Laying to rest certain myths concerning the subjunctive past tense in Zulu

Abstract

Two opposing concepts concerning the grammatical status of the so-called subjunctive past tense in Zulu are investigated and evaluated in this paper. The one represents the traditional view on this matter whilst the other is of more recent origin. In terms of the former the subjunctive past tense is regarded as a past tense form of the subjunctive mood where it serves to indicate consecutive actions that have taken place in the near or remote past tense whilst in terms of the latter it is regarded as an independant mood, the so-called consecutive mood, which is not only semantically distinct from the subjunctive mood but is also devoid of any temporal qualities. It is concluded in this paper that the latter view is unfounded, and that the subjunctive past tense in Zulu is indeed a past tense of the subjunctive mood.