THE MEANING OF THE (BU)KA-FORM IN BASSE MANDINKA
THE MEANING OF THE (BU)KA-FORM IN BASSE MANDINKA

Summary/Abstract: The present paper provides a detailed study of the semantic content of a verbal construction, so-called (BU)KA form, in Basse Mandinka, a Mandinka language spoken in the easternmost part of Gambia. The evidence demonstrates that the total meaning of the analyzed locution includes the following more specific values, partially overlooked in non-abundant traditional grammatical descriptions: iterative-habitual and progressivecontinuous present and past, atemporal-universal present, modality (mental and physical competence-capacity-ability, root possibility, permission or volition) and inclusive perfect. Moreover, we show that our data provide additional valuable facts concerning a typologically universal relation between the domain of iterativity-habituality and the concept of modality.

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