Tlingit modals

The Tlingit (Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit, ISO 639-3 tli) expressions with a dedicated modal meaning, as Cable describes them: the dubitative particles gwál, gíwé and shákdé, expressing epistemic possibility, and two inflectional modes of the verb, the potential mode, expressing circumstantial possibility, and the future mode, expressing circumstantial necessity. Each mode is realized by a combination of prefixes and a stem suffix.

Implementation notes

• An entry's meaning is the categories Cable finds positive evidence that it expresses. The tlél aadé … yé construction, which expresses the negation of circumstantial possibility, has no entry, nor do the expressions speakers use to convey deontic modality without encoding it.
• The modes' entries carry the mode's name as form.

References

• [Cab17]

def Tlingit.gwál : Modality.ModalItem

The dubitative particle gwál 'perhaps', expressing epistemic possibility.

Equations

• Tlingit.gwál = { form := "gwál", meaning := {(Modality.ModalForce.possibility, Modality.ModalFlavor.epistemic)} }

def Tlingit.gíwé : Modality.ModalItem

The dubitative particle gíwé 'perhaps, I guess', which does not imply likelihood, expressing epistemic possibility.

Equations

• Tlingit.gíwé = { form := "gíwé", meaning := {(Modality.ModalForce.possibility, Modality.ModalFlavor.epistemic)} }

def Tlingit.shákdé : Modality.ModalItem

The dubitative particle shákdé 'perhaps, probably', which implies likelihood, expressing epistemic possibility.

Equations

• Tlingit.shákdé = { form := "shákdé", meaning := {(Modality.ModalForce.possibility, Modality.ModalFlavor.epistemic)} }

def Tlingit.futureMode : Modality.ModalItem

The future mode of the verb, expressing circumstantial necessity.

Equations

• Tlingit.futureMode = { form := "future mode", meaning := {(Modality.ModalForce.necessity, Modality.ModalFlavor.circumstantial)} }

def Tlingit.potentialMode : Modality.ModalItem

The potential mode of the verb, expressing circumstantial possibility.

Equations

• Tlingit.potentialMode = { form := "potential mode", meaning := {(Modality.ModalForce.possibility, Modality.ModalFlavor.circumstantial)} }

def Tlingit.modals : List Modality.ModalItem

The expressions with a dedicated modal meaning.

Equations

• Tlingit.modals = [Tlingit.gwál, Tlingit.gíwé, Tlingit.shákdé, Tlingit.futureMode, Tlingit.potentialMode]