Jussive Constructions in Ojibwe

Abstract

This paper examines and documents the various types of jussive constructions occurring in Ojibwe, an endangered Algonquian language of North America. A jussive is a type of mediated command that tasks a second person interlocutor, real or imagined, to allow or ensure the fulfillment or realization of some event, condition, or state of being. This command has the force of the English let it rain or let me in. Rather than employing verbs instantiating permission, such as ‘let’ or ‘may’ in English, the principle jussive construction in Ojibwe is instantiated by verbs inflected for future (e.g., ga∼da) but without future meaning. This paper ultimately reveals that the use of the Ojibwe simple future as instantiating imperatives (an attested developmental pathway for some futures) facilitated the development of the principle jussive construction in Ojibwe.