Modal height and modal flavor: the case of Wolof "di"

Abstract

The Wolof imperfective auxiliary di is compatible with event-in-progress, habitualand future readings. Furthermore, while varieties of all these readings are available fordi when it sits in a syntactically low position, only future readings are available when it sitsin a syntactically high position. We aim to account for this puzzle by combining several ingredientsindependently motivated in the literature: (i) event-relative circumstantial modalityfor event-in-progress, habitual, and a subset of future readings; (ii) metaphyisical modality forgeneralized future readings; (iii) the idea that syntactic height determines the type of modalanchor that projects a modal base. This study contributes to our understanding of the relationbetween syntactic height and modal flavor, as well as the nature of modal-aspectual interactionscross-linguistically.Keywords: aspect, future, habitual, imperfective, modality, modal flavor, progressive.