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Part of
Perfects in Indo-European Languages and Beyond
Edited by Robert Crellin and Thomas Jügel
[Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 352] 2020
► pp. 505–548

Chapter 15
The perfect system of Old Albanian (Geg variety)

 | University of Vienna
The Old Geg perfect system has a morphology resembling that of neighbouring Romance perfects (‘have’/‘be’ + past participle). It is a major sub-system of the verbal system, using nearly all synthetic forms of the auxiliary. Moreover, there are surcomposé forms. The present perfect usually has a resultative or existential reading, other readings being very rare. The past tenses of the perfect system indicate anteriority to a reference point in past time. Among the surcomposé forms, there is a pluperfect of the perfect, which indicates a second, deeper layer of anteriority. The non-indicative forms of the perfect system serve as past-tense counterparts to the respective non-indicative categories of the synthetic verbal system. Finally, the Old Geg present perfect gives rise to the so-called admirative, a present expressing the speaker’s surprise, disbelief, irony or doubt, or his or her unwillingness to vouch for the truth of the statement given.
Keywords: evidentiality mood, admirative, Old Albanian, Old Geg, ‘have’/‘be’ perfects
Article outline
  • 1.General characteristics: Affiliation, areal relationships, attestation, and sources of Albanian
    • 1.1The most important Old Geg literary sources
    • 1.2The transcription system used
  • 2.Terminology
  • 3.An overview of the Tense-Aspect-Mood system of Old Geg
    • 3.1The Tense-Aspect-Mood system of the Old Geg synthetic verbal stems
    • 3.2The perfect system
    • 3.3The future/conditional system
  • 4.The voice system
  • 5.Origin and functions of the Old Geg aorist; syncretism in the early history of Albanian
    • 5.1Origin of the aorist
    • 5.2Functions of the aorist in Old Geg
  • 6.The perfect system of Old Geg
    • 6.1Morphology of the perfect system
    • 6.2The functions of the present perfect indicative of Old Geg
      • 6.2.1Resultative readings
      • 6.2.2Existential readings
      • 6.2.3Persistent-situation readings
      • 6.2.4Other readings of the perfect
    • 6.3The function of the imperfect past perfect indicative
    • 6.4The function of the aorist past perfect indicative
    • 6.5The function of the present perfect indicative II
    • 6.6The function of the imperfect past perfect indicative II
    • 6.7The function of the present perfect subjunctive; general remarks on the non-indicative subcategories of the perfect system
    • 6.8The function of the imperfect past perfect subjunctive
    • 6.9The function of the present perfect optative
  • 7.The inverted univerbated perfect and the rise of the admirative
    • 7.1Morphology of the inverted univerbated perfect (iup)
    • 7.2Functions of iup tenses and moods in Buzuku
      • 7.2.1The function of the imperfect indicative iup and the imperfect subjunctive iup
      • 7.2.2The function of the present indicative iup
      • 7.2.3The function of the present perfect indicative iup
    • 7.3More on the rise of the admirative in Old Geg: The evidence of Budi
  • 8.Summary
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 23 September 2020
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https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.352.15sch
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