The Morphosemantics and Morphosyntax of the

Malayalam Verb
by
Amanda Swenson
B.A., Baylor University (2011)
Submitted to the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics
at the
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
September 2017

c Amanda Swenson, MMXVII. All rights reserved.
The author hereby grants to MIT permission to reproduce and to
distribute publicly paper and electronic copies of this thesis document
in whole or in part in any medium now known or hereafter created.

Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Department of Linguistics and Philosophy
September 6, 2017
Certified by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sabine Iatridou
Professor of Linguistics
Thesis Supervisor

Accepted by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
David Pesetsky
Professor of Linguistics, Department Head
2
The Morphosemantics and Morphosyntax of the Malayalam
Verb
by
Amanda Swenson

Submitted to the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy

on September 6, 2017, in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics

Abstract
The questions posed and addressed in this dissertation are broadly questions regarding
the nature cross-linguistic variation and why languages differ from one another in
these particular ways. This thesis focuses on four known points of cross-linguistic
variation in the verbal domain: tense, aspect, finiteness and the perfect. It uses data
primarily from the Dravidian language Malayalam to explore these questions.
Past work on tense and aspect in Dravidian languages (Amritavalli & Jayaseelan
2005) has claimed that Malayalam, along with the other Dravidian languages, is
tenseless. This dissertation, however, shows that Malayalam is empirically different
from other tenseless languages and that it does have morphology that encodes tense
semantics and a TP. It further examines what have previously been called the two
‘imperfectives’ and argues that the first one is a type of progressive. The second
form, is shown to be something between an interative and an imperfective. While the
dissertation argues that Malayalam, has tense morphology and a TP, it argues that
Malayalam lacks perfect morphology and a PerfP in, minimally, Universal perfects.
The investigation of finiteness focuses on the empirical facts regarding the different
non-finite forms in Malayalam and the theoretical implications of these facts. It
points out a problem for classifying negation as ‘finite’ versus ‘non-finite’, as has
frequently been done (Amritavalli & Jayaseelan 2005, a.o.) and argues that non-
finite uses of the -uka marker are progressive participles, that Conjunctive Participles
are best analyzed as Stump (1985)-style absolutives and that -athu gerunds involve
nominalization above the TP-level (cf. Borsley & Kornfilt 2000, Baker 2011).

Thesis Supervisor: Sabine Iatridou

Title: Professor of Linguistics

3
4
Acknowledgments

This dissertation is the result of a community effort. There is more to be thankful for
than is possible to express here, but I will try nonetheless. If I have missed anyone,
it was definitely not on purpose and all errors are, of course, my own.

First and foremost, to my friends in Kerala who have taught me so much more
than just Malayalam; without you this thesis would not exist, and I would not be the
(better) person I am today.

Secondly, while neither of them were officially on my committee, this thesis would
have been substantially worse without the extensive input on both the data and the
analyses from P. Madhavan and Shijith S. I would have been substantially worse off
without all of the support and encouragement I received from them. From Shijith sir
I learned to read Malayalam script. You never realize how important reading is until
you find yourself somewhere where you can’t read.

I am grateful to R. Amritavalli and K.A. Jayaseelan for providing much spirited

debate and, in general, making this thesis much better than it ever would have been
without their objections and suggestions. Thanks also to Jay, whose work reminded
me during my undergrad that I wanted to study Dravidian languages. If not for his
work, this thesis might have been a Classics thesis.

Without Sabine Iatridou this thesis might not exist at all. That Sabine became
my advisor was somewhat of an accident but it is one that I am immensely grateful
for. Sabine has been the perfect advisor with just the right mix of encouragement and
tough love and far more confidence in me than I often had in myself. She has been
incredibly generous with her time and our meetings and her comments on drafts of
this thesis have been invaluable. More than anything, she always cared about me as
a person first and a student second. ‘Thank you’ is very insufficient. This thesis also
substantially improved thanks to my other committee members, Kai von Fintel and
Norvin Richards. My discussions with them during meetings and their comments
on drafts helped make this thesis much better than it would have been otherwise.
Norvin has helped me from the beginning of grad school with valuable advice on many

5
practical details of doing fieldwork. I have greatly benefited from Kai’s professional
advice and understanding and appreciation of who I am. I frequently have come for
meetings and classes with Kai excited about a piece of data in Malayalam or some
other another language and left with a new understanding of why that data piece
should make me excited about English too.

My time at MIT and this thesis was also greatly enriched by the other faculty
members. Shigeru Miyagawa, though not on my committee, has played a consider-
able role in my graduate career. Thanks for always believing in me, encouraging me,
enthusiastically discussing the intricacies of thaan with me, and teaching one of my
favorite MIT classes on agreement and Japanese. Adam Albright was on the commit-
tee for the generals paper that developed into this dissertation. His comments were
invaluable and one of their results is chapter 4 of this thesis. He, along with David
Pesetsky, helped me get started on the morphology project that was the beginning of
this thesis. In addition to teaching a stimulating morphology class, David has given
me valuable feedback on chapter 3 of this thesis, as well as on my work on thaan.
Roger Schwarzschild, though he came to MIT at the end of my time here, helped me
think more clearly about parts of chapters 3 and 4. Noam Chomsky reminded me
at a critical point during thesis work to look beyond surface appearances in the data
to get to the heart of the matter. I admire Irene Heim for her humility and ability
to graciously tell you how to make things better. From her I learned the importance
of going ‘deep’ into a language. Donca Steriada also played an important role in
my graduate career for encouraging me, during a particular moment in my first year
when I was very discouraged, not to give up working on Dravidian languages. I really
enjoyed TAing for Michel DeGraff, from whom I learned a great deal about teaching.
Our conversations about Haitian Creole and education and language policy, as well
as his professional advice, have greatly enriched my MIT experience. I also benefited
from conversations with Noah Constant and from his class on information structure,
which was my other favorite class at MIT. Being around Danny Fox has reminded me
of the importance of childlike joy in working on linguistics puzzles. I also am grate-
ful to have taken classes with and had discussions with Martin Hackl, Ken Wexler,

6
Maziar Toosarvandani, Michael Kenstowicz, and Ben George during my time at MIT.
This thesis has also greatly benefited from discussions with Athulya Aravind,
Enoch Aboh, Bronwyn Bjorkman, Miriam Butt, Seth Cable, Jessica Coon, Veneeta
Dayal, Jasmine Maria G., Keerthana Gopinathan, Patrick Grosz, Ishani Guha, Heidi
Harley, Despina Ikonomou, Gouthaman K.J., Paul Marty, Mythili Menon, Sarah Mur-
ray, Roumi Pancheva, Pritty Patel-Grosz, Minu Sara Paul, Pooja Paul, Paul Portner,
Abdul-Razak Sulemana, Peter Svenonius, Sergei Tatevosov, Madhu V. and the par-
ticipants of TripleA 3, FASAL 6 and 7, the 42nd and 43rd All Indian conferences of
Dravidian Linguistics, the EFLU seminar series, FTL at UiO, MIT Ling-lunch, and
the MIT-ESSL/LaqLab. Yangchen Roy deserves special thanks for helping me get
the Gopalkrishnan thesis and for enthusiastically discussing the Malayalam data and
possible analyses with me.
I am also grateful to Mala Ghosh for her encouragement and for supporting my
fieldwork with MISTI/MIT-India internships. Additional support for my fieldwork
trips was also provided by Ken Hale grants for linguistic fieldwork.
Any shortcomings or errors in the data or analysis are my own responsibility.
Thanks to Jen Purdy, Matt Sikorski, Christine Graham, Mary Grenham and Chris
Naylor for their help with practical matters throughout my time at MIT. Thanks to
Bev Stohl for being so encouraging.
Thanks to my friends, officemates, and classmates at MIT from whom I learned
a lot about linguistics and life and with whom I had a great time: Abdul-Razak,
Anouch, Athulya, Despina, Erin, Gretchen, Isa, Isaac, Ishani, Juliet, Mar, Marie,
Masako, Mia, Michelle, Paul, Snejana, Suyeon, and TC.
Many other friends outside of the department have made my time in Boston
good (a non-exhaustive list): Mary, Camille, Mina, Natalia, Christina, Caleb, Lina,
John, Tiara, QT, Mark, Guan-Ting, Marcus, Emily, Anya, Nathan, Hannah, Ming,
Yukkee, Gerald, Steph, Heather, Michelle, Ange, Adam, Diana, Parki, Dilpreet, Gao
Yu, Ming, Nayoon, Yukari, Claire, Amanda, Nahomy, Christina, Elizabeth, Julli,
Lindsay, Laura, Theresa, Juliette, Rachel, Vera, Clizia, Salome, Ambrose, Feiby, and
Maurine. Thanks to Erica, who has always been there over the last 10 years, and

7
Lizzy aunty, who gave the first Malayalam judgments. Thanks to George, who so
graciously helped me improve my fieldwork skills, generously answered my tedious
questions about the ins and outs of Malayalam with enthusiasm, and supported me
during the difficult parts of grad school. Thanks to Revanth, Sam and Kiran for
answering my questions about Telugu and for their friendship.
Thanks also to all my friends in Hyderabad for sharing their work with me, having
great discussions about linguistics and non-linguistics topics, helping with practical
details and in general, making my time there great.
Many thanks to Jessica, Rafa, Austin and Caleb for their hospitality and encour-
agement in the final stretch. Thanks also to Graeme, Leasa, Pilar, Damon, Susan,
Karl, Oleksiy, Pam, Judy, Ann, Matt, and Simone for being great colleagues. Thanks
to my LIN 302 students for comments on parts of the material in chapters 1 and 5.
Thanks especially to David, Mari, Levan and Andria for their friendship.
I never would have come to grad school had it not been for my undergraduate
advisor, Lydia Grebenyova, who was excited to work with me when I came and told
her that I wanted to study the syntax of an Indian language. Thanks for being a great
teacher, mentor and for having so much faith in me. Her devotion to her students
and passion for undergraduate research is unparalleled. Thanks to my others teachers
during my undergrad at Baylor for encouraging my interest in linguistics and, in
general, broadening my horizons and encouraging me to learn.
My eighth-grade English teacher Mrs. Andersen was the first person to teach
me how to draw syntax trees and explain to me why we need DPs. Thanks to
my high school English teacher Mrs. Coleman for supporting my desire to learn
about grammar in a more sophisticated way and for allowing me to research the
‘unusual’ topics I wanted to for my English papers. Thanks to Senora Holmes and
Mme. Rimestad for tirelessly bearing with my questions about why Spanish and
French, especially the verbs, work the way they do. Thanks also to Sartha aunty,
Vinay uncle and Usha aunty for helping me with my first attempts at fieldwork and
patiently answering my questions about Hindi, teaching me about Indian culture and
for generally being encouraging.

8
 My thanks to my family and friends outside of Boston for their support and
encouragement throughout grad school. The list would be too long, and I am too
tired at this point, but you know who you are.
Finally, none of this would have been possible without my parents and sister.
Thanks for always being there and loving me unconditionally. From my grandma and
granddaddy I learned more than I could ever express about unconditional love and
the true meaning of success.
For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face.

9
10
Contents

1 Introduction 17
1.1 Introducing the Puzzle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.1.1 Tense, Aspect & the Perfect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
1.1.2 Auxiliaries, ‘do-support’, light verbs and Serial Verb Construc-
tions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
1.1.3 Non-finite forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
1.2 Sneak Peek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

2 A Tense, Aspect and Perfect Primer 29

2.1 Basic assumptions about tense, aspect and the perfect . . . . . . . . 30
2.1.1 Syntactic and morphological component . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.1.2 Semantic component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
2.2 What is a tenseless language? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
2.2.1 ‘No overt morphology’ camp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
2.2.2 Tensed account for tenseless language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
2.2.3 Tenseless accounts for tenseless language . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
2.2.4 Accounts for tenseless languages that are of controversial status 66
2.2.5 ‘No TP’ camp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
2.3 Chapter summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

3 Tense & Aspect in Malayalam 73

3.1 A complex puzzle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
3.2 Malayalam is not a tenseless language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

11
 3.2.1 Applying the tests to the imperfective morphologies . . . . . . 81
3.2.2 Applying the tests to the past morpheme . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
3.3 The beginnings of a tensed account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
3.3.1 Interim summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
3.4 The difference between the two ‘imperfectives’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
3.4.1 An intuition about the semantics for -unnu . . . . . . . . . . . 107
3.4.2 Interim summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
3.5 Undu vs aanu: The different ‘being’ verbs in Malayalam . . . . . . . 117
3.5.1 Equative, predicative, existential and possessive contexts . . . 118
3.5.2 Location, psychological and medical predicates . . . . . . . . . 121
3.5.3 The immediacy requirement: towards an account for undu and
aanu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
3.6 Chapter summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

4 Non-finite clauses in Malayalam 143

4.1 ‘Finite’ and ‘non-finite’ negation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
4.1.1 Problems for a finite based account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
4.1.2 Possible alternate analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
4.1.3 Interaction of negation and modals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
4.2 Non-finite uses of -uka marked verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
4.3 Conjunctive/Adverbial Participles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
4.3.1 Introducing the puzzle/controversial status . . . . . . . . . . . 162
4.3.2 Properties of Conjunctive Participle Constructions . . . . . . . 166
4.3.3 Conjunctive Participles as modified Stump (1985)-style adjuncts 174
4.3.4 Interim summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
4.4 Nominalizations in Malayalam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
4.4.1 Are -athu nominalizations gerunds? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
4.4.2 Comparison of Malayalam nominalizations & relative clauses . 190
4.4.3 Adjectives as relative clauses in Malayalam . . . . . . . . . . . 197
4.5 Chapter Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

12
5 The Perfect in Malayalam 203
5.1 Introducing the puzzle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
5.2 kondu is not a progressive participle; it is a lexical aspect modifier . . 207
5.2.1 kondu and predicate type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
5.2.2 Why use kondu in Universal perfects? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
5.3 irikk- is not a perfect auxiliary; instead it has three functional, non-
perfect uses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
5.3.1 irikk- as a viewpoint aspect auxiliary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
5.3.2 Light Verb use of irikk- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
5.3.3 irikk- as ‘do’-support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
5.4 Implications for compositionality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

6 Conclusion 237

A Additional differences between -uka and -unnu undu 241

B On the choice of -u or -i 245

13
14
List of Tables

2.1 Tense features and their phonological outputs in English . . . . . . . 31

3.1 Hypotheses for the meanings of -unnu and -u . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

3.2 Full tense/aspect paradigm for var- ‘come’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
3.3 Tense/aspect forms of irikk- ‘sit’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
3.4 Tense/aspect paradigm for var- ‘come’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
3.5 Features associated with English tense/aspect auxiliaries . . . . . . . 96
3.6 Tense/aspect paradigm for var- ‘come’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
3.7 Features associated with Malayalam tense/aspect auxiliaries (Version 1) 98
3.8 Features associated with Malayalam tense/aspect auxiliaries (Version 2)116
3.9 Comparison of the Spanish and the Malayalam copulas . . . . . . . . 121
3.10 Copulas in location predicates in Malayalam and Spanish . . . . . . . 126
3.11 Summary of the uses of the two copulas in Malayalam . . . . . . . . . 131

4.1 Possible Readings for Different Event Types in Absolutives . . . . . . 177

5.1 Options for expressing Universal perfects in Malayalam . . . . . . . . 215

5.2 Perfects & the Principle of Compositionality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

15
16
Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1 Introducing the Puzzle

The questions posed in this dissertation are broadly the questions of what type of
cross-linguistic variation occurs and why languages differ from one another in these
particular ways. This thesis focuses on four known points of cross-linguistic variation
in the verbal domain: tense, aspect, finiteness and the perfect. It explores these
puzzles using data primarily from the Dravidian language Malayalam. In the course
of the investigation it will be shown that Malayalam, though very different than
English and other related languages, is, in fact, built from the same building blocks
as these languages. The evidence for this claim will come from the ‘peculiar’ looking
behaviors of Malayalam.
One way languages can vary is with respect to the type of morphology they have.
For example, languages can have no tense morphology (Smith et al. (2003), Smith
et al. (2007) for Navajo; Smith and Erbaugh (2005) and Lin (2003), Lin (2006), Lin
(2010) for Mandarin; Mucha (2012), Mucha (2013) for Hausa; Bohnemeyer (2009) for
Yucatec Maya; Tonhauser (2011) for Paraguayan Guarani; Shaer (2003) and Bittner
(2005) for Kalaallisut, Matthewson (2006) for St’at’imcets, a.o.) or they can have
a multiplicity of tense forms, which make finer grained distinctions than the two
to three tenses common in languages like English (Hayashi (2011) and Hayashi and
Oshima (2015) for South Baffin Inuktitut; Cable (2013) for Gikuyu; Bochnak and

17
Klecha (2015a), Bochnak and Klecha (2015b) for Luganda; Mucha (2015), Mucha
(2017)) for Medumba; Mucha and Fominyam (2017) for Awing, a.o.).
Languages also differ with respect to their morphological resources for expressing
the different readings of the perfect. Some languages, such as Turkish, do not have
any special perfect morphology; instead, they just use simple tense forms. Others,
like Modern Greek (Iatridou et. al. 2003) and Georgian, have perfect morphology to
express the Existential perfect but not the Universal perfect. Languages like Bulgarian
use both dedicated perfect morphology and simple tense forms (Iatridou et al. (2001),
Pancheva (2003)). Others, such as English, allow only dedicated perfect morphology
and prohibit simple tense forms.
Another area in which languages differ is in how they encode the notion of ‘finite-
ness’. Languages vary regarding how forms or clauses are classified as ‘finite’ versus
‘non-finite’. Some classify forms based on the presence or absence of one or more of
the following types of morphology: tense, mood, agreement, evidential, or honorific
(Nikolaeva 2010). A number of other ways of classifying finiteness also exist. In gen-
eral, the nature of ‘finiteness’ is not well understood (Nikolaeva (2010), McFadden
and Sundaresan (2014)).
All of these areas of morphological variation have syntactic correlates: with tense,
TP and with the perfect, PerfP. Finiteness also has a syntactic dimension to it. In
the early GB-era, IP was the syntactic locus of finiteness and hosted all inflectional
morphology. Later work in GB and in Minimalism (beginning with Pollock (1989))
has replaced the early GB-era IP with a series of functional heads which host the
different types of inflectional morphology and are responsible for the respective se-
mantics of voice, aspect, perfect, tense, mood, etc. Work in the cartographic tradition
(beginning with Rizzi (1997)) has suggested that finiteness deserves its own projec-
tion, FinP, low in the CP-level. As such, the question of variation is not simply a
morphological one.
This fact raises questions regarding the mapping between the morphology and
syntax. For example, if a language lacks a visible exponent of a certain morpheme or
set of morphemes, does this mean that it lacks the corresponding syntactic projec-

18
tion? The answer need not be affirmative. One possibility is that the language has (a)
corresponding covert morpheme(s), which appear in the respective syntactic projec-
tion. However, it is also a logical possibility that a language could lack a morpheme
or a set of morphemes, covert or overt, and, in turn, also lack the corresponding syn-
tactic projection. Another possibility might be that the projection is present in the
syntax though it has no (co)overt morphology present in it. If a language chooses the
second option, this raises questions about the other implications of the absense of the
syntactic projection. For example, if a language were to lack a TP, how would this
affect case licensing, licensing an EPP feature, nominalization, finiteness or binding
in that language?

The second option also raises questions for the mapping of the morphosyntax and
semantics. For example, if a language lacks a set of morphology and the correspond-
ing syntactic projection, what other mechanism does it use to get the semantics?
Such a language would need to have other, non-morphosyntactic ways of indicating
these relationships. The literature on tenseless languages has already suggested that,
in addition to morphosyntactic features on T, languages can use information encoded
in the semantics of lexical and/or viewpoint aspect or pragmatic principles to obtain
temporal information. The specifics of the alternate mechanism can vary from lan-
guage to language (as the tenseless literature shows). One reason for this variation
is that languages can differ in the exact semantics a particular feature encodes. One
example of this can be found by comparing the English and German present tenses
(Pancheva & von Stechow 2004). The puzzle for each language is then two-fold: what
is the alternate mechanism being used and what language internal factors along with
universal principles cause that mechanism to be selected?

On the flipside, if a language has more specifications for a certain category, ques-
tions regarding the nature of the morphology-syntax mapping also need to be asked.
For example, does each individual piece of morphology license its own syntactic projec-
tion or are there just more featural specifications possible for certain heads in certain
languages? If the first option is chosen, is there a fixed order to these heads language
internally and cross-linguistically? Relatedly, do all these heads have to project in all

19
languages? Questions of these sorts have been entertained in the cartographic liter-
ature (beginning with Rizzi (1997)) and also in work by Ritter & Wiltschko (2005,
2010, 2014), a.o. No matter the specifics of the morphosyntax in a given language,
the pieces involved in any account that might be presented should be compositional
(Frege 1884).
This dissertation explores these questions in the context of the Dravidian language
Malayalam. For tense, the focus in this dissertation will be on what the criteria should
be for discerning whether or not a given language is tensed or tenseless, as Amritavalli
& Jayaseelan (2005) have controversially claimed that Malayalam is a tenseless lan-
guage. The dissertation will argue that Malayalam has both tense morphology and
a TP. With respect to aspect, it will be shown that Malayalam uses a large range of
lexical aspect modifying markers and light verbs, in addition to having nuanced vari-
ations in its viewpoint aspect system. The examination of the perfect will investigate
whether or not Malayalam has a PerfP and perfect morphology. Despite superficial
evidence that it does, the claim ultimately will be that Malayalam in fact lacks both
perfect morphology and a PerfP, at least in Universal perfects. The investigation of
‘finiteness’ in Malayalam will not focus on what constitutes ‘finiteness’ in Malayalam,
but rather on the distributions of the different ‘non-finite’ forms in Malayalam. The
next three subsections provide some additional information about the larger theoreti-
cal significance of this investigation and how the ‘peculiarities’ of Malayalam, in fact,
show that it is built using the same ‘atoms’ as other languages.

1.1.1 Tense, Aspect & the Perfect

The existing work on tense, aspect and the perfect in Malayalam focuses almost
exclusively on whether or not Malayalam has a TP in its clausal structure and what
the role of the morphology is in drawing this conclusion. On one side, Amritavalli and
Jayaseelan (2005), Amritavalli (2014), and Jayaseelan (2014) claim that Malayalam
lacks tense morphology and a TP. This is not a priori impossible as a diverse number of
languages have been argued to lack tense morphology and/or a TP cross-linguistically,
as discussed above.

20
 However, this position is a controversial and novel claim for Malayalam. Gram-
mars have long claimed that Malayalam has tense morphology (Gundert 1851, Cald-
well (1856), Peet (1860), Frohnmeyer (1913), Raja Raja Varma (1917), Asher and
Kumari (1997), a.o.) and Babu and Madhavan (2003) and Menon (2011) have argued
in favor of Malayalam having a TP in the syntax. This thesis will argue, along with
the grammars and Hany Babu & Madhavan (2003) and Menon (2011) that Malayalam
has tense morphology. It will also show that Amritavalli & Jayaseelan’s arguments
that Malayalam lacks a TP are not conclusive. It will then argue that Malayalam
and English both have roughly the same morphological tense and viewpoint aspect
features in the syntax. This explains why the same pattern of auxiliary usage is found
in both languages.

While this thesis argues that Amritavalli & Jayaseelan are wrong in calling Malay-
alam a tenseless language, they are right in their intuition that the tense/aspect/perfect
system in Malayalam, is, in some ways, quite different from that of English and other
related languages. For example, this thesis will show (following Hany Babu 2006)
that the so called ‘imperfective’ viewpoint aspect in Malayalam is different from
that of Italian and Hindi in that it allows accidental generalizations, among other
things. It will build on the intuitions in Hany Babu (2006) and extend them beyond
the ‘generic’ reading to the event-in-progress reading. It will suggest that, contra
Hany Babu (2006), a unified account of the two readings is merited and sketch the
intuition for what such an account might look like.

It will also argue that Malayalam uses a number of morphemes to modify lexical
aspect and the vP domain. For example, it uses light verbs (in the sense of Butt
2010) to provide additional information about the event and lexical aspect markers
to modify the lexical aspect of predicates.

Turning to the perfect, the dissertation argues that Malayalam lacks a PerfP and
dedicated perfect morphology in, minimally, the Universal reading of the perfect.
Instead, it makes use of either simple tense forms or viewpoint aspect along with the
lexical aspect modifier morpheme and an auxiliary to express what is semantically
equivalent to the perfect in other languages. As such, while the elements that create a

21
(Universal) perfect meaning are quite different in Malayalam and English, nonetheless
Malayalam adds further typological support to Iatridou et al. (2003) and Pancheva
(2003, 2013)’s proposal that lexical aspect and viewpoint aspect determine the types
of perfect a language can have. That a language without perfect morphology might
more heavily rely on the aspectual resources it has is unsurprising given the findings
in the tenseless literature.

1.1.2 Auxiliaries, ‘do-support’, light verbs and Serial Verb

Constructions

In the examination of tense, aspect and the perfect, the thesis will explore the role
of auxiliaries, ‘do-support’, light verbs and what have been called ‘Serial Verb Con-
structions’ in Malayalam and situate them with respect to the cross-linguistic data.
Generally these terms are not always well defined, and often times it is not clear how
the phenomena labeled with these terms differ from one another.
This dissertation will refer to auxiliary verbs as those verbs which are present in
the syntax specifically to rescue stranded features (Bjorkman 2011, under review). It
will be shown that Malayalam has the same feature configurations as English does
in the cases of sentences marked with just viewpoint aspect and tense. This will
result in the same pattern of auxiliaries in the two languages. It will further consider
questions of auxiliary selection in Malayalam, which has three main auxiliary verbs:
undu, aanu and irikk-.
The auxiliary irikk-, in addition to its function as a viewpoint aspect auxiliary,
has two other functional uses: a light verb use and a ‘do’ support use. ‘Do’-support,
on the other hand, occurs when V and v are pronounced separately from one another
(Bjorkman 2011, under review). The term ‘light verb’ will be used in the narrow sense
of Butt (2010). What have been called Serial Verb Constructions in Malayalam will
be examined and instead argued to be absolutive constructions as defined by Stump
(1985).
It will be shown that Malayalam has multiple verbs that can be used for ‘do’

22
support. The thesis will suggest that Aboh (2009, 2016) may be on the right track in
arguing that Serial Verb Constructions and auxiliaries may be governed by a common
principle and need to be more carefully explored cross-linguistically.

1.1.3 Non-finite forms

A second question this thesis will focus on has to do with the poorly understood
notion of ‘finiteness.’ The focus in the dissertation will be not so much on what
counts as finiteness in Malayalam but on the behavior of three different ‘non-finite’
forms.
Nikolaeva (2010) and McFadden & Sundaresan (2014) provide useful summaries
of the way the term ‘finiteness’ has been used. Broadly speaking, in the descriptive
literature, especially when following the Latin grammatical tradition, ‘finiteness’ is
often a term linked to verb forms and not clauses. These finite verb forms are inflected
for tense, agreement, mood, etc. (as discussed above). Forms that do not meet these
requirements, such as participles, gerunds, and infinitives are then called ‘non-finite’
forms.
Nikolaeva (2010) suggests that what makes a non-finite clause non-finite is that it
is not wholly ‘verbal’, but rather it is of a mixed nature. Gerunds and infinitives are
claimed to have properties of both verbs and nouns (Comrie (1976), Koptjevskaja-
Tamm (1993), also see Abney (1987), Baker (2011)) while participles are claimed to
have the properties of both verbs and adjectives (Haspelmath (1994)). An additional
question raised here then is, what is meant by terms like ‘noun,’ ‘verb’ and ‘adjective’ ?
This is not a trivial question and has been answered in a number of ways (cf. Chomsky
1970, Jackendoff 1977, Baker (2003), a.o.).
In more recent work in both the generative and non-generative tradition ‘finiteness’
has been defined as a clausal property, not a property of individual forms. In this way,
finite clauses are defined as those that can form independent sentences by themselves,
have overt subjects and create locality restrictions for binding. However, as both
Nikolaeva (2010) and McFadden & Sundaresan (2014) note, even a clausal-based
definition of finiteness runs into problems when faced with a wider range of languages.

23
A few examples include phenomena like infinitives that show agreement in European
Portuguese and allow overt subjects Raposo (1987), Tamil participle clauses and
Irish, Tamil, Malayalam and Sinhala infinitival clauses that allow both an EC and
overt NP subject (Sundaresan & McFadden 2009), and the Icelandic long-distance
reflexive which allows long-distance binding only out of subjunctive clauses (Hicks
(2009), Reuland (2001), Sigurdsson (1991)).
As one can see, the picture here is still messy. If the intuition that non-finite forms
are somehow ‘mixed categories’ is right, then the question of better defining ‘non-
finiteness’ stands at the heart not only of better understanding the property of clauses
but also of understanding the most basic building blocks of language. This discussion
of what categories are universal and how they are defined is especially interesting here
in that Malayalam has been argued to lack one of the basic building block categories,
namely lexical adjectives (Menon 2016, Menon and Pancheva (2014)).

1.2 Sneak Peek

The method for exploring the puzzles described above will be to scrutinize the use
of each of the relevant morphemes to provide new insights as to their meanings.
The moving parts that will be examined in the course of the thesis are given in (1).
Chapter 2 provides an overview of the basic grammar for tense, aspect and the perfect
assumed. It will also contain a brief review of the literature on tenseless languages.

(1) a. -u/i
b. -um
c. -unnu
d. -uka
e. aanu
f. undu
g. Conjunctive/Adverbial participles
h. -athu nominalization

24
 i. -kondu
j. -ittu
(i) functional uses of irikk -

Chapter 3 begins the main arguments of the thesis. The overarching theme of this
chapter is the morphosemantics and morphosyntax of tense and aspect in Malayalam.
It begins with an overview of Amritavalli & Jayaseelan’s (2005) proposal that Malay-
alam, along with the other Dravidian languages, is tenseless. It is then pointed out
that it is possible to accept Amritavalli and Jayaseelan’s assertion that ‘finiteness’ is
not linked to tense in Dravidian without accepting their claim that Dravidian lan-
guages lack tense morphology and a TP. The first part of this chapter highlights the
difficulty of the tense-aspect puzzle in Malayalam and then shows that while Am-
ritavalli & Jayaseelan could be right about what counts as finiteness/anchoring in
Malayalam, the assertion that Malayalam is tenseless is not empirically supported.
The first half of this chapter shows that Malayalam is empirically different from other
tenseless languages and does have morphology that encodes tense semantics, making
it a tensed language for those in the ‘no overt morphology’ camp.

The second section provides a sketch of an analysis for tense and aspect in Malay-
alam. It argues that Malayalam has a TP with tense features, which spell out as
tense morphemes when nothing intervenes between the verb and T (a la Bjorkman
2011, Bjorkman (sion)), and as auxiliaries when another active head intervenes. This
explains the distribution of auxiliaries and the obligatory nature of predicative copu-
las in Malayalam. Having a TP makes Malayalam a tensed language for those in the
‘no TP’ camp. The argument that Malayalam is a tensed language constitutes the
first part of the chapter.

The second part of the chapter took a closer look at the semantics of the uka and
unnu forms, (1-c)-(1-d), which have been generally called the two ‘imperfectives’.
It will be argued here uka is an intensional progressive while unnu is used when a
situation involves multiple, temporally connected episodes taking place within close
succession, like an iterative. But it differs from an iterative in that it is necessary that

25
these iterations take place within another interval, i, in the actual world. Because this
interval has or gets the subinterval property, it results in accidental generalizations
over these episodes. Because the Topic Time is contained in the Situation Time,
this gives a Klein (1994) progressive meaning while the ‘generalizing’ step that gives
the progressive meaning also results in a report on the state of things in the actual
world, i.e. the ‘generic’ use of unnu. This results in it having the appearance of an
imperfective.

Finally, the last section turns to the question of why Malayalam uses different
copulas to realize the stranded tense features in the progressive and the imperfective.
The main conclusion is that the undu copula, (1-f), is the existential copula, also
used to express possession. When it is used in location, psychological and medical
predicates, it expresses immediacy (cf. Patel-Grosz’s (2016) immediacy requirement
in certain negative imperatives cross-linguistically). The copula in (1-e), aanu, is
argued to be the elsewhere copula.

Chapter four’s main focus is to provide the empirical facts regarding the different
non-finite forms in Malayalam and the theoretical implications of these facts. The
first section provides an overview of what have been called ‘finite’ and ‘non-finite’
negation in Malayalam and how they have been used as a diagnostic for finiteness. It
then shows that ‘finiteness’ does not seem to be the governing factor in determining
the use of negation in Malayalam and suggests what an alternative account might look
like. The remaining three sections of chapter 4 provide case studies of three ‘non-
finite’ forms in Malayalam: the uka ‘citation infinitive/verbal participle’ which this
thesis will claim is a progressive participle, the Conjunctive/Adverbial Participle,
which will be argued to be a Stump (1985)-style absolutive adjunct, and the athu
‘gerund’, which the thesis will claim is a type of nominalization that occurs above TP
(cf. Borsley and Kornfilt (2000), Baker 2011).

The negation, Conjunctive Participle and athu nominalization data presented here
will strengthen the arguments from chapter 3 against the tenseless account put forth
by Amritavalli & Jayaseelan (2005, et. seq.). While flawed, Amritavalli & Jayasee-
lan’s (2005) account raises many important questions. Central to their proposal is

26
the notion of ‘finiteness’. This notion is generally poorly understood, but generally
one could say, however ‘finiteness’ is defined, that languages have a variety of both
‘finite’ and ‘non-finite’ forms. The data provided in this paper highlights a number
of differences between the three ‘non-finite’ forms in Malayalam. The Conjunctive
Participle will play a further role in chapter 5 as it is a crucial component of several
of the perfect forms.
Chapter 5 will synthesize all of the parts discussed in the previous chapters and
further introduce/explore those in (1-h)-(1-j). The main claim of this chapter is that
Malayalam, like Modern Greek (Iatridou et. al. 2003), does not use an active Perf
head to express perfect semantics in Universal perfects. Instead, Malayalam uses a
combination of the Conjunctive participle, a special a lexical aspect modifier, (1-i),
along with tense and either the progressive or ‘imperfective’ viewpoint aspect marker
to form the verb used in the Universal perfect. Simple progressive or ‘imperfective’
verb forms without kondu can also be used in the perfect in Malayalam. It will also
show that, in addition to serving as a viewpoint aspect auxilary in forms with kondu,
irikk -, (1-j-i), also functions as a light verb which express ‘surprise/unexpectedness’
and as a type of ‘do’ support. The Existential perfect form, which is composed by
the Conjunctive participle, the morpheme in (1-j), and the existential copula, (1-f),
will also be briefly discussed.
Despite the differences between the Malayalam perfect and the perfect in lan-
guages like English, this thesis argues that Malayalam provides further support for
the predictions made by Iatridou et al. (2003) and Pancheva (2003, 2013) that the
types of lexical and viewpoint aspects a language has will influence the readings of
the perfects that it can have. Pancheva (2013) argues, based on data from Greek,
Bulgarian, and the Austronesian languages Saisiyat and Niuean, that this prediction
is, in fact, borne out. The Malayalam further expands the typology and provides
support for this prediction.

27
28
Chapter 2

A Tense, Aspect and Perfect

Primer

This chapter is split into two parts: The first half of the chapter surveys the syntac-
tic, morphological and semantic components of tense, aspect and the perfect. This
brief, but somewhat in-depth overview is necessary background for the discussion of
‘tenselessness’ in the second half of chapter two, the investigation of the Malayalam
tense and aspect in chapter three and the exploration of the Malayalam perfect in
chapter five.

The focus of the second half of this chapter, the question ‘what does it mean for
a language to be tenseless?’, is an important question to ask in light of Amritavalli
and Jayaseelan’s claim that Malayalam is a tenseless language. In the literature,
there are basically two different things that can be meant by the term ‘tenseless.’
One major conclusion of the dissertation will be that Malayalam is not a tenseless
language (contra Amritavalli & Jayaseelan 2005, Amritavalli 2014 and Jayaseelan
2014). Chapter 3 of the thesis shows that Malayalam is empirically different from
other tenseless languages. It, instead, argues for a tensed account along the lines
of what Bjorkman (2011, under review) argues for English. In order to argue that
Malayalam is not a tenseless language, it is important to know what such a language
would look like.

29
2.1 Basic assumptions about tense, aspect and the
perfect

Like all phenomena in natural language, ‘tense,’ ‘aspect’ and ‘the perfect’ have syn-
tactic, morphological and semantic components. This thesis explores all three com-
ponents of tense, aspect, and the perfect in Malayalam. Before doing that, it spells
out and gives a bit of background on the basic theoretical framework assumed in the
thesis. The majority of this section focuses on spelling out the semantics. However,
it begins with some notes on the syntax and morphology.

2.1.1 Syntactic and morphological component

Turning first to the syntax, the first question to ask is where in the syntactic tree the
relevant morphology goes. In the Government and Binding (GB) era, tense, aspect
and perfect morphology were located at Infl. Besides simply being the location for this
morphology, Infl was also involved in licensing nominative case, hosted an Extended
Projection Principle (EPP) feature and was the locus of finiteness. More recently, IP
has been replaced with an expanded series of functional projections. In this set of
expanded projections, the location of tense morphology has often been assumed to be
T. Generally, properties like nominative case assignment and hosting an EPP feature
attributed to Infl in GB have been ascribed to T in Minimalism. The syntactic
locus of finiteness is more controversial and will be discussed in section 2. Aspect
morphology is generally assumed to be at Asp. Iatridou et. al. (2003), Pancheva
(2003), Pancheva and von Stechow (2004), and Bjorkman (2011), a.o. have argued
that the perfect should also license its own projection, PerfP, the head of which is
the location of perfect morphology. This thesis follows these works in assuming that
the perfect licenses such a projection and that this projection is located between TP
and AspP in the clausal spine. These projections comprise the syntactic component
of tense, aspect and the perfect.
The next thing to think about is the morphological nature of tense, aspect and

30
the perfect. Of course, the syntactic definition and the morphological definition are
simply describing different parts of a single entity. In order to link them, it will be
argued that the morphological component has two parts. The first and most obvious
of these parts is the phonological realization of the morphology. An example of this
is the -ed that marks the past tense in a verb like walk-ed. The second part is an
abstract, formal morphological feature. This abstract feature is needed because it is
not the case that there is always a single morpheme to express a given meaning. The
English past tense provides one example. While the -ed suffix is added to regular
verbs to mark the past tense, there are irregular verbs that use stem changes to mark
the past tense, (cf. eat + PAST → ate (*eat-ed )), or do not change their forms at
all (cf.put + PAST → put (*put-ed )). Thus, it seems reasonable to say that there is
a formal feature [PAST], which can be pronounced in different ways. These abstract
formal features are present in the syntax. Tense features like [PAST] and [PRESENT]
([PRES]) and perhaps [FUTURE] ([FUT]) will be present on the T head. Aspect
features like [PROGRESSIVE] ([PROG]) and [PERFECTIVE] ([PERFV]) will be
present in the Asp head. The [PERFECT] ([PERF]) feature will be present on the
Perf head. The phonological component will use the features to produce the proper
phonological realizations, table 2.1.

Past Present Future

live + PAST → lived live + PRES → lives live + FUT → will live
put + PAST → put put + PRES → put put + FUT → will put

Table 2.1: Tense features and their phonological outputs in English

The interpretive component of the grammar will use these features to assign the
sentence a temporal meaning, (1).

(1) a. PAST → past interpretation

b. PRES → present interpretation
c. FUT → future interpretation
d. PERFV → perfective interpretation
e. PROG → progressive interpretation

31
 f. PERF → perfect interpretation

This is the basic picture. One focus of this dissertation will be to see how these
morphological features ‘drive’ the syntax via their participation in Agreement rela-
tionships. So far, the proposed grammar introduces inflectional features, such as
[PAST], [PERF], [PERFV], etc in functional projections that are separate from that
of the verb. The obvious question then becomes, how do the verb and inflectional ma-
terial unite? One answer that has been given is that this happens via local movement
(Pollock 1989 et seq.; Travis (1984); Bobaljik (1995); Embick and Noyer (2001)). In
more recent Minimalist approaches, this question has been handled using the opera-
tion Agree. The idea here is that instead of requiring movement, features can simply
be valued in situ if the relationship between the two heads is local. If the required
locality exists, then a dependency can be established between the two heads, i.e. an
Agreement relationship can be established.

This type of proposal is advantageous in that it can explain multiple occurrences

of the same inflectional features on multiple verbs. This is found in constructions such
as Serial and ‘quasi-Serial’ Verb Constructions (Aikhenvald and Dixon (2006), Zwicky
(1969), Pullum (1990), Cardinaletti (2001)), and ‘parasitic participles’ (Den Dikken
and Hoekstra (1997), Wurmbrand (2003), a.o.). Under an Agree analysis this data can
be straightforwardly accounted for by saying that multiple verbs have an Agree rela-
tionship with a single inflectional head. This type of data is difficult for a movement-
based theory to account for. In fact, in Minimalism, it is often assumed, following
Chomsky (2000), that Agreement between the probe and goal is a necessary precursor
of movement. As such, an Agree based theory has greater empirical coverage than a
strictly movement based one.

Exactly how one formulates Agree is some matter of controversy. Chomsky (1998)
argues that Agree is ‘Downward’. On this account an unvalued feature (called ‘the
Probe’) on a given head search (probe) for a c-commanding valued feature (called
‘the Goal’) on another head. The Probe will then enter into an Agree relation-
ship with the Goal and thereby gain valued features. On this formulation, feature

32
valuation by Agree is ‘Downwards’. On the other hand, it has been argued that
unvalued features (‘Probes’) are valued via a ‘Reverse/Upwards’ Agree relationship.
Here the Upwards directionality comes because the higher, valued feature (‘the Goal’)
probes for the closest unvalued feature (‘the Probe’) (see Adger (2003); Baker (2008);
Zeijlstra (2008), Zeijlstra (2010); Haegeman and Lohndal (2010); Merchant (2011);
Wurmbrand (2011); Bjorkman 2011, under review, a.o.). This thesis does not take a
position regarding what formulation is correct.

The tree in (2) provides an illustration for the system developed so far. There will
be an Agreement relationship between the v head and Asp head, the Asp head and
Perf head and the Perf head and T head. Further details of this system will be covered
in more depth in chapter three where it will be used to explain the distribution of
auxiliaries in Malayalam.

(2) Syntax & morphology of tense, aspect and the perfect

TP

Subject1 T’

T PerfP
[PRES/PAST/FUT] Perf AspP
[PERF] Asp vP
[PROG/PERFV] t1 v’
v VP

V; object

In sum, so far two components of tense, aspect and the perfect have been described:
the syntactic component of tense, aspect and the perfect (TP, AspP, and PerfP) and
the morphological component, which has two parts: i) the abstract morphological
[TENSE/ASPECT/PERFECT] features and ii) their phonological realizations. The
tree in (2) has shown the way in which these two components interact.

33
2.1.2 Semantic component

The final thing that it is necessary to think about is the semantics of tense, aspect and
the perfect. In the grammar developed here, this specifically means the component
that deals with the way the formal, abstract morphological features are interpreted.
The remainder of this section gives basic background on tense, aspect and the perfect
based on works such as Klein (1994), Kratzer (1998), Beck and von Stechow (2015),
Iatridou et. al. (2003), and Pancheva (2003). Readers who are familiar with these
accounts can skip ahead to the next section.

Basic semantics of tense and aspect

This section begins with basic assumptions based on Klein’s (1994) reformalization
of a Reichenbach (1947)-style account, where someone with no background in tense
and aspect semantics might begin, and builds towards a slightly more sophisticated
account (either that of Kratzer (1998) or Beck & von Stechow (2015)1 ). Since this is
only a very short section of the dissertation, it obviously will not do justice to the full
picture, but the hope is that this section will allow the reader without background to
follow the rest of the discussion in the dissertation.
The exploration of the semantics of tense, aspect and the perfect begins by defining
some key terms, starting with the Utterance Time (UT), which is the smallest time
interval in which a sentence is uttered (said). It is tempting to think of the UT
as ‘now’ and in many instances this is correct. However, caution is needed in that
the notion of ‘now’ can be stretched beyond just the smallest time interval in which
the sentence is said to a larger interval including that time, roughly corresponding
to something like ‘in the present era.’ This use of ‘now’ is shown in (3-a), where
‘now’ refers to a span of over 200 years. ‘Now’ can also be used to give a recent
past meaning, (3-b), or an imminent future/futurate (Copley (2008), Copley (2009)),
(3-c).

1
This thesis does not take a position on the quantificational versus pronominal status of tense.
Either approach would suffice for the purposes of this thesis.

34
(3) a. The US has its own government now.
b. He came just now.
c. Im going home now.

The second term that will be used to talk about time is the Situation Time (ST),
which is the time interval in the actual world throughout which the predicate (roughly
the event) holds. Like all intervals, the ST has a Left Boundary (LB) and a Right
Boundary (RB), indicated in (4-b) and the other timelines with ‘[’ and ‘]’ respectively.
For the UT, this does not really come up, as it is all right to think of UT as a point
in time.

(4) a. What happened yesterday: Mary fell asleep at 5pm and woke up at 7pm.

b.

The English past tense will be used as an illustration to help the reader better answer
the question of what tense is. Looking at the sentence in (5-a) and its graphic
representation (read left to right) in (5-b) the first and seemingly most intuitive
hypothesis (H1) is that PAST encodes the temporal relationship that the entire ST
< UT. This seems to work for (5).

(5) a. Mary left.

b.

However, under closer scrutiny, it becomes obvious that H1 cannot properly account
for the semantics of tense. For (6-b), H1 predicts at UT that ‘Mary’ is not asleep
anymore (the entire ST< UT). This seems correction in that (6-b) can be followed
by (6-c), yielding the timeline in (6-d).

35
(6) a. I walked into the room and saw Mary lying on the floor.
b. She was sleeping.
c. So, I shook her, and she woke up.

d.

However, the sentence in (6-b) could be followed by the sentence in (7-a), which would
have the timeline in (7-b). In this case, the ST starts before the UT but can continue
into and even beyond the UT. Thus H1 cannot be correct.

(7) a. In fact, she was sleeping so soundly that it was impossible to wake her
up. She is still lying there asleep. (And, since I know she hasn’t slept in
3 days, I’m sure she will still be lying there asleep tomorrow morning.)

b.

An even more striking example that illustrates the same concept is found in (8). For
(8-b), H1 predicts at UT that ‘Mary’ is not dead anymore (the entire ST<UT), as
shown in (8-c). The obvious problem with this is that world knowledge tells us that
that the state of ‘Mary being dead’ still holds at UT (and will hold forever beyond
that). As a result, the proper timeline is the one in (8-d).

(8) a. I walked into the room and saw Mary lying on the floor.
b. She was dead.

c.

36
 d.

Examples (7)-(8) show that H1 is wrong: Past tense says nothing about whether the
predicate holds at the UT or not. Instead, world knowledge and context play this
role. Sometimes world knowledge dictates a particular interpretation, as in the case of
‘dead,’ and other times it does not as in the case of ‘sleeping.’ As far as we know, there
are no languages where PAST encodes the relationship between ST < UT. Since H1
has failed, a new hypothesis about what tense means is needed. Researchers, starting
with Reichenbach (1947), have argued that in order to properly understand temporal
semantics, a third interval is needed. Klein (1994) calls this interval the Topic Time
(TT). It is the interval that the sentence is ‘about.’ The TT can be set by temporal
adverbs, (9), descriptive phrases, (10), context, (11), or a previous sentence, (12-b).

(9) a. At 5pm, he was asleep.

b. He performed at the Orpheum Theater yesterday.

(10) a. When I saw her, she was asleep.

b. Bill sang, while Mary cut the cake.

(11) I saw Mary. [At some relevant time to the conversation]

(12) a. I walked in the room and saw Mary lying on the floor.
b. She was dead/asleep.

Notice that the TT always precedes the UT when the sentence is a past tense sen-
tence. This leads to a broader conclusion that, semantically speaking, tense is the
relationship between the TT and the UT. The different tenses are schematized in
(13). The corresponding timelines are give in (14).

(13) a. TT < UT (Past tense)

37
 b. UT < TT (Future tense)
c. UT ⊆ TT (Present tense)

(14) a. (Past tense)

b. (Future tense)

c. (Present tense)

Recall that each of these semantic relationships would be expressed by a matching

formal, abstract morphological feature present at T0: PAST, FUT, and PRES, re-
spectively.2

The definition of tense in (13) refers to only two of the three intervals that have
been discussed here, the Utterance Time and the Topic Time. Languages also encode
the relationship of the ST and TT, and this relationship is called ‘(viewpoint) aspect.’
Examples of the different aspects are given in (15) and their timelines in (16).

(15) a. ST ⊆ TT (Perfective aspect)

b. TT ⊆ ST (Progressive aspect)

(16) a. (Perfective aspect)

2
Things are a bit more complex when it comes to the future. The future is frequently argued
to include a model auxiliary, WOLL, in English and in other languages (cf. Copley 2002, 2009;
Matthewson 2006 for St’at’imcets (Salish), a.o.). This WOLL in combination with present tense is
pronounced as will while with past tense it is pronounced as would. This thesis abstracts away from
these issues.

38
 b. (Progressive aspect)

The sentence in (17) and (18) are helpful for understanding the concept of aspect.
The TTs here have been bolded while the STs have been italicized. In the perfective
sentence in (17) the entire event of reading Anna Karenina is contained inside the TT
‘last week.’ This sentence would be an acceptable thing to say when the book was
read in its entirety in the week prior to the week containing the UT. The progressive
sentence in (18) simply means that at the time that the speaker walked into the room,
there was an event of ‘John reading Anna Karenina’ going on. The aspect does not
specify if ‘John’ is still reading Anna Karenina in (18) at the UT (that is the job of
tense). It only specifies that the TT is contained inside of John’s reading event.
Perfective aspect

(17) a. Last week, John read Anna Karenina.

b.

Progressive aspect

(18) a. When I walked in, John was reading Anna Karenina.

b.

Recall from the earlier discussion that these aspectual relationships will each be ex-
pressed by a corresponding abstract, formal morphological feature present at Asp:
PERFV3 and PROG, respectively. In order to talk about the phonological realiza-
3
Chapter 3 assumes, following the arguments in Bjorkman (2011, under review) that English, in

39
tion of these viewpoint aspect features, a brief but important segue into lexical aspect
(also called aktionsart) is needed.
Lexical aspect is a property of individual predicates. The lexical aspect gives
further information about the type of event occurring. This ‘information’ is hierar-
chically organized. Predicates are broadly separated into statives and eventives (cf.
Vendler (1957)). Stative predicates are non-dynamic, non-agentive predicates such
as love, know, be tall, etc. Dynamic and/or agentive predicates, such as throw, win,
build a house, eat, develop, talk, etc. are called ‘eventives.’ These predicate classes
are further divided into telic and atelic predicates. Telic predicates are those which
have a telos/culmination and atelic ones are those that do not. Both telic and atelic
predicates can be further divided into those predicates which are punctual and those
which are durative. A graphic representation of these relationships is given in (19).

(19)

The phonological realization of the progressive aspect feature will be expressed on

non-statives using be + Verb-ing. Some examples include be throwing, be building,
be eating, be developing, be talking, etc. Perfective aspect is simply spelled out using
simple past forms such as threw, built, ate, developed, talked, etc. It is more difficult

fact, lacks a [PERFV] aspect feature. For now, though this is not relevant. The point of this section
is to sketch a basic overview of what a simplified grammar for tense and aspect might look like.

40
to tell if non-dynamic, non-agentive verbs are in the progressive or perfective aspect
in English as stative verbs cannot be marked with be +Verb-ing in English (cf. *I
am loving my mother ). Instead the simple tense forms, i.e. I love my mother, must
be used.

In sum, lexical aspect is a property of individual predicates which gives further

information about the type of event being described by the vP. On the other hand,
tense and (viewpoint) aspect are properties of a clause. Tense encodes the relation-
ship between the UT and the TT while (viewpoint) aspect encodes the relationship
between the TT and ST. They together work to convey the temporal interpretation of
a sentence. Example (20) provides a clear illustration of these facts. Example (20-b)
asserts that the TT<UT (past) and the TT ⊆ ST (progressive). In other words, my
walking into the room (TT) happens while ‘Mary’ is sleeping (ST) and my walking
into the room (TT) preceded the UT.

(20) a. I walked into the room and saw Mary lying on the floor.
b. She was sleeping.

c.

Remember from the discussion of ‘dead’ versus ‘asleep’ that the relationship between
ST and UT is not specified by the tense. Due to the lack of world knowledge mitigating
otherwise (as in the case of ‘dead’), (20-b) is compatible with the meaning expressed
by either (21-a) or (21-b):

(21) a.

41
 b.

In other words, the sleeping event could have completed before the UT (21-a) or be
continuing at the UT (or beyond it), (21-b). Morphologically, the combination of
tense and aspect in English is represented in (22).

(22) a. He is eating chicken. (Present progressive)

b. He was eating chicken. (Past progressive)
c. He will be eating chicken. (Future progressive)

d. He ate chicken. (Past perfective)

e. He will eat chicken. (Future perfective)

Notice that the combination of present perfective is missing. This form would look
like He eats chicken. However, the interpretation of this form has a different meaning
from what we would expect of a present perfective. The present perfective would
assert that the UT contains the TT (say ‘at this very instant’) and that the ST (‘eat
chicken’) is contained inside the TT (at this very instant). However, this is not what
the sentence He eats chicken means. Rather, this sentence suggests that generally
he eats chicken (i.e. he’s not a vegetarian, though maybe he does not eat red meat).
Cross-linguistically, present perfectives are rare, possibility because it is difficult to
get a completed event occurring inside the UT.

This basic review ends with a bit more practice regarding the way that tense
and aspect combine. By looking at the sentences below one can see that a future
perfective, (23), and a past perfective, (24), only differ in that the UT precedes the
TT in the future while the reverse is true in the past. Both sentences have perfective
semantics and, as a result, the ST (‘reading of AK’) is contained inside the TT. The
difference between the past perfective, (24), and the past progressive, (25), is that the

42
ST (‘AK reading’) in the progressive contains the TT (‘last week’) while the reverse
is true in the perfective (ST ⊆ TT). Both sentences are past tense and thus the TT
(‘last week’) precedes the UT.
future: UT <TT, perfective: ST ⊆ TT

(23) a. Next week I will read Anna Karenina

b.

past: TT<UT, perfective: ST ⊆ TT

(24) a. Last week I read Anna Karenina

b.

past: TT<UT, progressive: TT ⊆ ST

(25) a. Last week I was reading Anna Karenina

b.

This is the simplest version of tense semantics, which will more or less do for the
purpose of this thesis. Much more has been said about tense and aspect.4 Only two
parts of this larger body of work will be relevant here. First, in order to understand
the basic ideas in the overview of the tenseless literature in the second part of this
chapter, a debate about the nature of tense (referential versus quantificational) will

4
For example, see work by Sauerland (2002), Thomas (2014), Abusch (1991), von Stechow (2002),
Altshuler and Schwarzschild (2013), Altshuler and Schwarzschild (2012), among many others, for
further puzzles and complications.

43
be introduced. Second, an overview of what is called the imperfective paradox is
given. This will help serve as a backdrop for teasing apart certain facts about the
different ‘imperfective’ markers in Malayalam in the second half of chapter 3.
The first complication revolves around the nature of tense. There is disagreement
about whether tense should be treated like a pronoun (Partee (1973), Kratzer 1998,
a.o.), i.e. referentially, or if it should instead be understood as a type of existential
quantification (Prior (1967), Ogihara (1989), Kusumoto (1999), Beck & von Stechow
2015, a.o.). Examples of past tense entries from both camps can be found in (26).
The entry in (26-a) is a referential one. Here the relationship of UT to TT, i.e.
tense, is encoded via a presupposition. Here the superscript g represents the variable
assignment function and the superscript c represents the context.

(26) a. [[past]]g,c = [[past]]g,c is only defined if c provides an interval t that

precedes t0 (UT). If defined, then [[past]]g,c =t. (Kratzer 1998 p10)
b. [[past]] = λC<i,t> .λti .λI<i,t> .∃t’[t’<t & C(t’) & I(t’)] (Beck & von Ste-
chow 2015 p6: 8)

In the quantificational entry in (26-b), the past tense is a function of type <<i,t>,
<i, <<i,t>, t>>>5 which first takes a contextual restrictor of type ¡i,t¿, followed by
a time argument, t.. It then takes a predicate of times, I, and returns a truth-value.
Concretely, the t variable represents the UT in the entry in (26-b). The predicate
of times represented by I will be the meaning of the AspP. The TT variable, t’, is
introduced via existential quantification and contextually restricted by a contextual
restrictor, C.
The tree in (27-h) gives an example of a referential style account using entries
from Kratzer (1998). It shows the interpretation of a past perfective sentence, here ‘I
ate a banana’. The relevant entry for the perfective aspect is given in (27-a) and the
computation is given in (27-b)-(27-f).6 Kratzer uses type l for events, s for worlds, i
5
Note that Beck & von Stechow (2015) use i as the type for times and t as the type for truth-
values.
6
For more on the general compositional framework background assumed see Kratzer and Heim
(1998) and Fintel and Heim (2011).

44
for times and t for truth-values. The Asp and T nodes in the syntax contain [PERFV]
and [PAST] features, respectively. The presence of these morphological features in
the syntax tell the interpretative component of the grammar to use the lexical entries
in (27-a) and (26-a).

(27) a. [[PERFV]]g,c = λP<l,<s,t>> . λti . λws . ∃e[τ (e) ⊆ t & P(e)(w)=1]

(Kratzer 1998, p17)
b. [[vP]]g,c = [[I eat a banana]]g,c = λe’l . λw’s . I eat a banana(e’)(w’)
c. [[Asp]]g,c = [[PERFV]]g,c ([[vP]]g,c )
d. = [λP<l,<s,t>> . λti . λws . ∃e[τ (e) ⊆ t & P(e)(w)]] (λe’l . λw’s . I eat a
banana(e’)(w’))
e. = λti . λws . ∃e[τ (e) ⊆ t & I eat a banana(e)(w)]
f. [[TP]]g,c = λws . ∃e[τ (e) ⊆ g(i) & I eat a banana(e)(w)] (where g(i) < tc
(the UT))
g. There is an event e of the speaker eating a banana, whose running time
τ is included in the contextually salient past time g(i).
h.

The tree in (28-j) provides an example of a quantificational account for a past

perfective sentence using the entries in Beck & von Stechow (2015). The entries for
the past tense and perfective aspect are given in (28-a)-(28-b) and the calculation

45
is in (28-c)-(28-i). Here t’ represents the TT and t represents the UT. Beck & von
Stechow (2015) use type i for times, v for events, s for worlds, and t for truth-values.
The [PERFV] and [PAST] morphological features in the syntax tell the interpretative
component to use the semantic entries in (28-b) and (28-a) for the computation.

(28) a. [[PAST]] = λC<i,t> .λti .λI<i,t> .∃t’[t’< t & C(t’) & I(t’)] (Beck & von
Stechow 2015 p6:8)
b. [[PERFV] = λti . λP<v,t> . ∃e[τ (e) ⊆ t & P(e)] (Beck & von Stechow
2015 p5:7)
c. [[vP]] = [[I eat a banana]] = λe’v . I eat a banana (e’)7
d. [[AspP]] = [[Asp]]([[vP]])
e. =[λP<v,t> .∃e[τ (e) ⊆ t’ & P(e)]] (λe’v . I eat a banana (e’)
f. =∃e[τ (e) ⊆ t’ & I eat a banana(e)]
g. [[TP]] = ∃t’[t’< t & C(t’) & [∃e[τ (e) ⊆ t’ & I eat a banana(e)]
h. =λt. ∃t’[t’< t & C(t’) & [∃e[τ (e) ⊆ t’ & I eat a banana(e)]
i. There is a relevant time t’ before t such that there is an event e of the
speaker eating a banana whose running time τ is included in t’.
j.

7
Beck & von Stechow (2015), unlike Kratzer (1998), do not assume a modal component in the vP
for perfective sentences. While due to the imperfective paradox, the modal component is necessary
in the progressive, in simple imperfective sentences it is not ‘essential’ just to get the tense/aspect
meanings that this thesis is focusing on.

46
 These compositions should give the reader an idea of how the referential and
quantificational accounts respectively handle the tense and aspect system proposed
so far. They also illustrate the way that the syntax and morphological features
work together with the interpretative component to yield a compositional semantic
analysis. Whether one assumes a quantificational theory or a referential theory of
tense, the role of tense is to relate the Utterance Time and the Topic Time. The
role of viewpoint aspect is to relate eventualities with times (following Smith (1991),
Klein 1994).
The second complication involves progressive aspect. The puzzle here has been
called the imperfective paradox.8 The empirical part of the puzzle has to do with the
different entailments different types of predicates have in the progressive. Specifically,
the progressive of an activity predicate like ‘play basketball’ entails that there was
an event of playing basketball. However, the progressive of an achievement predicate
like ‘draw a circle’ does not entail that an event of drawing a circle occurred (the
drawer could have been interrupted and left the circle unfinished).
In order to account for this empirical puzzle, Dowty (1979) proposed the notion

8
It is called the ‘imperfective paradox’ not the ‘progressive paradox’ because in many languages
there is a single morphological form which expresses both the ‘event-in-progress’ reading and the
‘characterizing/generic/habitual’ reading (see Krifka et al. 1995 for an overview of the ‘characteriz-
ing/generic/habitual’ reading). English uses the progressive to express ‘event-in-progress’ readings
and the form that morphologically looks like it should express the present perfective (‘He eats meat’)
to express the ‘characterizing/generic/habitual’ reading.

47
of ‘inertia worlds’. These are those worlds in which everything goes as expected (i.e.
where there is culmination of all predicates). Worlds (including the actual world)
where unexpected events happen that prohibit culmination are not allowed into the
inertia worlds. For a clause with progressive aspect to be true, this simply means
that the TT (represented by t in (29)) must be contained, non finally, in the larger
interval t and that the ST (here represented by τ ) must be contained inside t’. This
formulation allows the ST to contain the TT, as per the Klein (1994) progressive
meaning, but for there to be additional time, here represented by t’ for the event to
culminate in an inertia world.

(29) [[PROG]] = λw.λt.λP<s,<v,t>> .∀w’[w INERTt w’ → ∃t’[t is a non-final part

of t’ & ∃e[τ (e)⊆ t’ & P(w’)(e)]]] (Beck & von Stechow 2015, cf. Dowty, 1979)

The tree in (30-h) provides an example of how a progressive computation for a past
tense sentence like ‘I was eating a banana’ would proceed using a quantificational
account for tense. The entry for the past tense in (30-a) is repeated from above. Beck
& von Stechow account for the intensional nature of the progressive by assuming a
ModalPhrase just above the vP. The computation is given in (30-c)-(30-g).

(30) a. [[PAST]] = λC<i,t> .λti .λI<i,t> .∃t’[t’< t & C(t’) & I(t’)]
b. [[vP]] = [[I eat a banana]] = λe’v . I eat a banana (e’)
c. [[AspP]] = [[Asp]](λw’.[[ModlP]])
d. = [λP<s,<v,t>> .∀w’[w INERTt” w’ → ∃t’[t” is a non-final part of t’ &
∃e[τ (e)⊆ t’ & P(w’)(e)]]]]([λw’.λe’. e’≤ w’ & I eat a banana(e’)])
e. =∀w’[w INERTt” w’ → ∃t’[t” is a non-final part of t’ & ∃e[τ (e)⊆ t’ &
e≤ w’ & I eat a banana(e)]]
f. [[TP]] = ∃t[t< t’” & C(t) & ∀w’[w INERTt w’ → ∃t’[t is a non-final part
of t’ & ∃e[τ (e)⊆ t’ & e≤ w’ & I eat a banana(e)]]]
g. =λw.λt’”. ∃t[t< t’” & C(t) & ∀w’[w INERTt w’ → ∃t’[t is a non-final
part of t’ & ∃e[τ (e)⊆ t’ & e≤ w’ & I eat a banana(e)]]]
h.

48
 This concludes the background on the semantics of tense and aspect.

Basic semantics of the perfect

This section briefly covers the semantics of the perfect. The sentence in (31) is
an example of a perfect sentence. This section will first examine three potential
candidates for a semantic account for the perfect, ultimately choosing a Perfect Time
Span account (Iatridou et. al. 2003; Pancheva 2003, 2013; Pancheva & von Stechow
2004; and Rothstein (2008); a.o). The second part of the section will discuss the
different readings the perfect can have.

(31) I have been sick since 2015.

Reading #1: I have been sick throughout the entire interval between 2015 and the
UT (say with cancer)
Reading #2: There is at least one instance of me being sick between 2015 and
the UT (maybe I am changing my insurance and have to tell them about my health
history)
Given the framework advanced so far, one might ask whether the perfect is a type

49
of aspect or a type of tense. This is not a trivial question and there has been much
debate about the exact nature of the perfect. In Anteriority theory (Reichenbach
1947, Inoue, Klein (1992), Klein 1994, a.o.) the perfect is viewed as syntactically and
semantically being a viewpoint aspect. This position, however, predicts that other
viewpoint aspects, such as the perfective and progressive, should be in complementary
distribution with the perfect. However, this is not the case. In (33)-(35), there are four
events, represented by x’s, of visiting the Met inside the Perfect Time Span (PTS).
The fact that each event represents a completed visit to the Met is the result of
the perfective aspect in the sentence. Although commonly confused with the perfect
because of the closeness of names in English, the perfective is not equivalent to the
perfect. One of the reasons this is so can be seen from the fact that it is possible
to have a sentence with a perfect progressive interpretation. In English, the perfect
combines with the three tenses (present, future and past) and two aspects (perfective
and progressive) in a morphologically visible manner:

(32) a. I have visited the Met (present perfect perfective)

b. I will have visited the Met (future perfect perfective)
c. I had visited the Met (past perfect perfective)
d. I have been visiting the Met (present perfect progressive)
e. I will have been visiting the Met (future perfect progressive)
f. I had been visiting the Met (past perfect progressive)

The sentences in (32) show that the perfect is not in complementary distribution with
viewpoint aspect, as predicted by Anteriority Theory.
Another possibility is that the perfect is a type of lexical aspect (aktionsart).
This, in fact, is the position of Result State theory (Parsons (1990), Kamp and Reyle
(1993), Giorgi and Pianesei 1998, a.o.). On this theory the perfect is a type of
derived aktionsart, specifically a derived result state. This would predict that the
perfect, as a type of aktionsart, should appear below viewpoint aspect in the syntax,
as the role of aktionsart is to provide more information about what type of event is
occurring. The role of viewpoint aspect, on the other hand, is to relate eventualities

50
with times (Smith 1991, Klein 1994). Given the English, Greek, and Bulgarian data
pointed out in Iatridou et. al. 2003 and Pancheva 2003, this ordering would be
problematic for the morphology, assuming something like the Mirror Principle (Baker
1985). If viewpoint aspect were located below the perfect on this theory, they would
also need to be derived aktionsarten. In other words, viewpoint aspect would no
longer link events and times but would simply give further information about the
type of event occurring. If the move was made to view viewpoint aspects as derived
aktionsarten, it would require a new answer about how events are related to times.
A potential solution, proposed by Kamp, Reyle & Rossdeutscher (2013) is for verbs
to have temporal features in their lexical entries.
A third option, that requires less extreme modifications of the grammar, is that
of the Perfect Time Span (PTS) account for the perfect (Iatridou et. al. 2003;
Pancheva 2003, 2013; Pancheva & von Stechow 2004; and Rothstein 2008; a.o.). This
is an approach in the spirit of what is known as the Extended Now theory (McCoard
(1978), Dowty 1979, a.o.). On this approach, the perfect is like a relative tense, i.e.
one that relates two Topic Times to each other, instead of relating a single Topic
Time with the Utterance Time.
Like all intervals, the PTS has a left and a right boundary. The left boundary
(LB) of this time span is set by an adverbial (since 1990, for 3 years, always, etc) or
by the context (for example, the speaker’s birth). The right boundary (RB) of the
time span is set by tense: in the present the right boundary is the utterance time, in
the past, the right boundary is before the utterance time, and in the future, the right
boundary is after the utterance time. This is exemplified in (33)-(35).

(33) a. Since Thursday, I have visited the Met four times. (present perfect
perfective)

b.

(34) a. I saw him last Tuesday. At that point, he had visited the Met three
times. (past perfect perfecive)

51
 b.

(35) a. By Monday, Ann will have visited the Met two times. (future perfect
perfective)

b.

c.

d.

The reading in (35-c) becomes particularly salient if something like, ‘In fact, for all I
know, she may have been to the Met twice already’ is added.
Pancheva (2003) provides the formal PTS account entry for the perfect in (36).
The first function of the perfect here is to set up the PTS, a TT interval, represented
by the time interval variable t” in (36). The second function of the perfect is to locate
the TT (represented by the time interval variable t’ in (36) in a final subinterval of
the PTS, in other words, with the right boundary.

(36) [[perfect]] = λp<i,t> . λt’i . ∃ti ”[PTS(t”, t’) & p(t”)]

PTS (t”, t’) iff t’ is a final subinterval of t” (Pancheva 2003 p284: 9b)

The reader can see the calculation for the present perfect perfective sentence I have
eaten a banana, in (37). The relevant entries are in (37-a)-(37-c). Here Kratzer’s
referential entry for tense is used. Her entry for perfective aspect as been modified
to remove the world argument, as the presence of this argument is not crucial for
our purposes. The computation is given in (37-d)-(37-h). Just like other functional
categories, a morphological [PERF] feature located on Perf tells the interpretative
component to use the entry in (37-b).

(37) a. [[past]]g,c = [[past]]g,c is only defined if c provides an interval t that

52
 precedes t0 (UT). If defined, then [[past]]g,c =t. (Kratzer 1998 p10)
b. [[perfect]]g,c = λp<i,t> . λt’i . ∃ti ”[PTS(t”, t’) & p(t”)]
PTS (t”, t’) iff t’ is a final subinterval of t”
c. [[PERFV]]g,c = λP<l,t> . λti . ∃e[τ (e) ⊆ t & P(e)=1]
d. [[vP]]g,c = [[I eat a banana]] = λel . I eat a banana (e)
e. [[AspP]]g,c = [[perfective]]g,c ([[vP]]g,c )
f. = λti .∃e[τ (e) ⊆ t & I eat a banana(e)
g. [[PerfP]]g,c = λt’i . ∃t”i . t’ is a final subinterval of t”. [PTS (t”, t’) &
∃e[τ (e) ⊆ t” & I eat a banana(e)]]
h. [[TP]]g,c =λt’i : tc ⊆ t’. ∃t”i . t’ is a final subinterval of t”. [PTS (t”, t’)
& ∃e[τ (e) ⊆ t” & I eat a banana(e)]]
i.

In this system, viewpoint aspect relates eventualities to times and the perfect
is like a relative tense in that it introduces an additional TT interval and relates
this interval to the main TT. The present tense sets the UT as being contained
inside the main TT that is the RB of the PTS. This provides an explanation for the

53
morphological ordering that does not force us to view viewpoint aspect as a type of
derived aktionsart, as in the Result State theory. This approach also does not make
a prediction that the perfect should be in complementary distribution with viewpoint
aspect, unlike the Anteriority theory. For the reminder of this dissertation, the PTS
account will be assumed.

The discussion so far has been centered on the basic semantics of the perfect. The
rest of the section will focus on two different types of readings the perfect can have.
Examples (33)-(35) are an instance of what is known as the Existential perfect. This
simply means that there has been at least one instance of the event in the PTS. In
other words, the Existential perfect requires that there be existential quantification
over points in the time span. It says nothing, however, about whether or not the
event still holds at UT.

A second reading that the perfect can have is called the Universal perfect reading.
On this reading, the eventuality holds throughout the PTS (i.e. there is universal
quantification over points in the time span. In other words, the predicates have what
is known as the ‘subinterval property’: if there is an instanciation of a predicate that
occurs at i, it also occurs at every subinterval of i ). This universal quantification
is provided by a durative adverb such as for one week (now), (ever/at least) since
Monday, or always. The adverbs for one week and since Monday are eventuality
level adverbs and allow but do not force a Universal perfect reading. If the additional
words in parenthesis are added to these adverbials, they become perfect-level adverbs
and, like always, require a Universal perfect reading (Iatridou et. al. 2003).

In order for a form to be compatible with a Universal perfect meaning, it must

have an aspectual specification that is compatible with the universal quantification
needed for a Universal Perfect. In other words, Universal perfects can only occur
with stative or activity predicates (which naturally involve the subinterval property)
or progressive marked non-stative predications (which obtain the subinterval property
by their viewpoint aspect). Just as with the Existential perfect, the right boundary
of the PTS on a Universal perfect reading varies with tense: in the present the right
boundary is the utterance time, in the future, the right boundary is after the utterance

54
time, and in the past, the right boundary is before the utterance time.
A crucial question at this point is, is there a single semantics for the different
perfect readings? The answer of the PTS account is that there is. Specifically, the
type of perfect expressed will depend on different grammatical factors such as the
interpretation and/or scope of adverbs combined with the type of viewpoint aspect
present and the aktionsart of the predicate. The role of adverbs in obtaining the
different readings can be seen in a sentence like (38) and (39). The interpretation of
(38) varies depending on what the adverbial phrase for three months modifies (i.e.
the adverb scope is the critical factor), while in (39) the way the adverbial phrase
since Monday is interpreted will determine which reading the sentence gets.

(38) Betsy has been in Boston for three months

a. Universal: ADV is a PTS modifier (high scope)

b. Experiential: ADV is an event-time modifier (low scope)

(39) Betsy has been in Boston since Monday.

a. Universal: durative PTS-modifying ADV

b. Experiential: inclusive PTS-modifying ADV (Pancheva 2013 slide 14)

The sentences in (40)-(44) highlight the role of viewpoint aspect and aktionsart. With
a telic predicate like ‘write a letter,’ the availability of the different readings is highly
constrained by the viewpoint aspect: the progressive is needed for a universal reading,
(41), and the perfective is needed for an experiential reading, (40). This is due to
the fact that telic predicates do not by themselves license the subinterval property.
Progressive aspect must do this job. Atelic, activity predicates, on the other hand, can
license the subinterval property themselves and are thus compatible with a universal
reading even without the progressive. They allow universal and existential readings
with both perfective and progressive viewpoint aspects, (42)-(43).

(40) Betsy has written a letter since Monday. (perfv telic)

a. *universal: perfective durative PTS-ADV

55
 b. experiential: perfective inclusive PTS-ADV

(41) Betsy has been writing a letter since Monday. (prog telic)

a. universal: progressive durative PTS-ADV

b. ?9 experiential: progressive inclusive PTS-ADV (Pancheva 2013 slide 19)

(42) Ann has watched TV since Monday. (perfv atelic, activity)

a. universal: perfective durative PTS-ADV

b. experiential: perfective inclusive PTS-ADV

(43) Ann has been watching TV since Monday.(prog atelic, activity)

a. universal: progressive durational PTS-ADV

b. ?experiential: progressive inclusive PTS-ADV

(44) Have you ever been watching TV when the tube exploded? experiential:
progressive viewpoint aspect (Comrie 1976)

Such an account predicts that, cross-linguistically, the types of lexical and view-
point aspects a languages has will influence the readings of the perfects that it has.
Pancheva (2013) argues, based on data from Greek, Bulgarian, Saisiyat and Niuean
(Austronesian) that this prediction is, in fact, borne out. Chapter 5 of this thesis
will show that, despite the seemingly drastic differences between the perfect in En-
glish and Malayalam, Malayalam actually provides further evidence in support of this
prediction.
This ends the review of the perfect and the larger review of the syntax, morphology
and semantics assumed for tense, aspect and the perfect. The next section will focus
on tense and explore what it means for a language to be ‘tenseless’.

2.2 What is a tenseless language?

Section 1 surveyed the syntactic, morphological and semantic components of tense,
aspect and the perfect. This section will focus mainly on tense and will ask the
9
Pancheva gives this reading a ? but I would give it a *.

56
specific question, what does it mean for a language to be tenseless? This is a relevant
question because one major conclusion of the dissertation will be that Malayalam
is not a tenseless language (contra Amritavalli & Jayaseelan 2005, Amritavalli 2014
and Jayaseelan 2014). Chapter 3 of the thesis shows that Malayalam is empirically
different from other tenseless languages. It, instead, argues for a tensed account along
the lines of what Bjorkman (2011, under review) argues for English.
There are basically two different things that can be meant by the term ‘tenseless.’
This section presents a brief summary of these two camps. Before getting into the
details of any of these accounts though, all parties involved agree that all languages,
even tenseless ones, have a way to express temporal semantics (i.e. the semantic
component of tense). Instead, tenseless languages are ones in which part or all of
(both) the morphological or syntactic components of tense are missing. Exactly what
is missing is where the disagreement lies.

2.2.1 ‘No overt morphology’ camp

In what I will call the no overt morphology camp, a tenseless language is one which
lacks overt morphology that encodes temporal semantics (Smith et al 2003, 2007 for
Navajo; Smith & Erbaugh 2005 and Lin 2003, 2006, 2010 for Mandarin; Mucha 2012,
2013 for Hausa; Bohnemeyer 2009 for Yucatec Maya; Tonhauser 2011 for Paraguayan
Guaran; Shaer 2003 and Bittner 2005 for Kalaallisut, Matthewson 2006 for Sta-
timcets) as opposed to lacking a TP (which is what the second camp will claim).
Those accounts that define tenselessness as languages with no overt morphology can
broadly be separated into a tensed account (have covert, i.e. phonologically null,
tense features/morphology) or a tenseless account (have no covert or overt tense fea-
tures/morphology).

2.2.2 Tensed account for tenseless language

Matthewson (2006) is an example of a tensed account. In St’at’imcets root sentences

can receive a present or past interpretation but not a future one, (45-a). As such,

57
she argues that the language has a single [TENSE] feature that is defined as in (46).
Notice that Matthewson assumes a pronominal account of tense. Here i represents a
time variable.
St’at’imcets

(45) a. matq [kw s-Mary]

walk DET NOM-Mary
‘Mary walked/Mary is walking’ [ok Pres, ok Past, X Fut](Matthewson
2006 p8: 14)
b. matq kelh [kw s-Mary]
walk WOLL DET NOM-Mary
‘Mary will walk.’ (Matthewson 2006 p20: 37)

(46) [[TENSE]]g,c is only defined if no part of g(i) is after tc .

g,c
If defined [[TENSE]] =g(i) (Matthewson 2006 p8: 13)

This feature is spelled out by a covert tense morpheme. It does not necessarily have
to be located at T, though it could be. As such a sentence such as (45-a) would have
the meaning in (47).

(47) λws . ∃e[walk(e)(w) & agent(Mary)(e)(w) & τ (e) ⊆ g(i)] (where no part of
g(i) follows tc .) (Matthewson 2006 p8: 15b)

In order to get future interpretations, kelh must be added, (45-b). Matthewson

argues that kelh is not a tense marker, as previously thought but the equivalent of
English WOLL. Future temporal semantics are obtained when kelh combines with
the [TENSE] feature. The calculation for the St’at’imcets future sentence in (45-b)
is given in (48-b)-(48-d).

(48) a. [[kelh]]g,c = λP<i,<s,t>> . λti . λws .∃t’[t < t’ & P(t’)(w)=1]

b. [[AspP]]g,c = λti .λws .∃e. [walk(e)(w) & agent(Mary)(e)(w) & τ (e) ⊆t]
c. [[kelhP]]g,c = λti .λws .∃t’ [t¡ t’ & ∃e [walk(e)(w) & agent (Mary)(e)(w)
& τ (e) ⊆ t’]]
d. [[TP]]g,c = λws .∃t’[g(i)<t’ & ∃e[walk(e)(w) & agent(Mary)(e)(w) & τ (e)

58
 ⊆ t’]] (where no part of g(i) follows tc ) (Matthewson 2006 p20: 36, 38b-d)

2.2.3 Tenseless accounts for tenseless language

A tenseless account of a tenseless language is one in which there is no abstract, formal

morphological tense feature (and as a result no covert tense morpheme). Remember
that there is universal agreement that tenseless languages still have a way to ex-
press temporal semantics. Also recall that in the grammar spelled out so far, the
abstract, formal, morphological [TENSE] feature is what has been communicating
to the interpretative component that a given string should receive a particular tem-
poral interpretation. Since this feature is absent in tenseless accounts of tenseless
languages, something else must play this role.
Tonhauser (2011), Bittner (2005), Bohnemeyer (2009), Smith et. al. (2003, 2007),
(Smith & Erbaugh 2005), Mucha (2012, 2013) argue that when a language lacks
tense morphology and a [TENSE] features, other mechanisms like pragmatic factors,
temporal anaphora and aspectual specification, are used to express the relationship
between TT & UT. Temporal anaphora is roughly the idea that tense is pronominal
and that tense can relate one TT to another contextually determined TT, instead of
relating the TT and UT. This arises for Tonhauser as the result of different semantic
rules that tenseless as opposed to tensed languages have. For Bittner, Bohnemeyer
and Mucha, temporal anaphora arise as a result of pragmatic reasoning.
Tonhauser (2011) focuses on Paraguayan Guarani. As in St’at’imcets, simple
sentences can have a present or past, but not future, interpretation, (49). The use
of adverbs also confirms this: a given sentence can be modified by a past or present
adverb but not a future one.10 However, in certain contexts where a previous conjunct
is morphologically marked to express the future, a given unmarked verb can receive
a future interpretation. This asymmetry is the key point Tonhauser needs to account
for. An example of future marking in a previous conjunct is given in ((50)). The
future marker in ((50)) is the prospective aspect marker (glossed as PROSP) on the
10
Matthewson (2006) also shows parallel facts in St’at’imcets that present and past, but not future,
temporal adverbs are allowed with such sentences.

59
verb in the ‘since’ clause.11
(8) Paraguayan Guarani

(49) a-jahu
A1sg-bathe
‘I am/was/#will be bathing.’ [ok Pres, ok Past, X Fut]

Context: It’s morning and the speaker is talking about a goose walking past her and
the addressee.

(50) Ja’u-ta-re ko ganso ko’ero, a-juka ko ka’aru-pe.

A1pl.incl-eat-PROSP-for this goose tomorrow A1sg-kill this afternoon-at
‘Since we are going to eat this goose tomorrow, I will kill it this afternoon.’
(Tonhauser 2011 p260: 5, 4c)

Tonhauser explains this asymmetry by using two separate semantic rules in tenseless
and tensed languages. On Kratzer’s (1998) formalization of a pronominal account for
tense, the entries for tense include a presupposition that the context provides a TT
that precedes the UT (in the case of past tense) or contains the UT (in the case of
present tense). For tensed languages, Tonhauser’s rule basically does the same work
as Kratzer’s presupposition, though instead of being written into a lexical entry for
tense, Tonhauser assumes that the final step of the computation is to apply the rule
in (51).
Matrix clause rule (tensed analysis)

(51) The final translation of a matrix clause translated as φ of type ¡w, ¡i, ¡i, τ ¿¿¿
is φ(w0 , ttopictime , now) of type τ . (Tonhauser 2011: 22, p270)

In a tenseless language, the final step of the computation is to apply the rule in (52).
The only difference between (51) and (52) is that in (52), another TT interval is used
instead of the UT.
Matrix clause rule (tenseless analysis)
11
A1=a type of prefix that marks transitive subjects as well as some intransitive subjects.

60
(52) The final translation of a matrix clause translated as φ of type ¡w, ¡i, ¡i, ¿¿¿
is ∃t(φ (w0 , ttopictime , t) of type τ .

Basically, in more Kratzerian terms, in a tenseless language there is no presupposition

that defines TT in relation to the UT. Instead, tense is defined via relating one
contextually given TT to another such TT. Since tenseless languages lack formal,
tense morphology features, this information is encoded in a semantic rule, not the
lexical entry for the tense feature. If the TT of the ‘antecedent’ clause follows the
UT, say because the verb in that clause is marked with a prospective aspect which
licenses future readings, then the TT of the clause containing the zero-marked verb
can also be in interpreted as occurring after the UT.12
Kalaallisut (West Greenlandic), the focus of Bittner’s (2005) work, like Paraguayan
Guarani and St’at’imcets, has no present or past tense morphemes, and unmarked
sentences can receive both past and present interpretations, (53), (also see Shaer
(2003) who makes the same point).

(53) aggir-puq
come.IND-3sg
‘He is/was coming.’ (Shaer 2003 p146: 7a)

The basic idea of Bittner’s analysis is similar to Tonhauser’s. In Kalaallisut certain

markings on the verb yield certain default interpretations. Since events can only
be reported as facts if they have already happened, the presence of a factive mood
marker, will yield a past default interpretation. Likewise, in isolation, current states,
processes, and habits will obtain a default present reading from the UT, the default
TT. Future readings are obtained via one of many prospective mood markings. How-
ever, when the context introduces a TT that has a different relationship with the UT

12
Specifically she uses the mechanism of context update in a dynamic semantics Aloni et al.
(2000), to say that a context σ’ can be updated with a future TT only if the current context,
σ, already supports a future TT. She argues that temporal reference is contextually restricted to
non-future times in Paraguayan Guarani because Paraguayan Guarani lacks a future tense (in the
sense of UT<TT), and instead uses an event time option, UT = TT < ST, for future reference. As
such, future discourse is expressed using prospective aspect/modal markers, possibility and necessity
modals, and prospective moods.

61
than the default TT, that new TT can be used instead of the UT. This temporal
anaphora allows non-default tense interpretations to appear.
Bohnemeyer, studying Yucatec Mayan, proposes that this language also expresses
tense semantics by using temporal anaphora instead of tense features with lexical
entries specifying the relationship of the TT with respect to the UT. His model
generates temporal anaphora by using the definition in (54) along with the pragmatic
principles in (55) and (56).

(54) Natural temporal reference point (NTRP): A time interval t is an NTRP in

a given discourse iff t is identified in that discourse as either (a) the coding
time of some utterance or (b) a calendrical time interval or (c) an event time
(the ‘run’ time of an event described in the discourse). (Bohnemeyer 2009
p34: 31)

(55) Preferred topic time selection: The topic times selected in a given discourse
context are preferred to be identical to or include NTRPs identified in the
same discourse context. (Bohnemeyer 2009 p36: 33)

(56) iconicity implicature: ”The order of clauses iconically reflects the order of
events.” (p38)

Root perfective marked sentences without any adverbs will be interpreted as past
based on (54c), (55) and (56): perfective aspect introduces its own event time that
can serve as the TT, (55), and this event presumably occurs before the event of utter-
ing the sentence (TT<UT). Root progressive marked sentences without any adverbs
will take the UT as their TT due to (54a) and (55), (UT⊆ TT). Temporal adverbs
providing calendrical intervals will provide another potential TT for the sentences,
due to (54b).13
In Hausa, sentences lack tense morphemes but have aspectual marking. Mucha
(2012, 2013) builds off of the system first presented in Smith et al (2003, 2007) for
13
Bohnemeyer does not have isolated simple root sentences with adverbs in his paper, so I am not
sure exactly what happens when, say, a present tense adverb is added to a root perfective marked
sentence.

62
Navajo14 and extends and adapts the analysis to Mandarin (Smith & Erbaugh 2005)
to account for temporal interpretation in Hausa. The core of the proposal here is
that aspectual information is used along with pragmatic principles to provide default
interpretations for clauses. However, these defaults can be overridden, as in other
languages surveyed in this section, when the context provides another TT that has a
different relationship with the UT than that of the default TT.
In this account, viewpoint aspect interacts with the pragmatic principles in (57)-
(59) to yield temporal interpretation.

(57) Deictic Principle: Situations are located with respect to Speech Time [=UT].
(Smith et. al. 2007: 1, p44)

(58) Bounded event constraint: Bounded events are not located in the present.
(Smith et. al. 2007: 2, p45)

(59) Simplicity Principle of Interpretation: choose the interpretation that re-

quires the least info added or inferred (Smith et. al. 2003: 18, p186)

Smith et. al. (2003) further propose the pragmatic principle in (61) to account for
zero-marked verbs, i.e. verbs that are not overtly marked for viewpoint aspect. Such
verbs are common in Navajo and Mandarin, (61). In these zero-marked cases, stative
verbs will be interpreted as having progressive viewpoint aspect while eventive verbs
will be interpreted as having perfective aspect.

(60) Temporal Schema Principle: Interpret zero-marked clauses according to the

temporal schema15 of the situation expressed. (Smith et. al. 2003: 19, p187)

Mandarin

14
According to Smith et. al. Navajo is ‘partially tensed’ in having tense participles that appear
to encode tense semantics but are not obligatory. As such, Navajo may not be a tenseless language
in the sense meant in this section.
15
The term ‘temporal schema’ here refers to whether a predicate is stative or eventive. This basic
idea has previously been proposed by Welmers and Welmers (1968) for Igbo and Damoiseau (1982)
and Déchaine (1991) for Haitian.

63
(61) a. Wo zhu zai Lutedan.
I live in Rotterdam
‘I live in Rotterdam.’ [ok Pres, X Past, X Fut]
b. Zhangsan dapuo yi-ge heaping
Zhangsan break one-Cl vase
‘Zhangsan broke a vase.’ [X Pres, ok Past, X Fut] (Lin 2010 p307: 3a-b;
Lin 2006 p3:3a)

The system then works as follows to obtain the temporal semantics: progressive
marked sentences receive default present interpretations as a result of the Deictic
Principle and the Simplicity Principle. Since situations are located with respect to
the speech time, as stated in the Deictic Principle, and the event is unbounded, the
simplest interpretation is that of the present. The same principles plus the Bounded
Event Constraint apply to perfective marked sentences to give a default past inter-
pretation: since bounded events cannot occur in the present, a past interpretation
is simpler than a future interpretation because it does not require the addition of
a modal base. Future interpretations are obtained when the verb is marked with a
future mode in Navajo, a modal marker plus prospective aspect marker in Hausa and
a modal marker in Mandarin, (as (62-b) below shows).

These principles are viewed as pragmatic principles not semantic ones because they
can be overridden by adverbs and context such that verbs have tense interpretations
other than their default interpretations. In Mandarin, the addition of a past time
adverb like ‘yesterday’ or ‘in 1989’ to a sentence with a progressive viewpoint aspect is
enough to override the default present interpretation and to give a past interpretation,
(62-a).

Mandarin

(62) a. Wo 1989 nian zhu zai Lutedan.

I 1989 year live in Rotterdam
‘I lived in Rotterdam in 1989.’ [ok Past] (Lin 2010 p307: 3c)
b. wo hui zhu zai Lutedan.
I will live in Rotterdam
‘I will live in Rotterdam.’ [ok FUT]

64
An adverb alone is not sufficient to override the default in Hausa, (63-b). However,
when put in a context that makes an alternate topic time salient, the default is over-
riden, (64). As a result of this possibility, a given progressive or perfective sentence
in the right context can receive a present16 , past, or future interpretation.

(63) a. Ali yana wasa

Ali 3SG.M.PROG play
‘Ali is playing.’
b. ??yana wasa jiya.
3SG.M.PROG play yesterday
‘He was playing yesterday.’

Context question: What was Hasan doing when Ali entered his house yesterday?

(64) Lokacin da Ali ya zo, Hasan yana wasa.

When Ali 3SG.M.REL.PFV come Hasan 3SG.M.PROG play
‘When Ali came, Hasan was playing.’ (Mucha 2012, p195-196: 17, 21)

To account for this, Mucha proposes the principle in (65).

(65) Contextual Reference Time Anchoring: Explicit temporal information may

override pragmatic defaults. If the previous discourse context provides a TT
alternative to the pragmatic default, this TT serves as a temporal anchor for
the time variable of the sentence. (Mucha 2013, p393: 48)

The time variable, say t6 , referred to here is located at T. All sentences will have this
variable, which simply refers to the TT provided by the context, whatever that may
be. The calculation for a simple sentence like ‘Hawwa ran’ is provided in (66).

(66) a. [[AspP]]g =λti . λws . ∃e [run(e)(w) & agent(Hawwa)(e)(w) & τ (e) ⊆ t]

b. [[TP]] g =∃=λws . ∃e[run(e)(w) & agent(Hawwa)(e)(w) & τ (e) ⊆ g(6)]
(where g(6) is the contextually provided topic time) (Mucha 2013 p395:
52)
16
Mucha notes that it is hard to get a present perfective sentence because bounded events generally
do not happen in the instant that is the UT.

65
2.2.4 Accounts for tenseless languages that are of controver-
sial status

This section began with a review of a tensed account (Matthewson 2006) for the
tenseless language Statimcets where a phonologically null [TENSE] feature present in
the syntax indicates that sentences receive a non-future interpretation. It then sur-
veyed tenseless accounts (Tonhauser 2011, Bittner 2005, Bohnemeyer 2009, Smith &
Erbaugh 2005, and Mucha 2012, 2013) which lack any [TENSE] features and instead
use temporal anaphora, aspectual information and pragmatic principles to obtain
temporal interpretations. This section briefly examines three accounts (those of Lin
2006, 2010, Shaer 2003, and Ritter & Wiltschko 2005, 2009, 2014) that the authors
consider to be tenseless accounts, because they do not propose any covert tense mor-
phemes/tense features, but that others in the literature consider to be tensed accounts
for various reasons.
Let us begin with Lin (2006, 2010) for Mandarin. Lin views his approach as a
tenseless account because he does not have any covert tense morphemes. However,
Matthewson (2006) and Tonhauser (2011) both consider his account to be tensed,
presumably because Lin’s entry for the perfective has past temporal semantics written
into it, (67-a).

(67) a. perfective aspect = λP<i,t> . λtT op . λt0 .∃t[t ⊆ tT op & P(t) & tT op ¡ t0 ]
b. progressive aspect = λP<i,t> . λtT op .∃t[tT op ⊆ t & P(t)] (Lin 2006 p6: 8,
p4: 5b)

As such, they argue that Lin’s analysis is not tenseless; it just bundles tense and
aspect together. In other words, one might say that Lin shifts the location of the
[PAST] feature from T to Asp. Note that he does not write any temporal inter-
pretation into his entry for progressive aspect, (67-a). Here one could say that in
progressive sentences there is no [TENSE] feature present in the syntax and the tem-
poral interpretations are obtained via one/some of the default processes mentioned
in the previous section.

66
 The particular formulation that Lin adopts is similar to that of Smith et al. (2003,
2007) in many ways. First, sentences with no aspectual marking, like those in (61),
will obtain their viewpoint aspect via telicity: telic verbs will have a default perfec-
tive aspect while atelic verbs will have a default progressive interpretation in telicity
dependent languages (Bohnemeyer and Swift (2004)). Secondly, perfective verbs will
receive a past tense interpretation via the entry for the perfective, (67-a). Progressive
verbs will receive a default present tense interpretation, since matrix clauses are evalu-
ated with respect to the UT, as (61-a) showed. As expected for a default, this present
progressive interpretation can be overridden by past temporal adverbs, (62-a), which
introduce an alternative TT to the context. This present default could be derived
using the principles in (57) and (59) proposed by Smith et. al. (2007).

In a similar vein as Lin, Shaer (2003), focusing on Kalaallisut, questions whether

there must be a one to one mapping between the syntax, morphology and semantics;
in other words, must tense morphology/tense features be located at T. He argues
that temporal semantics could, for both English and Kalaallisut, be obtained from
the VP through a dynamic semantics approach based on Muskens (1995) and that
TP is not needed for tense semantics/to host temporal morphology/features. Like
Lin, Shaer simply shifts the location of the [TENSE] features. While he does not
propose any covert tense morphemes, he proposes to put them at the VP-level via
writing temporal meanings into lexical entries for verbs themselves.

The final account of controversial status in the ‘no overt morphology’ camp is that
of Ritter and Wiltschko (2005),Wiltschko and Ritter (2010) and Ritter and Wiltschko
(2014), which defines tense/tenselessness in relation to anchoring (i.e. what connects
the event in a clause to the utterance context). Ritter and Wiltschko propose that
all languages project an IP, which selects for other functional categories like AspP
and is the syntactic locus of anchoring. Languages vary, however, with respect to
the exact substantive content of Infl. In English, this substantive content is tense, in
Blackfoot it is person and in Halkomelem it is location. What syntactically distin-
guishes tensed languages from tenseless ones is that the substantive content of Infl in
a tensed language will be tense; where as in a tenseless one, it will be something else.

67
 The substantive content of Infl is determined by looking at what type of con-
trastive morphological marking17 that a language has. This is formalized using a
[ucoincidence]-feature (in the sense of Hale (1986)) located at Infl. Since Halkomelem
and Blackfoot do not have any overt tense morphology and they do not propose any
covert tense morphology, they consider their account to be a tenseless account. How-
ever, Tonhauser (2011) considers their account as a tensed account, because these
languages do have overt locative and person markers which check the [ucoincidence]-
feature and thus constrain temporal interpretations.

In Ritter & Wiltschko’s system, languages obtain their temporal interpretation

in three ways: i) valuation of the [ucoincidence]-feature via the morphology repre-
senting the substantive content in Infl (deictic valuation), ii) real world knowledge
given the valuation of the [ucoincidence]-feature (deictic valuation) and iii) via default
valuation of the [ucoincidence]-feature in such atemporal contexts as counterfactuals
(anaphoric valuation). Tensed languages obtain their temporal interpretation from i)
and iii). Tenseless languages receive valuation via ii) and iii). An example of valua-
tion via ii) follows: if a Halkomelem sentence has a distal morpheme that values the
[ucoincidence]-feature negatively and a 1st or 2nd person subject, the sentence must
have a past interpretation since the same person cannot be in two places at once.
Crucially, though, if there is a 3rd person subject, no such inferences can be drawn,
and the sentence will be ambiguous between a present and a past interpretation.

This concludes the overview of the ‘no overt morphology’ camp. Those in this
camp define tenselessness using morphological criteria. Specifically, a tenseless lan-
guage is one which lacks overt morphology. This camp further bifurcates into those
who assume a tensed account for tenseless languages and those who assume a tenseless
account for tenseless languages. In a tensed account, the abstract, formal morpho-
logical [TENSE] feature is present in the syntax. It is simply not pronounced. On
a tenseless account, a tenseless language lacks the abstract, formal morphological

17
Here ‘contrastive’ means a feature that has content even if it is not marked in the morphology
(i.e. there is some overt and opposite morphology that it contrasts with). In other words, in order
for there to be a null INFL substantive content morpheme, say a null proximal locative marker,
there must be an opposite overt marker such as an overt distal locative marker.

68
[TENSE] feature. In these languages, temporal interpretation is obtained via tempo-
ral anaphora, aspectual information and pragmatic principles.

2.2.5 ‘No TP’ camp

This section turns to the other component that could conceivably be missing: the
syntactic component of tense, i.e. TP. Those taking this position, the no TP camp,
include Bošković (2012) for Serbo-Croation, Turkish, Japanese, a.o., Todorovic (2014)
for Serbo-Croation and Kang (2014) for Korean. The basic idea is that, typologically,
languages which lack a DP tend to also lack its clausal counterpart, the TP. The basic
idea is set forth in Boskovics paper and extended and expanded in the Todorovic and
Kang works. This camp assumes that properties linked with T will be absent in
tenseless languages. For them the absence of EPP properties (such as the presence of
there expletives), the presence of nominative as a default (as opposed to structural)
case, evidence of lack of movement to Spec/TP (such as subject-object asymmetries
in extraction), the absence of Sequence of Tense effects, the inability of CP to be a
phase, allowance of null copulas in predicate nominative constructions and finiteness
mismatches in VP ellipsis are all taken as evidence that a language lacks a TP.
With respect to the morphological component, there are suggestions that mor-
phemes previously analyzed in some languages as tense morphemes are really aspect or
agreement morphemes. However, for Boskovic and Kang, it is possible for a language
to lack tense morphology and a TP yet still have an abstract, formal morphological
feature in the syntax. Given the lack of T, Boskovic suggests that such a feature could
be located at V, for example. In principle, this feature could have an overt or covert
realization. For languages that lack this feature, Boskovic suggests that the semantics
could be worked out using as system such as Lins (2006), and Kang (2014) works out
a semantics along these lines for Korean. Notably, the account in Lin (2006) fits in
the ‘no overt morphology’ camp in that its main diagnostic for a tenseless language
is the lack of tense morphology. However, his account also fits in the ‘no TP’ camp.
Lin, in his 2006 paper and especially in his more syntax-oriented 2010 paper, argues
that Mandarin, as a tenseless languages, must lack a TP, in addition to lacking covert

69
tense morphology.
Thus, in sum, for the ‘no TP’ camp, a tenseless language is one that lacks a TP.
With respect to the morphological component, it can still have an abstract, formal
morphological [TENSE] feature located on, say, V (or Asp), and this feature could
have an overt or covert realization. This camp suggests that if a language lacks
the abstract, formal morphological [TENSE] feature, an account like Lin (2006)’s
could be formulated to account for the temporal interpretations of sentences in these
languages.

2.3 Chapter summary

Section 1 of this chapter reviewed the basic syntax, morphology and semantics as-
sumed for tense, aspect and the perfect. It assumed that tense, aspect and perfect
all project their own projections and that the ordering of these projections is [TP
[PerfP [AspP [vP [VP]]]]]. It also assumed that they each have the appropriate ab-
stract, formal morphological [TENSE/PERFECT/ASPECT] feature. This feature is
what communicates with the interpretive component and can have either an overt or
covert realization. Following Klein (1994), and many others, tense was defined as the
relationship between the Topic Time and the Utterance Time. (Viewpoint) aspect
was defined as the relationship between the Situation Time and the TT. Both tense
and (viewpoint) aspect are properties of clauses. Lexical aspect/aktionsart, however,
is a property of individual predicates and provides further information about the
type of event occurring. Two potential ways of formalizing tense semantics, namely a
pronominal account (Partee 1973, Kratzer 1998, a.o.) and a quantificational account
(Prior 1967, Ogihara 1989, Kusumoto 1999, Beck & von Stechow 2015, a.o.), were
briefly explained. Either account will do for the purposes of this thesis. The im-
perfective paradox was then briefly explained and used to motivate a modal account
of the progressive (Dowty 1979, Beck & von Stechow 2015, a.o). A Perfect Time
Span account of the perfect (Iatridou et. al. 2003; Pancheva 2003, 2013, a.o.) was
then motivated and the formalization of that account provided in Pancheva (2003)

70
adapted.

Section 2 examined the question of what it means to be a ‘tenseless’ language.

All parties involved agree that all languages have a way to express the semantic
component of tense. Instead, tenseless languages are ones in which part or all of
(both) the morphological or syntactic components of tense are missing. Languages
reported to be tenseless include Hausa, Yukatek Maya, Paraguayan Guarani, Navajo,
Blackfoot, Halkomelem, St’at’imcets, Kalaallisut, Serbo-Croatian, Japanese, Korean,
Mandarin, and Turkish.

Two definitions for ‘tenselessness’ were then provided based on the camps present
in the literature. For a tenseless analysis in the ‘no overt morphology’ camp, being
‘tenseless’ means one of two things. On a tensed account like Matthewson (2006),
tenseless languages are simply missing overt tense morphology but have the abstract,
formal morphological [TENSE] feature. On a tenseless account, that the language
lacks the formal, abstract morphological feature and thus has neither overt nor covert
tense morphology (Tonhauser 2011, Bittner 2005, Bohnemeyer 2009, Smith et. al.
2003, 2007, Smith & Erbaugh 2005, and Mucha 2012, 2013). These researchers sug-
gest that when a language lacks [TENSE] features, other mechanisms like pragmatic
factors, temporal anaphora and aspectual specification, are used to express the rela-
tionship between TT and UT. Analyses in the ‘no overt morphology’ camp that are of
controversial status in the literature include Lin (2006, 2010) and Shaer (2003), where
the location of the abstract tense features is shifted from T to Asp or V. Another
account of controversial status is that of Ritter & Wiltschko (2005, 2009, 2014) who
claim that tenseless languages are those in which anchoring is done using a deictic
category other than tense. This category will have its own morphological marking
and a corresponding formal feature occurring at the general head Infl.

For those in the ‘no TP’ camp, the defining characteristic of a tenseless language
is that it lacks a TP. With respect to the morphological component, it can still have
an abstract, formal morphological [TENSE] feature located on, say, V (or Asp), and
this feature could have an overt or covert realization. This camp suggests that if
a language lacks the abstract, formal morphological [TENSE] feature, an account

71
like Lin (2006)’s could be formulated to account for the temporal interpretations of
sentences in these languages.
The next chapter will show that Malayalam is empirically different from the tense-
less languages described in this chapter.

72
Chapter 3

Tense & Aspect in Malayalam

In the literature, the investigation of the tense/aspect system in Malayalam focuses

almost exclusively on whether or not Malayalam has a TP in its clausal structure
and what the role of the morphology is in drawing this conclusion. On one side,
Amritavalli & Jayaseelan (2005), Amritavalli (2014), and Jayaseelan (2014)1 claim
that Malayalam, as well as the other major Dravidian languages Kannada, Telugu
and Tamil, lacks tense morphology and a TP and does not use tense to anchor clauses.
This is not a priori impossible as a diverse number of languages have been argued to
lack tense morphology and/or a TP cross-linguistically, as discussed in the previous
chapter.
However, this position is a controversial and novel claim for Malayalam. Gram-
mars have long claimed that Malayalam has tense morphology (Gundert 1851, Cald-
well 1856, Peet 1860, Frohnmeyer 1913, Raja Raja Varma 1917, Asher & Kumari
1997, a.o.) and Hany Babu & Madhavan (2003) and Menon (2011) have argued in fa-
vor of Malayalam having a TP in the syntax. This chapter will argue, along with the
grammars and Hany Babu & Madhavan (2003) and Menon (2011) that Malayalam
has tense morphology. Chapter four will also show that Amritavalli & Jayaseelans
arguments that Malayalam lacks a TP are not conclusive.
1
Throughout the thesis Amritavalli & Jayaseelan (2005), Amritavalli (2014), and Jayaseelan
(2014) will be references as a single account since the 2014 papers simply offer further evidence for
the account put forth in the 2005 paper. It will be specifically noted in cases where the papers differ
from one another.

73
 However, while this thesis argues that Amritavalli & Jayaseelan are wrong in
calling Malayalam a tenseless language, they are right in their intuition that the
tense/aspect/perfect system in Malayalam, is, in some ways, very different from that
of English. The next page or so will provide a brief overview of their proposal.
Amritavalli & Jayaseelan (2005) rely heavily on negation data and on intra-Dravidian
comparison, particularly with Kannada, to build their claim that Malayalam is a
tenseless language. One goal of their proposal is to provide a unified clause structure
for positive and negative sentences across Dravidian.

Amritavalli & Jayaseelan begin with a puzzle from Kannada. Negative root clauses
in Kannada do not contain finite verbs, i.e. verbs with tense and agreement morphol-
ogy2 . Instead, Kannada uses ‘non-finite’ forms in negative clauses. The gerund is used
in negative root clauses to express present tense, (2-a). Infinitives are used to express
past tense in negative root clauses, (2-b). Here some other marking, namely that
of infinitives and gerunds, seems to be controlling tense interpretation in Kannada
negative clauses.

(1) a. avanu bar-utt-aanne.

He come-PRES-3MSG
‘He comes.’
b. avanu ban-d-anu.
He come-PAST-3MSG
‘He came.’

(2) a. avanu bar-uvud(u) illa.

he come-gerund NEG
‘He does not come.’
b. avanu bar-al(u) illa.
He come-INF NEG
‘He did not come.’ (Amritavalli & Jayaseelan 2005: 3, p181)

Since these root negative clauses should be just as ‘finite’ as their positive coun-
terparts, (1), which have tense and agreement marking, Amritavalli and Jayaseelan

2
Unlike Malayalam, Kannada has verbal agreement morphology, as seen in (1). The other major
literary Dravidian languages Tamil and Telugu also have verbal agreement morphology.

74
suggest that the negation, illa, itself incorporates ‘finiteness.’ Perhaps this could be
understood to mean that illa is a negative ‘finite’ verb. Since illa does not contain
either tense or agreement marking, they conclude that tense and agreement cannot
be what makes a verb ‘finite’ in Malayalam; something else must be responsible for
marking the verb as being ‘finite.’
In searching for a possible candidate, they note that modals, like illa, take in-
finitival complements in Kannada. Modals, like the ‘finite’ verbs in (1), also cannot
co-occur with illa; instead they have dedicated negative counterparts. Based on these
parallels, they argue that what makes both illa and modals ‘finite’ is mood3 and that
both modals and illa target a single projection in the syntax, MoodP. Amritavalli
(2014) further explains that this means for them that the clause is anchored to the
utterance via worlds, which is a possibility in line with the proposal in Ritter &
Wiltschko (2005, 2009). They further argue that agreement is a reflex of indicative
mood, and thus provide a unified ‘finiteness’-as-mood account for both positive and
negative root sentences. Why the assumption is made that there is a link between
agreement and indicative mood is not clear to me, since languages like Spanish and
Ancient Greek show agreement in the subjunctive mood (and optative in Ancient
Greek), in addition to the indicative mood. In sum, for Amritavalli and Jayaseelan,
what makes a verb ‘finite’ is the relationship it has with MoodP not TP. This is a re-
flection of their main insight: tense and ‘finiteness’ are separate notions in Dravidian.
This is the first part of their account.
The second part of their account argues that tense marking in positive root clauses
cannot actually be tense marking; otherwise it would cause a verb to be ‘doubly
marked’ for ‘finiteness,’ here assuming that finiteness is a property of individual verbs,
since this is where the relevant morphology appears.4 To avoid this problem, they
propose that all morphemes previously analyzed as tense morphemes are actually

3
I think that what is mainly meant by ‘mood’ is ‘modality,’ as cases involving modals are what
are discussed in the Amritavalli and Jayaseelan papers, not cases involving other moods than the
indicative. Malayalam, for instance, does not have a subjunctive mood (Jayaseelan 1999).
4
I will point out below that this issue of being being ‘doubly marked’ for ‘finiteness’ does not
actually take their first conclusion, that tense and ‘finiteness’ are separate notions in Dravidian,
seriously.

75
aspect morphemes. Then, since the language now lacks tense morphemes, they assert
that there is no longer any need for a TP in the syntax.
Temporal semantics are then to be obtained as follows: when an infinitive is in the
scope of MoodP, it yields a past tense interpretation and when a gerund is in the scope
of MoodP, it gives a present tense interpretation. How exactly the semantics would
work is not spelled out beyond a suggestion in Amritavalli (2014) that something
along the lines of the system in Lin (2006) might work.
Amritavalli and Jayaseelan argue for this same system in Malayalam by pointing
out that, while it uses fully inflected regular verb forms in both positive and nega-
tive sentences, unlike Kannada, it, nonetheless, appears to have finite and non-finite
negation forms. Example (4) shows that the finite negation in Malayalam regular
verbs is also illa. Modals in Malayalam, as in Kannada, are defective and have their
own negative forms that are not inflected for tense and take infinitival complements,
(3).5 They take this as evidence that Malayalam, like Kannada, encodes ‘finiteness’
as mood and that illa, along with modals located in MoodP, serve as ‘finiteness’
markers. Note that Malayalam, unlike Kannada and the other Dravidian languages,
lacks agreement morphology.

(3) avan var-uka-(y)ee veenda

he come-INF-EMPH need.NEG
‘He need not come at all.’ (Amritavalli & Jayaseelan 2005 p201: 41)

(4) avan var-unn-illa

he come-PRES-NEG
‘He is not coming/he does not come.’ (Amritavalli & Jayaseelan 2005 p181:
4a)

Turning to negative clauses in Malayalam like those in (4), which contain both tense
marking and the finite negation, illa, they argue that the problem of having ‘dou-
ble finiteness marking’ again occurs if tense markers are also ‘finiteness’ markers in
Malayalam. To remedy this, they reanalyze tense marking as aspect marking. Since,
Malayalam no longer has tense morphology, they argue that it no longer has need
5
In the positive sentence the form of the modal would be veenam.

76
of a TP to host that morphology.6 In negative clauses, illa is the finite element. In
positive clauses, they propose that, parallel with Kannada, agreement is the finite
element. However, unlike Kannada, Malayalam does not have verbal agreement. As
such, a null agreement marker is proposed to exist in Malayalam positive clauses.
Agreement, modals and illa occur in MoodP. In Malayalam then, temporal interpre-
tations would be obtained as follows: perfect(ive) aspect in the scope of a finiteness
element yields past tense and imperfective aspect in the scope of a finiteness element
yields present tense.

One of the first problems for Amritavalli & Jayaseelan’s account is that this sup-
posed problem of being ‘doubly marked’ for ‘finiteness’ does not actually take their
first conclusion seriously. Namely, if tense is not a ‘finiteness’ marker in Dravidian,
then it should be able to co-occur in a clause with mood (modal) marking or its
reflex, agreement, without causing any problems of ‘double finiteness marking.’ Per-
haps Amritavalli and Jayaseelan might try to explain away this problem by saying
that what counts as ‘finiteness’ marking in a given language is subject to parametric
variation. Even if this is so, it still does not take their claim that ‘finiteness’ does not
equal tense in Dravidian seriously.

It is possible to accept Amritavalli and Jayaseelan’s assertion that ‘finiteness’ is

not linked to tense in Dravidian without accepting their second claim that Dravidian
languages lack tense morphology and a TP. The first part of this chapter will show
that while Amritavalli & Jayaseelan’s first assertion could be true, the second part is
not empirically supported. The first half of this chapter shows that Malayalam is em-
pirically different from the tenseless languages surveyed above. To begin with, unlike
Paraguayan Guarani, Navajo, Blackfoot, Halkomelem, St’at’imcets, and Mandarin,
matrix sentences with verbs not marked with tense morphology are not allowed. Sec-
ondly, Malayalam does not allow adverbs or contextually salient TTs to override the
temporal interpretations provided by the tense morphemes. Additional arguments

6
Jayaseelan (2014) argues that MoodP is part of an expanded CP-level. Below MoodP there is
an IP which hosts the subject in its specifier position. He still maintains though that IP is not TP
and that Malayalam is a tenseless language (no TP, no tense morphology, no anchoring via tense).
This raises interesting questions regarding the role of IP vs TP, which will be taken up in chapter 4.

77
against a tenseless account come from the formation of the Universal Perfect and
the ‘second’ imperfective and the distribution of auxiliaries. The second half of the
chapter sketches the beginning of a tensed analysis for the tense and aspect system
in Malayalam. In doing so, it shows the difference between what have been called the
two ‘imperfectives’ in Malayalam and also offers an in depth investigation of copula
selection in Malayalam.

3.1 A complex puzzle

Let us begin by appreciating the difficulty of the task. Questions about the mor-
phosemantics of tense and aspect in Malayalam are complicated for two reasons. The
first is that, as will be shown, the exact meanings of the morphemes expressing tense
are not always clear. Part of the problem is that, due to widespread sandhi, it is
often difficult to figure out where morphemes begin and end. The second is that in
the midst of the controversy over whether or not Malayalam is tenseless, the semantic
terms have not been well-defined and the full tense and aspect paradigms have not
been considered. The tense paradigm, with the verb var- ‘come’, used by Amritavalli
& Jayaseelan to build their analysis is presented in the leftmost column of 3.1. The
middle column shows the traditional tense labels.7 The rightmost column shows the
new labels Amritavalli & Jayaseelan argue for.8

Morphology traditional Amritavalli & Jayaseelan

var-unnu present imperfective
vann-u past perfective/perfect

Table 3.1: Hypotheses for the meanings of -unnu and -u

The presentation of the facts in 3.1 is actually somewhat misleading as it is in-

complete, in the sense that, as was shown in chapter 2, to convey the temporal
7
Gundert (1851), Caldwell (1856), Peet (1860), Frohnmeyer (1913), Raja Raja Varma (1917),
Asher & Kumari (1997), Hany Babu & Madhavan (2003), Menon (2011), a.o.
8
Amritavalli & Jayaseelan (2005) and Jayaseelan (2014) use the terms ‘perfective’ and ‘perfect’
interchangeably. Following the semantics literature, this thesis assumes the distinct definitions given
in chapter 2. The rest of the dissertation provides arguments that the u is neither a perfective nor
a perfect marker; it is simply past tense marking.

78
interpretation of a sentence, both tense and aspect are needed. The basic tense and
aspect combinations are given in 3.4. The tense forms of imperfective 1 can be created
by adding -unnu to the verb stem and then using the appropriate tense form of the
undu copula.9 To create the tense forms of ’imperfective 2’,10 -uka is added to the
verb stem and the appropriate tense form of the aanu copula is added. Perfective
forms are created by adding the traditional tense markers to the verb.11 Examining
the paradigm as a whole will help us gain a more complete perspective on tense and
aspect in Malayalam.

- Imperfective 1 ‘Imperfective 2’ Perfective

Present var-unnu (undu) var-uka(y) aanu —-
Past var-unnu undaayirunnu var-uka(y) aayirunnu vann-u
Future var-unnuundaayirikkum/undaakum var-uka(y) aayirikkum chirikk-um

Table 3.2: Full tense/aspect paradigm for var- ‘come’

Table 3.4 shows that things immediately look more complicated for a tenseless
analysis than the paradigm in 3.1 suggests. In both the ‘imperfectives,’ auxiliaries
with tense marking appear. This is puzzling for an account that claims Malayalam
lacks tense morphology and instead simply ‘reads tense off’ of aspect in the presence
of mood. One might try to counter that these auxiliaries could actually be analyzed
as being some type of ‘compound’ verbs themselves. Notice that the past and future
auxiliaries end with the past and future ‘perfective’ forms, irunn-u and irikk-um
respectively, of the verb in 3.3. This verb, in addition to being frequently used with
its lexical meaning, also has a number of uses as an auxiliary, light verb and ‘do’
support. Its use will be discussed in chapter 5. Further notice that the auxiliary verb
used in the past and the first future forms of ‘imperfective’ 2 is added to und- to form
the auxiliary verb in imperfective 1.
Whatever answer that might be propose for the fascinating puzzle regarding the
9
Adding undu in the present gives an emphatic (do-support) feel, i.e. a type of verum focus. In
normal speech, the final u in unnu is dropped to give varunnundu(aayirunnu/undaa(yirik)kum)).
10
It will be argued in the second part of this chapter that ‘Imperfective 2’, in line with the intuition
in Hany Babu & Madhavan (2003) is simply a progressive, not an imperfective.
11
In some verbs the past perfective form ends in i, e.g. pook-‘go’ has pook-unnu (undu) as its
present imperfective 1 and pooy-i as its past perfective form. This alternation does not seem to be
phonologically conditioned. See Appendix B.

79
 Tense Imperfective 1 ‘Imperfective’ 2 Perfective
Present irikk-unnu (undu) irikk-uka(y) aanu —-
Past irikk-unnu undaayirunnu irikk-uka(y) aayirunnu irunn-u
Future irikk-unnu undaayirikkum/undaakum irikk-uka(y) aayirikkum irikk-um

Table 3.3: Tense/aspect forms of irikk- ‘sit’

nature of the auxiliary verbs, the next section will argue that a tenseless account for
Malayalam is not tenable. The next section will argue that Amritavalli & Jayaseelan
are right in saying that unnu is an imperfective marker but wrong in reanalyzing
the traditional past tense marker as a perfective/perfect. Instead, it argues that it
is simply a past tense marker. It also argues that Malayalam has a null present
tense morpheme. Although it is argued below that Amritavalli & Jayaseelan are not
right about Malayalam being tenseless, they are right in observing that the tense
and aspect system in Malayalam is more complex than it seems at first glance. The
second half of this chapter will also illustrate this point as well with respect to the
two ‘imperfectives.’

3.2 Malayalam is not a tenseless language

Recall from the previous chapter that researchers use the term ‘tenseless’ in different
ways. For some this means that a language lacks overt tense morphology (Matthew-
son 2006), both covert and overt tense morphology (Tonhauser 2011, Bittner 2005,
Bohnemeyer 2009, Smith et. al. 2003, 2007, Smith & Erbaugh 2005, Lin 2006, 2010,
and Mucha 2012, 2013), that it lacks a TP (Boskovic 2012, Kang 2014, Todorovic
2014, Lin 2010) or that something other than tense serves as the anchor (Ritter &
Wiltschko 2005, 2009, 2014). Despite the disagreement, there seem to be some empir-
ical commonalities that tenseless languages, at least on the semantic and anchoring
definitions share. Namely, in Paraguayan Guarani, Navajo, Blackfoot, Halkomelem,
St’at’imcets, and Mandarin, matrix sentences with verbs not marked with tense mor-
phology are allowed. Secondly, many tenseless languages allow contextually salient
TTs (and sometimes just adverbs) to override the temporal default interpretations

80
provided by other morphemes. Something like this would be necessary to explain how
Malayalam has the full range of tense and aspect combinations under Amritavalli &
Jayaseelan’s system.
It will be shown in this section that Malayalam does not have either of these prop-
erties. Further arguments against a tenseless account come from the formation of the
Universal Perfect and the ‘second’ imperfective and the distribution of auxiliaries. It
will be shown in chapter 4 that Amritavalli & Jayaseelan’s arguments that Malayalam
lacks a TP are, at best, not conclusive.

3.2.1 Applying the tests to the imperfective morphologies

This section examines the argument that unnu is an imperfective marker that can
yield a default present reading. It begins by sketching why Amritavalli and Jayaseelan
probably reached the conclusion that unnu is an imperfective marker. It ultimately
argues that they are right in concluding that unnu is an imperfective marker, though
they are wrong in arguing that it yields a default present tense (or alternately, that
it is a form that bundles imperfective aspect and present tense).
It is quite probable that knowledge of the paradigm in 3.4, repeated below, though
not spelled out in any of their papers, is one of the reasons they argue that unnu is
an imperfective marker.

- Imperfective 1 ‘Imperfective 2’ Perfective

Present var-unnu (undu) var-uka(y) aanu —-
Past var-unnu undaayirunnu var-uka(y) aayirunnu vann-u
Future var-unnuundaayirikkum/undaakum var-uka(y) aayirikkum chirikk-um

Table 3.4: Tense/aspect paradigm for var- ‘come’

Specifically, like an imperfective marker, the same unnu verb can be used to
express both the progressive (njaan var-unnu ‘I am coming (right now)’) and the
generic (njaan var-unnu ‘I come (in general)’). Looking at the past and future forms
of imperfective 1, as shown in Table 3.4, we see that an unnu marked verb is a
component of both the past and the future imperfective. If unnu were genuinely a
present tense marker, this would be surprising. However, if unnu is an imperfective

81
marker used with an auxiliary verb that encodes tense semantics, then its use in all
tenses of the imperfective is not surprising. From here on out, this thesis will follow
Amritavalli and Jayaseelan and gloss unnu as the imperfective.

Given the acceptance of unnu as an imperfective marker, the question now is, does
unnu simply receive a default present tense in the absence of a temporal auxiliary?12
If this were so, this default present tense would be expected to be overrideable by
things like past tense adverbs or context, as in Mandarin and Hausa. This would
then result in a past imperfective meaning. The Mandarin data in (5) provides
an informal illustration of how this process would work. The sentence in (5a) has a
present interpretation when uttered in an out-of-the-blue context because the sentence
has imperfective aspect obtained via the default telicity principle spelled out in Lin
(2006). However, when a past adverbial is added to the same sentence, (5-b), the
default present is overridden to yield a past tense meaning.

(5) a. Wo zhu zai Lutedan.

I live in Rotterdam
‘I live in Rotterdam.’(#‘I lived in Rotterdam’ when uttered in isolation.)
b. Wo 1989 nian zhu zai Lutedan.
I 1989 year live in Rotterdam
‘I lived in Rotterdam in 1989.’ (Lin 2010, p307: 3)

Now turning to Malayalam, we see in (6) that the facts here are different. Only the
‘traditional’ past tense form of the verb, thamisicch-u, is compatible with the past
tense adverbial ‘in 1966.’ The unnu is not licit with the past tense adverbial, contrary
to what a default tense analysis like Lin’s (2006) would predict.

(6) njaan aayiratthi tollaayiratthi arupatthi aar-il Koch-il

I thousand nine.hundred sixty six-LOC Kochi-LOC
{thamasicch-u, *thamasikk-unnu, *thamasikk-uka(y)-aanu, *thamasikk-um}
live-PAST live-IMPFV1 live-IMPFV2-be.PRES live-FUT
‘I lived in Kochi in 1966.’

12
These auxiliaries are not indicators of mood. The only auxiliary with any modal flavor is the
future one which contains the future/modal marker um.

82
This pattern holds with other types of verbs and adverbs as well. The sentence in (7)
uses the telic achievement predicate jayikk- ‘win’ and (8) uses the stative predicate
peedikk-/peedi var- ‘be afraid/scared.’13 These sentences show that a past tense adverb
like innale ‘yesterday’ is only compatible with the traditional past tense marked verb,
jayicch-u and peedicch-u, respectively.

(7) innale njaan {jayicch-u, *jayikk-unnu, *jayikk-uka(y)-aanu,

yesterday I win-PAST win-IMPFV1 win-IMPFV2-be.PRES
*jayikk-um}
win-FUT
‘Yesterday I won.’

(8) a. njaan innale vaikunneeram {peedicch-u, *peedikk-unnu,

I yesterday evening fear-PAST fear-IMPFV1
*peddikk-uka(y)-aanu, *peedikk-um}
fear-IMPFV2-be.PRES fear-FUT
‘I was scared/afraid yesterday evening.’
b. *enikku innale vaikunneeram peedi var-unnu
I.DAT yesterday evening fear come-IMPFV1
‘I was scared/afraid yesterday evening.’

These facts also hold for embedded clauses. Just as in root clauses, a past adverb
cannot override the default present tense that would be obtained from the imperfective
aspect. Here only the traditional past tense form, jayaicch-u, is possible.
These facts also hold for embedded clauses. Just as in root clauses, a past adverb
cannot override the default present tense that would be obtained from the imperfective
aspect. Here only the traditional past tense form, jayaicch-u, is possible.

(9) a. [innale njaan {jayicch-u, *jayikk-unnu, *jayikk-uka(y)-aanu,

yesterday I win-PAST win-IMPFV1 win-IMPFV2-be.PRES
*jayikk-um} ennu] vinu viccharicch-u
win-FUT COMP Vinu think-PAST
‘Vinu thought that yesterday I won.’
b. [innale njaan {jayicch-u, *jayikk-unnu, *jayikk-uka(y)-aanu,
yesterday I win-PAST win-IMPFV1 win-IMPFV2-be.PRES
13
For some reason the present tense of peedikk-, peedikk-unnu, is not possible when ippum is
added; the compound form must be used in this case. Without the adverb, peedikk-unnu is fine.
The explanation for this alternation is left to further research.

83
 *jayikk-um} ennu] vinu viccharikk-unnu
win-FUT COMP Vinu think-IMPFV1
‘Vinu thinks that yesterday I won.’

Additionally, future adverbs cannot occur with unnu, or the traditional past tense,
(10). Either the simple future form, -um, or the periphrastic going to future is
required. Imperfective 2 can also be used here on a futurate reading in say, a situation
where an optimistclaims that tomorrow he will win, despite having failed in previous
attempts. Section 3.5 argues that the ability of imperfective 2 to get futurate readings
while imperfective 1 cannot falls out from their different semantics.

(10) naale njaan {jayikk-um, jayikk-aan pook-unnu,

tomorrow I win-FUT win-INF go-IMPFV1
jayikk-uka(y)-aanu, *jayikk-unnu, *jayicch-u}
win-IMPFV2-be.PRES win-IMPFV1 win-PAST
‘Tomorrow I will win/am going to win.’

The same facts hold for stative predicates like peedikk-/peedi var- ‘be afraid/scared.’

(11) a. njaan naale raavile {peedikk-um, *peedicch-u}

I tomorrow morning fear-FUT fear-PAST
‘I will be scared/afraid tomorrow morning.’
b. *enikku naale raavile peedi var-unnu
I.DAT tomorrow morning fear come-IMPFV1
‘I will be scared/afraid tomorrow morning.’

This data strongly argues against a Mandarin-style default tense analysis, where past
tense adverbs can override the present temporal defaults that would be gained from
imperfective aspect, for the imperfective marker unnu in Malayalam. One might try to
rescue the default tense analysis by appealing to the context override system in Hausa.
Mucha (2012, 2013) points out that in Hausa the default temporal interpretations
obtained from the morphologically marked aspect are strong enough that adverbs
alone cannot override them. However, Mucha shows that contexts can override the
default interpretations in Hausa. In (12a) a sentence with progressive marked aspect
receives a default present interpretation in an out-of-the-blue context. Unlike in

84
Mandarin, the presence of a past time adverbial in an out-of-the-blue context with
a progressive marked sentence only marginally yields a past tense interpretation in
Hausa, (12-b). However, when an additional context question like that given in above
(13) is added, a progressive marked verb can receive a past tense interpretation.

(12) a. Ali yana wasa

Ali 3SG.M.PROG play
‘Ali is playing.’
b. ??yana wasa jiya.
3SG.M.PROG play yesterday
‘He was playing yesterday.’

Context question: What was Hasan doing when Ali entered his house yesterday?

(13) Lokacin da Ali ya zo, Hasan yana wasa.

When Ali 3SG.M.REL.PFV come Hasan 3SG.M.PROG play
‘When Ali came, Hasan was playing.’ (Mucha 2012, p195-196: 17, 21)

However, these facts do not replicate in Malayalam. Example (14) shows that, unlike
Hausa, a past tense context question, (14a), cannot override the default present in-
terpretation that would be obtained from the imperfective, (14). Instead, one of the
past imperfective verbs must be used here.14

(14) a. Dileepu innale viid-il vann-appool Vinu endu

Dileep yesterday house-LOC come.PAST-at.that.time Vinu what
cheyy-uka(y)-aayirunnu?
do-IMPFV2-PAST
‘What was Vinu doing when Dileep came to his house yesterday?’
b. Dileepu vann-appool Vinu {kalikk-unn-undaayirunnu,
Dileep come.PAST-at.that.time Vinu play-IMPFV1-be.PAST
kalikk-uka(y)-aayirunnu, *kalikk-unnu, *kalikk-uka(y)-aanu}
play-IMPFV2-be.PAST play-IMPFV1.PRES, play-IMPFV2-be.PRES
‘When Dileep came, Vinu was playing.’

14
IMPFV 2 is the best form to use in a situation like (14) and also (17), as speakers frequently
comment that it is the best form to use in response to a question (what many speakers call a second
person answer). IMPFV1 is used to give a report to someone else (what many speakers call a third
person answer). There will be further discussion of these facts in the next section.

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In Hausa, progressive marked verbs are not compatible with future adverbs, (15), but
if the progressive marked sentence with a future adverb is put in the right context,
(16), it is grammatical.

(15) #Tana wasa gobe.

3.SG.F.PROG play tomorrow
‘She will be playing tomorrow.’ (Mucha 2012 p195: 18)

Context question: What will Ali be doing when I come home tomorrow?

(16) Ali yana wasa gobe.

Ali 3SG.M.PROG play tomorrow
‘Ali will be playing tomorrow (.when you come).’ (Mucha 2012 p197: 24)

However, once again, the Malayalam facts are different. Example (17) shows that
a future context question cannot override the proposed default present interpreta-
tion that would be obtained from the imperfective unnu marking in Amritavalli &
Jayaseelans system. Here the future would need to be used.

(17) a. njaan naale viit-il varum-bool vinu endu

I tomorrow house-LOC come.FUT-when Vinu what
cheyy-uka(y)-aayirikkum?
do-IMPFV2-be.FUT
‘What will Vinu be doing when I come home tomorrow?’
b. Vinu naale {kalikk-uka-y-aayirikkum, kalikk-unn-undaayirkkum
Vinu tomorrow play-IMPFV2-be.FUT play-IMPFV1-be.FUT
*kalikk-unnu, *kalikk-uka(y)-aanu}
play- IMPFV1-PRES play-IMPFV2-be.PRES
‘Vinu will be playing tomorrow.’

The fact that neither adverbs nor context can override the proposed default present
tense obtained from the unnu imperfective suggests that, in fact, no such default
present tense is available.
We might also think that Malayalam simply bundles present and imperfective to-
gether and expresses them as unnu. However, recall that unnu is used in the present,
past and future forms of imperfective 1. This argues against such an analysis. A plau-

86
sible hypothesis at this point is that Malayalam has a null present tense morpheme
that locates the utterance time as a subset of the topic time. An overt correlate of
this generally null present tense marker is the present auxiliary undu.

The next section offers evidence from the adverb and contexts tests, used in this
section, as well as additional arguments from imperfective 2, universal perfects, and
auxiliary selection to argue that the traditional past tense morpheme is, in fact a
past tense morpheme, not a perfect or perfective morpheme. Amritavalli & Jayasee-
lan’s arguments for reanalyzing the past tense marker as a perfective/perfect marker,
namely Conjunctive/Adverbial Participle Constructions/Serial Verb Constructions,
so called ‘gerunds’ and negation facts, will be examined in chapter 4.

3.2.2 Applying the tests to the past morpheme

Turning now to the u/i morpheme, this section argues that it indeed is just a past
tense marker, following the traditional intuitions. The argument begins with the
adverb and context tests used in the previous section. That section showed that
when past tense adverbs like innale ‘yesterday’ and aayiratthi tollaayiratthi arupatthi
aar-il ‘in 1966’ occur in a sentence, only the past tense u/i form is licensed. Example
(18) show that the present adverb ippum ‘now’ can only be used with the past and
future forms when the ‘now’ is in the preceding or upcoming second. As such, this
parallels English sentences like I won (just) now, and I will/am going to win now
(said just before putting an opponent in checkmate in a game of chess).

(18) a. ippum njaan {jayikk-uka(y)-aanu, jayikk-unnu-∅}

now I win-IMPFV2-be.PRES win-IMPFV1-PRES
‘Now I am winning.’
b. ippum njaan jayicch-u
now I win-PAST
‘I (just) won.’ #‘I am winning.’
c. ippum njaan {jayikk-um, jayikk-aan pook-unnu-∅}
now I win-FUT win-INF go-IMPFV1-PRES
‘I will/am going to win now.’ #‘I am winning.’

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Again, the same facts hold for stative predicates like peedikk-/peedi var- ‘be afraid/scared.’
In (19) ippum ‘now’ can be used with the future tense when it conveys ‘I will be afraid
in the upcoming instant’ and with the past tense when it means ‘Just a second ago, I
was afraid.’ Neither the past nor the present can be used with ippum ‘now’, however,
to mean ‘I am scared/afraid right now.’

(19) a. enikku ippum peedi var-unnu-∅.

I.DAT now fear come-IMPFV1-PRES
‘I am scared/afraid right now.’
b. njaan ippum {peedicch-u, peedikk-um}
I now fear-PAST fear-FUT
‘I {was afraid a second ago, will be afraid in the upcoming instant.}’

Thus present adverbs are no more able to override the past or future defaults than
mismatching adverbs can with the imperfective forms. Examples (20) and (21) also
show that, unlike their Hausa counterparts in (23) and (24), that present and fu-
ture contexts are not able to override the past tense semantics of u/i. Example
(20) shows that a future context cannot override the default past interpretation that
would be obtained from the perfective/perfect verb in Amritavalli and Jayaseelan’s
system. Likewise, (21) shows that a present context cannot override their proposed
past temporal default.15

(20) a. inu rathri njaan kunjun-u bakshanum kodukk-aam-oo?

today night I baby-DAT food give-MOD-Q
‘Am I supposed to feed the baby tonight?’
b. nii varum-bool eekkum, kunju {urang-irikk-um, *urang-i.}
You come.FUT-when by.then baby sleep-irikk-FUT sleep-PAST
‘When you arrive, the baby will already be asleep.’

(21) a. enikku bhayangramaayi veshikk-unnu-∅! Enikku kazhikk-uvaan

I.DAT great hunger-IMPFV1-PRES I.DAT take-INF
valladu und-oo?
anything be-Q
‘Im starving! Is there anything to eat?’

15
See Chapter 4 for more information on the Conjunctive/Adverbial Participle, glossed as -PART
in (21-b)

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 b. Juhi ippum kappa {paakam cheyth-u
Juhi now tapioca cook do-PARTfinish-NOMLZ-EMP
kazhinj-ath-ee ull-uu, *paakam cheyth-u}
be-EMP cook do-PAST
‘Juhi has cooked (finished cooking) kappa now.’

These Malayalam facts are different from the Hausa ones, (23) and (24), where these
contexts do allow for the perfective marked sentences to receive future and present
meanings, despite their default past tense meanings, (22).

(22) a. Ali ya yi wasa.

Ali 3SG.M.PFV do play
‘Ali played.’
b. #Hawwa ta dafa wake yanzu
Hawwa 3.SG.F.PFV cook beans now
‘Hawwa cooks/has cooked beans now.’
c. #Hawwa ta dafa wake gobe.
Hawwa 3SG.F.PFV cook beans tomorrow
‘Hawwa will cook beans tomorrow.’ (Mucha 2012 p195: 16, 19-20)

Context question: Am I supposed to feed the baby tonight?

(23) Kafin ka iso jaririn ya yi barci

Before 2SG.M.SBJV arrive baby.DEF 3SG.M.PFV do sleep
‘When you arrive, the baby will already be asleep.’

Context question: I’m starving, is there anything to eat?

(24) Hawwa ta dafa wake yanzu

Hawwa 3SG.F.PFV cook beans now
‘Hawwa has cooked (finished cooking) beans now.’ (Mucha 2012 p196-197:
25-22)

Amritavalli and Jayaseelan are not clear about whether they are reanalyzing the tra-
ditional past tense as a perfective or a perfect marker. The fact that ippum ‘now’
cannot be used with the present perfect, (21-b), perhaps suggests that traditional
past tense morphology should not be reanalyzed as perfect morphology, since present

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adverbs can occur with present perfect verbs in English and with perfect verbs in Ko-
rean, even though in Korean, perfect marked verbs have default past interpretations,
(25).

(25) a. John-un hakkyo-ey ka-ss-ta

John-TOP school-LOC go-PERFECT-DECL
‘John went to school.’
b. John-un cikum hakkyo-ey ka-ss-ta
John-TOP now school-LOC go-PERFECT-DECL
‘John has gone to school now.’ (Kang 2014, p75: 61)

Based on these tests, it looks like u/i is simply a past tense marker and not a perfective
or perfect marker. However, a few caveats are in order. First, adverbs meaning ‘now’
do not always refer to the utterance time but can also refer to times like ‘in the
present age.’ This makes their usage as a diagnostic tool a bit suspect. Secondly
while Malayalam, unlike Hausa (Mucha 2012, 2013) and Navajo (Smith et. al. 2007),
does not allow a recent past/result state interpretation when a present adverb occurs
with a perfective marked verb, suggesting that u/i is simply a past marker, it is
possible that an additional factor is at play here. Specifically, in many languages,
present perfectives are hard to obtain. So, perhaps it just particularly difficult to
get any present perfective meaning in Malayalam and the present adverb and context
tests with u/i just reflect this fact.

However, there are reasons beyond the adverb and context tests to believe that u/i
is simply a past tense and not a perfect or perfective marker. One reason has to do
with the Universal Perfect. There are multiple ways that one can express a Universal
Perfect in Malayalam, two of which are given in (26) and (27). In (26) there is an i
that appears after the verbal root. This i is traditionally assumed to be the marker of
the Conjunctive/Adverbial participle (see chapter 4 for more information). However,
Amritavalli & Jayaseelan try to argue that all u/i markers are perfective or perfect.
If this were a perfective marker, it would be expected to destroy the homogeneity
needed for a Universal perfect reading. One might try to counter this by saying
that the imperfective marker that follows it can override the perfective semantics.

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However, such an analysis could not be offered for the data in (27). Here there is no
imperfective marking following the u. Such an analysis in general creates problems, as
the second past imperfective form of ‘write’ is ezhuth-uka(y)-aayirunn-u. This form
could be used to explain to someone why you missed a call‘I was writing a paper.’ If
u/i is a perfective marker, then it is not clear how this form would get its imperfective
meaning.

(26) njaan ponn-appol, avan moonnu manikkoor-aayi paper

I leave.PAST-when he three hours-adv paper
ezhuth-i-kkond-irikk-uka(y)-aayirunnu
write-PART-LAM-AUX-IMPFV2-be.PAST
‘When I left, he had been writing the paper for 3 hours.’

(27) njaan ponn-appol, avan moonnu manikkoor-aayi paper

I leave.PAST-when he three hours-adv paper
ezhuth-uka(y)-aayirunnu
write-IMPFV2-be.PAST
‘When I left, he had been writing the paper for 3 hours.’

If -u/i were exclusively a morpheme with perfect semantics, then it would seem that
Malayalam has no way to express a simple past perfective. These interpretations, as
we have seen in this section, are available, however. Additionally, if this u/i were
really a perfect marker and we assume the Mirror Principle of Baker (1985) and the
ordering of functional projections outlined in chapter two, it is not in the expected
location in (26). Here it is below both aspect and tense marking instead of being
above the aspect morphology but below the tense morphology. These tests lend
further support to -u/i being simply a past tense morpheme. The next section will
present another piece of evidence from the distribution of auxiliaries arguing against
the past tense marker being reanalyzed as a perfect or perfective marker. It also
provides the beginnings of a formal analysis for tense and aspect in Malayalam.

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3.3 The beginnings of a tensed account

The previous section argued that Malayalam is not a tenseless language, specifically
that it has both a past tense morpheme, -u/i, and a null present tense morpheme.
This section provides a broad overview of what a tensed account for Malayalam might
look like. It proposes that Malayalam has a TP with tense features, which spell
out as tense morphemes when nothing intervenes between the verb and T, and as
auxiliaries when another active head intervenes (a la Bjorkman 2011, under review).
This account explains the distribution of auxiliaries and the obligatory nature of
copulas in Malayalam. Having a TP would make Malayalam a tensed language for
those in the ‘no TP’ camp.

This section will use the account for the distribution of auxiliaries cross-linguistically
in Bjorkman (2011, under review) to argue that Malayalam lacks a [PERFV] feature
and that the u/i is simply a past tense marker, thus further supporting the conclu-
sions drawn in the previous section. It also provides the beginnings of a more formal
account for the tense and aspect system in Malayalam. As such, this section begins
with an overview of Bjorkmans account.

The central idea here goes back to the question discussed at the beginning of
chapter 2: if inflectional information is introduced in a separate syntactic position
from the verb, how does it unite with the verb? There we said that local Agreement
is responsible for uniting the verb and inflectional material. However, sometimes
features may appear in a location where it is not possible to have local Agreement.
The basic idea then in Bjorkman’s work is that auxiliaries occur to rescue these
features that become ‘stranded,’ i.e. have no local head to Agree with.

Bjorkman frames her account using a Distributed Morphology (DM) framework

(Halle and Marantz (1993),Halle and Marantz (1994), et seq.). The post-syntactic
component of this framework allows for inflectional features to be introduced sepa-
rately from the verb (in places like T, Perf, Asp) and so during the derivation it is
possible for these inflectional features to get ‘stranded’ (i.e. not be united with the
verb).

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 Looking at a diverse set of languages, including English, Basque, Finnish, Kinande
(Bantu), Latin, French, Romanian, and Arabic, Bjorkman notices two basic patterns
in the distribution of auxiliaries cross-linguistically. The first is the additive pattern
found in the passive voice (was eaten, is eaten) and progressive aspect (was eating, is
eating) in English, the imperfective and perfective aspects in Basque, and the Finnish
perfect. In these cases, an auxiliary occurs with every instance of the verb. The
second pattern is the overflow pattern found in interactions between tense and aspect
in Kinande, the perfect and the passive in Latin and past tense and imperfective
aspect in Arabic. In this pattern, an auxiliary does not occur uniformly in a given
paradigm, but only in certain combinations. The Arabic data in (28) provides an
example. In Arabic auxiliaries only appear with the past imperfective, (28-c) but not
with the present imperfective, (24b), or the simple past form, (24a). In other words,
neither the past nor the imperfective alone triggers the presence of an auxiliary. It is
only the combination that results in the presence of an auxiliary.

(28) a. darasa
study.PAST.PERFV.3SGM
‘He studied.’
b. ya-drusu
3M-IMPFV.study
‘He studies.’
c. Kaana ya-drusu
Be.PAST.3SGM 3M-IMPFV.study
‘He was studying/He used to study.’ (Benmamoun (2000), p. 27-29)

Bjorkman accounts for the cross-linguistic range of patterns in the distribution of

auxiliaries by making use of the idea that languages can vary with respect to what
features they have that are involved in encoding the syntax of inflectional categories.
She begins with the observation that a language does not have to have both [Past]
and [Present] features or both [Imperfective] and [Perfective] features in the syntax.
Rather, it could simply have just a [PAST] feature or just a [PRES] feature appearing
at T and/or just an [IMPFV] feature or a [PERFV] feature appearing at Asp, with
the opposite feature being contrastively underspecified. In her system, auxiliary verbs

93
appear when a feature cannot be united with a verb (i.e. is stranded) because another
feature is intervening.
Turning back to Arabic, Bjorkman argues that the pattern in (28) occurs because
Arabic has only a [PAST] feature appearing at T and only an [IMPFV] feature ap-
pearing at Asp. As a result, no auxiliary is needed in the present imperfective or the
past perfective because the verb can unite with the [IMPFV] feature in the case of the
present imperfective and with the [PAST] feature in the case of the past perfective.
This is schematized in (29)-(30).

(29) darasa (Past (Perfective))

study.PAST.PFV.3SGM

TP

Subject T’

T AspP
[PAST]
Asp VP
– V

94
(30) ya-drusu
3M-IMPF.study

TP

Subject T’

T AspP
–
Asp VP
[IMPF] V

(Bjorkman under review, p20: 13)

However, an auxiliary is needed in the past imperfective because the [PAST]

feature at T is stranded due to the intervening [IMPFV] feature at Asp. This is
schematized in (31).

(31) kaana ya-drusu

be.PAST.3SGM 3M-IMPF.study

TP

Subject T’

T AspP
[PAST]
Asp VP
[IMPF] V

(Bjorkman under review p21: 14)

As further evidence for this position, Bjorkman notes that the copula is absent
in Arabic in the present but mandatory in the past and future. These facts follow

95
if there is no [PRES]-feature in the syntax in Arabic. She also provides independent
evidence that Arabic has only an [IMPFV] feature due to the fact that perfective
marking can be used in sentences that do not have perfective interpretations.
In English the progressive form uniformly contains an auxiliary in all tenses and
the perfective uniformly lacks an auxiliary in all tenses. This, Bjorkman argues, is
because English has both [PRES] and [PAST] tense features and only a [PROG]
aspect feature, as illustrated in 3.5.

English Tense/aspect combination features

is walking present progressive [PRES][PROG]
was walking pas progressive [PAST][PROG]
walked past ‘perfective’ [PAST]

Table 3.5: Features associated with English tense/aspect auxiliaries

English equative sentences, unlike Arabic, also require a copula irrespective of the
tense. This is compatible with the features Bjorkman proposes for English.
Turning now to Malayalam, recall that this chapter has so far argued for the
meanings given in (32-a)-(32-c). The next section will further discuss the meaning of
the morpheme in (32-e) and (32-d) follows the general consensus in the literature.

(32) a. unnu: imperfective

b. : present
c. u/i : past
d. um: future/modal
e. uka: imperfective

Recall from table 3.6, repeated below, that in all instances of imperfective 2 and in
the past and future of imperfective 1, a copula is required to express tense.

- Imperfective 1 ‘Imperfective 2’ Perfective

Present var-unnu (undu) var-uka(y) aanu —-
Past var-unnu undaayirunnu var-uka(y) aayirunnu vann-u
Future var-unnuundaayirikkum/undaakum var-uka(y) aayirikkum chirikk-um

Table 3.6: Tense/aspect paradigm for var- ‘come’

96
 In the present form of imperfective 1, the presence of the copula gives verum focus.
The previous section argued that Malayalam has a null present tense marker, when
the copula is not present, based on the fact that unnu without an auxiliary can only
be used with present adverbs and present contexts. No auxiliaries are present in the
perfective forms. Using Bjorkman’s proposal, this pattern suggests that Malayalam
has a [PRES] feature in the syntax, which corresponds to either the null present
morpheme or an overt auxiliary, the copula undu, as well as a [PAST] feature that
corresponds to the past tense morpheme u/i. Such a position is supported by the
fact that Malayalam, unlike Arabic, does not generally allow null copulas in present
sentences (or past sentences), (33).

(33) a. njaan doctor aanu

I doctor be.PRES
‘I am a doctor.’
b. njaan doctor aayirunn-u
I doctor be-PAST
‘I was a doctor.’
c. *njaan doctor
I doctor
‘I am/was a doctor.’

We also can assume that, like Arabic, Malayalam has just an [IMPFV] feature since
there does not appear to be a dedicated perfective marker for main verbs in Malay-
alam, and as we saw from the universal perfect data in the previous section, the
past tense marker u/i does not double as a perfective marker. Malayalam could, in
principle, just have a null perfective marker for main verbs. However, given Bjork-
man’s system, the distribution of auxiliaries in Malayalam suggests that this is not
the case. If Malayalam did have a [PERFV] feature, null or otherwise, this feature
would be expected to intervene between the verb and T causing the tense feature
in the perfective to become stranded. This would then trigger the insertion of an
auxiliary. However, no auxiliary appears in the perfective in Malayalam. As such, we
could posit the Vocabulary Insertion Entries in (34) for Malayalam.16
16
I follow Bjorkman in assuming a Distributed Morphology framework here, though nothing in

97
 Vocabulary Insertion Rules (Version 1)

(34) a. - ↔ [PRES]
b. -um ↔ [FUT/MOD]
c. u/i ↔ [PAST]
d. -unnu ↔[IMPFV]
e. uka ↔ [IMPFV]

In Table 3.7 we see that in all the tense and aspect combinations where there are two
features ([IMPFV] +[PRES], [PAST] or [(FUT)MOD]) an auxiliary is present. This
is because when the [IMPFV] feature intervenes between the verb and a higher head
like T, the feature at T becomes stranded and an auxiliary is needed. However, none
of the perfective verbs have auxiliaries suggesting that there is only one feature here,
that of tense.
- Imperfective 1 ‘Imperfective 2’ Perfective
Present var-unnu (undu) var-uka(y) aanu —-
- [PRES][IMPFV] [PRES][IMPFV] -
Past var-unnu undaayirunnu var-uka(y) aayirunnu vann-u
- [PAST][IMPFV] [PAST] [IMPFV] [PAST]
Future var-unnuundaayirikkum/undaakum var-uka(y) aayirikkum chirikk-um
- [FUT/MOD][IMPFV] [FUT/MOD][IMPFV] [FUT/MOD]

Table 3.7: Features associated with Malayalam tense/aspect auxiliaries (Version 1)

Given that Malayalam lacks a perfective feature, there is a question of how to

obtain perfective semantics. Here there seem to be two options. The first is that
there is an AspP in the syntax. It just has no features. Such an Asp is interpreted
as the unmarked feature. In the case of Malayalam and English, that would be the
perfective feature since both languages have other dedicated imperfective/progressive
morphology. The second option is that there is no AspP in the syntax when there is no
feature on Asp. In this case the semantics of verbs would be enriched with viewpoint
aspectual properties in the perfective but not in the imperfective. Moving forward I
what follows crucially relies on this framework.The difference between (d) and (e) will be explored
in the next section and the VI rules revised accordingly. The form in (e) will be argued to be a
progressive marker.

98
will choose to assume the first option, but the second one could also conceivably be
worked out. When a tense or aspect feature is present at Asp or T, this feature will
be used by the interpretative component to spell out the semantics corresponding to
the feature valuation, as explained in chapter 2. How exactly the intricacies of tense
semantics work in Malayalam, for example whether a quantificational or pronominal
approach to tense is best, is something I will leave for future research. But the
auxiliary and copula data fit with the data from the previous section to argue that
Malayalam does have morphology that encodes tense in a Klein (1994) sense.

3.3.1 Interim summary

Before moving on, let us take stock of the conclusion in this chapter so far. Section
one highlighted the complexity of the tense-aspect puzzle in Malayalam. Section two
compared Malayalam to other languages argued in the literature to be tenseless and
showed that Malayalam is empirically different from these languages. Malayalam
does have morphology that encodes tense semantics, making it a tensed language
for those in the ‘no overt morphology’ camp. This section provides a sketch of an
analysis for tense and aspect in Malayalam. The previous subsection argued that
Malayalam has a TP with tense features, which spell out as tense morphemes when
nothing intervenes between the verb and T, and as auxiliaries when another active
head intervenes. The evidence offered here came from the distribution of auxiliaries
and the obligatory nature of copulas in Malayalam. Having a TP makes Malayalam
a tensed language for those in the ‘no TP’ camp.

3.4 The difference between the two ‘imperfectives’

Two questions arise at this point. First, what is the difference between the two
imperfectives? On any account we expect there to be a competition between the two
imperfectives. However, we have said nothing that hints as to what this competition
might be. The second concerns the fact that imperfective 1 and 2 spell out the
stranded tense feature using different copulas. The second half of this section explores

99
the behavior of these two copulas in Malayalam more closely. It will not ultimately
provide a formal account for why the two imperfectives use different copulas, but it
will present a more careful study of the sublte meanings of these two copulas than has
previously been done. This information will lay the foundation for a formal account.

I begin this section by teasing apart the meaning of the two imperfectives. A
seemingly straightforward solution is simply to say that imperfective 2 is a progressive
marker due to the fact that it only has an event-in-progress reading, (35). Imperfective
1, on the other hand, looks like an imperfective marker in that it can have both an
event-in-progress reading and a characterizing reading, (36). As such, an updated
version of the Vocabulary Insertion rules might be those in (37).

(35) njaan chirikk-uka(y) aanu

I laugh-PROG be.PRES
‘I am laughing (now).’ #‘I laugh (in general).’

(36) njaan chirikk-unnu-∅

I laugh-IMPFV-PRES
‘I am laughing (now)’ or ‘I laugh (in general).’

Vocabulary Insertion Rules (Version 2)

(37) a. -∅ ↔ [PRES]
b. -um ↔ [FUT/MOD]
c. u/i ↔ [PAST]
d. -unnu ↔ [IMPFV]
e. uka ↔ [PROG]

However, the rest of the section will argue that such a straightforward distinction is
not possible. The gist of the argument will be that while uka ‘imperfective 1/pro-
gressive’ looks more or less compatible with an intensional progressive meaning like
the one outlined in chapter 1, -unnu ‘imperfective 2’ differs in a number of ways
from imperfective markers, in say Italian or Hindi, one of which is that it is not an
intensional operator.

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 Returning back to the VI rules in (37), since uka and unnu can both have event-
in-progress (progressive) uses, one might ask if there are any subtle meaning shifts
that result from choosing one form over the other in a given progressive context.
Earlier in the chapter it was noted that, unlike the progressive in English and
Malayalam, the unnu imperfective cannot be used in a futurate sentence, i.e. in a
sentence expressing a plan about the future that lacks any future marking, (38).
Context: An optimist claims emphatically that tomorrow he will win, despite
having failed in previous attempts.

(38) naale njaan {jayikk-uka(y)-aanu, *jayikk-unnu-∅}.

tomorrow I win-PROG-be.PRES win-IMPFV-PRES
‘Tomorrow I am going to win.’

Copley (2008) argues that futurates involve modal semantics. The ability of the uka
progressive marker to appear in a futurate context, just like the English progressive,
fits with the idea introduced in chapter one via the imperfective paradox, that pro-
gressives often contain a modal meaning. However, the inability of unnu to occur in
futurates would be compatible with an account where unnu is simply an existential
operator.
Another, perhaps related, difference is that in English a progressive sentence like
(39) can be used to describe either of the following two scenarios:

(39) He was writing his autobiography when he died.

Scenario 1: He is sitting at his desk, pen in hand/keyboard in front of him, writing

his autobiography, when he suddenly has a heart attack and dies instantly.
Scenario 2: He dies in his sleep. One of the many projects he happened to have
going on around the time of his death was the writing of his autobiography. [He was
not actually engaged in the act of writing at the moment when he died.]
In Malayalam, on the other hand, the facts are different. The progressive marked
sentence in (39a) can be used to describe scenario 1, but the sentence using unnu
in (40-b) cannot be used here. It can only be used to describe scenario 2. Speakers

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suggest that the happenstance factor is particularly important in licensing (40-b).

(40) a. avan marikk-um-bol avan avan-te aathmakadha

he die-UM-when he he-GEN autobiography
ezhuth-uka(y)-aayirunnu
write-PROG-be.PAST
‘He was writing his autobiography when he died.’ [ok Scenario 1, X
Scenario 2]
b. avan marikk-um-bol avan avan-te aathmakadha
he die-UM-when he he-GEN autobiography
ezhuth-unn-undaayirunnu
write-IMPFV-be.PAST
‘He was writing his autobiography when he died.’ [ok Scenario 2, X
Scenario 1]

Another place where a subtle meaning difference exists is in (41). When the progres-
sive is used, as in (40a), the sentence has the meaning that I was laughing constantly
throughout the movie (because it was so funny). However, when -unnu is used, the
meaning is that, during the time the speaker watched the movie, they laughed a num-
ber of times, perhaps whenever a particular line was said or a particular character
appeared. Speakers comment that the ‘action’ described by verbs with unnu feels
‘bounded’ or ‘contained’ and it is viewed as a single event, even though it contains
multiple episodes of a given event.

(41) a. njaan sinimu kand-aapol njaan chirikk-uka(y)-aayirunnu

I movie see.PAST-when I laugh-PROG-be.PAST
‘When I saw [watched] the movie, I was laughing.’ [laughing throughout
the movie]
b. njaan sinimu kand-aapol njaan chirikk-unnu-undaayirunnu
I movie see.PAST-when I laugh-IMPFV-be.PAST
‘When I saw [watched] the movie, I was laughing.’ [laughing at multiple
points throughout the movie]

These intuitions that the progressive use of unnu is episodic in nature, has a ‘happen-
stance’ feel, and cannot be used in futurates aligns with Hany Babu’s (2006) intuitions

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about the so-called ‘generic/characterizing’ use of unnu. Specifically, he will argue
that it is extensional and episodic.
There are two ways in Malayalam to give what appear to be characterizing read-
ings: -unnu, (42), and -um, (41a). The um in Malayalam has a number of uses,
beyond characterizing readings. One of these is as the future marker; see Hany Babu
(2006) for overview of other uses. The general consensus in the Malayalam literature
is that um is a modal (John (1987), Hany Babu (1997), Amrtiavalli & Jayaseelan
2005, et. seq., a.o.).17

(42) njaan chirikk-unnu-∅

I laugh-IMPFV-PRES
‘I am laughing (now)’ or ‘I laugh (in general)’

(43) a. njaan chirkk-um

I laugh-MOD
‘I laugh (in general)’ #‘I am laughing (now).’ or ‘I will laugh’ [certain]
b. njaan chirikk-aam
I laugh-MOD
‘I may laugh.’

The sentences in (44) show one way that generic uses of unnu differ from generic uses
of um: unnu can be used to describe accidental generalizations, while um cannot
be.
17
Often times the modal aam is more commonly used in places where an English future would
be used because it conveys less certainty than um does. For example, if you tell someone (i), they
will most likely respond paray-aam not paray-um to mean ‘I will tell (them)’ even when they fully
intend to pass on your well wishes to their family. Speakers comment that this is because life is
uncertain; something might happen that would prevent them from telling their family, despite their
best intentions.

(i) Veed-il ull-a ellarodum ente anweshanam paray-anam

house-LOC be-REL all I.GEN regards tell-DEB
‘Say/tell my regards to your family.’

Another example of the same type can be found when saying goodbye to a friend. To express the
equivalent of the English sentence ‘I will see you tomorrow’ when saying goodnight to a friend people
generally say: naale kaan-aam not naale kaan-um, even when both participants fully plan to see
each other the next day. Again speakers comment that this is due to the uncertainty of life. An -um
marked form would be appropriate in the context of a very serious matter, say when affirming to
a teacher that the speaker will be present for the next days exam. This thesis will not explore the
shades of certainty encoded in um as compared to other modals like aam.

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(44) a. Chennai-yil daivangal thingi-ppaarkk-unnu-∅
Chennai-LOC gods dense-dwell-IMPFV-PRES
‘Gods dwell densely in Chennai, i.e. Chennai happens to have a lot of
temples.’
b. ??Chennai-yil daivangal thingi-ppaarkk-um
Chennai-LOC gods dense-dwell-MOD
‘Gods dwell densely in Chennai, i.e. the essential property of Chennai is
that it has a lot of temples.’ (ok as a prediction: ‘Chennai will have a
lot of temples.’) (Hany Babu 2006 p10: 11 from Jayamohan 2001)

One of the properties of generics, according to Krifka et al. (1995) is that they cannot
be used for accidental generalizations. The data in (44) suggest that while um fits
Krifka et. al.s definition of a generic, -unnu does not. Hany Babu (2006) further
points out that unnu has an episodic property. This is also not expected with a
generic (Carlson (2005)).
Hany Babu, as well as some other speakers consulted, find (45) very odd because
it suggests that Usha has been getting up at 6am since the beginning of time. These
speakers note that when an adverb like oru aazhchayaayi ‘for one week’ that limits the
interval containing the events being generalized over is added, (46), it no longer has
a strange feel. The parallel sentence with um, (45-b), suffers from no such problem.

(45) a. #usha ennum aaru-manikku ezhuneelkk-unnu-∅

Usha daily 6-oclock get.up-IMPFV-PRES
‘Usha gets up daily at six oclock.’
b. usha ennum aaru-manikku ezhuneelkk-um
Usha daily 6-oclock get.up-MOD
‘Usha gets up daily at six oclock.’ (Hany Babu 2006 p11: 12)

(46) oru aazhchay-aayi usha ennum aaru-manikku ezhuneelkk-unnu-∅

one week-become Usha daily 6-oclock get.up-IMPFV-PRES
‘For the last one week, Usha has been getting up at six oclock.’ (Hany Babu
2006 p11: 13)

Some speakers I have consulted do not find (44a) or the sentences in (47) odd. I sus-
pect this is because these speakers simply accommodate a more restricted timespan.

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(47) a. usha ennum pazhum kazhikk-unnu-∅
Usha daily banana take-IMPFV-PRES
‘Usha daily eats bananas.’
b. usha ennum ambala-thil pook-unnu-∅
Usha daily temple-LOC go-IMPFV-PRES
‘Usha daily goes to the temple.’
c. usha kochi-yil thamasikk-unnu-∅
Usha Kochi-LOC live-IMPFV-PRES
‘Usha lives in Kochi.’

In light of the fact that unnu can describe accidental generalizations, Hany Babu
(2006) suggests that unnu is not an intensional operator but an extensional one.18
In what follows, the thesis will continue to call this reading the ‘generic’ for ease of
reference even though it argues that unnu does not license a true generic reading.
The um characterizing reading, on the other hand, does not allow accidental gener-
alizations, suggesting that an intensional analysis for it is on the right track. Due to
the episodic nature of unnu, also unexpected for generics as defined in Krifka et. al.,
Hany Babu (2006) proposes that the primary function of unnu is to license a situa-
tion variable which will then either be bound by an existential copula, in the case of
event-in-progress readings, and an extensional GEN operator or adverb of existential
closure, as in (46), in the case of ‘generic’ readings. He does not further spell out
what the semantics of this extensional GEN OP would look like.
Whether or not it is correct to accept Hany Babu’s proposal regarding the existen-
tial and extensional GEN OPs, Hany Babu’s desire to provide a unified analysis for
event-in-progress/progressive and the ‘generic’ uses of unnu can be accepted. Progres-
sives uses of unnu require a happenstance context and do not license futurates, which
is compatible with unnu being extensional. It also has the episodic requirement.
The progressive form, uka, on the other hand, can be used in futurate contexts
and on a true event-in-progress reading (scenario 1 for (40)) in contexts which require
access to inertia worlds, which suggests that we might give it the same entry as Beck
18
As such, one would not expect generic unnu to be a ‘finiteness’ marker located in MoodP as
Hany Babu & Madhavan (2003) propose because if unnu is not an intensional operator, it should
not be inherently linked to the place where anchoring by mood/modals (of which um is one), in
other words by worlds, occurs.

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& von Stechow (2015) give the English progressive.

(48) λw.λt.λP<s,<v,t>> .∀w’[w INERTt w’ → ∃t’[t is a non-final part of t’ & ∃e[τ (e)⊆
t’ & P(w’)(e)]]] (Beck & von Stechow 2015, cf. Dowty, 1979)

This then would be the semantics corresponding with the [PROG] feature. What
then would be the semantics of unnu? Hany Babu’s claim that progressive/event-
in-progress uses come when the situation variable is bound via existential closure,
sometimes via the existential copula undu only gives the semantics that there exist
a series of episodes. However, as Carlson (2005) notes, progressive/event-in-progress
readings are distinct from iteratives. Indeed such a meaning is quite different from
even the extensional Klein (1994) progressive meaning of Topic Time ⊆ Situation
Time.
A key empirical fact motivating Hany Babu’s proposal is that when the copula
undu is absent, an -unnu marked sentence can have either the event-in-progress or
a ‘generic’ reading, (48a). However, when undu is added, only the event-in-progress
reading is possible, (49-b).19

(49) a. suuryan kizhakku udhikk-unnu-∅

sun east rise-IMPFV-PRES
‘The sun rises in the east.’ [generalization over a serious of episodes of
individual risings] or ‘The sun is rising in the east.’

19
The two sentences are not totally equal in their information structure properties, even when
they both have a progressive/event-in-progress use. Speakers consulted note that the addition of
the undu copula in present tense sentences gives an emphatic/verum focus reading. For example, if
someone tells you kazhikku ‘eat!’ and you respond back kazhikk-unnu undu, it has the feel of saying
something like ‘I AM eating’ with the connotation that you do not like the fact that they were telling
you to eat. Also, if you are expecting a guest, but he is quite late and then finally he calls your
husband, you can ask your husband after the phone call avan var-unn-oo? ‘Is he coming?’ And your
husband can reply avan var-unnu undu ‘he IS coming.’ It also can be used in cases where English
uses emphatic ‘do’-support: if someone asks you, doubtingly, ‘Do you love your husband?’, you can
respond back njaan bharathaav-e sneehikk-unnu undu ‘I DO love my husband.’ I suspect that the
reason that the present of undu but not the past triggers this type of inference comes from the fact
that undu alternates with the null present marker. Perhaps one could make an analogy with the
type of information structure properties obtained with an overt subject is used in a null subject
language like Spanish (cf. hablo espaol ‘I speak Spanish’ vs Yo hablo espaol ‘I speak Spanish.’
These information structure facts are compatible with undu introducing an immediacy requirement
in certain contexts, as will be suggested below.

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 b. suuryan kizhakku udhikk-unn-undu
sun east rise-IMPFV-be.PRES
‘The sun is rising in the east.’#‘The sun rises in the east.’ (Hany Babu
2006 p)

Hany Babu (2006) suggests that undu is the existential copula and thus introduces an
existential operator that is in complementary distribution with the generic operator,
which is why when undu occurs only the event-in progress reading is possible.
In what follows it is suggested that the two separate operators are not needed.
Instead in the following sections it will be suggest that unnu has a single meaning
that is narrower than a generic because it is not intensional and episodic but wider
than an iterative because it has the subinterval property, unlike iteratives. This
meaning will allow for both the more limited ‘generic’ and ‘event-in-progress’ uses of
unnu. The inspiration for this alternate account is the same facts in (49) coupled
with a more in-depth study of the two copulas in Malayalam. The claim will be that
undu sometimes carries an ‘immediacy requirement’ like that found by Patel-Grosz
(2016) in certain negative imperatives cross-linguistically. Forms with this immediacy
requirement cannot be used as general prohibitions. I will suggest that this anti-
generality extends to undu in Malayalam making the data in (49) unsurprising. This
intuition also brings one of the questions that this section began with, namely, why
is the auxiliary different in the progressive, -uka, form and the imperfective, unnu,
form?, back into focus.

3.4.1 An intuition about the semantics for -unnu

This section sketches an intuition for the semantics of unnu. The basic idea is that
unnu involves the occurrence of an iterative inside of a special interval which also has
the subinterval property. The claim is then that unnu shares properties with both
iteratives and generics but is neither.
Payne (1997) defines an iterative as a ‘punctual event takes place several times in
succession’ (p39). Carlson (2005) adds that the episodes of the event are connected
with each other in time and often have further implications such as intensity or a

107
prolonged activity, as in (50-a).

(50) a. John coughed and coughed.

b. The bird was flapping its wings.

He notes that progressives, while they often imply iteration, as in (50-b), are not
iteratives themselves. One way that generics differ from iteratives is that generics
do not describe a connected series of events. Generics, like statives, also have the
subinterval property, which iteratives lack.
The idea for -unnu is that it introduces an interval, i, in the actual world (@)
which contains multiple episodes of a given event, e. This would result in a Klein
(1994)-like perfective meaning, ST ⊆ TT. However, then a generalization is made
that since i contains multiple episodes of e, all subparts of i contain an instance of
e. This results in the interval having the subinterval property like a generic sentence,
and unlike an iterative sentence. However, unlike a generic sentence, it is existential
and episodic. Since the interval has the subinterval property, it provides a Klein-
like progressive meaning (TT ⊆ ST). In (51), repeated from above, the topic time,
watching the movie, is equivalent to i. This means that multiple events of laughing
occurred in i, resulting in the generalization that every subpart of i contains an
instance of laughing.

(51) njaan sinimu kand-aapol njaan chirikk-unnu undaayirunnu

I movie see.PAST-when I laugh-IMPFV be.PAST
‘When I saw [watched] the movie, I was laughing.’ [laughing at multiple
points throughout the movie]

This need not be the case. To see this, look at example (52). Here the Topic Time,
‘when I slipped on the floor’ is very short, probably simply an instant.

(52) a. njaan veen-aapol avan thumm-unnu undaayirunnu

I slip.PAST-when he sneeze-IMPFV be.PAST
‘He was sneezing when I slipped on the floor.’ [he happened to be in a
state of sneezing every few seconds (say because he had a cold)]

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 b. njaan veen-aapol avan thumm-uka(y)-aayirunnu
I slip.PAST-when he sneeze-PROG-PAST
‘He was sneezing when I slipped on the floor.’ [the moment I slipped, he
was in the middle of a sneeze]

In (51a) -unnu again deals with an interval, i, in the actual world which contains
multiple episodes of a sneezing event, e (Klein-like perfective meaning) and then
generalizes that since i contains multiple episodes of e, that all subparts of i contain
an instance of e. This results in a Klein-like progressive meaning. The difference here
is that the time of slipping (the topic time) is contained in i, which is an interval all
of whose subintervals contain an instance of sneezing. This contrasts in meaning with
the purely progressive meaning of the uka progressive marked sentence in (52-b).
The same idea explained for (51) and (51a) works for (53), repeated from above.
There is an interval, i, in the actual world which contains multiple episodes of a
writing event, e (Klein like perfective meaning). Then a generalization is made that
since i contains multiple episodes of e, all subparts of i contain an instance of e to
give a Klein-like progressive meaning. The dying time (the topic time) is then placed
inside of i, and every subinterval of i contains an instance of writing.

(53) avan marikk-um-bol avan avan-te aathmakadha

he die-UM-when he he-GEN autobiography
ezhuth-unn-undaayirunnu
write-IMPFV-be.PAST
‘He was writing his autobiography when he died.’ [incidentally one of the
projects he happened to have going at the time of his death (though he
didn’t have to be writing when he died)]

The ‘generic’ cases from above, repeated here in (54), can likewise be accounted for
with this idea. The interval i contains multiple events in the actual world of gods
dwelling in Chennai (in temples)/the sun rising in the east/Usha getting up at six
oclock. Then a generalization is made that since i contains multiple episodes of e, all
subparts of i contain an instance of e to give a Klein-like progressive meaning. This
generalization, at the same time, can be taken the state of things in the actual world,

109
resulting in the ‘generic’ use.

(54) a. Chennai-yil daivangal thingi-ppaarkk-unnu-∅

Chennai-LOC gods dense-dwell-IMPFV-PRES
‘Gods dwell densely in Chennai, i.e. Chennai happens to have a lot of
temples.’
b. suuryan kizhakku udhikk-unnu-∅
sun east rise-IMPFV-PRES
‘The sun rises in the east.’[generalization over a serious of episodes of
individual risings] or ‘The sun is rising in the east.’
c. oru aazhchay-aayi usha ennum aaru-manikku ezhuneelkk-unnu-∅
one week-become Usha daily 6-oclock get.up-IMPFV-PRES
‘For the last one week, Usha has been getting up at six oclock.’ (Hany
Babu 2006 p11: 13)

From these sentences, we can see that the size of the interval i is determined by
one of the three things: non-instantaneous when clauses (i.e. ‘when’ clauses that are
equivalent to the Topic Time), (51), adverbs, (54-c), and context, (44a), (47), for
those speakers who accept these sentences, and (53a)-(53b), for all speakers.
In the case of a stative verb like kan- ‘see’, (55), the predicate already has the
subinterval property, so generalizing over the interval i is not necessary. The murder
time would then be located inside of i. Stative predicates conform to the episodic
requirement via their subevents.
Context question: What were you doing last night at the time of the murder?

(55) a. innaale rathri njaan sinimu kan-unnu undaayirunnu

yesterday night I cinema see-IMPFV be.PAST
‘Last night I was seeing [watching] a movie.’
b. innaale rathri njaan sinimu kan-uka(y)-aayirunnu
yesterday night I cinema see-PROG.PAST
‘Last night I was seeing [watching] a movie.’

The generalizing leap in the examples with non-stative verbs from simply being a
bounded collection of interactions of an event to that bounded interval being viewed
as a single event which has a subinterval property, has not been explained here.

110
The example in (56) perhaps suggests that this is the result of a pragmatic process
controlled by world knowledge.

Context question: What were you doing last night at the time of the murder?

(56) a. *innaale rathri njaan sarigal vang-unnu undaayirunnu

yesterday night I saris buy-IMPFV be.PAST
‘Last night I was buying saris.’
b. innaale rathri njaan sarigal vang-uka(y)-aayirunnu
Yesterday night I saris buy-PROG-be.PAST
‘Last night I was buying saris.’

Given what we have seen so far, we would expect (55a) to mean that the interval i had
many events of sari buying in it and then after generalizing over these events, every
subinterval of i has an event of sari buying in it and the murder time is contained
within this interval, giving a progressive meaning. In other words, we would expect a
situation were the speaker was going from store to store buying different saris during i
and then the murder happened at some point during all that sari buying. Perhaps the
reason that instantaneous predicates like ‘sneeze’, and ‘laugh’ are acceptable while an
instantaneous predicate like ‘buy a sari’ is not is that they can iterated on a moment-
to-moment basis whereas multiple sari buying events take more time, i.e. there is
transfer times between shops, browsing times, etc. So world knowledge rules out
generalizing that every subinterval of i has an event of sari buying in it. One might
then wonder about sentences like (53b)-(54-c) where the predicates cannot be iterated
on a moment-to-moment basis. Here we might say that the adverb ennum ‘daily’ and
the world knowledge that the sun only rises once per day defines ‘subinterval’ as ‘day.’
So, i would be a longer span of time, say one week/month/year, etc. or since the
dawn of time, and for every subinterval (=day) in that interval, the property holds.

Some further evidence that this intuition is on the right track comes from the
following. Speakers comment that the generalizing occurs when there is a ‘running
context’ (i.e that there is an interval, i,), which seems to mean that either there is
a context which the speaker can see, or possibly hear (for some speakers), occurring
in front of him/her which he/she is commenting on, or that the interlocutors already

111
have a shared context (due to their shared history as close friends or family members).

When no information about the relationship of the speaker with the addressee
or whether or not the speaker saw the relevant situation is given, speakers asked to
judge the acceptability of sentences like (57) often comment that it is more natural to
use the progressive to answer the question. This is because it is ‘more direct’ (what
many speakers call a ‘second person answer’) and ‘less removed’ than the unnu form.
The unnu form is used to give a report to someone else (what many speakers call a
‘third person answer’).

(57) a. Dileepu innale viid-il vann-appool Vinu endu

Dileep yesterday house-LOC come.PAST-at.that.time Vinu what
cheyy-uka(y)-aayirunnu?
do-PROG-PAST
‘What was Vinu doing when Dileep came to his house yesterday?’
b. Dileepu vann-appool Vinu {kalikk-unn-undaayirunnu,
Dileep come.PAST-at.that.time Vinu play-IMPFV-be.PAST
kalikk-uka(y)-aayirunnu}
play-PROG-be.PAST
‘When Dileep came, Vinu was playing.’

An example of this ‘third person answer’ (report to someone else) use is given in (58).

Context: You are sitting observing a group of people (consisting of your own
children or strangers) eating and you are giving a running commentary about the
situation to someone else (who is not a member of the group eating).

(58) avan dosa kazhikk-unnu-∅, avan chapati kazhikk-unnu-∅, avan

he dosa take-IMPFV-PRES he chapatti take-IMPFV-PRES he
choru kazhikk-unnu-∅...
rice take-IMPFV-PRES
‘He is eating dosa; he is eating chapatti; he is eating rice’

The uka progressive does not require the additional interval i, which has extra con-
textual requirements regarding visual (or possibly auditory) evidence/shared context,
or have the extra generalizing step present in the unnu form. As a result, it may seem
more ‘direct’ since it does not require these extra mechanisms.

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 Speakers comment that the use of unnu marked forms can seem theatrical to use
if the speaker cannot see the addressee. For example, if someone calls you on the
phone and asks you ‘what you are doing?’, it is odd to respond ‘I am eating’ using
the -unnu marked form, kazhikk-unnu-∅, because the other person cannot see what
you are doing. Instead, the progressive form, kazhikk-uka(y)-aanu, should be used in
this context.

The theatrical feeling here comes because, when presented with this context ques-
tion out of the blue (i.e. when the context question and its answer are not embedded
within a larger conversation) and with abstract participants (i.e. the person being
asked to provide the judgment in this context does not know anything about who the
interlocutors are or their relationship to each other), ‘there is no context running,’ as
one speaker comments. Using the unnu marked form here feels theatrical because it
assumes that such a context exists, yet none does here. As a result, the only way to
accommodate the utterance is to assume that speaker is trying to create a ‘running
context’ by using the -unnu form and this feels theatrical.

Some speakers have commented that when shouting ‘I’m going’ from the doorstep
to someone else in the house who could not see the speaker (perhaps because they
were in a different room), that they would not use the unnu form, pook-unnu-∅,
in this context. Instead, they would use the progressive form, pook-uka(y)-aanu.
Other speakers, though, said that use of the unnu form in that context is perfectly
acceptable. Perhaps this variation can be accounted for based on what counts as a
‘running context’ for different speakers. Those speakers who accept the unnu form
in this context may be assuming that since both interlocutors are in the same house
they will have both be aware of other parts of the context leading up to leaving such
as the door opening, the car starting, etc. that would help them create that ‘running
context.’

Despite the role that visual evidence seems to play in licensing a ‘running context’
there are contexts where it is fully acceptable (and very common) to use unnu marked
forms when speaking with someone on the phone (i.e. when the speaker cannot see
the addressee). Whether or not is possible to use the unnu form on the phone as

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an answer the the question ‘what are you doing?’ depends on the relationship of
the interlocutors and the nature of the conversation.20 If they do not know each
other (say, a sales person or bureaucrat) or have a strictly formal relationship (say, or
business colleagues that do not know each other well) then unnu marked forms would
never be used; only progressive marked forms would be used to express progressive
meanings. If the interlocutors have a close relationship (say, a mother and child or
two friends), then unnu forms may be used. In this case, it depends on the nature of
the conversation. If it is a casual conversation then unnu marked forms can be used.
If it is a serious conversation, they will not be used. The following two examples
provide illustrations of examples when the interlocutors are close but are having a
serious conversation and, as such, should not use unnu.
Context: Your close friend is the editor of a journal. She sends you an email in
her official capacity reminding you that your review is due soon. You want to write
back, thank her for the reminder, and tell her that you are writing the review.
Here the appropriate form to use would be the progressive one, ezhuth-uka(y)-
aanu, not the unnu form, ezhuth-unnu-∅ because the unnu form would be too casual
in this context. If she sent you an email simply as your friend about something else
you were writing, it would be natural to answer with the unnu form.
An additional context further illustrates this point.
Context: Your mother calls you to discuss about a serious matter (such as a family
problem or a serious illness). For example, maybe your cousin has just been diagnosed
with cancer. After giving the initial information, your mother might ask, ‘What are
you doing now? I need to tell you more about his condition.’
In this context, if you are eating, the appropriate form to use is the progressive,
kazhikk-uka(y)-aanu. If the unnu form, ezhuth-unnu-∅, is used, it is very disrespectful
because it conveys that you do not care about the fact that your cousin has cancer
and you just want to be left alone because the situation is a normal one for you.
However, if the question comes in the context of your nightly call with your mom,

20
If the person is in the same room as the speaker, it is perfectly natural to say ‘I am eating’ using
either form, kazhikk-unnu-∅ or kazhikk-uka(y)-aanu.

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where both of you have had ordinary days and you both are reasonably happy, it is
perfectly acceptable to use the unnu form, ezhuth-unnu-∅, to answer her question.
Many speakers comment that a progressive, -uka(y)-aanu, form is more respectful
than an unnu form. Probably this is because the use of the progressive assumes no
prior context and assuming a prior context where there is not one is rude. There is
a parallel with this in the pronominal system in Malayalam. For example, there are
several 2nd person pronouns in Malayalam. One of these pronouns, nii, is only used
to address close friends. Using this pronoun to call someone you do not know would
be rude because it assumes a shared, positive context exists between the interlocutors.
An unknown person would feel annoyed that someone they did not know was calling
them in such a familiar way. See Swenson & Marty (under revision) for further
details about how the distance between interlocutors plays an important role in the
Malayalam pronominal system.
While providing some suggestive facts about how the interval i (the ‘running
context’) is created, there are many open questions for further research. A point to
consider before moving on though, is that, however, the interval i is created and the
semantics of the unnu form are formalized, concrete factors like visual and auditory
(for some speakers) evidence or a shared history seem to play an important role.
This fits with the existential nature of unnu that has been argued for in this chapter.
The intuitions expressed in this section have, hopefully, helped further expose the
complexity of the puzzle and will provide a possible direct for future work on the
semantics of -unnu. Hany Babu & Madhavan (2003) point out a number of other
differences between progressive marked sentences and those marked with unnu undu
for which the present account has no explanation. These data points are included in
appendix A.

3.4.2 Interim summary

This subsection so far has argued that Malayalam uka is an intensional progressive
marker. On the other hand unnu is used when a situation involves multiple, tempo-
rally connected episodes taking place within close succession, like an iterative. But

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it differs from an iterative in that it cares that these iterations take place within
another interval, i, in the actual world. Because this interval has or gets the subinter-
val property, it results in accidental generalizations over these episodes. Because the
Topic Time is contained in the Situation Time, this gives a Klein (1994) progressive
meaning while the ‘generalizing’ step that gives the progressive meaning also results
in a report on the state of things in the actual world, i.e. the ‘generic’ use of unnu.
This results in it having the appearance of an imperfective. A summary of all of the
parts and features argued for thus far is given in the Table in 3.8.

- Imperfective 1 Progressive Perfective

Present var-unnu (undu) var-uka(y) aanu —-
- [PRES][‘IMPFV’] [PRES][PROG] -
Past var-unnu undaayirunnu var-uka(y) aayirunnu vann-u
- [PAST][‘IMPFV’] [PAST] [PROG] [PAST]
Future var-unnuundaayirikkum/undaakum var-uka(y) aayirikkum chirikk-um
- [FUT/MOD][‘IMPFV’] [FUT/MOD][PROG] [FUT/MOD]

Table 3.8: Features associated with Malayalam tense/aspect auxiliaries (Version 2)

One question still to be answered is why the presence of the undu copula as in
(59-b) rules out the progressive/event-in-progress reading. Hany Babu (2006) tries
to account for these facts by saying that two different types of quantifiers are used
to obtain the event-in-progress verses the ‘generic’ use and that undu, the existential
copula, is the overt representation of the existential operator used in the progressive
cases. The previous subsection argued against such a proposal above and suggested
that the facts in (59) can be accounted for via an independent requirement the undu
copula sometimes carries.

(59) a. suuryan kizhakku udhikk-unnu-∅

sun east rise-IMPFV-PRES
‘The sun rises in the east.’ [generalization over a serious of episodes of
individual risings] or ‘The sun is rising in the east.’
b. suuryan kizhakku udhikk-unn-undu
sun east rise-IMPFV-be.PRES
‘The sun is rising in the east.’ #‘The sun rises in the east.’ (Hany Babu
2006 p)

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The next section will provide a more in depth exploration of the two copulas in
Malayalam to lead us closer to a formulation of this independent requirement.

3.5 Undu vs aanu: The different ‘being’ verbs in

Malayalam

In this section the use of the two copulas will be examined. Like Spanish, Malayalam
has two different copulas: undu and aanu. Just as in Spanish, the general notions
like ‘temporary’ versus ‘permanent’ seem to play a role in determining which copula
is used. Based on this, a first hypothesis might be that the account for ser and estar
can be extended to Malayalam. Menon (2008), Menon (2016) argues against such an
extension, and while this chapter presents a slightly different set of facts than Menon
does, it ultimately agrees with her conclusion that the Malayalam copulas differ from
ser and estar.
In order to test the hypothesis that the Malayalam copulas are like the Spanish
ones, one must answer the following two questions: first, what is the account for ser
and estar in Spanish and secondly, does the Malayalam data match the Spanish data?
In fact, the first question is a bit simplistic, as finding a single, unified account that can
explain the distribution of ser and estar has proven difficult. Since the remainder of
this chapter will argue against a Spanish-style account based on empirical differences
between Spanish and Malayalam, an in-depth overview of the literature on ser and
estar will not be given. See Camacho (2012), Camacho (2015) for a summary of the
different accounts and references.
Rather, the rest of this chapter will highlight the empirical differences between
Spanish and Malayalam and then suggest that something along the lines of ‘imme-
diacy’, i.e. how relevant the situation being discussed is to the present moment,
is a better direction to pursue for Malayalam. Cross-linguistic evidence from East
Austrian German, Norwegian, Kutchi Gujarati and English show that immediacy is
encoded in the grammar in these languages as well, not necessarily in copula selec-

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tion, but in the way negative prohibition is expressed Patel-Grosz (2016). The first
part of this section examines the more straightforward use of copulas in Malayalam
and Spanish in equative, predicative, existential and possessive contexts. The second
part of the section examines location, medical condition, and psychological predi-
cates, where the facts are more subtle to detect in Malayalam and the important
differences between Spanish and Malayalam become clear. The third section provides
further details regarding the immediacy requirement and what an account based on
this might look like for Malayalam.

3.5.1 Equative, predicative, existential and possessive con-

texts

In the Malayalam literature, it is common to see undu referred to as the existential

copula and aanu referred to as the equative copula (Mohanan and Mohanan (1999),
Menon 2008, 2016 a.o.). The so called ‘equative’ copula aanu gets its common name
from examples like (60-a), where it equates two referring individuals. It is also used in
predicative constructions where it is used for both states, (60-c), and events, (60-b).
The other place that only aanu is used is in clefts, (56).

(60) a. asha raman-te chechi aanu/*undu

Asha Raman-GEN older.sister be.PRES
‘Asha is Raman’s older sister.’
b. malsaram aaru mani-kku aanu/*undu
match six time-DAT be.PRES
‘The match is at 6 oclock.’
c. avan sundar-an aanu/*undu
he beauty-MASC be.PRES
‘He is beautiful.’(Menon 2008 p19: 13-14)

(61) vinu aanu/*undu deepa-yude sahodari-ye sneehikkunn-athu

Vinu be.PRES Deepa-GEN sister-ACC love-NOMLZ
‘It is Vinu who loves Deepa’s sister.’

In possessive and existential contexts, Malayalam only allows the copula undu. Exam-

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ple (62) provides instances of both permanent, (62-a), and temporary, (62-b)-(60-c),
existential uses of undu.

(62) a. deivam undu/*aanu

God be.PRES
‘God exists.’ (Mohanan & Mohanan 1999: 19)
b. meesha meel pusthakam undu/*aanu
table on book be.PRES
‘There is a book on the table.’ (Asher & Kumari 1997 p100: 479)
c. adukkala-thil pampu undu/*aanu
kitchen-LOC snake be.PRES
‘There is a snake in the kitchen.’

Another area where only undu is used is in possessive constructions. Example (63)
shows that the same construction is used for both inalienable, (63-a), and alienable
possession, (63-b).21

(63) a. enikku chechi undu/*aanu

I.DAT older.sister be.PRES
‘I have an older sister.’
b. enikku car undu/*aanu
I.DAT car be.PRES
‘I have a car.’

That the same copula should be used in both the existential and the possessive is
unsurprising. Much work since Benveniste (1966) including Freeze (1992), den Dikken
21
Menon (2016) claims that aanu is possible in (63-b). However, speakers I have presented this
sentence to responded by asking me what I was trying to say. They said it was an ungrammatical
sentence and corrected it to enikku kaaru undu. When asked if it was possibly a dialect variant/if
they had ever heard anyone else say that sentence, they then came up with the context given in (i)
in which aanu could be used.

(i) a. tann-ikku scooter und-oo?

you-DAT scooter be.PRES-Q
‘Do you have a scooter?’
b. alla, enikku caaru aanu
NEG.be I.DAT car be.PRES
‘No, it is a car that I have.’

In other words, this structure can only be used in a cleft construction contrasting that it is a car as
opposed to something else that is possessed.

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(1995, 1997, 2006), among many others, has argued for a decompositional account
of ‘have’ verbs into ‘be’ plus a preposition in a number of languages from Finnish to
Tagalog. In languages that lack a ‘have’ verb, an oblique case marked subject plus
the existential copula are used instead. This is exactly what is found in Malayalam.
The facts in Spanish22 are more or less parallel to the Malayalam facts at first
glance: aanu is used in the same type of sentences where ser is used. Examples
(64-a)-(64-b) provide the parallel Spanish sentences for the Malayalam sentences in
(60-a)-(60-b). The first difference between the two languages, however, can be seen
by comparing (60-c) and (64-c). In Malayalam, (60-c), only aanu can be used, while
in Spanish, (64-c), either copula can be used. When ser is used, the sentence makes
a statement about Alejandro’s general character. When estar is used, it makes a
comment about Alejandro’s current behavior.

(64) a. Maria es/*esta la hermana de Juan.

Maria SER/ESTAR the sister of Juan
‘Maria is John’s sister.’
b. El partido es/*estar a las seis.
The match SER/ESTAR at the six
‘The match is at 6pm.’
c. Alejandro es/esta agradable.
Alejandro SER/ESTAR pleasant
With SER: ‘Alejandro is pleasant (in general).’ With ESTAR: ‘Alejandro
is being pleasant (today).’ (Camacho 2012a: 1)

Unlike in Spanish, in Malayalam only aanu is possible with a predicative state. For
undu to be used, in (60-c) the adjective sundaran ‘beautiful’ must be changed to the
noun saundaryam ‘beauty’ and there must be a dative subject. In other words, a
possessive construction must be used.
In sum, the data presented so far can be summarized in Table 3.9.
Spanish, unlike Malayalam, uses neither ser nor estar to express either existentials
or possessive constructions. Instead, it has independent verbs meaning ‘exist’, existe,
and ‘have’, tener. That the two languages differ on this point should not be a major
22
Thanks to Mar Bassa Vanrell for her Spanish judgments.

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 - undu estar aanu ser
Equative/predicative use - - -
X is Y’s sister N N Y Y
The match is at 6pm N N Y Y
He is beautiful/agreeable N Y (currently) Y Y (usually)
Possession Y N N N
Existential use Y N N N
Table 3.9: Comparison of the Spanish and the Malayalam copulas

deterrent to a hypothesis that what estar is to Spanish, undu is to Malayalam and

what ser is to Spanish, aanu is to Malayalam. However, the data in the next section,
in addition to the facts in (60-c) and (64-c), are more damaging for such an account.

The functions of the Malayalam copulas presented in this section are well known
and easily determined, as they are in complementary distribution in these construc-
tions. However, this complementary distribution breaks down in location, medical
condition predicates and psychological predicates.

3.5.2 Location, psychological and medical predicates

This section will show that a subtle meaning difference occurs in location, psycho-
logical and medical predicates when undu versus aanu is used. The facts regarding
these predicates are noticeably different than in Spanish. In the next section, it
will be argued that the Malayalam facts might be better explained via the notion of
‘immediacy.’

Let us first turn to location predicates. The examples (65) show that undu and
aanu can both be used to express locations. When asked out of the blue, speakers find
it notoriously difficult to differentiate the meanings of the sentences in (65). Either
sentence could be an appropriate response to a question like (66), depending on what
subtle meaning the speaker wants to convey.

(65) a. njaan delhi-yil undu.

I Delhi-LOC be.PRES
‘I am in Delhi.’

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 b. njaan delhi-yil aanu.
I Delhi-LOC be.PRES
‘I am in Delhi.’

(66) enth-okke undu vishesham?

what-all be.PRES news
‘What’s new?’

If for example one calls a friend that one has not talked to in some time just to chatch
up and, after greeting the person being phoned, asks (66) and that person responds
with (65-a), the person calling will say something like ‘oh, sorry for catching you at
a bad time, I’ll call back later.’ This is because using (65-a) in this contexts is like
saying ‘I am in Delhi, so I am busy now.’ If, on the other hand, the speaker responds
with (65-b), the person calling will continue with some follow up questions about
what that person is doing in Delhi and the conversation will go on. This data shows
that using aanu to give a location is simply a neutral statement about location.23
The use of undu, however, has some special effects.
The use of undu versus aanu is not linked to temporary or permanent place since
both sentences in (65), could be used to describe either a temporary or a permanent
(in the sense of settlement) position; instead the relevant factor is whether or not
the speaker wants to make a neutral statement or a statement that conveys that the
present location has some kind of immediate implication for the hearer, for example
that there is no time to talk now. This implication does not have to negative. For
example, if the speaker is in town unexpectedly and phones their friend, they might
say (65-a) as a way to indicate a desire to meet the other person.
Another example that shows the special effects is (67)
Scenario: People in the department like to eat lunch together. Today the lab
technician, Unni, is not present at the lunch. However, his friend Nithin is there.
Usually, Nithin only comes to lunch when Unni comes. A third person comes in and,
23
It is possible to use (65-b) to express something like ‘I’m in Delhi so I’m helpless;’ however this
is a clefted use. For example, if someone calls me and asks me to do something for him, thinking I
am in my office in Kochi. I can say (65-b) to express that I am in Delhi not Kochi and so am unable
to help that person. Clefted readings are freely avaialbe with aanu but these are not the readings
being focused on in this section.

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seeing Nithin but not Unni, and asks with surprise, ‘Where is Unni?’

(67) a. unni lab-il undu

Unni lab-LOC be.PRES
‘Unni is in the lab.’
b. unni lab-il aanu
Unni lab-LOC be.PRES
‘Unni is in the lab.’

Here (67-a) is the most natural response because it conveys that right now, Unni
is in lab (i.e. has a lot more work than usual) and that is why he is not at lunch,
despite the fact that Nithin is there. The use of undu is used to communicate about
the situation immediately at hand. If (67-b) is used, it conveys that Unni is in lab
because that is normally where he works; it is a statement about the general situation,
not the current situation. As such, it does not answer the question being asked in
this context. If said, it would leave the hearer with a ‘and so.?’ feeling, i.e. more
information would need to be added. A cleft reading is also possible in (67-b), as
in most cases where aanu is present. What is interesting to note is that there is an
additional, non-clefted, reading possible in (67-b) as well.

Another place where the special effects with undu can be seen is in (68). Example
(68-a) is not a good general question. Instead it needs to a context like the following
to be licensed: ‘Unni’ is known to be somewhat of a character and the speaker wants
to ask something like ‘Where is that guy? What is he up to now?/What kind of
trouble is he getting into now?’ Example (68-b) is what would be used to simply ask
a general question.

(68) a. unni evide undu?

Unni where be.PRES
‘Where is Unni?’
b. unni evide aanu?
Unni where be.PRES
‘Where is Unni?’

It is only acceptable to answer such a question with (69-a) if ‘Unni’ can be seen by

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the person answering the question, say because he is in the room with this person. If
he cannot be seen, say because he is upstairs, then (69-b) would be the correct way
to answer the question.

(69) a. unni ivide undu.

Unni here be.PRES
‘Unni is here.’
b. unni ivide aanu.
Unni here be.PRES
‘Unni is here.’

One necessary condition for the use of undu is the person/thing must be mobile. For
example, it is possible to use undu with a person, (70-a) or a mobile object such as
a book, (70-b), but it is not possible to use undu with the location of an immobile
object like a city, (70-c).

(70) a. unni kochi-yil undu

Unni kochi-LOC be.PRES
‘Unni is in Kochi.’
b. aa pusthakam library-il undu
that book library-LOC be.PRES
‘That book is in the library.’
c. #kochi kerala-thil undu
kochi kerala-LOC be.PRES
‘Kochi is in Kerala.’

Example (70-b) would be used as an answer by a librarian to a student wanting to

check out the book, who inquired if it was in the library or not. If aanu is used here,
then the sentence simply states the normal location of the particular book, i.e. that
since it is a reference book, all normal circumstances holding, it will be in the library.
Saying (70-c) sounds comical because this sentences makes it sound like Kochi, a city,
has just arrived in Kerala and so that event requires some immediate action on the
hearers part. In other words, it is a funny sentence because it suggests that Kochi is
traveling. That Kochi is in Kerala is a fact about the way things generally are and
so only the aanu copula is allowed to express the location of non-mobile things like

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cities.24

In sum, both copulas can be used to express the location of mobile things/persons.
When the speaker wants to convey that the location is not just a general statement
but immediately relevant to the situation at hand, undu is used. For statements
about how things usually are aanu is used. Let us now compare these facts with
the Spanish ones. The examples in (71) show that in unlike Malayalam, where both
copulas can be used with subtle shifts in meaning, only estar is possible in the Spanish
equivalents of the location predicates seen above.25

(71) a. Juan esta/*es en Madrid

Juan ESTAR/SER in Madrid
‘Juan is in Madrid.’
b. El libro esta/*es en la bibliotheca
the book ESTAR/SER in the library
‘The book is in the library.’
c. Juan esta/*es en el labritorio
Juan ESTAR/SER in the lab
‘Juan is in the lab.’

The next example shows the reverse case where Spanish allows both copulas and
Malayalam only allows aanu, (72). Also recall from (64-c) above, that Spanish can
use either copula (with a meaning shift) with a predicative state, while Malayalam
allows only aanu, (60-c).

24
At first glance, one apparent counter example might seem to be the sentences in (i). In Spanish
either ser or estar could be used in this context (Camacho 2012a). When asked, speakers will
say both sentences are possible in Malayalam as well. However, they are the answers to different
questions. Example (i-a) is an answer to the question ‘Where is the bathroom?’ while (i-b) is the
answer to the question ‘Do you have a bathroom?.’

(i) a. bathroom avide aanu

bathroom there be.PRES
‘The bathroom is there.’
b. bathroom avide undu
bathroom there be.PRES
‘We have a bathroom there.’

25
Ser, though not allowed in (71-c) in Spanish, is allowed in Catalan, however (Mar Bassa Vanrell,
pc).

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(72) Madrid es/esta en Espana
Madrid SER/ESTAR in Spain.
‘Madrid is in Spain.’

In the first part of this section, it seemed that undu was roughly comparable to
estar and aanu was roughly equivalent to ser. However, this comparison has been
challenged by location predicates. The data here has shown that the Malayalam
and Spanish facts differ in a number of ways, summarized in 3.10. With respect to
Malayalam, the generalization is that when the speaker wants to convey that the
location is not just a general statement but immediately relevant to the situation at
hand, undu is used. For statements about how things usually are aanu is used.

location undu estar aanu ser

Person is in city Y(imm) Y Y N
Book is in library Y(imm) Y Y N
Person is in lab Y(imm) Y Y N
City is in state N Y Y Y
Bathroom is there Y (have) Y Y Y

Table 3.10: Copulas in location predicates in Malayalam and Spanish

Psychological predicates are another area where complementary distribution be-

tween undu and aanu breaks down and where speakers have trouble differentiating
the meaning between sentences using the different copulas out-of-the-blue. Menon
(2008, 2016) claims that with most psychological predicates only the undu copula
can be used. There seems to be some speaker variation though with respect to the
facts. Speakers that I consulted also accepted aanu in all cases but noted that the
meaning that its use is often dispreferred in daily contexts. All speakers tend to prefer
undu to express psychological predicates due to the fact that undu is used to express
ones feelings about an immediate situation at hand. In that way, one makes the min-
imal comment about ones feelings. When aanu is used, a statement is made about
the way things are. Given that a weaker, more immediate alternative is available,
the use of aanu in daily life can feel overly expressive or emotive. The rest of this
subsection provides relevant examples.
One example that shows the pyschological predicates show the same types of

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special usages found with undu in location predicates is as follows.
Scenario: Normally, I love dogs and am not afraid of them at all. However, one
night I am walking home and two angry looking dogs starts coming my way.

(73) a. enikku (pattigal) pedi aanu

I.DAT dogs fear be.PRES
‘I am afraid (of dogs).’
b. enikku (pattigal) pedi undu
I.DAT dogs fear be.PRES
‘I am afraid (of dogs).’

In this context, (73-a) is not an acceptable thing to say since the speaker generally is
not afraid of dogs. Example (73-b) is the right thing to say in this context because it
communicates that in the immediate situation, the speaker is afraid of those dogs and
wants the person hearing him/her to help in some way. People find (73-a) inappropri-
ate in the situation given, as it does not convey enough fear in the situation. Several
speaker commented that it would be like turning to one’s friend and making a general
statement such as, ‘I like to eat ice cream’ in the face of an imminent calamity, in
this case a bite by a wild dog. Example (73-a) can be correctly used in this scenario
given above if it has a clefted meaning. Here there is an assumption that the dropped
object refers to wild dogs as opposed to pet dogs, a common pragmatic leap given
that there is a large wild dog population in Kerala.
Another examples comes from the predicate sheenam ‘tired.’

(74) a. enikku sheenam aanu

I.DAT tired be.PRES
‘I am tired.’
b. enikku sheenam undu
I.DAT tired be.PRES
‘I am tired.’

If someone asks how you are and you simply want to express that now you are feeling
tired but otherwise fine and are planning on pushing through despite your tiredness,
(74-b) should be used. If (74-a) is used, the hearer will tell you to go lie down and

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take rest since your general state is one of exhaustion.
Example (75-a) would be said to express that generally, ‘Unni’ has a strong anger
towards something, say bureaucratic hassle. When undu is used, (75-b), it means
that Unni is angry due to a particular situation currently at hand.

(75) a. unni-kku desham aanu

Unni-DAT anger be.PRES
‘Unni is angry (at some person/situation)’
b. unni-kku desham undu
Unni-DAT anger be.PRES
‘Unni is angry (at some person/situation).’

With a predicate like sneeham ‘love’, aanu once again expresses permanency and
fullness of feelings. Using undu, (76-b), is more common because, generally, people
do not love each other so fully and permanently. It is important to note that that
using undu does not convey that the speaker does not genuinely love the person
under discussion, just that he is making a comment that is limited to the immediate
situation; he is making no comment about who he generally loves. To use aanu is to
make a very strong statement. One exception is when expressing love towards one’s
mother. If ‘Unni’ wants to say he loves his mother (76-a) would be the most natural
way to express this because, generally, one is in a state of loving one’s mother and it
is generally positive to make such strong statements about ones feelings towards ones
mother.

(76) a. unni-kku sneeham aanu

Unni-DAT love be.PRES
‘Unni loves (someone).’
b. unni-kku sneeham undu
Unni-DAT love be.PRES
’Unni loves (someone).’

Undu is also more frequently used with santhosam ‘happiness’ because usually people
are not in a general state of deep happiness. However, if say, a child who is living
abroad calls his/her father suddenly to say he/she is planning a trip home soon, the

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child’s father can say (77-a) to convey his great happiness, i.e. how that phone call
put him into a general state of happiness, not merely happiness with the situation at
hand.

(77) a. enikku santhosam aanu

I.DAT happiness be.PRES
‘I am happy (with someone/some situation).’
b. enikku santhosam undu
I.DAT happiness be.PRES
’I am happy (with someone/some situation).’

When it comes to psychological predicates, the use varies based on the speaker un-
derstanding and conceptualization of these types of feelings: the line between what
is a general feeling and what is in reaction to a particular situation seems to differ
somewhat among speakers. A concrete example of this comes from speakers who
reject the use of aanu with predicates like nirabandam ‘obligation’ due to the fact
that they feel they have no general obligations in life that are so strong (towards
family members, God, etc.), though in particular circumstances they do have such
obligations, in which cases they would use undu. On the other hand, if a devout
Muslim is asked, they will affirm that it is extremely odd to use undu when talking
about the obligation to pray five times a day. In this context, only (78) would be
used. This fits with other general comments that speakers have made that the use
of aanu is somewhat determined by ones community, socioeconomic status, family
practices and individual beliefs/personality.

(78) anju neram niskaram nirabandam aanu

five times praying obligation be.PRES
‘I am obligated to pray five times a day.’

Predicates describing medical conditions also show this special ‘immediacy’ be-
havior with undu. For example, if your friend Unni has been sick for a few days and
you want to give the latest development/his condition right now, (79-b) should be

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used.26

(79) a. unni-kku pani aanu

Unni-DAT fever be.PRES
‘Unni has a fever.’
b. unni-kku pani undu
Unni-DAT fever be.PRES
‘Unni has a fever.’

To inquire about Unni’s general condition, (79-a) should be used, i.e. this is a good
answer to the questions such as ‘How is Unni/is Unni well?’ and ‘Why isn’t Unni in
the office today?’.
In the case of diabetics, both copulas can also be used. Example (80-b) might
be said in response to the question ‘What happened to you? You look weak now.’
It might also be an answer on a form one fills out when they go to enroll in new
school or job, i.e. in answer to a question such as ‘What facts should the school/job
know about you?’ Example (80-a), with aanu, would be limited to contexts such as
a general educational pamphlet about diabetics, say one of the type that might be
distributed in schools to raise general awareness.

(80) a. enikku prameham aanu

I.DAT diabetics be.PRES
‘I am a diabetic.’
b. enikku prameham undu
I.DAT diabetics be.PRES
‘I am a diabetic.’

The temporariness or permanence of the condition does not matter here. If someone
asked the question ‘What happened to you? You look weak now.’ or ‘Is there anything
we should know about you?’ (say in the context of joining a new job), (80-b) would be
the correct response, irrespective of whether the speaker is a type 2 diabetic who has
26
It can also be the response in a scenario where there is some doubt about whether our compa-
nymate ‘Unni’ is really sick or if he has simply called in sick in order to go to the beach with his
friends. In this scenario, (79) should be used to confirm that Unni really is sick, i.e. it provides
verum focus. Menon (2016) also notes this use of undu with location predicates. She comments
”undu is used to ask whether the entity is where it is expect to be” p102.

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to take daily insulin shots and very carefully manage her diet or if she has developed
a mild, temporary case of diabetics due to a pregnancy. Rather, what is relevant here
is whether information about the general situation or information about its relevance
to a specific situation currently at hand is being given.
The range of uses between undu and aanu in Malayalam could be summarized in
Table 3.11.

undu aanu
Existential equative
Possession Predicative
Immediate locations general locations
Immediate feelings general feelings
Immediate medical condition general medical conditions
Verum focus Clefts
Existential, episodic ‘imperfective’ progressive (intensional)

Table 3.11: Summary of the uses of the two copulas in Malayalam

In contrast, Spanish does not exhibit this sensitivity to immediacy. Example

(81-a) shows that Spanish, unlike Malayalam, is sensitive to the permanence or tem-
porariness of the type of diabetics. The sentence in (81-b) with ser, unlike sentences
with aanu in Malayalam, has a fixed meaning of a general trait of the person. It
cannot be used, as aanu can be, to express that that ‘Juan’ did not come to the
office because he is sick today. The sentence in (81-c) shows that it is not possible to
use ser with psychological predicates, while it is possible to use aanu with them in
Malayalam.

(81) a. Maria esta/es diabetico.

Maria ESTAR/SER diabetic
With ESTAR: ‘Maria is a type 1 diabetic/has temporarily become dia-
betic due to pregnancy, etc.’
With SER: ‘Maria is a type 2 diabetic.’ (most normal usage)
b. Juan esta/es enfermo.
Juan ESTAR/SER sick
With ESTAR: Juan is sick and will hopefully recover soonish
With SER: Juan is crazy.

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 c. Juan esta/*es enojado/enamorado/content con Maria.
Juan ESTAR/SER angry/in.love/happy with Maria
‘Juan is angry/in love/happy with Maria.’

Given the variety of empirical differences between Spanish and Malayalam, something
beyond what has been said for Spanish needs to be said. The next section will offer
a suggestion.

3.5.3 The immediacy requirement: towards an account for

undu and aanu

This section extends the immediacy account for negative imperatives (Patel-Grosz
2016) to the copulas in Malayalam. It begins with a brief summary of Patel-Grosz
(2016). This work points out in those languages that do not have dedicated negative
prohibitive markers, in contexts of immediacy, special markers/positions do appear.
It provides examples from East Austrian German, Norwegian, Kutchi Gujarati and
English. In East Austrian German and Norwegian, imperatives occurring with pre-
verbal negation are only possible in immediate contexts, such as when someone in a
bar is lighting a cigarette in front of the speaker, (82-a), or when the speaker is sitting
in a room full of gas, (83). Post verbal negation in East Austrian German functions
as sentential negation and allows both immediate and non-immediate interpretations,
(82-b).
East Austrian German

(82) a. Net raoch!

Not smoke.IMP
‘Dont you smoke! (Put out that cigarette!)’ #‘don’t smoke (in general)!’
b. Raoch net!
Smoke.IMP not
‘Don’t you smoke! (Put out that cigarette!)’
‘Don’t smoke (in general)!’ (Patel-Grosz 2016 p8: 33)

Context: People are sitting in a room full of petrol Norwegian

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(83) a. Ikke ten fyrstikken!
NEG light.IMP match.the
‘Don’t light the match!’
b. #Tenn ikke fyrstikken!
Light.IMP NEG match.the
‘Dont light the match!’ (Patel-Grosz 2016 p10: 43)

East Austrian German

(84) a. Wennst oid wern wust, muast gsund bleibn.

If.2SG old become want.2SG must.2SG healthy stay
‘If you want to become old, you have to stay healthy...
(i) #Net raoch! #Net trink!
Not smoke.IMP not drink.IMP
‘Don’t smoke!’ ‘Don’t drink!’
(ii) Roach net! Trink net!
Smoke.IMP not drink.IMP not
‘Don’t smoke!’ ‘Don’t drink’ (Patel-Grosz 2016 p8: 34)

Preverbal negation is also ruled out in ‘life advice scenarios’ in East Austrian German,
(84) where it is not possible for the situation to be immediate. Kutchi Gujarati
expresses negative prohibition in immediate contexts with the preverbal negation
form na. Patel-Grosz notes that this form appears in declarative sentences as regular
sentential negation, (85).

Kutchi Gujarati

(85) a. Valji dhor-yo

Valji run-PERFV.M.SG
‘Valji ran.’
b. Valji dhor-yo ni
Valji run-PERFV.M.SG NEG
‘Valji didnt run.’
c. Valji na dhor-yo
Valji NEG run-PERFV.M.SG
‘Valji didn’t run.’

However, when it is used with an imperative it functions as a specialized prohibitive,

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(86-c). Like preverbal negation in East Austrian German, Kutchi Gujarati cannot
use the preverbal na negation with an imperative in a life advice scenario, (87).

(86) a. Dhor!
Run.IMP
‘Run!’
b. Dhor ni!
Run.IMP NEG
‘Don’t run!’ (regular negated imperative)
c. Na dhor!
NEG run.IMP
‘Don’t you run!’ (specialized prohibitive)

(87) a. tamne bimari vagar-na chokra-ne mota karva che, tho:

‘If you want to raise healthy adults, then:’
b. #biri na pi!
Cigarette NEG drink.IMP
‘Don’t you smoke!’
c. Biri pi ni!
Cigarette drink.IMP NEG
‘Don’t smoke.’

(88) a. aa chai na pi!

This tea NEG drink.IMP
‘Don’t you drink this tea!’
b. #aa chai pi ni!
This tea drink.IMP NEG
‘Dont drink this tea!’ (Patel-Grosz 2016 p9:38-41)

English negative imperatives with an overt subject have the same distribution as East
Austrian German imperatives with preverbal negation and Kutchi Gujarati preverbal
na negation. They can only be used to express prohibition in the situation at hand,
not a general prohibition, (89), and they cannot be used in life advice scenarios,
(90).27
27
Norvin Richards (pc) points out that there is a potentially confounding factor with ‘don’t you’
imperatives in that they involve a particularly strong emphasis and thus, in addition to ‘situation
at hand’ cases, they can also be used with general advice cases where the advice is particularly
passionately given, for example, a doctor who cares a lot about keeping children away from smoking
could say ‘Here’s my advice: don’t spank them, don’t let them be exposed to lead paint, and for

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(89) a. Don’t you touch me!
b. Don’t you call him!
c. Don’t you smoke in front of the children!

(90) If you want to raise healthy adults, here’s part of my advice

a. #Don’t you smoke in front of the children!

b. Don’t smoke in front of the children! (Patel-Grosz 2016 p8: 35-36)

In sum, a number of languages encode an immediacy requirement in negative imper-

atives.

In the previous section the Malayalam copula data in locative, psychological and
medical predicates also show sensitivity to the immediate context: undu was used
to express immediacy while aanu expressed general statements. Three representative
causes are summarized below.

First, for location predicates both copulas can be used with different meanings:
if one calls a friend just to chat and is told, after asking the person ‘what’s new?’,
(91-a), they will then say something like ’oh, sorry for catching you at a bad time.
I’ll call back later.’ If, on the other hand, a friend calls unexpectedly saying they are
in Delhi (where the hearer lives), (91-a) expresses that the speaker wants to meet the
hearer since they are in town. This is because the use of undu suggests that there is
some action required in the immediate context, in the same way that saying ‘Don’t
you smoke!’ means ‘Put out that cigarette!’. The use of (91-b) is just a neutral,
general statement about the location of the speaker.

(91) a. njaan delhi-yil undu.

I Delhi-LOC be.PRES
‘I am in Delhi.’

heaven’s sake, don’t you dare smoke in front of them!’ even if he knows the parents are non-smokers
(and have showed no signs of planning to start smoking). However, the basic point that, without
this passionate/emphatic advice context, the ‘don’t you’ construction only fits with ‘situation at
hand’ cases stands. Undu, the copula proposed to be an immediacy marker in Malayalam, also has
some type of passionate/emphatic component, as can be shown by its verum focus uses. One might
surmise that these uses might be an indirect result of the immediacy requirement, as such situations
often involve a dispute or point of doubt related to a current conversation or immediate command.

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 b. njaan delhi-yil aanu.
I Delhi-LOC be.PRES
‘I am in Delhi.’

In psychological predicates, the use of undu, (92-b), is often preferred because this
only makes reference to the feelings about a certain situation and does not comment
about general feelings. The implication is that, since some particular circumstance
has resulted in ‘Unni’ loving that person, that will lead to some type of ‘special’
behavior/strengthened appreciation towards that person in the immediate context.
The fact that (92-b) can be used without implying that ‘Unni’s’ love towards that
person is temporary/not genuine is a direct result of the fact that only a comment
about the immediate situation is being made. A general comment is not being made
here. For that, (92-a) should be used.

(92) a. unni-kku sneeham aanu

Unni-DAT love be.PRES
‘Unni loves (someone).’
b. unni-kku sneeham undu
Unni-DAT love be.PRES
’Unni loves (someone).’

In medical predicates, both copulas may be used but with slightly different meanings.
Example (93-b) would be used in a context where someone was having a diabetic
attack or when replying to a question about any health conditions a school should
be aware of. In both cases, this information requires immediate action (say, helping
someone get to the doctor or putting a flag in the file to alert the proper teachers of
the condition so the child can be monitored). Example (93-a) is used for making a
general comment about the speaker being a diabetic; it might be used in a informa-
tion pamphlet circulated to raise general awareness among diabetic and non-diabetic
people.

(93) a. enikku prameham aanu

I.DAT diabetics be.PRES
‘I am a diabetic.’

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 b. enikku prameham undu
I.DAT diabetics be.PRES
‘I am a diabetic.’

The temporariness or permanence of the condition does not matter here. If someone
asked the question ‘What happened to you? You look weak now.’ or ‘Is there anything
we should know about you?’ (say in the context of joining a new job), (80-b) would be
the correct response, irrespective of whether the speaker is a type 2 diabetic who has
to take daily insulin shots and very carefully manage her diet or if she has developed
a mild, temporary case of diabetics due to a pregnancy. Rather, what is relevant here
is whether information about the general situation or information about its relevance
to a specific situation currently at hand is being given.

Returning to the data that instigated the investigation of the copulas in Malay-
alam, it seems that an immediacy requirement is also active here. One explanation
for why in (94-b) only the ‘event-in-progress/progressive’ use is possible is that the
‘generic’ use is not relevant enough to the immediate context at hand, which is the
contribution undu is making here.

(94) a. suuryan kizhakku udhikk-unnu-∅

sun east rise-IMPFV-PRES
‘The sun rises in the east.’ [generalization over a serious of episodes of
individual risings] or ‘The sun is rising in the east.’
b. suuryan kizhakku udhikk-unn-undu
sun east rise-IMPFV-be.PRES
‘The sun is rising in the east.’ #‘The sun rises in the east.’ (Hany Babu
2006)

Another fact that is encouraging for such an explanation comes from speakers com-
ments about when it is appropriate to use the forms in (96). Specifically, if ‘Unni’s’
father calls ‘Unni’s mother’ and asks (95), if ‘Unni’s’ mother can see ‘Unni’, then
she can reply with (96-a). If ‘Unni’ cannot be seen by his mother, say because he is
upstairs, then (96-b) would be the correct way to answer the question. This comment
is very similar to the comments speakers made about the role of visual evidence in

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licensing the ‘running context’ interval, i, that is needed for the felicitous use of the
-unnu ‘imperfective’. Perhaps the immediate context present with some uses of undu
sometimes overlaps with the ‘running context’ and/or helps identify this interval -
unnu requires. This ‘overlap’ may be the reason for the verum focus effects undu
triggers. In any case, -unnu was argued to be existential in nature. The fact that
an existential operator would pair with a copula that encodes information about the
immediate situation seems reasonable.

(95) unni evide undu?

Unni where be.PRES
‘Where is Unni?’ (‘Where is that guy? What is he up to now?/What kind of
trouble is he getting into now?’)

(96) a. unni ivide undu.

Unni here be.PRES
‘Unni is here.’
b. unni ivide aanu.
Unni here be.PRES
‘Unni is here.’

Given the data in this section, it seems that undu is not merely an auxiliary in the
sense of Bjorkman (2011, under review): it is spelling out some additional content in
addition to tense features, hence the immediacy requirement in some cases. That hav-
ing been said, this section leaves many key questions unanswered. For example, how
exactly immediacy is defined and how exactly a speaker determines whether a given
situation counts as being immediant or not is not clear at this point. Additionally,
there seem to be a number of pragmatic and dialect factors at play in determining
immediacy in Malayalam. Future work will need to further investigate these points.
This section has shown though that the Malayalam copulas do not parallel the use of
the different copulas in Spanish. Given the nuances of meaning described above for
Malayalam, the immediacy hypothesis seems like a promising intuition for an account
that can capture the full range of the Malayalam data.

Another question that this section raises is why the immediancy requirement is

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found only with locatitive, psychological and medical predicates but not with posses-
sive or existential uses of undu. One might simply say there are two distinct undus,
but this is not deeply explanatory. Another idea might be to say that undu is under-
going some type of perspective shift, which limits the existence of the locative, psych
and medical condition readings to a time that is immediately local to a particular
moment. What exactly triggers this perspective shift/why existential and possessive
uses of undu are never in the scope of the shifting operator is not yet clear, but
there are at least two reasons such an account is plausible. First, Swenson & Marty
(under revision) argue that certain pronouns in Malayalam are perspective sensitive
items, i.e. Malayalam is a language that is already know to allow some perspective
shift. Secondly, it has been established that tenses can function as shifting indexicals
(Schlenker (1999)). One might worry that indexical shift involves intensional oper-
ators while -unnu has been argued to be an extensional operator. However, all the
sentences used to show that -unnu was existential, lacked the undu copula. Perhaps
this fact is meaningful. One could also explore some type of syntactic explanation
for these facts, perhaps taking inspiration from something along the lines of Diesing
(1992). Differentiating between these options is left to future work.

Now let us turn to an overarching intuition for the role of aanu. It will be argued
that aanu is the elsewhere copula. One motivating piece of data is that in (97). In
light of the data presented so far, the example in (97-b) below is surprising. Earlier
sections showed that aanu is required in copular sentences with non-mobile objects
such as cities. Using undu in these copular constructions resulted in the odd meaning
that the city was moving from place to place and that the current location was only
the city’s present location. In (97-b), however, the use of the progressive, which
contains the aanu copula results in the odd, present location reading. This is not an
effect that is expected with aanu.

(97) a. kochi periyarinte azhimkha-thu sthithi cheyy-unnu-∅/#undu

Kochi Periyar-GEN mouth-DAT position do-IMPFV-PRES
‘Kochi lies at the mouth of the Periyar (river).’

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 b. #kochi periyar-inte azhimkha-thu sthithi cheyy-uka(y)-aanu
Kochi Periyar-GEN mouth-DAT position do-PROG-be.PRES
‘Kochi is lying at the mouth of the Periyar (river).’ [makes it sound like
Kochi can move and this is just its present location]

Following Dowty (1979) I propose that this effect is a result of the progressive marker
combining with a predicate with a non-mobile subject, as this problem does not
appear with a mobile subject, (98). In other words, it is not really about the copula.
However, what this example shows us is that aanu probably does not have a semantics
that encodes any information about the general state of a persons feelings or health.
If it did, such a meaning would need to be bleached each time it was used in the
progressive. While this is not impossible, the simplest move seems to be to say that
it is an elsewhere copula. Any effects of long term or strong feelings most probably are
gained via pragmatic principles specifying that since an ‘weaker alternative discussing
only the immediate context was available but not used, the speaker intends a stronger
meaning.

(98) a. sari kidakkay-ude kiizhe kidakk-unnu-∅/undu

sari bed-GEN under lie-IMPFV-PRES/be.PRES
‘The sari is lying under the bed.’
b. sari kidakka-yude kiizhe kidakk-uka(y)-aanu
sari bed-GEN under lie-PROG-be.PRES
‘The sari is lying under the bed.’

This fact, in combination with the fact that aanu is used as a copula to express
non-immediate situations elsewhere, suggests that aanu is an elsewhere copula.

This section has argued undu is the existential copula also used to express posses-
sion. When it is used in location, psychological and medical predicates, it expresses
immediate situations (cf. Patel-Groszs (2016) immediacy requirement in negative
imperatives cross-linguistically). It was suggested that the immediancy requirement
that undu sometimes carries perhaps can explain why undu is the coupla used in
-unnu ‘imperfectives.’ aanu was argued to be the elsewhere copula that is a true
auxiliary in the sense of Bjorkman (2011, under review).

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3.6 Chapter summary

This chapter began with an overview of Amritavalli & Jayaseelan’s (2005) proposal
that Malayalam, along with the other Dravidian languages, is tenseless. It was
then pointed out that it is possible to accept Amritavalli and Jayaseelan’s asser-
tion that ‘finiteness’ is not linked to tense in Dravidian without accepting their claim
that Dravidian languages lack tense morphology and a TP. The first part of this
chapter highlighted the difficulty of the tense-aspect puzzle in Malayalam and then
showed that while Amritavalli & Jayaseelan could be right about what counts as
finiteness/anchoring in Malayalam, the assertion that Malayalam is tenseless is not
empirically supported. The first half of this chapter shows that Malayalam is empiri-
cally different from other tenseless languages and does have morphology that encodes
tense semantics, making it a tensed language for those in the ‘no overt morphology’
camp.

The second section provided a sketch of an analysis for tense and aspect in Malay-
alam. The first subsection argued that if Malayalam has a TP with tense features,
which spell out as tense morphemes when nothing intervenes between the verb and
T (a la Bjorkman 2011, under review), and as auxiliaries when another active head
intervenes, this explains the distribution of auxiliaries and the obligatory nature of
predicative copulas in Malayalam. Having a TP would make Malayalam a tensed
language for those in the ‘no TP’ camp.

How exactly the intricacies of tense semantics work in Malayalam, for example
whether a quantificational or pronominal approach to tense is best, was left for future
research. The point of this chapter was simply to show via the adverb, context, Uni-
versal perfect, past progressive, auxiliary and predicative copula data that Malayalam
does have tense in a Klein (1994) sense and a TP.

The second part of the chapter took a closer look at the semantics of the uka
and unnu forms, what have been generally called the two ‘imperfectives’. It was first
shown that uka is an intensional progressive while unnu is used when a situation in-
volves multiple, temporally connected episodes taking place within close succession,

141
like an iterative. But it differs from an iterative in that it cares that these iterations
take place within another interval, i, in the actual world. Because this interval has
or gets the subinterval property, it results in accidental generalizations over these
episodes. Because the Topic Time is contained in the Situation Time, this gives a
Klein (1994) progressive meaning while the ‘generalizing’ step that gives the progres-
sive meaning also results in a report on the state of things in the actual world, i.e.
the ‘generic’ use of unnu. This results in it having the appearance of an imperfective.
Finally, an in depth look at copula usage was undertaken. The main conclusion
was that undu is the existential copula also used to express possession. When it is
used in location, psychological and medical predicates, it expresses immediate situa-
tions (cf. Patel-Grosz’s (2016) immediacy requirement in certain negative imperatives
cross-linguistically). aanu was argued to be the elsewhere copula.

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Chapter 4

Non-finite clauses in Malayalam

The previous chapter sketched the beginning of an account for how ‘finite’ clauses
obtain their temporal interpretations in Malayalam. It showed that even if Amritavalli
& Jayaseelan (2005) are right that finiteness in Malayalam should be understood
as anchoring via worlds rather than times, there are still reasons to believe that
Malayalam has a TP and tense morphology. That finiteness might be expressed via
anchoring by worlds in Malayalam is plausible (cf. Ritter & Wiltschko 2005, 2009,
2014), but I will leave a targeted verification of this claim to future research. In this
chapter, the focus will be on non-finite forms.
Cross-linguistically, languages can have a number of ‘non-finite’ forms. While
they all share the property of being ‘non-finite’ because they are missing whatever
counts as ‘finite’ in that language, they generally differ from each other in a number
of ways. Gaining an understanding of the empirical consequences of the different
types of clausal structure present in non-finite forms cross-linguistically, will help us
reach a deeper understanding of individual languages and also provide insight into
the meaning of finiteness cross-linguistically.
The goal of this chapter is to look more closely at three specific forms that have
been classified as being non-finite in Malayalam. These forms have all been classified
as ‘non-finite’ because they are missing ‘something.’ What exactly that ‘’something’
is is not clear. Work by Abney (1987) and Stump (1985), a.o. has improved our
understanding of different ‘non-finite’ forms in English. Nikolaevas (2010) typological

143
survey of finiteness suggests that what makes a non-finite clause non-finite is that it is
not wholly ‘verbal’ rather it is of a mixed nature. Gerunds and infinitives are claimed
to have properties of both verbs and nouns (Comrie 1976, Koptjevskaja-Tamm 1993,
also see Abney 1987, Baker 2011) while participles are claimed to have the properties
of both verbs and adjectives (Haspelmath 1994). To date in the generative literature,
no careful comparison of the ‘non-finite’ forms in Malayalam has taken place. Better
understanding their distribution and the explanations for it is an interesting question
in its own right and the goal of this chapter.

In this chapter, three different types of ‘non-finite’ forms will be examined: infini-
tives, ‘gerunds’ and Conjunctive Participles, in addition to exploring what has been
called ‘finite’ vs ‘non-finite’ negation in section 1. The last two forms and the differ-
ent negations have been used to argue for a tenseless account. However, the data in
this chapter show that they, in fact, are not arguments for such an account. Section
2 show that the non-finite uka form generally called an infinitive in the generative
literature is more probably the progressive participle (cf. Raja Raja Varma 1917).

Section 3 argues that Conjunctive/Adverbial Participles are structurally small,

roughly vPs. It further shows that Conjunctive Participle Constructions/Serial Verb
Constructions are semantically underspecified for tense and viewpoint aspect and
require the clauses involved to be pragmatically linked either via causation, manner
or sequence of events. It suggests that a modified version of a Stump (1985) style
approach can account for these facts. The modification is needed because, unlike
English absolutives, Malayalam Conjunctive Participles cannot occur with Individual
Level Predicates or multiple temporal adverbs. It is suggested that these facts can
be explained by the reduced size of Conjunctive Participles.

Section 4 shows that what have traditionally been called ‘gerunds’ (in the sense of
an English-style ‘poss-ing’ gerund (Abney 1987)) are actually tensed, relative clauses
with number and gender agreement acting as the head noun. Section 5 concludes.

144
4.1 ‘Finite’ and ‘non-finite’ negation

Commonly, Dravidian languages are viewed as having two types of negation (Asher
& Kumari 1997, Amritavalli & Jayaseelan 2005, Amritavalli 2014, a.o.): a ‘finite’ one
and a ‘non-finite’ one. The ‘finite’ negation, illa in Malayalam, gets its name from
the fact that it occurs with main verbs, (1). In infinitival constructions, this negation
cannot be used, (2-a). Instead the ‘non-finite’ aa- negation must be used, (2-b). This
‘non-finite’ negation cannot be used to negate main verbs, (3).1

(1) a. avan var-unn(u)-∅ illa.

He come-IMPFV-PRES NEG
‘He does not come.’
b. avan vann-(u) illa.
He come-PAST NEG
‘He did not come.’ (Amritavalli & Jayaseelan 2005: 4, p195)

(2) a. *avan [PRO niinth-uvaan illa] nookk-i.

He swim-INF NEG look-PAST (i.e. tried)
‘He tried not to swim.’
b. avan [PRO ninth-aa-the irikk-uvaan] nookk-i.
He swim-NEG-AUG irikk-INF look-PAST (i.e. tried)
‘He tried not to swim.’ (Amritavalli & Jayaseelan 2005: 31, 32b, p196)

(3) a. *avan var-aa(-the)

he come-NEG-AUG
‘He does not come.’
b. *avan var-aa-th-unnu-∅
he come-NEG-EPENTHETIC-IMPFV-PRES
‘He does not come.’
1
As Jayaseelan (2003) notes, the nature of the augment in (3) is poorly understood. Examples
such as (i-a), where aa- appears without the, show that the negation is just aa- not aathe.

(i) a. avann-u jooli kitt-aa-nj-athu albhutam aanu

He-DAT job get-NEG-??-NOMLZ surprise be.PRES
‘It is suprising that he didnt get the job.’ (Asher & Kumari 1997 p16: 74b)
b. ellaavarum var-aa-th-irunn-aal...
all come-NEG-AUG-irikk-if
‘If no one comes...’ (Mathew 2014 p22: 11-12)

I suspect that the th- may be appearing for phonological reasons, i.e. to prevent hiatus. Note that
the e does not always occur with the th-, for example in (i-b).

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 c. *avan var-unn(u)-∅-aa(-the)
he come-IMPFV-PRES-NEG-AUG
‘He does not come.’

Example (4) shows that the aa- verses illa distinction cannot be accounted for in
terms of illa being matrix negation while aa- is embedded negation. This example
shows that illa can occur in embedded clauses.

(4) [asha raaman-e premikk-unn(u)-∅ illa ennu] unni paranj-u

Asha Raman-ACC love-IMPFV-PRES NEG COMP Unni say-PAST
‘Unni said that Asha does not love Raman.’

4.1.1 Problems for a finite based account

In general, ‘finiteness’ is not well understood. It is defined in a variety of ways by

different researchers (Nikolaeva 2010, McFadden & Sundaresan 2014, a.o.). For the
purpose of describing the negation facts, the Dravidian literature talks in terms of
‘finite’ verses ‘non-finite’ forms. For example, Amritavalli (2014) argues that when
the tense morpheme shifts from the lexical verb to the dummy verb irikk - ‘sit’, as in
(5-b)/(6-b), the lexical verb is demoted to a participle (a ‘non-finite’ form). As such,
this participle requires ‘non-finite’ aa- negation, while the dummy ‘main/finite’ verb
requires ‘finite’ illa negation, (6-b). One weakness of this account is that it does not
explain why the dummy verb occurs. Example (7) shows that no such verb is needed
in the positive counterparts of (5-b)-(6-b).

(5) a. rajan onnum paranj-illa.

Rajan nothing said.PAST-NEG
‘Rajan said nothing.’
b. rajan onnum paray-aa-the irunn-u
Rajan nothing say-NEG-AUG irikk-PAST
‘Rajan did not say anything.’ (Mathew 2014 p23: 14-17)

(6) a. *avan var-unn(u)-∅ illa illa

he come-IMPFV-PRES NEG NEG
‘He doesnt not come.’

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 b. avan var-aa-the irukk-unn(u)-∅ illa
he come-NEG-AUG irikk-IMPFV-PRES NEG
‘He doesnt not come.’ (Amritavalli 2014 p299: 24)

(7) a. rajan entoo paranj-u

Rajan something say-PAST
‘Rajan said something.’
b. avan vann-u
he come-PAST
‘He came.’

If the view that finiteness is about clauses not about forms is adopted, then (5-b)
shows that aa- negation can, in fact, occur in a main ‘finite’ clause just like illa can,
(5-b). At this point, one might wonder if the negated lexical verb could be constituting
its own separate, ‘non-finite’ clause. If this were so, then it might suggest that aa-
can, in fact, only be used in ‘non-finite’ clauses.
However, a biclausal analysis for the aa- negation constructions in (5)-(6) can
be ruled out through binding tests. Malayalam has a form thaan, which disallows
co-argument binding, (8-a).2 The antecedent must be either separated from thaan
by a clause boundary, (8-b), or a PP or DP boundary, (8-c)-(8-d). For co-argument
binding, another form, thanne thanne, is used, (8-e). Example (9) shows that only
thanne thanne is allowed when there is aa- negation on a main verb. This suggests
that the aa- negation participle and the dummy verb, irikk - ‘sit’, form a single clause.

(8) a. *anui than-nei/∗j null-i.

Anu self-ACC pinch-PAST
‘Anui pinched herselfi/∗j .’
b. [unnij than-nei/∗j/∗k premikk-unn(u)-∅ ennu] anui paranj-u.
Unni self-ACC love-IMPFV-PRES COMP Anu say-PAST
‘Anui said that Unnij loves {heri/∗k , *himselfj }.’
c. anui [than-tei/∗j kutti-ye] null-i.
Anu self-GEN child-ACC pinch-PAST
‘Anui pinched heri/∗j child.’
d. anui [than-tei/∗j mukalil] oru vimanam kand-u.
Anu self-GEN above one plane see-PAST
2
See Swenson & Marty (under revision) for more details about the behavior of thaan.

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 ‘Anui saw a plane above herselfi/∗j .’
e. anui than-ne thannei null-i.
Anu self-ACC EMP pinch-PAST
‘Anui pinched herselfi .’

(9) a. *avani than-nei/∗j adikk-aa-the irunn(-u)

he self-ACC beat-NEG-AUG irikk-PAST
‘Hei didn’t beat himselfi/∗j .’
b. avani than-ne thannei adikk-aa-the irunn(-u)
he self-ACC EMP beat-NEG-AUG irikk-PAST
‘Hei didn’t beat himselfi .’

Such a clausal definition of finiteness seems more fitting if it is assumed that the
dummy verb irikk - ‘sit’ is functioning as a type of ‘do’ support and that do support
occurs when T and the inflectional head with which it agrees are not immediately
local (Bjorkman 2011). In other words, if this account is right, ‘do’ support should
only occur when something prevents the verb from agreeing with the T head. In the
case of (5-b), (6-b), and (9-b)that should be the aa- negation.

The presence of this negation would then trigger ‘do’ support. In this system,
the dummy verb appears because the presence of negation causes the lexical verb to
be unable to agree with T. The negation does not appear because the lexical verb
has already been demoted by the presence of the dummy verb, as in Amritavalli’s
system. Given that other languages with ‘do’ support that have been studied do not
have multiple types of negation like Malayalam, there is, of course, nothing in any of
the existing analyses for ‘do’ support that tells what type of negation should occur
where. Providing an account for these facts is a task for future work. See chapter 5
section 3 for some further discussion.

The takeaway point for now is the following: example (2) shows that ‘non-finite’
clauses only allow aa- negation. However, the examples in (5) show that main verb
‘finite’ clauses can have both illa and aa- negation, albeit with a slight meaning
difference according to Mathew’s translations. Given these facts, ‘finiteness’ does not
seem to be the governing factor in determining the use of negation in Malayalam.

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4.1.2 Possible alternate analysis

Based on the data and discussion so far, it seems like a new analysis that is not
defined in terms of the poorly understood concept of ‘finiteness’ is in order. An
alternative approach might rest on aa- and illa having different scope restrictions.
One possibility would be to understand -aa- negation as low level negation and illa
negation as higher level negation. Mathew (2014), in fact, has already argued that
aa- in Malayalam is not ‘non-finite’ negation, but vP-level negation based on evidence
from quantifier scope and NPI licensing. The sentences in (10) show that illa scopes
over subject quantifiers, while aa- scopes under them, (11).
Neg>Subj *Subj>Neg (illa>ellaavarum *ellaavarum>illa)

(10) a. ellaavarum vann-illa

all come.PAST-NEG
‘Not all came.’
b. ellaavarum vann-ill-engil...
all come.PAST-NEG-if
‘If not all of them come...’

Subj>Neg (ellaavarum > -aa-)

(11) ellaavarum var-aa-th-irunn-aal..

all come-NEG-AUG-irikk-PART form-if
‘If no one comes..’ (Mathew 2014 p22: 11-12)

These data suggest that the subject is higher than aa- but lower than illa. This is
supported by data from NPIs, such as aarum and onnum 3 , where we see that subject
and object NPIs are licensed with illa, (12) and that object, (14-a), but not subject,
(13), NPIs are licensed with aa-.
3
When the negation is removed, the sentences in (i) are unacceptable, as expected with NPIs.

(i) a. *aarum uttharam paranj-u.

nobody answer say-PAST
‘Nobody said the answer.’
b. *rajan onnum paranj-u.
Rajan nothing said-PAST
‘Rajan said nothing.’

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 illa > Subj/Obj NPI

(12) a. aarum uttharam paranj-illa.

Nobody answer said.PAST-NEG
‘Nobody said the answer.’
b. rajan onnum paranj-illa.
Rajan nothing said.PAST-NEG
‘Rajan said nothing.’

*-aa- > Subj NPI

(13) a. *aarum uttharam paray-aa-th-irunn-u

no.one answer say-NEG-AUG-irikk-PAST
‘No one said the answer.’
b. *uttharam aarum paray-aa-th-irunn-u
answer none say-NEG-AUG-irikk-PAST
‘No one said the answer.’

-aa- > Object NPI (in its scope)

(14) a. rajan onnum paray-aath-irunn-u

Rajan nothing say-NEG-irikk-PAST
‘Rajan did not say anything.’ (Mathew 2014 p23: 14-17)
b. *onnum rajan paray-aa-th-irunn-u
nothing Rajan say-NEG-AUG-irikk-PAST
‘Rajan did not say anything.’ (Madhavan p.c.)

illa > scrambled Obj NPI

(15) onnum rajan paranj(-u)-illa

nothing Rajan say-PAST-NEG
‘Rajan said nothing.’ (Madhavan p.c.)

Example (14-b) shows that, with -aa- negation, when an object NPI is scrambled
above the subject, the sentence becomes bad, suggesting that the NPI is no longer in
the scope of -aa-. However, when illa is used, (15), the sentence is good, suggesting
that the scrambled object is in the scope of the negation.4
4
Asher & Kumari (1997), Mathew (2014) and Swenson et al. (2015) argue that the sentence

150
 Based on the data in (12)-(14-a) and the fact that aa- can only attach directly
to verbal roots, Mathew concludes that aa- is vP level negation. As such, -aa- does
not seem to be ‘non-finite’ negation but, rather, simply vP-level negation (which is
therefore ‘non-finite’). One advantage of such an analysis is that if the locus of aa-
negation is a NegP just above the vP, then this would create the type of intervention
environment that is predicted to trigger ‘do’ support, as discussed above. Regarding
the subject, which the quantifier scope data showed was higher than aa-, Mathew
concludes that it moves outside of the vP but to a position lower than illa. Taking the
next natural step, which Mathew does not take, one could investigate the following
possibility: if the subject is in Spec/TP, and illa is higher than the subject, illa selects
for something larger than a TP. As such, it could not appear with infinitives because
they could not be structurally large enough. Given that finiteness is frequently linked
with higher positions such as TP or CP, this could explain why it has been called
‘finite’ negation.
This account would nicely handle the Conjunctive/Adverbial Participle data.
These participles will be discussed in detail in section 3, where they will be argued
to be vPs. Example (16-a) shows that the ‘finite’ negation, illa, cannot be used with
Conjunctive/Adverbial Participles. Instead the ‘non-finite’ negation, -aa-, is required,
(16-b). Note that aa- cannot be used by itself with a main verb, (16-d); only illa is
allowed, (16-c).

(16) a. *avan onnum paranj-illa pooy-i.

he anything say.PART -NEG go-PAST
‘He left without saying anything.’
b. avan onnum paray-aa-the pooy-i.
he anything say-NEG-AUG go-PAST

initial position is a topic position. Assuming anti-symmetry Kayne (1994), Jayaseelan (2001) argues
that Malayalam needs a TopP directly above the vP to account for different possible word orders.
If Jayaseelan’s account is adopted, and it is assumed that the subject is in Spec/vP, then the object
could simply be outside the vP but lower than TP. Alternatively, if it is assumed, following Rizzi
(1997), that there are TopPs in the expanded CP-level, then this data could be showing that the
object is outside of the TP in a CP-level TopP and that illa is located higher than a CP-level TopP.
The fact that illa can scope over subjects but that the vP-level negation aa- cannot suggests that
subjects move outside of the vP. This suggests that the second option assuming a CP-level TopP is
the right one. If so, this suggests that illa is, indeed, very high-level negation.

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 ‘He left without saying anything.’
c. avan onnum paranj-illa.
he anything say.PAST-NEG
‘He did not say anything.’ (Jayaseelan 2003 p77: 36-38)
d. *avan onnum paray-aa-(the).
he anything say-NEG-AUG
‘He did not say anything.’

Since Conjunctive/Adverbial Participles are not larger than TPs, it naturally follows
that illa cannot be used with them and that the vP-level negation aa- is required.
However, such a story is more difficult with athu nominalizations, which have also
been argued to be non-finite based on the distribution of negation in them.

(17) a. *[nii koozha vaang-unn-∅-athu illa] ellaavarum ariy-um

you bribe take-IMPFV-NOMLZ NEG all know-GEN
‘Everyone knows that you do not take bribes.’
b. [nii koozha vaang-aath-athu] ellaavarum ariy-um
you bribe take-NEG- NOMLZ all know-GEN
‘Everyone knows that you do/did/will not take bribes.’

Section 4 of this chapter provides an argument that athu nominalization occurs above
TP. One would then have to say that illa selects for something larger than this
nominalization. While this is possible, how exactly it would be done in a way that
is not highly stimulatory is not clear-cut. Another possibility is that this high illa
only occurs with verbs and that the nominalization occurs before the verb reaches
the level where illa is.

4.1.3 Interaction of negation and modals

Another problem for the alternate suggestion comes from the future. Unlike in the
present and past tenses, there seems to be a co-occurrence restriction on illa and the
future marker, (18-a). The negation of the future is accomplished by either the uka
progressive participle plus illa or just the verbal root plus illa, (18-b)-(18-c).

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(18) a. *John var-um illa
John come-FUT NEG
‘John will not come.’
b. John var-uka illa
John come-PROG NEG
‘John will not come.’
c. John var-illa
John come-NEG
‘John will not come.’ (Jayaseelan 2014 p198-199: 18-20)

This pattern depends on the type of verb. In the case of stative verbs, the bare verb
stem can also be used for the negation of the present and the future, (19).

(19) a. enikku ariy-illa.

I.DAT know-NEG
‘I don’t know.’
b. avar-u nammal-e kand-aal ariy-illa
they-DAT we(INCL)-ACC see-CONDIT know-NEG
‘They won’t know us if they see us.’

This complementary distribution between um and illa mirrors that of modals, which
cannot be negated by illa but, instead, have their own negative forms.

(20) a. enikku veenam

I.DAT want
‘I want (it).’
b. *enikku veenam-illa
I.DAT want-NEG
‘I don’t want (it).’
c. enikku veenda
I.DAT want.NEG
‘I don’t want (it).’

Also like modals -um can be followed by the past tense form of the copula aanu to
express past tense, (21). Hany Babu (1997) takes this as an argument that um is not
a future tense marker but a modal.

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(21) a. poog-aam aayirunnu
go-MOD be.PAST
‘could have gone’
b. poog-anam aayirunnu
go-MOD be.PAST
‘should have gone’
c. poog-um aayirunnu
go-MOD be.PAST
‘would have gone’ (Hany Babu 1997 p83: 19)

The alternative account sketched above would not, in any obvious way, explain the
co-occurrence restriction between modals and the illa negation. Finding an analysis
that can account for all the facts is a task for future research. Having discussed this
language internal criteria for ‘finiteness’, the thesis will now turn to the more general
properties associated with ‘finite’ and ‘non-finite’ forms.

4.2 Non-finite uses of -uka marked verbs

The first non-finite form that will be examined in this thesis is that of non-finite uses of
uka. This morpheme has generally been called the citation infinitive in the generative
literature and in Asher & Kumari’s (1997) grammar. However, chapter 3 argued
that this morpheme is the progressive viewpoint aspect marker for finite verbs in
Malayalam. In both finite and non-finite forms, it seems to be functioning analogously
to a progressive participle in English. In fact, Raja Raja Varma (1917) calls this form
the mid verbal participle (natuvinayeccam). Malayalam has another form, -(uv )aan
which is often called the ‘purposive infinitive’ in the generative literature because it
is the form used in embedded infinitives, such as those in (22). Raja Raja Varma
(1917) also calls these (uv )aan forms (post verbal) participles.

(22) a. raaman [bakshnam und-aak-uvaan (*ennu)] thirumaanicch-u.

Raaman food exist-CAUS-INF COMP decide-PAST
‘Raman decided to make food.’
b. raaman [ood-uvaan] sramicch-u.
Raman run-INF try-PAST

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 ‘Raman tried to run.’
c. amma [visakk-aan] aagrahicch-u.
mother hungry-INF want-PAST
‘The mother wanted to be hungry.’ (Menon 2011 p5-7: 8a, 14a,c)

These differences of terms raise an interesting question: what makes something a

participle versus an infinitive? Generally, there is agreement that participles and
infinitives are both ‘non-finite’ forms, but it is not so clear how non-finite forms
differ from one another. Its quite possible that the uka form, which is used as the
citation form of the verb in Malayalam, may have begun to be called an infinitive
simply because the citation form in languages like Latin is the infinitive. This type
of comparative label though, does not lead us any closer to understanding the nature
of non-finite distinctions cross-linguistically.

Following the arguments in chapter 3 that -uka is a progressive viewpoint aspect

marker on finite verbs and the facts presented below that show that its non-finite
uses also seem to carry some progressive meaning, throughout the thesis it will be
glossed as a progressive. However, this should not stop further inquiry into the
fundamental question raised above. In order to make a bit of headway towards that
larger question, the syntactic environments where non-finite -uka constructions can
occur will be shown below.

It will be shown that uka constructions, while having some properties of nouns,
seem to more closely pattern the distribution of adjectives. This is an interesting
observation in light of Menon’s (2016) work that argues that Malayalam lacks an
adjectival category.

Three environments in colloquial Malayalam where non-finite uses of uka can be

found are i) in subject position in ‘gerund’ like sentences, (23), ii) in coordination
structures, (24), and iii) in certain types of future sentences, (25)-(27). In non-finite
situations where uka appears, it is directly bound to the verbal stem. In ‘gerund’
like sentences, -uka behaves like a nominal, (23-b), on par with athu nominalization,
(23-a), which is discussed in detail in section 4.

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(23) a. [kallam paray-unn-∅-athu] thet-aanu
lie say-IMPFV-PRES-NOMLZ wrong-be.PRES
‘Telling lies is wrong.’
b. [kallam paray-uka] thet-aanu
lie say-PROG wrong-be.PRES
‘Telling lies is wrong.’ (Asher & Kumari p322: 1591)

The uka form also serves a nominal role in coordination. Finite sentences, which
have fully verbal verbs, cannot be coordinated in Malayalam, (24-a). Instead the
finite verbs are changed to the -uka form, the conjunction marker um added then the
verb cheyy- ‘do’ is used as a type of ‘do’ support, (24-b).5

(24) a. *raaman vann-u-yum krishnan pooy-i-yum.

Raman come-PAST-CONJ Krishnan go-PAST-CONJ
‘Raman came and Krishnan went.’
b. raaman var-uka-yum Krishnan pook-uka-yum cheyth-u
Raman come-PROG-CONJ Krishnan go-PROG-CONJ do-PAST
‘Raman came and Krishnan went.’ (Asher & Kumari 1997 p135: 647c)

A third place that uka is used is in the future of sentences with negation, emphatic
marking and clefts. In negated and in emphatic future sentences, -uka seems to have a
more verbal role. Non-stative verbs in Malayalam can use either the uka marked form
or the bare root form to express future negative sentences, (25-b)-(25-c). In emphatic
clauses with a future meaning, uka is also used and comes below the emphatic marker
and below the form of the undu copula carrying the future marker, (26). In clefted
structures uka appears in the same place that athu nominalizations occur, (27), i.e.
in a more nominal role.
5
This verb cheyy- frequently appears with nouns, (i) and, in its light verb use, commonly serves
to verbalize nouns, (ii).

(i) johan avan-te jooli cheyth-u

John he-GEN work do-PAST
‘John did his work.’ (Paul 2013 p3: 7)

(ii) sudha ayaal-e googil cheyth-appool aan-ee...

Sudha that-man-ACC Google do.PAST-at.that.time be.PRES-EMPH
‘It was (only) when Sudha googled that guy, that...’ (Paul 2013 p)

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(25) a. *John var-um illa.
John come-FUT NEG
‘John will not come.’
b. John var-uka illa.
John come-PROG NEG
‘John will not come.’
c. John var-illa.
John come-NEG
‘John will not come.’ (Jayaseelan 2014 p198-199: 18-20)

(26) avan var-uka-yee ull-uu.

He come-PROG-EMPH be.RP-FUT
‘He will just come.’ (Asher & Kumari 1997 p290: 1436)

(27) a. [nammal eppoozh-aanu chell-uka ennu] avar choodikk-unnu-∅

we.INCL when-be.PRES go-PROG COMP they ask-IMPFV-PRES
‘They are asking when [it is] that we will go (there).’
b. [enth-aanu var-aa-th-athu ennu] njaan choodicch-u
why-be.PRES come-NEG-AUG-NOMLZ COMP I ask-PAST
‘I asked why (he) would not come.’

According to Nikolaeva (2010) who cites Haspelmath (1994), participles are most
like adjectives in their properties. Despite the mostly nominal like uses above, one
could make a case that non-finite uses of uka have a syntactic distribution most like
adjectives. The rest of this section shows why this case could be made. Throughout,
the properties of uka participles are contrasted with athu nominalizations.

The first reason is that, like adjectives, -uka participles cannot have a specifier
position, (28-b).

(28) a. avan/avan-oodu kallam paray-unn-∅-athu thet-aanu.

he/he-SOC lie tell-IMPFV-PRES-NOMLZ wrong-be.PRES
‘His telling lies is wrong/for him to tell lies is wrong.’
b. *avan/avan-oodu/avan-te/avan-u kallam paray-uka thet-aanu.
he/he-SOC/he-GEN/he-DAT lie tell-INF wrong-be.PRES
‘His telling lies is wrong/for him to tell lies is wrong.’

They also do not assign case to their objects, (29-b), and they cannot appear with

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manner adverbs6 , (30-b).

(29) a. [kaayal-il kutti-ye neenth-aan anuvadikk-unn-∅-athu] njaan

lake-LOC child-ACC swim-INF let-IMPFV-PRES-NOMLZ I
ethirtth-u
oppose-PAST
‘I opposed letting the child swim in the lake.’
b. *[kaayal-il kutti-ye neenth-aan anuvadikk-uka] njaan ethirtth-u
lake-LOC child-ACC swim-INF let-PROG I oppose-PAST
‘I opposed letting the child swim in the lake.’

(30) a. [melle avan kazhikk-unn-∅-athu] aaroogyatthi-nnu

slowly he eating-IMPFV-PRES-NOMLZ health-DAT
nall-athu aanu
good-NOMLZ be.PRES
‘His eating slowly is good for health.’
b. *[melle avan kazhikk-uka] aaroogyatthi-nnu nall-athu aanu
slowly he eating-PROG health-DAT good-NOMLZ be.PRES
‘His eating slowly is good for health.’

Some people will occasionally accept -uka in embedded subject position, but those
speakers prefer athu nominalization, (31-a), and do not consistently accept sentences
like (31-b).

6
Manner adverbs can only modify verbs in Malayalam, (i).

(i) a. melle njaan kulikk-unnu-∅.

slowly I bathe-IMPFV-PRES
‘I bathe slowly.’
b. *melle kuli
slowly bath
‘slow bath’
c. melle ull-a kuli
slowly be-REL bath
‘slow bath’

They also do not occur with the al nominalizer in Malayalam, (ii).

(ii) [Avan-te melle ull-a bakshanam kazhikk-al] aaroogyatthi-nnu nall-athu

he-GEN slowly be-REL food eat-NOMLZ health-DAT good-NOMLZ
aanu
be.PRES
‘His slow food eating is good for health.’

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(31) a. [[divaseena niinth-unn-∅-athu] aaroogyatth-innu nall-athu
daily swim-PRES-NOMLZ health-DAT good-NOMLZ
aanu ennu] njaan vicharicch-u
be.PRES COMP I think-PAST
‘I thought that swimming daily is good for health.’ (cf. Asher & Kumari
1997 p42: 178)
b. ??[[divaseena niinth-uka] aaroogyatth-innu nall-athu aanu
daily swim-PROG health-DAT good-NOMLZ be.PRES
ennu] njaan vicharicch-u
COMP I think-PAST
‘I thought that to swim daily is good for health.’

The only potential case marker that uka participles can occur with is the instrumental
marker aal, (32). An interesting thing to note is that when they are marked with
this marker, they allow independent subjects, contrary to their usual behavior, cf.
(28-b). Other case markers are not compatible with -uka participles/do not allow
independent subjects, (32)-(34).

(32) a. avan paranj-ath-inaal njaan vann-u.

he say.PAST-NOMLZ-INST I come-PAST
‘I came because he told me to.’
b. avan paray-uk-aal njaan vann-u.
he say-PROG-INST I come-PAST
‘I came because he told me to.’ (Asher & Kumari 1997 p86: 394)

(33) a. [njaan paranj-ath](-ine) avan ethirtth-u.

I say-PAST-NOMLZ-ACC he oppose-PAST
‘He opposed what I said.’ (Asher & Kumari 1997 p43: 185)
b. *[njaan paray-uka]-yine avan ethirtth-u.
I say-PROG-ACC he oppose-PAST
‘He opposed what I said.’

(34) a. [njaan ivide var-unn-∅-ath]-inoodu ayaal-kku viroodham

I here come-IMPFV-PRES-NOMLZ-SOC he-DAT opposition
undu
be.PRES
‘He is opposed to my coming here.’ (Asher & Kumari 1997 p44: 194)
b. *[njaan ivide var-uka]-yinoodu ayaal-kku viroodham undu
I here come-PROG-SOC he-DAT opposition be.PRES

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 ‘He is opposed to my coming here.’

Based on (29)-(35) it does seem that uka participles have a number of the same
properties that would be expected with adjectives. They also, however, as (22)-(25),
(28) show, behave very much like nominals.
Providing an analysis for these facts seems like a productive line for future re-
search given that the adjectival like behavior of uka participles is interesting in light
of Haspelmath’s (1994) generalization and in light of the fact that Malayalam is a
language which is generally argued to have an extremely small set of adjectives (Asher
& Kumari 1997) or lacks an adjectival category completely (Menon & Pancheva 2014,
Menon 2016).

4.3 Conjunctive/Adverbial Participles

This section focuses on another non-finite form, what is known as Conjunctive/Adverbial

Participle. In his typological study of South Asian languages, Subbārāo (2012) gener-
alizes that the term ‘Conjunctive/Adverbial Participle’ refers to a non-finite construc-
tion, whose verb is marked with a particular ‘participle’ marker. One of the main
uses of the Conjunctive/Adverbial Participle in South Asian languages is in what has
been called the Conjunctive/Adverbial Participle Construction. This construction
has also been called a Serial Verb Construction (Jayaseelan 2003). This construction
contains two clauses: one is a finite matrix clause, and the other clause consists of
the Conjunctive or Adverbial Participle. The Conjunctive Participle Clause can be
interpreted in a number of ways, such as temporally preceding the finite clause, being
temporally simultaneous with the action described by the finite verb, or acting as the
cause of the action described by the finite verb. Examples of Conjunctive Participle
Constructions with these readings in Malayalam are shown in (35). The Conjunctive
Participles, which are italicized, are glossed as PART. Main verbs are bolded.

(35) a. mani avan-te katha karanj-u paranj-u.

Mani he-GEN tale cry-PART tell-PAST

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 ‘Weeping, Mani told his tale.’
b. shaantha kanji vecch-u kudicch-u.
Shantha rice.porridge make-PART drink-PAST
‘Shantha made rice porridge and drank it.’
c. kathaku thurakunna shabdham keett-u annamma unarnn-u.
door opening noise hear-PART Annamma wake.up-PAST
‘Annamma woke up on hearing the sound of the door being opened.’
(Gopalkrishnan 1985 p17: 3)

The examples in (35) provide a general idea of what Conjunctive/Adverbial Parti-

cle(s) (Constructions) are in South Asian languages. However, there is variation with
respect to the specific properties of these constructions in one language to another.
One interesting fact about Malayalam Conjunctive/Adverbial Participles, as opposed
to those in other South Asian languages, is that Conjunctive Participles with no as-
pectual marking are allowed in Malayalam. The examples in (36) show instances
of this. In other languages, such as Bangla, (36-a), Hindi, (36-b), (Indo-Aryan),
Gadaba, (36-c), (Austro-Asiatic, Munda), and Kannada, (36-d), and Kurux, (36-e)
(Dravidian) (Abbi 1991) the Conjunctive/Adverbial Participle always contains some
type of additional marking.

(36) a. Mary chithi-ta tul-e rakh-lo

Mary letter-CL pick.up-PERFV keep-PAST.3
‘Mary moved the letter and kept it.’ (Basu & Wilbur 2010 p2: 2a)
b. pitaji khana kha-kur so guye
father food eat-PERF.PART sleep go.3MSG.HON.PAST
‘Having taken his meals the father went off to sleep.’
c. in-ji
say-PAST.PART
‘having said’
d. male band-u kere tumbi-tu
rain come-PAST.PART tank fill-PAST
‘The tank filled as a result of rain.’
e. en nalux nunn-on-ki cail kal-on
1SG work do-FUT.PART walk go-FUT
(Abbi 2012 p9-10)

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Since Malayalam allows Conjunctive/Adverbial Participles with no aspect or tense
marking, this naturally raises questions about how their temporal semantics are ob-
tained. This in fact is also one reason that their status is so difficult to ascertain.
Amritavalli & Jayaseelan (2005) use Conjunctive/Adverbial Participle Constructions
to try to argue for a tenseless account of Malayalam. In this section it will be shown
that, while Amritavalli & Jayaseelan do generally seem to be right that Conjunc-
tive/Adverbial Participles are structurally small, they are incorrect in arguing that
this serves as evidence that Malayalam lacks tense morphology. Instead, this sec-
tion shows that Malayalam Conjunctive Participles are semantically underspecified
for tense and viewpoint aspect and that their temporal interpretations are generally
gained via pragmatics.
After providing an overview of the syntactic and pragmatic factors governing the
use of this construction, this section points out the similarity of the Malayalam Con-
junctive Participle Construction to the English absolutive construction. It suggests,
following Swenson (2017) that the Stump (1985) based adjunct account proposed in
Swenson (2016b), must be modified to capture certain facts about the compatibility of
Conjunctive Participles Constructions with Individual Level Predicates and multiple
adverbs in Malayalam.

4.3.1 Introducing the puzzle/controversial status

The rest of this section focuses on the question of how Malayalam Conjunctive/Adverbial
Participle Constructions/Serial Verb Constructions (what are called in this section
‘multi-verb constructions’) obtain their temporal semantics. Examples (37)-(40) show
why the answer to this question is not obvious. In (37) the -u/i morpheme looks like
the past tense marker on the main verb (bolded).

(37) a. (innale) njaan pazhum kazhicch-u.

Yesterday I banana take-PAST
‘I ate a banana (yesterday).’
b. (innale) njaan palli-yil pooy-i.
Yesterday I church-LOC go-PAST

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 ‘I went to church (yesterday).’

In sentences like (38-b)-(38-c) the -u/i in Conjunctive Participles (italicized) does

not seem to encode past semantics. These sentences, respectively, receive a present
and future interpretation, despite the fact that the Conjunctive Participle has the
-u/i marker. This suggests that the -u/i marker is, in fact, not a past tense marker.
At this point, one might think, as Amritavalli & Jayaseelan (2005) have done, that
the -u/i is a perfective marker, since Conjunctive Participle event precedes the main
event in the sentences in (38), though such temporal precedence is not, in fact, a
component of a Klein (1994) style perfective.

(38) a. vasantha peena kada-yil pooy-i vaang-i.

Vasantha pen shop-LOC go-PART buy-PAST
‘Vasantha went to the shop and bought a pen.’ (Gopalkrishnan 1985
p71: 68a)
b. vasantha peena kada-yil pooy-i vaang-unnu-∅.
Vasantha pen shop-LOC go-PART buy- IMPFV-PRES
‘Vasantha goes to the shop and buys (is going to the shop and buying)
a pen.’
c. vasantha peena kada-yil pooy-i vaang-um.
Vasantha pen shop-LOC go-PART buy- FUT
‘Vasantha will go to the shop and buy a pen.’

However, as Hany Babu & Madhavan (2003) have pointed out, when sentences like
(39) are added to the data set, a perfective analysis of -u/i becomes unlikely. In (39)
the main verb is in the present tense and the events denoted by the -u/i marked
Conjunctive Participles occur simultaneously with the event denoted by the main
verb.

(39) avan padicch-u padippicch-u jooli cheyth-u jeevikk-unnu-∅.

he study-PART teach- PART job do-PART

live-IMPFV-PRES
‘He lives studying, teaching and working.’

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If the Conjunctive Participle -u/i is, in fact, neither a perfective nor a past tense
marker, one might consider the option that it is semantically vacuous. This leads to
the question, if the -u/i in Conjunctive Participles does not have any features asso-
ciated with it, how are the temporal semantics of multi-verb constructions obtained?
Before discussing this question any further, it is necessary to take a step back
and consider an additional reason for the confusion here. A crucial fact in the way
Conjunctive Participles are analyzed has to do with the pronunciation/writing of the
-u/i marker in Conjunctive Participles. In Conjunctive Participle forms ending in
-u, the -u is reduced to a schwa in spoken Malayalam and officially7 is written with
the schwa marker, , while the -u in past tense main verbs is pronounced as -u and
written with the -u marker, . Raja Raja Varma (1917), Asher & Kumari (1997),
Jayaseelan (1984, 2003), Hany Babu & Madhavan (2003) have taken this distinction
to indicate that -u (pronounced and officially written as a schwa) is a specialized
participial marker distinct from the past tense marker.
However, complicating this story is the fact that verbs which use i as their non-
main verb marker, unlike those using u, are not written or said any differently when
they are in the main verb or Conjunctive Participle position: the -i pronounced as i
and written the i marker, , in both environments. Amritavalli & Jayaseelan (2005),
Amritavalli (2014), Jayaseelan (2014), seeing this, seek to answer the question of why
the i in Conjunctive Participles is identical with the past form of the main verb and
thus provide a unified account for both forms. They suggest that a schwa occurs in
u marked forms as the result of a general vowel reduction process in the language.
Pillai (1965) notes that 864 of the 2,881 verbs in his sample use i, while 2,017 use
u, easily making u the most common past tense marker. At this point, one might
argue that i, as the more marked form would be preserved which might explain why
it would not be subject to reduction, if Amritavalli & Jayaseelan are right.
It is not always clear though based on speakers’ transcriptions/writing whether
a u or a schwa is being said in the Conjunctive Participle and past tense main verb
forms. The impressionistic judgments of the speakers I have consulted suggest that
7
Though the -u marker, , is also found sometimes in colloquial writing.

164
u is always realized as a schwa in Conjunctive Participles and that the past tense
marker u is never reduced to a schwa. Shijith S (pc) confirms that, as far as he has
generally observed in the spectrograms he has recorded for other purposes, this seems
to be the case. Of course, in order to have the final say, an experiment must be done.8
In the mean time, this section follows the traditional, more widely accepted anal-
ysis that the u/i marker in Conjunctive Participles is a specialized participle marking
and glosses it as PART. Note that the fact that the form of the Conjunctive Partici-
ple parallels that of the past tense form of the main verb is quite similar to what is
found in English. Past/perfect participles in English often pattern with the shape of
the past tense form of the particular verb. For example, weak/regular verbs often
have a past/perfect participle and a past tense form that ends in ed, (40)-(41), while
strong/irregular verbs often have a past/perfect participle and a past tense form that
uses something other than ed, (42)-(44).

(40) a. The dog walked to the park.

b. The dog was walked to the park.
c. The dog has walked to the park.

(41) a. The boy hummed the song.

b. The song was hummed.
c. The boy has hummed the song.

(42) a. The fish ate the food.

b. The fish was eaten.
c. The fish has eaten the food.

(43) a. The boy fed the dog.

b. The dog was fed.
c. The boy has fed the dog.

(44) a. The boy ran the marathon.

8
See Appendix B for discussion regarding the choice of u verses i as the past tense and Conjunctive
Participle marker.

165
 b. The marathon was run by the boy.
c. The boy has run the marathon.

With the caveat about the pronunciation/written form of Conjunctive Participles out
of the way, let us proceed to the next section which details the properties of multi-verb
constructions.

4.3.2 Properties of Conjunctive Participle Constructions

Syntactically small

Let us begin with a brief overview of the syntactic properties of multi-verb con-
structions. Previous work has identified Conjunctive Participles as being non-finite
(Jayaseelan 1984, 2003; Amritavalli & Jayaseelan 2005; Hany Babu & Madhavan
2003, Gopalkrishnan 1985), IP or AspP sized adjuncts (Jayaseelan 2003). Evidence
that Conjunctive Participle clauses are at least as big as vPs comes from the fact that
they can have separate subjects (45).

(45) [paampu kadicch-u] goopi maricch-u

snake bite-PART Goopi die-PAST
‘The snake bit (Gopi) and Gopi died.’ (Gopalkrishnan 1985 p55: 41)

The fact that no tense or viewpoint aspect morphemes9 can be added to Conjunctive
Participles suggests that they are even smaller than (viewpoint) AspP. As Amritavalli
& Jayaseelan (2005) point out, the vP negation, -aa-, (46-a), but not the higher illa
negation, (46-b) can be used on Conjunctive Participles.10 This suggests that indeed,
9
Examples like (39) argue that u/i is not a perfective marker itself. The forms ittu and kondu,
which can be added to Conjunctive Participles, and which Asher & Kumari (1997) have called
perfective and progressive markers, respectively seem to more accurately be involved in modifying
or emphasizing lexical aspect. See chapter 5 for further details.
10
illa negation on the main verb can scope over both clauses, (i-a) or just the Conjunctive Participle
clause, (i-b).

(i) a. ente aduttu aarum vann-u irunn-illa

I.GEN near anybody come-PART sit.PAST-NEG
‘Nobody came and sat near me’ [i.e. neither came nor sat]
b. innu soobha skuul-il nadann-u pooy-illa
today Shobha school-il walk-PART go.PAST-NEG

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these Conjunctive Participles are syntactically small. When -aa- negation is present it
only scopes over the Conjunctive Participle clause, as is expected if it is vP negation.

(46) a. krishnankutti gauriiamma-yude veett-il vaadaka kodukk-aa-de

Krishnankutti Gauriamma-GEN house-LOC rent give-NEG-PART
thaamassicch-u
live-PAST
‘Krishnakutty stayed in Gauriamma’s house without paying rent.’ (Gopalkr-
ishana 1985 p76: 76b)
b. *krishnankutti gauriiamma-yude veett-il vaadaka kodukk -illa
Krishnankutti Gauriamma-GEN house-LOC rent give-NEG
thaamassicch-u
live-PAST
‘Krishnakutty stayed in Gauriamma’s house without paying rent.’

Multi-verb constructions can have different, (47), or same objects, (48).

(47) njaan [kathi eduth-u] appam muricch-u

I knife take-PART bread cut-PAST
‘I took the knife and cut the bread.’ (Jayaseelan 2003 p79: 43)

Jayaseelan (2003) provides some reasons for thinking that when there is a shared
object it is generated in the VP containing the Conjunctive Participle. First, the
shared object can scramble/be generated with the Conjunctive Participle, as shown
in (48-a)-(48-b). The Conjunctive Participle can also be scrambled over the subject,
leaving the subject behind, (48-c). However, when the shared object occurs in the
object position of the main verb, the sentence is ‘more or less unacceptable,’ (49).

(48) a. njaan [oru maanga] pootticch-u thinn-u.

I one mango pluck-PART eat-PAST
‘I plucked and ate a mango.’ (Jayaseelan 1984 p624: 1a)
b. [oru maanga] pootticch-u njaan thinn-u.
one mango pluck-PART I eat-PAST
‘I plucked and ate a mango.’(Jayaseelan 2003 p81: 48)

‘Shobha did not go walking to school’ [i.e. Shobha went to school but she did not walk
down to it] (Gopalkrishnan 1985 p86-87: 90, 93)

167
 c. pootticch-u njaan [oru maanga] thinn-u.
pluck-PART I one mango eat-PAST
‘I plucked and ate a mango.’ (Jayaseelan 1984 p624: 1a”)

(49) ?*njaan [pootticch-u] oru maanga thinn-u

I pluck-PART one mango eat-PAST
‘I plucked and ate a mango.’ (Jayaseelan 2003 p81: 47)

While one can see his point, at an intuitive level it seems puzzling why a shared object
must be generated in the adjunct, given that adjuncts are optional. In other words,
given that (50) is a perfectly grammatical sentence of Malayalam, it is not clear why
the addition of the adjunct potticch-u ‘pluck’ in the sentences above should force the
now shared object to be generated in the adjunct VP as opposed to simply continuing
to be generated the VP of the main verb.

(50) njaan [oru maanga thinn-u]

I one mango eat-PAST
‘I ate a mango.’

Given that multi-verb constructions can share objects, one might argue that these
are Serial Verb Constructions (SVCs). However, SVCs also generally have a single
negation which takes scope over all verbs (cf. Carstens (2002) for Yoruba and Ijo).
This is not the case in Malayalam, as (46-a) shows. Aboh (2009, 2016) further points
out that SVCs almost never contain more than one lexical verb; all additional verbs
have a functional use. This leads to questions about the exact nature of SVCs and
how to differentiate them from things like auxiliaries. See chapter 5 section 4 for
further discussion.
Example (51) shows that multi-verb constructions can appear in a variety of places
in the sentence, just like the adjuncts in their English translations.11

(51) a. njaan school-ilekku nadann-u [apple kazhicch-u].

I school-to walk-PAST apple take-PART
‘I walked to school, eating an apple.’ [school must be reached; apple
11
We can be sure what is the Conjunctive Participle versus main verb here because in Conjunctive
Participle forms ending in u, the -u was written with the schwa marker, , while the u in past tense
main verbs was written with the u marker, .

168
 does not have to be eaten (though it could be)]
b. njaan [apple kazhicch-u] school-ilekku nadann-u.
I apple take-PART school-to walk-PAST
‘I walked, eating an apple, to school.’ [school must be reached; apple
does not have to be eaten (though it could be)]
c. [apple kazhicch-u] njaan school-ilekku nadann-u.
apple take-PART I school-to walk-PAST
‘Eating an apple, I walked to school.’ [school must be reached; apple
does not have to be eaten (though it could be)]

Pragmatically licensed

Also like their English absolutive counterparts, Malayalam multi-verb constructions

require pragmatic licensing conditions. According to Gopalakrishnan (1985), multi-
verb constructions presuppose that the Conjunctive Participle is linked to the main
verbs via one of the relationships demonstrated in (52): manner adverbial, (a), se-
quential part of a larger action, (b), and cause and resulting effect, (c).

(52) a. mani avan-te katha karanj-u paranj-u.

Mani he-GEN tale cry-PART tell-PAST
‘Weeping, Mani told his tale.’
b. shaantha kanji vecch-u kudicch-u.
Shantha rice.porridge make-PART drink-PAST
‘Shantha made rice porridge and drank it.’
c. kathaku thurakunna shabdham keett-u annamma unarnn-u.
door opening noise hear-PART Annamma wake.up-PAST
‘Annamma woke up on hearing the sound of the door being opened.’
(Gopalkrishnan 1985 p18: 8, p52: 37a, p17: 3)

When such a relationship is lacking, she claims that the sentence becomes bad, (52a).
Instead to link these two sentences, coordination is required, (52b).

(53) a. #giita pachakkari arinj-u chaaya und-aakk-i.

Gita vegetables chop-PART tea exist-CAUS-PAST
‘Gita chopped vegetables and made tea.’ [doesnt meet criteria] (Gopalkr-
ishnan 1985 p32: 18)

169
 b. giita [pachakkari ariy-uka-yum] [chaaya und-aakk-uka-yum]
Gita vegetables chop-INF-CONJ tea exist-CAUS-INF-CONJ
cheyth-u
do-PAST
‘Gita chopped vegetables and made tea.’

However, if (53-a) is put into the right context, it becomes fine for at least some
speakers.
Context: A line in a suspense novel. Gita is a family servant. Her job is to chop
the vegetables. After finishing her work, she always makes herself a glass of tea before
going.

(54) ella divasathe poleyum giita pachakkari arinj-u chaaya

every day other Gita vegetables chop-PART tea
und-aakk-i. udane, urakkeyulla shabdham keett-u.
exist-CAUS-PAST suddenly loud noise hear-PAST
‘Just like any other day, Gita chopped the vegetables and made tea. Suddenly,
she heard a loud noise.’

Another example that illustrates the same point comes from (55). Here there is no
obvious connection, outside of a list of future plans, between drinking tea and oiling
one’s hair.
Context: You are sitting and talking with a close friend in your hostel after work.
You have just been talking about what the plan for the rest of the evening is. She
asks if you have had tea yet. You say that you have not. While she asks that question
she is oiling her hair. You remember while seeing her do that, that you also need to
oil your hair and say so. You know though that she wants to have tea together now
so you say...

(55) chaaya kudicch-u oil use cheyy-um.

tea drink-PART oil use do-FUT
‘Having had tea, I will oil my hair.’

Another way in which this pragmatic licensing requirement can be seen is in a con-
straint on when different subjects are allowed in main and non-main clauses. Ac-

170
cording to Gopalkrishan (1985), different subjects are generally disallowed, except,
as in (56), where the subject of the main clause is an argument in the Conjunctive
Participle clause.12

(56) a. shaantha kanji vecch-u kudicch-u

Shantha rice.porridge make-PART drink-PAST
‘Shantha made rice porridge and drank it.’
b. #[shaantha kanji vecch-u] njaan kudicch-u
Shantha rice.porridge make-PART I drink-PAST
‘Shantha made rice porridge, and I drank it.’ (Gopalkrishnan 1985 p52:
37)

However, according to my fieldwork, for at least some speakers, (56-b) is fine in a

context where I am sick and Shantha is taking care of me and thus makes kanji
for me. It is also ok if I visit Shantha’s house and I drink kanji because she made it
especially for me or if Shantha brought kanji to the office especially for me, so I should
eat it.13 The generalization here seems to be that different subjects are allowed only
when some type of a connection can be established between the main and non-main
clauses.

12
Some additional examples are provided below. The case of the subject in the Conjunctive
Participle clause confirms that it is, in fact, in the main clause subject position due to its case.

(i) nambiyaar (enikku veendi) offis-il paranj-u enikku avide oru jooli kitt-i.
Nambiyar I.DAT for office-LOC speak-PART I.DAT there a job get-PAST
‘Nambiar spoke (to them) at the office (for me) and I got a job there.’

(ii) njaan (shobha-ye) nirbandhicch-u shoobha/aval skuul-il pooy-i.

I Shobha-ACC force-PAST Shobha/she school-LOC go-PAST
‘I forced (Shobha) (to go to school) and so she/Shobha went to school.’

(iii) paampu kadicch-u goopi maricch-u.

snake bite-PART Goopi die-PAST
‘The snake bit (Gopi) and Gopi died.’

(iv) josef chavitt-i ente peena pott-i

Joseph step-PART I.GEN pen break-PAST
‘Joseph stepped on my pen and it broke.’ (Gopalkrishnan 1985, p54-55: 39-42)

13
Though kanji is usually given to sick people, so some other food makes more sense to bring to
the office.

171
 Another place where the pragmatic restrictions can be seen is in reduplication.
Example (57) shows that Conjunctive Participle forms can be reduplicated for em-
phasis.

(57) mani chuttum nook-i nook-i nadunn-u.

Mani around look-PART look-PART walk-PAST
‘Mani walked, looking around’ (intensive) [lit. Mani walked around looking,
looking] (Gopalkrishnan 1985 p95: 107b)

Gopalkrishnan (1985) claims that in certain contexts reduplication is not possible due
to semantic constrains, (58-b). This is probably due to the fact that, generally, saris
do not tear after only one washing. According to my fieldwork (58-b) is acceptable
in a context where the speaker is complaining about someone who washed a sari that
was supposed to not be washed, and as a result, tore it.

(58) a. saari nanacch-u nanacch-u kiir-i.

sari wash-PART wash-PART tear-PAST
‘The sari tore due to repeated washing.’
b. #saari nanacch-u kiir-i.
sari wash-PART tear-PAST
‘The sari tore after washing.’ (Gopalkrishnan 1985 p99: 112)

Temporally underspecified

The next thing to note is that event type and iconicity play key roles in specifying
the temporal semantics of multi-verb constructions. Let us first turn to the role of
event type. In (59) simultaneous (wake up at the same instant as hearing the noise)
and successive interpretations (hear the noise one instant and then wake up the next
instant) are possible, if the opening of the door is viewed as an instantaneous event.
If a speaker assumes that the door is slowly creaking open, i.e. that hearing the
noise is not an instantaneous event, a proper containment interpretation (wake up
while hearing the noise) is also possible. This is strong evidence that Conjunctive
Participles in Malayalam are semantically underspecified and do not have their own
tense or viewpoint aspect. It also provides an additional argument against an account

172
where u/i is a perfective marker.

(59) [kathaku thurakunna shabdham keett-u] annamma unarnn-u.

door opening noise hear-PART Annamma wake.up-PAST
‘Annamma woke up hearing the sound of the door being opened. (Gopalkr-
ishnan 1985 p17: 3)

Iconicity is also important in determining the temporal semantics of multi-verb con-

structions. The role of iconicity can clearly be seen in cases where a sequential reading
is preferred. Here, switching the order of the clauses results in a different temporal
interpretation. Gopalkrishnan considers sentences like (60-b) to be semantically infe-
licitous because, according to Hindu etiquette, one should always bathe before going
to a temple. If a speaker assumes that not everyone follows temple etiquette, then
there is nothing wrong with (60-b). This is simply an example of the role of world
knowledge.

(60) a. asha raavile kulicch-u ambalath-il pooy-i.

Asha morning bathe-PART temple-LOC go-PAST
‘Having bathed in the morning, Asha went to the temple.’
b. asha raavile ambalath-il pooy-i kulich-u
Asha morning temple-LOC go-PART bathe-PAST
‘Asha went to the temple in the morning and then came home and
bathed.’ [lit. ‘Having gone to the temple in the morning, Asha bathed.’]

In sum, this section has shown that non-main verbs are structurally small, roughly
vPs and that multi-verb constructions are semantically underspecified for tense and
viewpoint aspect and require the clauses involved to be pragmatically linked either
via causation, manner or sequence of events.

173
4.3.3 Conjunctive Participles as modified Stump (1985)-style
adjuncts

This section argues against a conjunction account, highlights the similarities between
English absolutives and Malayalam multi-verb constructions and suggests that a mod-
ified version of Stumps (1985) analysis proposed in Swenson (2016b) is needed to ac-
count for the incompatibility of Conjunctive Participles with Individual Level Pred-
icates and multiple temporal adverbs in Malayalam. This section begins with an
overview of Stumps account for English absolutives.

Against a coordination analysis

Based on the traditional name for non-main verbs, the Conjunctive Participle, one
might attempt to argue for a conjunction account for multi-verb constructions. How-
ever, this section will argue that such a move faces a number of problems.

The name Conjunctive/Adverbial Participle comes from the two ways these con-
structions can be translated, either as participle adjuncts serving an adverbial type
function, (60-a), or as conjoined sentences, (56-a). While they are sometimes trans-
lated using conjunction, they are different from ‘genuinely’ coordinated sentences in
the language. These require the addition of the conjunctive particle, -um,(61-a). In
order to coordinate two independent sentences, using um coordination, one must at-
tach -um to the progressive participle, uka, of the two verbs. The tense and aspect
of the sentence are then encoded by the light verb cheyy- ‘do.’ This structure must
be used because finite clauses cannot be coordinated in Malayalam by simply adding
um to each verb, (61-b).

(61) a. raaman var-uka-yum Krishnan pook-uka-yum cheyth-u.

Raman come-PROG-CONJ Krishnan go-PROG-CONJ do-PAST
‘Raman came and Krishnan went.’ (Asher & Kumari 1997 p135: 647c)
b. *raaman vann-u-yum krishnan pooy-i-yum.
Raman come-PAST-CONJ Krishnan go-PAST-CONJ
‘Raman came and Krishnan went.’

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 c. *raaman vann-u-yum krishnan pooy-i-yum.
Raman come-PART-CONJ Krishnan go-PAST-CONJ
‘Raman came and Krishnan went.’

Example (61-c) shows that it is not possible conjoin a Conjunctive Participle and a
main verbs with um. Example (62-b) shows this same fact with a multi-verb con-
struction with a single subject.

(62) a. shaantha kanji vecch-u kudicch-u

Shantha rice.porridge make-PART drink-PAST
‘Shantha made rice porridge and drank it.’
b. shaantha kanji vecch-um kudicch-u-yum
Shantha rice.porridge make.PART-CONJ drink-PAST-CONJ
‘Shantha made rice porridge and drank it.’

It is possible to coordinate multiple Conjunctive Participles with um, though this

structure is not generally used, (63). The crucial point though is that it is not
possible to coordinate a Conjunctive Participle and a main verb using um, (61-c).

(63) njaan maanga thinn-um vellam kudicch-um vaayaru

I mango eat.PART-CONJ water drink.PART-CONJ stomach
niiracch-u.
fill-PAST
‘I filled (my) stomach, eating mangoes and drinking water.’ (Jayaseelan 2014
fn15)

In addition to not allowing coordination via the um particle, there are several other
reasons to argue against a syntactic conjunction account for multi-verb constructions.
First, as seen above, Conjunctive Participles can appear in many positions in the sen-
tence. If syntactic conjunction were assumed, one would worry about Coordinate
Structure Constraint violations. Secondly, a syntactic coordination account might
try to say that the different pragmatic relationships could be explained by different
syntactic configurations. One could try to draw links with a Ramchand (2008) ex-
panded vP since the projections there deal with relationships similar to those involved
in Malayalam multi-verb constructions: causation (InitP), manner (ProcP) and se-

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quence (ResultP). However, in addition to it being challenging to workout the details
of such an analysis, such an account would transfer a largely pragmatically driven
phenomenon to the syntax, which seems undesirable. With these points in mind, what
follows takes inspiration from the second traditional name for Conjunctive Participles,
the ‘Adverbial Participle’ and suggests that they are more like English absolutives
than syntactic coordinations.

Overview of Stump (1985)

The adjuncts Stump deals with are those that express relations such as causation,
(64-a), serve as temporal adverbials, (64-b), and conditional clauses, (64-c), a.o.

(64) a. The school is determined to avoid a scandal. The father is equally deter-
mined to find somebody to blame. The reader, being more experienced
in such things, knows the truth: it was murder. [causation]
b. Grabbing a newspaper from a guard, Tom went back out, wiped up
the dog shit and deposited it and the days news in a refuse can. [time
adverbial]
c. Transposed to a trumpet or saxophone, her creations would probably
herald a new school.[conditional clause] (Stump 1985 p2: 2-4)

Stump’s general proposal is that these adjuncts, if not serving as an argument of a

modal, frequency adverb or generic operator, belong to the same category as Main
Tense Adverbs (MTA). He defines MTAs as ‘functors, [that] join with tense to char-
acterize the interval at which some sentence is true. In this role, time adverbs are
regarded as denoting functions from properties of time intervals to sets of time inter-
vals... MTA join with temporal abstracts to produce temporal abstracts’ (Stump 1985
p118).14 . Some examples of MTAs include at that time, since noon, in the morning,
when Mary sang, before Mary sang, after Mary sang, as well as any adjuncts that are
14
MTA are distinct from time adverbs like yesterday, today, tomorrow, during the past summer
which may function as ‘the argument of certain expressions...the purpose of such a time adverb is
simply to specify a set of time intervals.’ p116

176
not arguments of modals, frequency adverbs or generic operators.

A key tenant of Stump’s proposal is indeterminacy, which occurs when, in order

to assign an interpretation to a sentence, some type of inference is needed because it
constitutes part of the truth conditional meaning. Stump uses the sentence in (65) to
illustrate this concept. Here ‘Picasso’ could refer to a number of things: a painting by
Picasso, a man named Picasso, a postage stamp with Picasso’s picture, etc. However,
for (65) to be true, the speaker/hearer must infer that the two ‘Picassos’ are of the
same category, i.e. two paintings by Picasso not a painting by Picasso and a man
named Picasso.

(65) I saw two Picassos today. (Stump 1985 p305: 12)

The claim is that MTAs (i.e. those adjuncts that are not the arguments of a modal,
frequency adverb or generalization operator) are semantically indeterminate with re-
spect to the temporal relationship of the two clauses and relevance of the adjunct
clause to the main clause. He models this indeterminacy in the semantics using
contextual variables.

The obvious question now is, how is this indeterminacy resolved? Stump proposes
that the temporal and relevancy relations in MTAs can be derived using information
such as event type (instantaneous versus state of affairs/non-instantaneous), word
order/iconicity, world knowledge, and predicate type (Individual Level (ILP) vs State
Level (SLP)). The middle two pieces of information are relatively self-explanatory.
With respect to event type, there are three possibilities, Table 4.1.

Event Type Combinations Possible Readings

#1: both verbs describe instantaneous events sequential
- simultaneous
#2: one verb describes instantaneous event & sequential
one describes non-instantaneous event proper containment
#3: both verbs describe non-instantaneous events sequential
- simultaneous
- proper containment

Table 4.1: Possible Readings for Different Event Types in Absolutives

177
 The sentence in (66) can have a simultaneous interpretation where ‘John’ notices
the smoke at the same instant as having the realization, or it can have a successive
interpretation were ‘John’ notices smoke one instant and the next instance has the
realization. It cannot, however, have a proper containment interpretation.

(66) Noticing the smoke, John realized Bills house was on fire. (Stump 1985 p319:
40)

Example (67) allows a proper containment interpretation where ‘John’ discovers the
box while climbing or a successive interpretation where he discovers the box after
arriving at the bottom. It cannot, however, have the simultaneous interpretation of
climbing and discovering at same time.

(67) John climbed down the well, discovering a sealed metal box at the bottom.
(Stump 1985 p320: 42)

In (68) the singing could occur throughout the interval of walking, a simultaneous
interpretation, or the singing could occur at some point during the walking, a proper
containment interpretation.

(68) Walking beside the river, John sang. (Stump 1985 p320: 43-44)

The intuition regarding predicate type is that SLPs play an essentially temporal role
because they naturally represent short and discrete intervals which pin-pointing a
particular time, (69).

(69) a. When John was drunk, he fell down the stairs. [SLP]
b. Crossing the street, he was almost hit by a car. [SLP] (Stump 1985 p308:
17a, p309: 19)

ILPs, on the other hand, describe the essential properties of an individual (disposi-
tions, potentials), (70). These are things upon which assumptions about reasons or
causes for an action are built.

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(70) a. Having blue eyes, Jane looks a lot like Mary. [ILP]
b. His father having been a sailor, John knows all about boats. [ILP]
(Stump 1985 p308: 18)

Applying Stump’s analysis to Malayalam Conjunctive Participle Construc-

tions

Thinking back to section 3.2, there are a number of parallels that can be drawn
between English absolutive constructions and Malayalam non-main verbs: both have
pragmatic requirements, can occur in a number of positions in the sentence and
are semantically indeterminate with respect to temporality. They also gain their
temporal interpretations based on the event type, world knowledge, and iconicity.
The sentences in (71)-(68) provide some additional examples of the role of event type
and world knowledge in determining the semantics in Malayalam.

The sentence in (71-a)15 shows that, when one event is instantaneous and the
other is non-instantaneous/a state of affairs, either a successive or a proper contain-
ment relationship is possible, as expected. World knowledge rules out the otherwise
expected proper containment relationship in (71-a).

(71) a. saari nanacch-u kiir-i.

sari wash-PART tear-PAST
‘The sari tore after washing.’ (Gopalkrishnan 1985 p99: 112)
b. njaan oru maanga pootticch-u thinn-u.
I one mango pluck-PART eat-PAST
‘I plucked and ate a mango.’ (Amritavalli & Jayaseelan 2005 p199: 37a,
my glosses)

When both events are non-instantaneous, all three interpretations are possible, as
predicted, (72).

15
Gopalkrishnan says this sentence is semantically infelicitous. However, according to my consul-
tants, (71-a) is fine when complaining about someone who washed a sari that was supposed to not
be washed, and as a result, tore it.

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(72) avan paatu keett-u paper ezhuth-i.
he song sing-PART paper write-PAST
‘Listening to music, he wrote a paper.’

Turning to the puzzle from section 3.1 about multi-verb constructions with present
imperfective, (73-a), or future main verbs, (73-b), Stump’s proposal works with things
that are already know about Malayalam to provide an explanation. John (1987) and
Hany Babu (1997) have argued that the future maker -um is a modal, and some
type of operator will needed to account for the ‘generic’ readings obtained with unnu.
As such, in (73), the contextual variables in Conjunctive Participle clauses would be
bound, not via pragmatic factors as in MTAs, but by the modal and ‘generic’ operators
taking scope over them, causing the interpretation of the Conjunctive Participle clause
to vary with that of the main clause. Jayaseelan (2003) suggests that Conjunctive
Participle clauses adjoin at a structurally low point in main clauses. This intuition
seems to be on the right track, in that for the modal and ‘generic’ operators to bind
the open variable, in their base position, Conjunctive Participle clauses would need
to be low enough to be in the scope of the modal and generic operators, presumably
located in the higher functional structure above at least AspP.

(73) a. njaan oru maanga pootticch-u thinn-unnu-∅.

I one mango pluck- PART eat-IMPFV-PRES
‘I pluck and eat (or am plucking and eating) a mango.’ (Amritavalli &
Jayaseelan 2005 p199: 38a, my glosses)
b. njaan oru maanga pootticch-u thinn-um.
I one mango pluck- PART eat-FUT
‘I will pluck and eat a mango.’ (Jayaseelan 2003 p68: 2b, my glosses)

However, there are several important areas where Malayalam Conjunctive Participles
and English absolutives differ. The first is with Individual Level Predicates. English
absolutives are compatible with Individual Level Predicates as well as Stage Level
Predicates, (70). However, multi-verb constructions are not, (74-a). Instead, the
athu nominalization must be used, (74-b).

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(74) a. *thadi-yan aayi, avan orupaadu buddhimutt-i.
fat-MASC be-PART he much have.trouble-PAST
‘Being a fat man, he had a lot of trouble.’
b. thadi-yan aay-athu kondu, avan orupaadu
fat-MASC be.PAST-NOMLZ INST he much
buddhimutt-i.
have.trouble-PAST
‘Because he is a fat man, he had a lot of trouble.’

Secondly, sentences with multiple temporal adverbs must use athu nominalization.
They cannot use a multi-verb construction. The examples in (75)-(73) illustrate this
with a number of predicates and temporal adverbs. Note that the different temporal
adverbs are fine in English absolutive constructions, as can be seen in the English
glosses for these sentences.

(75) a. *innale gundakal vinu-vine thall-i inu avan maricch-u.

Yesterday thugs Vinu-ACC beat-PART today he die-PAST
‘The thugs having beaten Vinu yesterday, he died today.’
b. innale gundakal vinu-vine thall-iy-athu kondu inu avan
Yesterday thugs Vinu-ACC beat-PAST-NOMLZ INST today he
maricch-u.
die-PAST
‘The thugs having beaten Vinu yesterday, he died today.’

(76) a. *thaamasichu pooy-i avan samaya-thinu eth-aan patti-yilla.

late go-PART he time-DAT reach-INF could-NEG
‘Having left very late, he didnt arrive on time.’
b. thaamasichu poy-athu kondu avan samaya-thinu eth-aan
late go.PAST-NOMLZ INST he time-DAT reach-INF
patti-yilla.
could-NEG
‘Having left very late, he didn’t arrive on time.’

(77) a. *kazhinja kollam avudhi-kku varanasi-yil pooy-i,

last year holiday-DAT Varanasi-LOC go-PART
var-unn-∅-a avudhi-kku unni tirupati-yil
come-IMPFV-PRES-REL holiday-DAT Unni Tirupati-LOC
sandharshikk-aan theerumaanicch-u.
visit-INF decide-PAST
‘Having visited Varanasi on holiday last year, Unni decided to visit Tiru-

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 pati for the upcoming holiday.’
b. kazhinja kollam avudhi-kku varanasi-yil poy-athu kondu,
last year holiday-DAT Varanasi-LOC go.PAST-NOMLZ INST
var-unn-∅-a avudhi-kku unni tirupati-yil
come-IMPFV-PRES-REL holiday-DAT Unni Tirupati-LOC
sandharshikk-aan theerumaanicch-u.
visit-INF decide-PAST
‘Having visited Varanasi on holiday last year, Unni decided to visit Tiru-
pati for the upcoming holiday.’

Different manner adverbs are, however, allowed, at least sometimes. Jayaseelan (1984)
provides the example in (78), which all speakers I have consulted accept. However,
when the adverb modifying the Conjunctive Participle is changed from nallavannam
‘well’ in (78) to veegam ‘quickly’ in (79) speakers report a strange feeling. It is not
completely clear to me at this point if they find this sentence ungrammatical or if
it is due to a pragmatic constraint in that veegam ‘quickly’ often gives a negative
connotation, i.e. that it is done hastily and sloppily. This would then contradict with
the type of ‘savoring’ reading sometimes induced by pathukke ‘slowly.’

(78) njaan oru maanga nallavannam muricch-u pathukke thinn-u.

I one mango well cut-PART slowly eat-PAST
‘I cut the mango nicely and ate it slowly.’ (Jayaseelan 1984 p624: 2a)

(79) */#njaan oru maanga veegam muricch-u pathukke thinn-u.

I one mango quickly cut-PART slowly eat-PAST
‘I cut the mango quickly and ate it slowly.’

This section has shown that both English absolutives and Malayalam Conjunctive
Participles have pragmatic licensing requirements, can occur in a number of positions
in the sentence and are semantically indeterminate with respect to temporality and
gain their temporal interpretations based on the event type, world knowledge, and
iconicity. However, unlike English absolutives, Malayalam Conjunctive Participles
cannot occur with Individual Level Predicates or multiple temporal adverbs.16
16
In addition to these differences, it is worth noting that, while at least some speakers do accept
benefactive totally unrelated subjects in multi-verb constructions, it is harder to force these readings
than in English absolutives. The general feeling among speakers seems to be that the pragmatic

182
 It is interesting that in both of these cases, when provided with the ungrammatical
multi-verb construction, speakers correct the sentence by changing the Conjunctive
Participle into an athu nominalization. Swenson (2016a) argues that this form is
nominalized above TP, which would then account for why this structure is compatible
with different temporal adverbs while the Conjunctive Participle is not: there simply
is no space for a unique temporal adverbial in Conjunctive Participle clauses because
they are syntactically too small, roughly the size of a vP. This analysis fits with the
facts presented in section 3.2, namely that no viewpoint aspect or tense marking
can be added to Conjunctive Participles, while the vP-negation aa-, which attaches
directly to verbal roots, can be added.
One might object to this analysis by saying that, while temporal adverbs generally
require a ’s genitive marker to modify nouns, (80-a), they can sometimes modify nouns
without this marker as the English example in (80-b) shows.

(80) a. Yesterday’s/last week’s mail was late.

b. The destruction of the city yesterday/last week/in 2012 was sad.

However, in Malayalam temporal adverbs cannot modify nouns directly, (81-a). In-
stead either the -athu nominalizer, created as will be argued in the next section from
the relativizer and number and gender agreement, attaches either directly to the ad-
verb base, (81-b) or a dummy verb appears with a relative participle marker, (81-c).
Speakers note that the option in (81-b) is correct but not colloquially used. The
option in (81-c) is what is more often used in daily conversations.

(81) a. *veed-inte innale veezhcha bhayanakam aayirunnu.

house-GEN yesterday fall horribleness be.PAST
‘The fall of the house yesterday was horrible.’
b. veed-inte innal-athu veezhcha bhayanakam aayirunnu
house-GEN yesterday-NOMLZ fall horribleness be.PAST
‘The fall of the house yesterday was horrible.’
c. veed-inte innale undaayirunn-a veezhcha bhayanakam aayirunnu
house-GEN yesterday be.PAST-REL fall horribleness be.PAST
restrictions on these constructions are stronger than in English absolutives.

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 ‘The fall of the house yesterday was horrible.’ [lit. ‘The fall which was
yesterday of the house was horrible.’]

These facts provide support for the idea that Conjunctive Participles are simply too
small to host temporal adverbs. The fact that Individual Level Predicates cannot
be used in multi-verb constructions might also be a result of their small size. For
example, depictives, which describe the state of a given argument of the verb during
the duration of the event the verb denotes, (82-a), are not compatible with Individual
Level Predicate adverbial adjuncts, (82-b).

(82) a. John ate the meat raw.

b. *Intelligent, John uses the elevator.

Depictives are generally assumed to be syntactically small (Williams 1980, Pylkkänen

(2008)). Perhaps a further connection between depictives and Malayalam Conjunctive
Participles could be made in the future.

4.3.4 Interim summary

This section began with a question regarding the temporal semantics of multi-verb
constructions. The first subsection showed that the Conjunctive Participle u/i marker
is, in fact, neither a perfective nor a past tense marker. This opened the option that it
is semantically vacuous. The second subsection showed that Conjunctive Participles
are structurally small, roughly vPs, and that multi-verb constructions are semanti-
cally underspecified for tense and viewpoint aspect and require the clauses involved
to be pragmatically linked either via causation, manner or sequence of events. The
third subsection argued for a modified version of a Stump (1985) style approach. It
showed that both English absolutives and Malayalam Conjunctive Participles have
pragmatic licensing requirements, can occur in a number of positions in the sentence
and are semantically indeterminate with respect to temporality and gain their tempo-
ral interpretations based on the event type, world knowledge, and iconicity. However,
unlike English absolutives, Malayalam Conjunctive Participles cannot occur with In-

184
dividual Level Predicates or multiple temporal adverbs. It was then proposed that
possibly due to the structurally small nature of Malayalam Conjunctive Participles.

The data presented here argue against the tenseless account put forth by Amri-
tavalli & Jayaseelan (2005, et. seq.) where u/i is the perfective marker. Amritavalli
& Jayaseelan argue that the u/i in both Conjunctive Partiiciples and main verbs is
a perfective marker. Multi-verb constructions with sequential readings with present
or future interpretations have been one piece of evidence for their tenseless account.
They argue that since the Conjunctive Participle u in these constructions cannot be
a past tense marker, given its non-past meaning in these sentences, it is a perfective
marker. However, the facts presented in this section, namely that certain multi-verb
constructions allow simultaneous readings, proper containment readings or sequen-
tial readings, serves as evidence against their account. This suggests, that multi-verb
constructions actually are not evidence for Malayalam being tenseless.

While flawed, Amritavalli & Jayaseelan’s (2005) account prompts one to ask the
larger questions which are the focus of this chapter. Central to their proposal is
the notion of ‘finiteness.’ This notion is generally poorly understood, but generally
one could say, however ‘finiteness’ is defined, that languages have a variety of both
‘finite’ and ‘non-finite’ forms. These forms, however, generally differ from each other
in a number of ways. This chapter so far has examined non-finite uses of -uka along
with the uses of Conjunctive Participles in Malayalam. The adverb and Individual
Level Predicate data provided in this section highlighted a difference between the
Conjunctive Participles and athu nominalizations. The first section also highlighted
some differences between non-finite uses of -uka and -athu nominalizations. An in
depth investigation of athu nominalizations will be the focus of the next section.

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4.4 Nominalizations in Malayalam

4.4.1 Are -athu nominalizations gerunds?

Turning now to the third and final non-finite form to be investigated in this chapter,
this section shows what have traditionally been called gerunds in Malayalam, (83),
are nominalized higher than English ‘poss-ing’ gerunds (Abney 1987).

(83) a. [avan var-unn-∅-athu] nann-aayi

he come-IMPFV-PRES-NOMLZ good-is
‘His coming is good.’ (i.e. ‘It is good that he is coming.’) (Amritavalli
& Jayaseelan 2005, p196: 30a)
b. [avan vann-(u)-athu] nann-aayi
he come-PAST-NOMLZ good-is
‘His having come is good.’ (i.e. ‘It is good that he came.’) (Amritavalli
2014: 30)

Before getting into the Malayalam data, this section begins with a review of the puzzle
raised by the prototypical gerund, what Abney (1987) calls the ‘poss-ing’ gerund in
English. An example of this type of gerund can be found in the bolded part of (84).
Like a verb, ‘poss-ing’ a gerund assigns accusative case to its object,(85-a), and is
modified by an adverb (85-b). However, like a noun, it can occur in subject position,
(86).

(84) His coming is good.

(85) a. Mary’s meeting him...

b. Mary’s eating slowly...

(86) I thought [that Marys meeting him would bother you].

This is puzzling because it seems to suggest that a gerund is both a verb and a noun.
Abney (1987) argues that a gerund starts as a verb in the syntax but that, at a
point further along in the syntax, it becomes a noun. For the ‘poss-ing’ gerund, the
nominalization occurs above the VP but before the TP. In this way, a gerund can be a

186
verb on the ‘inside’ but a noun on the ‘outside.’ One of the reasons that Abney argues
that the nominalization occurs above the VP for ‘poss-ing’ gerunds is that there must
be a VP with a V to assign accusative case to the object of the gerund and for there
to be adverbial modification. One of the arguments that nominalization occurs before
TP involves the case of the subject. In a simple sentence like the one in (87-a), the
subject receives nominative case from T. In the gerund in (87-b), however, the subject
gets genitive case and cannot have nominative case, (87-c). An explanation for this
set of facts is that there is no T to license the nominative case for the subject in
gerunds.

(87) a. He met her.

b. His meeting her...
c. *He meeting her...

Another reason that this analysis seems plausible is that gerunds are not inflected
for tense, which is assumed to be located in T. Evidence for this can be seen in (88)
where gerunds are compatible with past, present and future oriented adverbs. Note
that the gerund form stays the same here, i.e. there is no morphological change to
match the changing temporal interpretation.

(88) a. his meeting her yesterday...

b. his meeting her today...
c. his meeting her tomorrow...

The constructions in (83), like English ‘poss-ing’ and ‘acc-ing’ gerunds, have prop-
erties of both verbs and nouns. Specifically, like verbs, they case mark their objects
with accusative case, (89-a), and are modified by adverbs, (89-b).17
17
Malayalam verbs assign accusative case to their objects, (i-a). Nouns, on the other hand, cannot
assign accusative case to their object: the object of the noun in (i-b) is marked with genitive case
and not accusative case, (i-c).

(i) a. anu nithin-e null-i.

Anu nithin-ACC pinch-PAST
‘Anu pinched Nithin.’

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(89) a. vinu asha-ye kaandumutt-unn-∅-athu...
Vinu Asha-ACC meet- IMPFV-PRES-NOMLZ
‘Vinu’s meeting Asha...’
b. melle avan kazhikk-unn-∅-athu...
slowly he eating- IMPFV-PRES-NOMLZ
‘His eating slowly...’

They also look nominal in that they can be case marked themselves, (90-a), and can
appear in the subject position of an embedded clause, (90-b).

(90) a. [njaan paranj-ath]-ine avan ethirtth-u

I say-PAST-NOMLZ-ACC he oppose-PAST
‘He opposed what I said.’ (Asher & Kumari 1997 p43: 185)
b. [divaseena niinth-unn-∅-athu aaroogyatth-innu nall-athu
daily swim- IMPFV-PRES-NOMLZ health-DAT
aanu ennu] njaan vicharicch-u
good-NOMLZ be.PRES COMP I think-PAST
‘I thought that swimming daily is good for the health.’ (cf. Asher &
Kumari 1997 p42: 178)

While, at first glance, -athu constructions might look like English gerunds, the data

b. nakarat-inte naasam
city-GEN destruction
‘destruction of the city’
c. *nakarat-ine naasam
city-ACC destruction
‘destruction of the city’
d. kodumkatt-inaal nakarat-inu/*nakarat-inte naasam
storm-INST city-DAT/city-GEN destruction
‘destruction of the city by the storm’

Malayalam verbs can also be modified by adverbs, (ii-a), while nouns cannot be, (ii-b). Instead they
are modified by adjectives, (ii-c).

(ii) a. melle njaan kulikk-unnu-∅.

slowly I bathe-IMPFV-PRES
‘I bathe slowly.’
b. *melle kuli
slowly bath
‘slow bath’
c. melle ull-a kuli
slowly be-REL bath
‘slow bath’

188
above present two challenges. First, examples (83),(i-a), (89) and (90) show that these
constructions, unlike those in English, license a nominative subject not a genitive one
as in ‘poss-ing’ gerunds or the accusative found in ‘acc-ing’ gerunds. Secondly, all
of the Malayalam -athu constructions, tense morphology is appearing, which is also
different from both types of English gerunds.18 This suggests that a different account
than those proposed by Abney for English gerunds for Malayalam -athu constructions
is needed. English gerunds have been argued to be nominalized before TP since they
lack tense morphology and cannot be marked with nominative case. By the same
logic, it is possilbe to argue that Malayalam gerunds do, in fact, have a TP present
in the syntax since they have both tense morphology and nominative subjects. If this
is so, then it is possible to say that nominalization takes place somewhere after, not
before, the TP.
There is precedent for such a move in work by Borsley & Kornfilt (2000) and
Baker (2011). The basic idea present here is that, given the expansion of functional
categories assumed in the current literature, nominalization should, in principle, be
able to occur at the level of any of these functional projections. In other words, there
are now many more sites in the functional structure where a nominal head could be
substituted for its verbal counterpart, i.e. for nominalization to occur. Baker (2011)
investigates the Turkish language Sakha and finds that it has something that looks
like an English ‘poss-ing’ gerund, as well as another type of construction that is ‘more
verbal’ than an English gerund construction, yet still has more nominal properties
than an embedded finite clause. He argues that this construction involves nominal-
ization at the CP-level. The next section will present arguments that nominalizations
like those in Malayalam -athu constructions also occur at the CP-level. The main
evidence for this hypothesis comes from a comparison with the behavior of relative
18
There is a difference in that nominative, not accusative, is the default case in Malayalam.

(i) njaan viroopay-oo?

I ugly-Q
‘Me ugly!?’

It is possible that the subjects in -athu constructions simply receive default case; however, the same
explanation cannot explain away the presence of tense morphology in these constructions.

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clauses in Malayalam.

4.4.2 Comparison of Malayalam nominalizations & relative

clauses

This section begins with a summary of some basic facts about Malayalam relative
clauses. There are two types of relative clauses in Malayalam. The first type is formed
by suffixing the relativizer morpheme a to the end of the verbal complex. This can
simply be a tense suffix as in (91-a)-(91-b) or a modal suffix like the debitive, (91-c).
The relative clause precedes the head noun. This construction will be referred to here
as a ‘type I’ relative clause.

(91) a. [joon kan-unn-∅-a] kutti

John see-IMPFV-PRES-REL child
‘The child whom John sees’ (Mathew 2007, p227: 1)
b. [joon kand-a] kutti
John see.PAST-REL child
‘The child whom John saw.’
c. [kaan-eend-a] kaazhcha-kal
see-DEB-REL sight-PL
‘sights that (one) should see’(Asher & Kumari 1997, p327: 1619)

In the second type of relative clause, there is no head noun that the relative clause
modifies. Instead, an agreement suffix for number and gender is added directly to the
relativizer, (92).19,20,21 These relative clauses, instead of providing additional infor-
19
Third person pronouns (avan ‘he’, aval ‘she’, avar ‘they’, athu ‘it’) in Malayalam are created
from distal/proximal markers plus the number and gender agreement morphemes (Mathew 2007,
p232: fn4). Menon (2013) says that REL a is also derived from the proto-Dravidian distal marker
aa.
20
Past tense forms can also have this done to them: i.e. vann-a-van ‘the person (MASC) who
came’ etc.
21
According to Asher & Kumari the neuter form is commonly also used to refer to human beings
and provide the example in (i). However, this is a clefted question and so may not be the best
example, as examples further own suggest.

(i) aa var-unn-∅-a-thu aaru aanu

that come-IMPFV-PRES-REL-SG.NEUT who be.PRES
‘Who is that person who is coming?’ (Asher & Kumari 1997, p328: 1624)

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mation about a particular noun, provide more general information about ‘whoever’ is
doing the action. These constructions will be referred to as ‘type II’ relative clauses.

(92) a. var-unn-∅-a-van
come-IMPFV-PRES-REL-SG.MASC
‘the person (MASC) who is coming’
b. var-unn-∅-a-val
come-IMPFV-PRES-REL-SG.FEM
‘the person (FEM) who is coming’
c. var-unn-∅-a-var
come-IMPFV-PRES-REL-PL
‘the people who is coming’
d. var-unn-∅-a-thu
come-IMPFV-PRES-REL-SG.NEUT
‘the person who is coming’ (Asher & Kumari 1997, p328)

The critical point to note is that the form in (92-d) looks identical to the -athu form
seen above. Based on this similarity, one can hypothesize that the athu morphology
that was previously glossed as a nominalizer is in fact the relativizer plus number and
person agreement.

Mathew (2007) argues that the relativizer morpheme, -a, has interpretable, un-
valued phi-features based on the fact that it must always occur with either a head
noun or an agreement suffix, (93). She takes this to mean that there is, in fact, only
one type of relative clause and, in type II relative clauses, the agreement morpheme
is playing the same role as the head noun in type I relative clauses.

(93) a. kan-unn-∅-a kutti

see-IMPFV-PRES-REL child
‘the child who sees’
b. kan-unn-∅-a-van
see-IMPFV-PRES-REL-MASC.SG
‘one (MASC) who sees’
c. kan-unn-∅-PRES-a *(kutti)
see-IMPFV-REL child
(Mathew 2007, p230:9)

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Several additional evidence for the reanalysis of the ‘nominalizer’ morpheme into the
relativizer plus number and gender agreement are as follows. To begin with, there
is precedent for bifurcationing the nominalizer morpheme in that Raja Raja Varma
(1917) assumed it. The first additional piece of evidence for this bifurcation is the fact
that the agreement component of the nominalizer morpheme changes with the type
of agreement used in the clause. Examples (94)-(97) show that when the nominalized
clause can be replaced with a neuter pronoun, the neuter suffix thu is required. On
the other hand, when the nominalized clause can be replaced with an animate, here
masculine, pronoun, an animate pronoun is required. The sentences in (94)-(95)22
show nominalized clauses in subject position, while those in (96)-(97) show them in
direct object position.

(94) a. [newspaper konduvar-unn-∅-a-van] udane var-um.

newspaper bring-IMPFV-PRES-REL-MASC.SG soon come-FUT
‘The guy bringing the newspaper will come soon.’
b. *[newspaper konduvar-unn-∅-a-thu] udane var-um.
newspaper bring-IMPFV-PRES-REL-NEUT.SG soon come-FUT
‘The person bringing the newspaper will come soon.’
c. [newspaper konduvar-unn-∅-a-yaal] udane
newspaper bring-IMPFV-PRES-REL-NEUT.SG-INST soon
var-um.
come-FUT
‘The thing bringing the newspaper will come soon.’ [in a world where
robots deliver the paper]

(95) a. *[newspaper konduvar-unn-∅-a-van] nann-aayi.

newspaper bring- IMPFV-PRES-REL-MASC.SG

good-is
‘The guy bring the newspaper has become good’

22
It is a bit puzzling why, with the predicate in (95), why it is not possible to have masculine
agreement in (a) given the data in (i).

(i) avan nann-aayi.

He good-be.PAST
‘He became good.’

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 b. [newspaper konduvar-unn-∅-a-thu] nann-aayi.
newspaper bring-IMPFV-PRES-REL-NEUT.SG good-is
‘Bringing the newspaper is good.’

(96) a. [(vinu) asha-ye sneehikk-unn-∅-a-thu] njaan

Vinu Asha-ACC love-IMPFV-PRES-REL-NEUT.SG I
ethirtth-u.
oppose-PAST
‘I opposed Vinu’s loving Asha.’
b. [(*vinu) asha-ye sneehikk-unn-∅-a-van]-e njaan
Vinu Asha-ACC love-IMPFV-PRES-REL-MASC.SG-ACC I
ethirtth-u.
oppose-PAST
‘I opposed the person who loves Asha loving Asha.’ #‘I opposed Vinu’s
loving Asha.’

(97) a. Vinu [newspaper konduvar-unn-∅-a-van]-e

Vinu newspaper bring-IMPFV-PRES-REL-MASC.SG-ACC
adikk-um.
beat-FUT
‘Vinu will beat the guy bringing the newspaper.’
b. *Vinu [newspaper konduvar-unn-∅-a-thu]-e
Vinu newspaper bring-IMPFV-PRES-REL-NEUT.SG-ACC
adikk-um.
beat-FUT
‘Vinu will beat the person bringing the newspaper.’

The sentences in (98)-(99)23 show the same pattern holds when nominalized clauses
are in indirect object position: the agreement ending matches the type of pronoun
that could be substituted for the clause.

(98) a. njaan [avan var-unn-∅-a-thu] calendar-il

I he come-IMPFV-PRES-REL-NEUT.SG calendar-LOC
ezhuth-i.
write-PAST
‘I put his coming on the calendar.’
b. *njaan [(avan) var-unn-∅-a-van] calendar-il
I he come-IMPFV-PRES-REL-MASC.SG calendar-LOC

23
Since the dative ending and the neuter singular ending are the same its difficult to say if the
-athu clause is case marking or not in (99-b).

193
 ezhuth-i.
write-PAST
‘I put his coming on the calendar.’

(99) a. Vinu [newspaper konduvar-unn-∅-a-van]-u pustakam

Vinu newspaper bring-IMPFV-PRES-REL-MASC.SG-DAT book
kodukk-um
give-FUT
‘Vinu will give a book to the guy who is bringing the newspaper.’
b. *Vinu [newspaper konduvar-unn-∅-a-th-]u
Vinu newspaper bring-IMPFV1-PRES-REL-NEUT.SG-DAT
pustakam kodukk-um
book give-FUT
‘Vinu will give a book to the person who is bringing the newspaper.’

If the nominalizer morpheme is really the relative marker plus the same agreement
morphemes used in type II relative clauses, then the pattern in (94)-(99) is exactly
what we would expect.
Another piece of evidence in favor of a relative clause plus agreement analysis of
nominalized clauses is the morphological shape of the ‘being’ verb in the nominal-
ization, (100). The matrix verb form of the verb in (100-a) is given in (101). Here
the form is undu. In (100-a) the form changes and is the same as the form used in
relative clauses, (100-b).

(100) a. [nii terru ceyth-itt-ull-a-thu...]

you wrong do.PART-itt-PRES-REL-NEUT.SG
‘...that you have done wrong.’ (Asher & Kumari 1997, p51: 243b)
b. avide ull-a kutti-kal
there be-REL child-PL
‘the children who are there’ (Asher & Kumari 1997, p337)

(101) nii terru ceyth-itt-undu.

you wrong do.PART-itt-be.PRES
‘You have done wrong.’

A third piece of evidence for a bifurcated account comes from examples (102)-(107).
Here both types of relative clauses and -athu constructions pattern the same way
with respect to tense and negation. Example (102) shows that the relativizer in both

194
type I and type II relative clauses, as well as the ‘nominalizer’ morpheme attach to
the null present tense morpheme that goes with the imperfective aspect morpheme
when no tense auxiliary is there.

(102) a. joon kan-unn-∅-a kutti

John see-IMPFV-PRES-REL child
‘The child whom John sees’ (Mathew 2007, p227, 1)
b. var-unn-∅-a-van
come-IMPFV-PRES-REL-SG.MASC
‘the person (MASC) who is coming’
c. [nii koozha vaang-unn-∅-a-thu] ellaavarum
you bribe take-IMPFV-PRES-REL-NEUT.SG all
ariy-um
know-FUT
‘Everyone knows that you take bribes.’

The data in (103) shows us that the relativizer in both types of relative clauses and
the ‘nominalizer’ morpheme attach to past tense verbs.

(103) a. joon kand-a kutti

John see.PAST-REL child
‘The child whom John saw’
b. vann-a-van
come.PAST-REL-SG.MASC
‘the person (MASC) who came’
c. [nii koozha vaang-iy-a-thu] ellaavarum ariy-um
you bribe take-PAST- REL-NEUT.SG all know-FUT
‘Everyone knows that you took bribes.’ (Asher & Kumari 1997, p51:
239)

The relativizer cannot attach to the future morpheme in either type of relative clause.
The same facts hold for the ‘nominalizer’ morpheme.

(104) a. *[njaan kaan-um-a] kutti

I see-FUT-REL child
‘(the) child that I will see’(Jayaseelan 2014: 9, p195)

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 b. *var-um-a-van
come-FUT-REL-MASC.SG
‘the one who is coming’
c. *[nii koozha vaang-um-a-thu] ellaavarum ariy-um
you bribe take-FUT- REL-NEUT.SG all know-FUT
‘Everyone knows that you will take bribes.’

Instead, the periphrastic future composed from the infinitive plus the present tense
of the verb pook - ‘go’ must be used in both types of relative clauses and in the
‘nominalized’ form, (105).

(105) a. john kan-aan pook-unn-∅-a kutti

John see-INF go-IMPFV-PRES-REL child
‘(the) child John is going to see’
b. var-aan pook-unnu-∅-a-van
come-INF go-IMPFVPRES-REL-MASC.SG
‘The one who is going to come.’
c. [nii koozha vaangaan pook-unn-∅-a-thu] ellaavarum
you bribe take-INF go-IMPFV-PRES-REL-NEUT.SG all
ariy-um.
know-FUT
‘Everyone knows that you are going to take bribes.’

Turning now to negation, example (106) shows that neither type I nor II relative
clauses nor the ‘nominalizer’ can be used with the illa form of negation.

(106) a. *njaan kand-a illa kutti.

I see.PAST-REL NEG child
‘the child that I didn’t see’ (Jayaseelan 2014: 23, p200)
b. *van-a-van illa
come.PAST-REL-MASC.SG NEG
‘the one who did not come’
c. *[nii koozha vaang-unn-∅-a-thu illa] ellaavarum
you bribe take-IMPFV-PRES-REL-NEUT.SG NEG all
ariy-um
know-FUT
‘Everyone knows that you do not take bribes.’

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Instead, the aa- negation must be used in both type I and II relative clauses and
‘nominalized’ forms, (107).

(107) a. njaan kan-aatth-a kutti.

I see-NEG-REL child
‘the child that I don’t/didn’t/will not see’
b. var-aatth-a-van
come-NEG-REL-MASC.SG
‘the one who is/was/will not (be) coming.’
c. [nii koozha vaang-aath-a-thu] ellaavarum ariy-um
you bribe take-NEG- REL-NEUT.SG all know-FUT
‘Everyone knows that you do/did/will not take bribes.’

This identical pattern with respect to tense and negation suggests that what have been
called ‘nominalized’ clauses are in fact simply relative clauses. Here two possible
assumptions could be made: either these constructions could be headless relative
clauses where the relativizer a spells out a C head, or they could simply involve adding
a pronominal form which acts as a high-level nominalizer that nominalizes clauses at a
level higher than the TP. This section has presented arguments in favor of bifurcating
the ‘nominalizer’ morpheme in Malayalam into the relative marker and an agreement
suffix using evidence from agreement, morphological shape and tense and negation.
As such, it concludes that -athu constructions are actually a type of relative clause,
where nominalization happens at the CP-level. Such a conclusion is not unexpected
given that nominalization should be able to occur at any of the increased number of
functional projections now assumed. The next section will provide language internal
evidence from adjectives that Malayalam uses relative clauses for more purposes than
English does.

4.4.3 Adjectives as relative clauses in Malayalam

Anandan (1985), Hany Babu (1997), Mathew (2007), Menon & Pancheva (2014),
Menon (2016), a.o. have pointed out that most, if not all, adjectives in Malay-
alam are types of relative clauses. In this way, the use of relative clause structure

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for purposes beyond English-style relative clauses seems to be a general property
of Malayalam. This section highlights some similarities between adjectives, relative
clauses and nominalized clauses. For instance, relative clauses in Malayalam must be
followed by a noun or have an agreement morpheme attached to the relativizer, as
discussed above. Example (108) shows that adjectives follow the same pattern. If the
head noun follows the adjective, no agreement suffix is required, (108-a). However,
if the noun being modified precedes the adjective or is absent an agreement suffix is
required or the phrase is ungrammatical,(108-b)-(108-f).

(108) a. idu valiy-a miin aanu

this big-REL fish be.PRES
‘this is a big fish’
b. miin valiy-a-thu aanu
fish big-REL-NEUT.SG be.PRES
‘fish is big’
c. vinu valiy-a-van aanu
Vinu big-REL-MASC.SG be.PRES
‘Vinu is big’
d. *miin valiy-a aanu
fish big-REL be.PRES
‘fish is big’ (Mathew 2007, p231: 13)
e. *valiy-a aanu
big-REL be.PRES
‘It is big.’
f. valiy-a-thu aanu
big-REL-MASC.SG be.PRES
‘It is big.’

Observe that the -athu constructions in Malayalam do not have any noun following
them that they are modifying. This explains why they must have an agreement suffix,
(109-b). Notice that in the English translation the word ‘what’ is used. However,
no such word is present in the Malayalam sentence in (109-a). Instead, it is the
agreement that is playing this roll in Malayalam.

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(109) a. [njaan parannj-a-th]-ine avan ethirtth-u
I say.PAST-REL.NEUT.SG-ACC he oppose-PAST
‘He opposed what I said.’
b. *[njaan parannj-a]-(y)ine avan ethirtth-u
I say.PAST-REL-ACC he oppose-PAST
‘He opposed what I said.’

In conclusion, this section has shown that nominalized clauses, relative clauses and
adjectives all require number and gender agreement morphology to be attached to
the relativizer when they do not precede the noun they modify. This suggests that
Malayalam, in general, uses a relativization strategy for more purposes than English
does.
Given the identical behavior of relative clauses, adjectives and nominalized clauses,
it seems quite reasonable to assume that these nominalizations occur at the CP-level.
As such, these nominalizations say nothing about whether or not there is a TP in
Malayalam.

4.5 Chapter Summary

This main focus of this chapter has been to provide the empirical facts regarding
the different non-finite forms in Malayalam and the theoretical implications of these
facts. First it was shown that ‘finiteness’ does not seem to be the governing factor
in determining the use of negation in Malayalam since main verb ‘finite’ clauses can
have both illa and aa- negation, albeit with a slight meaning difference according
to Mathew’s (2014) translations. Then the properties of non-main verb uses of uka
construction were examined. Chapter 3 argued that when uka is part of the main
verb in a sentence it is a progressive marker. This chapter showed that it also has a
use as a progressive participle. In this use, while having some properties of nouns, it
seems to more closely pattern the distribution of adjectives.
The second non-finite construction to be examined is that of the Conjunctive/Adverbial
Participle Construction. A primary concern with these constructions was how their
temporal semantics are obtained. The first section showed that the Conjunctive Par-

199
ticiple u/i marker is, in fact, neither a perfective nor a past tense marker. This
opened the option that it is semantically vacuous. The following section explored
the plausibility of this option. It showed that Conjunctive Participles are structurally
small, roughly vPs, and that multi-verb constructions are semantically underspecified
for tense and viewpoint aspect and require the clauses involved to be pragmatically
linked either via causation, manner or sequence of events. The third section argued
instead for a modified version of a Stump (1985) style approach. It showed that both
English absolutives and Malayalam Conjunctive Participles have pragmatic licensing
requirements, can occur in a number of positions in the sentence and are semantically
indeterminate with respect to temporality and gain their temporal interpretations
based on the event type, world knowledge, and iconicity. However, unlike English
absolutives, Malayalam Conjunctive Participles cannot occur with Individual Level
Predicates or multiple temporal adverbs. It was then proposed that possibly this is
because Malayalam Conjunctive Participles are structurally small.

The data presented here further argued against the tenseless account put forth by
Amritavalli & Jayaseelan (2005, et. seq.) where u/i is the perfective marker. Amri-
tavalli and Jayaseelan argue that the u/i in both main verbs and in Conjunctive Par-
ticiples is a perfective marker. Multi-verb constructions with sequential readings with
present or future interpretations have been one piece of evidence for their tenseless
account. They argue that since the Conjunctive Participle u/i in these constructions
cannot be a past tense marker, given its non-past meaning in these sentences, it is a
perfective marker. However, it was shown in this chapter that a given sentence using
this construction actually allows simultaneous readings, proper containment readings
and sequential readings. This serves as evidence against Amritavalli and Jayaseelan’s
account, strongly suggesting that these constructions actually are not evidence for
Malayalam being tenseless.

The next non-finite form examined, the athu nominalization, which has also been
used by Amritavalli and Jayaseelan to argue for a tenseless account for Malayalam.
Just looking at the similarities between athu nominalizations and English ‘poss-ing’
gerunds, one might be tempted to say that they are analog versions of each other.

200
However, unlike, ‘poss-ing’ gerunds, -athu nominalizations license a nominative sub-
ject not a genitive one. Secondly, in all of the Malayalam gerunds, tense morphology
is appearing, which is also different from English gerunds. Amritavalli and Jayasee-
lan interpret this last fact as signaling that this morphology is not actually tense but
rather aspect, since English ‘poss-ing’ gerunds cannot contain tense morphology.
However, following the arguments in chapter 3 that Malayalam does have tense
morphology/both [PRES] and [PAST] features in the syntax, the data in this chapter
suggests that a different account for Malayalam -athu ‘gerunds’ is needed than what
was proposed by Abney (1987). Specifically, English gerunds have been argued to be
nominalized before TP since they lack tense morphology and cannot be marked with
nominative case. By the same logic, it has been argued in this chapter that Malayalam
-athu ‘gerunds’ do, in fact, have a TP present in the syntax and that nominalization
simply takes place somewhere after, not before, the TP (cf. Borsley & Kornfilt 2000,
Baker 2011). The main evidence for this hypothesis came from similarities between
athu nominalizations and relative clauses. Since nominalization is possible above TP,
Amritavalli and Jayaseelan’s ‘embarrassment’ of having tense morphology present in
a gerund is no longer a problem and is, thus, not an argument against Malayalam
having tense morphology or a TP.
While flawed, Amritavalli & Jayaseelan’s (2005) account raised many important
questions about ‘finiteness.’ This notion is generally poorly understood, but gener-
ally one could say, however ‘finiteness’ is defined, that languages have a variety of
both ‘finite’ and ‘non-finite’ forms. The adverb and Individual Level Predicate data
provided in this paper highlighted a difference between the various ‘non-finite’ forms
in Malayalam: Conjunctive/Adverbial Participles and athu nominalizations and non-
finite uses of -uka and the -athu nominalizations. Work by Abney (1987) and Stump
(1985), a.o. has improved our understanding of different ‘non-finite’ forms in English.
This chapter has used those accounts as a spring board for accounting for ‘non-finite’
forms in Malayalam and outlined some of the open questions and challenges that
remain to be solved.

201
202
Chapter 5

The Perfect in Malayalam

The focus of this chapter will be the composition of the perfect in Malayalam. The
chapter will focus primarily on the Universal perfect, but will also examine the Ex-
istential perfect. Expressing the perfect in Malayalam requires a syntheses of almost
all of the moving parts explored in this dissertation so far, plus some additional ones.
As such, this chapter begins with a quick survey of the major relevant findings so far.
Chapter 3 argued that Malayalam is a tensed language whose sentences have TPs
and AspPs which can have [PRES], [PAST], [FUT/MOD], and [PROG], [IMPFV]
features respectively in their heads. The Vocabulary Insertion rules for these features
are giving in (1-a)-(1-e).

Vocabulary Insertion Rules (Version 3)

(1) a. -∅ ↔ [PRES]
b. -um ↔ [FUT/MOD]
c. -u/i ↔ [PAST]
d. -unnu ↔ [‘IMPFV’] (see chapter 3 for details)
e. -uka ↔ [PROG]
f. undu ↔ ∃ copula (also carries an immediacy requirement with location,
psychological and medical predicates)
g. aanu ↔ elsewhere copula

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The progressive morpheme uka has an intensional entry, as in many other languages,
(2). This chapter will mainly focus on verbs with the progressive, for reasons discussed
at the end of the chapter.

(2) λw.λt.λP<s,<v,t>> .∀w’[w INERTt w’ → ∃t’[t is a non-final part of t’ & ∃e[τ (e)⊆
t’ & P(w’)(e)]]] (Beck & von Stechow 2015, cf. Dowty, 1979)

Chapter 3 also argued that undu is the existential copula which is also used to express
possession. When it is used in location, psychological and medical predicates, it
carries an immediacy requirement (cf. Patel-Grosz’s (2016) immediacy requirement in
certain negative imperatives cross-linguistically), (1-f). The verb aanu was argued to
be the elsewhere copula, (1-g). Chapter 4 argued that the Conjunctive Participle
is syntactically small, the size of a vP and semantically underspecified for tense and
aspect. This summarizes the parts that have been examined so far.

In exploring the perfect, it is necessary to introduce two new pieces:

(3) a. non-lexical uses of the verb irikk - (‘sit’)

b. the functional morpheme kondu

This chapter will argue that irikk - never functions as a perfect marker (contra Asher
& Kumari 1997) in either Universal or Existential constructions. Instead, it has three
non-lexical, non-perfect uses: viewpoint aspect auxiliary, light verb (in the sense of
Butt (2010)) and ‘do’ support. It will also show that the function of kondu is to make
accomplishment predicates (what kondu selects for) into activity predicates (which
have the subinterval property) and that (unmarked) uses of the Universal perfect in
Malayalam require that predicates obtain the subinterval property via their lexical
aspect, not through viewpoint aspect alone. Throughout this thesis kondu is glossed
as LAM for Lexical Aspect Modifier. The main conclusion of this chapter will be that
Malayalam does not have PerfP in its syntax or any dedicated perfect morphology.

This chapter will begin with an overview of puzzle parsing the Universal perfect
presents. Section 2 examines the nature of kondu and what it is required in Universal

204
perfects. Section 3 examines the role of irikk - in Universal perfects, what have been
translated as Existential perfects by Asher & Kumari (1997) and ‘do’-support cases.
Section 4 concludes.

5.1 Introducing the puzzle

I will begin the discussion with the Universal (U) Perfect. As detailed in chapter
2, the semantics for the U perfect assumed in this chapter are those presented in
Iatridou et. al. (2003), where the function of the perfect is to set up a time span
called the Perfect Time Span (PTS). The left boundary (LB) of this time span is set
by an adverbial (since 1990, for 1 week, etc.) or by the context (for example, the
speaker’s birth). The right boundary (RB) of the time span is set by tense, as in
(4) for the present. Example (4-a) is the most natural way to answer the question
‘What have you been doing lately?’. The RB is also set by tense in past and future
perfect sentences in Malayalam, as (5)-(6) respectively show. The U perfect gets this
name because it requires that an event holds throughout the PTS (i.e. that there be
universal quantification over points in the time span.).

(4) a. njaan oru aazhcha aayi ii paper ezhuth-i-kkond-irikk-uka(y)-aanu

I one week ADV this paper have.been.writing
’I have been writing this paper for one week.’

b.

(5) a. njaan avan-e chovvazhcha kand-u. aa samayathe, avan oru

I he-ACC Tuesday see-PAST that time he one
aazhacha aayi aa paper ezhuth-i-kkond-irikk-uka(y)-aayirunnu.
week ADV that paper had.been.writting
‘I saw him last Tuesday. At that point, he had been writing the paper for
a week.’

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 b.

(6) a. vyaazhazhcha aak-umbol, njaan ii paper oru aazcha aayi

thrusday be-as.it.becomes I this paper a week ADV
ezhuth-i-kkond-irikk-uka(y)-aayirikkum
will.have.been.writing
‘On Thursday, I will have been writing this paper for a week.’

b.

Asher & Kumari (1997) gloss the morpheme, irikk -, as a perfect marker, used in both
the Universal and Existential perfect, and Hany Babu (2008) parses the form in (3)
as the conjunctive participle plus an auxiliary form (irikk -) plus the tense marking.
Given this, at first glance, one might think that the Malayalam Universal perfect
parallels the English one in using a progressive participle plus the perfect participle
of an auxiliary verb and then a tense auxiliary, as parsed in (7), to express a Universal
perfect.

(7) ezhuthi-kkond(u) irikk-uka(y) aanu

write-PROG.PART be-PRF.PART TENSE.AUX
cf. English ‘has been writing’

However, this dissertation argues that such a parse is incorrect for minimally the
following three reason. The first is that -uka is not a perfect participle; it is a pro-
gressive viewpoint aspect marker/progressive participle marker, as argued in chapters
3 and 4. Secondly, kondu is not a progressive marker; it is a lexical aspect modifier.
Finally, irikk - is not a perfect auxiliary; it is a viewpoint aspect auxiliary (glossed
AUX). Building the last two arguments will the focus of this chapter.

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5.2 kondu is not a progressive participle; it is a
lexical aspect modifier

Asher & Kumari (1997) cite kondu as the frozen Conjunctive Participle of the verb
koll - ‘take.’ Past intuitions about the function of kondu have, generally, been that it
is some kind of ‘continuousness’ marker (Mohanan 1983, Gopalkrishnan 1985, Asher
& Kumari 1997, Madhavan (2006), Jayaseelan 2003). Asher & Kumari (1997) call it
a progressive morpheme, and Jayaseelan (2003) states that it is an adverb meaning
‘when’ used to express the durative aspect.
This paper argues that kondu and uka are not both progressive viewpoint aspect
markers. First, chapter 3 argued that -uka is a genuine progressive viewpoint aspect
marker. One reason to think that kondu is not a progressive viewpoint aspect marker
is that it only occurs with conjunctive participles (which chapter 4 argues are vPs).
In other words, it has a much more restricted distribution than uka does. The genuine
progressive viewpoint aspect marker, -uka, is what occurs with finite verbs.
A key argument of this section, given in (section 5.2.1) is that the function of
kondu is to make accomplishment predicates (what kondu selects for) into activity
predicates (which have the subinterval property). From this comes the larger claim of
the chapter (discussed in section 5.2.2) that (unmarked) uses of the Universal perfect
in Malayalam require that predicates that have the subinterval property as a result
of their lexical aspect.

5.2.1 kondu and predicate type

In order to establish the claim that the function of kondu is to make accomplishment
predicates (what kondu selects for) into activity predicates (which have the subinterval
property) an examination of the behavior of kondu with different types of predicates
is required. The investigating will begin with the use of kondu with accomplishment
predicates.
The first relevant piece of data for accomplishment predicates comes from non-

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Universal perfect contexts with what this chapter will argue to be a light verb use of
irikk -. In these contexts, an ambiguity appears when there is no kondu in a sentence
with an accomplishment predicate. Example (8-a) shows that, without kondu, it is
not clear whether ‘Radha’ is still en route to the theater or if she is now sitting in
the theater. When kondu is added, (8-b), it is clear that she must be en route to the
theater. The sentence in (8-b) cannot be used when ‘Radha’ is sitting in the theater.
Context: You come to your friend Radha’s house to meet her, expecting to find
her there. When you get there she is not there. Her father tells you...

(8) a. raadha sinimu-kku pooy-irikk-uka(y)-aanu

Radha cinema-DAT go.PART-irikk-PROG-be.PRES
‘Radha has gone to the cinema.’ [en route to the theater or sitting in the
theater, we don’t know]
b. raadha sinimu-kku pooy-i-kkond-irikk-uka(y)-aanu
Radha cinema-DAT go-PART-LAM-irikk-PROG-be.PRES
‘Radha has gone to the cinema.’[she is on her way now but hasn’t yet
reached the theater]

Another example illustrating this point is given in (9). In the given context, the
speaker needs to use the kondu marked form,(9-a) since he/she wants to emphasize
that the action of learning is ongoing but not yet completed.1
Context: You are a foreigner learning Malayalam. You meet someone for the first
time. They are impressed with your Malayalam and say ‘So now you learned Malay-
alam.’ You want to emphasize in your reply that you did not fully learn Malayalam
yet; you are simply engaged in the long process of learning Malayalam.

(9) a. njaan malayalam padich-u-kond-irikk-uka(y)-aanu

I Malayalam learn-PART-LAM-irikk-PROG-be.PRES
‘I am engaged in the ongoing process of learning Malayalam.’ [though
speakers generally just translate it as ‘I am learning Malayalam.’]
b. #njaan Malayalam padikk-uka(y)-aanu
I Malayalam learn-PROG-be.PRES
1
The fact that the simple progressive form in (9-b) cannot be used here suggests that the pro-
gressive (-uka) is not completely parallel with that of the English progressive.

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 ‘I am learning Malayalam.’

In sum, the role of kondu in (8) and (9) is to indicate that the activity is still ongoing
and that ‘Radha’ in (8-b) has not yet reached endpoint of being in the theater and the
speaker in (9-a) has not yet reached the endpoint of knowing Malayalam. One might
put this in slightly more formal terms by saying that kondu modifies what would
otherwise be an accomplishment predicate and makes it into an activity predicate.

In stative predicates the use of kondu first coerces a stative predicate to an ac-
complishment predicate (since this is what kondu selects for) and then further coerces
that accomplishment predicate into an activity predicate. This process can be see in
(10).

Context: Asha and Unni had an arranged marriage three years ago. Asha’s mother
is very worried about her because she has not adjusted to Unni and his family despite
the fact that it has been three years.

(10) muunnu varsham-aayi asha unni-ye

three years-ADV Asha Unni-ACC
sneehicch-u-kond-irikk-uka(y)-aanu
love-PART-LAM-irikk-PROG-PRES
‘For three years Asha has been loving [doing duties of a wife for] Unni but
she has not yet succeeded in loving him [accepting/growing accustom to the
duties required of her].’

The use of kondu here makes this sentence not about Asha’s feelings but rather about
an activity that she is doing in order to reach an endpoint (becoming settled in her
husband’s family). This is the first coercion the predicate undergoes: from a stative
predicate to an accomplishment predicate. The fact that this first coercion occurs
suggests that kondu does indeed select for an accomplishment predicate.

The sentence comments that for a span of three years Asha has been doing the
actions/duties that a wife must do to be considered a good daughter-in-law/wife, but
she is still having difficulties performing or accepting those duties. In other words, she
is not settled in her role yet; she is still engaged in the process of moving towards that

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end. This is the second coercion from an accomplishment predicate into an activity
predicate.
Given all the coercion required to use kondu with a stative predicate, it should
come as no surprise that this is not the most natural way to express a Universal
perfect with a stative predicate in Malayalam. To express something about how long
Asha has loved Unni (say in response to a question about how long they have waited
before their families agreed to their marriage), the simple tenses of the progressive or
imperfective are used, (11).

(11) a. muunnu varsham-aayi asha unni-ye snehikk-unnu-∅

three years-ADV Asha Unni-ACC love-IMPFV-PRES
‘For three years, Asha has loved Unni.’ [lit. ‘For three years, Asha is
loving Unni.’]
b. muunnu varsham-aayi asha unni-ye snehikk-uka(y)-aanu
three years-ADV Asha Unni-ACC love-PROG-PRES
‘For three years, Asha has loved Unni.’ [lit. ‘For three years, Asha is
loving Unni.’]

The simple tense forms, unlike kondu, do not involve coercion and are, therefore, the
unmarked way to say a Universal perfect with a stative predicate.
Turning to activity predicates, when kondu is used with an activity predicate
in non-perfect contexts, it indicates that the activity is prolonged, (12). It is not
felicitous to say (12-b) in the case of a sudden shower or to inform someone that it
has started raining. The sentence in (12-a) is used in that case. Instead, (12-b) is
used in a context of a long/heavy rain. For example, it might be used by your mother
to caution you to take precautions (carry an umbrella, take a rain coat) or not to go
out because the rain is going on continuously and not stopping.2

(12) a. mazha peyy-uka(y)-aanu

rain fall-PROG-be.PRES
‘It is raining.’
2
Speakers, when presented the sentences in (12) out of the blue, will often say that there is no
difference. This is because they are translating them into English, where both seem to basically
mean ‘It is raining.’

210
 b. mazha peyth-u-kond-irikk-uka(y)-aanu
rain fall-PART-LAM-irikk-PROG-PRES
‘It is going on raining.’

Following the pattern from accomplishment and stative predicates, one could propose
that the use of kondu first coerces an activity predicate into an accomplishment
predicate (since this is what kondu selects for) and then coerces that accomplishment
predicate back into an activity predicate. The ‘prolonged’ feel that (12-b) has is the
result of this coercion. Evidence that this seems to be on the right track comes from
the addition of the emphatic particle, -ee. Speakers comment that the prolonged
feeling becomes more intense when this particle is attached to kondu, (13).

(13) mazha peyth-u-kond-ee irikk-uka(y)-aanu

rain fall-PART-LAM-irikk-PROG-PRES
‘It is going on raining.’ [emphasizes the prolonged feeling]

This is as expected given that the position of -ee determines its scope, as can be seen
in (14).

(14) a. njaan-ee var-aam

I-EMPH come-MOD
‘I will come.’
b. naale pattu manikk-ee var-uu
tomorrow ten o’clock-EMPH come-IMPER
‘Come at ten tomorrow.’
c. paray-aan-ee paatilla
say-INF-EMPH PROHIB
‘(You) should not talk.’
d. raaman ippoozh-ee var-unn-ull-uu
Raman now-EMPH come-IMPFV-be-EMPH
‘Raman is coming only now.’(Asher & Kumari 1997 p178: 868-869, 871-
873)

The simple tense forms, (15-a)-(15-b), on the other hand, do not involve any coercion.3
3
The (15-a) sentence is the most natural one to use here. Speakers point out that the (15-b)
sentence signals that the speaker wants to add some extra comment like ‘but even then (I didn’t
win any prize)/and now (I want to study more).’

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In Universal perfect contexts, speakers prefer simple tense form. The form using
kondu, (15-c), is viewed as ‘overly formal/bookish.’ Given the amount of ‘unnecessary’
(in the sense that activity predicates already have the subinterval property before
kondu is added) coercion involved, it is not at all surprising that speakers prefer the
simple tense forms.

(15) a. njaan oru varsham aayi paad-unnu-∅

I one year ADV sing-IMPFV-PRES
‘I have been singing for one year.’ [lit. ‘For one year, I am singing.’]
b. njaan oru varsham aayi paad-uka(y)-aanu
I one year ADV sing-PROG-be.PRES
‘I have been singing for one year.’ [lit. ‘For one year, I am singing.’]
c. njaan oru varsham aayi paad-i-kond-irikk-uka(y)-aanu
I one year ADV sing-PART-LAM-irikk-PROG-be.PRES
‘I have been singing for one year.’

In sum, this section has examined non-perfect and Universal perfect uses of kondu
with accomplishment, stative and activity predicates and shown that kondu selects for
an accomplishment predicate and then makes this predicate into an activity predicate.

5.2.2 Why use kondu in Universal perfects?

The question at this point why does Malayalam form the Universal perfect the way
it does? In answering this question, it is useful to compare and contrast the differ-
ent options Malayalam has for expressing Universal perfect readings with different
aspectual classes.
The past section showed that Universal perfects in Malayalam can be expressed
either with the morphology introduced in (7) or just with simple progressive or imper-
fective forms for stative and activity predicates. With stative and activity predicates,
these simple progressive or imperfective forms are, in fact, the unmarked way to
express the Universal perfect.
With accomplishment predicates, simple progressive or imperfective forms can
also be used, (16-b)-(16-c). However, here, the kondu marked form, (16-a), is the

212
unmarked form which is the most natural way to answer a question like ‘What have
you been doing lately?’. The use of the other forms is marked: especially when the
undu is there, (16-b) is an answer to the question ‘Are you reading that paper?.’
The sentences in (16-b)-(16-c), when said with stress on aazhcha ‘week,’ convey that
the speaker is stressed that the paper is not finished and that they are not neutral
statements.

(16) a. njaan oru aazhcha aayi ii paper

I one week ADV this paper
vaayicch-u-kond-irikk-uka(y)-aanu
read-PART-LAM-irikk-PROG-be.PRES
‘I have been reading this paper for one week.’
b. njaan oru aazhcha aayi ii paper vaayikk-unnu-∅/undu
I one week ADV this paper read-IMPFV-PRES/be.PRES
‘I have been reading this paper for one week.’
c. njaan oru aazhcha aayi ii paper vaayikk-uka(y)-aanu
I one week become this paper read-PROG-be.PRES
‘I have been reading this paper for one week.’

These observations lead to a major claim of this chapter: (unmarked) uses of the
Universal perfect in Malayalam require that predicates obtain the subinterval property
via their lexical aspect, not through viewpoint aspect alone. In the case of stative
and activity predicates, they both inherently have the subinterval property. As a
result, the unmarked way to express a Universal perfect with them is just to use the
simple progressive or imperfective form. Accomplishment predicates, on the other
hand, do not, by themselves, have the subinterval property. The function of kondu
is to make accomplishment predicates into predicates with the subinterval property
(derived activity predicates). These predicates then all have the subinterval property
via their lexical aspect.

Turning to the marked options, stative and activity predicates already have the
subinterval property by themselves, and the addition of kondu requires a lot of, gener-
ally, unnecessary coercion. That is why verb forms with kondu yield additional shades
of meaning beyond the basic meaning of the Universal perfect discussed in chapter 1.

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Accomplishment predicates with simple tenses do not have the subinterval property
via their lexical aspect. They get it from their progressive or imperfective viewpoint
aspect. The violation of the general requirement that Universal perfects have the
subinterval property via their lexical aspect results in these forms being marked in
some way, possibility information structurally.

5.3 irikk- is not a perfect auxiliary; instead it has

three functional, non-perfect uses

In addition to kondu, Universal perfect forms using this morphology also include a
morpheme, irikk -, whose meaning when used as a productive lexical verb is ‘sit.’ The
‘first-glance’ parse of the Universal perfect of an accomplishment predicate is given in
(17-a). The new and more accurate parse argued for in the previous section is given
in (17-b).

(17) a. vaayicchu-kond(u) irikk-uka(y) aanu

read-PROG.PART be-PERFECT.PART TENSE.AUX
cf. English ‘Has been reading’
b. vaayicch-u-kond(u) irikk-uka(y) aanu
read-PART-LAM ????-PROG be.PRES(TENSE.AUX)
‘

The use of irikk - in the Universal perfect and the purported Existential perfect con-
structions is examined in sections 5.3.1 and 5.3.2, respectively. It will be argued that
in the Universal perfect irikk - functions as a viewpoint aspect auxiliary. In the pur-
ported Existential perfect, its role is that of a light verb. Section 5.3.3 discusses the
use of irikk - as ‘do’ support with the vP level negation aa-. Section 5.3.4 summarizes
the arguments.

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5.3.1 irikk- as a viewpoint aspect auxiliary

This section has four main arguments against irikk - being a perfect auxiliary in Uni-
versal perfect sentences like (17-b). The first is that irikk - is minimally, not just a
perfect auxiliary; it has at least two other functional, non-perfect uses, namely, the
ones that will be seen below: light verb and has ‘do’ support.
The second argument against irikk - being a perfect auxiliary is that irikk - is in
the wrong morphological position in Universal perfects. To see this, look carefully at
the order of the morphology in (4-a), repeated here as (18). Irikk - occurs to the left
of both the progressive viewpoint aspect morphology and the present tense auxiliary.

(18) njaan oru aazhcha aayi ii paper

I one week ADV this paper
ezhuth-i-kkond-irikk-uka(y)-aanu
write-PART-LAM-AUX-PROG-be.PRES
‘I have been writing this paper for one week.’

Assuming the Mirror Principle Baker (1985) and that PerfP is located above AspP
(Iatridou et. al. 2002, Pancheva 2003, a.o.), irikk - is not in the right position to be
the spell out of stranded features a Perf head. If it was spelling out stranded features
on a Perf head, it should appear in between the viewpoint aspect marker, -uka, and
the tense auxiliary aanu. However, it does not appear in this position. The position
it does occur in, though, is the right position to be the spell out of stranded features
on an Asp head.
The third argument is that irikk - need not always be present in Universal perfects.
As was seen in section 5.2, Malayalam allows, and, depending on the verb type,
sometimes prefers, simple tense-aspect forms. This shows that, even if irikk - were a
perfect marker/auxiliary, it is not an obligatory one. Table 5.1 provides a summary
of these facts.

Predicate type Unmarked form Also possible

accomplishment predicate kondu+irikk - simple TA forms
stative & activity predicates simple TA forms kondu+irikk -

Table 5.1: Options for expressing Universal perfects in Malayalam

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 A forth argument is that sometimes irikk - is present in a non-perfect verb which
gains a Universal perfect reading in the presence of a durative adverb. Example (19-a)
is not a Universal perfect sentence. It just expresses that the paper writing feels like
it is never ending. However, when a durative adverb is added to the same sentence,
(19-b), the sentences expresses a Universal perfect reading. Since irikk - appears both
in a non-Universal perfect sentence like (19-a) and its Universal perfect counterpart,
(19-b), this further suggests that it is not a perfect auxiliary.

(19) a. njaan ii paper ezhuth-i-kkond-irikk-uka(y)-aanu

I this paper write-PART-LAM-AUX-PROG-be.PRES
‘I am writing and writing this paper.’
b. njaan oru aazhacha aayi ii paper
I one week ADV this paper
ezhuth-i-kkond-irikk-uka(y)-aanu
write-PART-LAM-AUX-PROG-be.PRES
‘I have been I am writing this paper for one week.’

While irikk - does not match the distribution of a perfect auxiliary, it does seem to
function as an auxiliary that is rescuing some stranded features on a head lower in
the clausal spine than Perf. The supporting evidence for this is that whenever kondu
appears, irikk - is obligatory. Example (20-a) shows that kondu marked verbs by
themselves cannot serve as main ‘finite’ verbs. Example (20-b) shows that viewpoint
aspect morphology cannot directly attach to a kondu marked verb. The unmarked
option with an accomplishment predicate for fixing these problems, is for irikk - to
be inserted between kondu and the progressive aspect marker -uka, (20-c). Another
option, though it is more semantically marked, is for the the simple present progressive
form, without kondu, to be used, (20-d). In the later case, no irikk - is present.

(20) a. *njaan oru aazhacha aayi ii paper ezhuth-i-kondu

I one week ADV this paper write-PART-LAM
‘I am writing and writing this paper.’
b. *njaan oru aazhacha aayi ii paper
I one week ADV this paper
ezhuth-i-kkond-uka(y)-aanu
write-PART-LAM-PROG-be.PRES

216
 ‘I am writing and writing this paper.’
c. njaan oru aazhacha aayi ii paper
I one week ADV this paper
ezhuth-i-kkond-irikk-uka(y)-aanu
write-PART-LAM-AUX-PROG-be.PRES
‘I am writing and writing this paper.’
d. njaan oru aazhcha aayi ii paper ezhuth-uka(y)-aanu
I one week ADV this paper write-PROG-be.PRES
‘I have been writing this paper for one week.’

In sum, irikk - is not obligatory in all Universal perfects, only those where kondu
appears. This is the kind of dependency that is expected if irikk - is an auxiliary that
is inserted to rescue stranded viewpoint aspect features. This stranding occurs when
the Lexical Aspect Modifier kondu intervenes between v and Asp, causing the v and
LAM heads to agree and stranding the features on the higher heads. This is shown
in (21). When kondu is not present, the progressive aspect feature is not stranded
because v and Asp can directly agree, resulting in the (20-d) form.

(21)

217
 This section has argued that irikk - in Universal perfects is not a perfect auxiliary
but a viewpoint aspect auxiliary. As such, all Universal perfects in Malayalam do not
have any perfect morphology/perfect auxiliary. This viewpoint aspect auxiliary use
is the first non-lexical use of irikk -.

5.3.2 Light Verb use of irikk-

The second non-lexical use of irikk - is found in what have been translated as Existen-
tial perfects by Asher & Kumari (1997). Specifically, the claim has been that there
are two morphological ways to express an Existential perfect in Malayalam, as shown
in (22).

(22) a. Conjunctive participle (PART) + ittu + tense forms of the existential

auxiliary undu

218
 b. Conjunctive participle (PART) + irikk - + aspect & tense morphology

However, this section will argue that form in (22-b) is not an Existential perfect form
but rather a light verb (LV) construction. There are a number of reasons, a priori,
to think that this reanalysis might be a possibility. First, ‘sit’ commonly functions
as a LV across languages (Hook & Pardeshi 2006). Secondly, LVs in Indo-Aryan
languages attach to the Conjunctive Participle form Butt and Lahiri (2013). The
examples above show that this is also the case for Malayalam, as what has been
glossed as PART in this paper is the Conjunctive Participle. Thirdly, irikk - has a
lexical use (‘sit’) in addition to its LV use and the LV use also inflects just like the
lexical use.4 Fourthly, LV uses of irikk - occur below tense and aspect which is the
expected place for LVs (Butt 2010, Butt & Lahiri 2013). Lastly, as can be seen below,
LV uses of irikk - indicate surprise, and/or unexpectedness (cf. Bangla bosh ‘sit’ (Basu
& Wilbur 2010)).
The final property of indicating surprise or unexpectedness provides a strong ar-
gument against irikk - being a perfect morpheme in the Existential perfect. The ar-
gument begins with the following observation: most speakers do not accept the form
in (22-b) with irikk - in Existential perfects and instead require the usual Existential
perfect form, given in (22-a), as shown in (23).

(23) aval randu-yirathi pathrandu mudal oru sankeerthanam pole anjhu

she two-thousand twelve since Oru Sankeerthanam Pole five
pravasyam vaayicch-itt-undu /vaayicch-irikk-unnu-∅
times read.PART-itt-be.PRS /read.PART-LV-IMPFV-PRES
‘She has read Oru Sankeerthanam Pole five times since 2012.’

However, the same speakers who find (23) with the (22-b) form unacceptable find (24)
to be completely natural with this form. If the (22-b) form is really an existential
perfect morphology, this is very surprising, as nothing in previous accounts of the
perfect predict that an Existential perfect should be licensed when an ‘instead of’
phrase is present but not licensed otherwise.

4
See Hook & Pardeshi (2006) for potential issues with this test for LVs.

219
(24) [randamoozham vaayikk-unn-∅-ath-inu pakaram] aval
Randamoozham read-IMPFV-PRES-NOMLZ-DAT instead she
randu-yirathi pathrandu mudal oru sankeerthanam pole anjhu pravasyam
two-thousand twelve since Oru Sankeerthanam Pole five times
vaayicch-irikk-unnu-∅ /vaayicch-itt-undu
read.PART-LV-IMPFV-PRES /read.PART-itt-be.PRES
‘She has read Oru Sankeerthanam Pole five times since 2012 instead of read-
ing Randamoozham.’

Insight into this puzzle comes from a persistent comment speakers have made. Every
time speakers have accepted the sentence in (23) using the (22-b) form, they have
commented that this sentence conveys a negative/sassy attitude. Speakers also make
this comment about (24).5 Again this comment about attitude is puzzling if irikk - in
(23) and (24) is a perfect morphology, since past accounts for the perfect do not make
any link between the use of the perfect and the attitude the speaker is conveying.
Empirically, while speakers’ first intuition is that the use of the (22-b) forms in (23)
and (24) conveys a negative attitude, it is possible for such sentences to convey a
positive attitude (for example, when the sentence is used in a context where a teacher
is praising one student for going above and beyond what was expected) or for them to
convey a neutral attitude (for example, when two equally good options for a reading
project were given and someone chose a book different than the one someone else
expected them to choose). This shows that the attitude the speakers conveys varies
with the context.
Looking more carefully at the different contexts where the (22-b) forms are li-
censed shows that the use of these forms is not directly linked to either ‘instead of’
phrases or a particular attitude on the part of the speaker but rather to the indi-
cation of surprise or unexpectedness. Speakers more readily accept (24) than (23)
due to the presence of the ‘instead of’ phrase because this phrase helps facilitate a
5
Thanks to Hany Babu for sending me his handouts, which is where I first came across this
puzzling set of data. Hany Babu (2008) provides similar sentences to (23) and (24), though those
sentences do not have the adverbial modifications added here and use different titles. He claims that
the (22-b) form is a perfect form but cannot be used for Existential perfect readings. However, he
then provides a sentence like (24), though again without the adverbial modifications, and says that
this sentence is totally acceptable and conveys that the speaker has a negative attitude. However,
(23) and (24) should equally be Existential perfects, thereby presenting the puzzle.

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context supporting surprise or unexpectedness. With just (23), speakers must infer
this context themselves. Malayalam is not the only language with these type of facts.
In Bangla, bosh ‘sit’ has both a main verb and a light verb use that expresses ‘the
sudden, unexpected initiation of an event’ (p7) (Basu and Wilbur (2010)). As with
Malayalam, it is more difficult to use bosh as a light verb in the Bangla equivalent
of (23) than it is in (24).6 This further suggests that the present account for Malay-
alam is on the right track. Two additional data points that support this analysis are
presented below.

The first data point was presented in section 5.2.1. It is repeated here as, (25-a).

Context: You come to your friend Radha’s house to meet her, expecting to find
her there. When you get there she is not there. Her father tells you....

(25) a. raadha sinimu-kku pooy-irikk-uka(y)-aanu

Radha cinema-DAT go.PART-irikk-PROG-be.PRES
‘Radha has gone to the cinema.’ [en route to the theater or sitting in
the theater, we don’t know]
b. #raadha sinimu-kku pooy-itt-undu
Radha cinema-DAT go.PART-itt-be.PRES
‘Radha has gone to the cinema.’

In this context, only the (22-b) form, the one using irikk -, is felicitous. The genuine
Existential perfect form, (22-a), is infelicitous in this context.7 Instead, the sentence
in (25-b) is the answer to the question ‘Has Radha ever gone to the cinema?’. The
sentence in (25-a) expresses that, contrary to your expectations, ‘Radha’ is not at
home; instead, she is at or on the way to the cinema.

The second additional example in support of the light verb use of irikk - comes
from a subtle variation in the way that the standard greeting can be answered. A
usual way to start a conversation with a Malayali who you have met before is to start
by asking the question in (26).

6
Thanks to Ishani Guha for her Bangla judgments.
7
See section 5.4 for a discussion on the meaning of ittu.

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(26) sugam aan-oo?
well be.PRES-Q
‘Are you well?’

It can be answered in at least three ways, given in (27). The most common one is
(27-a). After this, the next question will probably be kazhicch-oo ‘Did you eat?’ After
answering that question, a possible next question is the one in (28). This question
can be answered using any of the forms in (27). Speakers comment that the forms
in (27-b)-(27-c) are more polite than (27-a) when speaking about other people. This
is because they assume that the person asking the question has a genuine worry or
concern (a type of mild expectation) that the speaker’s parents might not be well,
which is why the person asking the question has made the inquiry. It is a way of
saying ‘Everything is really well.’ It shows happiness on the part of the speaker that
the person who asked her the question is taking care for the speaker’s family members.
If (27-a) is used to answer (28), there is an assumption that the person asking does
not actually care about the speaker’s parents, which is why is is viewed as less polite.

(27) a. sugam aanu

well be.PRES
‘I/they am/are well.’
b. sugam aay-irikk-unnu-∅
well be.PART-LV-IMPFV-PRES
‘I/they am/are well.’ [contrary to your doubt/worry]
c. sugam aay-itt-irikk-unnu-∅
well be.PART-LV1 -LV2 -IMPFV-PRES
‘I/they am/are well.’ [completely][contrary to your doubt/worry]

(28) achan-um amma-kk-um sugam aan-oo?

father.DAT-CONJ mother-DAT-CONJ well be.PRES-Q
‘Are your parents well?’

Oftentimes speakers will say that (27-b)-(27-c) are not felicitous responses when an-
swering a question about themselves. However, this is not, in fact, true. The response
in (27-c) is completely acceptable in a context where the speaker sees someone (say
at a function) whom he/she really likes and did not expect to see. When that person

222
asks the speaker (26), (27-c) is a perfectly natural response. Also, if a close friend or
family member asks (26), a speaker might also respond with (27-b) or (27-c) in cases
where she wants to convey that she is very happy that the friend or family member
is taking care/worrying about her.
Answering (26) with (27-a) does not have the same impolite overtones as it would
as an answer to (28) probably because it is more accepted that even people who do
not genuinely care have a social obligation to ask (26), while asking (28) shows at
least some attempt at showing care, even if it is not totally genuine. Example (27-a)
is probably the most preferred answered to (26) precisely because asking (26) is a
social obligation: the person asking may really care or not, but either way they are
socially obliged to ask.
In sum, what Asher & Kumari (1997) translate as Existential perfect uses of irikk -
are, in fact, light verb uses that express ‘surprise/unexpectedness’ in the purported
Existential perfect contexts. This accounts for an otherwise puzzling pattern of ac-
ceptability judgments. The fact that irikk - can be used as an auxiliary and a light
verb, in addition to its lexical use, in contemporary Malayalam is unsuprising as a
given verb in other South Asian languages, such as Urdu and Bangla, can function
as a LV, Aux and lexical verb usage (Butt & Lahiri 2013). One could formalize
these facts by proposing that LV irikk - spells out an Init head in a first phase syntax
Ramchand (2008), as Basu & Wilbur (2010) have argued for LV uses of Bangla bosh
‘sit’).

5.3.3 irikk- as ‘do’-support

The third and final functional use of irikk - is as ‘do’ support with the vP-level negation
aa-. When this negation is used, as in (29), irikk - must appear, even though the
positive sentences do not have an irikk -, (30). The irikk - in (29-a) is functioning
as the main, ‘finite’ verb in the sentence. Unlike with the LV use of irikk -, these
sentences carry no meaning of surprise or unexpectedness. LVs are also generally not
obligatory, which is not the case when aa- negation is present, as can be seen in (31).

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(29) a. rajan pazhum kazhikk-aath-irunn-u
Rajan banana eat-NEG-DO-PAST
‘Rajan did not eat a banana.’
b. kutti [PRO ood-aathe irikk-uvaan] sramicch-u
child run-NEG DO-INF try-PAST
‘The child tried not to run.’ (Amritavalli 2014: 26b)

(30) a. rajan pazhum kazhicch-u

Rajan banana eat-PAST
‘Rajan ate a banana.’
b. kutti [PRO ood-uvaan] sramicch-u
child run-INF try-PAST
‘The child tried to run.’

(31) a. *rajan pazhum kazhikk-aath-u

Rajan banana eat-NEG-PAST
‘Rajan did not eat a banana.’
b. *kutti [PRO ood-aath-uvaan] sramicch-u
child PRO run-NEG-INF try-PAST
‘The child tried not to run.’

One might object to a ‘do’ support analysis for the use of irikk - in (29) for the
following two reasons. First, one might wonder why irikk - is needed with infinitives,
(29-b), since this environment is not a place where ‘do’ support occurs in English.
Work by Bjorkman (2011) may provide some insight here. Bjorkman argues that ‘do’
support in English, Breton, Monese and the mainland Scandinavian languages occurs
when v is pronounced separately from V. This happens as a result of the locality
requirement on agreement with T, (32), conflicting with another language specific
requirement.

(32) T must be immediately local to any inflectional head X with which it has an
Agree relationship. (Bjorkman 2011 p196: 20)

One of Bjorkman’s main points is that ‘do’ support can look quite different from lan-
guage to language and need not occur as a last resort type operation (contra Chomsky
(1957), Chomsky (1991); Lasnik (1990); Pollock 1989; Bobaljik 1995; Embick & Noyer

224
2001, a.o.). This suggests that a more in-depth study of ‘do’ support in Malayalam
is required before the ‘do’ support analysis is rejected.8

Secondly, another fact which also indicates that further studies of ‘do’ support in
Malayalam would be insightful, is that Malayalam has a verb that means ‘do’ cheyy-
which also has some ‘do’ support like uses (Asher & Kumari 1997, Paul (2013)). A use
of cheyy- ‘do’ as ‘do’ support can be seen by examining the examples in (33). Finite
sentences cannot be coordinated in Malayalam, (33-a). Instead, the progressive, uka,
forms of the finite verbs are used. The conjunction marker um is added to them, and
the verb cheyy- ‘do’ is used as the main ‘finite’ verb, i.e. as ‘do’ support, (33-b).9
Just as with English ‘do’ support, no cheyy- is inserted when an auxiliary is already
present in the positive form, (34), (cf. John did not study history vs John was not
studying history).

(33) a. *vinu history padicch-u-yum anu veliyil kalicch-u-yum.

Vinu history study-PAST-CONJ Anu outside play-PAST-CONJ
‘Vinu studied history and Anu played outside.’
b. vinu history padikk-uka-yum anu veliyil kalikk-uka-yum
Vinu history study-PROG-CONJ Anu outside play-PROG-CONJ
cheyth-u.
do-PAST
‘Vinu studied history and Anu played outside.’

(34) vinu history padikk-uka-yum anu veliyil kalikk-uka-yum

Vinu history study-PROG-CONJ Anu outside play-PROG-CONJ

8
One might try to say that irikk- in (29) is functioning as some type of auxiliary. However, it
is not clear how saying irikk - here is an auxiliary would fair any better with the infinitive problem,
since there should not be any stranded tense features with an infinitive. Maybe, though, Malayalam
infinitives do have tense features (cf. Menon 2011) and this is playing a role. The main issue though
with this analysis is that the presence of negation does not cause auxiliaries (as defined by Bjorkman
2011, under review) to appear.
9
cheyy- ‘do’ also has a light verb use, (i-b), as well as a main verb use, (i-a).

(i) a. kuttikal innale endu cheyth-u?

kids yesterday what do-PAST
‘What did the kids do yesterday?’
b. sudha ayaal-e googil cheyth-appool aan-ee...
Sudha that-man-ACC Google do.PAST-at.that.time be.PRES-EMPH
‘It was (only) when Sudha googled that guy, that..’ (Paul 2013)

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 aayirunnu.
be.PAST
‘Vinu was studying history and Anu was playing outside.’

The different environments where ‘do’ support is found in Malayalam are linked with
a particular ‘do’ support verb: irikk - cannot be substituted for cheyy- in (33-b),
nor can cheyy- be substituted for irikk - in the examples in (29). These facts raise
a number of interesting questions that suggest that further studies of the different
types of ‘do’ support in Malayalam would be productive.

5.4 Implications for compositionality

Before moving on to the implications of the claims in this chapter for composition-
ality, this section will begin with a quick review of the main claims in the chapter
so far. Section 5.2 argued that the function of kondu is make accomplishment pred-
icates (what kondu selects for) into activity predicates (which have the subinterval
property) and that (unmarked) uses of the Universal perfect in Malayalam require
that predicates obtain the subinterval property via their lexical aspect, not through
viewpoint aspect alone. Section 5.3 argued that irikk - is never used as a perfect
marker. Instead, it has, in addition to its lexical use as a main verb meaning ‘sit’,
three non-perfect, functional uses: as a viewpoint aspect auxiliary in finite forms
containing kondu, as a light verb indicating surprise or unexpectednes in purported
‘Existential’ perfect forms, and as ‘do’ support with aa- negation.
The remainder of this section will situate this chapter within broader questions
regarding how compositional semantics work given cross-linguistic variation and the
nature of what the clausal spine can contain in human languages. Two main questions
will be focused on: first, how perfect semantics are obtained in the absence of perfect
morphology and second, how to differentiate between auxiliaries, light verbs and ‘do’
support.
This chapter has claimed that Malayalam always lacks perfect morphology in, at
least, the Universal perfect. If this is indeed correct, it raises questions about how

226
Universal perfect semantics are compositionally obtained when there is no perfect
morphology present. In moving this investigation forward, an important point is
that Malayalam is not alone in raising this question. For example, Greek (Iatridou
et. al. 2002), Turkish (Arslan-Kechriotis (2006)), and Georgian also lack perfect
morphology and instead use simple tenses in combination with durative adverbs to
express the Universal perfect. Examples from these languages are given below.10
The (b) examples in (35)-(37) show that, without the durative adverb, the sentences
simply have a present progressive meaning. When the durative adverb is added to
the same sentences, the meaning changes to that of a Universal perfect, (a) examples.
Turkish

(35) a. Bir haftadr bu makaleyi oku-yor-um.

One week.for this paper.ACC read-IMPFV-1sg
‘I have been reading this paper for one week.’ [lit. ‘I am reading this
paper for one week’]
b. Bu makaleyi oku-yor-um.
this paper.ACC read-IMPFV-1sg
‘I am reading this paper.’

Georgian

(36) a. (me) am tsigns erti kviraa vkitkhulob.

I.NOM this.DAT paper.DAT one week am.reading
‘I have been reading this paper for one week.’ [lit. ‘I am reading this
paper for one week’]
b. (me) am tsigns vkitkhulob.
I.NOM this.DAT paper.DAT am.reading
‘I am reading this paper.’

Greek

(37) a. diavazo afto to paper (gia) mia vdomada.

Read.PERS.1SG this the paper (for) a week

10
Thanks to Isa Bayirili (Turkish), Salome Shaverdashvilli (Georgian), Despina Ikonomou (Greek),
and Snejana Iovtcheva (Bulgarian) for their judgments.

227
 ‘I have been reading this paper for one week.’ [lit. ‘I am reading this
paper for one week’]
b. diavazo afto to paper.
Read.PERS.1SG this the paper
‘I am reading this paper.’

The lack of perfect morphology raises questions about whether or not Malayalam
(and the other languages) lack a PerfP and a perfect feature in the morphosyntax for
Universal perfect constructions.

Furthermore, some languages like Bulgarian (Iatridou et al 2002, Pancheva 2003,

2013) do have perfect morphology that can be used in the Universal perfect but, addi-
tionally, allow the simple tense forms of the progressive to be used, (38). What subtle
meaning differences exist between the possible Universal perfect forms in languages
like Bulgarian and Malayalam, in which there can be more than one option to choose
from, is another open question.

Bulgarian

(38) a. (az) cheta tazi kniga ot edna sedmica

I read.1SG.PRES this book from/since one week
‘I have been reading this book for one week.’ [lit. ‘I am reading this
book for one week’]
b. (az) cheta tazi kniga
I read.1SG.PRES this book
‘I have been reading this book.’

The possibility of using the simple tenses to express the Universal perfect in some
languages raises the question of why English cannot use simple tenses in the Universal
perfect, (39). The locus of this difference might be in the semantics of the perfect or
in the semantics of tense.

(39) a. *I am playing basketball since my childhood.

b. *I am writing this paper for one week.
c. *I am loving John since 2000.

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One question related to the perfect in Malayalam that this chapter leaves open is
whether or not there is perfect morphology in the Existential perfect. While Georgian
and Greek do not have perfect morphology in Universal perfects, they do have perfect
morphology in Existential perfects, (40)-(41).
Georgian

(40) a. (me) es tsigni tsavikitkhe

I.NOM this.NOM paper.NOM read.PAST
‘I read this paper.’
b. (me) es tsigni tsakitkhuli makvs
I.NOM this.NOM paper.NOM have.read before
‘I have read this paper before.’

Greek

(41) a. afto to arthro to diavasa htes

this the article it.CL read.PAST.1sg yesterday
‘I read this paper yesterday.’
b. afto to arthro to eho diavasi paliotera
this the article it.CL have.1SG read.PART in.the.past
‘I have read this paper before.’

Turkish, however, lacks any kind of perfect morphology whatsoever and, therefore,
only uses simple tense forms to express the Existential perfect, (42).

(42) a. Bu makaleyi oku-du-m

this paper.ACC read-PAST-1sg
‘I read this paper.’
b. Bu makaleyi daha.once oku-du-m
this paper.ACC before read-PAST-1sg
‘I have read this paper before.’

In order to figure out whether Malayalam is like Turkish (has no perfect morphology
at all) or like Greek/Georgian (has perfect morphology only in Universal perfects) a
closer examination of the (22-a) morphology (Conjunctive Participle + ittu + tense
forms of undu) must be conducted. The fact that Malayalam uses a participle plus

229
a copula with existential force in the Existential perfect is unsurprising. This leaves
the somewhat mysterious piece ittu.

Gaining an understanding of the contribution of the morpheme ittu is the crucial

task here. It is the past tense/Conjunctive Participle form of id - ‘put, drop (down)’.
Past intuitions have been that, beyond its lexical use, it has a functional use as a
perfective marker, which is the mirror opposite of the so-called ‘progressive’ marker,
kondu (Asher & Kumari 1997, Jayaseelan 2003). This chapter, though, has argued
against kondu being a progressive morpheme. Looking forward, there are some rea-
sons to doubt that ittu is a perfective viewpoint aspect marker.

First, ittu is not required to obtain perfective viewpoint aspect semantics on main
verbs in Malayalam. Chapter 2 argues that Malayalam lacks [perfective] features in
the syntax based on evidence from the distribution of auxiliaries and instead finite
verbs which lack [PROG] or [‘IMPFV’] viewpoint aspect features receive perfective
semantics via default mechanism. If ittu is the spell out of a [PERFV] viewpoint
aspect feature, then one would expect it to regularly occur when verbs express per-
fective viewpoint aspect. However, this is not the case, as the most common way
to express a finite perfecetive aspect in Malayalam is just by using the simple past
tense form (i.e. avan kazhicch-u ‘He ate.’), which obtains its perfective semantics via
a default mechanism.

Secondly, when ittu is the ‘final’ morpheme in a finite verb, it seems to function
as a light verb, which emphasizes completion, (43-b). This sentence could be used
in a context where a mom feels stressed because she has too many things to do and
the compound is a complete mess. She feels at the end of her rope and is wondering
what to do. Then when she comes home from work, she finds that her daughter has
cleaned the compound until it sparkles. She feels so happy that she tells her friend
(43-b) to express how through her daughter’s cleaning job was.

(43) a. aval muttam thuutth-u

she compound sweep-PAST
‘She swept the compound.’

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 b. aval muttam thuutth-itt-u
she compound sweep.PART-LV-PAST
‘She swept the compound.’ [completely] (Gopalkrishnan 1985 p180: 93)

That this light verb use should exist is not surprising, since ittu has a lexical coun-
terpart and the corresponding verb in Kannada and Telugu also has a light verb use
indicating completion11 . Additionally, in support of a light verb account is the fact
that ittu can co-occur with light verb uses of irikk - to indicate how completely well
the speaker is,(44-a).
The intuition that ittu and kondu are mirror opposites seems on the right track
in that they sometimes target a similar morphological position, i.e. between the
Conjunctive Participle and below either the light verb or viewpoint aspect use of
irikk -, (44).

(44) a. avar sugam aay-itt-irikk-unnu-∅

they well be.PART-LV1 -LV2 -IMPFV-PRES
‘They are well.’ [completely] [contrary to your doubt/worry] [emphasizes
‘wellness’]
b. njaan ii paper ezhuth-i-kkond-irikk-unnu-∅
I this paper write-PART-LAM-AUX-IMPFV-PRES
‘I am writing and writing this paper.’

The use of kondu and ittu in Conjunctive Participle Constructions also suggests that
this ‘mirror opposites’ intuition is on the right track. In a Conjunctive Participle
Construction where the Conjunctive Participle is unmarked with either kondu or
ittu, (45-a), and both predicates are non-instantaneous events, all three readings
(simultaneous, sequential or proper containment) are possible, as discussed in chapter
4 section 3. However, when kondu is added, as in (45-b), only a simultaneous reading
is possible.12 When ittu is added, only a sequential reading is allowed, (45-c).
11
Rahul Balusu, Madhu V., Sindhu Herur and Suma Kodandaram, (p.c.)
12
This chapter proposed that kondu is a lexical aspect modifier that selects for an accomplishment
predicate and then turns that predicate into an activity predicate. However, in (45) the Conjunctive
Participle is an activity predicate. This predicts that the same kind of prolonged feeling that kondu
creates with other activity predicates, due to coercing the activity predicate into an accomplishment
predicate and then back into an activity predicate, should be present in (45-b). Perhaps this is part
of why the addition of kondu indicates a simultaneous reading. However, it cannot be the whole

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(45) a. avan paatu keett-u paper ezhuth-i.
he song hear-PART paper write-PAST
‘He listened to music and wrote a paper.’[simultaneous, sequential or
proper containment]
b. avan paatu keett-u-kondu paper ezhuth-i.
he song hear-PART-LAM paper write-PAST
‘He listened to music while he wrote a paper.’[simultaneous reading only]
c. avan paatu keett-ittu paper ezhuth-i.
he song hear.PART-ittu paper write-PAST
‘He listened to music then wrote a paper.’ [sequential reading only]

In light of this apparent parallelism and ittu’s light verb uses, one might wonder if
kondu is a light verb. An additional reason for thinking that is that koll - ‘take’, the
lexical meaning of the form that kondu is etymologically related to, is a common
light verb across languages (Hook & Pardeshi 2006). However, Butt and Tantos
(2004) argue that light verbs always have a main verb counterpart, which kondu does
not in contemporary Malayalam. Hook and Pardeshi (2006) counter that languages
can have light verb ‘orphans’ and use Tamil kol - ‘hold, contain’ as an example. Butt
& Lahiri (2013) respond that a more careful investigation of these ‘orphan’ light verbs
is required to make sure that they are really light verbs in the sense that Butt and
coauthors use the term ‘light verb.’ As such, this thesis remains neutral concerning
whether or not kondu is a light verb in the sense meant by Butt and coauthors.
However, this parallelism does not always hold: ittu can appear in higher positions
in the clausal spine than kondu, (46). Here it occurs after both kondu and the
viewpoint aspect auxiliary use of irikk -.

(46) innale aathri avan valare neeram

yesterday night he much time
vaayicch-u-kond-irunn-itt-undaayirunnu
read-PART-LAM-AUX.PART-itt-be.PAST
‘Last night he had been reading for a long time.’ (Asher & Kumari 1997,

answer because it should, in principle, be possible to have a prolonged event proceeded/followed

by another event (sequential reading) or a prolonged event contained inside another longer event/a
shorter event contained inside the prolonged event (proper containment reading). In other words,
all three readings should still be possible in (45-b) given what has been said so far.

232
 p304: 1524)

Given that the use of ittu in (46) seems to fit that of an Existential perfect, one might
think that ittu can function as perfect morphology in Existential perfects, in addition
to having a light verb and lexical use. Some further support for such a position comes
from (47). The sentence in (47-b) is not a felicitous answer to the question in (47-a);
instead (47-c) must be used in this context.

(47) a. zoo-il pooy-itt-und-oo?

zoo-LOC go.PART-itt-be.PRES-Q
‘Have you gone to the zoo (before)?’
b. #zoo-il pooy-i
zoo-LOC go-PAST
‘I went to the zoo.’
c. zoo-il pooy-itt-undu
zoo-LOC go.PART-itt-be.PRES
‘I have gone to the zoo (before).’

Seeing as there are potential multiple uses of ittu, determining its semantic contribu-
tion in Existential perfects will be left to further research. Even if ittu turns out to be
a perfect morpheme, the Universal perfect in Malayalam still presents a puzzle for the
Principle of Compositionality (PoC). That PoC puzzle also exists cross-linguistically
in languages that Malayalam is not related, as summarized by Table 5.2 .

language language has obligatory morph obligatory morph has PoC

– perf morph in U perfs in E perfs puzzle
English yes yes yes no
Bulgarian yes no (multiple options) yes yes
Modern Greek yes no (cannot be used) yes yes
Georgian yes no (cannot be used) yes yes
Malayalam ??? no (either n/a ??? yes
- - or cannot be used) - -
Turkish no n/a n/a yes

Table 5.2: Perfects & the Principle of Compositionality

Looking forward, one hypothesis for solving the PoC puzzle is that languages
that allow non-perfect marked verbs to express perfect semantics rely more heavily

233
on aspectual information when no perfect morphology is present. There are at least
two reasons to think that this hypothesis might be on the right track. The first is
that Iatridou et al. (2002) have argued that the aspectual semantics of the verb
forms involved in expressing the perfect in Greek can explain why Greek cannot use
the perfect morphology it has for the U perfect. Secondly, the tenseless literature, as
outlined in chapter 2, has argued that tenseless languages use a combination of lexical
and/or viewpoint aspect, temporal adverbs and pragmatic mechanisms to obtain tense
semantics. It seems plausible that languages which lack perfect morphemes might tap
into the same type of mechanisms that tenseless languages use to convey temporal
semantics in the absence of tense morphemes.

A second question regarding the nature of the clausal spine has to do with the
function of light verbs, auxiliaries, and ‘do’ support. Though Malayalam lacks per-
fect morphology, at least in Universal perfects, it has a rich array of other verbal
morphology. Work by Butt (Butt (1995), et seq.) and Bjorkman (2011, under re-
view) has shed light on what labels such as ‘light verb,’ ‘auxiliary,’ and “do’ support’
actually mean and how morphemes should be assigned to one of these categories.
However, there is still much work to do. Further study of the following two puzzles
from Malayalam can potentially further contribute to this investigation.

The first puzzle has to do with why irikk -, as opposed to one of the ‘being’ verbs
(aanu or undu), is chosen as the aspect auxiliary in the Universal perfect. One idea
might be that Bjorkman (under review, 2011) is right that auxiliaries are present
only to rescue stranded features and therefore copulas like aanu may have no real
semantics of their own. Instead, they originate higher in the structure, simply as the
spell out of stranded tense features. This is in line with the argument in chapter
3 that aanu is the elsewhere copula in Malayalam. Undu, on the other hand, has
some semantic content (minimally existential content along with whatever triggers
the immediacy requirement in certain cases), in addition to spelling out stranded
tense features, but this content makes it less than ideal for use as a ‘low’ auxiliary.
Irikk -, though, has a fully lexical verb usage, which suggests it is built at a lower
point in the clausal structure, such as in the first phase (Ramchand 2008). Perhaps

234
this is why it is selected as the auxiliary for lower stranded Asp features. Much of
course, still needs to be worked out here.
A second puzzle is what governs the use of cheyy- ‘do’ versus irikk - ‘sit’ as ‘do’
support? A possible intuition to probe here comes from Aboh (2016). He argues
that Serial Verb Constructions (SVC) in Kwa languages (which involve a number of
different verbs) are created via auxiliation, (48).

(48) Auxiliation: ‘verbal form is combined with another verb form in order to
express TAM, quantification or introduce an additional argument[express]
cause, manner, instrument associated with V2, the main predicate’ (slide 26,
40)

He further argues that there are different locations of Auxiliation cross-linguistically:

main verbs in SVC in Kwa languages occur to the RIGHT of the Voice Projec-
tion while main verbs in SVC in Romance languages occur to the LEFT of the
Voice Projection. Some Creole languages combine these two strategies (Mufwene
(2001), Mufwene (2008); Aboh (2009), Aboh (2015), Aboh (2016)). For example,
since Haitian Creole has both the French LEFT and the Kwa RIGHT strategy, it can
use both at the same time. His claim is ‘all languages seem to display some form of
auxiliation that is very much like serialization.’ (slide 74). Jayaseelan (2004) points
out that what he calls SVCs in Malayalam (which includes irikk - in Universal perfect
constructions using kondu) often have aspectual and modal functions. In sum, more
careful work is needed to investigate the nature of perfects, auxiliaries, light verbs,
SVC, ‘do’ support and their implications for the clausal spine and the Principle of
Compositionality.

235
236
Chapter 6

Conclusion

This dissertation began with two broad questions: what type of cross-linguistic varia-
tion occurs and why do languages differ from one another in these particular ways? It
then focused on four known points of cross-linguistic variation in the verbal domain:
tense, aspect, finiteness and the perfect. The Dravidian language Malayalam served
as the case study for the dissertation.
After providing a summary of the background on tense, aspect and the perfect
assumed and a review of the tenseless literature in chapter 2, chapter 3 went on to
argue that Malayalam, indeed, has tense morphology and a TP. The evidence for
this claim came from adverb and context tests, Universal Perfects, the distribution of
auxiliaries and the obligatory nature of predicate copulas. It then pointed out that
Malayalam has two morphemes, one of which corresponds, to a progressive morpheme
and one of which seems to be an imperfective morpheme. However, it was then shown
that the ‘imperfective’ morpheme differs from standard imperfective morphemes in
allowing accidental generalizations and having an episodic nature. It was shown
that this this form is used when a situation involves multiple, temporally connected
episodes taking place within close succession, like an iterative. But it differs from
an iterative in that it cares that these iterations take place within another interval,
i, in the actual world. Because this interval has or gets the subinterval property, it
results in accidental generalizations over these episodes. Because the Topic Time is
contained in the Situation Time, this gives a Klein (1994) progressive meaning while

237
the ‘generalizing’ step that gives the progressive meaning also results in a report on
the state of things in the actual world, i.e. the ‘generic’ use of unnu. This results in
it having the appearance of an imperfective. The remainder of chapter 3 explored the
different uses of the two copulas in Malayalam. It showed that undu is the existential
copula also used to express possession. When it is used in location, psychological
and medical predicates, it expresses immediate situations (cf. Patel-Groszs (2016)
immediacy requirement in negative imperatives cross-linguistically). aanu was argued
to be the elsewhere copula.

Chapter 4 began with the question of how to differentiate non-finite forms from
each other in a given language. Its specific goal was to closely examine three specific
forms that have been classified as being non-finite in Malayalam, non-finite uses of
-uka, Conjunctive Participles and -athu nominalizations, in addition to the two types
of negation Malayalam has, one of which is generally seen as ‘finite’ and the other
as ’non-finite’. It showed that a characterization of negation in terms of finiteness
faces a number of problems and suggested that an account based on scope differences
might be a better option. It then examined the behavior of non-finite uses of -uka
and argued that these uses are progressive participles. It then turned to Conjunctive
Particles and argued that they are structurally small, roughly vPs, and it argued
that multi-verb constructions are semantically underspecified for tense and viewpoint
aspect and require the clauses involved to be pragmatically linked either via causation,
manner or sequence of events. It then claimed that these constructions are modified
version of a Stump (1985) style approach. Finally, it examined the behavior of -athu
nominalizations. This chapter argued that these forms are nominalization simply
takes place somewhere after, not before, the TP (cf. Borsley & Kornfilt 2000, Baker
2011). The main evidence for this hypothesis came from similarities between athu
nominalizations and relative clauses and the presense of tense morphemes in -athu
nominalizations.

Chapter 5 examined the perfect in Malayalam. It showed that there are a number
of ways to express a Universal perfect in Malayalam. Some of the options use the
morphemes kondu and irikk -. Chapter 5 examined the role of kondu in non-perfect

238
and Universal perfect uses with accomplishment, stative and activity predicates and
showed the function of kondu is make accomplishment predicates (what kondu se-
lects for) into activity predicates (which have the subinterval property) and that
(unmarked) uses of the Universal perfect in Malayalam require that predicates obtain
the subinterval property via their lexical aspect, not through viewpoint aspect alone.
It then showed that irikk - has three, non-perfect functional uses: as a viewpoint as-
pect auxiliary with kondu, as a light verb indicating ‘surprise/unexpectedness’ and
as a type of ‘do’ support. A major claim of this section is that Malayalam never
uses perfect morphology to express Universal perfects. The final section of chapter 5
situated this fact in the cross-linguistic perspective and considered the implications
this has for compositionality.

239
240
Appendix A

Additional differences between

-uka and -unnu undu

The data here are from Hany Babu & Madhavan 2003: 21-35.

stative verbs

(1) a. manju diliipan-e sneehikk-unn-undu

Manju Dileepan-ACC love-IMPFV-PRES
‘Manju loves Dileepan.’
b. nii paranj-a kaaryam njaan oorrkk-unn-undu
you say.PAST-REL matter I remember-IMPFV-PRES
‘I remember what you said.’

(2) a. *manju diliipan-e sneehikk-uka(y)-aanu

Manju Dileepan-ACC love-PROG-PRES
‘Manju loves Dileepan.’
b. *nii paranj-a kaaryam njaan oorrkk-uka(y)-aanu
you say.PAST-REL matter I remember-PROG.PRES
‘I remember what you said.’

manner advs

(3) a. omana nann-aayi paad-unn-undu

Omana good-adv sing-IMPFV-PRES
‘Omana is singing well.’

241
 b. omana (*nann-aayi) paad-uka(y)-aanu
Omana good-adv sing-PROG-PRES
‘Omana is singing well.’

non-agentive subject

(4) a. ente vaacchu nadakk-unn-undu

I.GEN watch walk-IMPFV-PRES
‘My watch is working.’ [lit. ‘My watch is walking.’]
b. aa peena ezhuth-unn-undu
that pen write-IMPFV-PRES
‘That pen writes.’

(5) a. *ente vaacchu nadakk-uka(y)-aanu

I.GEN watch walk-PROG-PRES
‘My watch is working.’ [lit. ‘My watch is walking.’]
b. *aa peena ezhuth-uka(y)-aanu
that pen write-PROG-PRES
‘That pen writes.’

unaccusatives

(6) a. avide pani (usaar-aayi) nadakk-uka(y)-aanu

there work (energetic-adv) walk-PROG-PRES
‘Work is going on very well there.’
b. avan pani nada-tth-uka(y)-aanu
he work walk-CAUS-PROG-PRES
‘He is managing the work.’
c. avan vallaathe moosam-aayi var-uka(y)-aanu
he very.much bad-adv come-PROG-PRES
‘He is becoming very weak.’

indefinite NPs

(7) a. puratthu oru aal nilkk-unn-undu

outside one man stand-IMPFV-PRES
‘There is a man standing outside.’
b. *puratthu oru aal nilkk-uka(y)-aanu
outside one man stand-PROG-PRES
‘There is a man standing outside.’

242
(8) a. oru aal puratthu nilkk-unn-undu
one man outside stand-IMPFV-PRES
‘One (of the men) is standing outside.’/‘There is a man standing outside.’
b. oru aal puratthu nilkk-uka(y)-aanu
one man outside stand-PROG-PRES
‘One (of the men) is standing outside.’

(9) a. puratthu oru aal undu

outside one man exists.PRES
‘There is a man outside.’
b. *puratthu oru aal aanu
outside one man is.PRES
‘There is a man outside.’
c. oru aal puratthu undu
one man outside exists.PRES
‘One man is outside.’/ ‘One (of the men) is outside.’
d. oru aal puratthu aanu
one man outside is.PRES
‘One (of the men) is outside.’

243
244
Appendix B

On the choice of -u or -i

One might ask why some verbs use -u as the past tense main verb forms/Conjunctive
Participle forms while other verbs use -i in these forms. Could this choice be phono-
logically conditioned? Past exploration of this question has included work such as
Kunjan Pillai (1965), Wickremasinghe & Menon (1932), Sekhar & Glazov (1961),
Asher (1969), Prabodhachandran Nayar (1972) and Valentine (1976). The general
assumption in these works is that the past tense morphology is composed of either -i
or a consonant plus -u. Probably the reason for this assumption that the consonant is
part of the past tense marker when -u is used can be explained as follows. Generally,
verbs with a past in -i do not have any change between the past and non-past stems,
for example, ezhuth-um ‘will write’ and ezhuth-i ‘wrote’, while those with a past in
-u do have a change between the past and non-past stems, for example keelk-um ‘will
hear’ and kett-u ‘heard’ or sneehikk-um ‘will love’ and sneehicch-u ‘loved.’ How-
ever, there are exceptions for forms with -i where a stem change does occur such as
poo-k-um ‘will go’ and its past form poo-y-i ‘went’.
In any case, we do not want to make the assumption that the consonant involved in
the stem change is part of the past tense morpheme, even though this has generally
been assumed in the Dravidian literature. This is because the past tense stem is
always what is used in Conjunctive Participle forms, which chapter 4 section 3 showed
do not have to have past tense interpretations; in fact, as was shown in chapter 4,
some of these forms can have present or future interpretations. This suggests that,

245
whatever the cause of the change in the stem, the change in the stem is semantically
vacuous.
Abandoning the position that the consonant is part of the past tense marker in
modern Malayalam1 might also prove helpful for future phonological explorations of
the change in the stem. As Asher & Kumari (1997) note ”Other descriptions have
sought to make explicit what in Kunjan Pillai is only implicit, and so provide rules
which, where possible, allow the prediction of a past tense form from a statement of
the phonology of the stem. All accounts agree that it is not possible to move beyond
the two major groups proposed by Kunjan Pillai. This is because there are pairs of
verb roots which are phonologically similar, but of which one has past tense in i and
the other in consonant plus -u” p317. In other words, thus far, no one has found a
way to explain why a given verb marks the past tense via using a consonant plus u
versus just simply using i. I will leave it to future work in phonology to explain how
and why the sound change occurs in the stem form.

1
Generally, following Kunjan Pillai (1965), it is assumed that historically, the consonant was
a voiceless dental stop, and most of the previous work has assumed that this is the underlying
representation for all of the other consonants one finds preceding the u past tense marker.

246
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