of past, present and future.
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(i) Recent Past :
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When the speaker speaks of an event which took place
prior to the utterance but neither resulted nor was followed by another
event, the verbal inflexion is for recent past regardless of the time that
might have elapsed after the event. However, there is a natural limit on the
time lag, since one cannot conceive of a very long interval of time without
any happening, action or event. The inflexion is marked by the suffix /-so/.
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(79)
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/h 1
tap 2
thįso3/ |
`I1 ate3
rice2’
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This sentence would entail that the event occurred just
prior to the utterance and no other event intervenes. That is, an implicated
sentence like (79a) is ungrammatical because the first clause cannot have
the second clause as an entailment.
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(79a)
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*/cyįwč1
tamyā2 syéyągõ3
hibį 4
bóso5/ |
`he1 went5 to the forest4
and the tiger2 killed3 (him)’
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where the second clause is a direct consequence of the first. The
sentence should read as
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(79b)
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*/cyįwč1
tamyā2
syčyągõ3 hibį
4
bóliyą5/
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(ii) Remote Past :
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When the utterance specifies an event
which occurred and was followed by other events which need not necessarily
be a consequence of the first event, the verb takes the remote past
inflexion marked by the suffix /-liyą/.
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(80)
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| */h1
tap2 thįliyą3/ |
`I1 ate3 rice2’
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It usually signifies a lapse of a
fairly long interval of time between the happening of the event and the
utterance. This inflexion does not usually occur with adverbs of very recent
time as in, say,
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(81)
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*/h1
tyagõ2 tap 3
thįliyą4/ |
`I1
ate4 rice3
just now2’
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unless the speaker intends to
implicate another action as a consequence like in the sentence (79b). The
exclusive use of remote past in implicative sentences seems to be one
essential difference in the two past tenses.
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(iii) Immediate Future :
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When the speaker expects the event to
follow the utterance without the intervention of any other event or without
any time lag, the verb takes the inflexion for immediate future. It is
marked by two suffixes whose distribution is determined by the subject in
the sentence.
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