Mood in Maltese
Résumé
This paper shows that although Maltese has a set of morphological moods limited to two categories: an assertive mood, the Indicative, and an illocutionary mood, the Imperative; the two basic aspects of the Indicative mood can also bring modal values, which are in line with their semantics. The Perfective is used for the expression of epistemic values (counterfactual, evidential); the Imperfective for the expression of epistemic values (possibility eventuality, optative, hortative) and the prohibitive. In addition a set of periphrastic constructions with auxiliary verbs has been developed for the expression of (mainly) deontic values.
Domaines
Linguistique
Loading...