Negation and Irrealis Modality in Tunis Arabic

Abstract

Negative sentences in Tunis Arabic are usually formed by two particles: a prefix maː- and a suffix -ʃ, which are simultaneously affixed to a predicate. Previous studies regard the former as a negative maker, while researchers have proposed various interpretations regarding the function of the latter. The present paper aims to define the semantic property of the suffix -ʃ from two viewpoints which have not been adopted in the previous studies: (i) relationship between the function of -ʃ in non-negative contexts and that in negative contexts, and (ii) -ʃ as a marker of irrealis modality. The survey shows that the suffix -ʃ in non-negative contexts denotes inference or interrogative, while in negative contexts, non-assertive or nonfactual. In terms of modality, all these notions share the common feature of irrealis. Therefore, the suffix -ʃ can be defined as an irrealis modality marker. As it is possible to regard the distinction between realis and irrealis as a polarity, four related modalities can be distinguished by a combination of two polarities of negative-affirmative and realis-irrealis. Thus, in Tunis Arabic, these four modalities are encoded by use of the negative marker maː- and the irrealis modality marker -ʃ: affirmative realis sentence is marked by the absence of both markers, negative realis sentence is marked by the use of maː-, affirmative irrealis sentence by the use of -ʃ, and negative irrealis sentence by the use of both markers.