for
mood). If, however, a particular language has a set of one or more grammatical
device for `marking’ sentences according to the speaker’s
commitments with respect to the factual status of what he is saying (his
emphatic certainity, his uncertainity or doubt etc.), it is customary
to refer to the unmarked sentence also (by courtesy, as it were) as being
in a certain mood and the traditional term for this unmarked mood is indicative
or declarative”1. |
Like most of the other known languages, a few modals for expressing the
speaker’s commitments with reference to the factual status of what
he is saying (for instance, his emphatic certainity his uncertainity,
his command etc.) are available in Sema also. The modals available in
Sema are indicative, polite and simple imperative, potential, probability1
probability2 and conditional. A paradigm of the verb wú `go’
showing the forms of the different modals are given below : |
|
wú anì |
`
is going (indicative : Unmarked)’ |
|
wúlò |
`go
(simple imp.)’ |
|
wúle |
`please
go (polite imperative)’ |
|
wú kepu sia |
`has/have
to go (obligatory)’ |
|
wúlunanì |
`can
go (potential)’ |
|
wúluwi |
`may
go (doubtful) - probability1’ |
|
wúluwi Kenì |
might
go (probability2)’ |
cala nono i i
aye niye únanì |
`if
you come, I will go (conditional)’ |
|
|
From
the examples given above, the markers for different modals can be abstracted.
These are stated below : |
|
Indicative |
(Unmarked) |
|
simple imperative |
lò |
|
polite imperative |
le |
|
obligatory |
kepu sia |
|
potential |
lu
nanì |
|
probability1 |
luwi |
|
probability2 |
luwi
kenì |
|
conditional |
cala
. . . . aye |
|
|
|
1.
John Lyons : Introduction to theoritical linguistics, 1974 : 307. |
A brief discussion of the use of each of the modals follows. |
Indicative
Modal |
It expresses simple statement of facts without conveying about the attitude
of the speaker to wards what he is saying. The modl is unmarked. It is
available with different tenses and aspects, as in : |
pi
|
`say/speak’ |
pinì
|
`is saying’ |
|
wúanì |
`is
going’ |
|
wúwà |
`went’
etc. |
|
|
Imperative
modal |
The Sema language makes use of two types of imperatives viz., simple and
polite imperatives. The simple imperative is a command or instruction
issued directly to the addressee and the polite imperative, though a request
to an addressee, is also expected to be carried out by the addressee in
the same way a simple command is issued. The examples of the two are given
below : |
Simple
imperative modal |
It expresses a command or injunction. It is formed by the
simple imperative marker lò suffixed
directly to the verb root., as in : |
|
wúlò |
`go
(imp)’ |
|
cúlò |
`eat
(imp)’ |
|
alacelò |
`walk
(imp)’ |
|
zúlò |
`sleep
(imp)’ |
|
|
Polite
imperative modal |
It
is also formed by suffixing directly the polite imperative marker le to
the verb root, as in : |
wúle
|
`please go’ |
|
cúle |
`please
eat’ |
|
alacele |
`please
walk’ |
z le
|
`please
sleep’ etc. |
|
|
Obligatory
modal |
The obligatory modal, like the imperative is a clear instruction to a
person to perform the action indicated by the verb. There are, however,
four major differences in the use of these modals. These are: The imperative
is available only in the II person whereas the obligatory is available
in all the three persons including the |
