PAST TENSE FORMS OF THE VERB ’BE’ IN MODAL CONSTRUCTIONS IN UDMURT

Abstract

In Udmurt the past tense forms of the verb ’be’ ( val and vylem ) appear in different modal constructions and in the non-declarative moods. The paper focuses on the use of val and vylem in four modal constructions: two deontic, a desiderative and a permissive one. It is established that in such constructions val and vylem can have non-modal and modal use as well. In their non-modal sense val and vylem primarily modify the clause temporally and form the past tense equivalent of the given modal construction. The difference between the non-modal use of val and vylem lies in the difference between the first and second past tense in general. In their modal use val and vylem decrease the degree of modal force (also called as modal attenuation) and should be analyzed as particles. In such cases modal constructions can be interpreted as counterfactual conditionals. Differences can be characterized between the modal use of val and vylem . The particle vylem is associated with greater mental distance between the speaker and factuality and expresses that the likelihood of realization is small or nonexistent. therefore, it can be considered epistemic. The particle val does not distance the events from factuality to such a high extent as vylem . Also, native speakers associated a higher probability of fulfilment with the utterances formed with val . In my opinion, the difference between the modal use of the particles originates from their verbal use and from the differences between the first and second past tense.