Temporal interpretation in directive speech acts: A competition between imperative and 2nd person subjunctive in Greek

Abstract

In this study, we examine the distribution of imperative and subjunctive forms in Greek directive speech acts, focusing on their temporal interpretation. We present evidence from a Sentence Evaluation Task that the imperative is subject to an immediacy restriction, while the subjunctive mood favors a laterness inference and resists immediacy. We argue that this difference is semantic, stemming from the absence of tense in imperatives and its presence in subjunctives. Imperatives, by lacking tense, are interpreted at speech time, resulting in a more specific temporal reading than subjunctives, which convey a non-past meaning. The least specified subjunctive form is therefore blocked in immediate contexts.