What is aspect?

Definition
	Aspect is a grammatical category associated with verbs that expresses a temporal view of the event or state expressed by the verb.

Discussion
	Aspect is often indicated by verbal affixes or auxiliary verbs.

Example (English)
	He is talking.
	The be + -ing construction expresses progressive aspect.

Kinds
	Here are some kinds of aspect:
	What is imperfective aspect? What is perfective aspect? What is cessative aspect? What is inchoative aspect?

Generic
	Aspect is a kind of
	What is a grammatical category?

Sources
	Lyons 1977b 705
	Chung and Timberlake 1985 213
	Talmy 1985 77
	Elson and Pickett 1988 26–27
	Comrie 1976a 3
	Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, and Svartvik 1985 188
	Hartmann and Stork 1972 20
	Crystal 1987 415
	Mish 1991 108

Context for this page:

Concept module: aspect
In overview module: Glossary (Linguistics): A
In modular book: Glossary of linguistic terms, by Eugene E. Loos (general editor), Susan Anderson (editor), Dwight H., Day, Jr. (editor), Paul C. Jordan (editor), and J. Douglas Wingate (editor)
In bookshelf: Linguistics

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 5.0 published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 2003. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 5 January 2004

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