(Past) temporal reference in an aspect prominent language

Abstract

Akan (Kwa, Niger-Congo) deploys three different temporal markers to express pastness: the final vowel lengthening of the verb (LEN), the prefix 'a'-, and the particle 'ná'. Building on novel fieldwork data, we propose a pronominal analysis for 'ná', viewed as a non-present tense. For 'LEN', we develop a hybrid tense-aspect analysis, with its (past) tense lacking existential closure. By contrast, 'a'- denotes a hybrid perfect with a quantificational tense semantics and an underspecified resultative aspect semantics.