Perfective Aspect Research Articles

Actuality Entailments

In 1999, Rajesh Bhatt observed a curious interaction between modality and grammatical aspect: Under imperfective marking, ability modals describe “pure,” potentially unrealized abilities, but their perfectively marked counterparts instead describe actual events. These apparently nonmodal interpretations are known as actuality entailments. The effect has resisted straightforward explanation on standard semantic approaches to both aspect and modality: Perfective aspect is typically taken to introduce a bounded or episodic temporal perspective, and there is no obvious reason that this should erase the core contribution (i.e., hypotheticality) of a modal predicate. This article discusses the scope and distribution of actuality entailments, including their extension to nonabilitative and necessity modals. I survey a number of proposed accounts of the phenomenon, focusing in turn on the structural (compositional) interaction between modality and aspect and on the individual semantic contributions of the implicated elements. I conclude by noting some aspects of the phenomenon that—despite a wealth of literature—have yet to be thoroughly explored and may thus help to adjudicate between existing analyses.

Habituality Markers in Jordanian Arabic

Objectives: This study investigates the grammatical encoding of habituality within Jordanian Arabic. This linguistic phenomenon is expressed through specific markers for different tenses in the dialect. Methods: Our research employs a qualitative, theory-driven methodology rooted in truth-conditional semantics instead of a corpus-based approach. We base our findings on constructed utterances that are placed within specific contexts. Results: In the present tense, habituality is expressed using the copular verb bi-ku:n 'Pres-be'. The copula occurs within nominal sentences, serving as a marker that indicates the habitual nature of the action. The obligatory presence of the copula exclusively enforces a habitual interpretation. Conversely, the obligatory absence of the copula allows for two interpretations: episodic and habitual. Event plurality in the past tense, however, is constructed using the past auxiliary ka:n 'used to'. These constructions are known as periphrastic forms or retrospective habituals (Boneh and Doron, 2008). Conclusions: The periphrastic forms in Jordanian Arabic behave similarly to the perfective aspect, yet they are interpreted imperfectively. These periphrastic habituals are formed using both stage-level and individual-level predicates. However, the periphrastic forms incorporating stage-level predicates without an adverbial adjunct are ambiguous between a habitual and a non-habitual reading. The context serves to differentiate between the two readings.

Valency‐Conditioned Allomorphy in the Verbal Agreement of the Takestani Dialect of Southern Tati

AbstractThis paper studies the morphological structure of verbs in Takestani, an endangered Iranian dialect of Southern Tati. We analyse the effects of various morphological conditions on subject agreement allomorphy. The agreement suffix exhibits a large range of allomorphs in the past tense. We show that the primary factor for the agreement allomorphy is the valency of the root, and secondary factors are the presence of auxiliaries or perfective aspect. We also propose that the agreement allomorphy is a long‐distance process. The agreement allomorphy is conditioned by the voice or transitivity of the verb stem even though the stem is not directly adjacent to the agreement suffix. Alternative formulations in terms of clitics vs. suffixes do not negate the long‐distance nature of this allomorphy. We also find morphomic patterns of behaviour, such that the verbal agreement suffixes are mobile and can alternatively surface as possessive suffixes on nouns.

Aspektualitas dalam Cerpen Karangan Siswa Kelas XI SMA Bakti Idhata

Aspectuality is the speaker's point of view about a situation, for example an event, an ongoing event, a recurring event, or the end of an event. This study aims to describe the types of aspectuality in short stories written by class XI students of SMA Bakti Idhata. This research was conducted using descriptive qualitative method. The data in this study are elements of aspectuality in short stories written by class XI students of SMA Bakti Idhata. The data sources in this study were ten short stories written by class XI students of SMA Bakti Idhata. The data in this study were collected using the technique of listening and note-taking documentation. Based on the results of the study, it appears that from ten short stories written by class XI students of SMA Bakti Idhata, there are several types of aspectualities, namely perfective aspectuality, imperfective aspectuality, incoative aspectuality, continuous aspectuality, aggressive aspectuality, and iterative aspectuality. The most dominant aspectuality is the perfective aspect and the futurative aspect.

ОТРИЦАТЕЛЬНЫЕ КОНСТРУКЦИИ В СВЯЗНОМ ТЕКСТЕ

Negative constructions in a connected text Summary The article examines the use of aspectual forms in negative constructions as a means of organizing a coherent text. In the description, we used the distinction between left- and right-sided multiple connections carried out by various elements of the structure. The state of anticipation is the main component of the described situation. Modal shades of the possibility of action are perceived as an additional semantic component in a minimal context, logically determined by the moment of expectation. We distinguish two types of expected situations: 1) the description of the situation ends with the occurrence (realization of the expected action); 2) the implementation of the expected action does not occur contrary to the objective prerequisites for its implementation. The context conveys the completion of the situation, indicating the fact of the occurrence of the action. The state of prolonged absence of the expected action is conveyed implicitly. The linguistic expression of the described denotative situation may include negative constructions such as не + imperfective aspect. The fact of the occurrence of an event is accompanied by a continuation of the previous state, but when negated, the perfective aspect is used. The actualization of what is behind the negation in the passage − the carrier subtext, the implicit confirmation of the positive content is perceived at the level of the semantic structure of the text as a whole. Key words: text, semantic connection, negation, types of verb, expected action, actualization, context, situation

Adverbia Penanda Aspek dalam Novel Sansai karya Ermanto: Suatu Kajian Morfologi

This study examines the use of adverbial aspect markers in Ermanto's novel Sansai, aiming to revitalize Minangkabau literature by focusing on both cultural and social issues. The research explores how aspect markers influence narrative understanding and temporal dynamics in contemporary Minangkabau prose. Through qualitative document analysis using the Indonesian Language Corpus Linguistic Method (KORTARA), the study identifies and classifies adverbs that denote actions, events, situations, and traits in various temporal contexts. The analysis reveals four types of aspect markers: durative, perfective, imperfective, and inchoative. The novel contains 476 adverbial aspect markers, distributed as follows: 73 durative ("middle"), 64 imperfective ("not yet"), 278 perfective ("already"), and 61 inchoative ("beginning") markers. The perfective aspect "already" emerges as the most frequently used, suggesting a narrative emphasis on completed actions or states. This linguistic analysis provides insights into the narrative structure and temporal nuances of contemporary Minangkabau literature, contributing to a deeper understanding of how language use shapes storytelling and cultural expression. The findings offer a foundation for further exploration of the relationship between linguistic features and literary techniques in regional Indonesian literature.

Reflexives and politeness: possessive pronouns in Russian imperative sentences

In Russian, a specialized reflexive possessive pronoun must be used to indicate coreference between the possessor and the subject. However, it has been observed that in the first and second person plural, the reflexivization rule is often violated, and a non-reflexive possessive is used for subject coreference. Existing studies do not distinguish between singular formal and plural informal readings in the second person, assuming no difference between the two contexts. Furthermore, there is limited knowledge regarding the use of possessives in imperative contexts, as previous research has primarily focused on indicatives.This article aims to investigate the use of possessive pronouns in both formal and informal imperative contexts by addressing two questions. First, how often is a non-reflexive possessive used to indicate coreference with the subject in Russian imperative sentences? Second, what combination of semantic and pragmatic factors allows its use? Apart from the semantic factors that are well documented in the existing literature (referentiality, animacy and alienability of the possessum), we will consider three pragmatic dimensions of politeness that have not been considered so far: form or address (informal ty\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$ty$\\end{document} / formal Vy\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$Vy$\\end{document}), type of imperative (speaker- / hearer-oriented) and verbal aspect (perfective / imperfective).The study analyzed the use of possessive pronouns in imperatives in the spoken subcorpus of the Russian National Corpus using generalized linear mixed models and random forests. The findings suggest that the choice of possessive is strongly influenced by the form of address (ty\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$ty$\\end{document} / Vy\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$Vy$\\end{document}). When addressing the listener with the informal ty\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$ty$\\end{document}, a reflexive possessive is almost exclusively used. When addressing the listener with the formal Vy\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$Vy$\\end{document}, both possessives are used equally often. The choice between them depends on several factors, including the referentiality and alienability of the possessum, the type of imperative, and the verbal aspect. The non-reflexive form is preferred when the possessum is referential, the imperative is speaker-oriented, and, to a lesser extent, when the possessum is alienable and the verb is in the perfective aspect. Additionally, some verbs such as ‘give’ and ‘show’ strongly prefer a non-reflexive possessive.The results suggest that a reflexive possessive has become the default for subject coreference in Russian second person singular informal contexts. In formal contexts, however, the change is still ongoing, and a non-reflexive possessive is used to express the referential uniqueness of the possessum and to convey negative politeness towards the addressee.

Tone, viewpoint aspect, and imperative mood

We examine the interaction between viewpoint aspect and imperative mood in an under-described and endangered Edoid language of West Africa. In Emai, tone functions both lexically and grammatically. Verbs in citation form, including bisyllabic items, are toneless. In declarative mood Emai distinguishes perfective from imperfective, with perfective assigning high tone to a verb and imperfective assigning low. Imperative mood takes perfective aspect, most clearly evident when an auxiliary or preverb precedes the verb or when the imperative is negated. In simpler imperatives, verb tone is low high. The low tone is conditioned by the juxtaposition of a subject phrase that shows a second person pronoun with high tone and a verb phrase whose initial syllable is high. Across phrasal constitutents, consecutive high tones, as they would have appeared in simpler imperatives, are prohibited. It is the verb phrase initial high syllable that lowers.

The Aspectual Properties of Italian Venire Passives

Italian essere (be) and venire (come) periphrastic passives differ in their aspectual properties, both lexical and grammatical. Squartini’s (1999) analysis of venire passives accounts for their incompatibility with perfect aspect. In the present study, I develop an account of passive venire in which it is analyzed as a light verb, rather than a lexical verb. This difference, together with certain assumptions about the syntax of lexical aspect are leveraged to account for passive venire’s incompatibility with perfect aspect, propredicative lo, and with stative verbs. In this way, the empirical ground covered by the previous analysis is substantially expanded.

Notes on Verbal Aspect in Three Vedic Prose Narratives

AbstractThis article summarises the synchronic system of verbal aspect manifest in three Middle Vedic prose narrative texts, investigating the use of various morphological categories with past reference (especially the imperfect, perfect and aorist). I show that the imperfect and perfect are both compatible with multiple aspectual readings (perfective, imperfective and anterior); in the terminology of Dahl (2010), both may have neutral aspect. The aorist is largely restricted to anterior readings but can be perfective. Additionally, I consider the diachronic context of this system, outlining differences from the earlier one visible in the Early Vedic of the Rigveda and discussing the probable diachronic trajectory connecting the two. After commenting on the possibility of characterising the synchronic system within the alternative framework of Altshuler (2014), which lacks the category of neutral aspect, I conclude with notes on the use of the sentential particles ha, nu and vai in the text samples. The first of these seems to be associated with perfective aspect, while the latter two are both associated with anterior aspect.

Language transfer in tense acquisition: new evidence from English learning Chinese adolescents

Abstract Distinct from English, Mandarin verbs are not inflected to encode Past Tense, but perfective aspect is typically marked by aspectual markers -le and -guo. Moreover, resultative verb compounds are often viewed as accomplishment verbs, denoting telicity of an event. This study attempts to examine whether such linguistic properties transfer to the acquisition of English. We tested 22 English learning Chinese adolescents in two experiments, respectively using a Story Restatements Task and an Elicited Production Task. Overall, the experiments generated three major findings. First, the participants marked irregular verbs 13 % higher than regular ones. Second, the participants used bare verbs to express English Past Tense 12 % of the situations. Third, the participants adopted Mandarin-like RVCs to denote English Past Tense 10 % of the cases. Taken together, the findings indicate that besides morphophonological transfer, English learning Chinese adolescents adopt Mandarin word-formation rules to encode English Past Tense, which is new evidence of cross-linguistic transfer. We discuss the implications of our findings.

The semantics of Mandarin futurates

Abstract This paper investigates future interpretations in Mandarin declarative root clauses without overt future modals, i.e., Mandarin futurates. Mandarin futurates require future time adverbs and schedulable eventualities, which denote future readings relative to the utterance time or a context-determined past time. Moreover, Mandarin futurates presuppose the existence of a plan in the context and are incompatible with a single perfective aspect marker le1 . To account for these facts, I argue that a covert future modal m-plan is present in futurates and extend the formal analysis for English simple futurates to Mandarin with necessary modifications.

Present Perfect Tense in Arabic and English: A comparative Analysis

Arabic and English are members of distinct linguistic families. Arabic is a member of the Semitic group. This language has been synthesized. The Indo-European language family includes English. Commonly, it is an analytical and synthetic language. This study delves into an analytical analysis of the forms and usage of the present perfect tense (PPT) in Arabic and English based on the contrastive analysis theory (CA). The study utilized the descriptive-qualitative method to compare and analyze the data in this tense. The data utilized in this study were obtained from both prior and recent research. Based on the analysis, a tensional discrepancy exists between the Arabic and English languages, specifically concerning the present perfect tense. In Arabic, in contrast to English, it employs a variety of particles and adverbials to denote temporal reference. The perfective aspect in Arabic conveys abstract temporal characteristics. The formation of the present perfect tense in Arabic involves the use of the particles /qad or laqad/ before the perfective verb. On the other hand, English present perfect tense is constructed by combining the subject with the auxiliary verb “have” or “has” and the past participle form of the main verb. Finally, the realization of this particular tense in the English language poses a significant challenge due to the absence of a clear translation or equivalent in other linguistic systems, especially Arabic.

The Semantics Relation of Japanese Aspect -teiru and Negation

Verb aspects in the form of -teiru in Japanese is a category that is still common to be discussed as the result of meaning classification that is prompted. This article tries to explore the aspect relations in -teiru form toward negation to see the change of meaning that is produced. This way, the writer recommends the aspects classification of -teiru when it is present with a negation constituent in clause construction. The object of this research is the verb form -teiru in Japanese, the data are taken from Konotoha corpus in collecting the data, the writer used several keywords including -teiru, -teinai, -teita, -teinakatta, -teimasu, -teimasen, -teimashita, and -teimasendeshita. The aspect analysis of -teiru in this research refers to a theory that is explained by Nitta (1995) who classified the Japanese -teiru meaning in four categories, including: ugoki no saichuu ‘continuity of action’, kekkajoutai no jizoku ‘continuity of result state’, kurikaeshiteki jizoku ‘repeated continuity’, and keiken-kiroku ‘experience-note/memory’. Based on the data analysis, it shows that the presence of negation in both past and non-past can generate -teiru form which is later classified into two, they are perfective and imperfective. Those that are categorized as perfective aspect are the presence of negation on aspect meaning of -teiru within category kekkajoutai no jizoku. While the imperfective aspect occurs during the presence of negation within categories ugoki no saichuu, kurikaeshiteki jizoku, and keiken-kiroku.

The Introduction of Modal Verbs in English Textbooks Across Levels in China

The introduction of modal verbs in English textbooks across levels in China was surveyed and compared with Chinese learners’ use in writing to explore the potential impact of textbook introduction on learners’ real use. The results have revealed (1) divergences between the sequence of modal verb presentation in textbooks and their frequency order in native speakers’ use, the unusual lower coverage of WOULD and early introduction of SHALL in particular; (2) the imbalanced coverage of different forms and senses of modal verbs in textbooks, notwithstanding that learners deploy some senses or forms in writing even if these usages have not been introduced; and (3) the constrained way of introduction—English to Chinese translation in vocabulary, simple explanation and exemplification in sentence context. Core senses and fundamental forms introduced early in textbooks are used most frequently in learners’ writing. Modal verbs with the perfect aspect structure and their associated senses introduced in textbooks at university levels rarely occur in learners’ writing even at advanced levels. Limited agreement between textbook introduction and learners’ use has been detected.

The Meaning and Formation of the Japanese Compound Verb <i>～tomeru</i> (～留める)

This study discusses "Compound Verbs ~tomeru (～留める) in Japanese Sentences." The purpose of this study is to describe the structure and meaning of the compound verb tomeru as it appears in Japanese sentences. The data consists of a variety of sentences containing the compound verb ~tomeru that were taken from a Japanese news website. This study collects data through the use of library techniques. The structure and meaning of the compound verb tomeru were then analyzed using the apportion method (agih) in conjunction with the basic technique for direct elements. The data analysis indicates that the compound verb tomeru is most frequently associated with progressive verbs. Volitional verbs can also be attached to the compound verb ~tomeru. The compound verb ~tomeru has seven meanings which are divided into five meanings that express the progressive aspect and two meanings that express the perfective aspect.

On the Earlier Egyptian T-Passive: Analysis, Spread, Long-Term History

Introducing the topic, .t/.tỉ/.tw-marked forms of the verb are shown to be inflectional passives like V-passives, not active impersonal constructions as advocated in a recent proposal (§1). In a process seen unfolding already in the earliest record, then further during Earlier Egyptian and into the Middle Kingdom, T-passives are observed spreading over V-passives, superseding these in many functions (§2). Like perfective aspect, the prototypical passive views the event from the perspective of its Endpoint. It is proposed that T-passives spread over V-passives in those functions in which the Endpoint was partly or entirely out of focus: in the future, in negative constructions, and in constructions that set the perspective on the event itself, away from the Endpoint. Passives from intransitives are non-prototypical in lacking an Endpoint and in setting the perspective on the event itself: they might have played a supporting role in early stages of the process. Meanwhile, V-passives continued to be used regularly in those environments in which the Endpoint was in focus, with fully asserted events and in adjunct clauses. This macro-change is inserted into the longer-term history of T-passives (§3). Looking up in time, it is proposed that Earlier Egyptian {t} is cognate to {t} found across Afroasiatic languages with varying detransitive functions, and represents the outcome of a well-paralleled path leading from reflexive to anticausative to passive. Looking down in time, it is proposed that passives from intransitives and passives with imperfective aspect, both deviating from the passive prototype, were favorable loci for alternative construals of T-passives as generalized-Agent constructions. Given several favorable conditions on other levels, these contributed to making the extension of .t(w) to active impersonal constructions, beginning in the Twelfth Dynasty, possible. In the broader sweep, the story then goes from {t} as a reflexive marker (in Afroasiatic prehistory) to {t} as an inflectional passive marker (in Earlier Egyptian, with T-passives gradually extending their functional yield over V-passives); and further to innovative uses of .t(w) as an impersonal subject pronoun (emerging during the Twelfth Dynasty and generalizing in Late Egyptian). Three themes are recurrent in this long history: the morphological transparency of T-passives, voice-aspect correlations, and the role of passives from intransitives.

Prospective Aspect and Current Relevance: A Case Study of the German Prospective Stehen vor NP Light Verb Construction

The paper presents a detailed corpus-based analysis of the German prospective stehen vor NP light verb construction. The starting point of the analysis is the claim that the construction is restricted to change-of-state nouns in the NP-internal position (Fleischhauer & Gamerschlag 2019, Fleischhauer et al. 2019). Based on corpus data, I demonstrate that although the construction shows a strong preference for such nouns, other semantic types of nouns (such as state nouns or process nouns) occur in the construction as well. I argue that process nouns in particular require contextual support to be licensed within the construction. In the paper, I present an analysis of the prospective light verb construction in terms of current relevance. This analysis accounts for the observed preference for change-of-state NP-internal nouns as well as for the need to provide contextual support for process nouns. The notion current relevance is frequently employed in the analysis of the perfect aspect; the current paper represents the first attempt to extend this notion to the prospective aspect.*

Past and future time reference processing teased apart in Paiwan, an endangered Formosan language

AbstractHow the time reference of a sentence is processed based on the grammatical marking of the verb has already been explored in several languages with grammatical tense and aspect. It can also be grammatically expressed according to the reality status of the event (whether the event exists in time,realismood, or not,irrealis). This study reports results from an acceptability judgment experiment in Paiwan, a Formosan language which exhibits a realis-perfective/irrealis distinction. By placing realis-perfective and irrealis markers after deictic past or future time adverbs and manipulating the grammaticality of the sentences, we asked which temporal concord violation (i.e., realis-perfective or irrealis) was harder to detect. The temporal concord violation of the realis-perfective marker induced greater processing difficulties (interactions between time reference and mood marking revealed lower accuracy rates and longer reaction time), but not the irrealis marker, in line with previous hypotheses. These processing difficulties may be partly due to the Paiwan realis mood marker which also encodes perfective aspect meaning. The reanalysis of the design of previous studies indicates that the interaction with perfective aspect also led to additional processing cost, suggesting that perfective aspect marking plays a crucial role in the processing of time reference.

The Gravitational Pull Hypothesis and imperfective/perfective aspect in Catalan translation

Abstract This article aims to test the Gravitational Pull Hypothesis on the imperfective/perfective aspect distinction in the language pairs English-Catalan and French-Catalan. It draws on the corresponding corpora in COVALT. The GPH posits three cognitive causes of translational effects: source or target language salience and connectivity. Different configurations of these causes, or factors, are expected to result in over- or under-representation of target language features. The imperfective/perfective aspect distinction was chosen as a testing ground for the GPH because it is morphologically marked in Catalan and French but not in English. That may give rise to different configurations of factors and, therefore, to different translational effects. It is predicted that the preterite, which conveys perfective aspect in Catalan, will be over-represented in Catalan translations from English as compared to translations from French and to Catalan non-translations. On the other hand, the imperfect, which conveys imperfective aspect, will be under-represented. Results confirm these predictions. For translations from French, both adherence to the patterns observed in Catalan non-translations and over-representation of the preterite are possible outcomes. Results lend support to the second alternative ― over-representation of the preterite. These results highlight the importance of relying on frequency and other sources of evidence when formulating hypotheses in the framework of the GPH. Research from the field of second language acquisition proved particularly significant in this respect.