Verbal aspect in the acquisition of Latvian as a foreign language

Abstract

The article addresses verbal aspect in the acquisition of Latvian as a foreign language. Latvian textbooks both in Latvian and in other languages, as well as Japanese learners’ writings are analysed to explore this topic. The main issue is the use of verbs expressing the aspectual opposition perfective / imperfective, as well as the opposition inchoative / stative, and other Aktionsart prefixed verbs. Verbal aspect in Latvian is an implicit category. It is one of the few categories described in Latvian grammars but less frequently addressed in the textbooks of Latvian as a foreign language. The analysis shows that in the initial stage learners may use mostly imperfective non-prefixed verbs when denoting habitual situations in the present tense. The necessity of perfective prefixed verbs arises in the preterit, when learners describe a concrete, single situation that has taken place in the past. Without knowing the notion of aspectual opposition and corresponding perfective prefixed verbs, learners often use imperfective verbs. A similar situation is observed for the inchoative prefixed verbs, which learners replace with the imperfective stative verbs that they have already acquired. The use of other Aktionsart prefixed verbs seems difficult for learners and requires a higher, “native-like” level of proficiency.