On the Development of the Aspect System in Some Philippine Languages

Abstract

The verbal morphology of Philippine languages, typically complex, usually includes distinctions of voice, mode, and aspect that are problematic with respect to whether they are inflectional or derivational. This paper attempts to give an account of the development of the aspect systems of Tagalog and Ilokano. Their voice systems, closely intertwined with the aspect systems, are also considered. The aspect system posited for Proto-Extra Formosan closely resembles that of Ilokano. The Ilokano system resulted from a switch in the order of the two infixes <um> and <in>, whereby the <in> completive aspect infix came to precede rather than follow the <um> focus marker, and from consequent phonological changes. The development of the Tagalog system, typical of the Central Philippine languages, was considerably more complex, involving a series of phonological changes that in turn set the stage for a series of restructurings, all of which are retraced in detail in the paper.