Plain and Progressive Futurates in Turkish

Abstract

Futurates denote future time reference without using future markers. In English, there are two types of futurates; plain and progressive. Plain futurates are formed by using present tense, while progressive is formed with progressive marker. Rullmann et al. (2022) differentiate plain and progressive futurates in English stating that plain futurates require schedule, while progressives do not. Based on the mentioned divergence, the present study analyzes the properties of Turkish futurates in terms of schedule requirement. The analysis on the schedule requirement of Turkish futurates are also supported by analyzing the status of nature events, and the availability of future in the past constructions. The outcomes of the study show that there is a contradiction between English and Turkish futurates in terms of schedule interpretation, and compatibility with natural events. While in English, the plain futurate requires schedule, and properly works with natural events; it is the progressive futurate that necessitates schedule, and works fine with nature events in Turkish. Additionally, the analysis on future in the past constructions in Turkish shows that progressive futurates are available with future in the past, while plain futurates are not. This finding also supports the divergence drawn between plain and progressive futurates in Turkish.