Mood and aspect in Karang

Abstract

The paper describes the formal and semantic properties of the mood and aspect categories of the Adamawa language, Karang. Three inherent aspect verb classes are established--events, processes, and states--on the basis of semantic and morphological distinctions. A fundamental opposition of the mood-aspect system is between factive and non-factive moods, which distinguish actual and potential situations. Non-factive mood is formally indicated by a high tone and subdivides into the categories subjunctive, predictive, and nonpredictive. Verbo-nominals are marked as non-factive. The formal categories of aspect are progressive, habitual, perfect, and nonperfect. When inherent and formal aspect categories with semantically contradictory components are combined, inherent aspect is overriden. The perfective meaning of the perfect category also overrides the imperfective meaning of the progressive.