- Dutch
- Frisian
- Saterfrisian
- Afrikaans
-
- Phonology
- Segment inventory
- Phonotactics
- Phonological processes
- Phonology-morphology interface
- Word stress
- Primary stress in simplex words
- Monomorphemic words
- Diachronic aspects
- Generalizations on stress placement
- Default penultimate stress
- Lexical stress
- The closed penult restriction
- Final closed syllables
- The diphthong restriction
- Superheavy syllables (SHS)
- The three-syllable window
- Segmental restrictions
- Phonetic correlates
- Stress shifts in loanwords
- Quantity-sensitivity
- Secondary stress
- Vowel reduction in unstressed syllables
- Stress in complex words
- Primary stress in simplex words
- Accent & intonation
- Clitics
- Spelling
- Morphology
- Word formation
- Compounding
- Nominal compounds
- Verbal compounds
- Adjectival compounds
- Affixoids
- Coordinative compounds
- Synthetic compounds
- Reduplicative compounds
- Phrase-based compounds
- Elative compounds
- Exocentric compounds
- Linking elements
- Separable complex verbs (SCVs)
- Gapping of complex words
- Particle verbs
- Copulative compounds
- Derivation
- Numerals
- Derivation: inputs and input restrictions
- The meaning of affixes
- Non-native morphology
- Cohering and non-cohering affixes
- Prefixation
- Suffixation
- Nominal suffixation: person nouns
- Conversion
- Pseudo-participles
- Bound forms
- Nouns
- Nominal prefixes
- Nominal suffixes
- -aal and -eel
- -aar
- -aard
- -aat
- -air
- -aris
- -ast
- Diminutives
- -dom
- -een
- -ees
- -el (nominal)
- -elaar
- -enis
- -er (nominal)
- -erd
- -erik
- -es
- -eur
- -euse
- ge...te
- -heid
- -iaan, -aan
- -ief
- -iek
- -ier
- -ier (French)
- -ière
- -iet
- -igheid
- -ij and allomorphs
- -ijn
- -in
- -ing
- -isme
- -ist
- -iteit
- -ling
- -oir
- -oot
- -rice
- -schap
- -schap (de)
- -schap (het)
- -sel
- -st
- -ster
- -t
- -tal
- -te
- -voud
- Verbs
- Adjectives
- Adverbs
- Univerbation
- Neo-classical word formation
- Construction-dependent morphology
- Morphological productivity
- Compounding
- Inflection
- Inflection and derivation
- Allomorphy
- The interface between phonology and morphology
- Word formation
- Syntax
- Preface and acknowledgements
- Verbs and Verb Phrases
- 1 Characterization and classification
- 2 Projection of verb phrases I:Argument structure
- 3 Projection of verb phrases II:Verb frame alternations
- Introduction
- 3.1. Main types
- 3.2. Alternations involving the external argument
- 3.3. Alternations of noun phrases and PPs
- 3.3.1. Dative/PP alternations (dative shift)
- 3.3.1.1. Dative alternation with aan-phrases (recipients)
- 3.3.1.2. Dative alternation with naar-phrases (goals)
- 3.3.1.3. Dative alternation with van-phrases (sources)
- 3.3.1.4. Dative alternation with bij-phrases (possessors)
- 3.3.1.5. Dative alternation with voor-phrases (benefactives)
- 3.3.1.6. Conclusion
- 3.3.1.7. Bibliographical notes
- 3.3.2. Accusative/PP alternations
- 3.3.3. Nominative/PP alternations
- 3.3.1. Dative/PP alternations (dative shift)
- 3.4. Some apparent cases of verb frame alternation
- 3.5. Bibliographical notes
- 4 Projection of verb phrases IIIa:Selection of clauses/verb phrases
- 5 Projection of verb phrases IIIb:Argument and complementive clauses
- Introduction
- 5.1. Finite argument clauses
- 5.2. Infinitival argument clauses
- 5.3. Complementive clauses
- 6 Projection of verb phrases IIIc:Complements of non-main verbs
- 7 Projection of verb phrases IIId:Verb clusters
- 8 Projection of verb phrases IV: Adverbial modification
- 9 Word order in the clause I:General introduction
- 10 Word order in the clause II:Position of the finite verb (verb-first/second)
- 11 Word order in the clause III:Clause-initial position (wh-movement)
- Introduction
- 11.1. The formation of V1- and V2-clauses
- 11.2. Clause-initial position remains (phonetically) empty
- 11.3. Clause-initial position is filled
- 12 Word order in the clause IV:Postverbal field (extraposition)
- 13 Word order in the clause V: Middle field (scrambling)
- 14 Main-clause external elements
- Nouns and Noun Phrases
- 1 Characterization and classification
- 2 Projection of noun phrases I: complementation
- Introduction
- 2.1. General observations
- 2.2. Prepositional and nominal complements
- 2.3. Clausal complements
- 2.4. Bibliographical notes
- 3 Projection of noun phrases II: modification
- Introduction
- 3.1. Restrictive and non-restrictive modifiers
- 3.2. Premodification
- 3.3. Postmodification
- 3.3.1. Adpositional phrases
- 3.3.2. Relative clauses
- 3.3.3. Infinitival clauses
- 3.3.4. A special case: clauses referring to a proposition
- 3.3.5. Adjectival phrases
- 3.3.6. Adverbial postmodification
- 3.4. Bibliographical notes
- 4 Projection of noun phrases III: binominal constructions
- Introduction
- 4.1. Binominal constructions without a preposition
- 4.2. Binominal constructions with a preposition
- 4.3. Bibliographical notes
- 5 Determiners: articles and pronouns
- Introduction
- 5.1. Articles
- 5.2. Pronouns
- 5.3. Bibliographical notes
- 6 Numerals and quantifiers
- 7 Pre-determiners
- Introduction
- 7.1. The universal quantifier al 'all' and its alternants
- 7.2. The pre-determiner heel 'all/whole'
- 7.3. A note on focus particles
- 7.4. Bibliographical notes
- 8 Syntactic uses of noun phrases
- Adjectives and Adjective Phrases
- 1 Characteristics and classification
- 2 Projection of adjective phrases I: Complementation
- 3 Projection of adjective phrases II: Modification
- 4 Projection of adjective phrases III: Comparison
- 5 Attributive use of the adjective phrase
- 6 Predicative use of the adjective phrase
- 7 The partitive genitive construction
- 8 Adverbial use of the adjective phrase
- 9 Participles and infinitives: their adjectival use
- 10 Special constructions
- Adpositions and adpositional phrases
- 1 Characteristics and classification
- Introduction
- 1.1. Characterization of the category adposition
- 1.2. A formal classification of adpositional phrases
- 1.3. A semantic classification of adpositional phrases
- 1.3.1. Spatial adpositions
- 1.3.2. Temporal adpositions
- 1.3.3. Non-spatial/temporal prepositions
- 1.4. Borderline cases
- 1.5. Bibliographical notes
- 2 Projection of adpositional phrases: Complementation
- 3 Projection of adpositional phrases: Modification
- 4 Syntactic uses of the adpositional phrase
- 5 R-pronominalization and R-words
- 1 Characteristics and classification
- Phonology
-
- General
- Phonology
- Segment inventory
- Phonotactics
- Phonological Processes
- Assimilation
- Vowel nasalization
- Syllabic sonorants
- Final devoicing
- Fake geminates
- Vowel hiatus resolution
- Vowel reduction introduction
- Schwa deletion
- Schwa insertion
- /r/-deletion
- d-insertion
- {s/z}-insertion
- t-deletion
- Intrusive stop formation
- Breaking
- Vowel shortening
- h-deletion
- Replacement of the glide w
- Word stress
- Clitics
- Allomorphy
- Orthography of Frisian
- Morphology
- Inflection
- Word formation
- Derivation
- Prefixation
- Infixation
- Suffixation
- Nominal suffixes
- Verbal suffixes
- Adjectival suffixes
- Adverbial suffixes
- Numeral suffixes
- Interjectional suffixes
- Onomastic suffixes
- Conversion
- Compositions
- Derivation
- Syntax
- Verbs and Verb Phrases
- Characteristics and classification
- Unergative and unaccusative subjects
- Evidentiality
- To-infinitival clauses
- Predication and noun incorporation
- Ellipsis
- Imperativus-pro-Infinitivo
- Expression of irrealis
- Embedded Verb Second
- Agreement
- Negation
- Nouns & Noun Phrases
- Classification
- Complementation
- Modification
- Partitive noun constructions
- Referential partitive constructions
- Partitive measure nouns
- Numeral partitive constructions
- Partitive question constructions
- Nominalised quantifiers
- Kind partitives
- Partitive predication with prepositions
- Bare nominal attributions
- Articles and names
- Pronouns
- Quantifiers and (pre)determiners
- Interrogative pronouns
- R-pronouns
- Syntactic uses
- Adjective Phrases
- Characteristics and classification
- Complementation
- Modification and degree quantification
- Comparison by degree
- Comparative
- Superlative
- Equative
- Attribution
- Agreement
- Attributive adjectives vs. prenominal elements
- Complex adjectives
- Noun ellipsis
- Co-occurring adjectives
- Predication
- Partitive adjective constructions
- Adverbial use
- Participles and infinitives
- Adposition Phrases
- Characteristics and classification
- Complementation
- Modification
- Intransitive adpositions
- Predication
- Preposition stranding
- Verbs and Verb Phrases
-
- General
- Morphology
- Morphology
- 1 Word formation
- 1.1 Compounding
- 1.1.1 Compounds and their heads
- 1.1.2 Special types of compounds
- 1.1.2.1 Affixoids
- 1.1.2.2 Coordinative compounds
- 1.1.2.3 Synthetic compounds and complex pseudo-participles
- 1.1.2.4 Reduplicative compounds
- 1.1.2.5 Phrase-based compounds
- 1.1.2.6 Elative compounds
- 1.1.2.7 Exocentric compounds
- 1.1.2.8 Linking elements
- 1.1.2.9 Separable Complex Verbs and Particle Verbs
- 1.1.2.10 Noun Incorporation Verbs
- 1.1.2.11 Gapping
- 1.2 Derivation
- 1.3 Minor patterns of word formation
- 1.1 Compounding
- 2 Inflection
- 1 Word formation
- Morphology
- Syntax
- Adjectives and adjective phrases (APs)
- 0 Introduction to the AP
- 1 Characteristics and classification of APs
- 2 Complementation of APs
- 3 Modification and degree quantification of APs
- 4 Comparison by comparative, superlative and equative
- 5 Attribution of APs
- 6 Predication of APs
- 7 The partitive adjective construction
- 8 Adverbial use of APs
- 9 Participles and infinitives as APs
- Nouns and Noun Phrases (NPs)
- 0 Introduction to the NP
- 1 Characteristics and Classification of NPs
- 2 Complementation of NPs
- 3 Modification of NPs
- 3.1 Modification of NP by Determiners and APs
- 3.2 Modification of NP by PP
- 3.3 Modification of NP by adverbial clauses
- 3.4 Modification of NP by possessors
- 3.5 Modification of NP by relative clauses
- 3.6 Modification of NP in a cleft construction
- 3.7 Free relative clauses and selected interrogative clauses
- 4 Partitive noun constructions and constructions related to them
- 4.1 The referential partitive construction
- 4.2 The partitive construction of abstract quantity
- 4.3 The numerical partitive construction
- 4.4 The partitive interrogative construction
- 4.5 Adjectival, nominal and nominalised partitive quantifiers
- 4.6 Kind partitives
- 4.7 Partitive predication with a preposition
- 4.8 Bare nominal attribution
- 5 Articles and names
- 6 Pronouns
- 7 Quantifiers, determiners and predeterminers
- 8 Interrogative pronouns
- 9 R-pronouns and the indefinite expletive
- 10 Syntactic functions of Noun Phrases
- Adpositions and Adpositional Phrases (PPs)
- 0 Introduction to the PP
- 1 Characteristics and classification of PPs
- 2 Complementation of PPs
- 3 Modification of PPs
- 4 Bare (intransitive) adpositions
- 5 Predication of PPs
- 6 Form and distribution of adpositions with respect to staticity and construction type
- 7 Adpositional complements and adverbials
- Verbs and Verb Phrases (VPs)
- 0 Introduction to the VP in Saterland Frisian
- 1 Characteristics and classification of verbs
- 2 Unergative and unaccusative subjects and the auxiliary of the perfect
- 3 Evidentiality in relation to perception and epistemicity
- 4 Types of to-infinitival constituents
- 5 Predication
- 5.1 The auxiliary of being and its selection restrictions
- 5.2 The auxiliary of going and its selection restrictions
- 5.3 The auxiliary of continuation and its selection restrictions
- 5.4 The auxiliary of coming and its selection restrictions
- 5.5 Modal auxiliaries and their selection restrictions
- 5.6 Auxiliaries of body posture and aspect and their selection restrictions
- 5.7 Transitive verbs of predication
- 5.8 The auxiliary of doing used as a semantically empty finite auxiliary
- 5.9 Supplementive predication
- 6 The verbal paradigm, irregularity and suppletion
- 7 Verb Second and the word order in main and embedded clauses
- 8 Various aspects of clause structure
- Adjectives and adjective phrases (APs)
-
- General
- Phonology
- Afrikaans phonology
- Segment inventory
- Overview of Afrikaans vowels
- The diphthongised long vowels /e/, /ø/ and /o/
- The unrounded mid-front vowel /ɛ/
- The unrounded low-central vowel /ɑ/
- The unrounded low-central vowel /a/
- The rounded mid-high back vowel /ɔ/
- The rounded high back vowel /u/
- The rounded and unrounded high front vowels /i/ and /y/
- The unrounded and rounded central vowels /ə/ and /œ/
- The diphthongs /əi/, /œy/ and /œu/
- Overview of Afrikaans consonants
- The bilabial plosives /p/ and /b/
- The alveolar plosives /t/ and /d/
- The velar plosives /k/ and /g/
- The bilabial nasal /m/
- The alveolar nasal /n/
- The velar nasal /ŋ/
- The trill /r/
- The lateral liquid /l/
- The alveolar fricative /s/
- The velar fricative /x/
- The labiodental fricatives /f/ and /v/
- The approximants /ɦ/, /j/ and /ʋ/
- Overview of Afrikaans vowels
- Word stress
- The phonetic properties of stress
- Primary stress on monomorphemic words in Afrikaans
- Background to primary stress in monomorphemes in Afrikaans
- Overview of the Main Stress Rule of Afrikaans
- The short vowels of Afrikaans
- Long vowels in monomorphemes
- Primary stress on diphthongs in monomorphemes
- Exceptions
- Stress shifts in place names
- Stress shift towards word-final position
- Stress pattern of reduplications
- Phonological processes
- Vowel related processes
- Consonant related processes
- Homorganic glide insertion
- Phonology-morphology interface
- Phonotactics
- Morphology
- Syntax
- Afrikaans syntax
- Nouns and noun phrases
- Characteristics of the NP
- Classification of nouns
- Complementation of NPs
- Modification of NPs
- Binominal and partitive constructions
- Referential partitive constructions
- Partitive measure nouns
- Numeral partitive constructions
- Partitive question constructions
- Partitive constructions with nominalised quantifiers
- Partitive predication with prepositions
- Binominal name constructions
- Binominal genitive constructions
- Bare nominal attribution
- Articles and names
- Pronouns
- Quantifiers, determiners and predeterminers
- Syntactic uses of the noun phrase
- Adjectives and adjective phrases
- Characteristics and classification of the AP
- Complementation of APs
- Modification and Degree Quantification of APs
- Comparison by comparative, superlative and equative degree
- Attribution of APs
- Predication of APs
- The partitive adjective construction
- Adverbial use of APs
- Participles and infinitives as adjectives
- Verbs and verb phrases
- Characterisation and classification
- Argument structure
- Verb frame alternations
- Complements of non-main verbs
- Verb clusters
- Complement clauses
- Adverbial modification
- Word order in the clause: Introduction
- Word order in the clause: position of the finite Verb
- Word order in the clause: Clause-initial position
- Word order in the clause: Extraposition and right-dislocation in the postverbal field
- Word order in the middle field
- Emphatic constructions
- Adpositions and adposition phrases
Tense refers to the part played by a verb or verbal string in positioning the action or state of affairs referred to in a clause in time. Absolute tense, according to Comrie (1985), refers to situation directly related to or seen from the perspective of the present moment. Relative tense refers to situations related in time to a point of reference provided by the context, and absolute-relative tense refers to situations which are related to the present moment via another point of reference, as the pluperfect tense relates to the present moment via an action or state of affairs already situated before the present moment.
The Afrikaans tense system consists mainly of a distinction between past and non-past. The past tense – a simple past tense with no present relevance – is expressed mainly by a periphrastic combination of auxiliary and past participle (e.g. het besef have realised) or by preterite forms such as was was/were, dog/dag thought and modal preterites such as sou should, moes had to, kon could and wou wanted to in combination with infinitives (e.g. moes 'n plan maak had to make a plan). When contextual indications are lacking and in the absence of modal preterites, the perfect unambiguously marks a proposition as past tense. However, the expression of past tense, as in (1a), is only one of the functions of the perfect or preterite; the perfect may also be terminative and function as a pluperfect, as in (1b), contribute to expressing the irrealis, as in (1c), or partake in expressing conditionals, as in (d).
The present tense, a truly unmarked form, has a wide range of functions, or is compatible with a wide range of contexts, in which temporal and other senses are indicated by adverbials and other non-verbal means, such as nou now, toe then, in die verlede in the past, etc. A proposition containing a present tense form may for example refer to a point in time or period of time centred on speech time (2a) or a point in time or period of time following on speech time (2b), to a past event (in the so-called historic present) (2c), to habitual action (2d) and to what is perceived to be a law of nature (2e).
While adverbials such as vandag today, môre tomorrow, gister yesterday, soms sometimes and altyd always are relatively unambiguous indicators of the time-frame in which a proposition functions, the temporal reference of others, such as nou now and toe then, are closely wound up with the semantics of the proposition. Thus Botha (1990:109-110) distinguishes between various applications of nou as deictic pronoun, e.g. the moment of utterance; the period preceding, including and following speech time; the period preceding and including speech time, and the period including and following speech time. The sense of the adverbial may even seem to be at variance with the temporal function of the verb, such as the abverb môre tomorrow and the preterite kon could in the following example. While kon in the root sense of to be able to would be unacceptable, it would be acceptable in the deontic sense of to give permission to or when expressing a possibility, as in could perhaps.
Ons kon môre die boeke bring. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
we can.AUX.MOD.PRT tomorrow the books bring.INF | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
We *were able to / were given permission to / could perhaps bring the books tomorrow. |
The present and past tense referred to above are “absolute” tenses in the sense of Comrie (1985). Comrie 1985:64-65)) contrasts tenses with absolute time reference, where a situation is located at, before, or after the present moment, with relative tenses, where a situation is located at, before, or after a reference point given by the context. A relative tense is "quite strictly one which is interpreted relative to a reference point provided by the context” (Comrie 1985:58). Comrie (1985:64) also distinguishes absolute-relative tense, such as the pluperfect, which has characteristics of both, i.e. instances in which it is necessary not only to relate situations relative to the present moment, but also to relate them chronologically to one another(Comrie 1985:67). Afrikaans examples of the perfect as an absolute tense, an absolute-relative tense and a relative tense would be, respectively, past tense (4a), pluperfect (4b) and event preceding time reference of main clause (4c).
Reichenbach's (1947) system will be employed as a descriptive device in order to distinguish between basic temporal relationships, viz. event (E), reference time (R) and speech time (S). Thus in (2a) above the event, reference time and speech time coincide (E,R,S) and in (2b) the event will follow speech and reference time (S,R – E), while (4a) may be described as E – S, R, i.e. event time precedes speech time, which is also taken to be reference time, (4b) as E – R – S and (4c) as E,R – S. Other temporal relationships – not necessarily (absolute-relative) tenses in the sense of having dedicated formal constructions at their disposal – include the future in the past (R – E – S), as in (5a), and the future perfect (S – E – R), as in (5b).
The unmarked among the absolute tenses is the present tense, with various temporal values (2, 6) from present to future, as well as the past reference of the historic present (6e, 9b), habitual action (2d, 10), and generally valid (10) or timeless truths (2e, 11). While the present tense as such is employed for future reference (2b, 13), the main verb is also aided by modal verbs (14a, 14b).
Past tense is expressed by a periphrastic perfect (1a, 21a, 22) or one of the restricted group of highly frequent modal preterites (1a, 21b, 30, 31, 32). Past tense – and the realis – is also expressed by a construction consisting of the auxiliary het have + modal preterite (or present) + main verb (36, 37, 38). In a full infinitive, past tense may also be expressed by a modal preterite or a perfect (40).
In the absolute-relative tenses, before-past is generally expressed by the perfect (1b), although special marking may be employed (42, 43, 44). Other absolute-relative tenses to be employed, are the future perfect (5b, 45, 46) and the future in the past (5a, 47).
In the case of the relative tenses the reference point (R) is supplied by the context, in particular the temporal reference of the main clause. If the present tense is used, the temporal relation to the main clause is open. In subordinate clauses it depends on the conjunction type whether a perfect is employed aspectually as a perfective (4c, 49b, 53) or as a past tense form (52d). In adverbial temporal clauses (54) and foregounded subordinate temporal clauses (55) the present tense is used when subsequent action is described.
The sequence of tenses is employed when tense in subordinate clauses agrees with that of the main clause (e.g. past tense) when an unmarked present tense would have sufficed (57).
- Absolute tenses
- Present tense
- Future reference
- Historic present
- Past tense
- Introduction
- The periphrastic perfect
- Auxiliaries for main verb 'to be'
- Modal and other preterites
- The realis construction
- The past infinitive
- Absolute-relative tenses
- Past perfect (Pluperfect)
- Future perfect
- Future in the past
- Relative tenses
- Introduction
- Subordinate temporal clause + main clause
- Initial clause + adverbial temporal clause
- Main clause + foregrounded subordinate temporal clause
In the active voice the present tense is expressed by the base form of the verb, such as speel play or a base form combined with one or more infinitives, as inmag speel may play, probeer speel try to play, wil bly speel would like to keep playing, kan (iets) hê can have (something), moet (mooi) wees must be (beautiful) and sit en speel sit and play. In the passive voice the present tense is expressed by the auxiliaryword become plus a past participle, as in word gespeel / gespeel word, with further additions of base forms and infinitives, e.g. moet gespeel word must be played and wil gesien speel word want to be seen playing, where the base forms sien see and speel play combine to form a past participle inflection.
The present tense is used for stating a mere factuality which does not pose any uncertainty to the speaker (cf. Van Schoor (1983:137)) ("'n blote feitelikheid ... wat vir die spreker geen onsekerheid inhou nie"). The present tense should be viewed as an unmarked form of the verb compatible with various temporal contexts which may be defined more closely by adverbials and other means, rather than a multifunctional tense form. The present it refers to may be interpreted as a point in time or period of time centred on speech time (S) or a point in time or period of time following on speech time. Thus (6a) refers to a momentary event in the present, (6b) to an ongoing but short-lived event in the present, (6c) to a much longer ongoing event, (6d) to a future starting from the present moment, (6e) to a past event, (6f) to habitual action and (6g) to what is perceived to be a law of nature. (6e) is an example of the historic present, i.e. employing the present tense for dramatic effect in contexts with past reference.
The present as extending from the past through the present and still continuing, with durative interpretation – a sense specially supported by the particleal already (cf. Donaldson 1993:227)) – is exemplified by (7).
Ek en ou Duduza wonder al hoeka waar jy draai ... | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
I and old Duduza wonder.PRS already long.ago where you linger.PRS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Old Duduza and I have been wondering for some time where you are lingering. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
M.Malan: Suiderkruis, 2008, 66 |
Durativity is also expressed in the present tense in constructions such as is aan die be on the (8a) and besig wees om te be busy to (8b) (cf.Breed and Van Huyssteen 2014 and 2015) ).
As an isolated statement, for instance as a reply to a question, an interpretation with past reference is excluded (9a), but past reference is possible if the utterance forms part of a narrative sequence (9b) historic present.
A proposition in the present tense may also refer to habitual action, as in (2d), or be employed to characterise someone, as in (6f) (cf. De Villiers (1971:20)). Though past, present and future are implied, the action in question need not be manifested at speech time (10).
Hy rook, maar nie op die oomblik nie. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
he smoke.PRS but.CNJ not on the moment PTCL.NEG | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
He smokes, but is not doing so right now. |
Present tense is also used in propositions referring to generally valid or timeless truths (cf. Ponelis (1979:261), as in (11).
Onkruid vergaan nie. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
weed perish.PRS not | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weeds do not perish, i.e. that which is bad or not wanted, will survive. |
Terminative aspect or completed action may be expressed by the verb wees be, the adverb klaar finished and a past participle, as in (12a). This construction is used alongside a het have perfect, where klaar is optional (12b).
Lyons (1977:677), though maintaining that futurity is never a purely temporal concept, concedes that it is in principle possible for languages to treat predictions as being grammatically parallel with statements about the past or present. In (13) a future event is indeed stated as though it matches the present or the past in certainty.
Ons speel môre in Pretoria. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
we play.PRS tomorrow in Pretoria | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
We are playing in Pretoria tomorrow. |
Future reference is made more explicit by the modal verbs sal shall/will (14a) and gaan be going to (14b) used in a modal or pragmatic sense. When sal is used, senses such as promise, determination, assurance and prediction may be expressed in addition, while gaan also invites interpretations such as determination and assurance.
The use of gaan as future auxiliary, as in (15a) and (15b) was found by Kirsten (2016:138) to have increased in the course of the 20th century.
Other senses of sal are habitual (16a) and epistemic (16b).
The present tense is widely used, in the spoken language in particular, to conjure up consecutive events in the past as if they were taking place in close proximity to the deictic centres of speaker and addressee. This usage, described inter alia by De Villiers (1971:61-68), Van Schoor (1983:132-135)Van Schoor and Donaldson (1993:228-230), is called the historic present (Afrikaans historiese presens). The sequencing of events in narrative, which correlates with a moving reference point of time, is not a characteristic of the tense form used but rather a property of narrative itself according to Comrie (1985:61-62). Thus, instead of past tense forms (17a) the present tense may be used to refer to events situated in the past (17b).
The use of the historic present enhances the dramatic potential of the actions related. The non-verbal clues suggesting distance from the here and now may even be circumvented to heighten the illusion of present action (implying degrees of dramatisation), as in (18b) in contrast to (18a):
The historic present is usually not alternated with the past tense in main clause sequences, as in (19a), unless the narrator wishes to explicitly situate the action in the past (19b), comment on the action itself (19c) or single out a salient event or draw a conclusion (19d).
The meaning of the past tense, according to Comrie (1985:41), is location in time prior to the present moment. He states, furthermore, that the The Afrikaans past tense suits this definition in its vagueness, of location in the past pure and simple, i.e. E – S,R, without any reference to the remoteness of the event or its relevance to the present. Periphrastic past tense forms are generally employed also with before-past reference or pluperfect function, i.e. E – R – S, though markedly pluperfect forms are also used. On main verbs, past tense is clearly marked morphologically by the perfect, consisting of a past participleInflection and auxiliary (20a), by one or more modal preterites plus infinitive (20b), in an auxiliary + modal preterite + infinitive construction with realis value (20c) and in infinitive constructions (20d). Modal preterites and perfects may also have modal and other meanings, or combine to express the irrealis, as in (20e).
Next, the periphrastic perfect will be described with due reference to constructional and morphological variants, alternations and irregularities, followed by the modal and other preterites, the realis construction and the past infinitive.
The Afrikaans periphrastic perfect, typically consisting of the auxiliary het have + past participle (also in the case of so-called mutative verbs, therefore het gegaan have gone (cf. Conradie (2015), is a simple past tense like the Dutch, German and English preterite, having replaced the preterite in this function. In appropriate contexts the perfect also functions as a pluperfect absolute-relative tenses, or has perfective aspectual value relative tenses.
As a past tense, the Afrikaans perfect is no present perfect as it is in Dutch and English; therefore a distinction between the perfect as referring to a completed event and the preterite (or imperfect) as referring to an action of unlimited duration, or a definition of the perfect as indicating the result of an action continuing into the moment of speaking (cf. Haeseryn et al. (1997:121-125)), is not valid for Afrikaans. The full infinitive (cf. 39) may also incorporate a perfect.The event referred to strictly precedes speech time, i.e. E – S,R, therefore vandag today in (21) will only refer to the portion of vandag preceding speech time; future reference is excluded.
Hulle het gister of vandag of *môre gespeel. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
they have.AUX yesterday or today or tomorrow play.PST.PTCP | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
They played yesterday or today or *tomorrow. |
A construction consisting of the verb wees be and an adverbial expression of motion but with ellipsis of the past participle gegaan gone, is also used. This construction forms an exception to the use of the perfect by employing 'be' rather than 'have' as auxiliary and moreover relating the event to the present, as in (22a) in contrast to (22b), where present relevance is not implied. Ponelis (1979:268) refers to the process as "go absorption" (gaan-absorpsie).
A restricted set of intransitive verbs form a perfect with wees be instead of het have as auxiliary and an irregular past participle, cf. (23a), (23b) and (23c); trou marry has a variant with het as auxiliary (23d).
In instances of verb doubling, e.g. by means of linking verbs such as probeer try' + werk word (24a), sit sit + speel play (24b) or loop walk/go, staan stand + plant plant (24c) phrasal past participles are formed, e.g.
The preterite of the copula of t