{"id":{"repo_id":"potsdam-diss","oai_identifier":"oai:kobv.de-opus4-uni-potsdam:8593"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/potsdam-diss/oai:kobv.de-opus4-uni-potsdam:8593","repository":{"repo_id":"potsdam-diss","name":"Universität Potsdam - Diss","base_url":"https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/opus4-ubp/oai"},"display":{"title":"Temporal interpretation and cross-linguistic variation","abstract":"This thesis investigates temporal and aspectual reference in the typologically unrelated African languages Hausa (Chadic, Afro–Asiatic) and Medumba (Grassfields Bantu). It argues that Hausa is a genuinely tenseless language and compares the interpretation of temporally unmarked sentences in Hausa to that of morphologically tenseless sentences in Medumba, where tense marking is optional and graded. The empirical behavior of the optional temporal morphemes in Medumba motivates an analysis as existential quantifiers over times and thus provides new evidence suggesting that languages vary in whether their (past) tense is pronominal or quantificational (see also Sharvit 2014). The thesis proposes for both Hausa and Medumba that the alleged future tense marker is a modal element that obligatorily combines with a prospective future shifter (which is covert in Medumba). Cross-linguistic variation in whether or not a future marker is compatible with non-future interpretation is proposed to be predictable from the aspectual architecture of the given language.","abstract_html":"This thesis investigates temporal and aspectual reference in the typologically unrelated African languages Hausa (Chadic, Afro–Asiatic) and Medumba (Grassfields Bantu). It argues that Hausa is a genuinely tenseless language and compares the interpretation of temporally unmarked sentences in Hausa to that of morphologically tenseless sentences in Medumba, where tense marking is optional and graded. The empirical behavior of the optional temporal morphemes in Medumba motivates an analysis as existential quantifiers over times and thus provides new evidence suggesting that languages vary in whether their (past) tense is pronominal or quantificational (see also Sharvit 2014). The thesis proposes for both Hausa and Medumba that the alleged future tense marker is a modal element that obligatorily combines with a prospective future shifter (which is covert in Medumba). Cross-linguistic variation in whether or not a future marker is compatible with non-future interpretation is proposed to be predictable from the aspectual architecture of the given language.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Mucha, Anne"],"institution":"Universität Potsdam","degree_name":null,"degree_level":"thesis.doctoral","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Zimmermann, Malte","Matthewson, Lisa"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-12-11","date_published":"2015-12-11","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:51:54Z","subjects":["formal semantics","tense","aspect","Chadic","Grassfields Bantu","Tempus","Aspekt","Formale Semantik","Tschadisch"],"languages":[],"rights":["CC-BY-NC-ND - Namensnennung, nicht kommerziell, keine Bearbeitungen 4.0 International"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/8593","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"source_url"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Zimmermann, Malte","Matthewson, Lisa"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Mucha, Anne"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Universität Potsdam"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["doctoralThesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["thesis.doctoral"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Universität Potsdam"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["formal semantics","tense","aspect","Chadic","Grassfields Bantu","Tempus","Aspekt","Formale Semantik","Tschadisch"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["CC-BY-NC-ND - Namensnennung, nicht kommerziell, keine Bearbeitungen 4.0 International"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This thesis investigates temporal and aspectual reference in the typologically unrelated African languages Hausa (Chadic, Afro–Asiatic) and Medumba (Grassfields Bantu). It argues that Hausa is a genuinely tenseless language and compares the interpretation of temporally unmarked sentences in Hausa to that of morphologically tenseless sentences in Medumba, where tense marking is optional and graded. The empirical behavior of the optional temporal morphemes in Medumba motivates an analysis as existential quantifiers over times and thus provides new evidence suggesting that languages vary in whether their (past) tense is pronominal or quantificational (see also Sharvit 2014). The thesis proposes for both Hausa and Medumba that the alleged future tense marker is a modal element that obligatorily combines with a prospective future shifter (which is covert in Medumba). Cross-linguistic variation in whether or not a future marker is compatible with non-future interpretation is proposed to be predictable from the aspectual architecture of the given language.","Die vorliegende Dissertation untersucht Zeitinterpretation in den afrikanischen Sprachen Hausa (Tschadisch, Afro-asiatisch) und Medumba (Grassfields Bantu). Es wird gezeigt, dass Hausa eine im technischen Sinne tempuslose Sprache ist. Außerdem wird die Interpretation von Sätzen ohne Tempus im Hausa mit der im Medumba verglichen, wo Tempusmarkierung optional und abgestuft ist. Das Verhalten der optionalen Temporalmarkierer im Medumba motiviert eine Quantorenanalyse dieser Morpheme. Im Vergleich mit anderen abgestuften Tempussprachen liefert Medumba somit neue Evidenz für die Annahme, dass Sprachen sich darin unterscheiden, ob die Semantik ihrer Tempusmorpheme über Zeitintervalle quantifiziert oder Zeitvariablen restringiert (vgl. Sharvit 2014). Es wird sowohl für Hausa als auch für Medumba eine modale Semantik für die jeweiligen Futurmarkierer vorgeschlagen. Diese treten obligatorisch mit einem semantischen Prospektiv- bzw. Futurmorphem auf, das im Hausa overt und im Medumba covert realisiert wird. Sprachvergleichend wird argumentiert, dass die Kombinationsmöglichkeiten von semantischem Aspekt in einer Sprache determinieren, ob der Futurmarkierer der jeweiligen Sprache nicht-futurische Lesarten erlaubt."]},{"key":"dc:format.medium","label":"Dc Format Medium","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Temporal interpretation and cross-linguistic variation","Temporale Interpretation und cross-linguistische Variation"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Zimmermann, Malte","Matthewson, Lisa"],"dc:creator":["Mucha, Anne"],"dc:description.abstract":["This thesis investigates temporal and aspectual reference in the typologically unrelated African languages Hausa (Chadic, Afro–Asiatic) and Medumba (Grassfields Bantu). It argues that Hausa is a genuinely tenseless language and compares the interpretation of temporally unmarked sentences in Hausa to that of morphologically tenseless sentences in Medumba, where tense marking is optional and graded. The empirical behavior of the optional temporal morphemes in Medumba motivates an analysis as existential quantifiers over times and thus provides new evidence suggesting that languages vary in whether their (past) tense is pronominal or quantificational (see also Sharvit 2014). The thesis proposes for both Hausa and Medumba that the alleged future tense marker is a modal element that obligatorily combines with a prospective future shifter (which is covert in Medumba). Cross-linguistic variation in whether or not a future marker is compatible with non-future interpretation is proposed to be predictable from the aspectual architecture of the given language.","Die vorliegende Dissertation untersucht Zeitinterpretation in den afrikanischen Sprachen Hausa (Tschadisch, Afro-asiatisch) und Medumba (Grassfields Bantu). Es wird gezeigt, dass Hausa eine im technischen Sinne tempuslose Sprache ist. Außerdem wird die Interpretation von Sätzen ohne Tempus im Hausa mit der im Medumba verglichen, wo Tempusmarkierung optional und abgestuft ist. Das Verhalten der optionalen Temporalmarkierer im Medumba motiviert eine Quantorenanalyse dieser Morpheme. Im Vergleich mit anderen abgestuften Tempussprachen liefert Medumba somit neue Evidenz für die Annahme, dass Sprachen sich darin unterscheiden, ob die Semantik ihrer Tempusmorpheme über Zeitintervalle quantifiziert oder Zeitvariablen restringiert (vgl. Sharvit 2014). Es wird sowohl für Hausa als auch für Medumba eine modale Semantik für die jeweiligen Futurmarkierer vorgeschlagen. Diese treten obligatorisch mit einem semantischen Prospektiv- bzw. Futurmorphem auf, das im Hausa overt und im Medumba covert realisiert wird. Sprachvergleichend wird argumentiert, dass die Kombinationsmöglichkeiten von semantischem Aspekt in einer Sprache determinieren, ob der Futurmarkierer der jeweiligen Sprache nicht-futurische Lesarten erlaubt."],"dc:format.medium":["application/pdf"],"dc:publisher":["Universität Potsdam"],"dc:rights":["CC-BY-NC-ND - Namensnennung, nicht kommerziell, keine Bearbeitungen 4.0 International"],"dc:subject":["formal semantics","tense","aspect","Chadic","Grassfields Bantu","Tempus","Aspekt","Formale Semantik","Tschadisch"],"dc:title":["Temporal interpretation and cross-linguistic variation","Temporale Interpretation und cross-linguistische Variation"],"dc:type":["doctoralThesis"],"thesis:degree_level":["thesis.doctoral"],"thesis:institution_name":["Universität Potsdam"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:51:54Z"}