This article pursues two aims. The first one is to show the interrelation of grammaticalization and hypoanalysis in the evolution of future tenses in Slavic languages. For this purpose, hypoanalysis is introduced as a major mechanism of language change, distinct from grammaticalization, and exemplified by the shift of the present tense of perfective stems to mark perfective future by default, which is characteristic of entire North Slavic. This type of hypoanalysis is set off from futurate presents. The second aim consists in specifying the place of this type of hypoanalysis among the means of future marking which have been attested in Slavic languages over the past 1,000+ years. Against this backdrop, the article details the chronological relationship and the dynamics of the areal distribution of the main sources of future tenses in Slavic languages. The author asks about the reasons for North-South splits between Slavic languages in the domain of futures tenses and forwards proposals in order to understand how, in this grammatical domain, grammaticalization and hypoanalysis might have interfered to yield the contemporary distribution of future tenses in Slavic languages.
Publication Date: 2026-06-04