Inflectional Morphology: Verbs

Dr. Will Styler - LIGN 120


Today’s Plan


Last time, we talked about common inflectional meanings on nouns


Common Inflectional Patterns on Verbs


Agreement


Agreement

Marks the identity of the ‘actors’ and their roles on the verb itself


English agreement marking


Spanish Agreement Marking


Spanish Agreement Marking


This is why Spanish can drop many pronouns


Agreement can use many ways of showing identity


More ways of showing identity!


“What’s the difference between case and agreement?”


Case marks roles on arguments!


Russian Case Marking


With case, you make the arguments wear nametags

### Will-NOM see-3sg CAT-ACC

Will-NOM see-3sg CAT-ACC


Agreement marks identity on verbs!



Let’s test your skills!


squirrele eta acornu

squirrel.NOM eat acorn.ACC

“The Squirrel ate the Acorn”

  1. “This is case”

  2. “This is agreement”


kula-knas Michael Bay Will

judge-object.is.evil Michael Bay Will

“Will judges Michael Bay”

  1. “This is case”

  2. “This is agreement”


So, are we all in…

Agreement!?



(OK, Sorry, but a bit of humor is helpful before things get tense)


Tense


Tense

Represents the relationship of the event described to another temporal reference point


Generally, the reference time is ‘now’


The Timeline


A three-way tense system


Two-way tense systems


A non-present tense system


Tense can get more detailed


… which is different from …


Aspect


Aspect

Aspect marks the temporal nature and boundedness of described events.


Aspect is widely variable












These aren’t all the possible aspects


Mood (also known as ‘mode’ or ‘modality’)


Mood

Grammatical functions which encode the speaker’s attitude about the event being described


Many modes exist!


Realis vs. Irrealis


Indicative


Subjunctive


Conditional


Potential


Inferential


Imperative


Deontic


Other Moods


Other Verbal Markings


Some arguments change the number of participants in a verb’s frame


Other residents of the verb


Wrapping Up


For Next Time


Thank you!