Tense and aspect marking in Rutagwenda

Abstract

This study aimed at documenting tense and aspect marking in Rutagwenda which is a subdialect of both Runyankore and Rutooro. The general objective of the study was to describe the grammatical structure of tense and aspect in Rutagwenda as a sub-dialect of Runyankore and Rutooro, whereas the specific objectives were: to identify the different types of tense and aspect in Rutagwenda, to identify the morphosyntax of the tense and aspect marking in Rutagwenda, and to compare tense and aspect marking in Rutagwenda with its source languages, Runyankore and Rutooro. The study used a descriptive research design, which helped in the observation, description, and documentation of the grammatical structure of tense and aspect in Rutagwenda. The study targeted the speakers of Rutagwenda from Kitagwenda District in Uganda. In terms of theoretical underpinning, the study was anchored on the model of perception of tense and aspect in the mind and then on the model for realization of tense and aspect in the language. The findings of the study show that Rutagwenda has three major tenses, namely; past, present, and future. The past consists of the remote past, recent past, near past, and immediate past. The present does not have any categories and subcategories, unlike the future and past tense. For aspect, it was found out that Rutagwenda has two major aspects; perfective and imperfective aspects. The perfective consists of the following categories: Remote Past Perfective Aspect, Near Past Perfective Aspect, and Immediate Past Perfective Aspect. The imperfective aspect has the categories – habitual, progressive, persistive, and prospective, each of which have other subcategories. The respective markers for each of these and their positions in the verb are portrayed in this study. Finally, the findings show the similarities and differences in tense and aspect marking between Rutangwenda and its source languages. The study will be helpful as a source of literature on the structure of tense and aspect in Rutagwenda as a subdialect