An earlier stage of the language probably lacked the immediate past eyewitness tense, with the present-day recent past eyewitness corresponding to both immediate past and to recent past non-eyewitness.

In the tense-modal slot of predicate structure there are three past tenses (immediate, recent and far past), each with one form for eyewitness and one for non-eyewitness evidentiality (and also distinct forms for feminine and masculine agreement).