[Lingtyp] realis: definition

[Riccardo Giomi]

 Dear Vladimir,

As far as I know, the 'standard' definitions of realis and irrealis are to
be found in

Comrie, Bernard. 1985. *Tense.* Cambridge: CUP.

A more recent contribution, which specifically addresses these notions, is

Elliot, Jennifer R. 2000. Realis and irrealis: Forms and concepts of the
grammaticalisation of reality. *Linguistic Typology* 4(1), 55-90.

In my understanding, realis and irrealis are modal notions relating to the
reality or actuality status of states of affairs and usually (or, at least,
often) encompass temporal oppositions such as future vs non-future and
aspectual ones such as specific vs habitual. Assertive and declarative are
illocutionary notions and contrast with interrogative, imperative, etc.
(although 'declarative mood' is used with quite variable meanings in
different descriptive traditions). But probably others can make these
concepts more precise and add further, typologically-based definitions.

Cheers,
Riccardo

Vladimir Panov <panovmeister at gmail.com> escreveu no dia terça, 20/07/2021
à(s) 10:04:

> Dear colleagues,
>
> I would be grateful you could recommend me works which provide typological
> definitions of *the realis*. Crucially, I wonder how it is distinguished
> from the assertive speech act or the declarative.
>
> Best,
> Vladimir
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-- 
Riccardo Giomi, Ph.D.
Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa (FLUL)
Departamento de Linguística Geral e Românica (DLGR)
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