On the cross-linguistic consistency of an elusive category
Rik van Gijn | Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics
Sonja Gipper | Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics
The linguistic category of irrealis does not show stable semantics across languages. This makes it difficult to formulate general statements about this category, and it has led some researchers to reject irrealis as a cross-linguistically valid category. In this paper we look at the semantics of the irrealis category of Yurakaré, an unclassified language spoken in central Bolivia, and compare it to irrealis semantics of a number of other languages. Languages differ with respect to the subcategories they subsume under the heading of irrealis. The variable subcategories are future tense, imperatives, negatives, and habitual aspect. We argue that the cross-linguistic variation is not random, and can be stated in terms of an implicational scale.
2024. 未來不等於非現實語氣. Language and Linguistics. 語言暨語言學
Olguin Martinez, Jesus & Phillip Rogers
2024. A cross-linguistic analysis of cross-clausal associations: Counterfactual conditionals. STUF - Language Typology and Universals 77:4 ► pp. 467 ff.
Olguín Martínez, Jesus
2024. The interaction of irrealis markers and blocking effects in counterfactual conditionals: theoretical implications. Linguistic Typology
Vinogradov, Igor & Carlos Ivanhoe Gil Burgoin
2024. El sufijo de irrealis en kumiay de San José de la Zorra. Anales de Antropología 58:1 ► pp. 33 ff.
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