Typology of Tense-Aspect in T'boli and BIM

Typology of Tense-Aspect in T’boli and BIM1 Ma. Jezia P. Talavera University of the Philippines Diliman Lexical markers basically constitute the Tense-Aspect of T’boli and Bahasa Indonesia/Malaysia. This is different in other Philippine-type languages which utilize a grammaticalized aspectual marking. This study provides a comparative analysis on the inventory of lexical markers of T’boli and BIM, which is analysed using the Contextual or Semantic TAM framework (Arka, 2013). Results show that since these markers are lexical in nature, it is imperative that both languages are analysed morphosemantically and not morphosyntactically. These lexical markers also appear to be highly optional and not overtly expressed in discourse all the time; hence they are highly contextual in nature. Following Grange (2006), this study also conducted an inventory of the combination of aspectual markers of both languages. Finally, the results of the study ultimately aim to provide further syntactic evidence for the genealogical relationship of these two languages and possibly determine which language first utilized such syntactic feature. 1. Introduction T‘boli is a Philippine language which is spoken in Southwestern Mindanao with 93 500 speakers as of 2000 (Lewis, 2009). Historically, it is externally classified as a Western MalayoPolynesian Austronesian language and descends from the Proto-Philippine ancestral language (Zorc, 1986). It is internally classified as a Bilic language, which constitutes one of the nine Philippine microgroups (Blust 1991, p. 81). 1 This paper was presented at the 9th International Free Linguistics Conference, September 24-26, 2015, De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines. We would like to show our gratitude to Dr. Shirley Dita, Associate Professor of the Department of English and Applied Linguistics, De La Salle University for accepting our paper. We would also like to thank Dr. Ricardo Nolasco, Dr. Jesus Federico Hernandez, Professor Louward Zubiri and Professor Jem Javier of the University of the Philippines Diliman for their helpful and insightful comments on an earlier version of this paper. Any errors remain my responsibility. 1 Bahasa-Indonesia-Malaysia, or BIM, on the other hand, is an Indonesia-type language. It is widely spoken by over 10 million native speakers in Penisular Malaysia, Sarawak State, Kuching and Betong districts, among others (Lewis, 2009). There have been a number of literatures with regards to the lexical aspectual markers of BIM (Alwi 1992, Grange 2006, Arka 2013), and in T‘boli (Porter, 1977, Forseberg, 1992, Talavera, 2013). Only recent studies in T‘boli have shown that similar to BIM, it also exhibits the use of lexical aspectual markers. This is contrary to other Philippine-type languages, which utilize a grammaticalized aspectual system. That is, both the aspect and the voice system of most Philippine languages are encoded in the verbal affixes, hence are grammaticalized. Historically, both languages fall under the Western-Malayo-Polynesian (WMP) group. This provides evidence that they are more likely similar in syntax in many ways, although typologically T‘boli is a Philippine-type language and BIM is an Indonesia-type language. This study proposes that both languages also share a syntactic feature on TAM; that is, both exhibit lexical aspectual markers. It also explores their syntactic behaviour, specifically with regards to their optionality and usage in context. 1.1. Objectives This paper aims to provide a clear picture of the similarities of T‘boli and BIM with respect to their TAM, specifically to their Tense-Aspect system. Specifically this study revolves around the following issues: (1) provide an inventory of lexical aspectual markers of T‘boli and BIM; (2) analyse the aspectual system of T‘boli and BIM using the Contextual/Semantic TAM following Arka (2013); (3) provide an inventory of the combination of markers of T‘boli and BIM; and (4) to possibly identify the historical link between these two languages having the same syntactic feature. 2 1.2. Significance of the Study There has been historical evidence of the genealogical relationship between Philippine languages, specifically those of the Bilic and some GCP languages with Indonesian languages, given that they all fall under the Western-Malayo-Polynesian group of languages. This study aims to provide further and bolder evidences on their relationship using syntactic analyses, particularly on their TAM. Ultimately this study will try to determine not just the historical link between these two languages, but also the probability of the origin of such unique syntactic feature; that is, whether it was first employed and utilized in T‘boli or in BIM, or there was an exchange of such syntactic feature between the two languages through language contact. 2. Tense-Aspect-Mode Tense, aspect and mode are grammatical categories which are often categorized into one label called the TAM system (Schmidtke 2006, p. 3). There are a number of interactions and interrelationships between these three categories, but are often distinguished from each other using a semantic approach (Dahl 1985, p. 23). Tense may be defined as the deictic category which locates a situation with respect to an absolute or relative time reference. It basically divides time into past, present and future tenses (Comrie 1976, p. 2). Aspect on the other hand expresses a situation with respect to the ―temporal constituency of time‖ and mainly employs the terms perfective, imperfective and prospective (Comrie 1976, p. 3). 2.1. TAM in Philippine languages In this paper, only tense-aspect will be discussed; mode is another grammatical aspect which deserves a separate and more comprehensive research. Most linguistic studies in Philippine languages discuss that they are marked for aspect and not for tense. However there is a recent research in Tagalog (Talavera, 2015) that at least in the functional, discourse-based and morphosemantic angle, there is also tense in such language. However this paper shall only focus 3 on Philippine languages which are grammatically marked for aspect, specifically T‘boli and an Indonesian-type language Bahasa-Indonesia/Malaysia (BIM). 2.2. TAM in T’boli and BIM A recent study on the Tense-Aspect of T‘boli (Talavera, 2013) showed that contrary to other Philippine-type languages which utilize a grammaticalized marking of aspect, T‘boli uses lexical markers to indicate aspect. That is, there are lexical markers, such as deng, hana, tolo and [a,e]nget which are used to indicate perfective, imperfective and prospective aspects. These markers may also be optional. In BIM, the expression of aspect is also mainly relies in the use ―aspect markers‖ such as sudah, telah and akan (Grange, 2006, p. 43). Therefore, both languages seem to typologically exhibit the same phenomenon of aspect marking. This study will provide an overview of these lexical markers in both languages and compare their forms and functions. 3. Inventory of Aspectual Markers This section deals with the inventory of lexical aspectual markers in T‘boli and BIM. It discusses the different syntactic and aspectual functions of these markers and conducts a comparative analysis in these two languages. 3.1. T’boli. T‘boli has six basic lexical aspectual markers, namely deng, lomi, hana, tolo, [a,e]nget, and moyon. It should be noted here that throughout the study these lexical aspectual markers are relatively used in written form in simple and complex sentences. However, since the T‘boli discourse is highly contextual in nature, these markers may not always appear especially in spoken form. 4 Table 1. Inventory of Basic Lexical Apsectual Markers in T’boli2 Aspectual Marker Aspect deng Perfective lomi Recent Perfective hana Progressive tolo Imperfective [a,e]nget Prospective moyon Contemplative 3.1.1. Deng Deng functions as a perfective aspectual marker in T‘boli. Perfective aspect refers to a completive and resultative action (Comrie, 1976, p. 18). Deng functions in a different ways, including perfective action. Consider the following sentences. (1) deng PFV.already me-ken mangga, yom nga AF-eat mango ABS child ‗The child ate a mango/ The child already ate a mango.‖ (2) (deng) PFV l<em>wot du ekimel <AF>leave 3SG.ABS yesterday ―S/He left yesterday.‖ It can be observed in sentence (1) that deng functions as the lexical perfective aspectual marker. However in sentence (2), as shown in parenthesis, deng may be omitted, especially in discourse. Moreover it may also be optional when there is a time adverbial, as shown by ekimel which means yesterday. This is only a preliminary list of aspectual markers in T‘boli, which is a product of two undergraduate research papers. Further study on the T‘boli language is still needed to possibly identify more types of markers. 2 5 (3) [deng mem me-loy Ø-helong PFV AF-run ADJF-speed deng Ø-gungol-en udel AF-hear-3SG.ERG sound ADJF-sound PRT [(m)uni SIM.immediate PFV du,]C1 3SG.ABS me-gel ]C2 ‗He/She ran fast the moment/the minute he heard a loud sound.‘ (4) [deng he-benes nga udi PFV be defel-en,]C1 AF-hide child small OBL room-3SG.PRT [tembol SIM.immediate deng Ø-kol ma-en be gono]C2 PFV Father-3SG.GEN OBL house AF-arrive ‗The child hid in the room the moment/the minute Father arrived (home).‘ Sentences (3) and (4) both show complex sentences, particularly punctiliar 3 sentences in T‘boli. The two forms of subordinating temporal marker [muni] and [tembol], which are both combined with the lexical aspectual marker [deng] are in dialectal variation. (5) deng PFV.already tuha age ―matured‖ (6) deng PFV.already l<en>inti <GF>engagement ―engaged‖ (7) deng PFV.already me(ke)-lel AF-yellow ―ripe‖ 3 Punctiliar sentence is a type of simultaneity characterized by a punctual event manifested in the subordinating clause and a simultaneous action expressed in the matrix clause (Porter, 1977, p. 132). 6 (9) deng heyu PFV.already good ―healed; feeling better‖ The phrases in (5) – (9) are also illustrative of perfective aspect in phrases. It can be observed that when nouns like age and engagement and adjectives such as yellow and good are marked with deng, the semantics of the word changes into perfective aspect. 3.1.2. Lomi Literally lomi means new in T‘boli, and also functions as the recent perfective aspect. Unlike deng and other lexical aspectual markers, lomi is obligatory to indicate recent perfective in formal writing and in discourse. This is illustrated in the following sentences. (10) Lomi=he Ø-nasu beng RECPFV=1SG.ABS AF-open door ―I just (recently) opened the door.‖ (11) Lomi me-(ke)da yo kem kenga RECPFV AF-stand PRT PL child ―The children just stood.‖ Sentences (10) and (11) both illustrate the function of lomi as a recent perfective aspect. In sentence (10) the he is a first person pronominal enclitic which is attracted to the lexical aspectual marker lomi (Forsberg, 1992, p. 18). (12) logi lomi l<em>nok man RECPFV.new <AF>grow ―teenage boy; a boy who is growing up.‖ 7 (13) libun lomi l<em>nok woman RECPFV.new <AF>grow ―teenage girl; a girl who is growing up‖ (14) lomi tau RECPFV.new person (Forsberg, 1992, p. 16) ―young person‖ Lomi may also occur in phrases as illustrated in (12) – (14), where it may not only function as a recent perfective aspect but also as an adjective meaning ―new‖. Phrases (12) – (13) literally mean ―boy/girl who is (recently) growing up‖, and may also mean teenage boy or girl. 3.1.3. Tolo and Hana Tolo functions as the imperfective aspect in T‘boli, while hana functions as the progressive aspect. Imperfective aspect refers to an ―internal temporal situation‖ with a specific time reference (Comrie, 1976, p. 18), while progressive aspect refers to a dynamic quality of actions in progress (Dowty, 1977). The difference between tolo and hana is still not very clear when it comes to their individual uses; the T‘boli consultants would often interchange both aspectual markers to indicate imperfectivity and/or progressive. However for the purposes of this paper tolo and hana are distinguished based on the data given by the consultants. (15) Tolo/Hana le IPFV/PROG 3PL.ERG s-(h)fatay yom lewu nga RCP-fight ABS two child ―The two children are fighting each other.‖ It can be observed in sentence (15) that tolo and hana may be interchanged and mean the both imperfective and progressive. 8 (16) (Tolo/Hana) s-(h)fatay le IPFV/PROG AF.RCP-fight 3PL.ERG yom lewu nga ABS two child ―The two children are fighting each other.‖ Sentence (16) on the other hand tolo and hana may only be optional because the absence of any lexical aspectual marker and/or time adverbial in a sentence is the default form of a sentence that is treated as the imperfective aspect. It will be discussed in the later section on contextual TAM that it also appears that the absence of any lexical aspectual marker in the sentence in discourse may also mean perfective or prospective. However in formal writing, the default sentence in T‘boli without any lexical aspectual markers is in the imperfective aspect. (17) Hana PROG tolo me-nagi IPFV AF-study du Jose. PRT Jose ―Jose is studying.‖ Here in sentence (17) shows that hana and tolo can be used at the same time to indicate both imperfective and progressive. However the T‘boli consultant said that this sentence is already way too formal and redundant, although they still accept this kind of sentence. (18) Tolo hana me-ken mangga, yom IPFV PROG AF-eat mango, ABS nga child ―The child is eating mango.‖ Sentence (18) on the other hand, shows that tolo may precede hana compared to sentence (17). This alternation is still subject to further research; however the T‘boli consultants confirmed that both lexical aspectual markers may be interchanged in the sentence and conveys the same meaning. 9 (19) (Hana) le PROG me(b)-li 3PL.ABS ne AF.ABL.buy PRT manggga be Sebu mango OBL Sebu ―They are able to buy mangoes in Cebu.‖ Hana may also be used individually to indicate the progressive aspect, as shown in sentence (19). This lexical aspectual marker may also be optional. (20) nga hana tolo d<m>alang child PROG IPFV <AF>learn m(k)-ogow AF-go ―toddler; a child who is still learning how to walk‖ The phrase in (20) also shows that hana and tolo may be used to indicate a nominalized phrase. It can be observed that literally the phrase in (18) means ―a child who is still learning how to walk‖, which basically means ―toddler‖. 3.1.4. [A,E]nget [A,E]4nget functions as the prospective aspect in T‘boli. Prospective aspect refers to a present situation that is relative to some subsequent event (Comrie, 1976, p. 64). Similar to the three lexical aspectual markers deng, hana and tolo, it may also be optional. (21) [A,E]nget Ø-ton-em ou PROS AF.ABL-see-2SG.ERG 1SG.ABS ―You will see me.‖ (22) ([A,E]nget) l<em>wot-e haya PROS <AF>leave-1SG.ABS tomorrow ―I will leave tomorrow.‖ 4 The brackets indicate a variation in dialect, of which the [E] is a schwa. 10 It can be observed in sentence (21) that [a,e]nget may occur in formal writing to indicate a prospective aspect. However it may also be optional especially in discourse and when there is a time adverbial as shown is sentence (22). The time adverbial mainly indicates the aspect in the sentence and the inclusion of the prospective aspectual marker already makes the sentence redundant. 3.1.5. Moyon Moyon, compared to [a,e]nget, functions as a contemplative aspect in T‘boli. Contemplative aspect in this study refers to an action that is introspective and still meditative. This is illustrated in the following sentences. (23) Moyon Ø-kol ne CONT AF-arrive PRT ko du? QP 1SG.ABS ―Will she be arriving (soon)?‖ (24) Moyon deng ne CONT tu ko ne-(ke)mo-u PFV PRT that PRT GF-to.do-1SG.ERG ―I‘m almost finished with what I‘m doing.‖ (25) deng moyon gtungo PFV CONT noon (Forsberg, 1992, p. 18) ―It‘s already almost noon.‖ The question in (23) and the sentence in (24) both show that the actions ―arrive‖ and ―to do‖ respectively are still introspective and are just about to happen. It can be observed in (24) as well as in (25) that there is a complex combination of lexical aspectual markers in the sentences. This will be further discussed in the section of combination of aspectual markers in T‘boli. 11 (26) moyon-en m(ke)-nga k<m>uleng blutut-en (SIL, 1980, p. 32) CONT-PRT AF-child <AF>birth stomach-PRT ―will give birth soon; last days of pregnancy or has started labor‖ (27) moyon me(ke)-lel CONT AF-yellow ―nearly ripe‖ Moyon may also appear in phrases as illustrated in (26) and (27). It can be observed that when the phrases are marked with moyon they change in aspectual meaning, which is contemplative and still introspective. 3.2. Bahasa Indonesia/Malaysia Based on the data5, there are seven lexical aspectual markers or ―preverbal markers‖ in Bahasa Indonesia Malaysia. Grange (2006) listed 13 different preverbal markers in BIM but this study is only limited to the markers which appeared in the data. The following table shows the seven lexical aspectual markers in BIM. Table 2. Inventory of Lexical Aspectual Markers in BIM Aspectual Marker Aspect sudah perfective telah perfective sedang imperfective lagi imperfective masih continuative belum contemplative Data was gathered by collecting verbal sentences from the book ―Titian Bahasa Pelajaran‖, published by the Indonesian Language and Culture Learning Service (INCULS) Fakultas Ilmu Budaya, Universitas Gadjah Mada. Special thanks to my colleague Vincci Santiago for helping me access this resource. 5 12 akan prospective 3.2.1. Sudah, Telah Sudah is one of the preverbal markers in BIM which indicates a perfect aspect or a resulting state (Grange, 2006, p. 44). It may also convey modality unlike the lexical markers in T‘boli, which only encode the aspect. (28) Kini usia=ku sudah now age=1SG.POSS PFV.already men-capai 30 tahun. men-reach 30 year ‗Currently I have already reached 30 years old.‘ (29) Kapoyos sudah tua. Kapoyos PFV.already old ‗Kapoyos is already old.‘ It can be observed in sentences (28) and (29) that sudah encodes the perfective aspect and may be translated as ‗already‘ in English. This may also be the equivalent of deng in T‘boli. (30) Anak itu telah ber-diri. child PFV that ber-stand ‗The child stood.‘ (31) Perempuan itu telah pergi ke rumah woman that PFV house go LOC ‗The woman went to the house.‘ Telah on the other hand also indicates perfective aspect but unlike sudah, it does not encode modality. Moreover, it shows an ―explicit neutrality of the speaker, who presents himself 13 as objective and unconcerned by the event‖ (Grange, 2006, p. 45). It may also be the counterpart for deng in T‘boli. 3.2.2. Sedang, Lagi These preverbal markers indicate imperfective aspect in BIM. (32) Anak itu sedang mem-berikan makan-an kepada anjing=ku child IPFV mem-give dog=1SG.GEN that food-an to ‗The child is feeding my dog.‘ (33) Dia sedang berpakaian/melepas pakaian 3SG.NOM IPFV wear.clothes di clothes PREP kamar=nya. room=3SG.POSS ‗She is currently taking her clothes off in her room.‘ Sentences (32) and (33) show sentences with imperfective aspect as marked by sedang. This preverbal marker actually originates from the stative verb which means ‗mid, middling, passable, lukewarm‘ (Grange, 2006, p. 46). Sedang may be compared in use with the lexical marker tolo or hana in T‘boli. (34) Anak itu lagi child IPFV me-eat that me-makan buah mangga fruit mango ‗The child is eating mango.‘ (35) Seorang anak lagi ber-bicara NOM child IPFV ber-talk dengan wanita with woman ‗The child is talking to the woman.‘ 14 On the other hand, lagi also indicates imperfective aspect as illustrated in sentences (34) and (35). Lagi also functions as an adverb which means ―till or again‖ (Grange, 2006, p. 46). 3.2.3. Masih This preverbal marker also indicates imperfective aspect in BIM, but contains additional information on the process‘s internal constituency. It broadly expresses a continuative aspect; that is, an event is presented as lasting longer than expected. Moreover, masih is basically applied to states or a series of processes described as a state of affairs (Grange, 2006, p. 47). (36) Wanita itu masih me-mandi woman that CONT me-take.a.bath ‗The woman is still taking a bath.‘ Sentence (36) shows a continuative aspect in BIM because of the use of the preverbal marker masih. It can also be compared with the lexical marker hana in T‘boli. 3.2.4. Belum, Akan The preverbal markers belum and akan both indicate contemplative aspects with modality features. Belum indicates that ―the expected event is not completed at the moment of reference, or that the aimed property is not yet reached‖ (Grange, 2006, p. 48). (37) Alasan=nya bahwa rakyat belum siap untuk me-nerima Motive=3SG.POSS that nation not.yet ready PREP me-to.accept per-ubah-an. per-to.change-an ‗It is the reason why this nation is not ready to receive change.‘ Akan, on the other hand, is the preverbal marker which may be used in narrative speeches located in the past. 15 (38) Aku akan turun ber-kebun, meng-(k)erjakan sawah ladangku 1SG.NOM will to.go ber-farming, meng-to.work.on paddy field sendiri. own ‗I shall farm, working on my fields on my own.‘ (39) Saya akan me-lihat dia besok 1SG.NOM will.PROS me-see 3SG.ACC tomorrow ‗I will see him/her tomorrow.‘ Table 3. Inventory of Aspectual Markers in T’boli and BIM T‘boli Bahasa Indonesia/Malaysia Perfective deng sudah, telah Recent Perfective lomi -/- ( baru) Imperfective tolo sedang, lagi Progressive/Continuative hana masih moyon belum, akan [a.e]nget -/- Aspect Contemplative Prospective Table 3 shows the inventory of basic lexical aspectual markers in T‘boli and BIM. BIM, in fact, has a recent perfective aspect baru6; however it did not appear on the data. Moroever, BIM may have more than one marker for perfective, imperfective and contemplative aspects. This is because some of them also encode modality, unlike in T‘boli which only encodes aspect. On a final note, all these lexical markers may be optionally used in both languages. 6 Personal communication with Professor Jem Javier, Department of Linguistics, University of the Philippines, Diliman. 16 4. Combination of Aspectual Markers in T’boli and BIM Grange (2006) has provided a comprehensive list of the combination of aspectual markers in BIM. This paper also proposes a preliminary inventory of the combinations of aspectual markers in T‘boli based on the given data. Table 4. Inventory of Combination of Aspectual Markers in T’boli Aspect Marker PFV deng RECPFV lomi IPFV tolo PROG hana PFV RECPFV IPFV PROG PROS CONT deng lomi tolo hana [a,e]nget moyon lomi deng tolo hana hana lomi hana lomi hana tolo deng PROS [a,e]nget CONT moyon moyon deng Table 4 shows that there are only six combinations of aspectual markers in T‘boli as seen in the data. Lomi deng and hana lomi deng means ―just finished‖; hana lomi means ―just new‖; both hana tolo and tolo hana indicates imperfective aspect, and moyon deng means ―almost done‖. It can be observed that naturally, these lexical markers are combined to be compatible with each other; that is, not surprisingly, the recent perfective aspect lomi can go with the perfective aspect deng. Moreover, the contemplative aspect moyon can also go with the perfective aspect deng to mean ‗almost done‘. Also, naturally, perfective and recent perfective aspects cannot go with prospective or contemplative aspects, and imperfective aspect cannot go with perfective aspect. The same can also be concluded with the combinations of lexical markers in BIM. Consider the following table following Grange (2006, p. 51). 17 Table 5. Inventory of the combinations of two preverbal aspect markers (Grange, 2006) Aspect Marker Imperfective sedang tengah lagi Imperf imperfective continuative perfect or gradual ingressive semakin imperfective sedang terus masih sedang sedang terus masih tetap sudah telah tengah lagi lagi lagi sedang tengah imperf semakin semakin gradual terus imperfective terus terus continuative semakin masih masih masih sedang tengah tetap tetap masih masih terus tetap tetap semankin terus perfect or sudah ingressive sudah sudah sudah sudah sedang lagi semakin terus telah telah semakin terus telah tetap masih Table 5 shows the different combinations of aspectual markers in BIM as compiled by Grange (2006). He observed that there is a ―rule of hierarchy‖, where ―the first marker indicates the general aspect of the combination as a whole, while the second aspect brings a more specific aspect and/or modality‖ (Grange, 2006, p. 52). Also, just like in T‘boli, there is the ―rule of coherence‖ where two lexical markers expressing aspect cannot be contradictory, such that for example, perfective cannot go with imperfective aspect. 18 5. Contextual/Semantic TAM Arka (2013, p. 24) refers to Contextual TAM as having ―no TAM marking whatsoever and a particular TAM interpretation is fully dependent on context‖. He also points out that all languages have semantic or contextual TAM; they only differ in the ―nature of the available resources and their organization in the grammar.‘ This means that even though there are lexical markers that may indicate tense-aspect in BIM, they become highly optional because tenseaspect is manifested based on the context of the discourse. That is, unlike in English, there is no TAM-related inflectional morphology in BIM, and that TAM is contextually determined. (40) Dia datang. 3s come (Arka, 2013, p. 25) ‗S/he came.‘/ ‗S/he is coming.‘/ S/he will come.‘ Sentence (40) proves that the bare verb datang in BIM may be interpreted as past, present or future, depending on the context. This means that such sentence may only be understood and disambiguated when put into discourse and should not merely be analysed formally as a sentence. This also seems to be the case in T‘boli. Consider the following sentence. (41) s<en>tulon nim RCP<GF>talk PRT nga yom nga libun child DET DIM.child woman ‗The child talked to the lady.‘/ ‗The child is talking to the lady.‘ /The child will talk to the lady.‘ It can be observed that sentence (41) may also be interpreted as perfective, imperfective or prospective depending on the context in discourse. Both T‘boli and BIM also use optional and explicit temporal expressions or adverbs to present a temporal point. These expressions, such as ‗yesterday‘ or ‗tomorrow‘ may also be used to disambiguate the sentence and determine the tense-aspect in the sentence. Consider the following sentences in BIM (42) and T‘boli (43). 19 (42) Dia datang (besok). 3s come tomorrow (Arka, 2013, p. 25) ‗S/he will come tomorrow.‘ (43) Me(B)-li soging yom nga logi (eginu) AF-buy banana DET DIM.child man a.while.ago ‗The bachelor bought a banana a while ago.‘ It can be observed that the temporal adverbs besok and eginu in BIM and T‘boli respectively may be used to determine the tense-aspect in the sentences. Such simplicity in expressing time can be observed in these languages, unlike in other languages such as Tagalog and English. Consider the following sentences. (44) B<um>ili ang <PFV.AF>buyDET binata ng mansanas kanina bachelor OBL apple a.while.ago ‗The bachelor bought apples a while ago.‘ In Tagalog it can be observed that while the infix <um> already encodes the perfective aspect, the clausal adjunct kanina also expresses the temporal point in the sentence, which already makes it redundant. The same can be observed in English. (45) She baked cookies yesterday. In English, a right verbal form—in this case, the addition of the suffix –ed—proves that it utilizes a grammatical TAM, which is morphosyntactic in nature. Moreover, as in Tagalog, the grammaticalized past tense in sentence (45)—which is baked—and the additional clausal adjunct yesterday, both express a past situation or meaning. This proves that English exhibits a quite redundant way of showing TAM. 20 6. Historical Link between T’boli and BIM This paper has shown syntactic evidence of the similarity of T‘boli and BIM when it comes to aspect marking. That is, both languages utilize lexical markers to express aspect. These languages also show that these lexical markers highly optional when it comes to discourse, and the sentence is disambiguated when put into context. Both languages also use clausal adjuncts or temporal adverbials to express aspect, even without the use of the lexical markers. Based on these similarities, this paper ultimately aims to possibly identify which of the two languages first utilized this syntactic feature. It must be noted that in the group of ProtoPhilippine languages, the dominating Greater Central Philippine (GCP) languages expanded to the Gorontalo-Mongondow languages of Northern Sulawesi (which might be as well due to migration), but mysteriously skipped the intervening Bilic languages in Southern Mindanao (Blust, 1991, p. 100). Moreover, there is the question put forward by Blust (2005, p. 55), in that why did the Proto-Philippines expansion stopped at the geographical proximity of the Philippines, while GCP either mysteriously leaped or expanded sidewards toward Northern Sulawesi? Only this syntactic feature lexical marking in aspect which is present in T‘boli and BIM has been looked into to possibly conclude that there is closer genealogical relationship between these two languages. After all, both languages still fall under the Western Malayo Polynesian (WMP) group of languages. This shall only deal with the different possibilities and hypotheses on how these two languages are related to each other given their similarities in such syntactic feature. 1) There is the question of what language was used in the formation of BIM. 2) If the assumption is that the syntactic feature was contact-induced, there is a need to establish the directionality of contact. There is also a need to identify the trigger and other relic evidences. 3) The syntactic feature may have been independently developed in both languages. That is, it might only be a parallel development. 21 4) Reid‘s (1982) subgrouping of Proto-Austronesian (PAn) places the Bilic subgroup of languages at a higher node, noting that these southern Mindanao langauges do not exhibit the same innovations manifested in Malayo-Polynesian languages. Further, he said that it may have descended from ―a very early migration south of Formosa by an Austronesia-speaking people‖ (Tyron, 1995, p. 28). To illustrate, consider Reid‘s (1982) subgrouping as illustrated in Figure 1. Fig. 1. Reid’s Proto-Austronesian Subgrouping It can be observed that the Bilic subgroup of languages is in the same node as other Formosan languages. This basically implies that these languages may have phonological and syntactic features distinct from Amis-Extra-Formosan7. It may also imply that whatever novel syntactic features they have must have originally come from them. Considering the distinctiveness of the feature of lexicalized TAM marking in T‘boli, a Bilic language—that is, that this feature is not manifested in any Proto-Philippine subgroup of languages—there may be some reason to believe that such feature must have originally come from it. The hypothesis that T‘boli must have been the source of this syntactic feature has, except for Reid‘s subgrouping, little evidence to be further proven and debated. I leave this controversial speculation to future researchers who may want to pursue this field of study. It must also be scrutinized further 7 At least in this case, Amis-Extra-Formosan includes Philippine languages. 22 because such features are only reconstructed forms. Further evidence must be researched in other fields such as history, archaeology and genetics. There is still a wide array of possibilities on which language first utilized the lexical marking for aspect in both languages. There is no current evidence at hand to further scrutinize this issue. Moreover, a linguistic comparison between only two languages is not enough to point out a direct and concrete evidence on which language first utilized this syntactic feature. This is still subject to further research in the field of historical linguistics. 7. Further Studies: Other languages with lexicalized TAM marking This study further examined other languages of the world which exhibit the same lexicalized TAM marking observed in T‘boli and BIM. This is to further investigate and possibly determine the most probable hypothesis of the historical or synchronic relationship of these languages exhibiting such syntactic feature. There have been extensive grammar researches in Pacific and Oceanic languages such as Samoan, Rotuman and Maori, which briefly dealt on their lexicalized Tense-Aspect marking. 23 Table 6. Languages with lexicalized TAM marking Language Tense-Aspect Marking 8 1. Samoan (Hunkin,  e/te 2009) 2. Fijian 1998) (Lynch, 3. Rotuman 9 (Lynch, 1998) 4. Ponapean 10 (Lynch, 1998) 5. Maori (Lynch, Tense/Aspect Present tense/implied future Sample Sentence E alu siaki i Aukilani. ―Jack goes to Aukland.‖ Continuous action ‘Olo’o moe Ioane. ―Ioane is asleep.‖  ‗olo‘o  ‗ua Perfect, past perfect  sā Past, perfect tense  Sā moe Pita. ―Pita was sleeping.‖ na Simple past Na savali le tama. ―The boy walked.‖  ‗ole‘ā Immediate future ‗Ole’ā tam‘oe le tama. ―The boy will run.‖  ā Past  E ā lako mai o Jone. ―John came.‖ na Future E na lako mai o Jone. ―John will come.‖  la Future La ‗ea ia la leum. ―He says he will come.‖  kin Habitual Aspect Soulik kin kang rais. ―Soulik eats rice.‖  ka Inceptive Ka takoto te tamaiti 8 Tense or aspect is shown or marked by the verbal particles which is called tense indicators, where these are followed by the verb. 9 Rotuman is marked for tense. 10 Ponapean is marked for aspect. 24 1998) ka moe. ―The child lay down and slept.‖ 6. Supyire 1999) 11 7. Maltese 1999) 8. Tongan 1999) 12  kua Completive Kua mate ta-ku hoa. ―My friend has died.‖ (Bhat,  à Perfective U à pa tanjaa. ―He came yesterday (and is still here.)‖ (Bhat,  kien Past Fisssitta mikiel kien diga kiel. ―At six, Michael had already eaten.‖ (Bhat,  na‘e Past Na’e manatu‘i ‗a siale ‗e he talavou. ―The young man remembered Siale.‖ Based on the limited data in Table 6, it can be observed that a number of Polynesian and Oceanic languages also exhibit a lexicalized tense/aspect marking, the same syntactic feature observed in T‘boli and BIM. Firstly, in the historical context, Oceanic languages such as Tongan and Samoan are definitely very distinct from Austronesian languages like T‘boli and BIM. That is why there is no way to conclude that the sharing of this syntactic feature is historical. Secondly, it can be entertained that a parallel development may have happened after all. That is, this syntactic feature may be developed independently across different languages of the world. Again, this hypothesis is still open for further research and debate. 8. CONCLUSIONS This study has presented the typology of tense-aspect marking in T‘boli and BIM. It was shown that both languages utilize a lexical marking to express aspect. This study also provided an overview of the inventory of different lexical markers of both languages. It can be concluded 11 Supyire is marked for aspect. Tongan is a Polynesian language with a verb-initial constituent order. The verb comes first which is preceded by the tense/aspect marker (Bhat) 12 25 that the lexical markers in T‘boli only express aspect while those in BIM also express modality. Moreover this paper has provided an inventory of the combinations of lexical markers in T‘boli and BIM, and that they follow the rule of hierarchy. This paper also attempted to find the historical link between T‘boli and BIM. However further study, research and comparative analysis are still required to possibly identify which language first utilized such syntactic feature. Finally, it further investigated other languages of the world, particularly Oceanic and Polynesian languages, which also exhibit the same syntactic feature found in T‘boli and BIM. On a final note, it may have well been developed independently across languages. References Arka, I. (2013). On the typology and syntax of TAM in Indonesian. NUSA: Linguistic studies of languages in and around Indonesia, 55, 23-40. Bhat, D.N.S (1999). The Prominence of Tense, Aspect and Mood. Studies in Language Companion Series. USA: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Blust, R. (1991). The Greater Central Philippines hypothesis. Oceanic Linguistics, 30, 73-129. _______. (2005). The Linguistic Macrohistory of the Philippines: Some Speculations. In H.Liao and C.R. Rubino (eds.) Current Issues in Philippine Linguistics and anthropology: Parangal kay Lawrence Reid. Manila: LSP and SIL. 31-68. Comrie, B. (1976). Aspect: An introduction to the study of verbal aspect and related problems. New York: Cambridge University Press. Dowty, D.R. (1977). Toward a semantic analysis of verb aspect and the English ―imperfective‖ progressive. Linguistics and Philosophy 1(1), pp. 45-77. Duke, M. (1998). Evidence for Grammatical Functions in Tongan. Proceedings of the LFG98 Conference. University of Canterbury. Forsberg, V.M. (1992). A Pedagogical Grammar of Tboli. Studies in Philippine Linguistics, 9 (1), 1-110. Grange, P. (2006). Aspect in Indonesian: free markers versus affixed or clitic markers. Proceedings of the International Workshop and Evidentiality in Indonesian languages. 43-62. Hunkin, G.A. (2009). Gagana Samoa: A Samoan Language Coursebook. Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press. 26 Lewis, M.P. (Ed). (2009). Ethnologue: Languages of the World (16th ed.). Dallas, TX: SIL International. Lynch, J. (1998). Pacific Languages: An Introduction.Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press. Porter, D. (1977). A Tboli Grammar. Philippine Journal of Linguistics. (Special Monograph No. 7). Manila: Linguistic Society of the Philippines. Schmidtke, K. (2006). A Look Beyond English: Tense and Aspect Systems in the Languages of the World. Department of English and American Studies. Friedrich Schiller University Jena, 1-10. Talavera, M.J. (2013). Revisiting Verb Aspect in T’boli. Undergraduate paper. University of the Philippines Diliman. ___________. (2015). Tense and Aspect in Tagalog Revisited: Towards a thicker linguistic and pedagogical analysis. Undergraduate thesis paper. University of the Philippines Diliman. Tyron, D. (1995). Proto-Austronesian and the major austronesian subgroups. In P. Bellwood, J. Fox and D. Tryon (Eds.), The Austronesians: historical and comparative perspectives. Canberra: The Australian National University. Zorc, D.P. (1986). The genetic relationships on Philippine languages. In P. Geraghty, L. Carrington & S. A. Wurm (Eds.), FOCAL II: Papers from the Fourth International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics (pp. 147-173). Canberra: Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University. List of Abbreviations 1 first person ERG ergative 2 second person GEN genitive 3 third person GF goal focus ABL abilitative IPFV imperfective ABS absolutive LOC locative ACC accusative NOM nominative ADJF adjective forming affix OBL oblique AF actor focus PFV perfective aspect CONT contemplative PREP preposition 27 POSS possessive PL plural PROG progressive PROS prospective PRT particle QP question particle RCP reciprocal RECPFV recent perfective SG singular SIM similitive 28