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Aspect, Modality, and Tense in Badiaranke

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Aspect, Modality, and Tense in Badiaranke Aspect, Modality, and Tense in Badiaranke by Rebecca Tamar Cover A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Line Mikkelsen, Chair Professor Lev Michael Professor Alan Timberlake Spring 2010 Aspect, Modality, and Tense in Badiaranke © 2010 by Rebecca Tamar Cover 1 Abstract Aspect, Modality, and Tense in Badiaranke by Rebecca Tamar Cover Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics University of California, Berkeley Professor Line Mikkelsen, Chair Most formal analyses of the semantics of tense, aspect, and modality (TAM) have been developed on the basis of data from a small number of well-studied languages. In this dissertation, I describe and analyze the TAM system of Badiaranke, an Atlantic (Niger- Congo) language spoken in Senegal, Guinea, and Guinea-Bissau, which manifests several cross-linguistically unusual features. I develop a new semantic proposal for Badiaranke TAM that explains its distinctive properties while also building on the insights of earlier analyses of TAM in more commonly studied languages. Aspect in Badiaranke has two initially surprising features. First, the perfective is used to talk not only about past events (as expected), but also about present states (not expected). Second, the imperfective is used to talk not only about ongoing or habitually recurring eventualities (as expected), but also about future and epistemically probable eventualities, as well as in consequents of conditionals and counterfactuals (not expected). I develop a modal explanation of these patterns, relying on the distinction between settled pasts and branching futures (Dowty 1977, Kaufmann et al. 2006) as well as Kratzer's (1981, 1991b) proposal for contextually varying modal bases and ordering sources. I also describe and analyze a number of other aspects in Badiaranke whose distribution and semantics are affected by those of the perfective and imperfective. On my treatment, Badiaranke aspect is inextricably with modality. Tense is less central to Badiaranke than aspect, in the sense that all Badiaranke sentences are marked for aspect, but not all are marked for tense. Nonetheless, Badiaranke has two distinct past tense suffixes. I argue that both suffixes express a type of discontinuous past tense (in the sense of Plungian and van der Auwera (2006)); specifically, they shift perspective time into the past and implicate that the eventuality is no longer relevant at some later time. The difference between the two is modal: one appears in irrealis environments (where the eventuality is not necessarily realized in the matrix world of evaluation) while the other appears in realis environments. Because of the modal nature of Badiaranke aspect, aspect interacts in interesting ways with modal verbs, which themselves take aspect marking in this language. For epistemic modals, aspect on the modal itself makes no detectable semantic difference, while aspect 2 on the modal's complement affects modal orientation (in the sense of Condoravdi (2002)). For deontic modals, perfective marking triggers the presupposition that the subject is ca- pable of carrying out the action, while imperfective marking expresses simple permission (or obligation). I show that my semantics for Badiaranke aspect, together with well-founded assumptions about the relative scopes of aspect and modality, successfully accounts for these interactions between modal verbs and aspect. The dissertation is intended to be of interest both to formal semanticists, in that it contributes evidence about the semantics of TAM cross-linguistically, and to Africanists and typologists, in that it describes in detail part of the grammar of an under-described African language. i To my parents and Aliza, who have supported me since day one, and to Jason, for sticking with me through it all. ii Acknowledgments I have so many people to thank that these acknowledgments feel like an Academy Awards acceptance speech. I apologize in advance to anyone whose contribution I inadvertently omit. I am extremely grateful to my consultants, Bouly Niabaly, Sountour´eNiabaly, and Kady Niabaly, who patiently spent hours and hours answering my questions about Badiaranke, no matter how dull, and teaching me about their language and culture. I am equally indebted to my other Badiaranke hosts and friends in Paroumba, Pakour, and surrounding villages in Senegal, as well as in Sounkoutou, Guinea. In Paroumba, Walibo Camara kindly hosted me in his compound during each of my three fieldwork periods, even though he had no idea that I was coming the first time around; thank goodness for Senegalese teranga, or hospitality. Everyone in the household welcomed me warmly and did everything possible to make me comfortable, especially Bambey Niabaly, who took care of me, ate with me, and kept me company both in Paroumba and in Guinea; Oumar Camara, who gave up his hut each time so that I could live in it; and Malaado Kant´e,whose friendship provided a bright spot in every day. Thanks are due as well to Babacar Niabaly, the chief of Paroumba, who gave his blessing to my project and always made me feel like an honored guest in his village. I cannot convey enough gratitude to Kokoudo San´e,who not only hosted me in Pakour on multiple occasions but also taught me so much about Badiaranke culture, took me to Koufambora to record the incredible singers there, and understood the purpose of my fieldwork perhaps better than anyone else. For my fieldwork in Guinea, I am particularly grateful to Sekou Bandia, the president of the district, who took in Bambey and myself despite our unanticipated appearance, let us stay in his own hut, and went all out to help me record stories, songs, and conversations in Sounkoutou. The hospitality shown to us by the people of Sounkoutou was incredible, especially that of Famora Bandia, whom I had met in Senegal years before and who brought us more edible gifts than we could consume. I might not have met any of these people if it were not for the generosity, friendship, and contacts of Siradio Diao, a teacher and administrator in Velingara who hosted me at his home countless times and introduced me to his Badiaranke neighbors. These neighbors, especially Mbaliya Bandia, taught me my first Badiaranke vocabulary and were always tickled to hear evidence of my progress when I passed through Velingara. Siradio's father, Malick Diao, helped me identify Paroumba as the ideal fieldwork base. I owe thanks to the network of Peace Corps - Senegal volunteers, both those who were serving at the time of my fieldwork and those with whom I served between 2000 and 2002. My stage-mate Sara Buck originally put me in touch with Siradio, thereby helping to make the whole project possible. I also thank the volunteers in the Tambacounda region between 2004 and 2008, who let me stay in the regional house on my way to and from Paroumba, and those in Kaolack in 2008, when I stayed in the regional house there. Thanks are due as well to the missionaries from the New Tribes Mission, especially Dan and Wanda Cook, for putting me up in Tonguia when I was stranded there and for helping me to choose a suitable field site. I cannot leave out my incredible friends and \family" in Thiangaye, Senegal, where iii as a Peace Corps Volunteer I developed the love of Senegal that drew me back there time and again. On the logistical front, I am grateful to past and current staff at the West African Re- search Center in Dakar, especially Mar`emeBarry, Abdoulaye Niang, and Ousmane S`ene, who helped me obtain research permits from the Ministry of Scientific Research. I also ap- preciate the assistance of many members of the Friends of Guinea listserv: Christi Carlstead, Aliou Diallo, Ibrahim Diallo, Meaghan Dunn, Julie Kaminsky, Barbara Lemaire, Jill Mar- iani, Susan Martonosi, Heather Radford, Emily Sharp, and Laura Thomas shared helpful information about Badiaranke-speaking villages in Guinea, and I may never have gotten the necessary paperwork for Guinea if it weren't for Mark Lynd and his colleague Mamounan Kpokomou. Funding for my research came from a West African Research Association Pre- Doctoral Research Fellowship, a Rocca Fellowship from the Center for African Studies at Berkeley, a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, and a Documenting Endangered Languages grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Closer to home, I could not have completed this dissertation without the support I re- ceived from so many people at Berkeley. First and foremost, my advisor, Line Mikkelsen, has been incredible in every way. Every time I met with Line, I came away feeling inspired and motivated; her earnest interest and insightful comments always made me feel that I had accomplished something worthwhile. Throughout my graduate career, she offered in- valuable suggestions of readings and paths of investigation to advance my research. Equally importantly, Line has the rare quality of having always made me feel that she had learned something from me during these meetings and found that something intriguing. She has also gone above and beyond to provide unbelievably detailed feedback on all the work that I have shown her, at all stages; every one of her comments was useful and improved the quality of my work. She somehow manages to be a brilliant researcher, dynamic teacher, and supportive mentor all at the same time. I am deeply grateful as well to the other members of my committee, Lev Michael and Alan Timberlake. Lev enthusiastically came on board despite the late timing of my request and has been wonderful ever since. He, too, has struck the perfect balance between support and advice, providing both positive feedback and insightful suggestions about how to make my arguments more persuasive.
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