Irrealis Mood

Irrealis moods (abbreviated IRR) are the main set of grammatical moods that indicate that a certain situation or action is not known to have happened as the speaker is talking.

Every language has a formula for the unreal. The Indigenous languages of the Pacific Northwest have as many as five levels of "unreality."

Famous quotes containing the word mood:

    A free-enterprise economy depends only on markets, and according to the most advanced mathematical macroeconomic theory, markets depend only on moods: specifically, the mood of the men in the pinstripes, also known as the Boys on the Street. When the Boys are in a good mood, the market thrives; when they get scared or sullen, it is time for each one of us to look into the retail apple business.
    Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)