The futue II in the Serbo-Croatian verbal verbal system

Abstract

The verbal form of the Serbo-Croatian future II (the composition budem + l-participle) is usually placed among the futural formations which elsewhere — particularly in some other Indo-European languages — are termed »futurum exactum« or »anterior« future and indicate a perfect future action which from the standpoint of some future moment is viewed as past. But the Serbo-Croatian form only partly agrees with the homonymous formation in other languages, because — owing to the very nature of the Slavic verb and especially to the role of its aspects — it does not cover in its uses the same meanings as elsewhere. It has not, moreover, the same function in štokavian speeches as in the literary language, and even its use in the two types of the latter, the western and the eastern one, is not quite the same. The question has been already treated in Yugoslav science, but it has not hitherto been exhausted. In the older Serbo-Croatian literary language, from the 13th to the 19th centuries, the syntax of the composition budem + participle has a wide range of application, which by far surpasses the limits of what in other languages and also to-day in Serbo-Croatian grammar, is denoted as futurum exactum. Such a syntax, very well confirmed in Vuk’s language, has not been entirely taken over into the literary language of the 20th century, although it is still', living in popular speeches, in particular those of the central-štokavian type and further to the West, — in the ikavian and even in the čakavian areas. The form in question appears in some different uses, as follows: (1) An action denoted from the viewpoint of a future moment as past can occur: (a) also in future (both aspects); this is the future II, which in its perfective aspect is not confounded with the perfective present pro futuro; (b) in present (only the imperfective aspect); (c) in past (both aspects); the use is very wide-spread in popular speeches; (2) An action viewed from the standpoint of a habitual moment as past occurs, in both aspects, also in habitual time. Accordingly, the general meaning of the composition budem + participle as it has hitherto been used in štokavian speeches, is reduced to the expression of an action which from the point of view of a future or habitual moment (= moment referred to by the present budem) is denoted as past, that is relative-past or anterior, but without any regard to the absolute time in which the action expressed by the participle actually occurs. This time is evident from the context and may be not only future but also present or past, and even habitual, in other words — any time. The sense of relative past, as well as the aspectual value of the action, is contained in the participle. Such a form, as we see, differs from futurum exactum of other languages, where only an action occuring in future is viewed from the standpoint of a future moment as past (= the first use of our form). It functions as a »relative perfect«, that is a ready-made formation which in the sphere of dependence represents the independent perfect. It is, however, different in the modern literary language. Here only the first one of the four mentioned uses has been generally accepted, namely that in which the composition serves as the future II, but with a widened meaning: it is no more limited to the sphere of ante-future to denote a past-future action, but moves over to that of co-future and indicates a present-future action. The participle in this case is deprived of its past Sense. .Thus our form cam no more toe compared with futurum exactum of other languages. Yet the use of the future II differs also within the frame of the literary language itself. While in the western area the difference between the perfective present pro futuro and the future II of the same aspect has been still preserved, in the eastern one it is disappearing, so that both forms are employed without distinction. It follows that in Serbo-Croatian the notion of »futurum exactum« is of no real account. In this sense three moments have to be pointed out: (a) The Serbo-Croatian future II does not occur in an independent use as futurum exactum does in other languages; (to) What elsewhere is expressed by futurum exactum is in Serbo-Croatian rather covered by the perfective present than denoted by the future II; (c) The Serbo-Croatian future II indicates also such actions which else-where are not expressed by futurum exactum but by the simple future. Such a tense, then, hardly deserves even the name of futurum exactum.