Beyond Time - Linguistics - University of California, Berkeley

a clear anterior meaning is evident, applicable across several past and future tenses although
it is not clear that this meaning extends to all situation types. 37
(394) a. tu-aká-ákú-p-ele
‘we have given’ (P2)
b. tu-a-ákú-p-ele
‘we have given’ (P1)
c. tu-la-aku-p-elé
‘we will have given’ (F1)
d. tu-la-ka-aku-p-elé
‘we will have given’ (F2) (Nurse 2008:Appendix 1, p. 252)
However, according to Yukawa (1987, cited in Nurse (2008:Appendix 1, p.253)), present
forms with -ile occur with statives only, as in (395):
(395) tu-li-zhim-íné
‘we are standing’
Whether this is, in fact, a co-occurence restriction, or whether it is a consequence of interpretation
principles (where stative-like situations have a present-reading and other situations
only an anterior reading) is not discussed.
Fowler (2000) gives an example that suggests that the suffix can also be used in generic
present contexts, even with the ka marker (occurrences of -ile are bolded in the examples
and their free translations):
(396) Wezu muntu cisyoolwe. Ulachita naatewa kasite ngoona, tafwambi kuzimuka
“This fellow is very disobedient. He behaves like this: whenever he is called he sits
there(-ile), he’s in no hurry to rise’ (Fowler 2000:132)
Other examples in Fowler (2000) show both stative/resultative and anterior uses of -ile.
In (397), -ile is used as a resultative with a stative meaning (‘have’ from -kwata- ‘have,
hold; seize, grasp’). In (398), -ile occurs with stative (‘be full’) and anterior (‘has eaten’)
situations.
(397) Nembwa, mukwesu, ambweni kacili cako celya cintu, ulaakusekaseka waakucikwete
‘Nembwa [an interjection expressing envy], my friend, perhaps that article belongs
to you; you must be very happy if you do possess it(-ile)’ (Fowler 2000:526)
(398) Musombe mweenzu lulilile. Ambweni ukalaba mutasomba uukusi. Wasampuka
bulyo watamusomba. Aca ‘Welya muntu mutavu cibyaabi, tasombi beenzu’
‘Always offer food to a visitor even if he has eaten(-ile). Perhaps you don’t
37 Nurse also notes that because no textual examples are given by Yukawa (whose focus was tone and not
semantics), “labels and meanings of forms may be unreliable” and cannot be verified. (Nurse 2008:Appendix
1, p. 253). It is not clear, for example, why the P2 form is translated as a present perfect/anterior and not
as a pluperfect.
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