Abstract
This paper provides an analysis of the semantic function of < V-ne-vala hona>, which is said to be the periphrastic future construction in Hindi. The construction is formed by attaching a grammatical element -vala, which makes adjective/noun phrases, to the oblique infinitive (V-ne) followed by a form of the copula verb hona. In most preceding studies, < V-ne-vala hona> is described as denoting the proximate future, but through the examination of actual examples, it is revealed that this construction can also be used for the remote future in case of an event having a high probability of realization.
This paper argues that this construction is not an expression that refers to the future but an expression that describes a state at the time of reference as a pre-determined schedule by considering the following facts : (i) in some cases < V-ne-vana hona> is not equivalent to the future tense form. (ii) the copula verb bond can take the past tense form and in that case the construction usually denotes that an event was not realized.
<V-ne-vala hona> is used to describe not only a scheduled event but also an imminent one, or a future event that the speaker strongly believes will take place. This paper clarifies the semantic and syntactic characteristics of these three kinds of usages of < V-ne-vala hona> and considers the last one (the speaker's strong belief) as epistemic modality according to the definition of Palmer (2001). The final section makes an observation on the grammaticalization of <V-ne-vala hona>.
