The expression of potential event modality in the Papuan language of Koromu

Abstract

This paper aims to give an overview of the morphosyntax and semantics of potential event modality in Koromu (Kesawai), a Madang language in the Papuan group. Potential event modality refers to Palmer’s “events that are not actualized…but are merely potential” (2001:70). Some characteristics of event modality are compared with English and other Papuan/regional languages. The study is based on Koromu data in recorded texts, collected over a number of years and on earlier grammatical analysis (Priestley 2002a, 2009, and forthcoming a). Meanings are represented in semantic explications in the natural semantic metalanguage, a metalanguage that can be used in many different languages (Goddard & Wierzbicka 2002). The findings include a range of constructions and meanings for “imperative” and “desiderative” type expressions, a distinction between external, internal and negative desires, and strategies for testing meaning and grammar analysis with Koromu speakers