Perfective aspect: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Grammatical aspect ofwhich completepresent actions as having no internal composition}}

The '''perfective aspect''' ([[list of glossing abbreviations|abbreviated]] {{sc|'''pfv'''}}), sometimes called the '''[[aorist]]ic aspect''',<ref>Bernard Comrie, 1976, ''Aspect'', p 12.</ref> is a [[grammatical aspect]] that describes an action viewed as a simple whole;, i.e., a unit without interior composition. The perfective aspect is distinguished from the [[imperfective aspect]], which presents an event as having internal structure (such as ongoing, continuous, or habitual actions). The term ''perfective'' should be distinguished from ''perfect'' (see [[perfective aspect#Perfective vs. perfect|below]]).

The distinction between perfective and imperfective is more important in some languages than others. In [[Slavic languages]], it is central to the verb system. In other languages such as [[German language|German]], the same form such as ''{{lang|de|ich ging''}} ("I went", "I was going") can be used perfectively or imperfectively without grammatical distinction.<ref>Comrie, ''Aspect'' (1976), p. 8</ref> In other languages such as [[Latin language|Latin]], the distinction between perfective and imperfective is made only in the past tense (e.g., Latin ''{{lang|la|veni''}} "I came" vs. ''{{lang|la|veniebam''}} "I was coming", "I used to come").<ref>Comrie, ''Aspect'' (1976), p. 71.</ref> However, perfective should not be confused with [[grammatical tense|tense]]—perfective aspect can apply to events in the past, present, or future.

The perfective is often thought of as for events of short duration (e.g., "John killed the wasp"). However, this is not necessarily true—a perfective verb is equally right for a long-lasting event, provided that it is a complete whole; e.g., ''{{lang|la|Tarquinius Superbus regnavit annos quinque et viginti''}} (Livy) "Tarquin the Proud reigned for 25 years."<ref>Comrie "Aspect" (1976), pp. 16ff.</ref> It simply "presents an occurrence in summary, viewed as a whole from the outside, without regard for the internal make-up of the occurrence."<ref>Fanning,B.M. ''Verbal Aspect in New Testament Greek'' at 97. Oxford:Clarendon, 1990.</ref>

When translating into English from a language that has these aspects, the translator sometimes uses separate English verbs. For example, in [[Spanish language|Spanish]], the imperfective ''{{lang|es|sabía''}} can be translated "I knew" vs. the perfective ''{{lang|es|supe''}} "I found out", ''{{lang|es|podía''}} "I was able to" vs. ''{{lang|es|pude''}} "I succeeded", ''{{lang|es|quería''}} "I wanted to" vs. ''{{lang|es|quise''}} "I tried to", ''{{lang|es|no quería''}} "I did not want to" vs. ''{{lang|es|no quise''}} "I refused". The Polish perfective aspect is translated into English as a simple tense and the imperfective as a continuous; for example the imperfective "{{lang|pl|oglądałem"}} is translated into "I was watching", while the perfective "{{lang|pl|obejrzałem"}} is translated into "I watched". Such distinctions are often language-specific.

* Older [[Germanic languages]]: the aspect prefixes {{lang|ang|ge-}} (in [[Old English]]), {{lang|osx|gi-}} (in [[Old Saxon]] and [[Old High German]]), and {{lang|got|ga-}} (in [[Gothic language|Gothic]]) indicate perfective aspects of verbs.<ref>Todd B. Krause and Jonathan Slocum, "Gothic Online, Lesson 8."</ref>

* [[Thai language|Thai]]: the aspect marker <span {{lang='|th'>|ขึ้น</span>}} {{IPA|/kʰɯ̂n/}}, [[grammaticalization|grammaticalized]] from the word for "ascend," indicates a certain type of underconstrained perfective aspect when it follows a main verb<ref>Koenig, J.-P., & Muansuwan, N. (2000). How to End Without Ever Finishing: Thai Semi-Perfectivity. JOURNAL OF SEMANTICS. 17, 147-184.</ref>

*[[Hindi]]: the perfective aspect is marked using the perfective aspect participle. The perfective participle is constructed as shown in the table below, the consonant {{lang|hi|-य्-}} ({{transl|hi|-y-}}) is added to the perfective suffix when the verb root ends in a vowel.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=VAN OLPHEN|first=HERMAN|date=1975|title=Aspect, Tense, and Mood in the Hindi Verb|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/24651488|journal=Indo-Iranian Journal|volume=16|issue=4|pages=284–301|doi=10.1163/000000075791615397|issn=0019-7246|jstor=24651488|s2cid=161530848 }}</ref>

! colspan="2" |verb root ending<br>in a consonant

!''''' ♂''''' !! ♀

!''''' ♂ !! ♀'''''

|'''! Singular'''

| {{lang|hi| -या (}} {{ns}} {{transl|hi|-yā)}}

| {{lang|hi| -यी (}} {{ns}} {{transl|hi|-yī)}}

|'''! Plural'''

| {{lang|hi| ीं (}} {{ns}} {{transl|hi|-ī̃)}}

| {{lang|hi| -ये (}} {{ns}} {{transl|hi|-yē) }}

|<nowiki> {{lang|hi| -यीं (}} {{ns}} {{transl|hi|-yī̃)</nowiki>}}

[[Hindi]]-[[UrduHindustani grammar|Hindustani]] (aka [[Hindustani grammar|HindustaniHindi]]-[[Urdu]]) has 3 grammatical aspectsːaspects: ''[[Habitual aspect|Habitual]]'', ''Perfective'' and ''[[Continuous and progressive aspects|Progressive]]''. Each aspect is constructed from its participle and a number of auxiliary verbs can be used with the aspectual participles such asːas: '''{{lang|hi|honā'''}} (to be, to happen), '''{{lang|hi|rêhnā'''}} (to stay, to remain), '''{{lang|hi|jānā'''}} (to go), '''{{lang|hi|ānā'''}} (to come), and '''{{lang|hi|karnā'''}} (to do). These verbs themselves can be made into aspectual participles and can be used with the default auxiliary verb '''''{{lang|hi|honā'''''}} (to be), hence forming sub-aspects that combine the nuance of two aspects.<ref name=":22">{{Cite book|last=Shapiro|first=Michael C.|title=A Primer of Modern Standard Hindi|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|year=1989|isbn=81-208-0475-9|location=New Delhi|pages=216–246}}</ref><ref name=":13">{{Cite journal|last=VAN OLPHEN|first=HERMAN|date=1975|title=ASPECTAspect, TENSETense, ANDand MOODMood INin THEthe HINDIHindi VERBVerb |date=1975|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/24651488|journal=Indo-Iranian Journal|volume=16|issue=4|pages=284–301|doi=10.1163/000000075791615397 |jstor=24651488 |s2cid=161530848 |issn=0019-7246}}</ref> The auxiliary '''''{{lang|hi|rêhnā'''''}} (to stay) gives a nuance of continuity of the perfective state, '''''{{lang|hi|jānā'''''}} (to go) is used to construct the passive voice (in its habitual subaspect)<ref>{{Cite web|title=(PDF) Passives in South Asian Languages|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274117629_Passives_in_South_Asian_Languages274117629|access-date=2021-02-01|website=ResearchGate|language=en}}</ref> and also shows that the action is completed (in its perfective subaspect), '''''{{lang|hi|karnā'''''}} (to do) gives the nuance that the perfective action is repeated habitually.

!'' Simple''<br>Aspect

!|+ colspan="6" |''Perfective Aspect''