Aspects of the Indo-European Aorist and Imperfect
Re-evaluating the evidence of the R̥gveda and Homer and its implications for PIE
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23214623 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ian Hollenbaugh (University of California, Los Angeles, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 1-68 |
| Publication date | 2018-12-05 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Indo-European Linguistics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2212-5884 • E-ISSN: 2212-5892 |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1163/22125892-00601002 |
| OpenAlex | W2949867275 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 17 |
The Proto-Indo-European ( PIE ) tense-aspect system has been reconstructed since the time of Delbrück (1897) as containing a fundamental opposition between two aspect-denoting stems: An Aorist stem, denoting perfective aspect, and a Present stem, denoting imperfective aspect. This reconstruction is, for practical reasons, based almost entirely on Greek and Vedic. Re-examining the Homeric and R̥gvedic data, I argue on semantic grounds against this century-old understanding of the tense-aspect system of PIE . In its place, I reconstruct the “Aorist” indicative as denoting perfect aspect (not perfective), and the “Imperfect” indicative as a simple past tense (not imperfective). Evidence for this reconstruction is based on the consistent usage in the R̥gveda of the Aorist in the meaning ‘have done X ’ (with present reference) and the Imperfect in the meaning ‘did X ’ (especially in narrative contexts)—a distribution which frequently has a precise match in Homer.
Epistemology · Imperfect · Linguistics · Meaning (existential) · Narrative · History · Lexicography and Language Studies · Linguistics and language evolution · Philosophy · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation
The development of the Imperfect in Ancient Greek from simple past to imperfective as a blocking phenomenon
To v or not to v ? Theme vowels, verbalizers, and the structure of the Ancient Greek verb
Remarks on the diachrony of verbal periphrasis in Vedic Sanskrit
Notes on Verbal Aspect in Three Vedic Prose Narratives
Adhiyajña
Aspect between Discourse and Grammar
Pragmatics
The Old Hittite and the Proto-Indo-European tense-aspect system
Indo-European Linguistics
Hammer's German Grammar and Usage
Vergleichende Syntax der indogermanischen Sprachen
Syntax of the Moods and Tenses of the Greek Verb
Origins of the Greek Verb
The Vedic Injunctive
A Grammar of Aspect
Najdi Arabic
Root lexical features and inflectional marking of tense in Proto-Indo-European
The tense of the predicated past participle in vedic and beyond
"Stative," Predicative Form, Pseudo-Verb
The Grammatical Ingredients of Counterfactuality
On Aspect Theory and Homeric Aspect
The Subgrouping of the Semitic Languages
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,71 |
| Citation span | 2019 - 2024 (6) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |