאור כללי זה מציג באופן ברור מקרים של חפיפה בתפקידים שממלאות הצורות השונות .חפיפה זו תיבחן גם היא לעומקה במהלך העבודה. המשתנה הראשון שמבודד הוא סוג הטקסט .כמו שפות שמיות אחרות גם מערכת הפועל של להג זה רגישה לסוג הטקסט ,כלומר צורות הפועל מתפקדות באופן שונה בסוגים שונים של טקסט .ההבחנה המרכזית היא בין טקסטים נרטיביים לדיאלוגים ,אך תשומת לב ניכרת ניתנת גם לחלקי הרקע והחזית של טקסטים נרטיביים .לאחר בחינה איכותית וכמותית של צורות הפועל המופיעות בסוגי הטקסט השונים ניכר כי כל צורות הפועל עשויות להופיע בדיאלוגים .נרטיבים ,לעומת זאת ,רגישים יותר .ה SC-היא צורת הפועל המרכזית המשמשת בחזית לקידום הנרטיב ,אם כי ה PC-עלולה לשמש גם היא בתפקיד זה בהווה ההסטורי .ה qa-PC ,PC-וה AP-מופיעות בעיקר ברקע של הנרטיב .עם זאת ,הראשונה עשויה להופיע גם בחלק ההתרה של הסיפור ,השניה בחלק הסיום של אפיזודה והשלישית אופיינית לפסוקיות נסיבתיות. הסביבה התחבירית היא המשתנה השני שמבודד .ישנן פסוקיות בהן ה PC-חייבת להופיע כסוביונקטיב כגון פסוקיות תוכן שנפתחות בעקבות פעלים מודאליים ,או פסוקיות תכלית .הפועל בפסוקיות מצב נסיבתיות עשוי להופיע כ qa-PC-או כ AP-בלבד .שאר סוגי הפסוקיות אינם מוגבלים מבחינת צורות הפועל .חלקם ,עם זאת ,גוררים קיומה של צורת פועל בעלת ציון זמן ספציפי .כך ,לדוגמא ,הפועל של פסוקית תוכן שאינה משלימה פועל מודאלי הוא יחסי לפועל של הפסוקית הראשית מבחינת ציון הזמן שלו; הפועל של פסוקית זמן זהה בציון הזמן שלו לזה של הפועל בפסוקית הראשית; והמצב המתואר בפסוקית
עבודה זו נעשתה בהדרכתם של פרופסור ערן כהן ופרופסור סימון הופקינס
תפקידן של קידומות הפועל בערבית היהודית של בגדאד
חיבור לשם קבלת תואר דוקטור לפילוסופיה מאת אסף בר-משה
הוגש לסנט האוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים טבת תשע"ז
תפקידן של קידומות הפועל בערבית היהודית של בגדאד
חיבור לשם קבלת תואר דוקטור לפילוסופיה מאת אסף בר-משה
הוגש לסנט האוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים טבת תשע"ז
