Relative Tense and Aspectual Values in Tibetan Languages

A Comparative Study

Bettina Zeisler

• Publisher: De Gruyter Mouton
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9783110178685
• eBook ISBN: 9783110908183
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Linguistics
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

This study presents a comparative approach to a universal theory of TENSE, ASPECT and MOOD, combining the methods of comparative and historical linguistics, fieldwork, text linguistics, and philology. The parts of the book discuss and describe (i) the concepts of TENSE, ASPECT and MOOD; (ii) the Tibetan system of RELATIVE TENSE and aspectual values, with main sections on Old and Classical Tibetan, "Lhasa" Tibetan, and East Tibetan (Amdo and Kham); and (iii) West Tibetan (Ladakhi, Purik, Balti); Part (iv) presents the comparative view.

Discussing the similarities and differences of temporal and aspectual concepts, the study rejects the general claim that ASPECT is a linguistic universal. A new linguistic concept, FRAMING, is introduced in order to account for the aspect-like conceptualisations found in, e.g., English. The concept of RELATIVE TENSE or taxis, may likewise not be universal.

Among the Tibetan varieties, West Tibetan is unique in having fully grammaticalized the concept of ABSOLUTE TENSE. West Tibetan is compared diachronically with Old and Classical Tibetan (documented since the mid 8th century) and synchronically with several contemporary Tibetan varieties. The grammaticalized forms of each variety are described on the basis of their employment in discourse. The underlying general function of the Tibetan verbal system is thus shown to be that of RELATIVE TENSE. Secondary aspectual functions are described for restricted contexts. A special focus on the pragmatic or metaphorical use of present tense constructions in Tibetan leads to a typology of narrative conventions. The last part also offers some suggestions for the reconstruction of the Proto-Tibetan verb system.

Table of contents

• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Table of contents
• Abbreviations and conventions
• Introduction
• Part I. The concepts of TENSE, ASPECT, and MOOD (TAM)
• 1 Markedness and meaning
• 2 Events and presentation of events in language
• 3 Some possible conceptualisations of events
• 3.1 TYPE OF ACTOR, TYPE OF EVENT, TYPE OF SITUATION
• 3.2 ABSOLUTE and RELATIVE TENSE
• 3.3 PHASE and QUANTIFICATION
• 3.4 ASPECT and FRAMING
• 3.5 ACTUALISATION: the current relevance of the resulting state
• 4 Prototypes of ASPECT and FRAMING
• 4.1 Model I: Slavic languages
• 4.2 Model II: Ancient Greek and Romance languages
• 4.3 The combination of model I and II: Bulgarian
• 4.4 Model III: Arabic and other “tenseless” languages
• 4.5 English: the counter-model of FRAMING
• 4.6 German: a language without ASPECT or FRAMING
• 5 Convergence: pragmatic functions of TAM concepts
• 5.1 Shifting the narrated time
• 5.2 Shaping of information: on and off the main story line
• 5.3 Shaping of attention: involvement and detachment of narrator and audience
• 5.4 Sequential and circumstantial mode in non-narrative discourses
• 6 Interrelation and interaction: towards a delimitation of TAM concepts
• 6.1 Interaction of ASPECT and FRAMING with TYPE OF EVENT (or SITUATION)
• 6.2 Interrelations of ASPECT and FRAMING with TENSE-A
• 6.3 Structural versus relational: ASPECT/FRAMING and TENSE-R
• 6.4 ACTUALISATION, ASPECT, and TENSE-R
• 6.5 QUANT and its relation to ASPECT/FRAMING and TENSE-A
• 6.6 A synopsis of different types of aspect and aspectless languages
• 6.7 A tentative ranking of languages according to the presence or absence of elementary aspectual features
• 6.8 Multifunctionality and the paradoxa of markedness
• Part II. The Tibetan system of RELATIVE TENSE and aspectual values
• 1 General features of Tibetan languages
• 1.1 Classification of Tibetan languages
• 1.2 Transliteration and phonemic transcription
• 2 The Tibetan “verb”
• 2.1 TYPE OF ACTOR, TYPE OF EVENT, and CASE
• 2.2 Basic oppositions: the ideal set of four verb stems
• 2.3 The “non-finite” or “nominal” character of the stems
• 2.4 Negation
• 2.5 Agreement and EVIDENTIALITY
• 3 Old and Classical Tibetan
• 3.1 Periphrastic constructions of TENSE and PHASE
• 3.2 Future stem: modal and temporal functions
• 3.3 Present stem and present tense forms in non-past time context
• 3.4 Present stem and present tense forms in past time context
• 3.5 Past stem in past time context
• 3.6 Past stem in inactual contexts
• 3.7 Excursus: Morphological arguments for aspectuality in Tibetan
• 3.8 Conclusion: the set of oppositions in Old and Classical Tibetan
• 4 Modern Tibetan – “Lhasa” dialect
• 4.1 TENSE and aspectual values: overview
• 4.2 The main temporal constructions
• 4.3 Compound expressions of derived PHASE
• 4.4 Present tense forms in past time context
• 4.5 “Non-finite” uses of the present stem
• 4.6 The “non-finite” use of the past stem
• 4.7 Excursus: the pragmatic feature of ergative split
• 4.8 Conclusion: the set of oppositions in “Lhasa” Tibetan
• 5 East Tibetan: Amdo and Kham
• 5.1 TENSE and aspectual values: overview
• 5.2 The main temporal constructions
• 5.3 Compound expressions of derived PHASE
• 5.4 Present tense forms in past time context
• 5.5 “Non-finite” use of the past and present stem
• 5.6 Conclusion: the set of oppositions in East Tibetan
• Part III. West Tibetan (Ladakhi, Purik, Balti)
• 1 General features
• 1.1 The data
• 1.2 Defining the area: Phonological and morphological isoglosses
• 2 The verb
• 2.1 Stems, TYPE OF ACTOR, neutralisation of stems
• 2.2 Aesthetive: Dative/Locative “subject”
• 2.3 Ergative split
• 2.4 TENSE and aspectual values: the main temporal constructions
• 2.5 Compound expressions of derived PHASE
• 2.6 Modal markers
• 2.7 Particularities of negation
• 3 The main temporal constructions
• 3.1 Functions of the mere present stem
• 3.2 Future tense constructions
• 3.3 Common Present/Future
• 3.4 Expanded Present
• 3.5 Recent past
• 3.6 Imperfect
• 3.7 Simple and Marked Past
• 3.8 ACTUALISATION
• 3.9 Periphrastic Past
• 4 Narrative and other conventions
• 4.1 Reported speech acts
• 4.2 Narrational Imperfect
• 4.3 Narrative Present
• 4.4 Narrative Perfect
• 5 Conclusion: the set of oppositions in West Tibetan
• Part IV. A comparative view
• 1 Some suggestions concerning the development of the verb stems
• 1.1 The original semantics of the “imperative” stem
• 1.2 The original semantics of the “past” stem of controlled action verbs
• 1.3 Reinterpretation of the various stem forms in terms of TENSE-R and MOOD: The ideal set of four plus two stem forms
• 2 The development of the Modern Tibetan languages
• 2.1 Morphology: stems and the compound constructions
• 2.2 Relative and absolute temporal coding
• 3 Final conclusion
• Authors’ index (thematic)
• References