This paper addresses the function and distribution of aorist and imperfect in Vedic and Homeric Greek and shows that: 1. the principle underlying the selection of aorist vs. imperfect is not originally based on an alignment of the telic/atelic distinction with the perfective/ imperfective distinction: rather, the interaction between aspect and actionality in the development of the opposition between aorist and imperfect is consequent to the grammaticalization of characterized presents; 2. the distribution of aorist and imperfect does not consistently encode aspectual distinctions and, specifically, the perfective/ imperfective distinction; 3. the interplay between tense, aspect and actionality in the alternation between aorist and imperfect reveals that the creation of the functional opposition between these two categories is an ongoing process in Rig Vedic and Homeric texts, and indicates that their aspectual functions are not yet grammaticalised in the archaic phase of the Vedic and Greek verb system and, therefore, cannot be attributed to the Indo-European tradition passed on into the Vedic and Greek verb system.

The curious case of the functional distinction between aorist and imperfect: evidence from Vedic and Homeric Greek

DOMENICA ROMAGNO
2021-01-01

Abstract

This paper addresses the function and distribution of aorist and imperfect in Vedic and Homeric Greek and shows that: 1. the principle underlying the selection of aorist vs. imperfect is not originally based on an alignment of the telic/atelic distinction with the perfective/ imperfective distinction: rather, the interaction between aspect and actionality in the development of the opposition between aorist and imperfect is consequent to the grammaticalization of characterized presents; 2. the distribution of aorist and imperfect does not consistently encode aspectual distinctions and, specifically, the perfective/ imperfective distinction; 3. the interplay between tense, aspect and actionality in the alternation between aorist and imperfect reveals that the creation of the functional opposition between these two categories is an ongoing process in Rig Vedic and Homeric texts, and indicates that their aspectual functions are not yet grammaticalised in the archaic phase of the Vedic and Greek verb system and, therefore, cannot be attributed to the Indo-European tradition passed on into the Vedic and Greek verb system.
2021
Romagno, Domenica
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11568/1113952
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