here - 5th International Conference on Bantu Languages

Persistence and Remoteness in the Bantu tense
Silvester Ron Simango
Rhodes University, South Africa
Abstract
Bantu languages are well known for the robustness of their tense systems, with some
languages endowed with up to ten or more tenses – each tense presumably
representing a specific area on the timeline. This paper explores the manner in
which Bantu tenses encode degrees of remoteness and seeks to show that certain
properties associated with Bantu tenses do not directly relate to degrees of
remoteness. Consider, as a starting point the expression of a past situation in
Babanki. In this language t<strong>here</strong> are no less than four ways of expressing the sense
conveyed by the sentence in (1).
(1) Maureen closed the door
(a) mòrín ə̀ yì chíʔ ə̀-chʉ̀ ə̀ ø-ŋgə̀ŋ
(b) mòrín ə̀ yî chíʔ ə̀-chʉ̀ ə̀ ø-ŋgə̀ŋ
(c) mòrín ə̀ tə̀ chíʔ ə̀-chʉ̀ ə̀ ø-ŋgə̀ŋ
(d) mòrín ə̀ tə̂ chíʔ ə̀-chʉ̀ ə̀ ø-ŋgə̀ŋ
Gloss: Maureen SM PST close c3-mouth AM c9-house
The choice between the four forms depends on (i) how far removed the event is
situated from utterance time and (ii) whether at utterance time the door is (or is
assumed to be) closed or is (or assumed to be) open. If the event occurred on the
day of utterance then either (a) or (b) would be used. However, if the event
occurred the day before utterance time then either (c) or (d) would be used. Now, if
at utterance time, the door is (or is assumed to be) closed then either (a) or (c)
would be used. However, if at utterance time the door is (or is assumed to be) open
then either (b) or (d) would be used. Thus what look like four different tense forms
only pick out two distinct temporal points, but this is coupled with assertions
regarding whether or not the effects of the said events persist at the time of
utterance. These differences in meaning have sometimes been mistaken to all
represent different degrees of remoteness in the tense systems of Bantu languages.
This paper seeks to demonstrate that the patterns observed <strong>here</strong> are widespread in
Bantu: in addition to Babanki, data is drawn from Lubukusu, Limbum, ciNsenga,
Chichewa, and isiXhosa. The paper also argues that t<strong>here</strong> is cross-linguistic
variation within Bantu with respect to (i) the precision with which temporal
boundaries are marked by means of tense and (ii) the degree of flexibility in the use
of the various tenses.
WS2