Resumen de On the polysemy of the suffix -ke in the history of Northern Basque

Georges Rebuschi

• The various semantic values of the suffix -ke in Northern Basque are shown to depend, in the analytic conjugations, (a) on the type of verbal complex - aspectually marked participles plus the auxiliariesizan/°edun vs. aspectually unmarked radicals plus the auxiliaries°edin/°ezan (the synthetic conjugation is ambiguous, since it neutralizes this opposition), and (b) on the �tense� of the inflected auxiliaries (present/past/hypothetical). Depending on the context, three epistemic values can thus be computed: equi-possibility, probability, and prediction � hence a specialized interpretation as an ulteriority marker, i.e. a future tense marker when used with a verb in the present tense. This future value is shown not to have been limited to the Souletin dialect, and to have enabled 16th century Basque to have an analytical �future in the future�. Finally, a pragmatic value, the strong commitment of the speaker, will also be identified.