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The Temporal Interpretation of Clause Chaining in Northern Paiute

Toosarvandani, M. (2016). Language, 92(4), 850–889

Northern Paiute chains clauses by asyndetic coordination: a marked clause carries the simultaneous suffix -na or the sequential suffix -si, relative tenses placing its reference time around its evaluation time (38) or before it (46), and the coordinator binds that evaluation time to the reference time of the unmarked clause (§4). The progressive places a reference time within a nonfinal subpart of the event time (35) and the perfective around it (36), and -na selects the imperfective, which in a marked clause is the progressive (40). A sequential chain of perfectives thus holds just in case the marked event precedes the unmarked one (59), and a simultaneous chain of progressives just in case the two overlap (57); linear order plays no part (§4.2), and two sequential marked clauses are not ordered at all (§4.3).

Implementation notes

The suffixes are a MedialForm whose timing is their relative tense, each marked clause evaluated against the unmarked clause rather than the next one. The aspects are Aspect.Perfectivity, the opposition the simultaneous suffix selects on, and the imperfective has the progressive's meaning, overt (35) or null (41), which the unmarked clause of (39), glossed IPFV, is taken to share. The contexts are configurations of run times on the natural numbers; the truth conditions compare endpoints, so they hold there as on any dense copy. Narrative progression (§5) is not formalized.

References

Toosarvandani 2016, The Temporal Interpretation of Clause Chaining in Northern Paiute

Aspect and relative tense

Clause chains

L114–117

L119–126

L128–134

The truth of a chain does not depend on the order of its marked clauses.

theorem holds_perm L136–140

{T : Type u_1} [LinearOrder T] {W : Type u_2} {E : Type u_3} [Event.TemporalTrace E T] {cs cs' : List (Marked W E × NonemptyInterval T)} (h : cs.Perm cs') {b : Aspect.Perfectivity} {Q : W → E → Prop} {w : W} {t : NonemptyInterval T} :

Holds cs b Q w t ↔ Holds cs' b Q w t

Built from ,

A chain with one marked clause holds for some reference times exactly when its events satisfy the truth condition of its suffix and aspects.

theorem exists_holds_iff L247–258

{T : Type u_1} [LinearOrder T] {W : Type u_2} {E : Type u_3} [Event.TemporalTrace E T] {s : Suffix} {a b : Aspect.Perfectivity} {P Q : W → E → Prop} {w : W} :

(∃ (t₁ : NonemptyInterval T) (t : NonemptyInterval T), Holds [({ suffix := s, aspect := a, pred := P }, t₁)] b Q w t) ↔ ∃ (e : E) (e' : E), P w e ∧ Q w e' ∧ (Event.τ e, Event.τ e') ∈ eventRel s a b

Built from , ,

A sequential chain of perfectives holds just in case the marked event precedes the unmarked one (59).

theorem sequential_iff L262–267

{T : Type u_1} [LinearOrder T] {W : Type u_2} {E : Type u_3} [Event.TemporalTrace E T] {P Q : W → E → Prop} {w : W} [DenselyOrdered T] :

(∃ (t₁ : NonemptyInterval T) (t : NonemptyInterval T), Holds [({ suffix := Suffix.seq, aspect := Aspect.Perfectivity.perfective, pred := P }, t₁)] Aspect.Perfectivity.perfective Q w t) ↔ ∃ (e : E) (e' : E), P w e ∧ Q w e' ∧ (Event.τ e).Precedes (Event.τ e')

Built from

A simultaneous chain of progressives holds just in case the two events, neither a point, overlap in more than a point (57).

theorem simultaneous_iff L269–275

{T : Type u_1} [LinearOrder T] {W : Type u_2} {E : Type u_3} [Event.TemporalTrace E T] {P Q : W → E → Prop} {w : W} [DenselyOrdered T] :

(∃ (t₁ : NonemptyInterval T) (t : NonemptyInterval T), Holds [({ suffix := Suffix.sim, aspect := Aspect.Perfectivity.imperfective, pred := P }, t₁)] Aspect.Perfectivity.imperfective Q w t) ↔ ∃ (e : E) (e' : E), P w e ∧ Q w e' ∧ (Event.τ e).toProd.1 < (Event.τ e').toProd.2 ∧ (Event.τ e').toProd.1 < (Event.τ e).toProd.2 ∧ (Event.τ e).toProd.1 < (Event.τ e).toProd.2 ∧ (Event.τ e').toProd.1 < (Event.τ e').toProd.2

Built from

Any two times precede a common later one.

theorem sequential_unordered L279–286