33.3420, FYI: The Expression and Acquisition of Irrealis: Crosslinguistic Perspectives

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-33-3420. Thu Nov 03 2022. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 33.3420, FYI: The Expression and Acquisition of Irrealis: Crosslinguistic Perspectives

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Editor for this issue: Everett Green <everett at linguistlist.org>
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Date: Thu, 03 Nov 2022 08:08:29
From: Dalila Ayoun [ayoun at arizona.edu]
Subject: The Expression and Acquisition of Irrealis: Crosslinguistic Perspectives

 
The conceptual notion between what is real and what is not goes back to
Antiquity when a distinction was made between the real material world and the
immaterial world that people can imagine and express linguistically. While
Greek and Latin termed this linguistic representation potentialis and
irrealis, the terms realis/irrealis are now used to distinguish between actual
and non-actual events (Chung & Timberlake 1985). 
Irrealis is thus taken to refer to counterfactual, hypothetical events,
whereas realis is reserved for factual, actual events. The equivalent French
term irréel first appeared in Job (1893: 552) to describe present subjunctive
as a “mode irréel présent” (cited in Hounhouayenou-Toffa 2016). Different
terminology has been used such as actual/potential (e.g. Cornyn & Roop 1987)
or factive/non-factive (e.g. Feldman 1986) to refer to the same concepts. 
In modern languages, realis and irrealis are arguably grammatical categories
that exist in relation to one another as two contrasting parts in that
irrealis indicates the suspension or absence of reality that realis expresses.
Although it is also argued that the realis/irrealis distinction is not valid
cross-linguistically based on diachronic, typological and functional arguments
(e.g. Bybee et al. 1994), convincing counter-arguments are presented in Givón
(1994) in his analysis of irrealis and the subjunctive (see also Cristaforo
2012). He essentially argues that irrealis is “a complex, multi-dimensional
semantic-pragmatic domain” (ibid: 306). The fact that for instance the
past-habitual expresses realis in some languages but also irrealis in others
does not invalidate the realis/irrealis distinction. It merely underscores its
complexity and multi-layers. 
The relationship between realis/irrealis distinctions in individual languages
and how similar or different they are can be understood in the same way as
tense except that realis/irrealis constructions appear to be more
multidimensional since they encompass not only deontic and epistemic
modalities, but also aspect, negation and various speech acts. Speakers use
these constructions in a variety of contexts, settings, interactions and
communicative goals. 
However the concept of irrealis may be labelled, since it is expressed in most
languages, it is relevant to language use and acquisition in spoken and signed
languages. 
Since the first time the term irrealis was published to describe categories in
non-European languages as in Sapir’s (1930) grammar of Southern Paiute (Brooks
2018), numerous descriptive accounts on a variety of languages have been
published (e.g. Hijazi Arabic in Al Zahrani 2020; Russian in Bocale 2018;
Southern Arawakan languages in Danielsen & Terhart 2015; Wogeo in Exter 2012;
Persian in Ilkhanipour 2018; Basque, Turkish and Papuan in Jendraschek 2011;
Nafsan in Krajinocić Rodrigues 2020; Modern Mayan languages in Vinogradov
2012). Much fewer empirical studies in L1/L2 acquisition studies investigated
irrealis (e.g. Ayoun 2013; Bardovi-Harlig 2017; Flores et al. 2017; Howard
2009; Perales et al. 2022; Poplack 2001). 

The proposed edited volume will fill this gap with contributions that will
include: 
- A descriptive account of how the concept of irrealis is expressed in the
targeted language(s) 
- A strong theoretical framework
- Acquisition/learnability implications
- Original empirical data (L1 acquisition; signed languages as first or second
languages; heritage speakers; creole speakers; L2 learners;
bilingual/multilingual speakers)

The fact that irrealis is such a complex concept that may be expressed in
various ways cross-linguistically promises to yield very interesting studies
from both a theoretical perspective as well as an empirical perspective. 

John Benjamins is interested in publishing this volume in the Studies in
Language Companion Series.
Please submit an expression of interest (title, short description) (by
December 1, 2022 (ayoun at arizona.edu). Thank you.
 



Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics
                     Language Acquisition
                     Morphology
                     Psycholinguistics
                     Syntax





 



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