But this should not be interpreted as a claim that there are no idiomatic examples or special cases. Section 2 below offers an overview of representative approaches to aspect in general linguistics, pointing out that although these differ in their descriptions they are in agreement that aspect is a temporal concept.
Moreover, such an approach clarifies the different ways in which aspect and Aktionsart relate to time. Section 3 surveys the definitions of aspect by four New Testament scholars, namely Mateos, Porter, Fanning, and Campbell, showing how the latter three downplay or deny the temporal nature of aspect, in contrast to the linguists discussed in section 2. Section 4 then demonstrates how a temporal understanding of aspect explains the various effects of aspectual choice in combination with different types of verb, and section 5 offers concluding reflections and suggests some desiderata for further work in this area.
Campbell, Advances, Both Porter and Decker appear to confuse the two questions when they accuse Fanning of inconsistency for defining aspect without reference to time but seeing the tenses as expressing time in the indicative Stanley E.
See the comments in the conclusion to this chapter. See, e. Broadly, pragmatic meaning is meaning that is implied by the use of a sentence in a particular extralinguistic context. See generally Stephen C. Taylor, Linguistic Categorization, 3rd ed. Palmer, ed. However, it will be suggested that a time-relational approach also offers potential for explaining the aspect of the perfect and pluperfect tenses,19 and that of the future tense in the nonindicative moods.
Aspect in General Linguistics A comprehensive survey of approaches to aspect in general linguistics would be well beyond the possibilities of this chapter. Perhaps the biggest difference among linguists when it comes to defining aspect is precisely which of a number of related phenomena should be included under that umbrella, the difficulty being that languages behave rather differently with respect to the phenomena in question.
The aspectual value of these tenses is complex and disputed. Campbell sees it as imperfective Indicative Mood, The literature is vast. Keith Brown, 2nd ed. London: Elsevier, , —38, and an up-to-date overview of the field is offered by Robert I. Binnick, ed.
It will be noted that he and others who make such a distinction nevertheless define both concepts in relation to time.
It will be suggested, however, that their temporal understanding of aspect is in some cases obscured by the use of visual and spatial metaphors, and that a time-relational definition, such as those of Johnson and Klein, is to be preferred. Bache, Verbal Aspect, 1. See Lawrence W. Charles Philippe Reiff St. Petersburg: Gretsch,— Copenhagen: Gyldendal, , Petersburg edition, which I was unable to consult.
For this view see, e. Sylvain Auroux et al. Some earlier scholars saw the distinction as one between completed action and continuous action, or between actions of shorter and longer duration. Such a person stands outside the event and experiences the whole thing from beginning to end.
A survey of major views is presented in A. Forsyth, Grammar of Aspect, Forsyth argues that this is true even in the case of those verbs where the imperfective is a secondary formation from a perfective verb Grammar of Aspect, Recent works have taken the view that the opposition between perfective and imperfective aspects in New Testament Greek is equipollent, i.
But the question of markedness deserves further attention, given the complexities noted by Comrie Aspect, —22 and Fanning Verbal Aspect, 55— The analogy works because a parade moves through time and space simultaneously; those observing from the stand see the whole length of the parade not at once but over time as it passes by. Rather, the difference is that the perfective includes the whole timespan of the event from beginning to end, while the imperfective does not or does not necessarily, being aspectually neutral.
Idem, Russische Sprache, Perfect aspect is not to be confused with perfective aspect. This distinction can However, Carlota Smith argues for its perfectivity. The Parameter of Aspect, 2nd ed. Frankfurt am Main: Lang, , ; Smith, Parameter, xiii—xiv. Comrie, Aspect, 3. Aspect, in other words, is a linguistic feature, a feature of utterances about situations rather than of the situations themselves. But there is a connection between the two; the objective nature of a situation constrains the utterances one may fittingly make about it.
The reason is that a single flash is usually conceived of as a momentary or punctual event, which therefore lacks internal temporal constituency, having no middle phase.
But these terms refer to positions relative to the temporal course of the situation from beginning to end. Comrie, Aspect, 26, Comrie notes, however, that it is possible to imagine situations where a seemingly momentary event is represented as having duration 42— Comrie, Aspect, 4.
See ibid. Aspect, on the other hand, is usually said to be nondeictic, meaning that it does not indicate when the situation occurred in relation to a particular deictic center. According to this understanding Aktionsart is something objective, pertaining to the situation itself, not to the way in which it is conceptualized or described. Comrie, Aspect, 5. Idem, Tense, 9. On deixis see ibid. In narrative the deictic center can be a point within the narrative, which explains at least some instances of the historic present see Binnick, Time and the Verb, Lyons, Semantics, Borrowing an example from Dowty,68 Bache notes that one may conceptualize the activity of reading a book for an hour as a continuous one, even if in actual fact it was interrupted by a visit to the bathroom, periods looking out of the window, blinking, and so on.
The significance of including arguments is that they can make a difference to the relevant temporal characteristics of the situation described, as explained in more detail in section 4 below. A wide range of other terms have been used to refer to Aktionsart in this sense, ALH 46 : David R. Wallace, Greek Grammar, Smith refers to the combination of the verb with its arguments as the verb constellation Parameter, Paul R.
Fanning, Verbal Aspect, Smith, Parameter, 17— Comrie, Aspect, 41— See also Susan D. Susan D. Rothstein, Linguistik Aktuell Amsterdam: Benjamins, , 2—3. See generally ibid. Bache, Study, See also Bache, Verbal Aspect, 6—7. Bache, Verbal Aspect, Perfective viewpoints focus a situation in its entirety, including endpoints; Imperfective viewpoints focus an interval that excludes endpoints.
Carlota S. Smith, Parameter, But although such definitions are common, even commonplace, they are not unproblematic. To be sure, language sometimes creates a mental picture. But that is a pragmatic effect arising from the way it is used in context, and aspectual forms can be used in abstract prose that does not create any mental picture whatsoever. Klein, Time in Language, Similarly C. Barbara Cassin, trans.
Steven Rendall et al. Princeton: Princeton University Press, , The latter paper is now available in Barbara H. Partee, Explorations in Semantics 1 Oxford: Blackwell, , 59— Marion R. Philip J. Tedeschi and Annie Zaenen, vol. This definition perhaps requires slight modification to reflect the fact, noted above, that S is not the only possible deictic center. For further explanation of her notation see ibid. Note that if the clause in question contains a temporal adverb, the adverb does not necessarily designate R itself, but may designate a period of time containing R.
See also Binnick, Time and the Verb, This offers a satisfying explanation of the aspect of the future tense in the nonindicative moods of New Testament Greek. ESV Timothy Shopen, vol. In the New Testament the future is relatively rare outside the indicative, with just 13 instances of the future participle and 5 of the future infinitive according to a search using Accordance software.
These forms are more common in the Septuagint, which also contains a few instances of the future optative. Definitions of Aspect in Recent New Testament Studies New Testament scholarship since Porter and Fanning has generally adopted a viewpoint approach to aspect but, in contrast to the linguists mentioned above, has tended to downplay or deny the temporal nature of aspect.
This section will briefly survey the definitions of aspect, perfectivity, and imperfectivity offered by four New Testament scholars, namely Mateos, Porter, Fanning, and Campbell. He sees the present stem as ordinarily except in the present and future indicative expressing durative aspect, whether iterative or habitual.
Accordingly, he first divides lexemes into different classes and then examines the effect of the various verb forms on them. Mateos, Aspecto verbal, 20— In other words, its internal structure is seen as unfolding. Porter and Andrew W. Porter, Verbal Aspect, Porter, Idioms, 21 emphasis original. Idem, Verbal Aspect, 84, , It shows the perspective from which the occurrence is regarded or the portrayal of the occurrence itself apart from the actual or perceived nature of the situation itself.
Idem, Verbal Aspect, Fanning, Verbal Aspect, 84— See also Similarly 27, If the relationship must be pictured in any dimension, a spatial one fits better, since the distinction is one of proximity vs.
His point is rather that it is only where there is distance that there can be a subjective choice between perfective and imperfective aspects. However, he is mistaken in supposing that it must therefore be to do with space, whether literal or metaphorical. The question is which phase or phases of the situation the speaker or writer is speaking about, not from how far away the situation is being presented.
Fanning, Verbal Aspect, 26 emphasis original. As noted above, Comrie does consider aspect to be a temporal concept, which is why it combines with other elements of a clause to produce the sorts of temporal meanings Fanning notes. For Comrie, the distinction between tense and aspect is one not between temporal and nontemporal meaning, but between deictic and nondeictic temporal meaning. What Comrie describes as a secondary effect in the passage to which Fanning refers is the deictic function of aspectual forms in context, i.
Fanning, Verbal Aspect, 27 n. Fanning, Verbal Aspect, 27—28 n. Gernot L. Campbell, Indicative Mood, 8.
Rather, aspect is here regarded as a spatial phenomenon. However, this brief summary of their definitions is sufficient to highlight Campbell, Indicative Mood, Campbell also replaces the traditional tense distinctions between the present and imperfect indicative and between the perfect and pluperfect indicative with distinctions of spatial remoteness and proximity.
Although Campbell does not directly address aspect in this postscript, he appears to see aspect as likewise spatial only in a metaphorical sense. Idem, Indicative Mood, 50; idem, Basics, 19— Campbell, Basics, Similarly Buist M. This appears to be not so much a deliberate rejection of the consensus as a misunderstanding of it, for each of the three criticizes the temporal definitions of certain linguists without acknowledging that a temporal understanding is the norm.
The problems with the metaphor itself noted in section 2. Another indication that it is indeed a misunderstanding rather than a deliberate departure from the consensus is that Porter, Fanning, and Campbell offer very little by way of argument against the temporal view, besides the observation that aspect is distinct from both tense and Aktionsart.
Yet the discussion in section 2 shows that it is possible to keep these three concepts distinct while recognizing that they all have to do with time in different ways. The distinction is clearest when a time-relational definition of aspect is adopted.
The remainder of this chapter will attempt to demonstrate how clarity concerning the temporal nature of aspect illuminates the various ways in which aspect interacts with the semantic properties of particular types of verbs.
The account offered below is merely a sketch of the sort of lines along which a fuller investigation of these matters might proceed.
As Evans has noted, much more work in this area is needed. A full treatment of aspect in New Testament Greek which professes to be rooted in linguistic theory should hardly ignore or bypass such discussions.
As noted below see n. Porter considers that the works of Comrie and Fanning are really treatments of Aktionsart rather than aspect. Fanning, JSNT 43 : Verbal Aspect and Procedural Character It was noted in section 2 that with certain types of verbs the choice of perfective or imperfective aspect is constrained by the objective or quasi-objective temporal constituency of the situation concerned.
With such verbs perfective and imperfective aspects express different situations e. This is a point of widespread consensus in aspect studies, although Porter dissents. To be precise, it is the verbal lexeme together with its arguments that interacts with aspect in this way. The standard taxonomy is that of Vendler, who distinguished four classes, namely states, activities, accomplishments, and achievements.
Table 1 indicates the characteristics of each class together with English examples omitting subjects, since Vendler did not include these in his analysis : Fanning is influenced especially by Bache and Smith Fanning, Verbal Aspect, v, 41 , which perhaps explains why his analysis seems to reflect their temporal understanding of aspect, despite his assertions to the contrary. Fanning, Verbal Aspect, — Smith, Parameter, 2, 7.
First, these classes are Aktionsarten in the fourth of the six senses distinguished in section 2. Thus they do not classify states of affairs objectively existing in the real world, or conceptions of states of affairs, but sets of temporal characteristics communicated by the verb constellation.
But the latter expresses the idea of an inherent endpoint whereas the former does not. Nevertheless, there is clearly a correspondence between these verb constellations and the situations they express.
Croft offers a useful method of representing the various possibilities in a two-dimensional graphical format, and his diagrams have been adopted here with slight modifications. See Croft, Verbs, Another is that the diagrams are used here to represent construals of verb constellations rather than complete sentences, similarly to Elena Paducheva, who adopts a similar but simpler two-dimensional representation.
Pier Marco Bertinetto et al. Croft uses a third dimension to represent the distinct subevents involved in a situation with multiple participants, but this need not be discussed here. More work on these issues is vitally needed before the relationship between inherent lexical meaning and aspectual choice can be fully explored. However, verbs have been chosen that Fanning and Mateos assign to the same class, in order to increase the likelihood of a correct classification.
That is, they do not indicate change over time. They are also generally durative, representing a situation lasting longer than a moment. As Croft notes, it is possible to subdivide the class of states into a number of subclasses, depending on whether the state is transitory or permanent, and in the latter case whether it is acquired or inherent. However, these are not typical and may be overlooked for present purposes. The vertical dashed line represents entry into the state, i. In Greek examples the present infinitive is used here for the purposes of representing the uninflected verb within the verbal constellation.
One cannot run for just a moment, and the verb constellation [Bloggs run] does not express an inherent endpoint. By contrast [Bloggs run a mile] is an accomplishment because it is telic; to run a mile is to run until a particular point is reached.
It follows that if Bloggs were to stop before that point, Bloggs would not have run a mile. Figures 5 and 6 represent the verb constellations [Bloggs run] and [Bloggs run a mile] respectively.
In figures 5 and 6 these lines slope because both situations involve a change of state; running is a dynamic activity. But in figure 5 [Bloggs run] the change does not involve progress towards a goal, only a repeated pattern of movements, represented by a zigzag line, whereas in figure 6 [Bloggs run a mile] there is progress towards a goal, represented by a line sloping steadily upward toward the finish state.
See Croft, Verbs, 61—62, where different examples are given and further distinctions are made. Heb By faith … Noah … constructed an ark. ESV 4. In other words, they express a situation conceptualized as occupying a single point in time. Some achievements, for example [the door open], involve the subject ending up in a new resulting state. Others, such as [the light flash] do not.
These two types of achievements can be represented by figures 7 and 8, respectively. Figure 8 [the light flash] is similar, except that there is no resulting state, and the light returns to its original state after flashing.
ESV action Aspecto verbal, The seed, of course, changes state location as a result of the throwing. However, it seems that it can also be used in an achievement sense, expressing the transition between states.
Acts When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed. NIV This can be represented as in figure 9: state believing not believing time Figure 9 Many state verbs can similarly be used in an achievement sense, illustrating the important point that verbs and verbal constellations are often polysemous with respect to procedural class, or can be construed in different ways depending on context. See Croft, Verbs, 83— For further examples see Smith, Parameter, The dashed lines preceding it represent the preface, i.
Luke And they began laughing at Him, knowing that she had died. NASB This can be represented as in figure For example, if death were sudden and unexpected then it could be construed as a punctual rather than a climax. These interactions are predictable, and can be easily explained if the temporal nature of aspect is kept in mind. For example, one consequence of accomplishments having an inherent endpoint is that perfective aspect communicates the idea of reaching that endpoint, since it speaks of a complete situation from beginning to end,.
In the case of perfective aspect the reference time is identical with the event time, and it can be seen that in such a case the reference time includes the endpoint of the situation. This sentence would simply be untrue if Noah gave up construction at the halfway point and did not complete the project. This is probably why some earlier linguists understood the essence of perfective aspect to be completion. But the better analysis seems to be that the decisive feature is completeness rather than completion.
The idea of completion comes from the combination of perfective aspect with a telic verb constellation. But although one cannot be said to have constructed an ark or to have run a mile if one stops before the end, one can truthfully be said to have been constructing an ark or running a mile. Fanning, Verbal Aspect, 41, On this point Mateos, Porter, Fanning, and Campbell are in agreement. This sentence would remain true if Noah began construction but did not finish; what actually happens in the time subsequent to the reference time is not material.
The question remains how a verbal constellation can be conceptualized as having an endpoint when the endpoint is not in fact reached, or even known not to have been reached. One answer that suggests itself is that the constellation is telic because of an intention at the reference time that the endpoint would be reached. This would account for the so-called conative use of the imperfective, speaking of attempted accomplishments.
Gal I persecuted the church of God … and tried to destroy it. Yet Dowty notes that not all cases of the imperfective paradox can be solved this way, for example those where the accomplishment has no sentient agent. In contrast to the situation with telic verb constellations, perfective forms in conjunction with atelic verb constellations do not imply completion, because the situation has no natural endpoint. Mark When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him.
However, it is certainly telic; there is a definite point at which one dies. Perfective aspect is used to speak of the whole situation including that endpoint, while imperfective aspect is used to speak of a period before the endpoint has been reached.
Similar considerations explain why in the case of punctual verbs imperfective or progressive aspect conveys an iterative sense, and cannot be used with reference to a single Steven Wright.
We are waiting , the present perfect progressive e. We have been waiting , and the past perfect progressive e. We had been waiting , with the latter two combining two aspects.
There is a distinction to be made, however, between tense and aspect. Tense is concerned with how time is encoded in the grammar of English, and is often based on morphological form e. For this reason combinations like those above are nowadays referred to as constructions e.
Oxford University Press, Have I been talking out loud? For months she had been waiting for that particular corner location. Present Perfect Progressive and Past Perfect Progressive "The perfect aspect most often describes events or states taking place during a preceding time. The progressive aspect describes an event or state of affairs in progress or continuing. Perfect and progressive aspect can be combined with either present or past tense Verb phrases can be marked for both aspects perfect and progressive at the same time: The perfect progressive aspect is rare, occurring usually in the past tense in fiction.
It combines the meaning of the perfect and the progressive, referring to a past situation or activity that was in progress for a period of time. Longman, Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance.
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