A Cross-linguistic Look at Future Markers

Authors

  • Patricia J. Hamel

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17161/KWPL.1808.539

Keywords:

English language-- Tense

Abstract

In an effort to contribute to a determination as to whether English will is a future tense marker or a contingency marker, the uses of future markers as traditionally analyzed in Spanish, Alsatian, Turkish, Hebrew, Malay and Korean are investigated. Means of indicating future time, ranges of meaning of future-marked sentences, and the use of future in contingency clauses are compared cross-linguistically. It is concluded that when alternatives exist, speakers prefer to reserve the future marker for situations in which they are less than certain regarding the occurrence of an event.

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How to Cite

Hamel, . P. J. (1980). A Cross-linguistic Look at Future Markers. Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics, 5, 133-138. https://doi.org/10.17161/KWPL.1808.539