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Slavic languages

 

In Slavic languages there is only one type of aspectual opposition which forms two grammatical aspects: perfective and imperfective (in contrast with English which has two aspectual oppositions: perfect vs. neutral and progressive vs. nonprogressive). The aspectual distinctions exist on the lexical level - there is no unique method to form a perfective verb from a given imperfective one (or conversely). Perfective verbs may be formed by means of prefixes, changes in the root, or using a completely different root (suppletion). Note, however, that possessing a prefix does not necessarily mean that a verb is perfective.

 

With a few exceptions each Slavic verb is either perfective or imperfective. Most verbs form strict pairs of one perfective and one imperfective verb with generally the same meaning. However, each Slavic language contains a number of verbs which are bi-aspectual and act as both imperfective and perfective. They are mainly borrowings from non-Slavic languages, but some native verbs also belong to this group. As opposed to them, mono-aspectual verbs are mainly native. There are mono-aspectual imperfective verbs without perfective equivalents (among others, verbs with the meaning 'to be' and 'to have') as well as perfective verbs without imperfective equivalents (for instance, verbs with the meaning 'become ...', e.g. 'to become paralyzed', etc.).

 

The perfective aspect allows the speaker to describe the action as finished, completed, finished in the natural way. The imperfective aspect does not present the action as finished, but rather as pending or ongoing.

 

An example is the verb 'to eat' in the Serbo-Croatian language. The verb translates either as jesti (imperfective) or pojesti (perfective). Now, both aspects could be used in the same tense of Serbian. For example (omitting, for simplicity, feminine forms like jela):Serbo-Croatian

Example Tense Aspect

Ja sam jeo/ Ja ñaì ¼åo past imperfective

Ja sam pojeo/ Ja ñaì ïî¼åo perfective

Ja sam bio jeo/ Ja ñaì áèî jeo pluperfect imperfective

Ja sam bio pojeo/ Ja ñaì áèî ïî¼åo perfective

Ja ću jesti/ Ja žy jecòè future imperfective

Ja ću pojesti/ Ja žy ïojecòè perfective

 

 

Ja sam pojeo signals that the action was completed. Its meaning can be given as "I ate (something) and I finished eating (it)"; or "I ate (something) up".

 

Ja sam jeo signals that the action took place (at a specified moment, or in the course of one's life, or every day, etc.); it may mean "I was eating", "I ate" or "I have been eating".

 

The following examples are from Polish.

 

Imperfective verbs mean:

actions in progress, just ongoing states and activities, with significant course (in opinion of the speaker);

activities posing the background for other (perfective) activities, ex. czytałem książkę, gdy zadzwonił telefon 'I was reading the book when the telephone rang';



simultaneous activities, ex. będę czytać książkę, podczas gdy brat będzie pisać list 'I will be reading the book while brother will be writing the letter';

durative activities, lasting through some time, e.g. krzyczał 'he was shouting', będzie drgać 'it will be vibrating';

motions without a strict aim, ex. chodzę 'I am walking here and there';

multiple (iterative) activities, ex. dopisywać 'to insert many times to the text', będziemy wychodziły 'we will go out (many times)';

non-resultative activities, only heading towards some purpose: będę pisał list 'I will be writing the letter';

continuous states, ex. będę stać 'I will be standing'.

 

Perfective verbs mean past or future, but not present activities – an activity which is happening now cannot be ended, so it cannot be perfective. Perfective verbs mean:

states and activities which were ended (even if a second ago) or which will be ended, with insignificant course, short or treated as a whole by the speaker, ex. krzyknął 'he shouted', drgnie 'it will stir';

single-time activities, ex. dopisać 'to insert to the text', wyszedł 'he has gone out';

actions whose goals have already been achieved, even if with difficulty, ex. przeczytałem 'I have read', doczytała się 'she finished reading and found what she had sought';

reasons for the state, ex. pokochała 'she came to love', zrozumiesz 'you (sg.) will understand', poznamy 'we will get to know';

the beginning of the activity or the state, ex. wstanę 'I will stand up' (and I will stand), zaczerwienił się 'he reddened';

the end of the activity or the state, ex. dośpiewaj 'sing until the end';

activities executed in many places, on many objects or by many subjects at the same time, ex. powynosił 'he carried out (many things)', popękają 'they will break out in many places', poucinać 'to cut off many items';

actions or states which last some time, ex. postoję 'I will stand for a little time', pobył 'he was (there) for some time'.

 

Most simple Polish verbs are imperfective (the same in other Slavic languages), ex. iść 'to walk, to go', nieść 'to carry', pisać 'to write'. But there are also few simple perfective verbs, ex. dać 'to give', siąść 'to sit down'. There exist many perfective verbs with suffixes and without prefixes, ex. krzyknąć 'to shout', kupić 'to buy' (cf. the imperfective kupować with a different suffix).

 

Numerous perfective verbs are formed from simple imperfectives by prefixation. To create the perfective counterpart, verbs use various prefixes without any clear rules. The actual prefix can even depend on a dialect or special meaning, ex. the perfective counterpart to malować is pomalować when it means 'to paint a wall; to fill with a color', or namalować when it means 'to paint a picture; to depict sth/sb'.

 

Besides the strict perfective equivalent, a number of other prefixed verbs may be formed from a given simple imperfective verb. They all have similar but distinct meaning. And they form, as a rule, their own imperfective equivalents by means of suffixation (attaching suffixes) or stem alternation. Example:

prać 'to wash / clean clothes with water and soap / washing powder' is a simple imperfective verb;

uprać is its perfective counterpart while doprać, przeprać, oprać are other derived perfective verbs with a little different meanings;

dopierać, przepierać, opierać are secondary imperfective verbs which are counterparts for doprać, przeprać, oprać respectively; *upierać does not exist because the basic verb prać is the imperfective counterpart of uprać.

 

There is a number of verbs which form their aspectual counterparts by simultaneous prefixation and suffixation or by suppletion, ex. (the first one is imperfective) stawiać - postawić 'to set up', brać - wziąć 'to take', widzieć - zobaczyć 'to see'.

 

Special imperfective verbs are those which express aimless motions. They are mono-aspectual, i.e. they have no perfective equivalents. They are formed from other imperfective verbs by stem alternations or suppletion, ex. nosić 'to carry around' (from nieść), chodzić 'to walk around, to go around' (from iść 'to go, to walk'). However, when such a verb gets an aim anyway, it becomes iterative: chodzić do szkoły 'to go to school'.

 

Other iteratives build another group of mono-aspectual imperfective verbs. They are formed from other imperfective verbs, including the previous group: chadzać 'to walk around usually (from chodzić), jadać 'to eat usually' (from jeść 'to eat'). Both groups are not too numerous: most Polish verbs cannot form iterative counterparts.

 

Perfective verbs which express activities executed in many places, on many objects or by many subjects at the same time, and those which express actions or states which last some time, have no imperfective counterparts. They are formed with the prefix po- (which can have other functions as well).

 

States and activities which last for some time can be expressed by means of both imperfective and perfective verbs: cały dzień leżał w łóżku 'he was in bed all day long' (literally: 'he lay in bed') means nearly the same as cały dzień przeleżał w łóżku. The difference is mainly stylistic: imperfective is neutral here, while using perfective causes stronger tone of the statement.

 

Aspect in Slavic is a superior category in relation to tense or mood. Particularly, some verbal forms (like infinitive) cannot distinguish tense but they still distinguish aspect. Here is the list of Polish verb forms which can be formed by both imperfective and perfective verbs (such a list is similar in other Slavic languages). The example is an imperfective and a perfective Polish verb with the meaning 'to write'. All personal forms are given in third person, masculine singular:

infinitive: pisać - napisać;

passive participle: pisany - napisany;

gerund: pisanie - napisanie;

past impersonal form: pisano - napisano;

past impersonal form in subjunctive: pisano by - napisano by;

past tense: pisał - napisał;

future tense: będzie pisać / będzie pisał - napisze;

conditional, first form: pisałby - napisałby;

conditional, second form: byłby pisał - byłby napisał;

imperative: pisz - napisz.

 

The following may be formed only if the verb is imperfective:

contemporary adverbial participle – pisząc;

active participle – piszący;

present tense – pisze.

 

One form may be created only if the verb is perfective, namely:

anterior adverbial participle – napisawszy.

 

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Date: 2015-01-02; view: 816


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