Irrealis/realis as mood categories

[LanguageStructure]

Many languages in Low Land South America distinguish reality status (realis and irrealis) and illocutionary force, so that e.g. indicative mood is a combination of reality status and declarative illocutionary force (see Van Valin and LaPolla 1997). There is literature on the topic. Mood=irrealis/realis does not work for such languages, because reality status markers cooccur with mood markers. Realis and irrealis are not mood categories.

In a number of Arawak languages south of the Amazon, ‘reality status’ is a prominent feature. This category is independent from speech acts (or moods). (Aikhenvald 2012: 190)