Affix ki in Old Kanembu verbs: A backgrounding progressive-completive category

Abstract

Old Kanembu has an aspectual category that derives from imperfective stems by the affix ki. The ki-forms occur in conflicting aspectual domains, the main semantic discrepancy being between progressive and completive readings. The progressive-completive is a rare, but not non-existent category in world languages, and Old Kanembu seems to be one such language. Completive events presuppose a phase of duration prior to the phase of completion. The selection of the aspectual phases in a given ki-form is determined by aspectual lexical semantic as well as by pragmatic and discourse factors of the situations described in Old Kanembu texts. The main unifying semantic and pragmatic property of various occurrences of ki-forms can be described as liminal process which establishes background for the following (foregrounded) event.