ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the mood systems of Niger-Congo languages. Mood systems have been studied in language typology, with certain properties of imperative and interrogative moods being included in the World Atlas of Language Structures. Difference between verbal affixes and particles across Niger-Congo is that while affixes normally agree with the root verb in terms of vowel harmony and other harmony systems, particles maintain their phonological quality irrespective of that of the co-occurring verb, except when they are cliticized. In some Niger-Congo languages the Subject, Predicator and Negotiator stand out as the essential elements for enacting the clause as a move in exchange and in showing mood contrasts, either by their presence, absence or their morphological realization. The mood systems in Niger-Congo show a clear primary distinction between indicative and imperative clauses. Elemental interrogative is the most widely studied mood type in Niger-Congo.
