Priestley, Carol (2012). The expression of potential event modality in the Papuan language of Koromu. In Maia Ponsonnet, Loan Dao, & Margit Bowler (Eds.), Proceedings of the 42nd Australian Linguistic Society Conference – 2011 (pp. 389-422). http://hdl.handle.net/1885/9404. PDF (open access)
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. Meanings are represented in semantic explications in the Natural Semantic Metalanguage, a metalanguage that can be used in many different languages. 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.
