Abstract
In this introduction, we outline the research question underlying this special issue: how do languages express ʻalreadyʼ and related notions, and how does this relate to the typological debate around the typological validity of the proposed category of “iamitive”? We also present the four studies in this issue, which, focusing on languages from diverse families and regions, offer contrasting perspectives on the iamitive hypothesis and contribute new data and criteria for its cross-linguistic assessment.
Funding source: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Award Identifier / Grant number: 453412235
Funding source: Endangered Languages Documentation Programme
Award Identifier / Grant number: IPF0270
References
Dahl, Östen. 2022. Perfects across languages. Annual Review of Linguistics 8. 279–297. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-linguistics-031120-123428.Search in Google Scholar
Dahl, Östen & Bernhard Wälchli. 2016. Perfects and iamitives: Two gram types in one grammatical space. Letras de Hoje 51(3). 325–348. https://doi.org/10.15448/1984-7726.2016.3.25454.Search in Google Scholar
Gil, David. 2015. The Mekong-Mamberamo linguistic area. In Nicholas J. Enfield & Bernard Comrie (eds.), Languages of mainland Southeast Asia: The state of the art, 266–355. Berlin: de Gruyter.10.1515/9781501501685-008Search in Google Scholar
Krajinović, Ana. 2019. The semantics of perfect in Nafsan and implications for typology. In M. Ryan Bochnak, Miriam Butt, Erlinde Meertens & Mark-Matthias Zymla (eds.), Proceedings of TripleA 5: Fieldwork perspectives on the semantics of African, Asian and Austronesian languages, 106–121. Tübingen: Universitätsbibliothek Tübingen Publikationssystem.Search in Google Scholar
Krajinović, Ana, Vander Klok Jozina & Kilu von Prince. 2025. When (not) to establish a new category: The case of perfect, ‘already’, and iamitives. Studies in Language. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1075/sl.23066.kra.Search in Google Scholar
Kramer, Raija L. 2021. Introduction: The expression of phasal polarity in African languages. In Raija L. Kramer (ed.), The expression of phasal polarity in African languages, 3–23. Berlin: de Gruyter.10.1515/9783110646290-002Search in Google Scholar
Mazzitelli, Lidia Federica. 2025. From aspect to information structure: Non-aspectual functions of change of state markers in Austronesian and beyond. Linguistic Typology 29(1). 1–33. https://doi.org/10.1515/lingty-2020-0129.Search in Google Scholar
Olsson, Bruno. 2013. Iamitives: Perfects in Southeast Asia and beyond. Stockholm: University of Stockholm MA thesis.Search in Google Scholar
Persohn, Bastian. 2024a. The polyfunctionality of ‘still’ expressions: A cross-linguistic exploration. Berlin: Language Science Press.Search in Google Scholar
Persohn, Bastian. 2024b. When ‘still’ means ‘not yet’. STUF – Language Typology and Universals 77(1). 83–139. https://doi.org/10.1515/stuf-2024-2002.Search in Google Scholar
van Baar, Theodorus M. 1997. Phasal polarity. Dordrecht: Foris.Search in Google Scholar
van der Auwera, Johan (ed.). 1991. Adverbs and particles of change and continuation. Strasbourg: European Science Foundation.Search in Google Scholar
van der Auwera, Johan. 1998. Phasal adverbials in the languages of Europe. In Johan van der Auwera & Dónall P. Ó Baoill (eds.), Adverbial constructions in the languages of Europe, 25–145. Berlin: de Gruyter.10.1515/9783110802610.25Search in Google Scholar
Veselinova, Ljuba, Leif Asplund & Jozina Vander Klok. 2024. Phasal polarity. In Alexander Adelaar & Antoinette Schapper (eds.), The Oxford guide to the Malayo-Polynesian languages of Southeast Asia, 889–906. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/oso/9780198807353.003.0051Search in Google Scholar
© 2025 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- Introduction to the special issue on ʻalreadyʼ expressions
- Phasal polarity in Totoli: aspect, restriction, and alternatives
- The expression of ‘already’ in Sàꞌán Sàvǐ ñà ñuù Xnúvíkó
- Iamitive, perfect, and ‘already’ markers in Northwest Caucasian
- Medieval Chinese zì as a flexible phasal adverb: semantic unity and force-dynamic origins
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- Introduction to the special issue on ʻalreadyʼ expressions
- Phasal polarity in Totoli: aspect, restriction, and alternatives
- The expression of ‘already’ in Sàꞌán Sàvǐ ñà ñuù Xnúvíkó
- Iamitive, perfect, and ‘already’ markers in Northwest Caucasian
- Medieval Chinese zì as a flexible phasal adverb: semantic unity and force-dynamic origins