An pe cholbal ne. ‗I‘m going to go after you.‘

152 Event Time-Communication of Event A in the least ―independent prior conditions‖, and those that in some sense are vitally tied to the performance of Event A ―dependent prior conditions‖. The difference between these two types of prior conditions is very subtle, and we will attempt to explain the difference by contrasting examples. In its simplest form, it is the difference between saying, ―When the taxi comes, Paul will leave the house e.g., on foot. ‖ and ―When the taxi comes, Paul will leave the house in it. ‖ In Sentence 1, Paul could as easily have picked some other time to leave the house, e.g., ―At 3:45 p.m., Paul will leave. ‖ Paul‘s leaving is independent of the taxi coming, but Paul has chosen to wait until the taxi comes before leaving. In Sentence 2, however, Paul cannot possibly leave in the taxi until the taxi is there. Paul ‘s leaving is dependent on the taxi ‘s coming because, for some reason, Paul cannot go by any other means. Now consider some more subtle examples: Examples 1. ―When I arrived home, I ate some food.‖ The above condition can be considered in two ways: Independent prior condition: ―I was carrying some food with me, but I arbitrarily decided not to eat it until I arrived home. ‖ Dependent prior condition: ―My arriving home was a necessary precondition to my eating the food e.g., that is where the food was. ‖ 2. ―When you go to eat, I will read my book.‖ The above condition can be considered in two ways: Independent prior condition: ―I will arbitrarily set the time when I start reading as the time you go to eat. I could as easily have said, ‗In twenty minutes, I will read my book.‘‖ Dependent prior condition: ―You came here to talk to me, so it would be inappropriaterudeabsurd to read my book just now. I ‘ll wait until you go to eat before I read my book.‖ 3. ―When you are ready to sleep, take this medicine.‖ The above condition can be considered in two ways: Independent prior condition: ―I am thinking of the time you are going to sleep as a convenient time to take the medicine. ‖ Or you could say, ―There is no special time in which you need to take this medicine, but when you go to sleep would be as good a time as any.‖ Dependent prior condition: ―In some sense, it is important to the taking of this medicine that you be ready to go to sleep e.g., maybe it is a sleeping pill and would not help you at another time of day. ‖ Kunas use different suffixes to express the subtle difference between dependent prior conditions and independent prior conditions, so it is important that you are aware of this difference. a Independent prior condition In the independent prior condition construction, Event A could normally take place at any time, for it really has no logical connection at all with Event B. Event A is independent of the performance of Event B. However, the speaker chooses to define the time at which Event A happened or will happen, by relating it to the performance of Event B. When the condition for Event B to take place is viewed as being independent of the performance of Event A, the suffix -dgin is added to the Event B verb. Examples 1. An kukaledgin kukunaidgin mas kunne. ‗When I will am flying in the plane, I am going to eat. ‘ ← Event B → ← Event A → 12.4 Grammar 153 In the example above, we are to understand that, theoretically, ―I‖ could have eaten at any time. However, ―I‖ have chosen to eat at the specific time that ―I‖ am in the plane.

2. Mas kunnoedgin iti ina kobo.

‗When you eat your food, take that medicine. ‘ ← Event B → ← Event A → From the example above, we are to understand that the particular medicine is the kind that may be taken at any time, however, mealtime is as good a time as any to take it. The independent prior condition may be used to refer to past or future situations. Although a verb tense-aspect suffix may be used in both Event A and Event B clauses, the time frame future or past of Event B is signalled by Event B. Event A immediate future aspectcompletive aspect verb occurring with Event B completive aspectpositional verb When the Event A verb is either immediate future aspect or completed aspect, the Event B verb may be a completive aspect -cha-zha-ja or one of the positional chi, mai, nai, kwichi, un verbs. The aspect of the Event A verb indicates whether the Event B verb is to be interpreted in the future or in the past. Examples 1. An mas kuchadgin, an machi takne. ‗When I will have finished eaten, I‘m going to see the boy.‘ 2. An mas kuchadgin, an machi takcha. ‗When I had finished eating I saw the boy.‘ In the examples above, both Event B verbs are completive aspect. Because, in Example 1 the Event A verb is immediate future aspect ―I‘m going to see‖, a listener knows that the Event B should be interpreted in the future sense of a completive aspect verb, i.e., ―When I will have finished eating, I‘m going to see the boy. ‖ In Example 2. the Event A verb is past completive aspect. The listener knows that the Event B verb is to be interpreted in a past framework, i.e., ―When I had finished eating, I saw the boy.‖ The interpretation of the past or future significance of positional Event B verbs is also signalled by the aspect of the Event A verb. Examples 1a. An mas kunaidgin, an machi takne. ‗When I will be am actively involved in eating, I am going to see the boy.‘ b. An mas kunaidgin, an machi takcha. ‗When I was actively involved in eating, I saw the boy.‘ 2a. María mas kunchidgin, Luis machi takne. ‗When Mary is will be eating, Louis is going to see the boy.‘ b. María mas kunchidgin, Luis machi takcha. ‗When Mary was sitting eating, Louis saw the boy.‘ 3a. José kachigin kammaidgin, an machi takne. ‗When Joseph is will be sleeping in the hammock, I am going to see the b oy.‘ b. José kachigin kammaidgin, an machi takcha. ‗When Joseph was sleeping in the hammock, I saw the boy.‘ 4a. Anmal mas kumpukwadgin, machi noniko. ‗When we will be are eating, the boy will arrive.‘ b. Anmal mas kumpukwadgin, machi noni. ‗When we were sitting eating, the boy arrived.‘ 5a. Anmal mas kunchadgin, an ne. ‗When we will have eaten, I am going to go.‘ b. Anmal mas kuchadgin, an nade. ‗When we had eaten, I went.‘ Event A immediate future aspect occurring with Event B immediate future aspect If Event A will take place when the Event B activity is imminent, the immediate future aspect suffix -ne is used in both Event A and Event B clauses. 154 Event Time-Communication Examples 1. An nan taknedgin, Pedro cho chikne. ‗When I am going to go and see my mother, Peter is going to go cut firewood.‘ 2. Marla mas tunedgin, an omne. ‗When Mary is going to cook, I am going to bathe.‘ Event A future aspect occurring with Event B future aspect If Event A will take place at some unspecified time ―sometime‖ in the future when the Event B activity will take place, both events use the future aspect verb suffix -o-oe. The independent prior condition suffix -dgin is added to the long form of the future aspect suffix -oe. Examples 1. Mas kunnoedgin, iti ina kobo.