Datapoint Singapore Bazaar Malay/Present reference of stative verbs and past perfective reference of dynamic verbs

The predicate without any marker refers to a situation which occurs at whatever time is in focus. It may be present or past. The temporal location of that situation is clear from the context. As in Malay, a Bazaar Malay VP or an AP without being marked by any temporal expressions or TAM markers indicates a situation as a single whole and its temporal location can be inferred from the context. Thus, the utterance Saya ada satu oranggaji may mean either ‘I have a maid’ or ‘I had a maid.’ But from the context, it can be inferred that she was talking about the domestic helper she had at the time of speech.

Values

Stative verbs with present reference and dynamic verbs with past perfective reference are marked differently

Example 67-20:
Di sini tinggal punya orang pun boleh jauh pergi beli.
Di
in
sini
here
tinggal
live
punya
rel
orang
people
pun
even
boleh
can
jauh
far
pergi
go
beli.
buy
Even people who live here can go far to buy [it].

Source: Aye 2005: 115

Example 67-195:
So saya tahu already ada orang yang sudah minum.
So
so
saya
1sg
tahu
know
already
already
ada
exist
orang
person
yang
rel
sudah
pfv
minum.
drink
So, I knew there was someone who drank [it].

Source: Aye 2005: 116

Example 67-213:
Hey Aleng itu punya ah lu pinya tak suka pinya olang sula mati ah di America ah.
Hey
voc
Aleng
Aleng
itu
dem
punya
attr
ah
pcl
lu
2sg
pinya
poss
tak
neg
suka
like
pinya
rel
olang
person
sula
pfv
mati
die
ah
pcl
di
in
America
America
ah.
pcl
Hey, Aleng, your [father], [the person] you do not like, already died in America.

Source: Aye 2005: 369

Confidence:
Certain