What is continuous aspect?

Definition
	Continuous aspect is an imperfective aspect that expresses an ongoing, but not habitual, occurrence of the state or event expressed by the verb.

Example (Quechua)

The word -sa expresses continuous aspect, as in the following example:

rik''usan ‘He sees it.’ (literally, ‘He is seeing it.’)

Source:

Bills, Vallejo, and Troike 1969 21

Kind
	Here is a kind of continuous aspect:
	What is progressive aspect?

Generic
	Continuous aspect is a kind of
	What is imperfective aspect?

Concept module: continuous aspect
In overview module: Glossary (Linguistics): C
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