hellog〜英語史ブログ / 2022-10-31

■ #4935. 接続法と命令法の近似 [subjunctive][imperative][hortative][morphology][inflection][mood][typology]

　Bybee による形態論の本を読んでいて，通言語的にみて接続法 (subjunctive) と命令法 (imperative) との関係が深い旨の記述があった．英語史の観点からは「#2476. 英語史において動詞の命令法と接続法が形態的・機能的に融合した件」 ([2016-02-06-1]) で取り上げたが，印欧語族以外の言語も含めた上で，改めて議論できそうだ．Bybee (186) より引用する．

Since the subjunctive is usually a marker of certain types of subordination, it is very difficult to say what the subjunctive "means" in any given language. There is a long literature on this problem in European languages, and no satisfactory solution. At most, it might be said that the subjunctive has a very general meaning such as "non-asserted" and then it takes more specific meanings from the context in which it occurs.
   Considered cross-linguistically, there is evidence of a relation between the subjunctive and imperative or related moods. When subjunctive forms are used in main clauses, they have an imperative function in Maasai, Basque and Yupik, and/or a hortative function in Tarascan, Pawnee and Maasai, in keeping with their non-asserted subordinate clause functions. The marking of subjunctive parallels that of indicative or imperative in most languages. In Maasai and Pawnee, the subjunctive is a prefix, just as the imperative is, and in Tarascan, Ojibwa and Georgian the subordinating mood is expressed in the same way as the imperative or optative

　接続法と命令法（および関連する他のいくつかの法）はしばしば機能的にも形態的にも近親であるということが，通言語学的にも示唆されたわけだ．その上で改めて英語史に戻ってみるのもおもしろい．英語史では，形態的にいえば接続法と命令法はもともと異なっていたが，徐々に融合してきたという興味深い現象が起こっているからだ．
　関連して以下の記事も参照．

　・ 「#2475. 命令にはなぜ動詞の原形が用いられるのか」 ([2016-02-05-1])
　・ 「#3538. 英語の subjunctive 形態は印欧祖語の optative 形態から」 ([2019-01-03-1])
　・ 「#3540. 願望文と勧奨文の微妙な関係」 ([2019-01-05-1])

　・ Bybee, Joan. Morphology: A Study of the Relation between Meaning and Form. John Benjamins, Amsterdam/Philadelphia, 1985.

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