Beyond Time - Linguistics - University of California, Berkeley

3.2.2.5 Summary and analysis of -a-’s interactions with situation type
Table 3.5 summarizes the possible temporal interpretations of completive -a- with various
situation types.
Situation Possible
Type Interpretations
Durative Past
Change-of-State
Past
Present State
Perception Stative
Past
Present State
Other Stative Past
Table 3.5: Summary of temporal interpretations with completive -a-
In the case of change-of-state verbs, and other verbs implying resultant states, it can be
seen that the -a- form references a time after the change into a resultant state has taken
place. Whether the time referenced is located within the resultant state is not encoded in
-a-, but rather is determined pragmatically. With change-of-state verbs, the implicature
of continued resultant state is particularly salient. This implicature is easy to derive from
general conversational principles of relevance. Use of a verb describing entry into a state,
in general, is most relevant if the state holds at perspective time. For example, a verb
like -taba ‘become happy’, requires no direct reference the situation resulting in happiness,
although the context may provide such information. Thus, when uttering ndataba without
much other context, a speaker is less likely to be referring to the rather ethereal process of
obtaining happiness than to the ensuing happy state. 5 However, in examples such as (111)
above, repeated here as (117), the situation resulting in the entered emotional state (here,
a story of cows trampling cassava plants) is the main discourse topic, and the present-state
implicature need not hold.
(117) ndakomokwa sunu!
nda-komok-w-a
sunu!
1sg.cmpl-surprise-pass-fv today
‘I got surprised today!’ (ZT2007Narr27.VK)
With result-state predicates denoting activity, such as -saama ‘get dressed’, the implicature
is somewhat less strong, because – as with the surprising event in (117) – the situation
leading up to a resultant state, e.g. the process of dressing, has clear content that may be
referred to.
5 Compare context-free ‘I became happy’ or even ‘I was happy’ with ‘I am happy’ for naturalness.
127