Bulgarian Moods

Abstract

This paper concerns Bulgarian da-constructions (daCs), phrasal structures that correspond to subjunctive or infinitival structures in other languages. In combining two theoretical contributions to the syntax and semantics of Bulgarian subjunctives, an attempt is made to reconsider the Bulgarian mood system, focussing on daCs. The crucial claim is that daCs mark the absence of the indicative being associated with the supposition of subject certainty (Siegel 2009). Accordingly, da is a semantically vacuous mood marker chosen when the indicative would cause a semantic failure. By adding Krapova’s (2001) distinction between [+T] and [-T] daCs, their correspondence to subjunctive or infinitival structures in other languages follows immediately.