Chapter 109Time Reference Without Obligatory Tense
Contextual event time, speech-time and narrative reference points, prospective expressions, and the interpretation of unmarked predicates.
109.1 What remains unspecified on the verb
A clause can describe an earlier, current, or later situation without changing the verb into a past, present, or future inflection. Nakagawa calls this an absence of grammatical tense and explains how speakers nevertheless locate events through context and other expressions Nakagawa (2024: 434–437).
‘The wolf deities will be sent off tomorrow at the hunting ground.’
Nakagawa 2024: 434; Saru, Example 965
The translation leaves the actor unexpressed, following the source. Nisatta ‘tomorrow’ locates the sending-off in the future.
Nakagawa explicitly considers the same sentence without nisatta: it could then describe a sending-off already completed. Conversely, removing ‘yesterday’ from his gathering example allows a future reading Nakagawa (2024: 435). These are his illustrative comparisons, showing how much interpretation the temporal expressions supply.
109.2 The reference point of a time expression
Ma distinguishes expressions anchored to the time of speaking, expressions anchored to another reference time, and expressions identifying a calendar or seasonal time. His study uses published Saru and Chitose material and includes nouns and phrases under the broad heading “temporal adverbs” Ma (2024: 177–178, §3).
| Reference | Examples in Ma's description |
|---|---|
| Time of speaking | tane ‘now’, tanto ‘today’ |
| A time identified in the account | ne etoho ‘that day’, ne onuman ‘that night’ |
| A named date or seasonal period | Calendar dates expressed with Japanese loans; seasonal expressions such as arhucuk ‘early autumn’ |
The examples belong to Ma's respective classes Ma (2024: §§3.1–3.3). A reference time supplied inside a story need not be the moment at which the storyteller is speaking. Likewise, a date identifies a position on a calendar without inherently meaning ‘past’ or ‘future’.
Even ‘now’ covers an interval. Ma contrasts tane k=okere ‘I have just finished’ with tane ku=ye na ‘I will say it now’, both quoted from Tamura. The first event precedes the utterance slightly; the second follows it Ma (2024: §3.1.1, examples 1–2).
109.3 Prospective and current situations
Several constructions describe a situation as still ahead. Nakagawa lists kusu ne for intention, oasi for an expected occurrence, etokus for intention or likelihood, and etokoyki for preparation Nakagawa (2024: 435). They preserve their particular meanings while contributing future reference.
Current situations can also be presented through a formal-noun ending. Nakagawa's Chitose canoe prayer uses sap=as siri ne while the speaker and family are actually traveling downstream Nakagawa (2024: 435, example 970). This use includes the speaker's own ongoing activity; the construction's full sensory and aspectual range is considered in Chapter 112 (Kane An, Regional Continuatives, and Appearance).
109.4 Completion relative to a time
Completed situations can be presented with a, nisa, or combinations such as wa okere. In a context centered on the current utterance, completion naturally points to an earlier event Nakagawa (2024: 436).
‘I have forgotten it.’
Nakagawa 2024: 436; Saru, Example 974, citing Tamura 1984:56
The reference time can shift. Nakagawa's next example uses ipe wa okere kor for what a son habitually does whenever he finishes eating. Completion is repeated within that sequence of events Nakagawa (2024: 436–437, example 975). It does not locate the whole account at one fixed distance before the moment of speaking.
109.5 Tense labels in grammatical analysis
The absence of obligatory tense inflection is compatible with different analyses of particular constructions. Satō describes a through past and perfect meanings Satō (2008: 187–188). Yoshikawa assigns a and aan past-time properties alongside aspectual and evidential differences in the Saru/Chitose account Yoshikawa (2022: §5). Chapter 111 (A, Rok, and Aan: Earlier Situations and Discovery) compares those interpretations with narrative-sequencing analyses. None requires a mandatory three-way tense paradigm on every verb.