  No exception to the rule Te tense-modality-aspect system of Papiamentu reconsidered * Nicholas Faraclas, Yolanda Rivera-Castillo and Don E. Walicek University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras In this chapter, it is demonstrated that although the Tense, Modality, and Aspect (TMA) system of Papiamentu has been cited by a number of researchers (Andersen 1993; Bickerton 1980, 1981) both as being exceptional in relation to other Creoles of the Caribbean and as being deviant from universal strategies for marking TMA attributed by some to Creole languages worldwide, Papiamentu TMA operates essentially on the basis of the same system found in most Atlantic Creoles as well as in most of their West African substrate languages. All of the features which Andersen (1993: 89–91) and others cite as ‘aberrant’ in Papiamentu, including: (1) the near obligatory use of the markers a or ta before verbs; (2) the absence of a ‘Ø marker’ for perfective aspect; (3) the existence of two irrealis markers (lo and Ø) and the ‘deviant position’ of lo; (4) the dual (tense and aspect) function of the marker tabata; and (5) the lack of a specifc morpheme that functions exclusively as an anterior marker; are all shown to be the result of features and patterns of grammatical change found throughout the Afro-Atlantic. . Introduction Te Tense, Modality, and Aspect (TMA) system of Papiamentu has been cited by a number of researchers, including Andersen (1993) and Bickerton (1980, 1981), both as being exceptional in relation to other Creoles of the Caribbean and as being deviant from universal strategies for marking TMA attributed by some to Creole * We extend our sincere appreciation to those in Aruba who made this research possible, es- pecially those individuals who agreed to have their conversations recorded. We thank the Uni- versity of Alabama, Tuscaloosa for sponsoring Rivera-Castillo’s data collection there through its Summer Research Grant (2000) program. Te University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras provided additional support for this research through its Fondo Institucional para la Investigación (FIPI), award 8-80-502. We would also like to thank Rose Vázquez for her assistance in the transcrip- tion and translation of interviews. Copyright @ 2007. John Benjamins Publishing Co. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except fair uses permitted under U.S. or applicable copyright law. EBSCO : eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost) - printed on 9/26/2019 8:02 PM via UNIV OF CHICAGO AN: 229938 ; Velupillai, Viveka, Huber, Magnus.; Synchronic and Diachronic Perspectives on Contact Languages Account: s8989984.main.ehost