Beyond Time - Linguistics - University of California, Berkeley

Similarly, past habituals may be expressed with ka- imperfectives, with or without habitual
-ang-. Section 7.3.1 has examples without the habitual extension; (444) shows prehodiernal
imperfective ka- with the habitual extension.
(444) kàtùyásàngà
ka-tu-yas-ang-a
prehod.ipfv-1pl-spear-hab-fv
‘we used to spear (regularly)’ (ZT2009Elic58)
Negation is as expected, with the same ta- prefix as used for forms without -nga-. An
example with the prehodiernal imperfective is given in (445).
(445) tàkándìzáànàngà
ta-ka-ndi-zaan-ang-a
neg-prehod.ipfv-1sg-dance-hab-fv
‘I didn’t use to dance’ (ZT2009Elic120)
As noted in 2.3.1.5, a form very similar to habitual extension -nga- may be used as an
auxiliary verb in habitual constructions with situative na-, as illustrated in (446). Situative
na- is discussed in 7.3.5.2.
(446) a. bángà nàbàyá mùkùnèngà
ba-nga
3pl-hab
na-ba-y-a
sit-3pl-go-fv
mu-ku-neng-a
cl18(loc)-inf-dance-fv
‘they (habitually) go dancing’ (ZT2009Elic70)
b. tàndíngà nàndìlàwúkà
ta-ndi-nga na-ndi-lawuk-a
neg-1sg-hab sit-1sg-run-fv
‘I don’t (regularly/ever) run’ (ZT2009Elic69)
c. tàndìngà nàndìlàwùkângà
ta-ndi-nga na-ndi-lawuk-ang-a
neg-1sg-hab sit-1sg-run-hab-fv
‘I don’t (regularly/ever) run’ (ZT2009Elic69)
No specifically habitual future forms occur in my data, but posthodiernal na- may also
be used in habitual contexts.
(447) oyu esi nabe omukulu nalaamba amakande aMachile
Oyu esi na-b-e
omukulu
3sg.pron cond posthod-be-fv.sbjv cl1.elder
na-la-(w)amb-a
amakande a-Machile
posthod.3sg-noncmpl-speak-fv cl6.story cl6-Machile
‘when he is an old man, he will tell stories about Machile’ (ZT2006Elic32)
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