22.2813, Diss: Syntax: Hayashi': 'The Structure of Multiple Tenses in Inuktitut'

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LINGUIST List: Vol-22-2813. Fri Jul 08 2011. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 22.2813, Diss: Syntax: Hayashi': 'The Structure of Multiple Tenses in Inuktitut'

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1)
Date: 08-Jul-2011
From: Midori Hayashi [midori.hayashi at gmail.com]
Subject: The Structure of Multiple Tenses in Inuktitut
 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Fri, 08 Jul 2011 20:33:21
From: Midori Hayashi [midori.hayashi at gmail.com]
Subject: The Structure of Multiple Tenses in Inuktitut

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Institution: University of Toronto 
Program: Department of Linguistics 
Dissertation Status: Completed 
Degree Date: 2011 

Author: Midori Hayashi

Dissertation Title: The Structure of Multiple Tenses in Inuktitut 

Dissertation URL:  http://semanticsarchive.net/Archive/GE1YzI1Y/

Linguistic Field(s): Syntax

Subject Language(s): Inuktitut, Eastern Canadian (ike)

Language Family(ies): Inuit


Dissertation Director(s):
Alana Johns

Dissertation Abstract:

This thesis presents and analyzes the tense system of South Baffin
Inuktitut (SB), a Canadian variety of the Inuit language. It demonstrates
that although closely related dialects have been argued to be tenseless
(Shaer, 2003; Bittner, 2005), SB has a complex tense system where the
present, past, and future are distinguished, and the past and future are
divided into more fine-grained temporal domains. 

I demonstrate that SB has present tense, which is indicated by the absence
of a tense marker. A sentence without an overt tense marker may describe a
past eventuality if it contains a punctual event predicate; otherwise, it
describes an eventuality that holds at the utterance time. I argue that all
zero-marked sentences have present tense and any past interpretation is
aspectual. I also investigate six different past markers and demonstrate
that they all instantiate grammatical tense. The analysis shows that these
markers can be semantically classified into two groups, depending in part
on whether or not they block more general tenses (e.g., -qqau, the 'today'
past blocks the use of the general past -lauq when the time of eventuality
falls within 'today'). I label both the general tenses and the group which
can block the general tenses as primary tense, whereas the other group
which does not block more general tenses is labelled secondary tense. This
distinction may have broad cross-linguistic applicability. I examine the
distribution of four different future markers and argue that three of them
indicate grammatical future tense. They are also grouped into two groups,
in the same manner as the past tenses. Finally, I analyze the temporal
interpretations of primary tenses in dependent clauses. I show that when
tense is interpreted relative to the time of the superordinate eventuality,
the domain of tense may not necessarily shift accordingly (e.g., the domain
of hodiernal tense in a main clause is the day of utterance, and in an
embedded clause the domain can still be the day of utterance). Embedded
tenses with remoteness specifications have not been investigated before,
and this thesis opens up a new area to our understanding of tenses in human
language. 







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