Tense, Aspect and Mood in Awetí verb-paradigms: Analytic and synthetic forms.

This paper describes the verbal Tense-Aspect-Mood system of Awetí (Tupian, Central Brazil) in a Word-and-Paradigm approach.

One classification of Awetí verb forms contains clear aspect categories. A second set of independent classifications renders at least four moods and contains a third major TAM classification, factuality, that has one mainly temporal category Future, while others are partially or wholly modal.

Structural categories reflect the formal composition of the forms. Some forms are synthetic, ‘marked’ only by means of affixes, but many are analytic, containing auxiliary particles.

With selected sample forms we demonstrate in detail the interplay of structural and functional categories in Awetí verb paradigms.