Introduction to the special issue on ʻalreadyʼ expressions

Abstract In this introduction, we outline the research question underlying this special issue: how do languages express ʻalreadyʼ and related notions, and how does this relate to the typological debate around the typological validity of the proposed category of “iamitive”? We also present the four studies in this issue, which, focusing on languages from diverse families and regions, offer contrasting perspectives on the iamitive hypothesis and contribute new data and criteria for its cross-linguistic assessment.