One of the most important linguistic processes the speaker is obligatorily involved in is perfectivization. Any verbal process can be presented as completed, or perfective, or as incompleted, imperfective. Both completed and incompleted processes can be aspectually pure and non-pure. Aspectually pure processes are semantically simple since they have the feature [Perfective] only, while aspectually non-pure processes, besides having the feature [Perfective], have additional semantic features. The present study is an attempt to examine perfective processes in Russian and English with a view to describing and comparing the means of perfectivization used in the said languages. The analysis of the evidence has revealed that the process of perfectivization was realized in the language using different linguistic means: in Russian it was typically realized by the use of perfectivizing morphemes (prefixes and suffixes) while in English it was typically realized by the appropriate co- text (complementation, adverbial particles) and the use of analytic verb structures. The formal expression of perfectivity in Russian was determined to a considerable extent by the type of perfective processes as well as by the type of process. As language is an economic system, some perfectivizing prefixes overlapped: they were used with both types of perfective process - general and specific. As for English, the means of perfectivization presented a mixed bag: English mostly resorted to... [to full text] / Perfektyvizacija yra vienas svarbiausiųjų lingvistinių procesų: kalbantysis turi pasakyti adresatui, kokį procesą jis turi galvojė: baigtinį (t.y. perfektinį) ar nebaigtinį(t.y.neperfektinį). Abu procesai svarbūs komunikacijos procese; jie sudaro dialektinę vienybę. Tačiau lingvistiniu požiūriu svarbesnis ir įdomesnis yra baigtinis procesas. Šiame magistriniame darbe jam ir skiriamas dėmesys: nagrinėjamos perfektyvizacijos priemonės rusų ir anglų kalbose. Darbą sudaro įvadas, teorinė, praktinė dalis, išvados, santrauka lietuvių kalba ir panaudotos literatūros sąrašas. Įvade aptariami darbo tikslai, teorinė reikšmė, metodai. Teorinėje dalyje bandoma parodyti, kaip veiksmažodžio semantika veikia jo veikslines ypatybes. Išskiriami keturi proceso tipai: atlikimo ( angl. „accomplishments“), pasiekimo (angl. „ achievements“), veikimo (angl. „ activities“) ir būsenos ( angl. „ activities“). Nors darbas skirtas perfektyvizacijos procesams rusų ir anglų kalbose, daugiau dėmesio skiriama anglų kalbos procesų perfektyvizacijai, t.y.kaip perfektinė reikšmė realizuojama anglų kalboje. Tokią tyrimo kryptį lėmė pati tyrimo medžiga: darbe daugiausia nagrinėjami rusų kalbos perfektiniai veiksmažodžiai, rinkti iš Levo Tolstojaus romano „ Ana Karenina“ ir jų ekvivalentai angliškame šio romano vertime. Tyrimo medžiagos analizė parodė, kad gretinamos kalbos , kaip ir reikėjo tikėtis, naudoja skirtingus perfektyvizacijos būdus: rusų kalba , su nedidelemis išimtimis, naudojo morfologines... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

This report describes inflectional verb morphology in Nomatsigenga, an Arawak language spoken in Peru. I first describe Nomatsigenga's systems of person, number, directionals, aspect, and reality status marking, cognates of which are also found in other Kampan languages. I also describe aspect markers, which seem to be a Nomatsigenga innovation among the Kampan languages. I will describe the structure of these markers, which show an interesting pattern of agreement with the absolutive argument. I further discuss the historical development of these markers, which have their source in the reanalysis of a set of noun class markers that also served as adjectivizers. I also discuss points relating to verb syntax, major word classes, and (morpho)phonology necessary in order to present a coherent description of verb morphology. / text

This dissertation presents a theory of grammatical aspect in which perfects and prospectives form a sub-group separate from perfectives and imperfectives. I claim that aspects in this sub-group display a number of similar semantic and syntactic behaviors because of the way in which they relate event and reference times. While perfectives and imperfectives situate these times in inclusion relations, perfects and prospectives separate event time from reference time. This effectively creates an interval, homogeneous with respect to the eventuality, that can be interpreted as a state. The separation of the times in these aspects also means that modification of the interval between these times is possible, as is modification by adverbials like since that cannot occur with other aspects. These claims are supported by the morphosyntax and semantics of aspect particles in Scottish Gaelic, with additional data from English. I investigate six particles in Scottish Gaelic, focusing on four I claim to mark various aspects and one I claim to be simply a preposition. I argue that in addition to two inclusion aspects, perfective and imperfective (expressed via a synthetic form and by a' , respectively), Scottish Gaelic shows four distinctions of precedence aspect - two retrospective (air , as dèidh) and two prospective (gu , a' dol do). I provide a neo-Reichenbachian analysis of these particles within event semantics. In each case, the particle is an instantiation of an Aspect head that existentially quantifies over an event and places its runtime in a relation to reference time. I also argue that the particle ann, which seems to appear with both verbal and nominal material, is not an aspect particle but a preposition. Its appearance in the same linear position as the aspect particles belies its distinct syntactic structure. Overall, the data indicate the benefit of a view of grammatical aspect in which the basic time relations of reference time within, before, and after event time delineate groups of aspects rather than individual distinctions. This view of aspect is a more cohesive alternative to one in which aspects that may actually be very similar are taken to exist in separate categories.

Linguistic studies on the aspectual system of natural language have mainly focused on its semantics and morphology; the syntax of aspect has not yet received as much attention. In this dissertation, I provide a syntactic analysis of the aspectual system of Chinese. In analyzing the properties of situation aspect, I propose a unified syntactic structure that accounts for the two mechanisms of telicity marking in Chinese. First, I argue that like pre-verbs in Slavic languages, Chinese also has overt telic morphemes which are used to turn an atelic event into a telic one. For example, I claim that the morpheme wan 'to finish' is base-generated as the head of Inner Aspect Phrase in between vP and VP. This functional phrase is responsible for the telic reading of a sentence. I also claim that differently from languages such as English, whose telicity marking mainly depends on the quantity of the object, countability and boundedness of direct objects in Chinese are not directly responsible for telicity marking. Secondly, I demonstrate that the proposed analysis of telicity marking can also be used to account for the syntactic distributions of the resultative V-V compounds and V-de phrases. I argue that these two types of sentences also contain Inner Aspect Phrase that is responsible for the telic reading. I also claim that the difference in word order between these two constructions is due to morphological requirements and I illustrate how morphology may affect syntax in the derivation. Finally, I discuss imperfective viewpoint aspect in analyzing the distributions of the progressive zai and the durative -zhe. Starting from the close relation between locative expressions and progressive aspect cross-linguistically, I demonstrate that zai always functions as a preposition and is not itself the source of the progressive aspect. I also analyze the usages of -zhe and argue that like English present particle morpheme -ing, this imperfective particle also functions as a verbal suffix of two different types of imperfective aspect. It can be used to express progressive aspect as well as resultative imperfective aspect. The analysis provides a generalization of the imperfective viewpoint aspect in Chinese.

nÃo hà / This research aims to analyze variation in the use of the imperfect of indicative and imperfective periphrases the past, literary memories produced in 2010 and 2012, by students of the 7th and 8th years, finalists of the Portuguese Language Olympiad Writing the Future. Accordingly, it intends to investigate factors (linguistic and extra-linguistic) motivate the choice of one form or another. Therefore, is based on the Sociofuncionalism the postulates defended by Tavares (2003), resulting theoretical wedding between Sociolinguistics variational (Weinreich, Labov And HERZOG, 1968; Labov, 1972, 1978, 1994, 2001, 2003, 2010) and the US shed functionalism (cf. Givon, 1995, 2001; HOPPER, 1991; HOPPER & TRAUGOTT, 1993; TRAUGOTT, 1995. the corpus consists of 2205 data imperfective forms of past collected from 76 of literary texts memories , and in 1926 these data imperfect indicative past tense, for a total of 87.3% of the total, and 279 forms of imperfective periphrases past, totaling a percentage of 12.7% of the total incidence. The outcomes of the rounds statistics done using the software GoldVarb revealed that the phenomenon under study is motivated by linguistic factors, as imperfective function (episodic, habitual, iterative and progressive), semantic-discursive kind of verb (process culminated, culmination, activity and state), type prayer (coordinated asyndetic, subordinate adverbial, adjectival subordinate, coordinated syndetic, principal, absolute and conditional substantive), aspectual modifier (quantifier, durative, punctual and without modifier) and polarity (positive and negative), having been discarded by the statistics rounds factors narrative of the plan: figure and ground and geographic regions for failing to submit the relevant motivation of the imperfective forms under review. Thus, the results obtained and analyzed showed us how prototypical contexts for each form under the following analysis: the imperfect codes, prototypically, episodic role, culminating with process verb in affirmative prayer coordinated asyndetic with quantifier modifier; the periphrasis, in turn, presents, prototypically, progressive encoding function, with state verbs in negative substantive subordinate clauses, in the presence of aspectual point modifier. / Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo analisar variaÃÃo no uso do imperfeito do indicativo e de perÃfrases imperfectivas de passado, em memÃrias literÃrias produzidas em 2010 e 2012, por alunos do 7o e do 8o anos, finalistas da OlimpÃada de LÃngua Portuguesa Escrevendo o Futuro. Nesse sentido, intenta-se investigar fatores (linguÃsticos e extralinguÃstico) motivam a escolha por uma ou outra forma. Para tanto, fundamenta-se nos postulados do Sociofuncionalismo, defendidos por Tavares (2003), resultante do casamento teÃrico entre a SociolinguÃstica Variacionista, (WEINREICH, LABOV E HERZOG, 1968; LABOV, 1972, 1978, 1994, 2001, 2003, 2010), e o Funcionalismo de vertente norte-americana (cf. GIVÃN, 1995, 2001; HOPPER, 1991; HOPPER &TRAUGOTT, 1993; TRAUGOTT, 1995). O corpus à formado por 2205 dados de formas imperfectivas de passado coletados de 76 textos de memÃrias literÃrias, sendo 1926 destes dados de pretÃrito imperfeito do indicativo, perfazendo um total de 87,3% do total, e 279 formas de perÃfrases imperfectivas de passado, que totalizam um percentual de 12,7% do total de ocorrÃncias. Os resultados decorrentes das rodadas estatÃsticas realizadas pelo programa computacional GoldVarb revelaram que o fenÃmeno em estudo à motivado por fatores linguÃsticos, como funÃÃo imperfectivas (episÃdica, habitual, iterativa e progressiva), tipo semÃntico-discursivo do verbo (processo culminado, culminaÃÃo, atividade e estado), tipo de oraÃÃo (coordenada assindÃtica, subordinada adverbial, subordinada adjetiva, coordenada sindÃtica, principal, absoluta e subordinada substantiva), modificador aspectual (quantificador, durativo, pontual e sem modificador) e polaridade (positiva e negativa), tendo sido descartados pelas rodadas estatÃsticas os fatores plano da narrativa: figura e fundo e regiÃes geogrÃficas por nÃo terem apresentado relevÃncia na motivaÃÃo por uma das formas imperfectivas sob anÃlise. Dessa forma, os resultados obtidos e analisados revelaram-nos como contextos prototÃpicos para cada forma sob anÃlise os seguintes: o imperfeito codifica, prototipicamente, funÃÃo episÃdica, com verbo de processo culminado, em oraÃÃo coordenada assindÃtica afirmativa, com modificador quantificador; a perÃfrase, por sua vez, apresenta-se, prototipicamente, codificando funÃÃo progressiva, com verbos de estado, em oraÃÃes subordinadas substantivas negativas, na presenÃa de modificador aspectual pontual.

An aspect of the Romance languages that defies neat linguistic analysis is tense usage. In particular, students of Romance languages as well as grammarians have found it difficult to provide a consistent explanation for the imperfect - preterite opposition. Two main points of contention concern (i) the question of whether the two forms have an inherent aspectual content and (ii) the structure and role of lexical aspectual information in determining the overall meaning of a sentence. While the attempts at explaining French and Spanish usages of the imperfect and the preterite are numerous, hardly any work has been done in the interpretation of Romanian data. Furthermore, a general assumption that the same form - function opposition holds across Romance languages has led to cross-linguistic differences rarely being examined. I argue that the imperfect and the preterite do have an inherent aspectual content. However, in opposition to previous accounts, I maintain that the preterite does not provide a ‘closed’ viewpoint and that an atelic eventuality described by the verb phrase in the preterite can continue up to the present moment. I propose a description of the imperfect - preterite opposition that includes finer distinctions of lexical aspect based on its constituent stage structure. These finer lexical aspectual distinctions allow the identification of an area of divergence in the use of the two forms in French, Spanish, and Romanian: the preterite was found to be used more widely with states in Romanian than in French and Spanish.

Este trabalho investiga a semântica da palavra tyka do Karitiana, língua amazônica da família Arikém do tronco Tupi falada atualmente por cerca de 320 pessoas em uma reserva localizada em Porto Velho, Rondônia (Nelson Karitiana - com. pessoal - 2005). / This research investigates the semantics of the word tyka in Karitiana, an Amazonian language of the Arikém family (Tupi stock) spoken nowadays by approximately 320 people who live in their own reservation located in Porto Velho, Rondônia (Nelson Karitiana - personal communication - 2005).

Este trabalho investiga a semântica da palavra tyka do Karitiana, língua amazônica da família Arikém do tronco Tupi falada atualmente por cerca de 320 pessoas em uma reserva localizada em Porto Velho, Rondônia (Nelson Karitiana - com. pessoal - 2005). / This research investigates the semantics of the word tyka in Karitiana, an Amazonian language of the Arikém family (Tupi stock) spoken nowadays by approximately 320 people who live in their own reservation located in Porto Velho, Rondônia (Nelson Karitiana - personal communication - 2005).

Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo investigar a categoria do tempo interno ou aspecto verbal na organização narrativa do romance Vidas Secas, de Graciliano Ramos. Repassa-se criticamente, com base na leitura de algumas obras representativas, a contribuição tradicional ao estudo desse conceito, mesmo nos casos em que não é identificado pelo termo aspecto. Em seguida, foram abordados a conceituação da categoria do aspecto verbal e alguns conceitos sobre a semântica do perfectivo e do imperfectivo segundo estudos empreendidos por linguistas diversos. Abordou-se ainda a variedade de meios de expressão do aspecto: o lexical, o sintático, o derivacional e o flexional. No segundo momento, procedeu-se a uma análise da funcionalidade textual do aspecto como recurso de organização do texto narrativo. Para tanto, foram levados em conta os conceitos de gênero textual e de modo de organização do discurso. Estes comentários tiveram por objeto o primeiro e o nono capítulos do romance, respectivamente Mudança e Baleia / This research is aimed to investigate the role of the category of internal time - or verbal aspect in the narrative organization of the novel Vidas Secas, by Graciliano Ramos. Based on the reading of some representative works, it surveys the traditional concept study contribution, even in cases where it is not identified by the term aspect. Besides, it addressed the concept of verbal aspect category and some concepts about the perfective and imperfective semantics according to studies undertaken by many linguists. It also addressed a variety of expression means: the lexical , the syntactic, the derivational and inflectional aspects. In a second step, an analysis of the textual aspect of functionality as a resource for the organization of narrative text was proceeded. Other factors taken into account were the concepts of genre and mode of discourse organization . These comments had for object the first and ninth chapters of the novel, named Mudança and Baleia, respectively

Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo investigar a categoria do tempo interno ou aspecto verbal na organização narrativa do romance Vidas Secas, de Graciliano Ramos. Repassa-se criticamente, com base na leitura de algumas obras representativas, a contribuição tradicional ao estudo desse conceito, mesmo nos casos em que não é identificado pelo termo aspecto. Em seguida, foram abordados a conceituação da categoria do aspecto verbal e alguns conceitos sobre a semântica do perfectivo e do imperfectivo segundo estudos empreendidos por linguistas diversos. Abordou-se ainda a variedade de meios de expressão do aspecto: o lexical, o sintático, o derivacional e o flexional. No segundo momento, procedeu-se a uma análise da funcionalidade textual do aspecto como recurso de organização do texto narrativo. Para tanto, foram levados em conta os conceitos de gênero textual e de modo de organização do discurso. Estes comentários tiveram por objeto o primeiro e o nono capítulos do romance, respectivamente Mudança e Baleia / This research is aimed to investigate the role of the category of internal time - or verbal aspect in the narrative organization of the novel Vidas Secas, by Graciliano Ramos. Based on the reading of some representative works, it surveys the traditional concept study contribution, even in cases where it is not identified by the term aspect. Besides, it addressed the concept of verbal aspect category and some concepts about the perfective and imperfective semantics according to studies undertaken by many linguists. It also addressed a variety of expression means: the lexical , the syntactic, the derivational and inflectional aspects. In a second step, an analysis of the textual aspect of functionality as a resource for the organization of narrative text was proceeded. Other factors taken into account were the concepts of genre and mode of discourse organization . These comments had for object the first and ninth chapters of the novel, named Mudança and Baleia, respectively