Future and prospective constructions in Guinean Maninka

There are three constructions in Guinean Maninka with basic meanings belonging to the future-prospective area: the First Future, the Second Future, and the Prospective. This paper, based on elicitation and natural text data, analyzes the semantics and distribution of these constructions. Specifi cally, it demonstrates the following: the First Future construction (marked by dí ) has a broad range of future meanings and can be regarded as the default future construction, it also has a habitual meaning; the less frequent Second Future (marked by dí nà ) expresses the distant future; the Prospective construction (marked by the verbal suffix -tɔ), apart from prospective meaning, can also have future-tense or modal semantics. Additionally, it establishes that the First Future and Prospective constructions are sensitive to the presence of an argument focus in the clause. Finally, it advances hypotheses on the etymology and the evolution paths of each construction and its marker: the Prospective construction may originate from the simultaneity converb (marked by suffix -tɔ); the First Future marker, from the qualitative verb dí ‘be pleasant; be easy’; the Second Future marker results from combination of the First Future marker with the verb nà ‘to come’.