The modal system of the Igbo language
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Chinedu Uchechekwu
Abstract
In spite of the number of studies on mood and modality in Igbo, it is mainly the category of mood that can be found in most grammar books of the language, both old and new. This state of affairs could be as a result of the lack of a morphosyntactic systematization of modality that is comparable to the works on mood in the language; but it could also be as a result of the under-analysis of the verbal morphology of the language in relation to modality. This paper is an initial effort at such systematization. The focus is on the use of such verb morphologyrelated structures as single root verbs like -tósí “should/ought to”, verb+NP verbal structures lke -nwé íké “can”, and verbal suffixes like _nwu “able” and -rí. rí. “compulsion” for the expression of modality in the Igbo language. The use of these structures to cover the whole spectrum of deontic and epistemic meanings argues for their recognition as constituting the verb morphology-related modal system of the language. This attribute also distinguishes them from the modal particles and other structures that have been categorized as “periphrastic forms” (Igwe 1987; Nwigwe 2003) but which are here categorized as “peripheral modals”, because they can only be used to express mainly epistemic but not deontic modal meanings. A further attribute of the identified core structures of the Igbo modal system is some level of interaction with aspect that is comparable to that confirmed in Abraham (2001, 2002), whereby the deontic meanings tend to coalesce with perfective aspect, while epistemic meanings tend to coalesce with imperfective aspect. This quality of a systematic interaction of the modal meanings with aspect, which cannot be confirmed for the “peripheral modals”, further strengthens the conclusion that the identified verbs and affixes constitute the core of the Igbo modal system
Abstract
In spite of the number of studies on mood and modality in Igbo, it is mainly the category of mood that can be found in most grammar books of the language, both old and new. This state of affairs could be as a result of the lack of a morphosyntactic systematization of modality that is comparable to the works on mood in the language; but it could also be as a result of the under-analysis of the verbal morphology of the language in relation to modality. This paper is an initial effort at such systematization. The focus is on the use of such verb morphologyrelated structures as single root verbs like -tósí “should/ought to”, verb+NP verbal structures lke -nwé íké “can”, and verbal suffixes like _nwu “able” and -rí. rí. “compulsion” for the expression of modality in the Igbo language. The use of these structures to cover the whole spectrum of deontic and epistemic meanings argues for their recognition as constituting the verb morphology-related modal system of the language. This attribute also distinguishes them from the modal particles and other structures that have been categorized as “periphrastic forms” (Igwe 1987; Nwigwe 2003) but which are here categorized as “peripheral modals”, because they can only be used to express mainly epistemic but not deontic modal meanings. A further attribute of the identified core structures of the Igbo modal system is some level of interaction with aspect that is comparable to that confirmed in Abraham (2001, 2002), whereby the deontic meanings tend to coalesce with perfective aspect, while epistemic meanings tend to coalesce with imperfective aspect. This quality of a systematic interaction of the modal meanings with aspect, which cannot be confirmed for the “peripheral modals”, further strengthens the conclusion that the identified verbs and affixes constitute the core of the Igbo modal system
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Preface ix
- Introduction: Aspect-modality interfaces and interchanges across languages xi
-
General
- On the logic of generalizations about cross-linguistic aspect-modality links 3
- The silent and aspect-driven patterns of deonticity and epistemicity: A chapter in diachronic typology 15
- Propositional aspect and the development of modal inferences in English 43
- Towards an understanding of the progressive form in English: The Imperative as a heuristic tool 81
- Epistemic modality and aspect contingency in Armenian, Russian, and German 97
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Slavic
- Indefiniteness and imperfectivity as micro-grammatical contexts of epistemicity in German-Slovene translations 119
- The connections between modality, aspectuality, and temporality in Modern Russian 147
- Aspectual coercion in Bulgarian negative imperatives 175
- Russian modals možet 'can' and dolžen 'must' selecting the imperfective in negative contexts 197
-
African
- Tense, mood, and aspect in Gungbe (Kwa) 215
- The modal system of the Igbo language 241
-
Asian
- The aspect-modality link in the Japanese verbal complex and beyond 279
- The aspect-modality link in Japanese: The case of the evaluating sentence 309
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Amerindian
- The Lakota aspect/modality markers - kinica and tkhá 331
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Creole
- A note on modality and aspect in Saramaccan 359
-
Diachronic
- Aspects of a reconstruction of form and function of modal verbs in Germanic and other languages 371
- The autopsy of a modal – insights from the historical development of German 385
- Index of authors 417
- Index of subjects 419
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Preface ix
- Introduction: Aspect-modality interfaces and interchanges across languages xi
-
General
- On the logic of generalizations about cross-linguistic aspect-modality links 3
- The silent and aspect-driven patterns of deonticity and epistemicity: A chapter in diachronic typology 15
- Propositional aspect and the development of modal inferences in English 43
- Towards an understanding of the progressive form in English: The Imperative as a heuristic tool 81
- Epistemic modality and aspect contingency in Armenian, Russian, and German 97
-
Slavic
- Indefiniteness and imperfectivity as micro-grammatical contexts of epistemicity in German-Slovene translations 119
- The connections between modality, aspectuality, and temporality in Modern Russian 147
- Aspectual coercion in Bulgarian negative imperatives 175
- Russian modals možet 'can' and dolžen 'must' selecting the imperfective in negative contexts 197
-
African
- Tense, mood, and aspect in Gungbe (Kwa) 215
- The modal system of the Igbo language 241
-
Asian
- The aspect-modality link in the Japanese verbal complex and beyond 279
- The aspect-modality link in Japanese: The case of the evaluating sentence 309
-
Amerindian
- The Lakota aspect/modality markers - kinica and tkhá 331
-
Creole
- A note on modality and aspect in Saramaccan 359
-
Diachronic
- Aspects of a reconstruction of form and function of modal verbs in Germanic and other languages 371
- The autopsy of a modal – insights from the historical development of German 385
- Index of authors 417
- Index of subjects 419
