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Two Paradoxes in the Interpretation of Imperfective Aspect and the Progressive

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Authors

Alcazar, Asier

Issue Date
2003
Publisher
Institute for Cognitive Science, Seoul National University
Citation
Journal of cognitive science, Vol.4 No.1, pp. 79-105
Abstract
In my article I address an outstanding issue concerning the interpretation of
imperfective aspect and the progressive that would seem to make Basque earn
its label as a true language isolate. If we look at its Indo-European neighbors,
imperfective and progressive forms coexist with overlapping interpretations
(Comrie, 1976; Giorgi and Pianesi, 1997). By way of example, in French and
Peninsular Spanish both forms unequivocally express the progressive. In
contrast, when the equivalent forms coexist in Basque (they do so in a limited
number), they compete for interpretation and only one of them is allowed to
express the progressive. If available, simple forms block the progressive
interpretation of compound imperfective forms, which then unambiguously
express the habitual reading (this distribution supports habitual as an
independent feature: Chierchia, 1995; Cinque, 1999). In addition, simple forms
replace the progressive form. The two losing forms contain the participial
ending t(z)en, which is considered an imperfective aspect marker by many
(Ortiz de Urbina, 1989; Laka, 1990). I propose that -t(z)en is a default whose
interpretation is contingent upon the morphemes available for insertion. The
verb class with simple forms has a morpheme to express the progressive, thus the blocking effect. My proposal accounts for the semantic and morphosyntactic
idiosyncrasies of the data set, which had not received a principled explanation to
date.
ISSN
1598-2327
Language
English
URI
https://hdl.handle.net/10371/70719
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