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Linglib.Fragments.Statimcets.Modals

St'át'imcets (Lillooet Salish) Modal Inventory #

@cite{matthewson-2016} @cite{rullmann-matthewson-davis-2008}

St'át'imcets (ISO 639-3 lil, also known as Lillooet) modal system. The system demonstrates two key typological properties:

  1. Single morpheme, multiple forces: the enclitic =ka can express either deontic permission or obligation depending on context (@cite{matthewson-2016} example 1).
  2. Dedicated ability morpheme: the circumfix ka-...-a is restricted to ability/circumstantial possibility, contrasting with the force-variable =ka (@cite{matthewson-2005}).
  3. Lexicalized epistemic/circumstantial split: epistemic and circumstantial modality are expressed by distinct morphological strategies. Epistemic modals are typically second-position clitics (ima, gat-type elements, shared with related Salish languages), while circumstantial modals are predicative verbs or circumfixes.

St'át'imcets modal expressions (from @cite{rullmann-matthewson-davis-2008}) #

FormTypeFlavourForce
=kaencliticdeonticposs + nec
ka-...-acircumfixcircumstantialpossibility

Deontic enclitic: variable force (permission or obligation). @cite{matthewson-2016} example 1:

  • wá7=ka s-lep' i=k'ún7=a ku=pála7 máqa7 'The eggs can/have to stay in the ground for a year.'
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    Ability circumfix: fixed possibility force, circumstantial flavour. @cite{matthewson-2005}:

    • ka-xílh-ts-tal'í-ha 'could do it the fastest'
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      Force analysis #

      Background classification #

      Both St'át'imcets modals formalized here are factual-circumstantial: =ka is deontic (norms as ordering source) and ka-...-a is ability (circumstantial facts). The factual-evidential and content-evidential classes in St'át'imcets are expressed by the evidential elements k'a and lákw7a, which are not formalized here.

      Typological properties #

      =ka satisfies IFF (trivially: single flavour, variable force = Cartesian product {poss, nec} × {deontic}).