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Aspect & Aspectuality

The term aspect is a calque from the Russian vid meaning view. At first it was treated as part of the tense system, but began to be distinguished as its own formal category by the early 1900s. Meanwhile, German grammarians were being influenced by the Russian work. Aspect was also described as the circumstance of the action leading to the German term Aktionsart. At this point, both Vid and Aktionsart seem to have been broad terms describing the general notion of aspectuality in distinction from tense. Nowadays aspect and Aktionsart are meant to be separate notions: while aspect is seen as the subjective view of the speaker, Aktionsart is seen as an objective lexical quality of the verb,i.e. Aktionsart relates to the inherent temporal structure of a situation as determined by the predicate and the context. Aspect is not grammatically expressed but its grammatically relevant. It refers to the grammatical form (eg. present perfect, progressive etc.) and to meaning, ie. the temporal make up of the occurrence denoted by the verb/VP or clause. Aspect is often confused with the closely-related concept of tense, because they both convey some sense of time. While tense relates the time of a situation to some other time, commonly the time of speaking, aspect conveys other temporal information, such as duration, completion, or frequency, as it relates to the time of action. Thus tense refers to temporally when while aspect refers to temporally how. Consider the following sentences: "I eat", "I am eating", "I have eaten", and "I have been eating". All are to some degree in the present tense, as they describe the present situation, yet each conveys different information or points of view as to how the action pertains to the present. As such, they differ in aspect. The most fundamental aspectual distinction, represented in many languages, is between perfective aspect and imperfective aspect. The perfective aspect looks at an event as a complete action, while the imperfective aspect views an event as the process of unfolding or a repeated or habitual event. Wikipedia In some languages, there is another type of aspect: telic and atelic.Telic sentences refer to actions where a goal, that is, the intended purpose of the action is achieved. Atelic sentences do not mention if the goal has been achieved. For example: I shot the bear (succeeded) i.e. I shot the bear dead I shot (towards) the bear i.e. I shot the bear (and I am not telling if it died. PROGRESSIVE ASPECT Consider the difference between the following sentences: (a) Cerise worked efficiently (b) Cerise was working efficiently Sentence (a), which uses the simple past tense, refers in general to a completed action. Sentence (b) refers to the action as being in progress at some particular time. The construction illustrated in (b) is known as the progressive. It is formed with the auxiliary verb to be and the ing, the present participle. Although some schoolbook grammars call this construction a tense, that label is not accurate. Notice that (a) and (b) do not make a distinction in the time of the event. They could well describe the same action. The sentences differ in how they view the actions internal structure. This feature of language is known as aspectuality. So instead of speaking of a "progressive tense," we should talk of a "progressive aspect."

The most important function of the Progressive aspect is that it refers to TEMPORARY actions, activities, or goings-on: eg. What are you doing? Im singing We will rock you. :D Here the temporary situation includes the present moment in the time-span, stretching for a limited time into the past and future. Present Progressive indicates: duration; Comparing: The ball falls down with The ball is falling down. The 1st is a sudden movement, the 2nd more gradual one the event stretches into the past and into the future. It has been noticed that radio commentators use the Present Simple for fast moving sports(football, tennis, boxing), while Present Progressive is used for leisurely sports(cricket, golf, rowing). Berbatov shoots for goal ///// Mark is running up to bowl. limited duration; Comparing: My watch works perfectly.(permanent state my watch is generally a reliable one) with My watch is working perfectly.(temporary state my watch has gone wrong in the past, and may do so again, so it is not so reliable) I live in Sofia (permanent)./ I am living in Sofia. (temporary) Sometimes the state can be also divided into actual and particular: - Im enjoying this chocolate. the speaker is eating the chocolate at the actual moment of speaking. - I enjoy chocolate. (in particular) the happening doesnt have to be complete; This is done with the state verb(eg. become, fall, get, die, stop,go) Present: The car stops! vs The car is stopping!. The 1st shows that the car is at a state of rest. The 2nd that the car is slowing down towards a stop. Past: The dog was dying. vs The dog just died The 1st indicates that its still alive and can be saved, while the 2nd impies that the dog actually died. Another example: I was reading from 9 to 10a.m / I read from 9 to 10a.m. The Past simple indicates that he started reading at 9h and finished at 10h. Whereas the Past Progressive doesnt indicate when the reader has started reading and when has finished; only that the reading was in progress for that hour. The Progressive aspect generally has the effect of surrounding a particular event or moment by a temporal frame which looks something like this below: ( , . 93 Reading II :::)

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

This is when there is point of reference (R) from which the temporary eventuality can be seen as stretching into the future and past.( tuka tova ne mojah da go izmislq sys svoi dumi, za da stane po-qsno uj :s ) E .[..S,R]...--> The table for Progressive Present In Progressive Present the point of orientation is now, the present moment.

[R,E]...S.--> Table for Progressive Past In Progressive Past, in order to indicate the point of orientation, is used adverbial phrase or clause: This time last year I was working as a florist./ Meg was looking ill when I last saw her. There are cases when there is time-sequence when using two neighbouring Simple Past forms like: When I came home I turned on the TV. TIME-SEQUENCE Time-inclusion is when the neighbouring forms in the sentence are of Progressive and Past Simple like: When I came home, Charlie was playing the guitar. TIME-INCLUSION

We know that the verb is the most important thing in the sentence since it conveys the types of meaning. There are particular classes of verbs that accompany the Progressive form. Here they are! A. MOMENTARY VERBS - HICCOUGH, KNOCK, NOD, TAP, WINK, HIT, ETC. these verbs happen so quickly that you cannot say that they have duration But the Progressive Aspect gives them a sense of duration: eg. He knock on the door( single action) vs He was knocking on the door.(repetitive action) B. TRANSITIONAL EVENT VERBS ARRIVE, FALL, LEAVE, DIE, LOSE, STOP,LAND, ETC. eg. The train was leaving./ The team is losing./ Tears were falling. Here transitional stands for transition to a static state, moving towards stopping. C. ACTIVITY VERBS DRINK, PLAY, RAIN, WRITE, READ, LISTEN, ETC. They refer to continuing, but bounded, activity : Its raining./ Im reading Cosmopolitan./ The kids are playing Monopoly.--> the verb inform us what is going on. D. PROCESS VERBS GROW, CHANGE, WIDEN, SHRINKEN, SLOW DOWN, ETC. These verbs, have duration but not indefite: Tomatoes are growing in the garden./The Ozone layer is widening./ NON-PROGESSIVE VERBS There are some verbs that are incompatible with the Progressive the most important being the verb to be.

You can say Hes ill(state present) but its not normal to say * Hes being ill. E. VERBS OF INERT PERCEPTION FEEL, HEAR, SEE, SMELL, TASTE, ETC. I could feel/felt something crawling on my back. *I was feeling I could hear/heard the birds outside. * I was hearing I could smell/smelt the roast chicken. * I was smeeling I could taste/tasted the salt in the soup. * I was tasting.. The meaning with could is that it indicates a state. I could hear the birds.. shows a continuing and repeated noise. The meaning with Simple past is that it indicates an event. EXEPTIONS: Sometimes those verbs can indicate active perception: INERT ACTIVE I (can) smell the perfume. Im smelling the perfume. I (can) feel the ground. Im feeling the ground with my foot. In the 1st sentence you simply sense things. The 2nd sentence answers the question What are you doing? However, with see and hear is different as they are not used in an active sense. INERT ACTIVE I (can) see a tulip in the garden. Im looking ar a flower in the garden. I (can) hear his words. Im listening to his words. F. VERBS OF INERT COGNITION BELIEVE, FORGET, HOPE, IMAGINE, KNOW, SUPPOSE, UNDERSTAND, ETC. They are passive in meaning. Although thet are limited in duration, they belong to the unrestrictive present category. I think that he is handsome (NOT * Im thinking that he is handsome) Know is certanly followed by Progressive: I know what I am doing./ He knows shes coming. See and hear can be cognitive verbs,too. Like in the sentence I hear that shes married ( I understood from someone that she got married) EXCEPTIONS: Im thinking about you.(mental exertion)/ Youre imagining things.(entertaining yourself with illusions)/Were supposing the butler did it.(making the temporary assumption that) activity verbs. G. STATE VERBS OF HAVING AND BEING BE, BELONG TO, CONTAIN, CONSIST OF, DEPEND ON, HAVE, MATTER, OWN, ETC. I own this house. NOT * Im owning this house. Your opinion doesnt matter. NOT * Your opinion isnt mattering. EXCEPTIONS: It is true that we cannot say : He is being tall or The apple is being red but we can say Shes being polite, because here were talking about behaviour that one can has control over it, rather that inherent traits of character. Shes being politemeans She is acting kindly, whereas She is kind means By nature, shes kind

Hes a fool. ( He cant help it its in his nature)./ Hes being a fool.( Hes acting foolishly.) Sometimes sentences like Hes being sorry/worried/happy,etc. could present you as a lier.Hes pretending to be sorry/worried/happy

Present Progressive with Future meaning: Harry is buying me a ring for my birthday. / Hes meeting Jane tomorrow./ Next month hes moving to Bourgas. , / . 101 111 Reading II...:

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