Do + subjunctive, future reference and modality in Albanian

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to present the use of the structure do + subjunctive, as one of the grammatical forms that marks futurity in Albanian. This grammatical form has derived from the free syntactic structure of dua + subjunctive, which used to express modality of desire or volition; therefore, do + subjunctive in Albanian is known as volitive future. In addition to its main function, namely reference to future time, do + subjunctive is also often used to express clear modal meaning. This modal meaning that characterizes do + subjunctive can be read in a variety of ways, depending on the context in which it appears. It can be used to express an epistemic conclusion, a conclusion based on speaker’s general knowledge or experience. This grammatical form can also be used to express different forms of deontic modality such as an order or a promise. Though less commonly, do + subjunctive can also be used to express speaker’s volition or desire. This modal component is characteristic especially for the do + imperfect subjunctive: do të punoja “I would work”. In addition to these uses, do + subjunctive can also be used in conditional constructions, both in apodosis and protasis, to express real and unreal conditions.

Keywords

• futurity; tense; modality; epistemic; deontic; dynamic; conditional

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