Tense and Aspect Markings in Use̩n
Keywords:
Tense, Aspect, Grammatical categories, Use̩ nAbstract
Tense and aspect are grammatical categories used in expressing the concept of time in languages. They are important grammatical categories cross-linguistically, given that time is a universal phenomenon. However, their manifestation has not received adequate attention in Use̩ n, a dialect of Yoruba spoken in Ovia South West Local Government Area of Edo State. Hence, the present study seeks to present a descriptive account of tense and aspect markings in declarative sentences in Use̩ n. The data for the study was elicited from ten native speakers of the dialect through structured interview method. The study adopts the descriptive framework for its data analysis. It was found in the study that tense in Use̩ n is bipartile, namely; non-future and the future. The non-future tense is marked by a high tone syllable “ó” while the future tense is marked by “á”. It was also found that the aspectual system of the dialect is tripartile, which include; the perfective aspect which is marked with “tí”, the imperfective habitual aspect which is marked with “ka”, and the progressive aspects which is marked with “é”.
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