Epistemic temporal interactions in San Pablo Güilá Zapotec

Abstract

On the basis of data from San Pablo Güilá Zapotec, this paper argues in support of the proposal that past temporal perspective is possible in epistemic contexts and that they depend on an operator that scopes over the epistemic modal. I show that San Pablo Güilá Zapotec has a variable-force epistemic modal pǎt and that sentences with this epistemic modal are judge-dependent. I also show that to create past temporal perspective, an element that scopes over the modal is required. This element (là̰z) performs two main functions: i) it allows past temporal perspective with the epistemic modal pǎt (by carrying a presupposition that the reference time t′ at which the modal is evaluated is located prior to the utterance time t), and ii) it expresses overtly the judge of the epistemic proposition by means of a personal subject clitic attached to it.