'Irrealis' is pronounced 'ear-ray-ahl-iss', with stress on the
next-to-last syllable.

It's a standard term in theoretical linguistics for verb forms and other
grammatical markers for hypothetical, non-actual states of affairs. In a
lot of languages, this is one meaning of subjunctive verb forms. In
English, constructions with 'would have' seem to be slowly taking over
the territory of the subjunctive--so we hear 'if he would have called me
last night' in place of 'if he had called me last night'.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Johanna Rubba   Assistant Professor, Linguistics
English Department, California Polytechnic State University
One Grand Avenue  • San Luis Obispo, CA 93407
Tel. (805)-756-2184  •  Fax: (805)-756-6374 • Dept. Phone.  756-259
• E-mail: [log in to unmask] •  Home page: http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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