Future and the composition of modal meaning: the view from Igbo

Abstract

In many languages, overt ‘future markers’ play a role in the expression of modal meaning, but their exact semantic contributions vary depending on the particular language and analysis. In some prominent existing accounts, future markers i) contribute prospective time shifting and combine with modal operators or ii) they are part of the functional modal paradigm of a language, on a par with 'must'-type necessity modals. The Igbo future marker 'ga' presents an interesting variation on ii). On its own, 'ga' expresses necessity relative to a stereotypical conversational background (similar to other future modals). Interestingly, however, 'ga' also contributes to the composition of other necessity meanings (≈ MUST) as well as circumstantial possibility (≈ ability CAN). We explore this empirical pattern in more detail, sketch an analysis of the relevant modal constructions involving 'ga', and discuss potential theoretical implications from a cross-linguistic perspective.