Beyond Time - Linguistics - University of California, Berkeley

not on the day of perspective time. Neither of these necessarily requires extension of the
domain of perspective time beyond hodiernality, since the situations’ effects (i.e. states
of nuclear completion), or their (virtual) onsets overlap with the day of perspective time.
Conversely, use of -ka- and na- excludes the discourse content from the day of perspective
time. Use of -ka- or na- for situations within that domain therefore creates a clash and
remains infelicitous.
It may also be noted that use of prehodiernal -ka- for hodiernal situations would result in
homophony with distal -ka-, discussed in the next paragraph. In any case, the distribution
of -ka- and na- in Totela is not incompatible with an analysis of dissociativity. 14
The asymmetry in the optionality these markers in Totela, along with that of possibly
similar systems in other languages, deserves detailed cross-linguistic investigation, particularly
with respect to its pathway of development: Does temporal rigidity develop first and
then loosen (expected if markers grammaticalize from temporal adverbs), or does temporal
rigidity develop out of originally subjective temporal distance marking (expected, perhaps,
if markers grammaticalize from distal markers)?
Further evidence for dissociativity of -ka- and na- may be found found in morphology.
Strikingly, as noted in 5.3.1.1, the morpheme that marks spatial distance from the discourse
reference point is formally identical to prehodiernal -ka- (see examples (270) to (269) above).
Recall that Botne & Kershner (2008) list three kinds of dissociation: temporal, spatial,
14 It should be noted that, somewhat surprisingly, hodiernal past statives and especially -ite forms with
change-of-state verbs are negated with prehodiernal ka- when used imperfectively, as in (1). Example (2)
shows that -ite forms cannot be used with past -na-. In (1c), then, a prehodiernal form is recruited to
fill a morphological gap. Section 7.3.1 discusses further the use of imperfective ka- with hodiernal states,
suggesting that its use in such contexts may be related to the expected permanence of states.
(1) a. ndìnàtábà
ndi-na-tab-a
1sg-pst-become.happy-fv
‘I was happy’ (earlier today) (ZT2009Elic122)
b. *kanditabite sunu
*ka-ndi-tab-ite
sunu
prehod.ipfv-1sg-become.happy-ite today
(intended): ‘I was happy today’ (ZT2009Elic122)
c. tàkándìtàbìté sùnù
ta-ka-ndi-tab-ite
sunu
neg-prehod.ipfv-1sg-become.happy-ite today
‘I wasn’t happy today’ (ZT2009Elic122)
(2) *ndinachisitwe
*ndi-na-tab-it-w-e
1sg-pst-hurt-ite-pass-ite
(intended) ‘I was sick’ (earlier today) (ZT2009Elic34)
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