Tense, Aspect and Mood in Lunyole grammar and narrative Discourse

Abstract

Tense, aspect and mood playa crucial 'role in grammar and discourse of a language. This study focuses on the distribution of tense and aspect in Lunyole grammar and narrative discourse. Lunyole is one of those languages that highly grammaticalize the parameter of time. The language has a three tense system subdivided into eight distinct tenses and six aspectual categories. In this work, I give a detailed discussion of these tenses and aspect categories and how they function in the grammar and discourse of Lunyole. Since this work is the first detailed study of this subject, I hope it will provide a foundation for those who will do further linguistic study of the Lunyole language in future. I also hope it will go a long way in helping the Lunyole Bible Translation and Literacy team understand the nuances of the tense/aspect system as it affects translation and literacy work.