Tense and Aspect in IE PDF

TENSE AND ASPECT IN INDO-ARYAN LANGUAGES: VARIATION AND
DIACHRONY
A DISSERTATION
SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF LINGUISTICS
AND THE COMMITTEE ON GRADUATE STUDIES
OF STANFORD UNIVERSITY
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Ashwini Deo
September 2006
c Copyright by Ashwini Deo 2007

All Rights Reserved
ii
I certify that I have read this dissertation and that, in my opinion, it is fully
adequate in scope and quality as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy.
Paul Kiparsky Principal Adviser

Philosophy.
Cleo Condoravdi
Philosophy.
Beth Levin
Philosophy.
Peter Sells
Approved for the University Committee on Graduate Studies.
iii
iv
Acknowledgements
There are several people involved in the writing of this dissertation who must have collectively contributed more to it than I did and I am grateful for their generosity in letting me
be the sole author of this work for whatever it is worth.
During the writing of this dissertation and more generally, I have been lucky to have
a committee that was an incredible source of ideas, constructive comments, and criticism.
Paul Kiparsky has been the best mentor and guide that I could have had. I have learned
from Paul about the intricacies of Paninian grammar, the beauty and elegance of metrical
verse and its generative analysis, morphology, the importance of doing amphichronic linguistics, and much more. This project was directly inspired by his conception of the role
of historical linguistics in linguistic theory, and Pauls encouragement and engagement have
been instrumental to its development. I can safely say that Cleo Condoravdi has taught
me all the tense/aspect semantics that I know (or think I know). When my historical data
showed me that I needed a semantic analysis and that one wasnt readily available, Cleo
came to my help and patiently helped me sort through both the semantics literature and
my empirical data. She has treated my ideas with just the right amount of respect and impatience and been extremely generous with her ideas to get the analysis to come to where it
stands now. Beth Levin taught me lexical semantics and how to appreciate the differences
between shades of meaning too subtle for me to grasp. Several times, she has countered
the gross classifications and categorizations I came up with and forced me to look for more
nuanced explanatory generalizations. I am grateful to her for her careful commenting on
several drafts and her insistence on clarity of presentation and content. Peter Sells is a great
person to try out analyses on and to work out what the properties of a desirable analysis
should be. Meetings with him have always led to a much more clear-headed idea of where
I wanted to go with my projects.
Beyond my committee, I thank David Beaver, Ivan Sag, and Elizabeth Traugott for
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several discussions and comments as this work developed. The Stanford Linguistics Department has been a very congenial and intellectually stimulating environment to work and
grow in and I am fortunate to have had a chance to spend several years here. I also thank
Joan Bresnan and Arnold Zwicky, who contributed a lot to my intellectual development in
my first few years here. I am also grateful to Dr. S.D. Joshi who taught me through Panini
how linguistics should really be done.
For companionship and interesting discussions I thank Luc Baronian, Luis Casillas,
John Beavers, Brady Clark, Cathryn Donhue, Andrew Koontz-Garboden, Dmitry Levinson,
Mary Rose, Devyani Sharma, Judith Tonhauser, and Shiao Wei Tham. I am grateful to
Veronica Gerassimova and Itamar Francez for their friendship, which has made graduate
school much more meaningful. Itamar I particularly thank for making the task of filing
long-distance easier and for constantly leaving his Yahoo Chat window open, a practice
that has done wonders for our linguistic growth, among other things.
This dissertation was supposed to be about morphosyntactic variation in Indo-Aryan.
Somewhere along the way, it changed its mind and decided to take the semantics route. A
key factor in this turn was Judith Tonhauser, who in a conversation during a Friday Social,
convinced me to switch, and got me to discover formal semantics. I am glad she did.
My informants and friends, scattered over several villages in Northern Maharashtra,
are directly responsible for one of the main empirical claim made in this dissertation
the loss of the past-present distinction in Middle Indo-Aryan. Their patience and their
interest in my work has been crucial to developing the empirical basis of this work. I would
especially like to thank Chamulal Rathwa and Alka Padwi (Dehawali Bhili), Gulabsingh
Pawra, Bhaisingh Pawra, and Barfi Pawra (Pawri), Suresh Bacchav, Gayatri Bacchav, and
Krishna Mohan (Ahirani), and Bhaskar Gangurde (Konkana) for sharing their language,
culture, and life with me and their careful efforts to teach me aspects of their languages.
The Linguistics department at Konstanz has been like a long-distance linguistic family.
Miriam Butt has been constantly encouraging, ever since I first came to Stanford. She has
been critical to building both my confidence and my skills as a linguist and has seen the
insights I was struggling to express through the murk of incoherent writing. Her comments,
both as a South-Asianist and as a theoretical linguist, have contributed significantly to this
and other work. I am grateful to Miriam and to Aditi Lahiri for inviting me several times
to Konstanz for workshops and research projects.
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I am grateful to the American Institute of Indian Studies for a Junior Research Fellowship to do fieldwork in India during 2003-2004 and to the National Science Foundation
for a Dissertation Improvement Grant between 2003-2005 (BCS 0318478) for field support.
The write-up of this dissertation was greatly facilitated by the Geballe dissertation writing
fellowship at the Stanford Humanities Center for 2005-2006.
Ashish Chadha convinced me to make the move from India to the United States to
pursue a Linguistics Ph.D way back in 1999. Among other things, I have to thank him
for lengthy arguments over breakfast that stretched beyond lunch, the best sambar and
maa ki dal in the world, the constant supply of international cinema and in-home LCD
projector arrangements, and for never failing to remind me that, in the larger scheme
of things, everything one does is pointless, but nevertheless one has to continue doing it
wholeheartedly. Ashish is the only karmayogi I know from close and it has been a privilege
learning from him. Iravati, I have to thank for several joys and discoveries. I discovered
through her that a three month old, placed in the right position, is capable of ripping out
keys from a G4 laptop, that an underspecified coronal feature might be acquired before
manner features are acquired, the Primacy of Aspect hypothesis, and that a baby is an
extremely useful prop to have around during fieldwork sessions. I also thank my parentsin-law, Lalit and Urmil Chadha for being great supports and for being much more proud of
me than I deserve. I thank Aditi for being there at all times, and Pawan, Meghana, Maya,
and Reviel for their friendship.
To my parents, Chhaya and Sharad Deo, I owe more than I can express. In addition to
doing all the wonderful things that only parents can do, they typed out the text of the Old
Marathi text Dnyaneswari in electronic form for me so that I could run searches through
it and cheerfully took care of their granddaughter for several months while their daughter
was struggling to write her dissertation. I would like to thank my mother for helping me
search through Old and Middle Marathi texts for data that I wanted and for spending six
months in the US taking care her granddaughter. This dissertation is dedicated to both of
them.
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Abbreviations
1 = First Person
2 = Second Person
3 = Third person
abl = Ablative Case
acc = Accusative Case
aor = OIA Aorist
dat = Dative Case
caus = Causative Morpheme
erg = Ergative Case
emph = Emphatic clitic
f = Feminine Gender
fut = Future Tense
gen = Genitive Case
ger = Gerund
impf = OIA Present paradigm (and cognates)
impf = Imperfective Aspect (for crosslinguistic data)
impf = OIA Imperfective Participle (and cognates)
viii
impfct = OIA Imperfect

imp = Imperative Mood
inf = Infinitival
ins = Instrumental Case
loc = Locative Case
MIA = Middle Indo Aryan
m = Masculine Gender
NIA = New Indo Aryan
n = Neuter Gender
nom = Nominative Case
neg = Negative Particle/ Inflection
OIA = Old Indo Aryan
pass = Passive Voice
perf = OIA resultative stative participle (and cognates)
pst = Past Tense
pfct = OIA Perfect
pl = Plural
pres = Present Tense
prog = Progressive aspect
quot = Quotative Marker
sg = Singular
voc = Vocative Case
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Contents
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
viii
1 Introduction
1.1
Goals
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2
Unifying semantic and grammaticalization approaches . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.1
Describing aspectual categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.2
Markedness, privative opposition, and blocking . . . . . . . . . . . .
10
1.3
Theoretical proposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
12
1.4
Linguistic scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
14
1.4.1
Loss of tense distinctions in Indo-Aryan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
14
1.4.2
The diachronic data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
15
1.4.3
The synchronic data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
16
Roadmap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
16
1.5
2 Aspectual classification and stativity
18
2.1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
18
2.2
Aspectual classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
19
2.3
Diagnostics of stativity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
22
2.3.1
Homogeneity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
23
2.3.2
Divisiveness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
25
2.3.3
Cumulativity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
26
2.3.4
Interpretation in narrative discourse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
28
2.3.5
Time-span adverbials
30
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
x
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.3.6
Punctual temporal adverbials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
31
2.3.7
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
33
Predication over eventualities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
33
2.4.1
Parsons 1990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
33
2.4.2
De Swart 1998: The progressive and aspectual coercion . . . . . . .
35
2.4.3
Analyses of the imperfective operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
36
Predication over times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
39
2.5.1
The imperfective operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
41
2.5.2
The imperfective operator and habitual/generic predicates . . . . . .
42
Conclusion
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3 Semantics of the imperfective and progressive
46
48
3.1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
48
3.2
Morphological relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
50
3.2.1
Languages without a distinct progressive morphology
51
3.2.2
Languages that realize imperfective and progressive aspect
. . . . .
53
3.2.3
The diachronic path from progressive to imperfective . . . . . . . . .
55
3.2.4
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
60
Episodicity and the progressive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
61
3.3.1
Progressive predicates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
62
3.3.2
Episodicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
65
3.3.3
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
66
The semantics of the imperfective operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
67
3.4.1
Lexical stative predicates and the imperfective operator . . . . . . .
71
3.4.2
Habitual/generic predicates and the imperfective operator . . . . . .
72
3.4.3
The perfective-like interpretation of imperfective-marked predicates
74
3.4.4
The imperfective-perfective opposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
76
3.4.5
The stativity of imperfective-marked predicates . . . . . . . . . . . .
77
3.4.6
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
77
The semantics of the progressive operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
78
3.5.1
Nestedness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
80
3.5.2
Episodicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
81
3.5.3
Felicity judgements with interval and object-level states . . . . . . .
81
3.3
3.4
3.5
xi
. . . . . . . .
3.5.4
3.6
3.7
3.8
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
84
Some consequences and questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
84
3.6.1
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
84
3.6.2
The habitual reading of the progressive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
86
3.6.3
Transparency and derived stative predicates . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
88
The imperfective, the progressive, and blocking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
91
3.7.1
Exceptions to blocking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
91
3.7.2
Blocking and free variation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
94
Inceptive and terminative inferences
Conclusion
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4 The loss of tense distinctions

4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5
4.6
97
99
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
99
4.1.1
Indo-Aryan chronology and the data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
101
4.1.2
Structure of the chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
102
The past-present distinction: OIA to MIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
102
4.2.1
OIA: Vedic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
103
4.2.2
OIA: Epic Sanskrit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
110
4.2.3
The past-present opposition in MIA? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
114
The imperfective-perfective opposition in MIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
116
4.3.1
MIA: impf as imperfective aspect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
117
4.3.2
MIA: perf as perfective aspect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
125
4.3.3
The MIA tense/aspect system: A summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
128
Loss of the past-present distinction: Evidence from NIA . . . . . . . . . . .
129
4.4.1
Pawri: The Middle Indic Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
131
4.4.2
Konkana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
135
4.4.3
Gujarati . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
137
4.4.4
Ahirani, Dehawali Bhili, Marathi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
138
The loss of the present-future distinction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
141
4.5.1
Composite paradigms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
144
4.5.2
The morphological basis of the innovated future paradigms . . . . .
146
4.5.3
Future reference in Old Marathi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
147
Extending the impf morphology to past and future times . . . . . . . . . .
151
4.6.1
153
impf morphology as tenseless imperfective: Vedic . . . . . . . . . .

xii
4.7
4.6.2
impf morphology as tenseless imperfective: Epic Sanskrit . . . . . .
155
4.6.3
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
158
Conclusion
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5 The imperfective aspect in Indo-Aryan
159
160
5.1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
5.2
Tense marking and the periphrastic progressive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
161
5.2.1
MIA to NIA: tense auxiliaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
163
5.2.2
Old Gujarati to Modern Gujarati . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
163
5.2.3
Old and modern Hindi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
168
5.2.4
Pawri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
177
5.2.5
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
180
Tense and the progressive: an account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
181
5.3.1
Tense marking and the progressive interpretation . . . . . . . . . . .
182
5.3.2
The progressive inference as implicature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
185
5.3.3
The progressive implicature in Pawri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
186
5.3.4
The progressive-to-imperfective shift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
188
5.3.5
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
191
The Locational Progressive construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
192
5.4.1
The MIA Progressive
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
194
5.4.2
Old Marathi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
197
5.4.3
Middle Marathi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
204
MIA to Middle Marathi: The progressive-to-imperfective shift . . . . . . . .
205
5.5.1
208
5.3
5.4
5.5
5.6
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Conclusion
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6 Synchronic variation in Indo-Aryan
208
210
6.1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
6.2
The focalized progressive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
211
6.2.1
Characterizing the difference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
212
Synchronic variation in the Indo-Aryan imperfective . . . . . . . . . . . . .
216
6.3.1
Pawri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
216
6.3.2
Ahirani . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
217
6.3.3
Hindi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
220
6.3
xiii
6.4
6.3.4
Interim summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
222
6.3.5
Dehawali Bhili . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
223
Conclusion
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
226
7 Conclusion and questions
227
Bibliography
230
xiv
List of Tables
xv
List of Figures
xvi
Chapter 1
Introduction
1.1
Goals
If the same principles of grammar are at work in structuring synchronic tense/aspect systems and changes in these systems, then patterns of variation and change in tense/aspect
markers constitute an important research problem for a crosslinguistic semantic theory of
tense/aspect categories. Conversely, insofar as they instantiate tendencies shaped by grammar, such diachronic patterns furnish important evidence towards an optimal universal
representation for tense/aspect categories.
What view of the semantics of grammatical aspect categories can account not only for
the synchronic interpretation of the morphological markers that instantiate them, but also
for the crosslinguistically attested characteristic patterns of change in the interpretation of
such markers? The main goal of my dissertation is to begin to answer this question by
bringing together three distinct strands of research from the grammaticalization literature,
semantics, and Indo-Aryan historical linguistics.
a. Typological/grammaticalization investigation into the crosslinguistic and diachronic
patterning of grammatical aspect morphology.
b. Semantic accounts of sentence level aspect and the contribution of operators introduced by grammatical aspect morphology.
c. Change and variation in the morphology that realizes aspectual operators in some
Indo-Aryan languages.
The empirical basis of this study is the diachronic changes and variation in markers
realizing the progressive and imperfective aspects in Indo-Aryan languages. The type of
1
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
changes I am concerned with are widely attested shifts in the interpretation of aspect
markers across time. In (1) and (2), should be read as diachronically generalizes to.
(1) progressive imperfective (Bybee et al., 1994; Comrie, 1976)
(2) resultative perfect perfective/past (Bybee et al., 1994; Dahl, 1985,
2000)
Such changes have been documented extensively in the typological and grammaticalization literature. Labeled grammaticalization paths or clines, these describe the typical
paths along which morphological forms (or constructions), restricted to a particular expressive function, appear to semantically expand in scope to cover a wider range of expressive
functions. (1) describes a pattern where the use of an originally progressive form or construction is extended to include other communicative functions of the imperfective, such as
the habitual/generic function. The progressive form apparently expands to take over the
domain of the imperfective aspect. (2) describes another change in which a morphological form or construction originally restricted to license only a result state interpretation is
extended to a wider set of contexts licensing perfect or perfective interpretations.
As with many typological tendencies, these generalizations about grammaticalization
paths generate more questions than they answer. What sort of changes are involved in
the evolution of an aspectual marker from the progressive to the imperfective ? What
is the semantic content of the categories that constitute the input to or the output of a
grammaticalization path? What assumptions need to be made about the relation between
aspectual categories and the way in which they are morphologized in languages, in order
to have a coherent account of these shifts? Addressing these questions can enable us to
derive typological generalizations like those in (1) and (2) from a more general theory
of tense/aspect semantics and language change. By introducing diachronic data into the
domain of tense/aspect semantics as explanandum, this study aims to initiate this inquiry
and develop a preliminary semantic account of the progressive and imperfective (and more
peripherally, the perfect and perfective) aspects that can explain both the synchronic and
the diachronic facts of their distribution and interpretation.
There are two interrelated dimensions to this dissertation. On the one hand, it presents
a (reasonably) detailed study of some changes in the tense/aspect system of Indo-Aryan,
in the process presenting some empirical discoveries about the diachrony of Indo-Aryan
tense/aspect. On the other hand, it argues that consideration of diachronic patterns and
wider synchronic data points to an analysis in which at least some aspectual categories are
conceived of as general and specific versions of a formally similar semantic representation,
1.2. UNIFYING SEMANTIC AND GRAMMATICALIZATION APPROACHES
where the denotation of the general category subsumes the denotation of the specific one.
I call this the nested denotation or the nestedness analysis of aspectual categories.
1.2
Unifying semantic and grammaticalization approaches
Natural language sentences employ a variety of devices to encode information about the
temporal properties of the eventualities they describe in particular their location in time
(tense) and their temporal structure (aspect). The precise semantic contribution of the
morphological and constructional devices available to languages varies and at times even
appears to be incommensurate from language to language. Languages differ not only in
the tense and aspect contrasts that they morphologically realize, but also in further details.
What is the range of interpretations (un)available to a language-particular form that is said
to realize a given aspectual category? For instance, why does the English Simple Present
not license a progressive interpretation as do the present tense forms in other Germanic
languages? How is the temporal/aspectual characterization of a morphological marker to
be determined? Is the German Perfect to be classified as the instantiation of the perfect
aspect or the past tense? These kinds of questions bring out the necessarily languagespecific nature of temporal marking. On the other hand, tense/aspect category labels tend
to be applied to forms across languages that converge on a set of related meanings, and
license only a limited (although varying) range of interpretations.
Tense/aspect phenomena have been investigated from two perspectives formal semantics and the typological/grammaticalization perspective. Both traditions have contributed important insights to the organization of temporal and aspectual space in natural
languages. However, the two approaches focus on distinct facets of this domain and, at
times, distinct phenomena, and have remained unbridged so far. I argue that unifying the
typological/grammaticalization perspective with a formally precise characterization of the
semantic content of tense/aspect categories can significantly further our understanding of
their semantic contribution.
Formal semantic approaches to temporality are concerned with providing explicit semantic representations of language-specific tense/aspect categories (such as the widely studied
English Perfect or the Progressive) that can account for the range of interpretations they
license. On the other hand, typological studies in the grammaticalization tradition take
a large scale approach to understanding temporal meaning, focusing on variation and diachronic change in tense/aspect systems (Bybee et al., 1994; Dahl, 1985, 2000). Relying on a
wide empirical base, these studies have proposed crosslinguistic generalizations that describe
the synchronic and diachronic distribution of tense/aspect morphology. In the grammaticalization tradition, the diachronic distributional facts are often considered to constitute a
historical explanation for the interpretation of categories in language-specific tense/aspect
systems. The difference in the foci of the two approaches can be best illustrated through
the example of the perfect, a much studied aspectual category in both.
Much of the semantic literature on the perfect aspect revolves around three issues in the
interpretation of perfect morphology: the apparent polysemy of the perfect seen through its
various readings, its (in)compatibility with past-referring positional adverbials (the present
perfect puzzle), and its truth-conditional contrast with perfective/past semantics. Attempts to account for the interpretational and selectional properties of the perfect (and
the variation between languages with respect to these properties) include incorporating the
basic Reichenbachian insight that the perfect involves a reference interval that follows the
eventuality interval (ER), and its more elaborated versions (Hornstein, 1990; Kiparsky,
2002; Klein, 1992; Portner, 2003, a.o.); the analysis of the perfect as a function from eventualities to their result states (Kamp & Reyle, 1993; Parsons, 1990; de Swart, 1998, a.o.); and
the contribution of tense morphology to perfect interpretation (Pancheva & von Stechow
2004; Klein 1994).
On the other hand, the grammaticalization/typological perspective, articulated best in
the results of large-scale studies involving several genetically related and unrelated languages
(Bybee et al., 1994; Bybee and Dahl, 1989; Dahl, 1985, 2000), involves examining the diachronic origins of forms/constructions marking the perfect aspect and the other related
functions of such forms. The significant findings of these studies are that perfect constructions (at least in most European languages) tend to start out as resultative constructions
formed from result-stative participles and auxiliaries. These are often limited to eventive
predicates involving change-of-state verbs (Ernout & Thomas, 1951, cited in Bybee et al.,
1994:69). The diachronic evolution to perfect meaning is accompanied by the spread of this
construction to non-eventive predicates. The next diachronic step is the change in the denotation of the morphology from perfect to perfective aspect or past tense. On this approach,
a language specific morphological category labeled Perfect may, in principle, belong to any
stage of this grammaticalization path. Variation in the properties of the perfect (licensing
of past eventive interpretation, compatibility with past referring adverbials, etc.) follows
from the position of a construction on the fixed grammaticalization trajectory. The mechanism responsible for these distributional changes in the morphological form that initially
realizes the resultative or perfect aspect is generalization or bleaching in the semantics of
the relevant morphology.
The resultative-to-perfect-to-perfective grammaticalization path presents a significant

empirical generalization about change in the semantics of the resultative or perfect aspectual
morphology. However, it can hardly be said to constitute an explanation for cross-linguistic
variation in perfect/perfective semantics. Moreover, the mechanism purportedly driving the
change, semantic generalization, receives no precise formalization in the grammaticalization
model. Nonetheless, a formalization of these diachronic changes from the semantic perspective is desirable if they are determined by the same principles that determine the properties
of synchronic aspectual systems. This study, while building on the empirical insights of the
grammaticalization/typological literature, crucially differs from them in treating crosslinguistic and crosstemporal distributional differences in tense/aspect categories as explananda
for formal semantics and not as the historical explanantia that they are often presented to
be.
Let us make the assumption that grammatical principles and constraints specify the
space not only for typological variation but also for language change. Further, let us assume
that diachronically consecutive grammars are not characterized by radical discontinuities
or unpredictable leaps, but that change consists of gradual discrete steps constrained by
properties of grammar. Then it is historically necessary that the range of interpretations
available to a morphological marker in a synchronic tense/aspect system be derivable (via
some intermediate step) from the range of interpretations available to the same marker in a
diachronically prior system. Therefore, analyses of the semantics of tense/aspect categories,
based on their synchronic distributional and interpretational properties, must also be able
to account for changes in the distribution and interpretation of tense/aspect morphology
across time the explanandum presented to formal semantics by grammaticalization and
typological studies. Moreover, patterns of change in tense/aspect categories serve a crucial
function in tense/aspect theorizing first, theories of tense/aspect semantics should be able
to provide principled explanations for recurring patterns of language change; and second,
evidence from language change can adjudicate between competing theories of the semantics
of tense/aspect categories. Bringing in data from language change into the empirical domain
of tense/aspect theorizing is thus relevant from these two perspectives.
1.2.1
Describing aspectual categories
Before proceeding to analyze the semantic content of the aspectual categories that constitute
the focus of this study, I will provide pre-theoretical, informal definitions for each of them.
There are three ways in which a term such as the progressive or the imperfective may
be construed. First, it may refer to a semantically defined category, abstracted away from
language-specific variation. Second, it may refer to morphological markers that realize (or
instantiate) a particular expressive function in the aspectual system of a given language.
Third, it may refer to a particular semantic intepretation that may or may not be licensed
by a unique morphological marker in the language. Examples from Hindi and further below
from Czech illustrate these distinctions. In Hindi, the periphrastic progressive construction V+rah stay (an auxiliary) realizes the progressive aspectual category and licenses an
interpretation where the letter writing is construed as a single ongoing episode (3a) a
progressive interpretation. The imperfective participle V-t (3b) realizes the imperfective aspectual category and the most natural construal of the letter writing is that it is a habitual
situation characterized by several episodes of letter-writing an imperfective interpretation. Further, the interpretations available for the sentences in (3a) and (3b) cannot be
reversed.
(3) a. nisa
mujh-e
khat
likh rah-i
thi
N.nom.sg I-dat.sg letter.nom.sg write-prog.f be-pst.f.sg

Nisa was writing me a letter. (progressive)
b. nisa
mujh-e
khat
likh-ti
thi
N.nom.sg I-dat.sg letter.nom.sg write-impf.f be-pst.f.sg

Nisa (habitually/regularly) wrote me a letter. (habitual)
We can say then that in Hindi both the progressive and imperfective are morphologically
instantiated aspectual categories. In Czech, on the other hand, a sentence with the verb
inflected for the so-called imperfective aspect, may license two types of interpretation
an interpretation where the letter writing is construed as a single ongoing unculminated
episode, as well as an interpretation where the letter writing is construed as a series of
episodes, which constitute a habitual, plural situation. Thus, although Czech does not
morphologically realize the progressive aspectual category, the progressive interpretation is
licensed by the same form that licenses a non-progressive habitual interpretation the
imperfective morphology, which realizes the imperfective aspectual category.
(4) psal
mi
dopis. (Filip, 1999)
write.pst.impf I-dat letter
a. He was writing a/the letter to me. (progressive)
b. He (usually, regularly, etc.) wrote a/the letter to me. (habitual)
Throughout this dissertation, I will refer to abstract semantic categories as aspects

(e.g. progressive or imperfective aspects), morphological instantiations of abstract aspectual
categories as forms/morphology (progressive or imperfective form or morphology), while
their interpretations will be referred to as such. To distinguish between abstract semantic
categories and the labels of morphological markers in languages, I follow the convention in
Comrie (1976) language-specific labels for morphological markers have an initial capital
letter, while abstract semantic categories remain uncapitalized. So, in Hindi, the Progressive
morphology realizes the progressive aspect that licenses the progressive interpretation, while
in Czech, the Imperfective morphology realizes the imperfective aspect that licenses both
the progressive and the non-progressive imperfective interpretations. In some cases, I will
also say that the progressive morphology realizes the progressive operator, which yields a
progressive predicate, and so forth.
At this stage, my characterization of the semantic contribution of aspectual categories
is based mainly on the expressive functions that aspectual markers typically perform in
languages. The progressive and the perfect have been the subject of much investigation
based on their distribution and interpretation in Germanic and Romance languages. The
imperfective-perfective opposition, on the other hand, is familiar from the Slavic languages
its most well-studied, if not typical, instantiation. Broader typological studies also
provide some cross-linguistic clues about what these aspectual labels might stand for.
Imperfective: The term imperfective refers to a category of expressions that describe
situations as ongoing or unculminated at the time of evaluation also known as states
and processes. Diagnostics used to determine the ongoingness of situations (or stativity)
include the way in which such situations are interpreted as interacting with a reference time
given by context in temporal discourse or overtly expressed by adverbials.
Ongoing situations can be of several types: they may involve single episodes, such as an
event in progress or they may be situations that characterize temporally indeterminate periods. Typical characterizing interpretations are often described by terms such as habitual,
generic, or dispositional. In languages which morphologize the imperfective as a distinct aspectual category, sentences licensing the characterizing interpetation are typically inflected
with the imperfective morphology, as in the Hindi and Czech examples in (3) and (4).
However, this interpretation is also available in languages which do not morphologize this
aspectual category. For instance, in English, sentences inflected with the past tense morphology may have characterizing interpretations, despite the lack of distinct imperfective
morphology in the language.
Progressive: The term progressive refers to a category of expressions with a specific
type of imperfective meaning. One fairly established view of the progressive aspect is that
it denotes derived states, known as in-progress states that are derived from more dynamic
situations like events or processes (e.g. Parsons, 1990; de Swart, 1998, Vlach 1981). The
intuition behind these accounts is that sentences with progressive readings often imply that
there is a relevant larger interval, which often correlates with an event or a process, that
the interval referred to by the progressive is part of. For instance, the sentence John was
drawing a circle makes reference to an interval that is typically (factoring out intensionality)
part of a larger interval during which John drew a circle. This is in contrast to habitual or
generic sentences, which do not make reference to such a larger interval. By the progressive
interpretation, I will informally refer to an interpretation that often evokes this kind of
larger interval regardless of whether the language has a distinct morphology that uniquely
picks out such a class of expressions (e.g. Czech in (4)).
Perfective: The term perfective refers to a category of expressions that denote situations characterized by boundaries also called events. Diagnostics used to determine
perfective aspect or the eventive character of an expression have to do with the interpretation of such sentences with reference to a contextually salient reference time. Perfective
sentences describe situations that are interpreted as being included in their reference time
and typically advance reference time in narrative discourse. Languages differ as to whether
they morphologically instantiate the perfective aspectual category; however the perfective
interpretation is available to languages regardless of the presence or absence of distinct
morphology. For instance, the perfective aspect morphology in Hindi denotes only eventive situations. The past tense morphology in English, on the other hand, may license the
perfective interpretation when it denotes eventive situations, but is not restricted to this
interpretation. An important descriptive fact about the morphologized perfective category
in some languages is that the perfective marked forms may also refer to situations that are
typically expressed by perfect morphological markers in other languages. This observation
has been made most often for Russian (Dahl & Hedin, 2000; Paslavska & Von Stechow,
2003; Tommola 1986). The examples in (5) are from Tommola, 1986 (cited in Dahl &
Hedin, 2000: 394) and show that the Russian Perfective may be used to describe an event
(5a) or a situation that obtains after the event denoted by the predicate has occurred
the resultant state as in (5b).
(5) a. Elcin priexal
vcera
v Moskvu
Yeltsin arrive-perf.pst yesterday in Moscow.acc

Yeltsin arrived yesterday in Moscow.
b. Elcin priexal
v Moskvu
Yeltsin arrive-perf.pst in Moscow.acc

Yeltsin has arrived in Moscow.
Perfect: The term perfect refers to a category of expressions that denote situations that
obtain as a result of (or following) an event (Kamp & Reyle, 1993; Moens & Steedman, 1988;
Parsons, 1990). Perfect expressions are aspectually stative and presuppose the existence
of a prior event. In languages which morphologize the perfect as a distinct category, this
class of situations is marked through the use of a distinct perfect marker an affix or a
periphrastic construction. However, the perfect interpretation is often available in languages
which do not have a distinct morphological expression for the perfect aspect. As shown in
(5b), the Russian Perfective can also make reference to a perfect state. The Hebrew Past
tense form, which is aspectually neutral, can be construed as making reference to either an
event (6a) or the result-state of such an event (6b), depending on the surrounding discourse
context and adverbials (examples from Itamar Francez, p.c.).
(6) a. dani xaca
et-ha-kvish
ve=nixnas
la-xanut.
dani cross-pst acc=def-street and=entered dat.def=store

Dani crossed the street and entered the store.
b. dani (kvar) xaca
et-ha-kvish
kshe-hu
hivxin
dani already cross-pst acc=def-street when=he notice.pst

be-xaver she-menofef elav
in-friend that-wave.pres to.him
Dani had crossed the street (already) when he noticed a friend waving to him.
The examples in (5a-b) or (6a-b) are not adduced to claim that the non-perfect morphological forms in Russian or Hebrew license the same wide range of interpretations as are
licensed by, for instance, the English Perfect. However, they do support the hypothesis that
we need to make a distinction between language-specific aspectual morphology and abstract
aspectual categories, and study the ways in which aspectual morphology may map onto one
or more abstract categories. In the case of Russian, the Perfective maps onto the abstract
categories perfective and perfect, while in Hebrew it is the Past tense that licenses perfect
interpretation. This distinction between aspectual form and aspectual interpretation will be
crucial throughout the dissertation since I am interested in mapping variation and change
in the aspectual interpretation corresponding to the same forms across time.
10
1.2.2
Markedness, privative opposition, and blocking
An assumption implicit in the typological studies of aspectual expression is that the aspectual categories described above are systematically related to each other. Specifically, the
imperfective is treated as a semantically more general category than the progressive while
the perfective is treated as a semantically more general category than the perfect. The
general-specific relations that are taken to characterize the progressive and the imperfective
aspects, and the perfect and the perfective aspects are motivated by typological facts about
their distribution, such as those discussed in 1.2.1.
(7)
General
Imperfective
Perfective
Specific
Progressive
Perfect
These relations can be articulated in terms of markedness, a notion that is familiar from
traditional aspectological accounts (Comrie, 1976; Jakobson, 1936), but rarely employed
directly in formal semantic analyses of aspectual categories.1 Markedness, very simply, is
about the asymmetrical relationship between elements in a system characterized by the
presence and the absence of information. Morphological marking or complexity in one
member of an opposition is assumed to correlate with the presence of some information that
is lacking in but not incompatible with the unmarked member. The relation between the
presence and the absence of a feature on a pair of elements is what constitutes a privative
opposition. The unmarked term in such an opposition occupies a more general domain;
the marked term is necessarily restricted in its domain due to the presence of the specific
feature. This differs from equipollent opposition in which members of an opposition are
both explicitly marked for the presence and the absence of a given feature. In such a case,
one member is specified as feature, while the other is specified as +feature.
There are two implications of assuming that (at least some) aspectual categories are
members of a privative semantic opposition. First, it requires us to posit an overlap in the
semantic domains of the progressive and the imperfective categories, or of the perfect and the
perfective categories, rather than representing each of these categories as having an atomic
semantic domain unrelated to the other category. This means that we need a transparent
way of expressing these overlapping domains that also accounts for the typical distribution
1
The idea of markedness and privative oppositions is best known from the perfective-imperfective opposition in the Slavic languages. I will have something to say about how the privative nature of the imperfectiveperfective contrast can be semantically developed in 3.7 (also see Filip 1997). I will extend the idea of
markedness relations between aspectual categories mainly to the relations characterizing the progressive and
the imperfective aspects.
11
of these categories. Second, this assumption requires us to formulate an account of the

interaction between the aspectual forms that realize these overlapping semantic domains.
If both the general and specific aspectual categories are morphologized in a language, what
determines the distribution of the categories in the overlapping domains?
I propose that this distribution can be explained through the principle of blocking. The
idea of blocking is familiar from the morphological literature and refers to a resolution
mechanism for (potentially) competing linguistic expressions with a similar semantic interpretation. The blocking principle adjudicates between the conflict by selecting the more
specific expression; the expression with a more restrictive denotation. Blocking has not
been invoked much in semantic analyses as the organizational principle underlying the distribution of aspectual morphology (but see Kiparsky 1998, 2002 and Olsen 1997). But it
works straightforwardly when applied to the domain of aspectual semantics. On the blocking account of aspectual meaning, the imperfective and the perfective operators are taken
to be compatible in principle with the domain of application of the progressive and the perfect, and may fail to productively license these interpretations only in the case of languages
where these more specific categories are morphologically instantiated. In other words, specific aspectual categories, if morphologically instantiated, tend to block the application of
the general categories in the specific domain.
A blocking-based conceptualization of aspectual semantics allows us to capture the
descriptive facts about the relation between the progressive/imperfective and the perfect/perfective aspects. Take the case of the imperfective and the progessive categories.
Blocking relations predict that if both the progressive and the imperfective are morphologically realized in a given language, the imperfective morphology will be restricted to nonprogressive contexts. The imperfective is not available in the progressive domain because
the more specific progressive morphology blocks that interpretation for the imperfective
morphology. On the other hand, in the absence of a distinct progressive morphology, the
blocking account predicts that the imperfective morphology should be able to license a progressive interpretation as well as a non-progressive interpretation. The same predictions
hold for the distribution of the perfect and the perfective.
Morphological and aspectual blocking seem to differ in (at least) one aspect regularity. Morphological blocking in inflectional or derivational paradigms is usually very regular.
For instance, in English past tense formation, the class of verb roots which form their past
tense by a change in the root vowel sing-sang, ring-rang, drink-drank, do not typically
12
allow for an optional use of the regular past tense forming -ed affix (except in child language).2 The blocking relations that characterize the distribution of general and specific
aspectual categories do not seem to be as exceptionless. The linguistic data we encounter
does not always present clearcut domains of distribution for every morphologically instantiated aspectual category. It often seems to be the case that the so-called general and specific
categories are in free variation. For instance, in French, the Progressive and the Imparfait
may both license a progressive interpretation (deSwart 1998). However, even in such cases,
aspectual forms exhibit asymmetric distributional properties that, in fact, provide further
evidence for the overlap in their domains. In the case of French, the Imparfait may license
the progressive interpretation; the Progressive is not compatible with other Imparfait interpretations such as the habitual or the generic interpretations. Thus, in the case of these
two aspectual categories, although we do not see blocking at work, the distributional facts
support an organization of the aspectual domain into general and specific categories. This
suggests that the theory of blocking for aspectual (and perhaps other temporal) categories
might need to be formulated along slightly different lines than it has been for morphological
phenomena. I discuss this in more detail in 3.7 and propose a possible correlation between
blocking effects and relative recency of the specific aspectual morphology.
1.3
Theoretical proposal
My main argument is that a comprehensive analysis of the semantics of aspectual categories must involve unifying the semantic and grammaticalization approaches to aspectual
meaning and incorporating the ideas of markedness and privative opposition that underlie
large scale typological studies of aspectual categories. Since the conception of aspectual
relations that emerges from the grammaticalization and typological literature is based on
robust synchronic and diachronic patterns of distribution, it is important that we find a
way to formalize this more precisely. This is a first try at tackling the problem, mainly in
the domain of the imperfective aspect.
There are three properties that characterize the relation between the progressive and
the imperfective aspects.3 First, in the absence of a morphologically realized progressive operator, the progressive interpretation is licensed by the imperfective operator (e.g. Russian,
Hebrew, Sanskrit). Second, the presence of progressive morphology often correlates with
2
Kroch (1994: 5-8) cites cases of morphological doublets (e.g. dived/dove) and argues that these are
competing forms that are historically unstable and arise as a consequence of dialect contact, rather than
being a stable feature of grammatical paradigms.
3
The perfect and the perfective aspects are related in a similar way empirically but it is beyond the scope
of this dissertation to present an explicit analysis of the relation that characterizes these two aspects.
1.3. THEORETICAL PROPOSAL
13
the absence of the progressive interpretations for the imperfective morphology (e.g. Hindi).
Finally, as seen in (1), progressive morphological markers may diachronically generalize to
license interpretations typically associated with the imperfective aspect. A unified analysis
of the progressive and the imperfective operators should be able to transparently derive
the relations between the distribution and interpretation of these forms that realize these
categories.
The intuition that needs to be formalized is that the denotation of the progressive operator is a sub-domain (proper subset of) denotation of the imperfective operator. Intuitively,
the denotation of the progressive is nested inside the denotation of the imperfective as in
(8).4
(8) imperfective progressive
I propose that this intuition can be captured by the representation of the imperfective and the progressive operators in terms of two types of relations between eventuality
predicates and their instantiation intervals. My basic idea is that the progressive and the
imperfective aspects differ in the properties of the larger interval that the denoted intervals
are subintervals of. Specifically, the imperfective operator yields the set of intervals that are
non-final subintervals of a larger interval within (inst) which the predicate is instantiated,
while the progressive operator yields the set of intervals that are non-final subintervals of a
larger interval at (at) which the predicate is instantiated.5
(10) a. [[impf]] = P<s,t> t t [t nf t inst(P, t )]
b. [[prog]] = P<s,t> t t [t nf t at(P, t )]
I will demonstrate that this characterization transparently reflects the nested denotations of the progressive and imperfective aspects, as motivated by the cross-linguistic and
diachronic data. Moreover, I will show that the stativity of imperfective- and progressivemarked predicates naturally follows from this analysis without stipulation.
4
Correspondingly, the denotation of the perfect operator should be treated as a proper subset of the
denotation of the perfective operator.
(9) perfective
5
perfect
inst denotes a relation between a predicate and any interval within which it is instantiated, i.e. the
interval corresponding to the run-time of the eventuality instantiating the predicate or any superinterval of
such an interval. at is more restrictive and denotes a relation between a predicate and the run-time of the
eventuality instantiating the predicate.
14
1.4
Linguistic scope
The theoretical proposal I make is examined most closely in relation to Indo-Aryan diachrony and synchronic variation in the Indo-Aryan linguistic continuum. The contemporary New Indo-Aryan (NIA) languages investigated here belong to the Central-Southern
sub-group of Indo-Aryan and include the standard languages Marathi, Hindi, and Gujarati
and the non-standard languages Ahirani, Dehawali Bhili, Konkana, and Pawri. Diachronic
data comes from Old Indo-Aryan (Vedic and Epic Sanskrit), Middle Indo-Aryan (Prakrit),
and some Old New Indo-Aryan languages (Old Marathi and Old Gujarati). The data from
the non-standard languages is based on my own fieldwork in North Maharashtra conducted
at different times between 2003 and 2005. The diachronic claims about older stages of
Indo-Aryan are based on original textual research in combination with observations noted
in historical grammars. In addition to being a test case for the particular theory argued
for, the facts presented here are relevant to reconstructing the broader empirical history of
the Indo-Aryan tense-aspect system and the key changes that it undergoes. Although the
central focus of this study prevents me from undertaking a detailed account of Indo-Aryan
tense-aspect systems, I hope that the brief descriptions that I offer here can contribute to
initiating a sustained and rich investigation of tense and aspect in Indo-Aryan diachrony.
1.4.1
Loss of tense distinctions in Indo-Aryan
A careful analysis of the changes in the distribution of tense/aspect morphology from Old
Indo-Aryan (OIA) to Middle Indo-Aryan (MIA) reveals one important systemic change in
the tense/aspect system of Indo-Aryan across time. Tense distinctions, expressed morphologically in the grammar of OIA, are lost in the MIA period.6 The reorganization of the
resulting MIA system is along aspectual lines; the verb morphology contrasts the imperfective and perfective aspect. The transition to the New Indo-Aryan languages is characterized
by a reacquisition of tense distinctions through the use of past and present tense auxiliaries
that form periphrastic constructions in conjunction with the aspectual morphology.
The claim that the MIA system intervening between OIA and NIA tense/aspect systems is characterized by only an aspectual contrast and no tense contrast is new from the
6
This claim must be appropriately qualified. First, the loss of distinction between the present and the
past tenses is clearly attestable through both MIA textual documentation and archaic systems instantiated
in some NIA languages. The loss of distinction between the present and the future tenses is not directly documented in any available MIA text, but must be reconstructed as a property of the MIA Proto tense/aspect
system for at least some NIA languages, based on the distribution of other morphological forms in these
languages. The data description is contained in Chapter 4.
15
1.4. LINGUISTIC SCOPE
perspective of Indo-Aryan diachronic studies. Neither the traditional nor modern investigations in the grammar of Indo-Aryan languages have related the morphological distribution
of MIA verbal morphology to an aspect-based reorganization of the tense/aspect system.
In view of its importance to the reconstruction of developments in the tense/aspect systems of Indo-Aryan languages, I discuss this change in detail in Chapter 4. The next two
subsections summarize the nature of the diachronic and synchronic data used in this study.
1.4.2
The diachronic data
The Indo-Aryan language family, with a 3000 year literary tradition, presents some of the
richest available diachronic documentation for a close study of patterns of language change.
The languages of the family are divided diachronically into three broad stages the Old
Indo-Aryan, the Middle Indo-Aryan, and the New Indo-Aryan languages. There are further
divisions within each of these stages, corresponding to the grammatical features documented
in texts belonging to these periods. The table in (11) gives an overview of the temporal
range over which the tense/aspect changes that I am concerned with occur. The first
column gives an approximate period for the attested stages; the stages themselves are in
the second column. Since modern New Indo-Aryan languages will be discussed only insofar
as they instantiate a Middle Indic phase or its consequent developments I am not assigning
a uniform stage to them. Some of the texts which I will be referring to frequently in the
dissertation are given in the last column.
(11) The Chronology
timeline
1700-1200BCE
200BCE
language
Vedic (OIA)
Epic Sanskrit (OIA)
source
R
. gveda (RV)
Mahabharata (MBh)
300BC-700CE
700-1000CE
Prakrit (MIA)
Apabhram
sa (MIA)
Vasudevahimd
. i (VH)
1000-1500CE
Old Marathi (Old NIA)
Present
Old Gujarati (Old NIA)

Old Hindi (Old NIA)
Gujarati, Marathi, Hindi (NIA)
Pawri, Dehawali, Ahirani (NIA)
Konkan.
a (NIA)
Dnyaneswar (D)
Govindaprabhucaritra (GC)
S.ad.avasyakabalavabodha.(SB)
Prithviraja R
aso (PR)
16
1.4.3
The synchronic data
In reconstructing the diachronic changes in the Indo-Aryan tense/aspect system, I also make
crucial use of attested synchronic variation in the modern NIA languages. In addition to
data from Marathi, Hindi, and Gujarati, I rely on my fieldwork on tense-aspect patterns
in four non-standard NIA languages Ahirani, Dehawali Bhili, Konkana, and Pawri are four
largely undescribed Indo-Aryan languages spoken by indigenous communities in central
India. These languages belong to the larger Bhili and Khandeshi dialect continuum, a rich
and heterogeneous linguistic area that shares boundaries with the linguistic areas of Hindi,
Gujarati, and Marathi. My fieldwork in these closely situated linguistic communities has
been critical to developing an understanding of the range of the differences and underlying
similarities in the tense/aspect systems in the Central-Southern subgroup of Indo-Aryan
languages.
The Bhili and Khandeshi dialects, described first by Grierson (1907) as broken dialects,
are a group of distinct Indo-Aryan languages that share grammatical properties with the
surrounding standard languages Hindi, Gujarati, and Marathi. Griersons label really refers
to the fact that these languages pattern like more than one surrounding standard language in
different grammatical subsystems, leading to an impression that they are somehow mixed
varieties based on the standard languages. However, my fieldwork suggests that these
languages are not only independent autonomous linguistic systems (this is not to deny
contact effects), but also retain traces of older stages of Indo-Aryan lost in the modern
standard languages. These languages are therefore crucial to the reconstruction of IndoAryan diachrony (and particularly its tense/aspect system). I want to note here that
the very idea that the proto-system for NIA languages (late MIA) could lack the tense
distinctions found in OIA and standard NIA languages comes from the organization of the
synchronic tense/aspect systems of Pawri and Konkana. This is independently confirmed
by textual documentation but the trigger for this interpretation of the textual data is really
comparative reconstruction through synchronic patterns of distribution.
1.5
Roadmap
Chapter 2 describes the main issues in determining criteria for classification of predicates
into aspectual classes, specifically with respect to progressive and imperfective predicates.
I show how lexical stative and derived predicates like progressive and habitual/generic
predicates are all characterized by certain properties, which has led to them being classified
as stative predicates. I then demonstrate that existing analyses of the progressive and
1.5. ROADMAP
17
imperfective operators fall short of providing an explanatory account of the properties of

derived stative predicates and propose some desiderata for a unified account of the two. In
Chapter 3 I describe the morphological correlates of the semantic similarity between lexical
stative, progressive, and habitual/generic predicates which further justify a unified analysis
of the two operators based on the desiderata developed in Chapter 2. This chapter further
develops a formal account of the imperfective and progressive operators that meets these
desiderata.
Chapter 4 describes how morphological tense distinctions of Old Indo-Aryan are lost in
the tense/aspect system of late Middle Indo-Aryan (summarized already in 1.4.1). This
chapter is essential to understanding the diachrony of Indo-Aryan tense/aspect but not
crucial to following the argumentation and data in later chapters, which are relatively
self-contained. Chapter 5 examines two changes in the history of imperfective aspectual
marking in some Indo-Aryan languages. In the first kind of change, tense auxiliaries form
periphrastic constructions in conjunction with imperfective verb forms which uniformly
license progressive interpretation. In the second kind of change, which diachronically follows
the first, the so-called progressive construction generalize along a grammaticalization path
and become markers of the imperfective aspect. I show how these empirical facts can be
fruitfully interpreted using the theoretical analysis of the progressive and the imperfective
operators developed in Chapter 3. Chapter 6 introduces a category called the focalized
progressive, which has been described in the typological literature to be a progressive marker
with certain restrictions. I propose that the focalized progressive instantiates a variant of
the progressive operator with an additional restriction on its domain it may apply only to
eventive predicates. This restriction predicts that the focalized progressive is not acceptable
with lexical stative and derived stative predicates, a prediction that is confirmed by the
data on this category. I then proceed to examine synchronic variation in the grammatical
aspect markers expressing imperfective predicates in the Indo-Aryan languages and show
how this variation can be easily explained once we assume three aspectual operators in
a nested relation with each other the imperfective, the progressive, and the focalized
progressive. The languages differ with respect to which specific category of the progressive
is realized, or whether the progressive is realized at all. This set of data thus further
supports the particular structure of the larger domain of imperfective predicates, and the
nested denotation of the imperfective, progressive, and focalized progressive operators that
I argue for.
The conclusions of this study and questions presented for further research in study of
Indo-Aryan diachrony and tense/aspect semantics are in Chapter 7.
Chapter 2
Aspectual classification and

stativity
2.1
Introduction
Eventuality types, or aspectual classes, very broadly speaking, constitute a system of classification for predicates in natural languages. Languages categorize states of affairs in the
world in particular ways that have been observed to be important for the semantic representation of predicates and the sentences they occur in. These categories are encoded in
a variety of ways lexical specification, verbal and nominal morphological marking, and
adjunctive modifiers, such as adverbials. The precise contribution of inherent verb semantics, properties of nominal arguments, verbal morphology, and temporal adverbials in the
compositional buildup of sentence-level aspectuality has been the subject of much research
from a range of perspectives within semantics. In this chapter, I will discuss some results
from the body of work that is concerned with the semantic classification of predicates into
distinct aspectual classes. The findings of this chapter form part of the motivation for the
analysis of the imperfective and progressive operators developed in Chapter 3.
The chapter has the following structure. In 2.2, I introduce the general issues in determining the criteria for classifying predicates into aspectual types and their relevance
to the understanding of grammatical aspect marking. In 2.3, I describe several properties that are common to lexically specified stative predicates, progressive predicates, and
habitual/generic predicates. It is due to this commonality between the three predicate
classes that progressive and the habitual/generic predicates are considered derived stative
18
2.2. ASPECTUAL CLASSIFICATION
19
predicates. In 2.4, I review some eventuality-based analyses of the progressive and the imperfective aspectual operators, and conclude that they do not provide a satisfactory account
of the stativity of progressive and imperfective predicates. In 2.5, I examine another influential view of aspectual operators as denoting functions from predicates of eventualities to
predicates of times. This view, which relies on relations between temporal intervals, offers
some explanation for the properties of progressive predicates. But I show that it falls short
of an explanatory account for habitual/generic predicates based on temporal relations. In
2.6, I summarize my findings from earlier research, and propose a set of desiderata for an
analysis of the two operators that form the basis of my analysis in 3.
2.2
Aspectual classification
The key question that concerns this dissertation is the semantic content of aspect-denoting
verb morphology, also known as grammatical aspect. The contribution of such morphology
is ultimately tied to the development of a more general system of predicate classification
derived from their aspectual properties. In other words, phenomena studied under distinct
headings like lexical aspect or grammatical aspect all pertain to the nature of predicational
aspect and the factors that determine it. Mourelatos (1978) makes this point very clearly
in discussing earlier classical analyses of the aspectual properties of lexical verbs.
The familiar Vendler-Kenny scheme of verb-types, viz., performances (further
differentiated by Vendler into accomplishments and achievements), activities,
and states, is too narrow in two important respects. First, it is narrow linguistically. It fails to take into account the phenomenon of verb aspect. The
trichotomy is not one of verbs as lexical types but of predications. Second, the
trichotomy is narrow ontologically. It is a specification in the context of human
agency of the more fundamental, topic-neutral trichotomy, event-process-state.
(Mourelatos, 1978: 415)
The traditional category of lexical aspect (also Aktionsart, Situation aspect) pertains to
the aspectual/temporal properties of simplex or composite (uninflected) verbal expressions,
while grammatical aspect is concerned with the semantics of (usually paradigmatic) aspect
denoting verb morphology. To illustrate, lexical aspect pertains to the properties that
distinguish between the lexically stative predicate love and the lexically eventive predicate
build in (1a) and (1b). On the other hand, grammatical aspect is concerned with the
property that distinguishes between the two inflectional versions of the predicate build that
occur in (1b) and (1c).
20
CHAPTER 2. ASPECTUAL CLASSIFICATION AND STATIVITY
(1) a. John loved Mary.

b. John built a house.
c. John was building a house.
state, simple past

event, simple past
event, progressive past
What are the criteria by which natural language predicates might be classified into a
limited number of aspectual classes? The aspectual classes originally proposed by Vendler
(1957, 1967) provided some schemata to divide the verbs of English states, activities,
accomplishments, and achievements.1 Vendlers four-way classification is based on the criteria of durativity, change, telicity (set terminal point), and homogeneity. Dowty (1979)
develops on this work by Vendler, Kenny (1963), and Ryle (1949), demonstrating how the
four aspectual classes pattern distinctly with respect to their logical entailments, interaction
with temporal adverbials, and tense/aspect morphology. In the later literature, the distinction along the telicity dimension, has become the main criterion for the classification of
predicates into telic and atelic (or homogeneous) predicates (Herweg 1991, Michaelis 1997,
Parsons 1990; Bach 1986; Krifka 1986, 1989, 1998 a.o.).
Predicate properties like homogeneity and telicity have been formalized in terms of the
properties of the temporal intervals at which predicates are instantiated (in the interval semantics approach) or in terms of the properties of the eventualities, which are introduced as
primitives, in the denotation of predicates (in the event semantics approach). The algebraic
notion used to express the distinction between telic and atelic predicates is the mereological
notion of part. Atelic predicates are true for any part of the interval at which (or eventuality
for which) they are true. This property does not hold for telic predicates. Going back to
the Vendlerian classification, atelic predicates include state and activity predicates while
accomplishment and achievement predicates are telic.
On the event semantic approach, the domain contains, in addition to temporal intervals,
a special type of individuals eventualities. There are two sorts of eventualities events
and states. Telic (eventive) predicates denote events and atelic (stative) predicates denote
states. Activity predicates are special because they are eventive but atelic. On the bisorted ontology of events and states, activity predicates are said to denote states (Herweg
1991; Michaelis 1997). However, yet another classification distinguishes between events,
1
Since then, a central issue in aspectual classification has been to determine the set of entities that it
applies to. Does it apply to lexically atomic expressions (such as verbs), or does it apply to more complex
expressions that these lexical expressions are part of (such as verb phrases)? At least since Garey (1957)
Verkuyl (1972), it has been pointed out that aspectual classification of verbs appears to vary based on the
properties of the arguments they combine with. This apparent variation in aspectual class for individual
verbs has been most widely interpreted to mean that the classification, in fact, describes verb phrase-level
properties, since it is verbs in combination with their arguments that determine the aspectual class of the
predicate denotation.
2.2. ASPECTUAL CLASSIFICATION
21
states, and processes (which correspond to activity predicates). On this tripartite sorting of
the domain of eventualities, activity predicates pattern with events along the dimension of
dynamicity and with states along the dimension of atelicity (Mourelatos, 1978; Bach, 1986;
De Swart, 1998). For most purposes in this chapter and this dissertation, I will assume
the bi-sorted event-state ontology and so it is useful to remember that the term stative
predicates, in fact, refers to the union of the Vendlerian state and activity predicates. In
some places, I will explicitly refer to activity predicates as such. I will distinguish Vendlerian
states from stative predicates by using the term lexical statives to refer to them.
The perfective and imperfective aspectual categories correspond to this basic ontological
distinction between events and states perfective predicates (typically) denote events and
imperfective predicates denote states. The event-state distinction has several reflexes in the
grammar, one of them being its overt morphological expression in the form of perfective
and imperfective marking in many languages. Event and state predicates also pattern
differently with temporal adverbials (Vendler, 1967; Dowty, 1979), have different effects on
the temporal sequencing of eventualities in narrative discourse (e.g. Hinrichs,1985; Partee,
1984), and have different logical entailments with respect to their instantiation in time.
An important question for a theory of aspectual categories is: what is the source of the
differences between eventive and stative predicates? The diagnostics of temporal interpretation and logical entailments for stative and eventive predicates should follow from some
more basic properties of the two kinds of predicates. In other words, out of the cluster
of diagnostic properties that pick out the two classes of predicates, there has to be some
property from which the others can be derived. Given that the bulk of this dissertation
is about stative predicates and their morphological expression, this chapter introduces the
properties of stative predicates that can serve as a starting point for getting at the notion
of stativity.
This discussion links to the question of the semantics of grammatical aspect markers
in the following way. As I will show in 2.3, progressive and habitual/generic imperfective
predicates are typically based on eventive predicates but pattern like lexical statives in
several respects. There are two ways in which progressive or imperfective aspect markers
could contribute to deriving this stativity with base eventive predicates. On the one hand,
they could be treated as stativizing operators, which derive stative predicates from nonstative predicates (a sort of type-shift). The progressive operator, for instance, is said to
derive a predicate that denotes an in-progress state from a base eventive predicate (De
Swart, 1998; Kamp & Rohrer, 1983; Moens & Steedman 1987, 1988; Parsons, 1990; Vlach,
1981, etc.). The habitual/generic operator could be treated as an operator that similarly
22
derives a habitual predicate from an eventive episodic predicate (e.g. Rimell 2004). On the
other hand, particularly in the case of languages that have a single imperfective marker that
is used with lexically specified stative predicates, progressive stative predicates, as well as
habitual/generic stative predicates, these morphological markers can be considered to have
a flagging function. De Swart (1998) offers this solution to account for the distribution
of the French Imparfait, and calls it a type-sensitive operator. On this construal, the
morphology merely reflects the stativity of the sentential predicate. The actual stativizing
job for progressive or habitual/generic predicates is done by covert stativizing operators
that derive in-progress or habitual/generic states from eventive predicates.
Neither of these conceptions of aspectual contribution really explicate the temporal
relation between the derived predicate and the base predicate. How is the temporal interval/eventuality output by overt or covert progressive/habitual operators derivable from the
temporal interval at which the predicate is instantiated? By what precise operation do we
get from the eventive predicate to its in-progress or its habitual/generic counterpart? This
is a question that has been fruitfully addressed with regard to the progressive operator in
the considerable literature on the English Progressive and its truth-conditions in terms of
intervals. To be precise, I am only extending this question to the operation deriving stative
habitual/generic predicates from base eventive predicates. Moreover, I am interested in
the possibility of having a parallel account of the two operators, given the morphological
relations that hold between their exponents (Chapter 3).
2.3
Diagnostics of stativity
In this section, I discuss properties and diagnostics that unify lexical stative, progressive,
and habitual/generic predicates (a) subinterval property (divisiveness), (b) cumulativity, (c) the temporal overlap interpretation with respect to topically salient reference times
introduced in narrative discourse, and (d) interaction with time-span and punctual time adverbials. Because progressive, and habitual/generic predicates pattern exactly like lexically
specified stative predicates, the inference is that they are stative. I work up to this inference
by showing how lexical stative, progressive, and habitual/generic predicates pattern with
respect to the above-mentioned diagnostics.
For ease and speed of exposition, most of the discussion in the following sections is based
on English progressive and habitual/generic predicates. Therefore, I want to clarify how
I see the relation between the progressive/imperfective operators, progressive/imperfective
2.3. DIAGNOSTICS OF STATIVITY
23
predicates, and the progressive/imperfective interpretation. In English, the be -ing construction is a morphologically realized progressive operator that outputs a progressive predicate.
Non-progressive imperfective predicates in English (e.g. lexical stative predicates or habitual/generic predicates) do not have a corresponding imperfective morphological exponent,
unlike in Hindi or Arabic. Non-progressive imperfective interpretations are typically licensed
by the simple tense forms. In other words, non-progressive imperfective predicates in English appear in the simple tenses while non-progressive imperfective predicates in languages
like Hindi or Arabic appear with the imperfective morphology, which realizes the imperfective operator. Regardless of whether there is overt imperfective/progressive morphology,
I am assuming that progressive predicates, lexical stative predicates, and habitual/generic
predicates across languages are imperfective (with the progressive as a special subtype) and
should share certain properties. The fact that these predicates are also morphologically realized identically in some languages is evidence for this semantic similarity, not the reason
for it. Therefore, an examination of English imperfective predicates should be as useful
in determining the properties of the imperfective aspectual category and the imperfective
operator as the study of a language with an overtly realized imperfective operator.
2.3.1
Homogeneity
The observation that a class of predicates has the subinterval/homogeneity property is fairly
well-established in the literature on aspectual semantics (Bennett & Partee, 1972; Dowty,
1979 a.o.). The term homogeneity is due to Vendler (1957, 1967) who first noticed for a
class of verbal predicates, that if they are true at a temporal interval, they are also true at
any part of that interval. For instance, if the predicate run holds of an interval, it also holds
of all its parts. On the other hand, if the predicate, run a mile applies to an interval, it
cannot apply to any proper part of this interval. Therefore, run is a homogeneous predicate
while run a mile is non-homogeneous. This distinction has been reconstructed in interval
semantic approaches as the subinterval property (Bennett & Partee 1972).
Subinterval verb phrases have the property that if they are the main verb phrase
of a sentence which is true at some interval of time I, then the sentence is
true at every subinterval of I including every moment of time in I. Examples
of subinterval verb phrases are: walk, breathe, walk in the park, push a cart.
(Bennett and Partee, 1972:17)
24
The subinterval property distinguishes between homogeneous and non-homogeneous

predicates.2 More generally, it distinguishes between stative predicates and eventive predicates. (2)-(5) illustrate this contrast. The subinterval entailment goes through only for the
stative predicates (2)-(3) and not for the eventive predicates (4)-(5).
(2) a. John lived in Paris for five years. (state)
b John lived in Paris at every subinterval of those five years.
(3) a John walked along the beach for two hours. (activity)
b John walked along the beach at every subinterval of those two hours.
(4) a. John built a house in three years. (accomplishment)
b. ;John built a house at every subinterval of those three years.
(5) a. John reached the summit in two hours. (achievement)
b. ;John reached the summit at every subinterval of those two hours.
However, it turns out that the subinterval property also holds of progressive and habitual/generic predicates that are based on eventive predicates. In (6a-b) the progressive
predicate based on the eventive predicate build a house allows the subinterval inference to
go through.
(6) a. John was building a house for three years. (progressive)
b. John was building a house at every subinterval of those three years.
Similarly, in (7a-b), the generic predicate based on the eventive build a house has the
subinterval interpretation.
(7) a. For several years, John built a house for every low-income client that approached
him. (generic)
2
Taylor (1977) and Dowty (1979) further distinguish within subinterval predicates through the notion of
granularity; for a subclass of predicates (viz. activities) the subinterval property holds only with intervals
down to a certain limit in size. For instance, the smallest subinterval of an interval at which the predicate
walk is true might only contain the action of lifting one foot and so the predicate walk cannot be true of
this subinterval. In general, it appears that the size of the subintervals at which a homogeneous/subinterval
predicate may be true depends on world knowledge about the relevant eventuality. Since it is not crucial to
my discussion, I will not make a distinction within the class of subinterval predicates based on the minimal
size of subintervals. I am also factoring out the gappiness problem.
25
b. At every subinterval of those several years, John built a house for every lowincome client that approached him.
Note that the availability of the subinterval inference is restricted to the generic predicate, and not the base predicate. (7b) does not mean that the base predicate build a house
has to be true at every subinterval of the interval for several years. Rather, (7a) has an
interpretation comparable to the paraphrase in (8a).
(8) a. For several years, John had the policy of building/was willing to build a house for
every low-income client that approached him. (generic)
b. At every subinterval of those several years, John had the policy of building/was
willing to build a house for every low-income client that approached him.
(7a) describes a characteristic property of John that holds of him over an interval. It
is this property that has the subinterval property. It is true of John at every subinterval
of the larger interval for several years that he had the policy of building/was willing to
build a house for every low-income client that approached him. The non-transparency of
the subinterval interpretation for the sentence in (7a) is because the English past tense
licenses both eventive and habitual/generic interpretations, the eventive often being the
default interpretation for eventive predicates. In languages with a distinct imperfective
morphology (French, Russian, Hindi), the subinterval inference should go through without
any difficulty. The example in (9a-b) is from Hindi and shows that the subinterval inference
goes through for the eventive predicate de give which appears overtly with imperfective
morphology.
(9) a. koi
kuch-bhi
age
m
nisa
us-e
vaha de-ti
thi
anyone anything-emph ask-subj N-nom her-dat that give-impf.f.sg pst-f.sg

If anyone asked for something, Nisa gave him/her that.
b. At every sub-interval (of the contextually specified interval in the past), if anyone
asked her for something, Nisa gave him/her that.
2.3.2
Divisiveness
In event-semantic approaches, the subinterval/homogeneity property surfaces as divisiveness

and is defined in terms of eventualities instantiating a predicate (in contrast to intervals).
Research on the extensive parallels in the structure of the nominal and the verbal domains,
which correspond to the domain of objects and the domain of eventualities led to identifying
26
properties of predicates across syntactic categories (Bach 1981, 1986; Krifka 1986, 1989).
The main idea is that the count:mass distinction in the nominal domain appears to have a
reflex in the telic:atelic distinction in the verbal domain. While the subinterval property is
restricted to verbal predications, divisiveness is a property of all predicates with a certain
structure (10a-b)
(10) a. A predicate P is divisive if and only if, when it applies to an entity x, it also applies
to any y that is part of x.3
b. DIV(P) x,y[P(x) y<x P(y)] xy[(P(x) y<x)]
In the domain of eventualities, divisiveness is understood as a property of predicates of
eventualities.
(11) DIV(Pe ) e,e Ue [P(e) e <e P(e )] ee [(P(e) e <e)]]
Divisive predicates of eventualities are predicates with the subinterval property and
are closed under the subpart relation. The same data I used to show that lexical stative, progressive, and habitual/generic predicates have the subinterval property ((2)-(9))
straightforwardly extends to show that these predicates are also divisive.
2.3.3
Cumulativity
Yet another property of certain predicates is that they are cumulative. Consider the nominal
predicates an apple and apples. If an apple applies to two entities x and y, it cannot apply
to their sum, which would fall under the denotation of a predicate like apples or two apples.
On the other hand, if the predicate apples applies to an entity x (some plural number of
apples) and an entity y (another set of apples), it also applies to their sum. Cumulative
predicates are thus closed under the sum operation. Cumulativity is defined in (12a).
(12) a. A predicate P is cumulative if and only if, when it applies to any two entities x
and y, it also applies to the sum of x and y ( is the sum operation), and P should
apply to at least two distinct entities x and y.
b. CUM(P) x,y[P(x) P(y) P(xy)] x,y[P(x) P(y) x=y]
The version of cumulativity for eventuality predicates is in (13).
(13) CUM(Pe ) e,e Ue [P(e) P(e ) P(ee )] e,e [P(e) P(e ) e=e ]
3
< is the proper part relation between entities in the part structure. The definition in (10b) is that of
strict divisiveness (Filip, 2003; Krifka, 1986).
27
A predicate like push a cart has cumulative reference because it denotes a non-delimited
(temporally or otherwise) set of eventualities that are pushings of a cart. The sum of
any two such eventualities would still fall under the denotation of push a cart. Lexically
specified stative predicates have the cumulativity property. Because live in Paris and swim
in the pool are cumulative predicates, the sum of two eventualities in the denotation of
these predicates also falls under their denotation (14)-(15). On the other hand, fix a broken
computer is a non-cumulative predicate. The sum of two eventualities in its denotation may
not also fall in its denotation (16a-c).
(14) a. John lived in Paris from 1992 to 1993. (state)
b. John lived in Paris from 1993 to 1997.
c. John lived in Paris from 1992 to 1997.
(15) a. John swam in the pool from two to three in the afternoon. (activity)
b. John swam in the pool from three to four in the afternoon.
c. John swam in the pool from two to four in the afternoon.
(16) a. John fixed a broken computer from two to three in the afternoon. (event)
b. John fixed a broken computer from three to four in the afternoon.
c. ;John fixed a broken computer from two to four in the afternoon.
How do progressive and habitual/generic predicates pattern with respect to cumulativity? These seem to pattern exactly like lexically specified stative predicates, although they
are based on eventive predicates. The sum of two eventualities in the denotation of the
progressive predicate was fixing a broken computer also falls in its denotation (17a-c). Similarly, the sum of two eventualities in the denotation of the habitual predicate fixed broken
computers also falls in the denotation of that predicate (18a-c).
(17) a. John was fixing a broken computer from two to three in the afternoon. (progressive)
b. John was fixing a broken computer from three to four in the afternoon.
c. John was fixing a broken computer from two to four in the afternoon.
(18) a. John fixed broken computers from 1992 to 1993. (habitual)

b. John fixed broken computers from 1993 to 1997.
28
c. John fixed broken computers from 1992 to 1997.

These facts show that lexically specified stative predicates, progressive predicates, and
habitual/generic predicates all pattern together with respect to cumulativity.
In 2.3.1, homogeneity was taken to be a term equivalent to the subinterval property
or divisiveness. On a different characterization, the class of homogeneous predicates, corresponding to atelic predicates in the domain of eventualities, is taken to be the class of
predicates with cumulative and divisive reference (Moltmann, 1991; Filip, 2003). The cumulativity and divisiveness definitions are the same as in (13) and (11).
(19)
HOMe (P) DIVe (P) CUM(Pe )

CUM(Pe ) e,e Ue [P(e) P(e ) P(ee )] e,e [P(e) P(e ) e=e ]
DIV(Pe ) e,e Ue [P(e) e <e P(e )] ee [(P(e) e <e)]]
On this definition of homogeneity, lexical statives, progressive predicates, and habitual/generic predicates are all homogeneous predicates since they have both divisive and
cumulative reference. In the next sections, I will examine properties relating to temporal
interpretation where these three types of predicates also pattern identically.
2.3.4
Interpretation in narrative discourse
The literature on temporal interpretation in narrative discourse and the temporal properties
of eventive and stative predicates has shown that that they pattern distinctly with respect
to topical intervals, such as those introduced by prior sentences. The fact that progressive
and habitual/generic predicates behave like lexical stative predicates with respect to their
temporal interpretation is yet another diagnostic that they have similar temporal structure.
The facts are as follows: in narratives with a simple linear structure and with all clauses
in the simple past tense (in English), event sentences tend to advance the reference time
(from the reference time introduced by the prior clause), while state sentences typically
retain the reference time of the last-mentioned event (Kamp & Rohrer 1983, Hinrichs 1986,
Partee 1984, Dowty 1986). This is exemplified by two stretches of narrative from Partee
(1984:253) and Hinrichs (1981:66) respectively. The italicized e and s are labels for the
aspectual status of the eventualities described by the clauses before them. The first three
clauses in (20a) are eventive and move the action forward in time, while the next clause
describes a state and describes an eventuality that overlaps with the reference time introduced by the previous clause. Hinrichs has noted, as seen from (20b), that states need not
always be interpreted as overlapping the time in which the previous event is instantiated.
29
The state, it was pitch dark, comes about as a result of switching the light off and cannot
hold during the temporal interval over which the event is instantiated.
(20) a. John got up (e), went to the window (e), and raised the blind (e). It was light out
(s). He pulled the blind down (e), and went back to bed (e). He wasnt ready to
face the day (s). He was too depressed (s).
b. Jameson entered the room (e), shut the door carefully (e), and switched off the
light (e). It was pitch dark around him (s), because the Venetian blinds were closed
(s).
Hinrichs proposes that (past-tense) sentences describing events and states pattern as
follows: event sentences describe eventualities which occur within a current reference time,
which subsequently causes the reference time to be shifted forward to an interval that follows
the interval of the prior event. State sentences describe eventualities (states and processes)
that include the current reference time, but need not overlap with the reference time of
the prior-mentioned event. Thus events and states are temporally located differently with
respect to the topic interval or reference time.4
(21) a. E R
b. S R
The stative predicates in (20a-b) do not involve verbal stative predicates. Consider the
following example which illustrates that lexical stative predicates receive an identical interpretation in narrative discourse. In (22), the first two sentences contain eventive predicates
and are interpreted as describing events taking place at consecutive intervals. The third
sentence, on the other hand, is understood as describing a state that overlaps the times
of the events mentioned in the prior discourse and also the time of the event in the next
sentence. So the temporal interval of the state includes the reference time updated by the
prior discourse and may extend beyond it.
(22) John got up (e) and went to the window (e). He looked down at the crowded street
(e). He lived in the busiest quarter of the city (s). He closed the window (e).
As with divisiveness and cumulativity, progressive and habitual/generic predicates pattern similar to states in discourse. Consider the examples from Dowty (1986: 37-38) in
4
Bittner (2006) calls this generalization aspect-based temporal location (TAL), and provides crosslinguistic evidence in favor of positing it as a universal principle for the temporal location of eventive
and stative eventualities.
30
(23). The second sentence in the narrative sequence in (23a) is considered to refer to a
time that follows the time of the event described by the preceding sentence. In both (23b)
and (23c), on the other hand, the time of the eventuality described in the second sentence
is understood as overlapping with the interval corresponding to the prior event from the
first sentence. The progressive sentence in (23b) patterns similarly to the stative sentence
in (23b) as far as non-advancement of reference time is concerned.5
(23) a. John entered the presidents office (e). The president walked over to him (e).
b. John entered the presidents office (e). The president was writing a letter (?).
c. Mary entered the presidents office (e). The president sat behind a huge desk (s).
In (24a-b), the same context is retained. In (24a), the predicate receives an eventive
interpretation and is construed as describing an event that follows Johns entry. In (24b), the
generic predicate, based on the same eventive predicate receive, is construed as describing
an eventuality (a state?) that includes the updated reference time and also overlaps with
the time of the event denoted by the prior sentence.
(24) a. John entered the presidents office (e). The president received him warmly (e).
b. John entered the presidents office (e). The president received his visitors only at
this hour (?).
To sum up, this section shows that lexically specified stative predicates, progressive
predicates, and habitual/generic predicates that are based on eventive predicates are all
sequenced in a similar way with respect to the surrounding eventive sentences in discourse.
Specifically, all three types of predicates are construed as including the updated reference
time from the previous eventive sentence and extending beyond this time.
2.3.5
Time-span adverbials
One classic diagnostic that distinguishes between eventive and stative predicates is the for
an hour/in an hour adverbial test. The basic observation is that lexical stative predicates
are compatible with for x time adverbials, while event predicates occur very marginally
with for-based adverbial prepositional phrases. Event predicates take in x time adverbials
naturally, while lexical stative predicates do not occur with in-based adverbials. In (25)(26), the stative predicates live and swim are compatible with for, but not with in. On the
5
The question marks in (23b) and later in (24b) indicate that I have not yet established that progressive
and habitual predicates denote states. It is difficult to make such a claim before it is determined how
stativity is to be defined.
31
other hand, the event predicate build a model airplane in (26) occurs with in and is not
felicitous with the for adverbial.
(25) a. John lived in Paris for a year. (state)
b. *John lived in Paris in a year.
(26) a. John swam for an hour. (activity)

b. *John swam in an hour.
(27) a. John built the model airplane in an hour. (event)

b. *John built the model airplane for an hour.
Progressive and habitual/generic predicates pattern exactly like the lexically specified
stative predicates in this respect as well. Both classes of predicates are compatible with for
x time adverbials and not good with in x time adverbials.
(28) a. John was building the model airplane for an hour. (progressive)
b. *John was building the model airplane in an hour.6
(29) a. John built model airplanes for several years. (habitual)

b. *John built model airplanes in several years.
2.3.6
Punctual temporal adverbials
Eventive and lexically specified stative predicates also pattern differently respect to certain
punctual temporal location adverbials such as when adverbials. The eventualities described
by eventive predicates are construed as following the temporal location specified by these
adverbials (when they introduce events), whereas those described by the stative predicates
are construed as extending beyond this temporal location.7 In the examples from (30) to
6
This sentence is okay if the progressive applies to the predicate after the temporal adverbial has applied,
but on the reverse scope, which is the crucial one here, the sentence is bad.
7
This is a simplification. The contribution of when adverbials with eventive predicates is far more complex
and also involves causality and other facts (see e.g. Moens and Steedman, 1987). The point is however, that
eventive predicates may never be interpreted as including and extending beyond the time introduced by the
when adverbials while stative predicates are always interpreted that way. Further, the stative-like construal
is harder for activity predicates, which I have been treating as stative until now (see 31). Activity predicates
tend to pattern like event predicates in their interpretation with a punctual when adverbial or they require
modification by the progressive.
32
(32), the type of predicate in the temporal clause is kept constant (eventive) while the
main clause predicate type varies. The interpretations are different (but consistent with the
generalization) when temporal clauses are based on stative predicates. In the sentence with
a lexically specified stative predicate in (30), the time introduced by the when adverbial
(the reference time) is understood as being included in the time at which the predicate
live in Paris is instantiated. In (31) and (32), the most natural interpretation is where
the reference time of the eventuality described in the main clause is located after the time
introduced by the when adverbial.
(30) a. John lived in Paris when Mary saw him last. (state)
b. John lived in Paris before Mary saw him last, during that time, and possibly
continued to live there after that time.
(31) a. John swam in the pool when Mary arrived. (activity)

b. John swam in the pool after Mary arrived.
(32) a. John built the model airplane when Mary arrived. (event)
b. John built the model airplane after Mary arrived.
Again, progressive and habitual predicates pattern with lexical stative predicates in
licensing an inclusion inference the time introduced by the when adverbial is construed
as being included in the time at which the progressive or habitual predicate is instantiated.
In (33), the time of Marys arrival is included in the time over which the progressive predicate
was building a model airplane holds. Similarly, in (34), the time of Marys seeing John is
included in the time during which John was engaged in (as employment or hobby) building
model airplanes.
(33) a. John was building the model airplane when Mary arrived. (progressive)
b. John was building the model airplane before Mary arrived, during that time,
and possibly continued to build it after that time.
(34) a. John built model airplanes when Mary saw him last. (habitual)
b. John built model airplanes before Mary saw him last, during that time, and
possibly continued to build them after that time.
2.4. PREDICATION OVER EVENTUALITIES
2.3.7
33
Summary
The main goal of this section was to show that lexical stative predicates, progressive predicates, and habitual/generic predicates pattern in the same way with respect to some predicate properties, viz. divisiveness and cumulativity, and with respect to the way in which
they are temporally located by discourse and temporal adverbials. One inference that can
be derived from the facts in 2.3 is that progressive and habitual predicates denote properties of states just like lexically specified stative predicates. In other words, all three classes
of predicates are stative. This inference is hardly novel or original and forms the basis of
several analyses of the progressive and the imperfective aspects that I will present in the
next section.
2.4
Predication over eventualities
If progressive and habitual/generic predicates are stative like the lexically specified stative
predicates, then we have a puzzle. How do progressive and habitual generic predicates
become stative? The crucial difference between lexical statives and progressive and habitual/generic predicates is that the latter are based on an eventive predicate. So there must
be some operation that changes the eventuality type of the eventive predicate and derives
a stative predicate an operation performed by a stativizing operator.
The progressive has been analyzed as a stativizing operator that derives in-progress
stative predicates from base eventive predicates in several analyses of the progressive (De
Swart, 1998; Kamp & Rohrer, 1983; Moens & Steedman 1987, 1988; Parsons, 1990; Vlach,
1981, etc.). I will consider two of these analyses Parsons (1990) and De Swart (1998).
2.4.1
Parsons 1990
The analysis in Parsons (1990) explicitly invokes the in-progress state uniquely associated
with the event denoted by a predicate. An important aspect of the analysis of the progressive
proposed by Parsons (1989, 1990) is that he dissociates the truth of progressive sentences
from the truth of their non-progressive counterparts. This is achieved by positing that
uninflected predicates denote both culminated and non-culminated eventualities. A verb
such as cross is true of all crossings independently of whether they culminate. (Parsons
1990: 170). According to Parsons, changing an event predicate to the progressive form
requires a corresponding semantic change that the predicate be treated as a stative
34
predicate.8 This is equivalent to saying that the progressive morphology is a stativizing

operator as far as eventive predicates are concerned. Because the progressive sentence is
aspectually stative, it truth-conditionally requires the eventuality denoted by the predicate
to hold, but not necessarily culminate. Further, Parsons proposes that for every event
that is in progress, there exists a uniquely associated state, the in-progress state, which
holds as long as the event is in progress. Parsons analysis is illustrated in (35) and (36)
through his examples. The representation for the eventive non-progressive sentence in (35a)
is given in (35b). The culmination inference for this sentence comes from that part of the
representation (bold-faced) that specifies how the eventuality is instantiated within the
temporal interval t.
(35) a. Agatha crossed the street.
b. ( t) [t<now & ( e)[crossing(e) & Subject(e, Agatha) & Object(e, the street) &
Cul(e,t)]]
The progressive morphology in (36a) introduces the progressive operator that changes
the eventive predicate into a stative one and specifies that the denoted state holds at
an existentially quantified time t. It further restricts the state to an in-progress state
corresponding to the associated event, but the notion of an in-progress state is not defined.
(36) a. Agatha was crossing the street.
b. ( t) [t<now & ( e)[crossing(e) & Subject(e, Agatha) & Object(e, the street) &
Hold(In-Prog(e,t))]]
The stativizing progressive operator thus yields a stative predicate whose denotation
is in-progress states, which are presumably part of a larger ongoing eventuality. The part
relation that holds between the intervals of the stativized progressive predicate and the
base eventive predicate is not specified anywhere in the analysis and possibly comes from
the in-progress relation that is undefined in Parsons theory. Furthermore, Parsons theory
does not explain the function of the progressive operator with lexically specified stative
predicates. On his analysis, the progressive predicate derived from activity predicates is
truth-conditionally equivalent to its non-progressive simple counterpart. So according to
Parsons, the progressive sentence in (37a) and the simple past sentence in (37b) have the
same truth conditions. But despite this, they are not substitutable in context and license
distinct interpretations. There is no explanation of the contrast between the interpretations
8
Parsons has a progressive rule that treats eventive predicates differently from non-eventive predicates in
their interaction with the progressive operator (Parsons 1990: 170).
35
of progressive and non-progressive activity predicates on the account of the progressive

offered by Parsons.
(37) a. John was walking along the street when Mary ran into him.
b. John walked along the street when Mary ran into him.
Finally, Parsons theory also offers no explanation for why dynamic stative predicates
occur in the progressive. Bach (1981) points out that stativizing accounts of the progressive
do not take into consideration the distinction between dynamic (temporary) and static
stative predicates, a key distinction within stative predicates. The progressive operator is,
in fact, sensitive to this distinction (Carlson 1977), since only dynamic stative predicates
may occur with the progressive morphology. In the examples in (38a-b), the progressive is
compatible with the stative verbs lie and live only if the sentences describe eventualities
that are temporary and subject to change. A fuller discussion of the empirical data is to
be found in Dowty (1979: 174-177).
(38) a. The socks are lying on the floor.
b. I am living in California.
c. New Orleans lies/*is lying at the mouth of the Mississippi river.
d. Tarantulas live/*are living in the Amazon rain forest.
2.4.2
De Swart 1998: The progressive and aspectual coercion
De Swart (1998) also offers a stativizing analysis for the progressive operator (realized by
the progressive morphology). She adopts the basic idea from previous literature (Kamp
& Rohrer, 1983; Moens & Steedman 1987, 1988; Parsons, 1990; Vlach, 1981) that the
progressive operator stativizes predicates in a special way by yielding in-progress states.
She assumes a tripartite sorting of the domain of eventualities and the supercategory of
dynamic eventualities (the union of processes (activities) and events). The progressive
operator denotes a function from dynamic predicates to stative predicates of the in-progress
type (undefined).
(39) prog: P( processes) E (events) S (states)
De Swart further introduces the idea of aspectual coercion. Coercion is the general term
used for any kind of contextual reinterpretation of an overt structure (Pustejovsky 1995). In
the context of aspectual categories, it refers to the reinterpretation of the aspectual type of
an uninflected predicate to suit the requirements of an aspectual operator that takes inputs
36
only of a given type. The most clearcut examples of aspectual reinterpretation arise when an
eventuality description does not meet the input requirements of an aspectual operator, and
we get an adjustment, a coerced interpretation of the input, which repairs the mismatch.
De Swart uses invisible coercion operators to account for the use of progressive morphology
with dynamic stative predicates.
On her theory, stative predicates, being non-dynamic, cannot be the input to the progressive operator which is restricted to dynamic predicates (39). The fact that the progressive
does occur with stative predicates (as in (38)) is attributed to a covert coercion operator
(Csd ) that maps stative predicates onto their dynamic counterparts, or, in other words,
dynamicizes a stative predicate. This allows the stative predicate to be the input to the
progressive operator; however, the covert coercion operator adds the additional semantic
entailment that the eventuality description is dynamic or subject to change. The progressive
of a stative predicate, thus denotes a state derived from an underlyingly dynamic eventuality
description, and is therefore, distinct semantically from its non-progressive counterpart.
De Swarts account of the progressive captures a larger dataset by taking into consideration dynamic stative predicates in the progressive. However, it still leaves unexplained
what stativization of dynamic predicates actually means. Specifically, how is the truth of
the dynamic predicate related to the truth of its progressive counterpart? Before looking
at the tradition in which this question has been addressed, I will briefly discuss how the
imperfective operators have been conceptualized on the stativizing perspective.
2.4.3
Analyses of the imperfective operator
In languages with a distinct imperfective morphology (e.g. the French Imparfait or the Russian Imperfective), the imperfective-marked form of the verb occurs with lexically specified
stative predicates, progressive predicates, as well as habitual/generic predicates. This suggests that if there is an imperfective operator, realized by such morphology, it should be able
to have a unified semantics that can derive stative progressive and habitual/generic predicates from underlying eventive predicates as well as encode the stativity of lexically specified
stative predicates. What kind of an operator can perform the dual functions of modifying
the aspectual class of some predicates in its domain and reflecting the base eventuality type
for other predicates in its domain? Further, the function of aspectual class modification
involves two subfunctions deriving progressive predicates from eventive predicates and
deriving habitual/generic predicates from the same class of predicates. In a nutshell, if the
imperfective morphology realizes the imperfective operator, then we must assume that the
imperfective operator performs the three disjoint operations listed in (40).
37
(40) a. Derives progressive stative predicates from eventive predicates.

b. Derives habitual/generic stative predicates from eventive predicates.
c. Encodes the stativity of lexically specified stative predicates.
This makes the task of determining the semantic contribution of the imperfective operator (corresponding to imperfective morphology in languages) very complex. An alternative
line of thinking has been very prominent in research on imperfective aspect and its language
specific instantiations. On this view, the imperfective morphology only encodes states. In
other words, it is a type-sensitive operator (De Swart 1998, Michaelis 2004). Unlike the
progressive, which is a type-shifting operator that modifies the aspectual class of its input,
at least some imperfective operators, might only reflect or flag the aspectual class of their
input.
Let us see how exactly the imperfective as a type-sensitive operator works through De
Swarts account of the French Imparfait. Type-sensitive operators differ from type-shifting
operators in that they do not change the aspectual class of the predicate they apply to,
but, on the other hand, they are sensitive to the aspectual class of the input predicate.
The French Imparfait is a type-sensitive past tense operator that may apply only to stative
(in De Swarts terms, homogeneous) predicates. This operator applies straightforwardly to
stative predicates and yields a predicate that refers to states located in the past. However,
it also appears with base eventive predicates as in the examples in (41a-b). The predicate
get my groceries is eventive and may not directly form the input to the French Imparfait,
which is type-sensitive and only takes stative predicates as its input. However, the sentences
in (41a-b) are grammatical and license either the progressive or the habitual interpretation.
How is this effected?
(41) a. Un jour, je faisais
mes courses chez lepicier
quand je
One day I get-impf.pst my groceries at the grocery store when I

recontrai
Jean
run-perf.pst into Jean.

One day, I was getting my groceries at the grocery store, when I ran into Jean.
b. A cette epoque-l`a, je faisais
In those days,
me courses
chez lepicier
du coin
I get-impf.pst my groceries at the grocery store local
In those days, I used to get my groceries at the local grocery store.

De Swart proposes that the type-sensitive Imparfait presupposes that its input is a
stative predicate. Its application to an eventive predicate triggers a coercion operator Ceh
38
(which coerces eventive predicates (e) into homogeneous (stative) predicates (h)). The
coercion operator resolves the mismatch between the required input type for the Imparfait
and the aspectual class of the eventive predicate. It reinterprets the eventive predicate as
a stative predicate resulting in the contextually dependent progressive or habitual/generic
interpretation for the sentence.
The empirical observation that the Imparfait can occur with lexically specified stative
predicates, progressive predicates, and habitual/generic predicates is explained by a division
of labor between the overt type-sensitive imperfective operator (the Imparfait morphology)
and the covert invisible coercion operators that bridge the mismatch between actual input
and presupposed input of the type-sensitive operator. The stativizing function, which, in
the case of the progressive operator is associated with overt progressive morphology, is
associated with covert coercion operators for the Imparfait.
To my knowledge, De Swarts is the most explicit analysis of an imperfective aspectual
form that attempts to account for the three distinct interpretations that such markers typically license the lexical stative, the progressive, and the habitual/generic interpretation.
Nonetheless, this account is not entirely satsfactory.
First, the morphologically instantiated imperfective operator performs a rather limited
function the real work of deriving stative predicates from eventive ones is done by the
covert coercion operators that are never expected to surface in languages as morphological
material. A more satisfactory account would be one in which the imperfective operator
could perform all the three functions listed in (40) with some unifying semantic property.
Second, as with the progressive operator, it is still not clear how exactly the stativizing
coercion operators do their work. How is an eventive predicate reinterpreted as a stative
predicate? To make the point again, what is the temporal relation between the intervals
corresponding to the eventive eventuality in the denotation of the input predicate and the
stative eventuality in the output predicate? This question is not addressed in De Swarts
account, and more generally, it is not addressed in accounts of aspectual operators as
functions from predicates of eventualities of a particular type to predicates of eventualities
of a different type.
In the next chapter, I develop a semantic representation for the imperfective operator
that can overcome these problems by specifying the semantic content of stativizing operations and by attempting to derive the different stative interpretations from a single type
of stativizing operation. The next section 2.5 describes interval-based analyses of the
progressive that are closer in spirit to the solution that I describe in 3.
2.5. PREDICATION OVER TIMES
2.5
39
Predication over times
In the previous section, I examined an approach to aspectual modification in which morphological aspect markers are functions that yield predicates of eventualities of a different
aspectual class from the aspectual class of the input predicate. Another possible way of
looking at aspectual morphology is as instantiating functions that yield predicates over
times. Aspectual operators (instantiated by aspectual morphology) are functions that relate an interval in which a predicate is instantiated to some other temporally related interval
(the contextually salient interval or reference time.)
An intuitive way of thinking about the meaning of the progressive predicate is that it
has a partitive meaning. It seems to denote part of a larger interval at which the base
predicate is instantiated, or on the event semantic view, it denotes an eventuality that is
part of the larger eventuality. This intuition has been formalized in several accounts of the
progressive aspect, beginning with Bennett & Partee (1972).9 Their formulation is given in
(42a) and more formally represented (as a predicate of times rather than a proposition) in
(42b) (where N F means is a non-final subinterval of).
(42) a. [prog] is true at interval I iff there exists an interval I such that I I , I is not
a final subinterval of I , and is true at I .
b. [[prog]] = i i [ i nf i (i )]
Dowty (1979) points out that this proposal for the meaning of the progressive fails in
accounting for the imperfective paradox. Accomplishment predicates in the progressive do
not license an inference about the existence of a larger interval in which the accomplishment predicate is instantiated. The imperfective paradox has generated a large amount of
literature concerning the semantics of the progressive. The correct account of this inference relation lies in factoring in the modal properties of the progressive as first proposed
in (Dowty, 1979) and in later literature (notably Landman (1990) and Portner (1996)).10
Here, I am restricting myself to the temporal (aspectual) properties of the progressive in
order to answer the larger question of how the progressive and imperfective operators might
be connected. To keep the picture simple, I am taking an extensional perspective and from
9
See Dowty (1979: 145) for a brief comparison with earlier theories of the contribution of the progressive
(Jespersen, 1973; Scheffer, 1975).
10
As Portner notes, the fact that an aspectual operator such as the progressive has a modal component to
its meaning opens up a way to fruitfully inquire into the possible relations between aspect and modality. Imperfective morphology in several languages licenses generic interpretation. Genericity has been best analyzed
in modal terms. But the connections between imperfective aspect markers and their modal semantics has
not been explored in detail. In passing, I want to note that the fact that both progressive and imperfective
aspects license modal interpretations is another reason for positing a unified account for both categories.
40
this perspective, Bennett & Partees analysis of the progressive (42a) is adequate to capture
the temporal relation between the progressive predicate and the base predicate. Of course,
factoring out worlds does not mean that I do not consider them crucial for a complete
account of the interpretation of the progressive (and imperfective) operators.
Unlike the interval semantic analysis in (42), the event-based analyses of the progressive
that we saw in 2.4 do not explicitly appeal to the part relation between the in-progress
state and the eventuality denoted by the base predicate.11 A more common way of introducing eventualities into semantic representations of aspectual operators is through the
times at which they are true. On this approach, the input to an aspectual operator is a
predicate of eventualities while the output is a predicate of times.12 A standard way of
representing aspectual operators is via (45). Aspectual operators give back a predicate of
times that is related in some way (REL) to the time in which an eventuality instantiates a
predicate ( (e)). For instance, the relation could be one of temporal precedence, overlap,
or inclusion.
(45) [[ASP]] = Pi e[P(e) REL( (e), i)]
A widespread, but not necessary, interpretation of this relation between the runtime
of eventualities and the times denoted by aspectually modified predicates is in terms of
viewpoint operators (Smith 1991, Depraetere 1995). The idea is that aspectual operators
perform a perspectival function and introduce a viewpoint on the eventualities denoted by
the base predicate. This view of aspectual operators as offering a perspective on eventualities
is interesting but does not really provide a more explanatory account of these operators than
interval based analyses that do not assume it (e.g. Bennett & Partee 1972). It seems to
me more important to be able to provide a correct characterization of how the intervals
in the denotation of progressive/imperfective predicates relate to the eventualities in the
denotation of the base predicate.
11
Krifka (1992: 47) does propose an explicit semantic analysis that ties together the semantics of partitive
case and progressive aspect. He proposes that the progressive is a partitive modifier in the eventuality
domain. (43a) gives the general partitive modifier and its eventuality-based version PROG is in (43b).
(43) a. PART = Px x [P(x) x x ]
b. PROG = Pe e[P(e) e e]
Filip (1999) offers a similar semantics for the Czech imperfective operator:
(44) [IMPERFECTIVE ] relates eventualities denoted by to their parts, where the notion of part is
understood in the sense of the weak ordering relation .
12
This is almost identical to an interval semantic perspective on the contribution of aspectual operators.
The only difference is that in pre-event semantic period, verbs and uninflected eventuality descriptions based
on verbs were treated as properties of times.
41
In the next section, I look at what representation has been proposed for the imperfective operator and examine whether it does, in fact, offer an explanation for the three
types of predicates it is associated with the lexical stative, the progressive, and the
habitual/generic predicates.
2.5.1
The imperfective operator
If we treat aspectual operators as functions from predicates of eventualities to predicates of

times, then the progressive and the imperfective operators yield temporal predicates that
are related in specific ways to the eventualities denoted by the base predicate. It has been
proposed that the imperfective and the progressive operators both denote predicates of
intervals that are subparts of the larger eventuality. Consider a standard representation of
the imperfective (unbounded) operator.13
(46) [[unbounded]] = Pi e[P(e) (e) i]
The basic property of the unbounded operator (read progressive/imperfective) is that it
yields a set of times that are properly included in the time of the eventuality. Smith (1991:
111) offers an informal temporal schema for the imperfective aspect that is very similar.
She further claims that the distinction between the progressive and the imperfective is only
in the domain of their application. The progressive operator applies only to events (nonstative situations) while the imperfective operator applies to all eventuality types (events
and states). This representation of the progressive/imperfective operators ultimately derives
from the Bennett & Partee (1972) analysis of the progressive.
Does this representation for the imperfective operator account for its lexical stative,
progressive, and habitual/generic uses? (46) yields at least the set of intervals that (42)
does, and so it does account for the progressive uses of the imperfective operator.14 Lexical
statives are captured straightforwardly; if a lexical stative predicate holds of an eventuality,
it also holds of parts of this eventuality. In the next section, I discuss how the representation
of the imperfective operator fares with accounting for habitual/generic predicates.
13
The particular formulation in (46) is from Pancheva (2003) but similar representations for the imperfective operator is found in Kratzer (1998), Bohnemeyer & Swift (2004) and others with variations. The
similarity crucial here is that between the eventuality time and the time denoted by the imperfective-marked
predicate.
14
Note that this representation does not include the non-final subinterval clause of the Bennett & Partee
analysis, which is actually required to get the meaning of the progressive use of the imperfective. So it also
yields the wrong set of intervals if it is used as a representation of the progressive operator.
42
2.5.2
The imperfective operator and habitual/generic predicates
The real problem is to explain how the imperfective operator can yield predicates with a
habitual/generic interpretation. As far as I know, there has been no explicit proposal that
shows how the imperfective operator applies to a predicate of eventualities and returns a
predicate of times in which the eventuality is instantiated habitually or generally (whatever
that means). One intuitive answer is offered by Bohnemeyer (2002) in his discussion of
the Yukatek Mayan Imperfective marker. Bohnemeyer suggests that a habitual predicate
denotes a composite, but single unbounded situation. The Imperfective marker applies to
this composite multi-event eventuality and yields a time that is a subinterval of this plural
eventuality. Bohnemeyers representation for the habitual interpretation of the Imperfective
in Yukatek Mayan is given in (47). To simplify matters, I indicate the eventuality with an
E and the time that the imperfective marker yields (the reference time) by R. E is an
eventuality composed of a predicate instantiated multiply within a given interval, which
is indicated by the different lines going from the E to points on the timeline. Each of
these points represent an instantiation of the predicate. The eventuality interval ( (e))
corresponds to this large interval. The imperfective marker yields a subinterval of this
larger interval.
Scope of Assertion of the Imperfective Marker
(47)
Habitual interpretation of the Yucatec Mayan Imperfective (Bohnemeyer, 2002)

This proposal implicitly assumes that a predicate to which the imperfective operator
applies denotes composite, multi-event eventualities. But how is this predicate derived from
a base predicate that only denotes single events? The habitual/generic predicate has to be
related in some way to a base eventive predicate. What Bohnemeyers analysis does not
clarify is how we get from one to the other. A possible option would be to posit a covert
generic/habitual state forming GEN-like operator that first derives the habitual/generic
43
predicate from a base eventive predicate, so that the input to the imperfective operator has
the correct semantics and denotes a predicate of multi-event eventualities. But this is not
part of Bohnemeyers analysis, nor of any available analysis of the imperfective operator,
to my knowledge.15
Let us try and extend the multi-event eventuality hypothesis further, abstracting away
from language-specific morphology. Suppose we posit a covert GEN-like operator that
applies to an eventive predicate and yields a multi-eventuality stative predicate. The
imperfective operator applies to this and returns a predicate of times that is a subinterval
of the runtime of this composite eventuality. The stativizing function is carried out by the
covert GEN operator in this case. The order of application is given in (48)).
(48) [IMPF[GEN[]]]
Suppose we apply GEN to an eventive predicate like (John) bake a cake (50a). We
obtain a multi-event eventuality which says that there are multiple instantiations of an
eventuality of type john bake a cake in it (50b).16
(49) a. [GEN[John bake a cake]]
b. e e [john-bake-a-cake(e ) MULT-INST(e ,e)]
The imperfective operator applies to this multi-eventuality predicate and yields a subinterval of the runtime of the eventuality it denotes.
(50) a. IMPF[GEN[John bake a cake]]
b. i ee [john-bake-a-cake(e ) MULT-INST(e ,e) (e) i]
There are at least two obvious problems that I can see with taking this direction in the
analysis of the imperfective operator .
First, GEN is standardly taken to be a covert quantificational adverbial operator similar
to overt adverbs like always, never, rarely, etc. which quantify over eventualities and is in
15
This and the following discussion should not be taken as a criticism of Bohnemeyers particular analysis
but rather an attempt to think through how available representations for the imperfective operator really
deal with the habitual/generic interpretation that constitutes one core interpretation of an imperfective
aspect marker crosslinguistically. I choose Bohnemeyers visual representation as the starting point because
it explicates some of the assumptions that underlie the explanation for why imperfective markers license
habitual/generic interpretations specifically the assumption that the input predicate to the imperfective
operator is not a base eventive predicate, but rather a derived, multi-event eventuality.
16
This is only a sketch of a possible analysis which is why I am not explicating the precise contribution
of the GEN operator. Moreover, the semantics I have for the GEN here bears little resemblance to the
semantics that has been proposed for GEN.
44
complementary distribution with them. If GEN applies to a predicate of eventualities before

the imperfective operator, we should expect the resulting imperfective-marked predicate to
be incompatible with other overt quantificational adverbials. But as far as I know, this
expectation is not borne out in many languages with imperfective morphology.17 Overt
quantificational adverbials frequently occur with imperfective-marked sentences, suggesting that the GEN operator could not be part of the meaning of the imperfective-marked
predicate. Specifically, the adverbs rarely, never, and sometime are incompatible with the
roughly formulated meaning we have for GEN, but may still occur with the imperfective
predicate in languages with imperfective morphology. The English sentences with the IMPF
tag stand for the corresponding overtly marked imperfective sentences in languages which
do have an imperfective marker.
(51) a. John rarely bakes-IMPF a cake.
b. John never bakes-IMPF a cake.
c. John sometimes bakes-IMPF a cake.
The examples in (52) are from a language with overt imperfective morphology Hindi.
(52) a. nisa
mujh-e
kabhi-kabhi khat
N.nom.sg I-dat.sg sometimes
likh-ti
thi
letter.nom.pl write-impf.f pst.f.sg
Nisa sometimes wrote me letters

b. nisa
mujh-e
khat
nahi likh-ti
thi
N.nom.sg I-dat.sg letter.nom.pl neg write-impf.f pst.f.sg

Nisa did not write me letters.
c. nisa
mujh-e
kabhi-kab
ar khat
likh-ti
thi
N.nom.sg I-dat.sg occasionally letter.nom.pl write-impf.f pst.f.sg

Nisa occasionally wrote me letters.
The second problem is similar and pertains to the intensional uses of imperfectivemarked habitual/generic predicates that have led to GEN being analyzed as a modal operator. In a language with imperfective morphology, the English sentence in (51) occurs with
overt imperfective markers, although the predicate is not multiply instantiated. In fact, it
need not be instantiated at all, as can be seen from the second conjunct. This is illustrated
by the imperfective morphology in the Hindi example in (53b).
17
These facts are true at least for the several Indo-Aryan languages I have looked at, Russian, and Standard
Arabic. I suspect this is a broad generalization that might have gone unnoticed because of the equation in
the typological literature of imperfective morphology with the habitual reading, which is the most salient
reading of an imperfective predicate in the absence of overt adverbials.
45
(53) a. This machine peels-IMPF potatoes, but we have never yet put one in it.
b. ye
machine
alu
chil-t
a
hai
par ajtak
this machine.nom.sg potato.nom.pl peel-impf.m pres.3.sg but until today

kis-ne
us-me
alu
nahi d.a-le
anyone-erg that-loc potato.nom.pl neg put-perf.m.pl

This machine peels potatoes, but no one has put potatoes in it until today.
From (51) and (53), it is clear that habitual/generic predicates have a wider interpretation than just the habitual one. Not all non-progressive interpretations of imperfective
morphology with episodic predicates can be explained by appealing to a multi-eventuality
predicate derived by a GEN-like operator that forms the input to the imperfective.
Summary
The discussion in 2.5.2 has shown that the assumption that the imperfective operator
applies to a derived habitual stative predicate denoting a multi-event situation does not
yield a straightforward account of the interpretations of imperfective-marked predicates.
For a more explicit account based on this assumption we need a correct formulation of this
operator and a description of the division of labor between the covert operator and the overt
imperfective operator in deriving the habitual/generic meaning for imperfective sentences.
Second, if this is the way in which imperfective sentences are to be derived, there has to be
an explanation of why GEN works differently from other quantificational adverbials that it
has been compared to.
Before I conclude, let me point out the similarities between the eventuality-based analysis of the French Imparfait in 2.4.3 and the interval based analyses described here. De
Swart treats the Imparfait as a type-sensitive operator and appeals to covert coercion operators that derive habitual/generic predicates from base eventive predicates to repair the
mismatch between the requirement of the Imparfait and the semantics of the input event
predicate. This coercion operator or covert GEN operator, as suggested here, is implicit
in the account proposed by Bohnemeyer, and indeed, in general, in what is assumed about
the imperfective operator (Klein, 1992; Smith, 1991; and others). In both cases, the semantic content of the actual stativizer is absent. The imperfective operator bears no real
load in licensing the habitual/generic interpretation. In De Swarts case, the imperfective
operator merely flags that the predicate is a derived habitual/generic stative predicate. For
Bohnemeyer, and other similar analyses, the imperfective operator only yields a predicate of
46
times that are subintervals of the interval corresponding to the eventuality denoted by habitual/generic predicates. In both cases, the intermediate step from the eventive predicate
to its corresponding derived stative predicate is a blackbox.
2.6
Conclusion
This chapter discussed aspectual classification and how the properties of the progressive and
imperfective aspectual operators correspond to the aspectual class of stative predicates.
2.2 laid out some basic ideas in the literature on aspectual classification and types of
predicates, focusing on stative predicates. Lexically specified stative predicates, progressive
predicates, and habitual/generic predicates have something in common. They all have the
subinterval (divisiveness) and cumulativity properties. Moreover, they pattern identically
with respect to their temporal interpretation in narrative discourse, and with certain types
of temporal adverbials. I proposed in 2.3 that it is due to these common properties that
the three classes of predicates are often described as stative. The crucial difference between
lexical statives on the one hand, and progressive and habitual/generic predicates on the
other is that the latter are based on eventive predicates. What is the source of stativity
in progressive and habitual/generic predicates? A plausible candidate for this source are
aspectual operators such as the progressive and the imperfective, realized by progressive
and imperfective morphology across languages.
In 2.4 and 2.5, I surveyed some representative analyses of the progressive and imperfective that attempt to account for the semantics of these operators and explain why these
predicates are stative. My survey showed that although stativity is considered to be an
important property of progressive and habitual/generic predicates, existing analyses do not
directly address the question of how stative predicates are derivable from eventive predicates. Specifically, the stativity of the progressive and the habitual/generic predicates is
stipulated in one kind of account, where some aspectual operators are treated as functions
from predicates of events to predicates of states. The other kind of account treats aspectual
operators as yielding predicates of times and relates the intervals output by these operators
to larger intervals at which an eventuality is instantiated by the subset relation.18 The
main problem that this account faces is in the characterization of habitual/generic predicates. I showed in 2.5.2 that getting the imperfective operator with the subset semantics
in (46) to license the habitual/generic interpretation requires making some assumptions
18
It is worth noting here that the subinterval property, one diagnostic of stativity, is entailed by this
representation. I will elaborate on this in Chapter 3.
2.6. CONCLUSION
47
about the predicate that constitutes the input to it. Further, these assumptions are far
from unproblematic.
The next chapter has three goals. First, I will show that the semantic similarity between
lexical stative, progressive, and habitual/generic predicates is paralleled by some morphological relations that hold between the forms that are associated with these predicates, both
synchronically and diachronically. Second, I will argue that these strong parallels support
an analysis of the progressive and imperfective operators that is characterized by three
properties:
a. A nested account, where the progressive operator is a specific version of the more
general imperfective operator.
b. A transparent account, in which the progressive/imperfective operators bear the load
of deriving stative predicates rather than covert eventuality type changing operators.
c. A stativity-driven account, where the representation guarantees, rather than stipulates, the observed stativity of the predicates output by the progressive/imperfective
operators.
Third, I will provide such an analysis of the progressive and imperfective operators.
Chapter 3
Semantics of the imperfective and

progressive
3.1
Introduction
This chapter is about the distribution and the interpretation of progressive and imperfective
morphology. In Chapter 2, I showed how lexical stative, progressive, and habitual/generic
predicates pattern identically with respect to a cluster of properties associated with stativity.
In this chapter, I introduce data that shows that there are strong morphological correlates
of this semantic similarity crosslinguistically. These correlates support the hypothesis that
the semantics of the progressive and the imperfective closely resemble each other. As seen
in 2.4 and 2.5, existing analyses of the two aspectual categories and the corresponding
operators do not provide a straightforward way of relating the two. In this chapter, I
propose an analysis of the two operators that can account for the properties of the predicates
they yield (the stativity properties/diagnostics) as well as satisfy the relatedness conditions
between their morphological exponents.
One claim of this dissertation is that the semantic contribution of aspectual operators
can be better understood if the properties of their morphological exponents are examined
from the diachronic perspective and in relation to the larger system of morphosyntactically
encoded tense/aspect categories in the language. Firstly, a close study of the relative
distribution of aspect markers available within a language can help determine the division
of labor between morphological principles (e.g. blocking) and the semantic values of aspect
markers in the structuring of aspectual systems. Moreover, consideration of variation and
change in the distribution and interpretation of aspect markers can allow for an account that
48
3.1. INTRODUCTION
49
captures both the diachronic and synchronic facts pertaining to the relation between aspect
markers. Finally, if we take morphological evidence for the relations between aspectual
categories seriously, we have to restrict the range of our theoretical explanations to those
that can denote these relations. Each of these points is further substantiated by the data
in 3.2.
As stated in Chapter 2, consideration of the semantic and morphological facts motivates
an account of the progressive and imperfective operators with these properties:
(1) a. A nested account, where the progressive operator is a specific version of the more
general imperfective operator.
b. A transparent account, in which the progressive/imperfective operators bear the
load of deriving stative predicates rather than covert eventuality type changing
operators.
c. A stativity-driven , account where the semantics guarantees, rather than stipulates,
the observed stativity of the predicates output by the progressive/imperfective
operators.
At the heart of my analysis is the idea that the progressive and the imperfective aspects
differ in the properties of the larger interval that the denoted intervals are subintervals
of. Specifically, the imperfective operator yields the set of intervals that are non-final
subintervals of a larger interval within (inst) which the predicate is instantiated, while the
progressive operator yields the set of intervals that are non-final subintervals of a larger
interval at (at) which the predicate is instantiated.
The main goal in this chapter is to demonstrate that this simple characterization has all
the properties that I list in (1) as desiderata for the progressive/imperfective account. The
organization of this chapter is as follows. In 3.2, I describe the morphological properties
that relate the progressive and imperfective aspects, pointing out how these facts motivate a
nested and stativity-driven account of the two categories. In 3.3, I argue that the semantic
contribution of the progressive is best characterizable in terms of episodicity, a property of
those predicates that are asserted to be instantiated at a specific temporal location. In 3.4,
I present my analysis of the imperfective operator as denoting a function that applies to a
predicate and yields a set of intervals that are subintervals of a larger interval within which
the predicate is instantiated. I show how the various readings of the imperfective the
50
CHAPTER 3. SEMANTICS OF THE IMPERFECTIVE AND PROGRESSIVE
progressive, the lexical stative, the habitual/generic, and the perfective-like reading can
all be accounted for with this general semantics for the imperfective. A further advantage
of this account is that it guarantees without stipulation, the stativity of the predicates that
are its output. In 3.5, I propose a semantics for the progressive operator that minimally
differs from the imperfective semantics. This representation not only accounts for the
range of readings available to the progressive operator, but also ensures that the nestedness
condition is satisfied the denotation of the progressive operator is properly included in
the denotation of the imperfective operator. In 3.6 I discuss two additional aspects of
the progressive the inceptive/terminative inferences that it licenses and the habitual
readings of the progressive morphology and show how they follow from the semantics of
the progressive operator. The habitual progressive facts also present an apparent problem
for one aspect of the approach I have been taking so far a transparent approach without
postulating covert aspect-modifying operators. This problem is taken up in 3.6.3. In 3.7,
I deal with a potential counterexample to the nestedness analysis that has been proposed:
language with morphologically realized progressive and imperfective operators but without
a blocking relation. I present a sketch of a possible explanation for why blocking might fail
to hold in these circumstances. In 3.8, I conclude.
3.2
Morphological relations
In the typological literature on aspectual categories, the progressive is treated as a subcategory of the imperfective aspect. Consider the following representation of aspectual space
from Comries classic text on aspect. The semantic domain of the imperfective aspect is
constituted by the habitual, progressive, and non-progressive continuous classes of predicates. Habitual predicates describe eventualities extending over a long period of time (1976:
28-29). The continuous category subsumes lexical stative predicates (which corresponds
to his non-progressive category) and progressive predicates.
51
3.2. MORPHOLOGICAL RELATIONS
(3) Subcategories of the Imperfective (Comrie, 1976)

aspect
perfective
imperfective
continuous
habitual
non-prog
progressive
The particular labels that Comrie employs are not as important as the subsumption
relation that characterizes the progressive and the imperfective categories in his representation. This relation is morphologically supported by three facts about the progressive and
the imperfective aspects. First, in languages which do not instantiate a distinct progressive
form, the imperfective performs the communicative function of the progressive. Second, in
several aspectual systems, progressive forms appear to block the availability of a progressive interpretation for the imperfective form in contexts where it is potentially available.
Third, the form/construction encoding the progressive aspect tends to diachronically generalize to license the interpretations typically associated with the imperfective, such as the
habitual/generic or lexical stative interpretations.
3.2.1
Languages without a distinct progressive morphology
It is a well-noted typological observation that in languages without a morphologically distinct progressive aspect, the imperfective aspect (if morphologically instantiated) realizes
the communicative function of the progressive aspect. This is one of the main motivations
for treating the progressive as a subcategory of the imperfective. Consider the examples
from three typologically diverse languages: Pawri, Standard Arabic, and Russian.
The Imperfective form in Pawri with the -tal affix may license the lexical stative, progressive, or habitual/generic interpretation, depending on overt or unspecified context.1 The
1
Pawri is one of the non-standard languages that I studied during my fieldwork in North Maharashtra,
52
form b
altalu in (4a) has the progressive interpretation (referring to a single ongoing episode
of looking in the mirror) and occurs with the adverbial evi right now. The adverbial is
optional and the progressive interpretation may be licensed without any overt material. In
(4b), the same form licenses a habitual interpretation, referring to a habit or tendency to
look in the mirror that characterizes the subject referent). The adverbial k
ayam always
is again optional. In (4c) the lexical stative verb roy live inflects for the -tal affix and the
sentence has a stative interpretation.
(4) a. chyu
(evi)
sovta-h
a
arh
a-m
b
al-tal-u
he.nom right now self-acc mirror-loc look-impf-m.sg

He is looking at himself in the mirror then (right now).
b. chyu
( kayam)
sovta-h
a arh
a-m
b
al-tal-u
he.nom right now/always self-acc mirror-loc look-impf-m.sg

He (always) looks at himself in the mirror.
c. chyi
nandurbar-am roy-tal-i
She.nom N-loc
live-impf-f.sg
She lives in Nandurbar.

The Imperfective in Modern Standard Arabic likewise may license both progressive (5a)
and habitual interpretations (5b) with non-stative base predicates, as well as occur with a
lexical stative predicate as in (5c). Examples are from Ryding (2005:442).
(5) a. ya-jlisu
c alaa
l-maqc ad-i
sit-impf.3.m.sg on the seat

He is sitting on the seat.
b. ya-c malu
fii l-c idaarat-i
work-impf.3.m.sg in the administration

He works in the administration.
c. ta-xtalifu
c an
ghayr-i-haa
differ-impf.3.f.sg from others

She differs from others.
India. The data and judgements are based on fieldwork with native speakers of M
al. village in Nandurbar
district.
53
The Russian Imperfective patterns similarly in licensing progressive, habitual/generic

and stative interpretations. In (6a), the imperfective form pisal wrote refers to an ongoing
activity of letter writing in the past, while in (6b), the same form refers to a habitual
situation. In (6c), the lexical stative verb live occurs in the imperfective form.
(6) a. Vanja
pisa-l
pisma
kogda pojavilas
Nina
Vanja.nom write-impf.pst.m letter.acc.pl when appear.perf.pst.f Nina.nom

Vanya was writing letters when Nina appeared.
b. Vanja
pisa-l
pisma
materi
po voskresenjam
Vanja.nom write-impf.pst.m letter.acc.pl mother.dat on Sunday.dat.pl

Vanya used to write a letter to his mother on Sundays.
c. Vanja
zhi-l
vo Vladivostok-e
Vanja.nom live-impf.pst.m in V-loc

Vanya lived in Vladivostok.
3.2.2
Languages that realize imperfective and progressive aspect
In contrast to languages without a progressive form, in languages which do realize both the
progressive and the imperfective aspects, the imperfective form often does not license the
progressive interpretation.2 Consider the examples from Hindi in (7).
(7) a. nisa
mujh-e khat
likh rah-i
thi
N.nom I-dat letter.nom write prog-f pst.f.sg

Nisa was writing me a letter.
b. nisa
mujh-e
khat
likh-ti
thi
N.nom.sg I-dat.sg letter.nom.sg write-impf.f pst.f.sg

Nisa (habitually/regularly) wrote me a letter.
c. purane jamane-ke log
ancient age-gen
patthar-ke hathiyar ban

a-te
people.nom.pl stone-gen weapons make-impf.m.pl
the
pst.m.pl
In ancient times, people made weapons out of stone.
2
Some cases in which this generalization does not hold are discussed in 3.7, where I discuss how blocking
between aspectual categories might be understood.
54
d. nisa
bambai-me
rah-ti
thi
N.nom.sg Bombay-loc live-impf.f pst.f.sg

Nisa lived in Bombay.
Example (7a) illustrates the use of the past tense progressive construction (verb+rah),
while (7b) is a past tense sentence in the imperfective aspect. (7a) describes a single
unculminated eventuality of letter-writing and may not have the habitual or characterizing
interpretation. (7b), on the other hand, may only license a non-progressive interpretation
- e.g. the habitual/generic interpretations in (7b) and (7c), and the stative one in (7d).
Further, the imperfective form in (7b-d) never licenses the progressive interpretation. For
instance, (7b) cannot be uttered to refer to a single ongoing letter-writing episode.
Swahili has two distinct markers for the imperfective aspect the progressive marker
na- and an imperfective marker, hu- that appear as prefixes on verbs (Ashton, 1944; Palome,
1967, Lindfors 2003).3 na- and hu- are in complementary distribution and occur in the same
slot in simple declarative sentences. According to Lindfors, na- licenses only a progressive
interpretation and does not allow for habitual/generic reference. Thus, the example in (8a)
cannot be interpreted as referring to a habitual activity. In contrast, hu- marks imperfective
aspect and licenses only habitual/generic interpretations and not a progressive interpretation.4 (8b) refers to a characteristic property of the subject referent of habitually coming to
a contextually specified location. (8c) is a question about a characteristic property of the
kind Ng-ombe cow, about the food that members instantiating this kind generally eat.
(8) a. wa-toto
wa-na-chez-a
ki-wanja-ni
npx2-child nc2-prog-play-ind npx7-plot-loc

Children are playing on the plot. (Ashton 1944: 250)
b. yeye hu-j-a
he
hapa
hab-come-ind here
He has the habit of coming/usually comes here. (Lindfors, 2003:35)

c. Ng-ombe
hu-l-a
chakula gani
npx10-cow hab-eat-ind food
gani
What food do cows eat (as their staple food)? (Ashton 1944:38 (cited in Lindfors
2003))
3
The examples are taken from Lindfors (2003) and I have used her glosses. The Swahili-specific glossing
abbreviations are: npx = Nominal prefix; nc= Noun class; ind = Indicative; stat = Stative.
4
Lindfors calls hu- a habitual marker (hab) and claims that it does not extend to generic reference.
However, some of her examples suggest that the hu- prefix on verbs could allow for generic interpretation,
as with the generic NP Ng-ombe cows in (8c).
55
The Hindi and Swahili data show that the distribution of imperfective markers in languages with a distinct progressive marker is markedly different from languages which have
a single imperfective marker (Pawri, Arabic, and Russian). Specifically, it appears that the
imperfective in such languages may not license the progressive interpretation like it does in
Pawri or Arabic.
There are two possible interpretations of this variation in the imperfective distribution across the two types of languages. First, it might mean that the imperfective is a
crosslinguistically variable category that, in some cases, is compatible with progressive interpretation, and in other cases, not. Second, it might mean that the semantic contribution
of the imperfective and the range of its interpretations is crosslinguistically uniform, but
its distribution is determined by the presence or absence of an overtly realized progressive
category. The latter hypothesis makes a stronger claim about the imperfective but crucially
relies on the notion of blocking between semantic categories with overlapping domains. I
will discuss this hypothesis and how it fares against crosslinguistic data in 3.7.
3.2.3
The diachronic path from progressive to imperfective
The grammaticalization literature on the sources and evolution of the morphology for progressive and imperfective aspects notes yet another crosslinguistically robust generalization
in the diachrony of such markers. Morphology originally restricted to progressive interpretation semantically generalizes to license the interpretations typically associated with the
imperfective, such as the stative or habitual/generic interpretations. This generalization
has been attested for the progressive markers in several languages such as Turkish, Scots
Gaelic, Tigre, Yoruba (Comrie 1976), and Maa (Heine 1990). Here, I will illustrate the
cases of Turkish, Tigre, and Old and Modern Gujarati (the only one among these three
languages for which reliable historical data is available).
Turkish
Comrie (1976) and Dahl (1985) report that the distribution of the progressive suffix (I)yor) in Turkish exemplifies an ongoing progressive-to-imperfective change. Based on
their report and data from Turkish grammars, the situation appears to be as follows: The
Turkish morpheme -Ir (labeled Aorist), until recently, used to license a range of imperfective
interpretations such as the habitual-generic and was used in lexical stative, performative
and reportive contexts (Johanson 1971). The Turkish Progressive -(I)yor (9a), on the other
hand, was restricted to episodic, ongoing situations as is described even in some recent
grammars (e.g. Kornfilt 1997:339-340). This clear-cut distribution is illustrated in (9a-b).
56
The examples are from G

oksel and Kerslake (2005:331). In (9a), the verb form with -(I)yor
refers to an ongoing working eventuality, while in (9b), the -ir inflected verb refers to a
characteristic pattern of working a habitual interpretation.
calis-iyor-du-m.
(9) a. saat ikide
At two o clock work-prog-pst.cop-1sg

At two o clock, I was working.
b. genellikle iki saat
Usually
calis-ir-di-m
for two hours work-impf-pst.cop-1sg
I would usually work for two hours.

However, recently, the Progressive -(I)yor has begun to license a wider range of interpretations than just the progressive reading, especially in the colloquial language. It occurs
systematically in lexical stative contexts (10a) and is also interchangeably used with the
Aorist form (which realizes imperfective aspect) with habitual/generic interpretation (10b).
The examples are from G
oksel and Kerslake (2005:333). In (10a), (I)yor is used with the
stative verb tan know. The literal translation would be something like You were knowing
Omer
better than me, which is ungrammatical in English, but fine in Turkish.
(10) a. sen Omeri

benden daha iyi
tan-iyor-du-n
you Omer me
better than know-prog-pst.cop-2sg
You knew (lit: were knowing) Omer

better than me.
b. O zamanlarda mehmet cok sigara
ic-iyor-du
At that time M.nom lot cigarrette smoke-impf-pst.cop.3.sg

At that time, Mehmet used to smoke (lit: was smoking) a lot.
The Aorist form, on the other hand, never licenses the progressive interpretation. These
data have been interpreted as indicating that the Turkish Progressive is expanding to semantically overlap with the domain of the imperfective Aorist morphology, thus instantiating
the progressive-to-imperfective shift.
Tigre: Two imperfective markers
Bybee et al (1994) report on a number of languages (Tigre, Yagaria, Alyawarra, and Margi)
which are characterized by two morphological markers for the imperfective aspect.5 In
5
Bybee et al (1994:144) describe these as present grams rather than imperfective grams, and the data
they provide is restricted to sentences with imperfective morphology and present tense marking.
57
the absence of diachronic data for these languages, it is difficult to empirically verify the
historical changes in the distribution of the two morphological markers with overlapping
distribution. However, as they show, it is possible to account for the presence of two forms
with overlapping semantic domains, by hypothesizing a semantic generalization of the progressive form that results in an overlap with a previously existing imperfective morphology.
Consider the facts from Tigre, a language from the Semitic family. All the examples in
11-13) are from Razs (1983) grammar of the Tigre language (pp. 70-72). The imperfective
form (labeled Imperfect by Raz) has stative and habitual/generic interpretations.
(11) a. ...azedi
sanni naamrakka
now indeed well we know-impf.1.pl you

Now indeed, we know you well. (Raz 1983: 70)
b. ana @b
I
d@ggalabye
@kkat@b
with my left hand write-impf.1.sg
I write with my left hand.

Raz further describes a compound tense, based on the imperfective form with a present
(halla) or past (ala) tense auxiliary. This use is said to resemble the English present
continuous or progressive use.6
(12) a. h.@na h@d
ay n@tfarrar hallena
we wedding go out-impf pres.1.pl
We are going out to the wedding.
b. kal@b @b gabay l@e
dog
ala
on road run-impf pst.3.sg
A dog was running on the road.

This periphrastic construction, moreover, also licenses habitual/generic interpretations
as shown in (13a-b).
(13) a. wa@b lag@do
as@k yom t@may@t hall@t
And of the (disease) g@do until today die-impf pres.3.sg

And until today, they (lit. she, i.e. the camels) die of g@do disease.
6
The progressive interpretation for a periphrastic construction based on an imperfective form with tense
auxiliaries parallels some facts in Indo-Aryan diachrony that form the empirical base for Chapter 5.
58
b. ana n@us @t
I
ana k@ldol
small while being I
@t bet m@hro @gayas alko
every time to school
go-impf be-pst.1.sg
When I was young, I used to go to school every day.

While the periphrastic progressive construction can license progressive and non progressive interpretations, the Imperfect form which realizes imperfective aspect, may not license
the progressive interpretation. This supports the conclusion that the partial overlap in
the semantic domains of the two morphological markers is a result of the expansion in the
semantic domain of the progressive construction.
Old and modern Gujarati
The progressive-to-imperfective shift appears to have taken place fully from Old Gujarati
(cir. 1400 AD) to Modern Gujarati. The imperfective aspect in Old Gujarati is realized by
the imperfective paradigm (labeled Present) inflecting for person and number.7 This morphology licenses habitual/generic interpretation (14a) and also occurs with lexical stative
predicates (14b-c).
(14) a. ju dharmaphala vis.ai sam
kar-ai
su
. sau
who religion.fruit about suspicion-nom.sg do-impf.3.sg he
mahesaradatta jima ap
ai
M.obl.sg
pad.-ai
like trouble fall-impf.3.sg
He who suspects the fruit of religion, falls into trouble just like Mahesaradatta.
(SB 147.29)
b. taharai dehi
Your
ap
urvu
sugandhu gandh-
ai
body.abl wonderful fragrance smell-impf.3.sg
A wonderful fragrance emanates from your body. (SB 147.12-13)

c. tumhe atis.aya-sahita j
nana-bhavai-tau
j
an.-a u
you
extra-with
knowledge-quality-abl know-pres.2.pl
You know because of your ability for extra(sensory) knowledge. (SB 62.1)
The progressive aspect, an Old Gujarati innovation, is morphosyntactically encoded
with a periphrastic construction based on the imperfective paradigm with a tense auxiliary
(Bhayani 1998). The examples are in (15a-b).
7
These Old Gujarati generalizations are made by Bhayani (1998). I have taken illustrative examples from
S.ad.
avasyakab
al
avabodhavr. tti (SB), a fourteenth century Jaina religious text.
59
(15) a. tumhar
a bh
an.ej
tumha
vandi-va
your
nephew.nom.sg you.acc.sg greet-inf
av-ai
ch-ai
come-impf.3.sg pres.3.sg
Your nephew is coming to greet you. (SB 51.29)
b. tin.i m
arg-i
mah
atm
a
j
a-i
ch-ai
that path-ins.sg sage.nom.sg go-impf.3.sg pres-3.sg
The sage is going along that path. (SB 156.25-26)
In (15a), the imperfective form of the verb a
v come, in periphrasis with the present
tense auxiliary is used to license an episodic progressive interpretation. The same kind of
periphrasis in (15b) refers to an ongoing eventuality of the sage going along the road. This
periphrastic construction based on the imperfective form and tense auxiliaries is restricted
to progressive interpretation and may not have a habitual/generic reading in Old Gujarati.
Modern Gujarati, on the other hand, uniformly employs the innovated periphrastic
progressive of Old Gujarati in both progressive and non-progressive imperfective contexts.8
The periphrastic construction, restricted at an earlier stage only to progressive contexts,
thus appears to generalize to license progressive as well as habitual/generic and stative
interpretations at a later stage in the language. The bare (non-periphrastic) imperfective
form, which licenses stative and habitual/generic interpretations in Old Gujarati (14) is
now considered archaic and used very rarely with these interpretations.9
(16) a. nisa
atyare rasod.a-m
a rot.li
ban
av-e
ch-e
N.nom.sg now kitchen-loc bread.nom.sg make-impf.3.sg pres-3.sg
Nisa is making bread in the kitchen right now.
b. nisa
roj
rot.li
ban
av-e
ch-e
N.nom.sg everyday bread-nom-sg make-impf.3.sg pres-3.sg
Nisa makes bread everyday.
c. nisa
navsari-m
a rah-e
ch-e
N.nom.sg Navsari-loc live-impf.3.sg pres-3.sg

Nisa lives in Navsari.
8
The Modern Gujarati facts are based on data and judgments from two native speakers from Navs
ari in
South Gujarat.
9
This form has further acquired a modal function and has a possibility reading. It is often called the
subjunctive.
60
To summarize, the data from Modern Turkish, Modern Tigre, and Old and Modern Gujarati appear to illustrate different positions along the diachronic path from the progressive
to the imperfective aspect. In Turkish, we see a change-in-progress situation, where the
progressive has started to generalize and optionally licenses non-progressive imperfective
interpretations. The Tigre progressive is similar to Turkish, but based on the available descriptions, has become further grammaticalized, so that the language appears to have two
imperfective forms, of which only one may license the progressive interpretation. Finally,
in modern Gujarati, the progressive construction has fully replaced the older imperfective
form from Old Gujarati and uniformly licenses both progressive and non-progressive interpretations.
3.2.4
Summary
In this section, I showed that the semantic similarities between lexical stative, progressive,
and habitual/generic predicates discussed in Chapter 2 are paralleled by certain morphological relations between the exponents of the three classes of predicates. In some languages,
the three classes are realized with a single imperfective morphological exponent. In other
languages, the realization of a distinct progressive form correlates with the absence of the
progressive interpretation for the imperfective exponent. Further, there is a diachronic relation progressive morphology from diachronically prior stages generalizes at later stages
to license non-progressive imperfective interpretations through the so-called progressive-toimperfective shift. I believe that these typological/grammaticalization-based observations
about imperfective and progressive forms justifies the desideratum that the semantic denotation of the progressive operator should be a specific version (subset) of the imperfective
operator the nestedness property for the progressive/imperfective account.
(17) [[impf]] [[prog]]
Moreover, these observations show that lexical stative, progressive, and habitual/generic
predicates not only group together with respect to some property (single morphological
exponent), but also diverge with respect to some other property (distinct morphological
exponents). I showed in Chapter 2 that the common property is what we call stativity. In
the next section, I will argue that the key property along which these predicates diverge
is episodicity the property that distinguishes the class of progressive predicates from
non-progressive predicates.
3.3. EPISODICITY AND THE PROGRESSIVE
3.3
61
Episodicity and the progressive
Episodic properties are properties of spatio-temporally delimited eventualities; situations

that are crucially located in time and space. Sentences with episodic predicates describe
particular events or episodes, while sentences with non-episodic predicates report a generalization over instances of individuals or eventualities. Carlson (1977)s distinction between
stage-level predicates and individual-level predicates is based on this contrast. Stage-level
predicates express temporary, incidental, spatiotemporally delimited properties of individuals while individual-level predicates express tendentially stable, relatively permanent properties of individuals.Carlson formally characterizes this as a distinction arising from a difference between domains for predicates. Stage-level predicates are predicates of stages
(spatiotemporal slices) of individuals, while individual-level predicates are predicates of individuals. Milsark (1974) makes a similar distinction with his terms state-descriptive and
property predicates, where the former are described as conditions in which an entity finds
itself and which are subject to change without there being an essential alteration of the entity. Property predicates, on the other hand, name some trait possessed by an entity,
which is assumed to be more or less permanent or at least to be such that some significant change in the character of the entity will result if the description is altered (Milsark,
1977:12f.).
It appears then that the stage-level/individual-level or state-descriptive/property distinctions basically contrast predicates along the dimension of episodicity. (18) gives some
examples of episodic and non-episodic sentences. (18a-d) describe events/episodes in which
the subject referent, the dog, is involved. These episodes can naturally be spatiotemporally
located by adverbial expressions like in the afternoon or in the bedroom, for instance. On the
other hand, (18e-g) are generalizations about their subject-referents, an individual in (18e)
and kinds in (18f-g), that are true in general, rather than at a particular spatiotemporal
location.
(18) a. The dog destroyed my couch.
(episodic)
d. The dog was lying under the bed.
(episodic)
b. The dog ran along the shore.
(episodic)
c. The dog was trampling all over my lawn.
(episodic)
e. John builds model airplanes.
(non-episodic)
f. The whale suckles its young.
(non-episodic)
g. This machine weighs 100 pounds.
(non-episodic)
62
The episodic/non-episodic distinction overlaps with the stative/non-stative distinction

but makes a further critical cut in the stative domain. All non-stative predicates are
episodic; non-stativity entails episodicity. Within the class of stative predicates, however,
we can further distinguish between those denoting episodic states and those denoting nonepisodic states (see the discussion in Krifka et al. (1995: 16-17)). Consider the stative
sentences in (19a-d). The predicates in the cage and hungry in (19a-b) refer to temporally
restricted situations involving the subject referents in their sentences while (19c-e) refer to
relatively long-lasting and essential properties of their subject referents.
(19) a. Simba is in the cage.
(episodic stative)
b. John is hungry.
(episodic stative)
c. Simba is a lion.
(non-episodic stative)
d. John is intelligent.
e. John knows French.
Thus, while non-stative predicates are always episodic, stative predicates divide along
the episodicity dimension giving us the following predicate classification.
(20)
predicates
stative
non-episodic
non-stative
episodic
episodic
As mentioned before, the class of episodic predicates (non-stative and some stative predicates) corresponds to the class of stage-level predicates, while the class of non-episodic
stative predicates correspond to individual-level predicates. A number of grammatical
phenomena have been shown to be sensitive to the episodic/non-episodic (or the stagelevel/individual-level) distinction for example, the Existential construction (Milsark,
1974), Absolute adjuncts (Stump 1985), small clause complements of perception verbs (perceptual reports) (Carlson, 1977), and compatibility with temporal and locative modifiers
(Kratzer, 1995).
3.3.1
Progressive predicates
The progressive construction is considered to be yet another domain which distinguishes

between episodic and non-episodic predicates. Carlson (1977) claimed that individual-level
(corresponding to non-episodic) verbal predicates cannot appear in the progressive because
63
the progressive is syntactically restricted to stage-level (or episodic) predicates. The empirical observation is that a class of stative verbs like know, weigh, extend are ungrammatical
in the progressive construction in English. Consider the examples in (21a-c).
(21) a. This elephant weighs (*is weighing) three tons.
b. The Grand Trunk Road extends (*is extending) from Narayanganj in Bangladesh
to Kabul in Afghanistan.
c. John knows (*is knowing) French.
The compatibility of stative verbs with progressive morphology has been the subject
of much discussion in the literature on the progressive (Taylor, 1977; Vlach, 1981; Dowty,
1979; Bach, 1981; De Swart, 1998). Among several diagnostics that distinguish stative
predicates from non-stative predicates, Lakoff (1965) lists the ability to appear in the progressive; stative verbs are considered to be incompatible with the progressive construction.
Since then, it has been noted that not all stative verbs resist the progressive; a subclass are
grammatical in the progressive. Bach (1981) distinguishes between dynamic (temporary)
and static stative predicates, of which the former are perfectly grammatical in the progressive. Static stative predicates express relatively permanent, characteristic properties of
their subject-referents that are typically not subject to change. It is only these predicates
that are incompatible with the progressive morphology.
Dowty (1979) makes the distinction between interval states which are stative but temporally delimited, and object-level states which are presented as temporally unbounded. The
former correspond to Bach (1981)s dynamic states and are compatible with the progressive
as seen in (22a-d) from Dowty (1979:173).
(22) a. The socks are lying under the bed.
b. Your glass is sitting near the edge of the table.
c. The long box is standing on end.
d. One corner of the piano is resting on the bottom step.
Dowty further notes that the progressive construction with these stative predicates is
subject to a semantic restriction. The examples in (23)-(26) illustrate that the progressive
construction is not always available with this class of stative predicates and that some
contexts require the use of the simple tenses with these predicates.
(23) a. The socks are lying under the bed.
b. ??New Orleans is lying at the mouth of the Mississippi river.
64
c. New Orleans lies at the mouth of the Mississippi river.

(24) a. Your glass is sitting near the edge of the table.
b. ??Johns house is sitting at the top of a hill.
c. Johns house sits at the top of a hill.
(25) a. The long box is standing on end.

b. ??The new building is standing at the corner of First Avenue and Main Street.
c. The new building stands at the corner of First Avenue and Main Street.
(26) a. One corner of the piano is resting on the bottom step.

b. ??That argument is resting on an invalid assumption.
c. That argument rests on an invalid assumption.
Dowtys characterization of the semantic restriction is as follows:
Consideration of many such examples leads to the conclusion that the progressive
is acceptable with these [stative] verbs just to the degree that the subject denotes
a moveable object, or to be more exact, an object that has recently moved,
might be expected to move in the near future, or might possibly have moved in
a slightly different situation. (Dowty 1979: 175)
In other words, the progressive is acceptable with stative verbs only when the predicate
is interpretable as a transient situation subject to change, i.e. when the predicate is episodic.
Dowty considers Carlson (1977)s proposal of the stage-level/individual-level distinction and
suggests that this distinction lies at the heart of the variation in the acceptability of the
(a) and (b) sentences in (23)-(26). Stative verbs like lie, sit, stand, etc. are lexically stagelevel predicates. Examples like (23c)-(26c), on the other hand, contain a habitual predicate
derived by an abstract generic operator G (Carlson, 1977: 274-275) that converts a stagelevel predicate into an individual-level predicate, giving rise to the habitual reading for base
stage-level verbal predicates. (23c)-(26c) assert that the predicates in them are instantiated
for a number of instances (in fact, all instances within a reasonably large period of time).
The reason that (23b)-(26b) are judged unacceptable is pragmatic: the progressive
makes the weaker claim that a predicate such as lie at the mouth of the Mississippi River
is true at one given instance while we know (from the assumption that cities are typically
65
stationary over long stretches of time) that the predicate is in fact true of several such
instances. The simple tense sentence, which makes the stronger claim is thus preferable over
the weaker progressive by Grices maxim of quantity. The progressive can be used in these
cases only if the stronger claim is known to be false or not assumed to be uncontroversially
true by the speaker (Dowty 1979: 177-178).
Dowtys characterization of what the progressive asserts about the instantiation of a
predicate in time is intuitively accurate but gives rise to a puzzling question about the
meaning of the progressive construction. Why is it that the progressive construction is
restricted to stage-level or episodic predicates? Remember that Carlson accounts for the
unacceptability of the progressive with individual-level predicates by stipulating that the
progressive is syntactically restricted to the category of stage-level predicates. But as Dowty
(1979: 178) observes, the problem with this restriction is that there is no obvious explanation
for why it should hold.10 I take this to be a basic puzzle about the semantics of the
progressive aspect and the contribution of the progressive operator.
3.3.2
Episodicity
The intuition behind Dowtys characterization of the progressive and Carlsons claim that
the progressive is restricted to stage-level predicates is that progressive predicates are interpreted as being subintervals of larger intervals that are temporally delimited or episodic.
In other words, the domain of the progressive operator appears to be episodic predicates.
Episodicity can be taken to be a second order property classifying natural language predicates of times and sentences. Informally, we can construe this property as follows: if a
predicate is episodic then the intervals in its denotation must be bounded i.e. characterized by either a left or a right boundary. A formal definition is proposed in (27a). A
predicate is considered to be episodic if every temporal interval t in the denotation of P is
part of an interval t that is immediately preceded or followed by a temporal interval t at
which the predicate is not instantiated.
(27) a. Episodicity:
EPI(P) t[P(t) t [t t P(t )] t [(t < t t <t )
P(t )]]
b. A predicate is episodic iff any t in P is preceded or followed by a non-P time.
10
Dowty then outlines an explanatory account for this restriction that combines Carlsons proposal with
Taylor (1977)s interval-based explanation arguing that the truth of stage-level stative verbal predicates
(called interval statives on his classification) must also be evaluated relative to an interval rather than
a moment. I do not pursue it here, but rather propose an alternative account that directly relates the
stage-level restriction to the semantic contribution of the progressive operator.
66
This formulation of episodicity is an attempt to get at the intuitive difference between

episodic (or stage-level) and non-episodic (individual-level) predicates, which has often been
characterized in terms of transience vs. permanence.11
Now that we have a working definition of episodicity and what it means to be an episodic
predicate, let me put forth a claim about the meaning of the progressive. I want to argue
that the output of the progressive operator is a stative episodic predicate because it is
derived from a base episodic verbal predicate. The empirical part of the argument builds
up on observations about the distribution of the progressive made in earlier literature (for
stativity, recall the discussion in Chapter 2). The real challenge is deriving the properties
of stativity and episodicity from the meaning of the progressive operator (or morphology).
In Chapter 2, I argued that some accounts of the progressive as a stativizing operator
fall short of being explanatory because they stipulate that the progressive derives stative
predicates from (usually) non-stative predicates. The intermediate step, which should explain the source of the stativity for the progressive predicate, is absent. Similarly, Carlsons
stipulation that the progressive is syntactically restricted to stage-level predicates does not
really provide an explanation for the episodicity of the progressive (and the predicate it is
derived from), because the episodicity does not follow in any way from the semantics of the
progressive construction (as Dowty (1979: 178) correctly notes).
3.3.3
Summary
In this section I reviewed the arguments that natural language predicates can be classified
along the episodicity dimension and that it is this property that underlies the contrast
between stage-level and individual-level predicates. Based on facts about the acceptability
of the progressive with stative verbs and the proposals in Dowty (1979) and Carlson (1977),
I claimed that progressive predicates are episodic and that episodicity is one of the semantic
contributions of the progressive operator/construction (the other being stativity). As with
stativizing accounts of the progressive (Parsons, 1990; De Swart 1998; Vlach, 1981) which
do not explain why progressive predicates are stative, there is no obvious explanation for
why progressive predicates have episodic or stage-level interpretation. In 3.5, I propose
a semantics for the progressive operator that can transparently derive predicates that are
both stative and episodic.
The broader goal set out for this chapter is that of providing a satisfactory semantics
for both the imperfective and the progressive operators. To that end, I first present a
11
Needless to say, the actual length of the intervals denoted by P is typically irrelevant to the assertions
made by episodic or non-episodic expressions.
3.4. THE SEMANTICS OF THE IMPERFECTIVE OPERATOR
67
semantics for the imperfective operator in 3.4. To repeat, the primary considerations for
such an analysis are nestedness (denotation of the progressive is a proper subset of the
denotation of the imperfective) and transparency (imperfective and perfective operators
are load-bearing, rather than flagging operators). Further the account should be stativitydriven (the derived predicates must be stative) and, for the progressive, as shown in this
section, episodicity-driven (the predicates output by the progressive operators must also
satisfy episodicity).
3.4
The semantics of the imperfective operator
As discussed in Chapter 2, derived stative predicates are based on non-stative lexical predicates, but nevertheless, are characterized by the same properties as lexical stative predicates, viz. divisiveness and cumulativity. They are also interpreted as stative with respect
to diagnostics involving temporal adverbials and patterns of temporal progression in narrative discourse. Further, in languages that contrast the imperfective and perfective aspects,
these predicates appear with imperfective morphology, just like lexical stative predicates.
A transparent account of the imperfective operator (realized by imperfective morphology)
would:
(28) a. Derive progressive stative predicates from eventive predicates.
b. Derive habitual/generic stative predicates from eventive predicates.
c. Encode the stativity of lexically specified stative predicates.
In this section, I spell out the semantics of the imperfective operator and show how a
unified representation can nevertheless yield the three types of predicates that are typically
expressed by imperfective verb forms. I assume an ontology of sorted eventualities and
temporal intervals as part of my basic setup. The domain of eventualities E contains two
sorts of eventualities events and states. Eventive predicates denote events while stative
predicates denote states. T is the domain of non-null temporal intervals partially ordered
by the relation of temporal precedence < and by the subinterval relation .12 Verb
roots take an eventuality argument in addition to their thematic arguments and eventuality
descriptions (uninflected sentence radicals) are predicates over eventualities. Aspectual
12
I am taking logical representations to be expressions of a typed lambda calculus with the basic types
of t (propositions), e (entities), s (eventualities), and i (intervals). x is the variable ranging over entities,
e ranges over eventualities, and t over intervals, P over predicates of type <s,t> and Q over predicates of
type <i,t>. For expository purposes, I am taking a strictly extensional perspective and factoring out worlds
from the current analysis.
68
operators are of type <<s,t>, <i,t>>, i.e. they take predicates of eventualities (uninflected
sentence radicals) as their input and yield predicates of times/intervals. is a function from
E to T that maps eventualities to their run-time, the time at which they are instantiated
in the world.
How predicates are instantiated in time differs for eventive and stative predicates and
can be specified by defining the inst relation as in (29). If an eventive predicate P is
instantiated in an interval t (represented by (inst(P, t)), this means that the run-time of
the event instantiating P is included in the interval t. If P is stative, on the other hand,
inst(P, t) means that P holds of (all subintervals of) t.
(
(e E | (e) t P(e)) if P is eventive
(29) inst(P, t) =
P(t)
if P is stative
It is important to keep in mind that the interval in which P is instantiated is not
necessarily identical to the run-time of the eventuality denoted by P. With an eventive
predicate, the relation allows for any (possibly unbounded) superinterval of the runtime of the event to be the interval in which P is instantiated. On the other hand, with a
stative predicate, inst only asserts that P holds at least at t and possibly a superinterval
of t.
The semantics of the imperfective or the progressive operators has usually been formulated in terms of the interval at which a predicate P is instantiated. Recall the representations of the progressive and the imperfective (unbounded) operators discussed in Chapter
2.13
(30) a. [[prog]] = i i [ i nf i (i )] (Bennett & Partee 1972)
b. [[unbounded]] = Pi e[P(e) (e) i] (Based on Klein, 1994; Bohnemeyer &
Swift, 2001; Pancheva, 2003)
The formulae in (30) are representative of the general approach to analyzing the contribution of the progressive or imperfective operators. In both cases, the operator yields
a predicate denoting intervals that are subintervals of an interval that corresponds to the
run-time of an eventuality instantiating the base predicate. In other words, the predicates
that form the output of these operators are specified in terms of the at relation; they denote
subintervals of the interval at which a predicate is instantiated.14
13
In the formulations in (30), i is the notation for the variable ranging over intervals, as opposed to the
notation I use, which is t.
14
Later, I will argue that the progressive should be formulated in terms of the at relation and show how
the contrast between the imperfective and the progressive can be elegantly captured with this.
69
The key to defining the semantics of the imperfective operator is by exploiting the properties of inst which is a distinct relation from at. (31) contains the logical representation
I propose for the imperfective operator.
(31) [[impf]] = P<s,t> t t [t nf t inst(P, t )]
The imperfective operator denotes a function from predicates of eventualities to predicates of times that are non-final subintervals of the intervals within which P is instantiated.
The set of intervals t within which P is instantiated include the interval at which P is
instantiated ( (e) = t ), and ALL superintervals of such an interval ( (e) t ). This is
graphically represented by the diagram in (32).
(32)
tj
t i
ti
t j
t k
tk t l
(e)
The intervals within which P is instantiated (corresponding to the different t in the

representation in (31)) are indicated with the dashed ellipses. Some possible subintervals
of these intervals (possible values for t in the representation in (31)) are indicated with the
solid ellipses. The interval t i constitutes the limiting case; it is the interval at which a
predicate is instantiated, in other words, the run-time of the eventuality that instantiates
a given predicate (for eventive predicates). ti is a non-final subinterval of this interval.
The configuration that relates t i and ti in (32) yields the progressive interpretation for the
imperfective-marked predicate, since ti is a non-final subinterval of the interval that is the
run-time of the eventuality instantiating the predicate P.
How are the logical representation of the imperfective operator in (31) and its graphic
illustration in (32) different from the representations in (30), especially the one in (30b)?
The difference lies in the set of intervals that are the possible outputs of the operators
represented in (30) and (31). In particular, the operators in (30a-b) restrict the set of
intervals they yield to those that have the property of ti in (33) viz. they are non-final
subintervals of the interval corresponding to the eventuality run-time.15 In other words, the
15
It should be clarified that this is not a problem for the representation in (30a) (which is a formalization
of Bennett & Partee (1972)) since it is a claim about the semantics of the progressive operator, which must
have this restricted output, but I will argue that it is problematic for the representation in (30b), which
is a claim about the semantics of the imperfective operator, with a wider semantic range of interpretation
(progressive, lexical stative, and habitual/generic), which must correspond to a wider range of intervals.
70
set of intervals output by the operators in (30) must be configurationally identical to ti in

(33).
(33)
t i
ti
(e)
On the other hand, the illustration in (32) shows that the predicate output by the
imperfective operator in (31) is not restricted to denoting non-final subintervals of the
eventuality run-time (or the time at which the predicate is instantiated). The subinterval
relation holds between the interval denoted by the imperfective-marked predicate and any
interval within which the base predicate is instantiated i.e. any superinterval of the
interval at which the base predicate is instantiated.
Specifying the semantics of the imperfective operator in terms of the inst relation
guarantees that the imperfective-marked predicate is not restricted to progressive intervals
(subintervals of the eventuality run-time) but allows for a larger set of intervals to be in
its denotation. The accuracy of the representation for the imperfective operator in (31)
depends on whether the possible values for this larger set of intervals, in fact, correspond to
the various interpretations of imperfective-marked predicates. There are three possibilities
that are structurally different from the progressive configuration and I want to argue that
each of these possibilities, in fact, does correspond to interpretations for predicates in the
imperfective aspect.
(34) a. t t and P is instantiated at all subintervals of t
b. t t and P is instantiated multiply/regularly/generally (or otherwise restricted
by adverbial operators) in t
c. t t and P is instantiated within t and within t and t (e)
Specifically, (34a) describes the configuration that yields the lexical stative interpretation; (34b) describes the configuration yielding the habitual/generic interpretation; and
(34c) describes the configuration that yields the (yet to be discussed) perfective-like interpretation available to imperfective-marked predicates. In the following sections, I discuss
each of these possibilities in detail.
71
3.4.1
Lexical stative predicates and the imperfective operator
The progressive interpretation of an imperfective-marked predicate arises when the interval

output by the imperfective operator is a subinterval of the interval within which a predicate
is instantiated and this instantiation interval corresponds to the run-time of the event
instantiating the predicate. Recall from (29) (repeated here as (35)) that the inst relation
works differently with eventive and stative base predicates.
(
(e E | (e) t P(e)) if P is eventive
(35) inst(P, t) =
P(t)
if P is stative
For eventive predicates, P is instantiated in an interval t if the run-time of e is included
in t. For stative predicates, inst asserts that P holds of all subintervals of t (and possibly at
a larger interval). Consider the configuration in (36) where the (e) (the interval between
the two vertical lines indicating left and right boundaries) is a super-interval of t , indicated
by the dashed ellipse (the interval corresponding to t in inst(P, t)). This possibility can
only hold if e instantiates a stative predicate. A subinterval t of an interval t in this case
is also an interval that instantiates P.
(36) a. t t and P is instantiated at all subintervals of t
b.
(e)
On the lexical stative interpretation, imperfective predicates are construed as referring

to an interval such that the base predicate is instantiated at all of its subintervals (e.g.
live in Paris; weigh ten tons etc.). This is guaranteed by the imperfective operator in
(31) because of the specification of the inst relation with stative predicates. Stative predicates are instantiated at all subintervals of the interval within which they are instantiated
(P(t)), and the imperfective operator outputs the set of non-final subintervals of the inst
interval. It follows then that for lexical stative predicates, the intervals denoted by the
imperfective-marked predicates are also intervals at which the base predicate is instantiated. The contribution of the imperfective operator is trivial with respect to lexical stative
predicates since the base predicate is already true at all subintervals of the interval in which
it is instantiated.
72
3.4.2
Habitual/generic predicates and the imperfective operator
In contrast to lexical statives, habitual/generic predicates are derived from base predicates
that are not true at all subintervals of the interval within which they are instantiated.
The main intuition about habitual/generic predicates is that the episodic predicates on
which they are based are instantiated with some regularity in a given situation (which may
be explicitly conveyed by adverbs like typically, usually, generally, etc.). Sentences with
habitual predicates express generalizations over instances of events/situations.
I noted in 3.2.1 and 3.2.2 that in languages which make an imperfective-perfective
contrast, habitual/generic predicates appear with imperfective marking. In Chapter 2, we
saw that there is no satisfying account of how habitual/generic predicates are derived from
base episodic predicates. My contention is that the derivation is effected by the imperfective
operator, specifically by the properties of the inst relation as opposed to the at relation.
The set of intervals in which P is instantiated (corresponding to t in (31)) includes the subset
of intervals in which P is instantiated more than once.16 The imperfective-marked predicate
only asserts that the intervals in its denotation are subintervals of some t and remains
vague about the temporal relation between the run-time of the eventuality instantiating
the predicate and t . It is this vagueness that allows for the habitual interpretation for
imperfective-marked predicates.
The imperfective-marked predicate may denote an interval that is the subinterval of a
larger interval within which the base predicate P is instantiated multiply/regularly/ habitually as represented in (37). In (37b), P is instantiated by e, e , and e . t , the instantiation
interval, properly includes the run-time of these eventualities which instantiate the base
predicate. Any subinterval of such an interval, e.g. the interval indicated by t, is part of
the denotation of the imperfective-marked predicate.
(37) a. t t and P is multiply/regularly/generally instantiated in t
b.
16
t
(e)
(e )
(e )
I should note here that the habitual interpretation of sentences with imperfective-marked predicates,
which implies a generalization over several instances of events/situations is only one of the possible nonprogressive interpretations for imperfective-marked predicates.
73
Non-habitual derived stative interpretations

One consequence of specifying the semantics of the imperfective operator in terms of the
inst relation is that the temporal location of the run-time of the eventuality remains underspecified. The imperfective-marked predicate simply asserts that the base predicate is
instantiated within some interval. In particular, it is not committed to the assertion that
the predicate is instantiated multiply/regularly/generally within a given interval (unlike
the assumption of the imperfective accounts we saw in 2.5.2). The imperfective-marked
predicate yields the set of all intervals within which the base predicate is instantiated and
overt or contextually given covert predicate modifiers such as adverbials or GEN serve to
further restrict this set to a more specified subset of intervals.
The term habitual for stative predicates derived from base episodic predicates implies
that the predicate is instantiated habitually or with some generality in a given interval.
However, the fact that sentences with habitual predicates may contain a range of frequency
adverbials (including never, seldom, rarely, or sporadically), shows that the derived predicates cannot explicitly be marked for habituality or regular instantiation. The habitual or
generic interpretation is thus only one of the possible interpretations for habitual predicates
(the technical term for statives derived from base episodic predicates (Krifka et al. (1995)).
(38) a. John never drinks beer.
b. John seldom works in the workshop.
c. John sporadically comes to our Tuesday meetings.
This is further reinforced by the fact that the habitual/generic interpretation is also
not the only one available (although it is a very salient interpretation) for sentences with
no overt restricting adverbials. For instance, consider the sentences in (39a-c). These are
instances of existential generics (Cohen, 2004). None of the sentences license a habitual or
generic reading. Rather they make an existential claim about people who can break down
under pressure, computers that can make mistakes, and an instance of John drinking beer.
Nonetheless, they are all based on derived stative predicates and describe properties of their
subject referents rather than reporting on specific episodes or events.
(39) a. People break down under the slightest pressure.
b. A computer makes mistakes.
c. [In response to a claim that John never drinks beer...] Oh, John drinks beer. I
have seen him once with a pitcher.
74
In languages with imperfective morphology, these sentences, which involve existential

quantification over individuals or situations, appear with imperfective marking. The sentences in (40a-c) are from Hindi and retain the same contextual interpretation as for their
English variants in (39a-c).
(40) a. log
thod.ese tan
av-se
dab j
a-te
ha
people.nom.pl little.obl pressure-from depress-impf.m.pl pres.3.pl
People get pulled down (depressed) from a little pressure.
b. kampyut.ar
galati-ya
kar-t
a
hai
Computer.nom.sg mistake.nom.pl do-impf.m.sg pres.3.sg
A computer makes mistakes.
c. nisa
biyar
p-ti
hai
N.nom.sg beer.nom.sg drink-impf.f.sg pres.3.sg

Nisa drinks beer.
Each of the sentences in (40) assert that the predicate they contain is instantiated in
time; there is no assertion about the frequency or regularity of instantiation. The representation of the imperfective operator proposed here is compatible with this non-habitual (yet
stative and individual-level) interpretation of these derived predicates, because a subinterval
of any interval of predicate instantiation is part of the denotation of the imperfective-marked
predicate.
To conclude, in this section, I showed how the habitual/generic readings of imperfectivemarked predicates and other individual-level, non-habitual readings can be accounted for
with the general semantics that I proposed for the imperfective operator.
3.4.3
The perfective-like interpretation of imperfective-marked predicates
Yet another scenario is the configuration in (41).

(41) a. t t and P is instantiated within t and within t and t (e)
b.
(e)
In this case, t , the interval within which P is instantiated by e, is a superinterval of

(e). The interval output by the imperfective operator is a subinterval of t , but also a
75
superinterval of (e). The fact that the predicates output by the imperfective operator in
(31) include a subset of intervals that are superintervals of the (e) might suggest that (31)
is an incorrect representation for the imperfective operator. By overgenerating the set of
perfective-like intervals, (31) yields the wrong set of intervals.17
I want to argue here that what might appear to be an undesirable result of the representation in (31) turns out to be advantageous in light of wider data concerning the
interpretation of sentences with imperfective-marked predicates. The specific interpretation relevant to the scenario in (41) is the perfective interpretation of these sentences, most
well-documented for the imperfective aspect in Slavic languages.
Imperfective verbs in Russian (and Czech (Filip 1999)), in addition to licensing progressive and habitual interpretations, may also have a perfective use. Comrie (1976) calls
this the general factual or simple denotative use of the imperfective aspect. Consider
the example from Russian in (43). The imperfective verb opravoval can be interpreted as
referring to an ongoing episode of car-repairing or to a completed, perfective event in which
the car was repaired.
(43) co
dela-l
vcera?
opravova-l
auto
what do.impf-pst yesterday repair.impf-pst car

What did he do yesterday? He repaired/was repairing the car. (Comrie, 1976: 113)
The fact that imperfective-marked predicates actually have a perfective interpretation
and refer to completed events in one of their several uses, is strong evidence for the representation of the imperfective operator in (31). This representation guarantees that a subset
of the intervals in the denotation of imperfective predicates correspond to intervals in the
denotation of perfective predicates.
It is worthwhile to note here that standard representations of the imperfective operator,
as in (30b) do not account for the perfective interpretation of imperfective-marked predicates, viz. that they can denote superintervals of the run-time of the eventuality instantiating the base predicate. It can of course be argued that changing the temporal relation from
to can take care of the perfective interpretation with these predicates. Filip (1999),
working within an eventuality-based framework, adopts this approach to account for the
17
The contrast between the imperfective and perfective (unbounded and bounded) operators is standardly
characterized by reversing the inclusion relation between the eventuality interval and the interval denoted
by the aspectual operator (often called topic time or reference time).
(42) a. [[imperfective]] = Pi e[P(e) (e) i]

b. [[perfective]] = Pi e[P(e) (e) i]
76
perfective uses of imperfective predicates in Czech, and represents the imperfective aspect
as denoting parts of eventualities, where part is taken to be the weak ordering relation .
3.4.4
The imperfective-perfective opposition
In Slavic aspectology, the imperfective-perfective aspectual opposition has been characterized as a privative opposition with the imperfective as the unmarked member and the
perfective as the marked member (Jakobson, 1936: 31). The marked member of a privative
opposition is more restricted than the unmarked member, which may be used in place of
the marked member in certain contexts. In 3.4.3, it was seen that the Russian Imperfective
may license perfective interpretations. Comrie (1976: 113) claims that it is the general factual or simple denotative (= perfective) use of the Russian Imperfective that is perhaps
the strongest single piece of evidence in Russian (and in other Slavic languages) for considering the Perfective to be the marked form. The privative nature of the opposition also
accounts for why imperfective predicates may license perfective interpretations but not vice
versa. Perfective-marked predicates do not license habitual or progressive interpretations
(See Forsyth, 1970: 350).
To my knowledge, there exists no semantically formulated account of the markedness
opposition between the imperfective and the perfective aspects that can capture the range
of interpretations available to imperfective predicates. The imperfective operator in (31)
has the properties that an operator deriving imperfective predicates must satisfy it
can derive progressive and habitual/generic predicates, and encode the stativity of lexical
stative predicates. Moreover, it can derive perfective predicates because the representation
naturally guarantees that a subset of intervals in its denotation are perfective intervals, viz.
intervals within which the base predicate is instantiated. The representation I am assuming
for the perfective operator is given in (44b). A comparison of the denotations of (44a)
and (44b) shows that the denotation of the predicates output by the perfective operator is
in a nested relation with (or a subset of) the denotation of the predicates output by the
imperfective operator.
b. [[perf]] = P<s,t> t t [t t inst(P, t )]
This is an interesting result of representing the imperfective operator in terms of the inst
relation rather than the at relation, since at refers only to the interval corresponding to the
run-time of eventualities instantiating a predicate and not superintervals of this interval.
3.4.5
77
The stativity of imperfective-marked predicates
At the end of Chapter 2 and the beginning of this chapter, I claimed that a satisfactory
account of the imperfective operator must be stativity-driven. It must be able to transparently derive stative predicates (predicates characterized by divisiveness and cumulativity),
and not have to stipulate that its output is stative (unlike the stativizing accounts of De
Swart (1998) or Vlach (1981), for instance). In this section, I show how the representation of
the imperfective operator that I have been arguing for, satisfies this condition. Divisiveness
and cumulativity are defined for the domain of intervals in the following way:
(45) a. DIV(P) t,t [P(t) t <t P(t )]
b. CUM(P) t,t [P(t) P(t ) P(tt )] t,t [P(t) P(t ) t=t ]
How do these properties follow from the representation of the imperfective operator in
(31), repeated here as (46)?
(46) [[impf]] = P<s,t> t t [t nf t inst(P, t )]
The predicate output by the imperfective operator denotes the set of intervals that are
subintervals of the interval within which the base predicate P is instantiated. Divisiveness
requires that every subinterval of the interval at which a predicate holds should also be an
interval at which the predicate holds. For a predicate output by the imperfective operator,
this means that every subinterval of the imperfective-marked predicate should also be an
interval at which the imperfective-marked predicate holds. This is guaranteed to be true
with our representation because any subinterval of the interval output by the imperfective
operator in (46) is bound to be a subinterval of the interval within which the predicate is
instantiated. Thus, imperfective-marked predicates are divisive.
Cumulativity states that a predicate P is cumulative iff it holds of two distinct intervals
and when it holds of two disjoint intervals t and t , it also holds of their sum. This property
also follows from my proposal for the imperfective operator because the sum of any two
non-final subintervals of the interval within which a predicate is instantiated must also be
contained within this larger predicate instantiation interval.
Thus, the analysis of the imperfective operator that I provide, guarantees, rather than
stipulates, the stativity of imperfective predicates.
3.4.6
Summary
In this section, I proposed a general meaning for the imperfective operator that can account for the progressive, the lexical stative, and the habitual/generic interpretations of
78
imperfective-marked predicates. Moreover, the operator derives predicates that include in

their denotation a subset of intervals that correspond to perfective intervals. I argued that
this is a desirable result given that the interpretations available to the imperfective in Slavic
languages include the perfective-like interpretation. This property of the imperfective operator also provides a semantic account of the privative opposition that has been intuitively
understood to underlie the imperfective-perfective contrast. In 3.4.5, I explicated how the
stativity of imperfective-marked predicates (the divisivity and cumulativity properties) also
follows from the proposed representation of the imperfective operator.
The analysis presented so far has two of the three properties that I proposed for a
satisfactory account of the imperfective and the progressive operators - it is transparent
in that the imperfective operator is load-bearing and derives stative predicates rather than
flagging the stativity of predicates derived by an abstract, invisible operator; and it is
stativity-driven, in that the stativity of the derived imperfective predicates is guaranteed
by the representation of the imperfective operator and does not have to be separately
stipulated. In the next section, I propose an analysis for the progressive operator that
satisfies the third condition for a satisfactory analysis of the two operators nestedness.
3.5
The semantics of the progressive operator
The progressive operator is identical to the imperfective operator except for one difference.
It is specified in terms of the at relation and not the inst relation. at is defined as in (47).
What at does is to restrict the the interval at which a predicate holds to the run-time
of the eventuality instantiating the predicate. With eventive predicates, the value of t in
at(P,t) is equivalent to the run-time of the eventuality instantiating the predicate or the
(e). With stative predicates at relates a predicate with the maximal interval for which it
is true. It asserts that the predicate does not hold of any larger interval other than t. The
upshot is that at is a more restrictive relation than inst.
(
(e E | (e) = t P(e))
when P is eventive
(47) at(P, t) =
(P(t) t (t t P(t )) when P is stative

The progressive operator has the representation in (48).
(48) prog: P<s,t> t t [t nf t at(P, t )]
The progressive operator yields the set of intervals that are subintervals of the interval at
which the base predicate is instantiated. The relative configuration of the relevant intervals
3.5. THE SEMANTICS OF THE PROGRESSIVE OPERATOR
79
is given in (49). The run-time of an eventuality e instantiating the base predicate, ( (e)),
is equal to t and the interval output by the progressive operator is a non-final subinterval
of t . In other words, the progressive interval is a non-final subinterval of the eventuality
run-time.
(49)
t
t = (e)
This representation for the progressive operator is similar to the one proposed by Bennett
and Partee (1972) for the English progressive except for the restriction imposed by the at
relation. Compare the two representations in (51).18
(50) a. [[prog]] = i i [ i nf i (i )] (Bennett & Partee 1972)
b. [[prog]] = t t [t nf t at(, t )]
at explicitly restricts the t interval to the run-time of an eventive or stative eventuality.
Bennett & Partees representation on the other hand, makes no reference to the eventuality
time (unless (i ) is to be translated as such). This distinction is relevant for stative base
predicates which can also hold at a superinterval of the interval of which they hold. (i )
only asserts that a predicate is true of a given interval. at specifies that t (corresponding
to the i of Bennett and Partee) is the maximal interval at which the predicate is true
with respect to stative predicates.
Specifying the semantics of the progressive operator in terms of the at relation has three
advantages:
a. Nestedness: It provides a nested account of the imperfective and the progressive
aspects, where the denotation of progressive-marked predicates is a subset of the
denotation of imperfective-marked predicates.
b. Episodicity: it explains why progressive-marked predicates usually receive an episodic
interpretation in contrast to imperfective predicates which license both episodic and
non-episodic interpretations.
c. It accounts for the difference in felicity judgements associated with Dowtys interval
stative predicates.
I will discuss each of these in the following sections.
18
As clarified before, the formalization is my translation of what Bennett and Partee state in words.
80
3.5.1
Nestedness
Compare the representations of the imperfective and the progressive operators that have
been proposed here.
(51) a. [[impf]] = Pt t [t nf t inst(P, t )]
b. [[prog]] = Pt t [t nf t at(P, t )]
inst is defined differently for eventive and stative predicates, and licenses different
inferences about the interval for which the base predicate holds and how it relates to the
instantiation interval (t ).
(
(e E | (e) t P(e))
(52) inst(P, t) =
P(t)
if P is eventive
if P is stative
The predicates of times output by the imperfective operators fall into four subsets depending on how the instantiation interval t is specifically related to the maximal interval
at which a predicate holds. In (53), I am assuming that the imperfective operator has
already applied to a predicate . The subscripted e and s are just shorthand for eventive
and stative base predicates respectively. These are as follows: In (53a), the relevant interval
t is identical to the (e); in (53b), t properly includes the (e). In (53c), t is the maximal
interval at which the stative predicate s is true; in (53d), s is true at an interval that
properly contains t .
(53) a. t t e[t nf t (e) = t e (e)]
b. t t e[t nf t (e) t e (e)]
c. t t [t nf t s (t ) t (t t s (t ))]
d. t t [t nf t s (t ) t (t t s (t ))]
The imperfective-marked predicate denotes the union of these sets. For my analysis
of the imperfective and the progressive aspects to be a nested analysis, I must show that
the denotation of the imperfective-marked predicate properly contains the denotation of
the progressive-marked predicate. I want to show that the union of the two sets in (53a)
and (53c) constitutes the denotation of progressive-marked predicates, which is specified in
terms of the at relation.
The definition for at is reproduced in (54).
(
(e E | (e) = t P(e))
(54) at(P, t) =
(P(t) t (t t P(t ))
when P is eventive
when P is stative
81
at translates as in (54). Applying the progressive operator to a predicate yields the

following two subsets of predicates.
(55) a. t t e[t nf t (e) = t e (e)]
b. t t [t nf t s (t ) t (t t s (t ))]
The predicates in (55a) and (55b) are identical to the predicates in (53a) and (53c)
respectively. It is clear from this that the denotation of the progressive operator constitutes
a subset of the denotation of the imperfective operator. This proves that the analysis of
the imperfective and progressive operators proposed here is characterized by nestedness.
3.5.2
Episodicity
How does the representation of the progressive operator in terms of the at relation guarantee
that progressive predicates and the base predicates they are derived from are (typically)
interpreted as episodic? Recall the working definition for episodicity as a predicate property
that I proposed in (27) (reproduced here as (56)).
(56) a. Episodicity:
EPI(P) t[P(t) t [t t P(t )] t [(t < t t <t )
P(t )]]
b. A predicate is episodic iff any t in P is preceded or followed by a non-P time.
(56) states that a predicate is episodic if all the intervals in its denotation are parts
of intervals that are bounded. The progressive operator applies to the set of predicates
that are instantiated at a specific interval which corresponds exactly to the run-time of
the eventuality denoted by the predicate. From this, it follows that any base predicate to
which the progressive applies is instantiated at an interval which is characterized by either
left and right boundaries i.e. it is episodic. Crucially, the temporal interval t of which
the progressive interval is a subinterval, is temporally bounded.
This contrasts with the imperfective operator, which does not guarantee that the predicates it applies to are temporally bounded. The predicate instantiation interval, given by
the inst relation, includes temporally unbounded intervals,which are superintervals of the
interval at which the predicate is instantiated. The imperfective thus contrasts with the
progressive with respect to episodicity.
3.5.3
Felicity judgements with interval and object-level states
In 3.3.1, I described a class of stative predicates (labeled interval states (Dowty, 1979)
or dynamic states (Bach 1981)) that are grammatical in the progressive only in certain
82
contexts (The socks are lying on the floor vs. ?New Orleans is lying at the mouth of the
Mississippi. Dowty accounts for the contrast by claiming that interval states (lie, stand,
rest) are stage-level predicates and that the progressive is restricted to stage-level predicates.
A progressive-marked sentence asserts that its base predicate holds at one given instance
and is only felicitous in those contexts where it is known that the predicate does not hold at
other instances or when the fact is in question. In contexts where a predicate is known to
hold at several instances (as in the case of the location of cities), the progressive is judged to
be too weak and therefore infelicitous. Sentences in the simple tenses (New Orleans lies at
the mouth of the Mississippi.) are analyzed as containing habitual predicates, derived by an
abstract generic operator. The ungrammaticality of object-level stative predicates (which
are individual-level predicates) follows from the restriction of the progressive to stage-level
predicates.
There are two drawbacks to this explanation. First, the stage-level restriction for the
progressive operator has to be stipulated. Second, object-level stative predicates (weigh,
believe, love) in the progressive are categorically ruled out, contrary to facts, which allow
them in certain specific contexts. Let us first look at the facts with object-level stative
predicates .
Object-level stative predicates and the progressive
Consider the examples in (57) with object-level statives in the progressive.
(57) a. Im 8 weeks pregnant and right before I got pregnant I was weighing 187 (56), I
went to the doctor at 6 weeks and was weighing 184...19
b. The original road was extending from railhead Lashio in Burma to Kunming in
China...20
c. The first time that he said it, he was aware that it was not entirely true: but before
he went to bed he was believing it.21
In the sentence in (57a), the progressive expression denotes a property that is typically
stable but regularly subject to change in the given context: the pregnancy period. the
progressive morphology is not infelicitous in this context, although the base predicate is an
object-level state. The sentence in (57b) describes a situation that has ceased to hold; the
road referred to (Ledo road in Burma) has fallen into disrepair, is no longer used, and needs
19
www.babycenter.com/refcap/pregnancy/pregnancynutrition/1313887.html
www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs/LIOB09-environment and law in burma.htm
21
C.S. Lewis, The Dream of the Island, from The Pilgrims Regress (1986)
20
83
reconstruction. The object-level stative predicate extend is grammatical in this particular

context because it is known that the predicate does not hold over an unbounded interval of
time, specifically, that it ceased to hold at some time in the past. In (57c), believe appears
in the progressive, also licensed by the contextually-given knowledge that the predicate does
not hold of some interval prior to the interval at which it holds.
In each of these cases, object-level lexical stative predicates are perfectly acceptable
in the progressive, given an appropriate context. The interpretation with the use of the
progressive in a sentence contrasts with that of its simple tense counterpart in that the
situation denoted by the base predicate is construed as bounded and subject to change in the
progressive sentence. The corresponding simple tense counterparts are neutral with respect
to such an interpretation as can be inferred from the fact that the progressive sentences
in (57) are perfectly acceptable in the simple Past Tense as well. The syntactic restriction
of the progressive operator to stage-level predicates cannot account for the occurrence of
object-level predicates in the progressive.
On the other hand, if the progressive operator involves the at relation as I have proposed here, we can account for both the fact that object-level stative predicates typically
do not occur in the progressive, and for the fact that certain contexts license this usage.
Object-level predicates typically describe properties that cannot be temporally located in
the same way as stage-level predicates. The at relation is a temporal location relation; the
use of the progressive asserts that the base predicate is instantiated at a specific time. This
presupposition is infelicitous in most contexts because object-level stative predicates are
temporally unbounded properties. However, in some contexts, these properties are understood to be transient and temporally bounded. It is in these cases that object-level stative
predicates are considered to be compatible with the progressive morphology.
Further, the at relation eliminates the problem of stipulating that the progressive is
syntactically restricted to stage-level predicates. The progressive operator asserts that the
predicate to which it applies is temporally located at a specific interval (as opposed to being instantiated at some unspecified interval within a larger instantiation interval (given by
inst). Making the at relation a part of progressive semantics ensures that the set of predicates to which the progressive applies are temporally bounded or episodic predicates. The
episodicity of the derived progressive predicate follows as a consequence of the episodicity
of the base predicate.
84
3.5.4
Summary
In this section, I posited a semantics for the progressive operator that differs minimally
from the semantics of the imperfective operator proposed in 3.4. I showed how this semantics captures the nestedness that characterizes the relation between the exponents of
the imperfective and the progressive operators as well as providing an explanation for why
progressive-marked predicates as well as the predicates from which they are derived, are
interpreted as episodic or stage-level. In the next section, I discuss two readings of the progressive morphology that shed further light on the contribution of the progressive operator.
3.6
Some consequences and questions
Two readings of the progressive morphology support the hypothesis that the difference between the progressive and non-progressive imperfective predicates is best characterizable
by the property of episodicity. The first involves the inceptive and terminative inferences
licensed by the use of the progressive (3.6.1) and the other is the habitual/generic interpretations that sentences with progressive-marked predicates license (3.6.2). In both
cases, the contribution of the progressive morphology (or operator) is to assert the temporal delimitedness of the interval at which the eventuality denoted by the base predicate is
instantiated. The habitual reading of the progressive morphology also presents a deeper
question about the transparency of aspectual modification operations (3.6.3).
3.6.1
Inceptive and terminative inferences
Consider the examples in (58).

(58) a. ...all of a sudden they were eating breakfast together and flirting.22
b. The next thing she knew, she was living in a crappy two-bedroom in Buffalo and
enrolled at Herbert Hoover High.23
In (58a), the earlier context describes a situation where the protagonist and a woman
have not been on speaking terms. The use of the progressive in (58a) allows us to draw an
inference that they have started being on much better terms, a change of state evidenced
by the breakfast-eating and flirting episodes. The inference, strengthened by the adverbial
modifier, is that an episode of breakfast eating and flirting was not in progress (had not
22
23
www.fictionalley.org/authors/issa/DFAW07.html
www.teenreads.com/reviews/0689873190-excerpt.asp
3.6. SOME CONSEQUENCES AND QUESTIONS
85
even begun) prior to the contextually salient reference time. The progressive thus licenses
an inceptive reading, where the eventuality denoted by the base predicate is inferred as
having begun, i.e. as having a left boundary of instantiation.
Similarly, in (58b), the progressive implies that the interval at which the predicate
live-in-a-crappy-two-bedroom-flat-in-Buffalo holds is preceded by an interval at which this
predicate does not hold. In other words, the predicate is characterized at least by a left
boundary. The right boundary is left unspecified, and the living episode might continue ever
after, for all we know. The important point is that the progressive signals the episodicity
of the predicate and allows the inference that the eventuality involves a change-of-state, a
left boundary with some transition.
In (59a-c), the progressive sentences give rise to an inference (strengthened by the contexts and the until adverbials) that the eventualities denoted by the predicates are characterized by a termination point, a right boundary. (59a) describes an eventuality to which
the predicate play-well applies and introduces a later eventuality, which licenses the inference that the playing-well episode terminated. In (59c), the eventuality that the sentence
refers to is inferred as extending back in time to the origin of the tribe, and the progressive
licenses the inference that this eventuality ceased to hold at some point in time, that it was
episodic in character.
(59) a. We were playing well and then panicked.24
b. Auto sales were growing rapidly until exorbitant import tariffs in 1994 cut deeply
into sales of imported cars from authorized dealers.25
c. Their tribe was living peacefully until one day.26
Notice that (59b-c) are also grammatical in the simple tenses. The additional contribution of the progressive in these cases is to signal the transition to or from the state/process
denoted by the base predicate.27 The inference is that the base predicate from which the
progressive predicate is derived refers to temporally bounded eventualities whose endpoints
24
www.jconline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060304/SPORTS02010202/603040338/1152
www.infoservices.com/stpete/65.htm
26
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0440439884?v=glance
27
Dowty 1979: 150) argues that the terminative inferences licensed by the progressive support a modal
analysis of the progressive.
25
(60) John was watching television when Bill entered the room. (Dowty 1979:150)
In (60), the sentence does not entail that the television watching went on after the entering event; the
episode might have terminated. The real entailment is that it was possible that the television-watching
continued beyond the time specified by the when-clause.
86
can be invoked by the use of the progressive. This inference is licensed because progressive predicates (and their base predicates) are episodic and this property follows from the
semantics of the progressive operator that has been proposed in 3.5.
3.6.2
The habitual reading of the progressive
Yet another reading available to sentences with progressive-marked predicates based on

episodic verbal predicates is the habitual reading (Sag, 1973). On this reading, the predicate to which the progressive operator applies is interpreted as a derived habitual/generic
predicate rather than an episodic predicate. The progressive-marked sentences in (61) illustrate this reading.
(61) a. John was driving to the university until he rented an apartment closer to it.
b. For the first two months, Mary was putting the baby to bed.
c. Meanwhile, poachers are killing males (elephants) at an alarming rate for their
tusks, which sell for lots of money on the black market.28
In the first example (61a), drive-to-the-university is an eventive predicate, but the
progressive-marked sentence does not refer to a subinterval of the interval corresponding to
a single episode of driving to the university. Rather, it conveys that there exists a larger
interval within which there occurred multiple events in which John drove to the university
and that this larger interval is of a temporally delimited nature. Similarly, in (61b), we infer
that there were several culminated events of putting the child to bed during the two-month
interval specified by the adverbial. Likewise for (61c).
One diagnostic for picking out this reading is to check whether the entailment that
the event was completed goes through. If the progressive sentence is based on an eventive
predicate, then it cannot entail that the event culminated (conveyed by the corresponding
Simple Past sentence). However, if the progressive sentence is based on a habitual predicate,
then the entailment about the culmination of an event denoted by the predicate associated
with the sentence-radical should go through. This contrast is seen in (62). The adverbial
modifiers serve to disambiguate the two readings, but are not necessary to license them.
(62) a. Yesterday, Mary was putting the baby to bed.
b. 2 Mary put the baby to bed.
c. For the first two months, Mary was putting the baby to bed.
d. Mary put the baby to bed.
28
http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20031210/Feature1.asp
87
These facts suggest that the progressive predicate, on the habitual reading, does not
directly apply to the eventive predicate associated with the uninflected sentence-radical, but
rather to a derived habitual/generic predicate based on this sentence radical. The derivation
is possibly effected by some abstract operator similar to GEN. The basic difference between
(62a) and (62c) can be represented by the structures in (63a) and (63c) respectively.
(63) a. [PST[PROG[mary-put-the-baby-to-bed]]]
b. [PST[PROG[GEN[mary-put-the-baby-to-bed]]]]
The sentences in (61) are all also acceptable in the simple tenses with the habitual
interpretation. In the simple tenses, the habitual interpretation can be said to arise because
of a null GEN operator that applies directly to base episodic predicates. A habitual sentence
like (64a) has the structure in (64b).
(64) a. For the first two months, Mary put the baby to bed.
b. [PST[GEN[mary-put-the-baby-to-bed]]]
What is the additional semantic contribution made by the progressive operator applied
to the predicate derived by a covert GEN operator? I think that the effect of the progressive
applied to habitual stative predicates is similar to the effect that it has on object-level stative
predicates, discussed in 3.5.3. The progressive sentence contributes the additional assertion
that the interval in which the habitual predicate is instantiated is temporally delimited; its
simple tense counterpart is neutral with respect to this information. Progressive predicates,
based on habitual/generic predicates, denote states that are characterized by episodicity
and subject to change.
As Gennari (2003) notes, both lexical stative and habitual predicates are temporally
persistent. They license an inference that they hold of superintervals of the intervals at
which they hold. The progressive operator, specified in terms of the at relation, explicitly
cancels this inference, because it asserts that the base predicate is instantiated only at a
specific interval. The at relation, as defined for stative predicates, asserts that there is no
superinterval that properly contains the at interval at which the stative predicate holds.
It is this explication of the temporal boundary for stative predicates that is contributed by
the progressive operator and that gives rise to the episodic interpretation for progressivemarked habitual predicates. This explicit information is absent for sentences in the simple
tenses which are therefore neutral with respect to the temporal boundaries of the intervals
in their denotation.
88
Before I conclude this section, let me point out that this reading for the progressive
is not specific to English, but available to progressive morphology in other languages as
well. My examples here come from Marathi (and this reading is also available to the Hindi
Progressive). In Chapter 6, I will distinguish between languages that do not allow for this
reading and languages in which this reading is predicted to be available, and propose an
analysis that explains this variation within the progressive.
(65) a. gad.
vikat ghyay-cy
a
adhi
car.nom buy-inf-obl
c
alat j
a-t
nis.a
kam
avar
before N-nom.sg work-loc
hoti
walk go-prog pst.3.f.sg

Before buying a car, Nisa was walking (lit: going walking) to work.
b. pahile don mahin-e
first
nisa
b
a.la-la
zhop-va-t
hoti
two month-pl, N-nom.sg baby-acc.sg sleep-caus-prog pst.3.f.sg
For the first two months, Nisa was putting the baby to bed.
The Marathi examples in (65) are sentences with progressive marking. The progressive
operator in Marathi is expressed by a periphrastic construction formed with the verbal
participle with the affix -t and tense auxiliaries. In both examples, the progressive modifies
a habitual predicate derived from an eventive predicate. (65a) refers to an interval during
which the subject referent, Nisa
made several trips to her workplace, while (65b) is licenses
the interpretation that Nisa
was responsible for putting the baby to bed or habitually put
the baby to bed for the first two months (presumably after the babys birth).
In the next section, I will point out why the habitual reading of the progressive presents
a problem for one tenet of the approach taken here transparency.
3.6.3
Transparency and derived stative predicates
In Chapter 2, I argued that one drawback of existing analyses of the imperfective and the
progressive operators is that they appeal to covert, morphologically null operators that yield
predicates that form the input to morphologically realized overt operators. For instance,
eventuality-based analyses posit covert stativizing operators (e.g. De Swart 1998) while
interval-based analyses assume some operator that must derive habitual predicates from
base episodic predicates (e.g. Bohnemeyer 2002). The relation between the base predicate
interval and the derived predicate interval is not explicitly provided in either analysis. The
goal in this chapter was to provide a semantics for the imperfective and the progressive operators that explicitly related the intervals denoted by imperfective- or progressive-marked
89
predicates with the intervals at which the base predicate is instantiated. One guiding principle for this analysis was transparency.
A transparent approach takes overt morphological information seriously and attempts to
compositionally build meaning with minimal reference to covert operations. The challenge
for such an approach is to develop an appropriate load-bearing semantics for morphological
categories such as aspectual markers that can yield the range of interpretations available
to them without requiring the mediation of covert stativizers or other such devices. Formulating the imperfective operator in terms of the inst relation, for instance, gives an
underspecified semantics that accounts for the main readings of imperfective-marked predicates (progressive, habitual/generic, lexical stative, and perfective) and is also transparent.
On this account, the imperfective morphology (affixal or constructional) realizes the imperfective operator and applies directly to sentence-radicals to yield the right kind of predicate
without intervening covert operations. I take this to be an advantage of my analysis in that
it does not require the postulation of an abstract stativizing or some such similar operator, but directly relates the base predicate with the imperfective-marked predicate via the
semantics of overt imperfective morphology.29
Transparency is a methodological desideratum rather than a rigid constraint on logical
representations. The hypothesis is that the constituents of the surface string of a sentence are the primary meaning bearing parts of a given semantic structure. The resulting
semantic output may be ambiguous between several interpretations, which could then be
disambiguated by covert operations that select for particular readings. Transparency only
rules out the postulation of abstract operations before surface operations have taken place.
In other words, positing a covert operator to whose output an overt morphologically realized operator applies (e.g. De Swarts analysis of the French Imparfait from Chapter 2),
is dispreferred on this approach. Transparency is a restrictive principle and places serious
constraints on the kinds of explanations that are acceptable, putting a particular emphasis
on determining the lexical meanings of grammatical morphology such as tense/aspect markers. In the semantic domain examined here of the imperfective and the progressive aspects,
this restrictiveness has served a useful purpose in providing a relatively simple semantics
for the two operators. The alternative type of analysis, which resorts to covert operations,
is not only less explanatory but also lacks the diachronic and cross-linguistic applicability
that the analysis proposed here offers.
However, this approach faces a problem when dealing with the habitual reading of
29
An operator like gen is still available as a covert quantificational adverbial operator but the crucial
difference is that it does not have the status of a stativizer, and it operates on the output of an imperfectivemarked predicate to license the generic reading.
90
progressive-marked predicates, where the interpretation requires that an abstract habitual

operator be applied before the progressive operator has applied.
The non-habitual and the habitual readings of the progressive can be informally expressed by the two structures in (66) for the expression Mary was putting the baby to bed.
On the standard progressive reading (66a), the sentence refers to a single event, while on
the habitual reading (66b) the sentence refers to a delimited stretch of time in which Mary
was in the habit of putting the baby to bed.
(66) a. [PST[PROG[mary-put-the-baby-to-bed]]]
b. [PST[PROG[GEN[mary-put-the-baby-to-bed]]]]
The problem for the transparency approach is that there seems to be no overt morphological structure that corresponds to the semantic operation induced by the GEN operator
in the semantic structure in (66b). At least for this case, we must assume a covert operator
that applies to the sentence-radical before an overt operator such as the progressive does. A
possible way out of this problem is to argue that this effect (covert before overt) is a result
of a conflict between the complexity of the semantic structure and the expressive constraints
on the morpho-syntactic structure. English has an aspectually neutral tense morphology
(which is compatible with all aspectual interpretations, constrained by blocking) and an
overt progressive operator. Sentences in the aspectually neutral simple tenses license the habitual interpretation because they are aspectually under-specified and compatible with both
imperfective and perfective interpretations. Sentences with progressive-marked predicates
license the interpretation that the base predicate is temporally delimited. The language
does not have the expressive resources to deal with the complex semantics necessitated by
an episodic predicate based on a derived habitual predicate. The outcome is that either
morphological operator is acceptable for the expression of this complex semantic structure.
Evidence for this is that both the simple tense morphology or the progressive morphology
are acceptable in the expression of derived habitual episodic predicates. In (67a-b), we see
that both the simple past and the progressive are acceptable verb forms for the derived
predicate and contribute a more or less similar meaning. On the other hand, in (67c-d), the
semantic effect of the simple past and the progressive verb forms is markedly different.
(67) a. For two months, Mary was putting the baby to bed.
b. For two months, Mary put the baby to bed.
c. Yesterday, Mary was putting the baby to bed.
d. Yesterday, Mary put the baby to bed.
3.7. THE IMPERFECTIVE, THE PROGRESSIVE, AND BLOCKING
91
This does not constitute a solution to the problem posed for transparency by the habitual progressive data, but presents an alternative approach to dealing with the semantic
contribution of morphological material without resorting to covert material. The problem
still remains open for further research.
3.7
The imperfective, the progressive, and blocking
In 3.2.2, I claimed that in languages which realize the imperfective and the progressive
aspects imperfective-marked sentences typically do not license the progressive interpretation. On the other hand, the progressive interpretation is available to the imperfective in
languages without a morphological progressive. These data can be interpreted in two ways:
(a) the semantics of the imperfective operator differs from language to language, or (b) the
semantics of the imperfective operator remains constant, but its distribution depends on the
presence or absence of a morphologically realized progressive category. The second interpretation makes a stronger universal claim about the semantics of the imperfective operator and
requires a further assumption that morphological forms with overlapping semantics are in a
blocking distribution. The morphological realization of a specific semantic category blocks
the application of a general semantic category in the specific domain. The nested analysis
of the imperfective and the progressive that has been presented here provides an appropriate semantics to express the blocking relation. The range of the morphologically realized
progressive operator is a subset of the range of the imperfective operator, and therefore,
progressive-marked predicates block the progressive interpetation for imperfective-marked
predicates. This semantics, together with the assumption of blocking, provides a simple explanation for the variation in the distribution of the imperfective morphology in languages
with and without a morphologically realized progressive.
One contribution of the approach adopted here is that it teases apart the roles of morphological organization and semantic specification in the surface distribution of aspect markers
in languages. It demonstrates how the distribution of an aspect marker is not solely determined by its semantic specification, but also by the existence and semantic specification of
other aspect markers in the language.
3.7.1
Exceptions to blocking
However, the problem with this explanation, as I mentioned in 1.2.2, is that the blocking
relation between exponents of aspectual categories does not parallel the relatively exceptionless pattern of morphological blocking phenomena. Not all languages which realize
92
both the imperfective and the progressive categories block the progressive interpretation
for imperfective-marked predicates. In this variety of languages, imperfective-marked predicates appear to be in free variation with progressive-marked predicates in licensing progressive interpretation.
Consider the examples from Godie, a language of the Kru family (Marchese 1979: 108).
In (68a), a special locative construction licenses a progressive interpretation. In (68b),
the verb appears in the imperfective form and may license both progressive and a nonprogressive habitual interpretation.
(68) a. O
s0k
2 6l1
d2
she prog rice pound place

She is pounding rice.
b. O
6l1
s0k
2
she pound-impf rice

a. She (habitually) pounds rice.
b. She is pounding rice.
Marchese further notes that in Godie (and most other Kru languages), the overlap in
the possible interpretations for the progressive and the imperfective (labeled incompletive
by him) aspectual morphology is constrained in one direction. The imperfective marker is
compatible with a progressive interpretation; the progressive morphology is never compatible with a non-progressive (e.g. habitual or lexical) interpretation. So, for instance, the
sentence in (68a) cannot receive the characterizing interpretation that the subject referent
habitually pounds rice. A similar distribution of progressive and imperfective verb forms is
also attested in more familiar languages such as French and Spanish. (69) gives examples
from French that parallel the distribution of the progressive and imperfective in Godie.
(69) a. Il lave
sa voiture
he wash-impf his car

a. He washes his car.
b. He is washing his car.
b. Il est
en train de laver sa voiture
he be.3.sg in process of wash his car

a. He is washing his car.
b. *He washes his car.
93
It might appear that my analysis for the progressive and the imperfective operators
is weakened by data from languages where the blocking relation does not hold between
progressive- and imperfective-marked predicates. However, notice that the explanation
provided here consists of two parts: (a) a nested analysis for the denotations of imperfective
and progressive predicates, and (b) the blocking assumption. While the data from Godie
and French shows that blocking is not exceptionless, it provides further evidence that the
nestedness analysis is on the right track.
The overlap between the imperfective- and progressive-marked predicates is constrained;
only imperfective-marked predicates can optionally license the progressive interpretation,
and not vice versa. This demonstrates clearly that the denotation of imperfective-marked
predicates properly includes the denotation of progressive-marked predicates the crux
of my hypothesis implemented by the nestedness property of the analysis proposed in this
chapter. The data then does not pose a problem for the particular semantics that I have
proposed for the two operators. However, it does pose a serious problem for my conception of the morphological relations that determine the distribution of overlapping semantic
categories viz. the blocking assumption. If blocking in the aspectual domain appears to
be a language-specific option and not a categorical crosslinguistic fact, should we give up
the idea of blocking entirely as part of the explanation for the distribution of overlapping
semantic categories?
I think that the blocking assumption captures in a very intuitive way the insight of
grammaticalization-based/typological studies that aspectual categories are in a privative
opposition and makes a strong prediction about how aspectual space could get distributed
when both the general and specific categories are morphologically realized in a given language. This prediction is validated in one set of languages, but falsified in another set.
Rather than giving up the blocking hypothesis entirely, it appears to be more reasonable to
examine whether there might exist yet another factor conditioning the relative distribution
of overlapping semantic categories that can explain this diverging behavior. In the next
section, I discuss two possible candidates for this part of the explanation: (a) competition
between economy and expressiveness; and (b) diachronic status of aspect morphology. I
propose that either of these factors could be seen as limiting the effect of the blocking
principle and contributing to determining the distribution of aspectual categories.
94
3.7.2
Blocking and free variation
Competition between expressiveness and economy

Koontz-Garboden (2004) observes that there is statistical variation between Spanish monolinguals and bilinguals in the use of forms licensing progressive interpretation. Specifically,
Spanish speakers, influenced by their contact with English, tend to use the Spanish Progressive (a periphrastic construction) more frequently than monolingual speakers in the
expression of progressive meaning. The other competing form for the same progressive semantics is the Spanish Present, a synthetic form. Koontz-Garboden proposes two opposing
constraints (framed within Optimality theory) to account for this variation in the expression of progressive meaning. The first is a faithfulness constraint (max-) which favors the
use of the form that is semantically more specified with respect to the input specification.
The second is a markedness constraint (labeled *X0 ) that penalizes overt syntactic structure. The faithfulness constraint prefers candidates that are maximally expressive with
respect to the input (expressiveness). The markedness constraint prefers syntactically
and morphologically less complex forms (economy). The Spanish Progressive is a more
expressive but less economical form. The Spanish Present is a less expressive but more
economical form. Koontz-Garboden argues that the monolingual/bilingual variation arises
as a result of variation in the probabilistic distribution of these two constraints and predicts
that such variation can only arise in languages with both a synthetic and analytic means
for expressing the progressive aspect.
Kiparsky (2005) offers a similar account of the Vedic Injunctive, a morphological form
that freely alternates with several other tense/aspect marking categories in Vedic in a
puzzling way. Kiparsky argues that the free ranking of expressiveness and economy
constraints predicts a free alternation between less expressive (less explicitly specified) but
more economical and more expressive but less economical forms for the expression of a given
meaning.
Looking back to my formulation of blocking, we can reconceive of it as really articulating
the faithfulness or the expressiveness constraint. The blocking principle states that given
two available forms for the expression of a meaning , the most explicit, semantically specific
form is used for expressing . Based on Koontz-Garboden (2004) and Kiparsky (2005), we
can see that in addition to semantic specification, morphological/syntactic complexity also
counts as a determining factor in whether one or both of the competing forms surface in
the language in the expression of the same semantics.
I noted earlier in 3.7.1 that languages with a morphologically realized imperfective and
95
progressive fall into two sets those where the imperfective does not license a progressive
interpretation (e.g. Hindi); those where the imperfective freely alternates with the progressive in licensing the progressive interpretation (e.g. Godie, French). The proposals discussed
here allow us to make sense of this diverging behavior in languages with the same set of
morphosyntactic devices. In the first case, we have a categorical ranking of expressiveness
above economy which prevents the imperfective-marked predicate (regardless of whether
it is simple or complex) from licensing the progressive interpretation. In the second case,
we have a free non-categorical ranking between the two constraints that results in the free
alternation between the forms output by either constraint ranking.30
(70) a. expressiveness economy (Hindi, Swahili)
b. expressiveness, economy (Godie, French, Spanish)
To conclude, this section shows that in languages with both imperfective and a progressive forms, their distribution is determined not only by the blocking principle but also by
the relative morphological complexity of both forms. This third factor predicts that free
variation between the general imperfective-marked predicates and the specific progressivemarked predicates will only be attested in languages where the former class of predicates is
morphologically simpler than the latter class of predicates.
Diachronic status of aspect morphology
The second possible explanation for free variation between imperfective- and progressivemarked predicates is not an independent explanation but closely relates to and builds upon
the one sketched out above. The basic idea is that free variation occurs only in those
cases where the exponent of the progressive aspect is diachronically more recent than the
exponent of the imperfective aspect, and is not a fully grammaticalized aspect marker. The
relative chronological appearance of the imperfective and progressive morphology links with
the earlier explanation of morphological complexity in two ways.
First, forms for innovated semantic categories are built up from the existing morphosyntactic devices in a language and are expected to be morpho-syntactically more complex
than forms for already existing semantic categories. So the claim that the marker for the
progressive aspect be diachronically more recent than the marker for the imperfective aspect
is compatible with the situation that the progressive marker is structurally more complex
30
Notice that on the third possible ranking where economy is categorically ranked above expressiveness,
the specific yet morphologically complex progressive form would never be expected to surface.
96
than the imperfective marker. Not only is it compatible, it further provides a motivation
for why the progressive might be structurally more complex than the imperfective.
Second, if the progressive marker is diachronically more recent than the imperfective
marker, we can predict that the general imperfective marker licensed the progressive interpretation at the pre-progressive stage. In the absence of a competing more expressive
expression such as a progressive marker, the imperfective emerges the winning candidate in
the expression of progressive semantics. The innovation of the semantically more expressive
progressive marker, facilitated by the morphosyntactic resources of the language, results in
competition between the older imperfective and the innovated progressive forms. The same
constraints of economy and expressiveness, ranked freely with respect to each other,
account for this competition and the resulting free alternation. The less expressive but
more economical imperfective form alternates with the more expressive but less economical
innovated progressive.
On this diachronic scenario, the competition is assumed to be the consequence of an
innovation that changes the aspectual sub-system. This line of explanation takes a more restrictive perspective on free variation than the accounts offered by Koontz-Garboden (2004)
and Kiparsky (2005). Specifically, it hypothesizes that imperfective- and the progressivemarked predicates will alternate in the expression of progressive semantics in only those
languages in which the progressive is a relatively more recently innovated category than the
imperfective. It also hypothesizes that every language with an innovated progressive form
and an existing imperfective form should undergo a stage where the two forms are in free
alternation: a stage with free constraint ranking between expressiveness and economy.
This explanation also goes one step further in predicting three logical possibilities as
the diachronic outcome of constraint competition. The first possibility is that the free
ranking of constraints remains stable in the language system, while the other possibility is
that the freely ranked constraints are later reordered into a categorical ranking. The free
variation scenario in (71a) outputs a system in which the imperfective and the progressive
(or to generalize, the more economical but less expressive vs. the less economical but more
expressive form) forms remain in a stable relation of free variation. The ordering in (71b)
outputs a system where the distribution of the imperfective is blocked by the progressive
(e.g. Hindi), while the ordering in (71c) outputs a system in which an innovated progressive
fails to be established as a stable grammatical category in the language.
(71) a. economy, expressiveness
b. expressiveness economy
c. economy expressiveness
3.8. CONCLUSION
97
It is an empirical question whether the attested cases of (71a), for instance, Spanish,
French, or Godie reflect an effect of a stable grammar with freely ranked constraints or
whether they represent the intermediate stage from a progressive-less system to one with the
progressive, which, as I stated before, must be characterized by a non-categorical constraint
ranking. The latter option makes a stronger claim about the distribution of the imperfective
and the progressive (and more generally, general and specific aspectual forms). The claim
is that all cases where the distribution of imperfective- and progressive-marked predicates
is not determined by the blocking principle, are cases of a grammar in flux or a non-stable
system with free non-categorical constraint ranking. Such grammars are predicted, on this
claim, to diachronically move to a more stable system of categorical constraint ranking,
instantiating the systems in (71b) or (71c). it remains to be seen if such a strong claim can
be justified and what kind of data could constitute evidence for it.
Summary
The question for this section was whether there is an explanation for why languages which
realize both a progressive and an imperfective category show diverging distributional properties for the imperfective. In particular, the blocking principle failed to explain the existence
of languages in which the imperfective freely alternates with the progressive in licensing the
progressive interpretation. I sketched out an explanation for this free variation along the
approach taken in Koontz-Garboden (2004) and Kiparsky (2005) to argue for the relevance
of morpho-syntactic complexity as yet another factor in determining the distribution of the
two types of predicates. I also offered a sketch of a diachronic explanation that builds up on
these formal accounts and motivates the free variation in terms of the relative recency of the
specificprogressive marker. The diachronic story also makes distinct predictions about the
outcome of the constraint competition which corresponds to three typological possibilities
for the changes following the innovation of a progressive marker. Finally, I proposed that
one of these possibilities (free variation) could be reduced to the transitional effect of a
system in flux rather than being the reflection of a stable system of free constraint ranking.
3.8
Conclusion
Let us summarize the main points of discussion in this chapter. In 3.2, I presented crosslinguistic and diachronic ecidence to argue that the semantic similarity between lexical stative,
progressive, and habitual predicates observed in Chapter 2 has morphological correlates in
synchronic and diachronic phenomena. Based on these facts, I set out to provide an analysis
98
for the imperfective and the progressive operators that is consistent with the nestedness relation that characterizes their outputs. An additional constraint was that the operators be
load-bearing i.e. they specify how the inferences they license follow from the predicates of
temporal intervals that they yield. In 3.4, I proposed that the imperfective operator should
be formulated in terms of the inst relation. This formulation provided a natural account
for the progressive, lexical stative, habitual/generic, as well as the (sometimes attested)
perfective-like readings of sentences with imperfective-marked predicates. The semantics of
the progressive operator (3.5) , formulated in terms of the at relation, constitutes a minor
variation on the imperfective operator. However, this difference can account for the main
readings available to sentences with progressive-marked predicates and straightforwardly
show why the denotation of progressive predicates is a proper subset of the denotation of
imperfective predicates. I also showed how the specification of progressive semantics in
terms of at in contrast to inst is also responsible for the episodicity effect of the progressive. In 3.6 I discussed two additional inferences licensed by progressive-marked predicates
and considered why one of these the habitual reading of the progressive poses a
problem for the transparency principle that has guided this analysis. 3.7 showed that a
nested semantics for the imperfective and progressive operators, together with the blocking
principle, failed to account for a subset of languages which realize both the progressive and
imperfective operators. These are languages in which there is no blocking effect; the imperfective freely alternates with the progressive in the expression of progressive semantics.
I suggested, based on analyses of comparable data, that in such cases, yet a third factor,
viz. morphological complexity, is responsible for determining the relative distribution of the
two categories. I provided a sketch of a diachronic explanation that motivates the formal
account offered for such free variation.
Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 are empirical studies of diachronic and synchronic facts about
the distribution and interpretation of the imperfective and progressive markers in some
Indo-Aryan languages. These chapters build up on and further substantiate the theoretical
analysis developed in this chapter. The next chapter provides the background for comprehending the changes in the systems discussed in these later chapters.
Chapter 4
The loss of tense distinctions

4.1
Introduction
This chapter, together with Chapters 5 and 6, comprises the empirical basis of my dissertation. Part of the goal of this dissertation is to reconstruct some broad changes in the
diachrony of the Indo-Aryan tense/aspect system. This empirical goal interfaces with the
theoretical account of the imperfective and progressive aspects from Chapters 2 and 3 in
a dual way. First, there are some patterns of change and variation in the history of IndoAryan languages that can be naturally explained with the theory developed there. On the
other hand, diachronic data from a language family as well and long documented as IndoAryan, can allow us to reassess and make precise our understanding of patterns of change
in aspectual categories (such as the grammaticalization paths briefly described in Chapter
3). The next two chapters will explicate this relation.
In this chapter, I build the empirical background necessary to understand the changes
occurring in late Middle Indo-Aryan (MIA) and New Indo-Aryan (NIA) languages. In doing
so, I also make an original empirical claim about the reorganization of the tense/aspect
system from Old Indo-Aryan (OIA) to MIA.1 In particular, I show that the proto-system
underlying at least some Indo-Aryan languages must be reconstructed as an aspect-based
system that lacks a morphologically expressed tense contrast.
I will argue that both textual data and synchronic comparison support the reconstruction
of the following broad changes in the Indo-Aryan tense/aspect system:
1
When I speak about tense/aspect systems at the level of the language family rather than individual
languages or dialects, I am not over-generalizing. The effects of the particular changes I am concerned with
are visible in most MIA dialects and their NIA descendents, justifying this generalization.
99
100
CHAPTER 4. THE LOSS OF TENSE DISTINCTIONS
(1) a. Morphological distinctions between the past, present, and future tenses in OIA
were lost in the proto tense/aspect system underlying some NIA languages.
b. The present-past distinction was lost in the transition from OIA to MIA.
c. The resulting MIA system was based on the contrast between the imperfective and
perfective aspects.
d. OIA future tense morphology was lost in a subset of the MIA dialects, viz. the
ancestors of the standard languages Marathi and Hindi.
This claim is new for Indo-Aryan historical linguistics for the following reason. Although
the loss of individual tense/aspect markers and paradigms has been carefully documented in
Indo-Aryan historical grammars (Beames, 1872-79; Bloch, 1914; Kellogg, 1893, and others),
this loss has not been connected to the reorganization of the larger tense/aspect system
along aspectual lines. In particular, it has been assumed that the semantic category Tense
is morphosyntactically encoded in Indo-Aryan at all times from OIA onwards. My claim is
that the facts require a different interpretation. While OIA and many contemporary NIA
languages both have morphological tense distinctions, at least a subset of MIA languages
are best analyzable as lacking this category. I present two kinds of evidence in support of
this claim: (a) textual data from MIA and early NIA, and (b) internal and comparative
reconstruction based on the synchronic distribution of OIA-cognate morphology in the NIA
languages. I show that a number of the distributional properties of the MIA and synchronic
NIA tense/aspect markers fall into place once we assume that the OIA tensed system was
reorganized along the aspectual dimension at some stage in MIA.
A full treatment of the changes in the tense/aspect system from OIA to NIA in all
its detail is far beyond the scope of this brief study. The goal is rather to determine
what the broader principles are that might underlie the loss and innovation of tense/aspect
markers and changes in the distribution and interpretation of existing markers in Indo-Aryan
diachrony. The loss and reacquisition of morphological tense marking appears to be one
promising candidate for this. The goal for this chapter is to present the various arguments
that support this hypothesis, creating the basis for asking more specific empirical questions
about change in Indo-Aryan tense/aspect.
The fact that such a change has been extensively documented through textual data over
a long period of time is also exciting from a theoretical perspective, since it can provide
the empirical basis for furthering our understanding of how languages change from being
tense-based systems to aspect-based systems and vice versa. If there are generalizations to
be made about morphological expression and loss of overt tense marking over time and the
101
4.1. INTRODUCTION
principles that determine this, the Indo-Aryan family presents a rich location for studying
them.2
4.1.1
Indo-Aryan chronology and the data
The chronological ordering of the linguistic stages that I will be referring to is in (2). IndoAryan languages are divided into three broad stages separated by double lines in (2),
with sub-stages within each stage.
(2) The Chronology3
timeline
language
source
1700-1200BCE
Vedic (OIA)
200BCE
Epic Sanskrit (OIA)
R
. gveda (RV)
Mahabh
arata (MBh)
300BC-700CE
Prakrit (MIA)
Vasudevahimd
. i (VH)
700-1000CE
Apabhram
sa (MIA)
1000-1500CE
Old Marathi (Old NIA)
Dnyaneswar (D)
Govindaprabhucaritra (GC)
Old Gujarati (Old NIA)

Old Hindi (Old NIA)
Present
S.ad.avasyakab
alavabodha.(SB)
Prithviraja R
aso (PR)
Gujarati, Marathi, Hindi (NIA)

Pawri, Dehawali, Ahirani (NIA)
Konkana (NIA)
The leftmost column in (2) gives the approximate dates for each period, the center
column gives the name for the language(s) or dialect(s) representing the period, and the
rightmost column gives the textual source used for each period. For the contemporary NIA
languages, the data is based on my native intutions (Marathi and Hindi) and fieldwork
with informants (Gujarati, Pawri, Dehawali, Ahirani, and Konkana). The data for the
non-standard languages (Pawri, Dehawali, Ahirani, and Konkana) report my own fieldwork
findings. Some of the OIA data and most of the MIA and Old NIA historical data are
findings from my own textual research.
2
It is worthwhile to note that Proto Indo-European has been reconstructed as an aspect-based system
lacking morphological tense marking. Vedic, the oldest documented OIA language, on the other hand, makes
morphological tense distinctions. If I am correct, MIA (or more precisely, the proto-system for some NIA
languages) lacks tense distinctions, while NIA regains them. This suggests a cyclic pattern for loss and
acquisition of tense at least within this branch of Indo-European.
3
Approximate dates are based on Witzel (1999), Bubenik (1996), Alsdorf(1936), Tulpule (1960), Pandit
(1976), Beames (1966).
102
4.1.2
Structure of the chapter
The organization of this chapter is as follows. In 4.2, I describe the present and past
referring categories in Vedic and Epic Sanskrit, which shows the OIA does morphologize the
present-past tense distinction. The main goal of 4.3 is to demonstrate that unlike the OIA
system, MIA does not contrast the past and present tenses, but realigns its morphological
forms along an aspectual contrast between the imperfective and the perfective aspects. I
provide textual evidence from MIA to argue against two widely held assumptions in the
MIA grammatical literature (a) the OIA Present Tense paradigm (labeled impf here)
realizes present tense in MIA and (b) the OIA ta participial paradigm realizes the past
tense in MIA. In particular, I show how these forms have been inaccurately classified despite
careful documentation of their actual distribution in the MIA texts. In 4.4, I support my
claim with evidence from NIA languages, which reflect to varying degrees, the aspectual
properties of the impf paradigm and its lack of temporal specification. I argue that the NIA
facts can be accounted for only on the hypothesis that impf realizes imperfective aspect
in MIA. In 4.5, I present some evidence for the loss of the relatively stable OIA Future
Tense morphology for the ancestor of some NIA languages, thus reconstructing a completely
tense-less state for one branch of Middle Indic. In 4.6 I bring up a puzzle for the apparent
change in the semantics of the impf paradigm from OIA to MIA. How does a morphological
marker for present tense radically shift to become a marker of imperfective aspect? I lay out
a tentative hypothesis that impf realizes imperfective aspect at all stages in Indo-Aryan
and that its apparent restriction to the present tense in OIA is an effect of the presence of
past referring categories in OIA. This hypothesis can provide a natural explanation for the
distributional changes in impf from OIA to MIA. 4.7 summarizes the evidence and my
interpretation of it and concludes.
4.2
The past-present distinction: OIA to MIA
The main goal in this section is to demonstrate that the morphologized distinction between
the past and present tenses that characterizes the OIA tense/aspect system is absent in
its MIA counterpart. I proceed to show this in the following way. First, I describe the
distribution of the morphological forms that refer to past and present eventualities in OIA
and show that the two tenses are morphologically contrasted at that stage. 4.2.1 provides
a brief description of the Vedic tense/aspect system focusing on morphological markers
with present and past time reference. 4.2.2 describes the properties of the tense/aspect
system of Epic Sanskrit, concentrating on the collapse of semantic distinctions between the
103
4.2. THE PAST-PRESENT DISTINCTION: OIA TO MIA
various past-referring categories of Vedic and the increase in the use of the perf morphology
for past time reference. In 4.2.3, I describe the morphologically simplified tense/aspect
system of MIA, and demonstrate that the loss of past-referring finite verb morphology
has consequences for the configuration of the tense/aspect system, as is evidenced in the
distribution of both the impf and perf morphology. 4.4 brings in further evidence for the
loss of the past-present distinction in MIA based on comparative data from synchronic NIA
languages.
4.2.1
OIA: Vedic
The OIA verbal morphological system consists of several paradigms marking distinct intersections of temporal, aspectual, and modal categories (Delbr
uck, 1888; Whitney, 1889;
Speijer, 1886). The discussion here is restricted to the present and past tense forms of the
indicative mood. Descriptive grammars of OIA make reference to a number of finite past
tenses that are employed in referring to past eventualities the Imperfect, the Aorist, and
the Perfect. The distribution of these forms is extremely complex and involves a number of
apparently overlapping contexts of occurrence. For a detailed description of the range of semantic interpretations available to each of the past-referring categories, the reader may turn
to Delbr
uck 1888, Gonda 1962, Renou 1925, and Hoffman 1967. The main generalizations
for Vedic tense/aspect have been worked out by Delbr
uck (1888) and more recently, analyzed in a Reichenbachian framework by Kiparsky (1998).4 The distribution of the various
forms is summarized in (3).
(3)
tense
aspect
neutral
perfective
perfect
a-gaccha-t
a-g
a-t
ja-g
a-ma
Imperfect
Aorist
Perfect
present
imperfective
gaccha-ti
Present
past
The only point where Kiparskys analysis differs from the one summarized here is with respect to the
Aorist. Kiparsky analyzes the Aorist as denoting the resultative perfect. However, he does show that
the Aorist allows for eventive past time interpretations, a property at odds with the stative meaning of a
resultative category. Gonda (1962) describes in detail both the eventive and resultative uses of the Aorist.
This distribution suggests that it could be a category similar to the Russian Perfective, which licenses both
eventive and stative interpretations (Paslavska & von Stechow, 2003). This difference of opinion is not of
import to the discussion here, which is limited to establishing that Vedic morphologizes the present-past
distinction.
104
Each italicized form is the third person singluar form of the paradigm that it represents
for the verb gam go. The term below the form lists the label for the paradigm in the
Indo-European tradition. The cell that a form occurs in indicates how the distribution of
that paradigm may be best (although not perfectly) classified in terms of language-neutral
semantic categories. The neutral aspect cells indicates that the paradigm is not specified
for any aspect, but is compatible with both perfective and imperfective representations (in
spite of the misleading name for the neutral past tense form the Imperfect).
The Present in Vedic
The Present paradigm listed in (4) is an important morphological paradigm in Indo-Aryan
diachrony that has cognates in the MIA and NIA languages.
(4) Present tense paradigm
person
sg
dual
pl
1-m f n
gacch
a-mi
gacch
a-vas
gacch
a-mas
2-m f n
gaccha-si
gaccha-thas
gaccha-tha
3-m f n
gaccha-ti
gaccha-tas
gaccha-nti
The changes in the distribution of this paradigm and the interpretations it is associated
with will be traced over a broad diachronic period. In particular, although the paradigm is
restricted to the present time imperfective interpretation in OIA, this changes at the MIA
and NIA stages. Forms from this paradigm, regardless of which stage they appear at, are
uniformly glossed impf (for imperfective aspect) in the boldface, in contrast to other glosses
which follow the small capitals convention.
The impf paradigm realizes the present tense in Vedic. It is aspectually imperfective
and licenses both progressive and non-progressive stative interpretations. The examples in
(5) illustrate the progressive interpretation for impf.
(5) a.
s
s-te
n
un
am parasu
-m
.
su
ayas
a-m
.
sharpen-impf.3.sg now
axe-acc.sg iron-acc.sg
Now, he is sharpening his axe, made of iron. (RV 10.53.9c)
ar
b. s
oma-sya dh
a
pava-te
nr.caks.asa
S-gen.sg stream.f.sg flow-impf.3.sg radiantly
The stream of Soma is flowing radiantly. (RV 9.80.1a)
In (5a), the impf form refers to an ongoing episode of axe-sharpening, temporally located
by the adverbial n
un
am now. (5b) is uttered as the Soma juice is being passed through
105
a strainer to be filtered and also has an episodic progressive interpretation. In (6), we see
that impf also licenses non-progressive interpretations and can occur with lexical stative
predicates (6a) and also give rise to a habitual/generic interpretation (6b-c).
(6) a. tuvam
h
agn-e
diviy
a-sya
r
aja-si
.
you.nom.sg emph A-voc.sg heaven-gen.sg reign-impf.2.sg
Agni, you (are the one who) reign over the heaven. (RV 1.144.6a)
b. uks.
a-bhih.... u
s.o
vara-m
vaha-si
.
bull-ins.pl U.voc.sg boon-acc.sg carry-impf.2.sg
Us.as (Dawn), you carry (convey) the boon with the bulls (RV. 6.64.5 a-b)
c. s
a
bhojo
yo
gr.h
a-ve
d
ad
a-ti
he.nom.sg ptcl generous.nom.sg who.nom.sg beggar-dat.sg give-impf.3.sg
He is a generous man who gives to the beggar. (RV 10.117.3a)

Based on this distribution of impf, it may be said that impf is the morphological
paradigm specified for present tense and imperfective aspect in Vedic.
The Imperfect in Vedic
The Imperfect paradigm listed in (7) is cognate to the Greek and Latin Imperfect. The
inflection consists of the prefix-like augment a that marks past temporal location and the
secondary person-number suffixes. The distribution of this paradigm is different in OIA.
Unlike in ancient Greek and Latin, the OIA Imperfect is not restricted to imperfective
interpretation, but appears to also license the eventive interpretation.
(7) Imperfect paradigm
person
sg
dual
pl
1-m f n
a-gaccha-m
a-gacch
a-va
a-gacch
a-ma
2-m f n
a-gaccha-s
a-gaccha-tam
a-gaccha-ta
3-m f n
a-gaccha-t
a-gaccha-t
am
a-gaccha-n
Consider the examples in (8). In (8a) the lexical stative predicate s lie has the Imperfect inflection and the sentence has a stative interpretation it describes a state holding
in the past; the state to which the defeated enemy of the protaganist had been reduced.
(8b) has the habitual interpretation and refers to plural past instances of worshipping.5
The verb yaj worship belongs to the Atmanepada

class of verbs which conjugate differently from the
Parasmaipada class of verbs, whose paradigm is given in (7). Also note that yaj does not have a stative
meaning in this sentence, but rather refers to active acts of worship indicated by ritual sacrifice and offering.
This is what makes the Imperfect-inflected predicate a habitual predicate.
5
106
. s.n.o
anam
a
(8) a. vr
vadhri-h.
pratim
ubh
us.an purutr
. b
manly.nom.sg emasculated-nom.sg like
becoming everywhere
vr.tr
o
a-
say-at
vasta-h.
V.nom.sg lie-impfct.3.sg dismembered-nom.sg
Emasculate yet claiming manly vigour, thus Vrtra lay with scattered limbs dismembered. (RV 1.32.7.c-d)
a
b. yath
a-yaj-a
as
an
r.t
u-bhih.
deva
de-v
worship-impfct.2.sg time-ins.pl God.voc.sg God-acc.pl
eva yaja-sva
tan
uvam
. sujata
thus worship-imp-2-sg self
noble-born-voc.sg
As you regularly would worship the Gods, O God, noble-born, thus worship yourself
now. (RV 10.7.6c-d)
As mentioned above, the Imperfect is not restricted to stative interpretation but may
also refer to culminated events. In (9), eventive verbs like slay, cut (through), and choose
are inflected with Imperfect morphology but do not receive a stative interpretation.
(9) a.
a-han
ahi-m
anu ap
as
tatarda
pr
a
kill-impfct.3.sg dragon-acc.sg up water-acc.pl open-pfct.3.sg forth

vaks.an.
a a-bhina-t
p
arvata-n
am
rushing cut-impfct.3.sg mountain-gen.pl

He slew the Dragon, then opened up the waters, and cut channels through the
mountain torrents (rushing forth). (RV 1.32.1c-d)
b. vr.s.
ayam
an.o
a-vr.n.-ta
s
oma-m
trkadruke-s.u
like.a.bull.nom.sg choose-impfct.3.sg soma-acc.sg three.beaker-loc.pl
a-piba-t
sut
a-sya
drink-impfct.3.sg pressed-gen.sg
As a bull, he chose the Soma and in three sacred beakers drank of the pressed
(Soma). (RV 1.32.3a-b)
The first example, (9a), narrates a series of events taking place one after the other. The
Imperfect inflected verbs ahan killed and abhinat cut, cannot be interpreted as ongoing
or unculminated in this narrative context. These sentences take the narrative forward, akin
to eventive predicates, showing that the Imperfect morphology can also license eventive
107
interpretation. (9b) describes a particular event of Soma-choosing and drinking, where the
eventive interpretation is again the most natural one for the Imperfect given the context.
The Imperfect is described as the tense typically used for narrating sequences of past
events (Delbr
uck 1876:90; Whitney, 1892; Hoffmann 1967:151). The fact that the Imperfect
may license both stative and eventive interpretations in Vedic suggests that it is aspectually neutral. Imperfect-inflected predicates describe both stative and eventive eventualities
located in the past with respect to speech time. Based on its aspectual neutrality, Kiparsky
(1998) analyzes the Vedic Imperfect as realizing the aspectually unmarked past tense category.
Interim summary
So far, we have seen that the Present and the Imperfect realize the present and the past
tenses respectively, which shows that the present-past contrast is morphologized in OIA
at the Vedic stage. The Aorist and the Perfect, to be discussed next, are aspectually
marked, but in addition, perform a temporal location function, which is why they have
been described as past tenses in grammatical descriptions of Vedic. Taken together, the
Vedic morphological system must be interpreted as one making morphological distinctions
between the present and past tenses.
The Aorist in Vedic
For Proto-Indo-European, the Aorist has been reconstructed as the marker of perfective
aspect in opposition to the imperfective Imperfect. Within Vedic, it has been notoriously
difficult to establish this contrast based on the uses of the Imperfect and Aorist (Gonda,
1962:258-261; Delbr
uck, 1876; Hoffman, 1967).6 As we have seen, the Imperfect licenses
both stative and eventive interpretations which is why it is analysed as an aspectually
unmarked past tense in Vedic. The distribution of the Aorist is complex but it most
frequently denotes culminated, completed events located in the past time as in (10a-b).
(10) a. n
atar-d
asya
s
amr.ti-m
.
an
vadh
am
.
neg-bear-aor.3.sg he-gen impact-acc.sg weapon-gen.pl

He did not withstand (failed to withstand) the impact of his weapons. (RV 1.32.6)
6
Hoffman (1967) has been able to demonstrate that within the subsystem of prohibitive injunctives, the
augmentless Imperfect and Aorist forms license an imperfective and perfective interpretation respectively,
suggesting that the original PIE contrast might be visible only in this sub-system at the Vedic stage.
108
b. s
avanam
.
viver
a
yath
a pur
ap
o
oblation.nom.sg work-inj.3.sg work.acc.sg as

m
ana-ve
g
at
u-m
formerly
as.re-t
M-dat.sg way-acc.sg provide-aor.3.sg

The oblation has fulfilled its purpose, just as it once prepared the way for Manu.
(10.76.3)
The Aorist is especially used in referring to the immediate past time, paralleling the
recent past use of the English Perfect, where the event denoted by the base predicate is
interpreted as having occurred just before speech time.
a-m
(11) a. g
anga
s.a
a hvaya-ti
cow-acc.sg here
arv
d
anga
s.o
ap
avadh-t
call-impf.3.sg tree.acc.sg here
fell-aor.3.sg
vasann aran.yany-am
aya-m
a-kruks.-ad
ti manya-te
. s
living forest-loc.sg night-acc.sg scream-aor.3.sg quo think-impf.3.sg
Here, (someone) calls out to a cow, here (someone) has felled a tree; at night, living
in the forest, one thinks that someone has screamed. (RV 10.146.4)
a h
b. id
dhis.
an.
a dev
ahn-
am
a-dh
at
now ptcl you.dat.sg D.nom.sg goddess.nom.sg day-acc.sg set-aor.3.sg
vo
pt-m
.
s
am
m
ad
a
a-gma-t
a
vah.
drink-acc.sg towards gladdening reach-aor.3.pl you.acc.sg
This day, now, the Goddess Dhis.an.a has set forth the drink for you. The gladdening
draughts have reached you. (RV 4.34.1.c)
Further the Aorist has an aspectual function. In subordinate clauses and in modal
contexts, it marks perfective aspect and relative anteriority of an eventuality with respect
to the interval denoted by the main clause (like the English Pluperfect). I do not discuss
these functions in detail in the interest of continuing with the main point of this section
the present-past distinction in Vedic. The Aorist is relevant to establishing this because it
realizes yet another category that contrasts with the Present in morphologically marking
this tense distinction.
109
The Perfect
The Perfect, like the Aorist, is reconstructible for Proto-Indo-European as an aspectual category with result-stative value (Renou 1925).7 In Vedic, this function is retained for a class
of achievement predicates, but most often, the Perfect has past time eventive reference.8
The examples in (14) illustrate the temporal locating function of the Perfect.
(14) a.
a dad-e
vas
tr-n
yukt-
an
to give-pfct.1.sg you-dat.sg three-acc.pl yoked-acc.pl

I recieved three (chariots) in harness for you. (RV 1.26.5.a-b)
b. ur
u
ks.
aya-ya
cakrir-e
wide.acc.sg dwelling-dat.sg make-pfct.3.pl
[They conquered heaven, earth, and the waters] They made themselves a wide
homeland. (RV 1.36.8.a-b)
Summary for Vedic
In this section, I described the distribution of four morphological paradigms: the Present,
the Imperfect, the Aorist, and the Perfect. The Present contrasts with the other three
categories in its temporal reference. The Imperfect is the unmarked past tense, and may
refer to both stative and eventive eventualities located in the past. The Aorist and the
Perfect, originally aspectual categories, also have past time eventive reference. The tense
7
For a full description of the uses of the Perfect, I refer the reader to Renou (1925) which is devoted to
the Vedic Perfect and a more concise summary in Kiparsky (1998). The Perfect paradigm is formed with a
special reduplicated stem and its own set of person-number endings.
8
Consider the Perfect forms of the verbs in (12). These denote result-states and have a default present
time reference. This, according to Renou, is diachronically the earliest function of the Perfect.
(12)
root
a. vid know
b. cit think
c. bhi fear
d. jus. rejoice
e. dh
a hold
f. sth
a stand
perfect
veda
ciketa
bibh
aya
jujos.a
dadh
ara
tas..thau
interpretation
knows (has come to know)
knows (has come to know)
fears (has become frightened)
rejoices (has rejoiced)
holds (has held)
stands (has stood)
With these predicates, the Perfect licenses a result-stative interpretation and may be coordinated with
the Present, which has present time reference. This is illustrated in (13). The perfect form of the the verb
bhi fear is bibh
aya and it is used in this context to refer to the state of having become scared, which holds
at reference time (the present).
(13) k
a sa-te
tujy
a-te
k
o bibh
aya
who flee-impf.3.sg rush-impf.3.sg who fear-pfct.3.sg
Who is fleeing and rushing, who is afraid? (RV 1.84.17)
110
opposition between the Present and the other three categories supports the descriptive claim
that Vedic realizes the present-past distinction morphologically.
4.2.2
OIA: Epic Sanskrit
There are two main points of distinction between Vedic and the later OIA Epic Sanskrit
stages in the categories for present and past time reference according to existing grammatical
descriptions.
a. The Imperfect, the Aorist, and the Perfect may be used interchangeably for past time
reference and often occur together (Oberlies, 2003:152-154; Brockington, 1998:352;
Speijer, 1886).
b. A new participial form the perf form becomes available for referring to past,
culminated events.
The distribution of the Present remains unchanged. The generalization is that the pastpresent opposition is still maintained at the Epic Sanskrit stage of OIA. In this section, I
will run through examples of the the Imperfect, the Perfect, and the Aorist to show that
they all have past time reference and occur in the same discourse contexts.9 The examples
in (15) illustrate the use of the Imperfect, the Aorist, and the Perfect forms in the same
9
For the purpose of showing that the present and the past tenses are morphologically contrasted in Epic
Sanskrit, it is not crucial to know the real distribution of the three forms. Specifically, the claim that I
have to make pertains to MIA, which does not inherit any of them from OIA. However, I want to point
out that it is problematic to assume that the Imperfect, the Aorist, and the Perfect are interchangeable
with no real distinction between them at the Epic Sanskrit stage. Moreover, as far as I know, it has not
been substantiated through a close linguistic and statistical study of the distribution of the three forms.
It is not clear whether the Imperfect, Aorist, and Perfect forms are available for every verb or whether
there are semantic restrictions (or tendencies) for preferred paradigms for particular verbs. Further, while
it is known that all three forms license past eventive interpretations, it is unknown whether all of them are
also compatible with past stative interpretations (a highly unlikely possibility). This question can only be
resolved through textual studies directed by semantically sophisticated research questions.
In the absence of more nuanced research that yields insight into their distribution, however, we can
speculate about why it might be the case that the three categories do not appear to be distinguishable in
terms of their function in Epic Sanskrit. In my opinion, the strongest candidate for an explanation is the
possibility that the writers of the Sanskrit Epics, are, in fact, speakers of a language with a proto MIA type
system (characterized by a single perfective form and no further distinctions within the perfective domain).
This is not at all impossible since we know that the MIA Prakrits were the vernacular languages in the
region at least since the 300 BCE (based on Asokan inscriptions). On the other hand, Sanskrit was the
learned language of prestige. It is possible that MIA native speakers, whose language was characterized by a
single aspectual category that referred to past situations the perfective mapped on the distinct Vedic
paradigms onto this single category, when writing in Sanskrit. This can account for why the three paradigms
appear to be undifferentiated in terms of their distribution. It also accounts for the increased frequency in
the usage of the perf morphology (Avery, 1875), an anticipation of the later MIA system, where this is the
only exponent of the perfective aspect.
111
local discourse, without any apparent difference in interpretation. (15a) employs the Aorist
and the Imperfect side-by-side, while in (15b), the directed motion verbs gam go and a
gam
come are inflected in the Aorist and the Perfect respectively with no apparent meaning
difference.
(15) a. sa
me
vara-m
a-d
a-t
prtah.
kr.tam
he.nom.sg I.dat.sg boon-acc.sg give-aor.3.sg pleased-nom.sg honored
ity
aham
a-bruva-m
thus I.nom.sg say-impfct.1.sg

He, pleased, gave me a boon, and I said (that I was) grateful (honored). (Mbh.
15.38.4a)
b. sa
ca
daityagan. a-s
tad
a p
atalam a-gama-t
he-nom.sg and demon.group-nom.sg then P-acc.sg go-aor.3.sg
sarvo vis.
adabhayakampita-h.
tatah. pit
amaha-s
tatra...
all
sorrow.fear.trembling-nom.sg then great.father-nom.sg there
ajag
am-a
visuddhatm
a
p
ujayis.yam
.s
tilottam
a-m
come-pfct.3.sg pure.soul.nom.sg worship.desiring T-acc.sg

And then that entire group of demons, trembling with sorrow and fear, went to the
netherworld. Then the Grandfather, the one of pure soul, came there to worship
Tilottam
a. (Mbh. 12.40.20-21)
The sentences in (16a-c) are consecutive sentences and refer to events taking place one
after another in time, advancing reference time, each of them using the Aorist, the Imperfect,
and the Perfect respectively.
(16) a. etac chru-tv
a muni-r
dhyana-m
a-gama-t
ks.ubhitendriya-h.
this hear-ger sage-nom.sg meditation-acc.sg go-aor.3.sg agitate.sense-nom.sg
Hearing this, the agitated sage, went into meditation. (Mbh. 2.16.27a)
b. ta-sya
eva
ca amravr.ks.a-sya
ch
aya-yam
.
samup
avi
sa-t
that-gen.sg ptcl and mango.tree-gen.sg shade-loc.sg sit-impfct.3.sg

And he sat in the shade of that mango tree. (Mbh. 2.16.27c)
c. ta-sya
upavis.t.a-sya mune-h.
utsang-e
nipap
at-a
ha
that-gen.sg sitting-gen.sg sage-gen.sg lap-loc.sg fall-pfct.3.sg ptcl
Into that seated sages lap fell a (mango). (Mbh.2.16.28a)
112
The data in (15) and (16) makes the simple point that the past tense in Epic Sanskrit is morphologically realized by three paradigms, which contrast with the Present tense
paradigm.
The perf form and Epic Sanskrit
perf is the label I use for the Indo-Aryan cognate of Proto-Indo-European deverbal, resultative, adjectival (participial) morphology with the *-to/*-no affix that attaches to verb
roots.10 This morphology is not part of the finite verbal paradigm of Vedic (which inflects
for person-number-mood features) but overlaps with the verbal system due to its aspectual
properties. In Vedic, the perf morphology is stative and realizes the resultative aspect as
seen in the example in (17).11
(17) str-n.
am
te
barh-h.
su-t
a
indra
.
strew-perf.n.sg you.dat.sg B-nom.n.sg extract-perf.m.sg I.voc.sg
a
kr.-t
a
dh
an-
at-tave te
h
arib-hyam
.
S-nom.m.sg prepare-perf.m.pl barley-nom.m.pl eat-inf you-gen.sg horse-dat.du
s
oma-h.
The Barhis (grass) is strewn for thee; Indra, the Soma is extracted. The barley grains
are prepared for thy two bay-horses to eat. (RV 3.35.7 (cited in Jamison, 1990:5))
The stative perf form starts to receive a wider distribution in Epic Sanskrit (Oberlies 2003; Speijer 1886). The form licenses an eventive interpretation and refers to past
culminated events. (18) lists the paradigm for perf when it is used predicatively.12
(18) The perf paradigm
10
person
sg
dual
pl
mas
ga-tau
ga-t
ah.
fem
ga-tah.
ga-t
a
ga-tau
ga-t
ah.
neu
ga-tam
ga-te
ga-t
ani
This is cognate to the English past participial morphology -ed/-en.

It has been claimed that the perf morphology licenses an eventive (past time) interpretation in Vedic,
but Jamison (1990) shows that perf is uniformly stative at the earliest Vedic stage.
12
perf originates as a stative adjective and its complete inflectional paradigm is based on the nominal
categories number, gender, and case. As a sentential predicate, perf agrees with the nominative marked
theme argument in number, gender, and case. The construction is passive, so the agentive argument appears
in the instrumental case. The nominative case forms of the perf paradigm in all genders and numbers are
the constitutive forms for the perf paradigm when it gets incorporated into the verbal system of OIA.
11
113
Evidence for the availability of an eventive interpretation for perf comes from its use
with past-referring temporal adverbials, and coordination of perf clauses with other past
tense clauses. The examples in (19) show that the bare perf morphology is compatible
with past-time adverbials which locate the event (as opposed to a state) denoted by the
per predicate at a specific time in the past.13
(19) a. pur
a
devayuge ca eva
dr.s.-t.am
sarvam
maya vibho
.
.
formerly D-loc.sg and emph see-perf.n.sg everything I-ins.sg lord-voc.sg
Lord, formerly, in the age of the Deva (Gods), I saw everything. (Mbh. 3.92.6a)
b. hr.-t
a
gau-h.
s
a
tad
a te-na
steal-perf.f.sg cow-nom.f.sg that-nom.f.sg then he-ins.3.sg
prapata-s
tu
na
tark-itah.
consequence-nom.m.sg ptcl neg consider-perf.m.sg
Then he stole the cow, but did not consider the consequences. (Mbh. 1.93.27e)
Further, sentences with perf-inflected predicates can be conjoined with the Imperfect
(20a), the Aorist (20b), and the Perfect (20c), the three past-time event denoting forms in
Epic Sanskrit. In each of the cases, perf is interpreted as referring to a past event and not
a result-state.
(20) a. yad
a tu
rudhire-n.a ang-e
parispr.s.-t.o
bhr.g
udvahah.
when ptcl blood-ins.sg body-loc.sg touch-perf.m.sg great.energy-nom.m.sg
tad
a a-budhya-ta
tejasv...
ca idam a-brav-t
then rouse-impfct.3.sg radiant.nom.sg and this say-impfct.3.sg

And when the (preceptor Rama) of great energy, was touched in the body by the
blood, then, the radiant one woke up, and... said this. (MB 12:3:10 a-d)
b. yad
a p
urvam
kr.s.n.a-h.
sam
artha-m
. gata-h.
. kaurav-an prati
when before go-perf.m.sg K-nom.sg peace-acc.sg K-acc.pl to
na
ca tam
an
kama-m
tato
yuddha-m
. lab-dha-v
.
neg and that obtain-perf-act.m.sg desire-acc.sg therefore battle-nom.sg
a-bh
u-d
idam
be-aor.3.sg this
13
In all the glosses involving perf forms, gender information is given only for those NPs with which perf
agrees, because perf contrasts with other paradigms in agreeing with the nominative NP in number and
gender.
114
When, in the past, Kr.s.n.a went to the Kauravas for peace, he did not obtain that
desired goal, and therefore, this battle happened. (Mbh. 9.62.2)
c. tayor an.d.
ani
nidadh-uh.
prahr.s.-t.ah.
paric
arika-h....
their egg-acc.pl deposit-pfct.3.pl rejoice-perf.f.pl maid-servant-nom.f.pl
tatah. pa
ncasat-e kal-e
kadr
uputr-a
vinih.sr.-t
ah.
then 500-loc.sg time-loc.sg K.son-nom.m.pl burst.out-perf.m.pl
The happy maidservants deposited their eggs...then after five hundred years, the
sons of Kadru burst out (Mbh. 1.14.13-14)
Summary so far
So far in 4.2, we have seen that in Vedic (4.2.1) and in Epic Sanskrit (4.2.2), the opposition between the present and the past tenses is morphologically expressed by distinct
paradigms. The Present (impf) paradigm realizes present tense, while the Imperfect, the
Aorist, and the Perfect are used to refer to past time eventualities. The Imperfect, in particular, is the aspectually unmarked past tense. In Epic Sanskrit, perf, a stative participle
from Vedic which denotes result-states, also begins to license eventive interpretations and
may be used to refer to past, culminated events.
The following stage, MIA, inherits only two of these temporal/aspectual paradigms
the impf and the perf paradigms. The next section is concerned with establishing the
correct semantic categorization for these morphological paradigms. Specifically, in the IndoAryan linguistic tradition, impf and perf are considered to be the markers of present and
past tense respectively. I will argue that, in fact, impf and perf realize the imperfective
and perfective aspects in MIA.
4.2.3
The past-present opposition in MIA?
The changes from the inflectional system of verbal contrasts in OIA to the relatively morphologically impoverished inflectional system of MIA have been described in terms of erosion
or simplification, primarily because many of the rich conjugational paradigms and the
semantic categories they expressed were lost in MIA (Bloch, 1914; Kellogg, 1893; Pischel,
1900; Vale, 1948). The MIA tense/aspect system inherits only the impf, the perf, and
the Future (4.5) paradigms from OIA.14 The rich system of past tense markers is lost.
14
MIA also inherits other non-finite participial forms (the potential participle and the imperfective participle) which are incorporated into the finite tense/aspect systems in NIA languages. However, the constructions that these forms participate in are innovated in MIA or in NIA and cannot be said to be directly
inherited from OIA.
115
Pischel (1900), on the basis of careful textual study, reports that the Imperfect, the Aorist,
and the Perfect occur in MIA texts only as a few scattered forms for a few verbs.15 The
only remaining past-referring paradigm from Epic Sanskrit is the perf paradigm and it
is used regularly for past time reference. Further, the distribution of the impf paradigm
appears to undergo an unexpected change from OIA to MIA. impf marks the imperfective
present tense in OIA; in MIA it extends to license past time reference as well. This change
in the distribution of the impf paradigm has been documented clearly in MIA grammars
(Pischel, 1900; Bloch 1914:247). How are these changes to be interpreted? What is the
correct characterization of the MIA tense/aspect system?
My interpretation of these facts is as follows: The present-past opposition realized in
OIA by distinct present and past tense morphology is lost in MIA. Instead, the impf and
perf paradigms realize the aspectual contrast between the imperfective and the perfective
aspects. The impf paradigm does not randomly extend to past-time reference. Rather it
has a grammatically determined distribution. In addition to having present time reference,
the impf paradigm refers only to stative eventualities located in the past time. In a nutshell,
I will defend the claim that the basic opposition in MIA (excluding the future tense) is that
between the imperfective and perfective aspects as seen in (21).
(21) Aspectual contrast in MIA
Semantic Category
morphological exponent
imperfective aspect
impf
perfective aspect
perf
This claim challenges the standard understanding about the semantic values for these
two paradigms in MIA, which is the present tense and past tense respectively (Bloch, 1914,
1965; Chatterjee, 1926; Pischel, 1900; Vale, 1948, a.o.).
(22) The standard position: Tense contrast in MIA
15
Semantic category
present
impf
past
perf
The single instance of the Imperfect retained in MIA is the Imperfect form of the verb as be (Pischel,
1900:421-22). The Aorist occurs relatively more frequently (Pischel, 1900:422-24), while the Perfect is
preserved only as an archaism for a few verbs. Bloch (1965:228-233) reaches the same conclusion.
116
In spite of this tense-based classification of the two forms, none of the authors listed
above fails to document the ubiquitous use of the impf paradigm for past time reference.16
In the next two sections, I will offer two kinds of evidence in support of my claim that contra
the standard position in (22), impf and perf realize an aspectual opposition between the
imperfective and perfective. The textually documented facts are discussed in 4.3. In 4.4,
I show how synchronic facts in several New Indo-Aryan languages provide strong support
to this hypothesis.
4.3
The imperfective-perfective opposition in MIA
In order to prove that the impf and the perf paradigms realize the imperfective-perfective
aspectual contrast in MIA, and not the present-past tense contrast, I must show that these
paradigms are characterized by certain distributional properties. Specifically, I have to show
that:
(23) a. Unlike the present tense, the impf paradigm is not restricted to present time
reference but may also license past time reference.
b. In its past uses, the impf paradigm is systematically restricted to stative reference.
Conversely, past-referring stative predicates may only appear with impf inflection.
c. Unlike the past tense, the perf paradigm may not refer to all types of eventualities
located in the past with respect to speech time.
d. The perf paradigm may only denote culminated, completed eventualities.
If all these facts hold for the MIA stage, then the correct characterization of the MIA
system has to be in terms of an aspectual, rather than temporal, contrast. To make the point
clearly, an imperfective aspect marker, but not a present tense marker, would be expected to
show up systematically with past time reference. It is an imperfective aspect marker, rather
than a present tense marker that would be restricted to only stative reference. Similarly, a
perfective aspect marker, and not a past tense marker, would be restricted to only eventive
reference.17 The correct characterization of the MIA system is thus dependent on whether
16
Pischel rightly observes that the past tense is productively expressed either by the perf or the impf
forms. Bloch (1914:247), in his study of the Marathi language, refers to the temporal indeterminacy of the
impf morphology (by which he means its use in past situations) that has been inherited by modern Marathi
from MIA.
17
The possibility that these paradigms have both aspectual and temporal value is ruled out here, at least
as far as the present-past opposition is concerned. The fact that the impf may license both present and
past time interpretations suggests that it is not specified for present tense. I will show in 4.3.2 that the
interpretation of perf is similarly not restricted to only past time culminated eventualities. Specifically,
perf may also have future temporal reference.
4.3. THE IMPERFECTIVE-PERFECTIVE OPPOSITION IN MIA
117
the data really corresponds to what I claim in (23a-d).18
4.3.1
MIA: impf as imperfective aspect
The OIA impf paradigm and its cognate in MIA are given in (24) and (60) respectively. In
addition to phonological changes, the dual number category is lost in MIA, with a contrast
only between singular and plural number.
(24) OIA: impf paradigm
person
sg
dual
pl
1-m f n
gacch
a-mi
gacch
a-vas
gacch
a-mas
2-m f n
gaccha-si
gaccha-thas
gaccha-tha
3-m f n
gaccha-ti
gaccha-tas
gaccha-nti
(25) MIA: impf paradigm

person
sg
pl
1-m f n
gacch
a-mi
gacch
a-mo
2-m f n
gaccha-si
gaccha-tha
3-m f n
gaccha-i
gaccha-nti
On the standard categorization for the impf paradigm in MIA, it realizes the present
tense and refers to eventualities in the present time. (26a-b) exemplifies the use of impf
for present time reference. (26a) contains a generic predicate while (26b) contains a lexical
stative predicate j
an. know and a habitual (passivized) predicate.19
18
On my proposal, the imperfective-perfective opposition between the impf and perf paradigms is really
a categorical grammatical fact about the system and not a variable tendency or a stray observation. The
hypothesis is strong: most NIA languages must be reconstructed as based on a proto-system like MIA, with
an aspectual contrast between the imperfective and perfective aspects without a present-past tense contrast.
It might seem that the data I offer is sparse and unrepresentative (my own textual research is limited to
a single text for this period the Vasudevahim
. d., an archaic Maharas.t.r Prakrit text (Alsdorf 1936)).
However, it is important to note that my claim is also substantiated by (a) the empirical observations about
impf found in MIA grammatical descriptions, and (b) the distribution of perf and, especially impf, in
synchronic NIA languages. Taking all these facts into consideration, the aspectual hypothesis offers much
wider data coverage than the tense hypothesis and points out a promising direction for further systematic
research in MIA and NIA tense/aspect diachrony.
19
As I noted before in 4.2.1, the impf paradigm realizes present tense and imperfective aspect. It appears
on lexical and derived stative predicates denoting eventualities located in the present.
118
(26) a. nipphala-m
duma-m
pakkhin.-o
vi paricchaya-nti
.
.
fruitless-acc.sg tree-acc.sg bird-nom.pl also abandon-impf.3.pl
Even birds abandon a fruitless tree. (VH.DH 31.24-25)
b. een.a
tumam na j
an.a-si
kim
kajja-m
. pi
.
this-ins.sg you
neg know-impf.2.sg what ptcl use-nom.sg
kr-ai
do.pass-impf.3.sg
Do you not know what use is made of this? (VH.DH 32.13)
On the other hand, the impf paradigm is often used with past time reference as well.
Consider the short narrative in (27), which reports a past episode about a monkey who
entered a mountain cave and mistook some sticky liquid tar to be water. He tried to drink
it and got his face and hands caught in it (and ultimately perished in the cave). The verbs
are inflected sometimes in the perf and sometimes in the impf paradigm. I have translated
perf forms with the English Past and the impf forms with the English Present.
(27) a. sa
...ekka-m
pavvayaguha-m pat-to
he.nom.sg one-acc.sg cave-acc.sg

He reached a cave.(VH.KH 6.10)
arrive-perf.m.sg
b. tattha ya sil
ajau-m parissava-ti
there and bitumen flow-impf.3.sg
There, some bitumen (tar) flows (from the walls of the cave).(VH.KH 6.10)
c. so...
jalam
mannaman.o... muha-m
chubbha-ti
. ti
.
He.nom.sg water thus thinking
mouth-acc.sg touch-impf.3.sg
Thinking it to be water, he touches (his) mouth to it. (VH.KH 6.11)

d. tam
pas
ar-ei
te vi baddh-
a
. baddha-m
. ... hatth-e
it stick-perf.3.sg hand-acc.du spread-impf.3.sg they also stick-perf.m.pl
It got stuck. (He) spreads his hands. They also got stuck. (VH.KH 6.12)
(27) is very representative of how the impf and perf inflected forms are interspersed
throughout the Vasudevahim
. d., the text I have used for the MIA stage. However, on
the Present tense/Past tense categorization of the impf and perf paradigm respectively,
these facts are inexplicable. If these forms provide information about temporal location
119
with respect to speech/coding time, why do all the sentences in (27) not occur with the
same tense marking, since they all report eventualities located at a specific time in the past?
As far as I can understand, the traditional explanation for this phenomenon has been
that the impf form is very widespread in the historical present function. In the historical
present, eventualities occurring in the past are presented as if they were occurring in the
present in order to make the narrative more vivid. The use of impf for past time reference is
thus interpreted as an idiosyncratic narrative device, rather than a categorical grammatical
fact about the MIA tense/aspect system. My goal here is to show that the former analysis
is inaccurate and that the impf-as-imperfective analysis accounts for the facts much better.
The historical present hypothesis
Here is an example of the historical present use of the English Present as a rhetorical device,
in describing past-time eventualities.20 The situation under discussion belongs to a historical
moment in the past (July 1812), yet is narrated as if occurring in the present. Cooper (1986:
31) describes this as a rhetorical device to relocate discourse to some past location. In
other words, the deictic center for temporal location, which is the speech/coding time by
default, is shifted to the past in order to achieve a particular narrative effect.
(28) (07-28-1812) ...As the sun rises, Napoleon sees that the Russian army has withdrawn.
Napoleon gives up on catching the Russian army. Napoleon and French army enter
Moscow, peopled by only a few thousand Russians. Fires break out across Moscow,
burn for four days, and leave the city in ruins
How can we determine whether the use of the impf for past-time reference in MIA is
governed by aspects of narrative structure or by a grammatical principle about the organization of the MIA tense/aspect system? There are two simple ways to distinguish between
the scopes of the two proposals.
a. by examining the class of predicates with which impf typically occurs and the interpretations it licenses.
b. by examining if the perspectival shift effected by the supposed historical present use
of impf is consistent within a narrative.
First, if the use of impf for past time reference is a narrative device, then we expect
that impf should not be restricted to predicates of a particular aspectual class. Notice, for
20
http://www.txdirect.net/users/rrichard/napoleo1.htm
120
instance, that in (28), the English Present appears on stative predicates (e.g. see) as well as
eventive predicates (give up, enter) and allows for an eventive interpretation of the eventive
predicates. That is, we interpret this discourse as narrating events that occurred in the
past. Further, consecutive sentences, if they contain eventive predicates, advance reference
time. So the entry into Moscow is understood to take place after Napoleon gives up on
catching the Russian Army and the fires in Moscow are understood to take place following
the entry into Moscow.
Second, we also expect on the historical present hypothesis that for a piece of narrative
in which the deictic center has been relocated to a past location, the tense marking should
remain consistent, assuming that all eventualities within that narrative are understood to
overlap with the shifted perspectival center or the shifted present of the narrative.
Neither of these expectations is met in the text that I examined. When it refers to past
time eventualities, impf licenses only stative interpretations, appearing on lexical stative,
progressive, and habitual/generic predicates. In particular, in these uses, it does not appear
with eventive predicates to license an eventive interpretation (unlike the eventive interpretations licensed by the English Present in (28)). Further, narratives are not uniformly shifted
to a past time location where all clauses both eventive and stative are inflected in the
impf paradigm. Within any given narrative, eventive predicates do not appear with impf
inflection.
Consider the narrative fragment in (29).
(29) a. pat-to
ya Sen.iyo
r
aya
ta-m
paesa-m,
reach-perf.m.sg and S.nom.sg king.nom.sg that-acc.sg place-acc.sg
And King Seniya reached that place. (VH.KH. 17.1)

b. vand-io
n.e-n.a
vin.ayen.a-m
greet-perf.m.sg he-ins.sg monk-acc.sg
He greeted the monk. (VH.KH. 17.1)

c. piccha-i
n.a-m
jhananiccala-m
gaze-impf.3.sg that-acc.sg meditation.unmoving-acc.sg
(He) gazed at the meditation-engrossed one. (VH.KH. 17.1)

d. pat-to
titthayarasamva-m
reach-perf.m.sg monk.close-acc.sg
He reached (came) close to the monk. (VH.KH. 17.3)
121
The predicates in (29a-b) reach that place and greet the monk are eventive and have perf
inflection. The predicate in (29c) has impf inflection. Suppose this impf inflection does
mark a perspectival shift and relocates the discourse to the past to achieve a stylistic effect.
Then it is unexpected that the very next sentence (29d) should appear with perf inflection,
rather than continuing with the impf marking that characterizes the previous sentence. The
hypothesis that the present tense marker, impf, performs a narrative historical present
function when it refers to past time eventualities is untenable given this kind of distribution
for impf in discourse. Further, if we examine the aspectual class of the predicate in (29c),
we see that gaze at the meditation-engrossed one is stative (atelic) and not eventive. This
coincidence, that impf in its so-called historical present function, appears with the only
stative predicate in this mini-narrative is suspicious and begs for a more general account of
impf distribution.
Throughout the text, impf is restricted to stative predicates and does not introduce
a perspectival shift that is then maintained in later discourse. (30) offers yet another
example. The predicate notice a well in (30a) is eventive and the verb is inflected in the
perf paradigm. The predicates in (30b-c) observe the man and stand are stative (atelic),
based on lexical stative predicates, and the verbs are inflected in the impf paradigm.
(30) a. te-n.a
pal
ayam
an.-en.a puran.akuv-o
that-erg.sg running-erg.sg old.well-nom.m.sg
tan.adabbhaparichinn-o dit.-t.ho
grass-covered-nom.m.sg notice-perf.m.sg
That running one noticed an old well covered with grass. (VH.KH. 8.6)
b. tattha ayagar-o
mah
aka-o
vidariyamuh-o
there python-nom.sg gigantic-nom.sg open.mouthed-nom.sg

g
asiuk
am-o
tam
purisam
avaloe-i
hungry-nom.sg that-acc.sg man-acc.sg observe-impf.3.sg

There a giant python, baring its mouth, eager to eat, observed the man. (VH.KH.
8.9)
c. sapp-a
bhsan.-
a
as.iukam-
a
cit.t.ha-nti
snake-nom.pl fearsome-nom.pl eat.desiring-nom.pl stand-impf.3.pl
Fearsome snakes, eager to bite, stood (in the well).(VH.KH. 8.9)
Now it is possible to account for the distribution of perf and impf inflected forms in
(27), repeated here as (31). The translations are uniformly in the English Past, but this
122
interpretation does not come from a tense specification for the impf paradigm or from its
use as perspective shifter.
(31) a. sa
...ekka-m
pavvayaguha-m pat-to
he.nom.sg one-acc.sg cave-acc.sg
arrive-perf.m.sg
He reached a cave.(VH.KH 6.10)

b. tattha ya sil
ajau-m parissava-ti
there and bitumen flow-impf.3.sg
There, some bitumen (tar) flowed (from the walls of the cave).(VH.KH 6.10)
c. so...
jalam
mannaman.o... muha-m
chubbha-ti
. ti
.
He.nom.sg water thus thinking
mouth-acc.sg touch-impf.3.sg
Thinking it to be water, he touched (his) mouth to it. (VH.KH 6.11)

d. tam
pas
ar-ei
te vi baddh-
a
. baddha-m
. ... hatth-e
it stick-perf.3.sg hand-acc.du spread-impf.3.sg they also stick-perf.m.pl
It got stuck. (He) spread his hands. They also got stuck. (VH.KH 6.12)
The predicate reach the cave in (31a) describes an event; the verb has perf inflection.
The predicate in (31b), flow is an atelic stative predicate; the inflection is impf. (31c) is
less obvious because a predicate like touch his mouth to it could be interpreted either as an
eventive predicate or as an atelic stative predicate.21 In (31d), the predicate get stuck is
eventive, and, as expected, the verb has perf inflection in both instances. The predicate,
spread hands, on the other hand, is like touch, and has an atelic interpretation in this
context.
In this section, I showed that impf-marked forms refer to eventualities located in the
past, not because of a perspectival shift in order to achieve narrative/rhetorical goals, but
rather, because the impf paradigm realizes the imperfective aspect in MIA. In the absence
of a tense opposition in the language, the MIA impf may refer to stative eventualities
21
This can be determined if we check it against the properties and diagnostics from Chapter 2. I suggest
that the impf inflection, in fact, disambiguates the aspectual class of the predicate in this case. A similar
argument can be made for spread hands in (31d). In both cases, it is the morphology that determines
the denotation of the predicate; the uninflected predicate is compatible with both eventive and stative
denotations. Further, an alternative interpretation that is available to imperfective marking in languages in
general, and possibly to the MIA impf is the conative interpretation. On this reading, the predicate in (31c)
would be roughly interpreted as tried to touch his mouth to it, while the one in (31d) would be interpreted as
tried to spread his hands. Both interpretations fit the context very well; the impossibility of getting native
speaker judgments for MIA and the absence of more detailed semantic research on the different readings of
the MIA impf make this possible reading difficult to verify at this stage.
123
located at both present and past times. Next, I provide examples where impf licenses past
time interpretations with three types of stative predicates lexical stative, progressive,
and habitual/generic.
impf and stative predicates
In (32), we see that the lexical stative verbs parivas live and sun. hear appear with impf
inflection.
(32) a. egam-mi
kira nayar-e
ka vi gan.iya
r
uvavati
One-loc.sg some town-loc.sg some courtesan.nom.sg beautiful.nom.sg
gun.avati
parivasa-i
skilled.nom.sg live-impf.3.sg
In some town, there lived a beautiful and skilled courtesan. (VH.K. 4.12)
b. sun.anti
ya bhayavay-o vayan.a-m
asam
. ... dhammakah
. sia-m
.
hear-impf.3.pl and monk-gen.sg word-acc.sg religious.story.filled-acc.sg
And they heard the words of the monk, filled with religious stories. (VH.K. 5.5-6)
In (33), impf appears with base eventive predicates and licenses habitual/generic interpretation. In (33a), the predicates give food-drink and offer a goat are eventive, the impf
inflection licenses a past time habitual interpretation for these predicates. The predicate in
(33b) perform Yoga is also eventive and has a habitual interpretation in this context.
(33) a. so
ya bambhan.o
varisevaris-e
tam-mi
devaya-e
he.nom.sg and brahmin.nom.sg year.year-loc.sg that-dat.sg deity-dat.sg
...anna-pan.a-m
de-i
chagalam
ca nivede-ti
food.drink-acc.sg give-impf.3.sg goat-acc.sg and offer-impf.3.sg

And that Brahmin, year after year, used to give food and drink and used to offer
a goat to the deity (VH:KH 29.20)
b. tato aham
an.n.aya kayai
ayariyagiharukkhavad.iya-e
Then I.nom.sg other some time teacher.house.tree.garden-loc.sg
joga-m
kare-mi
yoga-acc.sg do-impf.1.sg
Then, sometimes, I would perform Yoga in the orchard at my teachers house.
(VH:DH 37.1)
124
The examples in (34) show that impf also licenses progressive interpretation with base
eventive predicates. In (34a), the sentence with the impf inflected verb provides a temporal
frame (very much like the progressive) for the event of the spitted-out betel leaf falling.
The eventuality of going is seen as ongoing at the time of the event. In (34b), impf licenses
a similar progressive temporal frame interpretation.
(34) a. so
ya d.in.d....
bhavan.a-ssa asan.n.en.a gacchati
he.nom.sg and worshipper.nom.sg house-gen.sg near
go.impf.3.sg
dhan.asiriy-e tambolo-m
nicchud.ha-m
pad.i-yam
d.in.d.i-ssuvvarim
.
.
.
.
D.gen.sg leaf-nom.n.sg spat.out-nom.n.sg fall-perf.n.sg worshipper-loc.sg
And the worshipper was going from near that house. Dhan.asiris spat-out (betel)leaf fell on the worshipper. VH.D. 51.12-14)
b. so
vi
laliyagot.t.hi-e
samam
a-e
khella-i
. gang
he-nom.sg also friend.group-gen.sg with river-loc.sg play-impf.3.sg
te-n.a
ya khellant-en.a pattacchejja-m
di-t.t.ham
.
.
he-ins.sg and playing-ins.sg leaf.bed-acc.n.sg notice-perf.n.sg
And he was playing by the river with his group of friends. And the playing one
noticed the seat made from leaves(VH.D. 58.18)
Summary
In this section, I argued that contra the standard position in MIA linguistics, the impf
paradigm does not realize the semantic category past tense, but is rather an exponent of
the imperfective aspect. I showed that this categorization of impf accounts for its distribution when it has past time reference much better than the alternative historical present
hypothesis. I demonstrated through narrative fragments that the historical present hypothesis is untenable for two reasons. First, it does not explain the restriction of impf forms
to stative predicates. Second, it does not explain why the perspectival shift, supposedly initiated by impf does not continue through impf marking in later sentences in the narrative.
I also showed that impf appears with both lexical stative and base eventive predicates; in
the latter case, it may license either a progressive or a habitual/generic interpretation. The
generalization is that impf inflected predicates have stative denotation, the semantic value
of the imperfective aspect. Thus, to conclude, the impf paradigm realizes the imperfective
aspect in MIA.
4.3.2
125
MIA: perf as perfective aspect
Let us again review the standard position on the semantic value of impf and perf in MIA.
According to this position, perf realizes the past tense in MIA.
(35) The standard position: Tense contrast in MIA
Semantic category
present
impf
past
perf
I want to argue in this section that perf realizes perfective aspect and aspectually
contrasts with impf, which I just showed to be an exponent of the imperfective aspect.
The past tense and the perfective aspect are overlapping categories. Perfective sentences
denote culminated, completed eventualities, which usually have taken place in the past
with respect to speech/coding time. Past tense sentences assert that the eventualities they
describe are located in the past with respect to speech/coding time. The crucial difference
between the two categories is that the past tense does not restrict the aspectual class of the
predicates in its denotation, while the perfective aspect is restricted to eventive predicates.
perf-based sentences uniformly advance reference time
Evidence that perf yields eventive predicates comes from the distribution of perfectivemarked forms in narrative discourse. perf forms in consecutive sentences license eventive
interpretations. Eventualities described by later sentences are typically understood to occur
later in time than the eventualities described by prior sentences. A representative example
is given in the narrative fragment in (36). The main predicate in each of the sentences in
(36a-e) is a perf-inflected form. The story describes the events before the sacrifice of a
goat, beginning with the departure of the family (with their friends and relatives) to the
sacrificial stake. Every following sentence is understood to describe an eventuality that took
place later in time, each of them ordered with respect to each other.
126
(36) a. tato te
mitta-b
andhava-sahi
a...
ga-y
a
then they.nom.pl friends-relatives-with.nom.pl go-perf.m.pl

Then they went there with their friends and relatives.
b. chagal-o
vi
ya man.d.e-um
. tatth-eva ni-o
goat-nom.m.sg also and decorate-inf there-emph take-perf.m.sg
And the goat also was taken there to be decorated.

c. gandha-puppha-malla-puyavises-en.a
ya acchi-y
a
devaya
sandal-flowers-worship-ingredients-ins and worship-perf.m.pl god.nom.m.pl

The Gods were worshipped with sandalwood paste, flowers, the ingredients of
worship.
d. gharamahattara-ehi ya bhan.i-yam chagala-o
an.-ijj-au
house-elders-ins.pl and say-perf.n.sg goat-nom.sg bring-pass-imp.3.sg
And the house elders said: Let the goat be brought.
e. tato ta-ssa putt-o...
then his
chagalaya-m an.e-um
. ga-to
son-nom.m.sg goat-acc.sg bring-inf go-perf.m.sg
At that, his son... went to bring the goat. (VH:D 29.25-28)

The fact that perf describes eventive eventualities which advance reference time strengthens the hypothesis that perf is an aspectual rather than a tense category. We have seen in
4.3 that impf is uniformly used to refer to stative eventualities in the past time. Therefore, perf, even if it is hypothesized to carry past tense specification, must also carry the
aspectual information that it is restricted to eventive predicates. Yet another property of
perf described below suggests that perf, in fact, is sometimes incompatible with past
tense interpretation, suggesting that it is not specified for past tense.
perf licenses perfect interpretation
Another argument that perf realizes perfective aspect and not past tense comes from the
perfect-like interpretation available to the perf form. On this interpretation, the perf
sentence describes a result-state that holds at speech time (a present time interpretation).
If perf realizes the past tense, then it is unexpected for it to license a stative present time
interpretation. Nevertheless, that happens to be one of the available readings for perf.
Consider the sentences in (37).
(37) a. kim mann-e
dev
127
passaman....
why think-impf.1.sg lady.nom.sg looking.nom.sg

nicchalcch
t.hi-y
a
unmoving.eyes.nom.sg stand-perf.f.sg
I wonder why the watching lady has stood (still) with an unmoving gaze?
b. tiy-e
vi
avaloi-o
di-t.t.ho
ya n.a-e
so
she-ins.sg also look-perf.m.sg notice-perf.m.sg and she-ins.sg that.nom.sg
puris-o
cakkhuraman.-o
man.nom.sg eye-beautiful.nom.sg
She also looked, and she noticed that man, attractive to the eye.
c. cinti-yam
ca
n.a-e
asam
puris-e
. sayam eyam-mi
think-perf.n.sg and she-ins.sg undoubtedly this-loc.sg man-loc.sg
nivesi-y
a
n.
a-e
dit.t.hi
rest-perf.f.sg her-fem.sg gaze.nom.f.sg
And she thought: undoubtedly, she (the lady) has rested her gaze on this very
man. (VH:K:9)
The context is as follows: the queen and her maidservant are standing at the window of
the palace looking down at the street below. The maidservant notices that her mistress has
stood still with her eyes fixed on something. (37a) is the maidservants thought described by
the narrator. The perf inflected form describes this state which is interpreted as overlapping with speech time a present time interpretation. In (37b), the perf inflected forms
are from the perspective of the narrator and describe the actions of the maidservant. These
describe events in the past time and also use perf-inflected forms. The final instance of a
perf-form in (37c) nivesiy
a has rested is part of a sentence with present time reference.
It describes a thought of the maidservant and asserts that the mistress has rested her gaze
on somebody at the coding/speech time.
The perf form, in these examples, and more generally, licenses a resultative perfect interpretation and the temporal location of the result-state interval is understood to overlap
with the speech time. These facts are incompatible with the categorization of the perf
morphology as a past tense marker, and support its categorization as the marker of perfective aspect. It has been observed that perfective predicates may also license a resultative
present perfect interpretation, e.g. for Russian (Paslavska & Von Stechow, 2003).
128
Summary
Based on the restriction of perf in MIA to eventive predicates and its ability to license
a resultative-perfect present time interpretation, I conclude that perf is better classified
as an aspectual category that contrasts with impf. The distribution of impf has shown
that it realizes the imperfective aspect in MIA. perf contrasts with impf in realizing the
imperfective aspect and not the past tense. In 4.4, I will provide further evidence for this
categorization based on on two uses of the perf form in NIA languages perf is also
used in conditional and immediate future contexts in the NIA languages. This distribution
is compatible with an aspectual perfective specification but inexplicable if we assume that
perf realizes the past tense. Finding comparable data in MIA can cinch the argument for
the perfective specification of perf, but even in the absence of such data (I have not been
able to locate such data for MIA) the perf-as-perfective hypothesis accounts for the facts
better than the perf-as-past-tense hypothesis taking into consideration both the textual
data and the distribution of perf-cognates in NIA languages.
4.3.3
The MIA tense/aspect system: A summary
In this section I showed that the impf and the perf paradigms, inherited from OIA, show
a markedly different distribution in MIA. Standardly characterized as realizing the present
and the past tense categories respectively, these two paradigms are better categorized as
realizing the imperfective and the perfective aspects. Evidence for this categorization comes
from the distribution of the two paradigms in narratives where impf uniformly licenses stative interpretations, while perf licenses eventive interpretations. impf morphology regularly occurs on lexical stative, progressive, and habitual predicates. The perfect-like present
tense interpretation available for perf also provides evidence against the past tense analysis for this form.
Before I move on to the data, I will make a small point here about why the fact that
MIA does not morphologize the present-past distinction has escaped notice so far. As far
as I know, this empirical claim has not been made in the considerable literature on the
OIA, MIA, and NIA verb systems. Why did no one who has examined the textual data
from MIA (or synchronic comparative data from NIA ) ever discover that the present-past
opposition from OIA gives way to an aspectual imperfective-perfective opposition in MIA?
I believe this is a reflex of what I call the tense-bias in traditional philological literature.
There are two factors that have resulted in a tense-bias in the analysis of the MIA facts.
First, MIA was analyzed by speakers of tensed languages (Germanic or New Indo-Aryan),
and second, MIA was analysed as a linguistic system that was intermediate between two
4.4. LOSS OF THE PAST-PRESENT DISTINCTION: EVIDENCE FROM NIA
129
tensed language systems the OIA and the NIA languages. Both factors contributed to
the default assumption that MIA also realized a morphological contrast between the present
and the past tenses. In the context of the MIA system, tense-bias has basically amounted
to an erroneous reinterpretation of the MIA linguistic facts so that MIA comes out having
a present-past distinction. It is assumed that the impf paradigm, which is understood to
realize the present tense in OIA, maintains its distribution, and the ubiquitous use of the
present tense in past time contexts is reinterpreted as a reflecting the use of a narrative
device. As for the perf paradigm, it was considered to replace the past-referring categories
of OIA and therefore analyzed as the unmarked past tense. The systematic grammatical
aspectual properties that determine the distribution of the impf and the perf paradigms
got overlooked on this categorization.
In section 4.4 I show that the imperfective-perfective hypothesis, based until now on
internal evidence from MIA texts, receives stronger confirmation from the comparative
grammar of some NIA languages.
4.4
Loss of the past-present distinction: Evidence from NIA
The synchronic tense/aspect systems of some NIA languages reflect the effects of the reorganization of the MIA system along aspectual lines. In particular, the distribution of
the impf (or its counterparts) and the perf paradigms in these languages supports an
aspectual and not a temporal specification for these forms.22
There are two complicating factors to the reconstruction from MIA to NIA both of
which have, to some extent, obscured a clear account of the imperfective-perfective contrast
that underlies the MIA tense/aspect system. First, many synchronic NIA systems have
reacquired the contrast between the past and present tenses through innovated tense auxiliaries, which are obligatory in most contexts. Second, not all NIA languages inherit the
impf paradigm to realize the imperfective aspect. In addition to impf, there exists another
22
The MIA text that I examined is the Vasudevahim

ar
as.t.r and it represents
. d., written in archaic Jain Mah
only one of the MIA dialects that the NIA languages descend from. The aspectual basis of the MIA
tense/aspect system is however, not limited to a single dialect, but is reconstructible for several MIA dialects,
since the impf and perf paradigms occur in the same configurations in these languages as well (Pischel
1900; Chatterjee, 1926). The standard NIA languages investigated here, Marathi, Hindi, and Gujarati, have
been traced as descendents of Mah

ar
as.t.r and a closely related dialect, Sauraseni.
The non-standard NIA
languages Ahirani, Dehawali Bhili, Konkan.
a, and Pawri are spoken in areas geographically contiguous to the
areas of Marathi, Hindi, and Gujarati and are linguistically close to these languages. it appears reasonable
on this basis to hypothesize that they also descend from the same MIA dialects (or their variants). As we
shall see, some of these languages, in fact, retain a structural system that is closer to the MIA system than
the standard languages, which supports classifying them as belonging to the same larger branch of NIA as
Marathi, Hindi, or Gujarati.
130
paradigm, that of the imperfective participle (glossed impf), which constitutes yet another
exponent of the imperfective aspect. NIA languages vary in which of the two paradigms is
selected as the marker of imperfectivity.23 The impf paradigm is also purely aspectual and
lacks tense specification.
The use of impf in MIA

The impf paradigm is part of the non-finite verbal system of OIA but it gets incorporated
into the finite verbal system of MIA. The imperfective participle has a full nominal paradigm
and declines for number, gender, and case. Parallel to the perf paradigm, the nominative
cases in all three genders get employed when impf is used as the main clausal predicate.
(38) gives the MIA paradigm for impf in MIA for the verb gacch go.
(38) The impf paradigm

person
sg
pl
mas
gacch-anto
gacch-ant
ah.
fem
gacch-ant
gacch-anty
ah.
neu
gachh-antam
gacch-ant
ah.
In MIA, bare impf forms may appear as the main clausal predicates licensing an imperfective interpretation, in particular, the habitual interpretation (Sen 1995: 372-373, Singh
1980: 150-151).24 The changed distribution of this category in MIA is significant because
in several contemporary NIA languages, impf rather than impf, realizes the imperfective
aspect. The precise semantic relation between impf and impf within MIA needs to be examined much more closely, but is beyond the scope of this dissertation. For the purposes of
the exposition of the NIA systems, I am assuming that impf and (impf) forms are variant
realizations of the imperfective aspect in MIA. The NIA data, as we shall see, supports this
assumption.
23
Some languages, e.g. Gujarati, make use of both impf and impf forms in their tense/aspect system,
while others, e.g. Pawri, uniformly use only the impf as the exponent of the imperfective aspect.
24
The best documented interpretations for the MIA impf paradigm are habitual past and the counterfactual interpretations. Both uses are attested across the contemporary NIA languages as well. The non-past
use of the bare participial form is less commonly attested in late MIA texts. However, it has been noted by
the Prakrit grammarians of the late MIA period in their grammars that this form is temporally unrestricted
and may refer to present, past, (and future) eventualities: Purusottamadeva traik
alye satr. and M
arkan.d.eya
pr
akr.tasarvasva sarvad
a satr. (Sen 1995; Oberlies 2003).
4.4.1
131
Pawri: The Middle Indic Configuration
Most NIA languages distinguish between the present and the past tenses by means of
tense auxiliaries (Beames, 1966; Bloch, 1914, 1965; Hoernle, 1880; Kellogg, 1893; and
others). Specifically, the imperfective (impf, impf) and perfective (perf) forms combine
with present and past tense auxiliaries to form periphrastic constructions with both tense
and aspect specification. This is illustrated by the examples from contemporary Gujarati
in (39) and Hindi in (40).
(39) a. nisa
rasod.
a-m
a rot.li
ban
av-e
ch-e
N-nom.sg kitchen-loc bread-nom.sg make-impf.3.sg pres-3.sg
Nisa is making/makes bread in the kitchen.
b. nisa
rasod.
a-m
a rot.li
ban
av-ti
ha-ti
N-nom.sg kitchen-loc bread-nom.sg make-impf.f.sg pst-f.sg
Nisa was making/used to make bread in the kitchen.
(40) a. nisa
rasoi-me
rot.i
ban
ati
hai
N-nom.sg kitchen-loc bread-nom.sg make-impf.f.sg be-pres.3.sg
Nisa makes bread in the kitchen.
b. nisa
rasoi-me
rot.i
ban
a-ti
thi
N-nom.sg kitchen-loc bread-nom.sg make-impf.f.sg be-impf.f-sg
Nisa used to make bread in the kitchen.
The non-standard language Pawri is significant in this respect because it lacks obligatory
present/past tense marking. In Pawri, the imperfective aspect is realized by an extended
variant of the MIA impf paradigm.25 The Pawri Imperfective lacks temporal specification
and systematically licenses imperfective interpretation in both present and past times. The
Pawri Imperfective and Perfective paradigms for the verb kh
a eat are given in (41) and
(42).
25
Grierson (1907) speculates that these are older adjectival endings similar to the -l endings attested for
the perf form in late MIA, Marathi, and the Eastern Indo-Aryan languages.
132
(41) Pawri Imperfective
(42) Pawri Perfective
gender
sg
pl
gender
sg
pl
mas
kha-ta-lu
kha-ta-la
mas
khad-yu
khad-
a
fem
kha-ta-li
kha-ta-lya
fem
khad-i
khad-ya
neu
kha-ta-la
kha-ta-le
neu
khad-a
khad-e
The examples in (43) and (44) illustrate this.

(43) a. chyu
kayam
arh
a-m
svota-h
a=j b
al-ta-lu
he-nom always mirror-loc self-acc-cl look-impf.m.sg

He always looks at himself in the mirror.
b. Dhanir
aya,
apu
D-voc
kay kadav
kh
a-ta-l
a
you-nom.hon what mud-nom eat-impf.m.pl
Dhanir
aya, are you eating mud?
In (43), both eventualities are interpreted at a time that overlaps with the utterance
time. In (43a) the imperfective form of the verb bal look licenses a habitual interpretation;
in (43b), the imperfective form of kh
a eat licenses an episodic progressive interpretation
and refers to an ongoing episode of (what is perceived to be) mud-eating. In (44), on
the other hand, the eventualities must be interpreted as occurring at a time prior to the
utterance time.
(44) a. mi
rov-ta-li
tev mehe
send.u
lag-yu
I.nom play-impf-f.sg then I-acc.sg ball.nom hit-perf.m.sg
When I was playing, a ball hit me.
b. varir
ayaj jangalb
ari-dary
a-m phir-ta-lu.
V.nom
tev chyui
forest-valleys-loc wander-impf-m.sg then he.nom
tin
ah
aj h
ad-yu.
he-acc call-perf.m.sg
Varir
ayaj was wandering in the forests-valleys. At that time, hei called out to
himj .
c. agyad.vaji b
ange-n
A-nom
chyu
talapi
otu
hemp-gen addict-nom be-perf.m.sg

kayam b
ang
pi-ta-lu
he-nom always hemp-nom drink-impf-m-sg

Agy
ad.vaji was a hemp addict. He would always drink hemp.
133
In (44a), the temporal adverbial clause contains an imperfective-marked verb rov-ta-li,

while the main clause contains a perfective verb to be interpreted as referring to a past
time eventuality. The imperfective-marked verb also receives a past time interpretation
but temporal clause does not contain any overt expression of the past tense such as a tense
auxiliary. In (44b), the second clause is perfective and has past time interpretation. The first
clause with the imperfectiv-marked verb is interpreted as referring to a past time eventuality
overlapping with the event of calling out described in the second clause. In (44b), the past
tense auxiliary otu was in the first clause shows that the imperfective-marked verb pi-ta-lu
must have a past time interpretation.
None of the imperfective-marked clauses in (43) and (44) have overt tense marking,
unlike Gujarati or Hindi. Nevertheless, they may be interpreted as referring to either present
or past time eventualities, with or without disambiguating material in the surrounding
linguistic context. The distribution of the Pawri Imperfective is identical to the distribution
of the impf paradigm in MIA, and more generally imperfective markers cross-linguistically
it occurs with lexical stative, progressive, and habitual/generic predicates. (43) and (44)
illustrated the use of impf to license progressive and habitual interpretations. An example
of the lexical stative use of this form is in (45).
(45) chyi
pel
nandurb
ar roy-tal-i
she.nom earlier Nandurbar live-impf-f.sg

Earlier, she lived in Nandurbar.
Pawri synchronically instantiates a temporally unspecified imperfective marker, while
most other surrounding languages have innovated periphrastic constructions with overt
tense marking. The periphrastic tense/aspect configurations in the standard NIA languages
(e.g. Gujarati (7) and Hindi (40)) obligatorily specify the temporal location of eventualities
in addition to their aspectual properties. This is not to say that Pawri does not have
any morphological means of marking the past-present distinction. Pawri does have tense
auxiliaries that are cognate to the auxiliaries of Gujarati; however, unlike in the other
languages, these auxiliaries are not obligatory and are rarely expressed in discourse (except
in the case of copular constructions)26
The Pawri Perfective and temporal interpretation
In summarizing 4.3.2, I mentioned that the perf paradigm in NIA languages occurs in
conditional contexts and also licenses immediate future interpretations, two uses that are
26
In fact, most of the examples I have for tensed sentences in Pawri are elicited translations of Marathi
or Gujarati sentences.
134
incompatible with categorizing perf as a past tense marker. The Pawri Perfective, cognate
to the MIA perf also licenses these two interpretations in addition to the eventive past time
interpretations that we saw in (44a-b). (46) illustrates the three interpretations licensed
by perf the perfective past (46a), the conditional (46b), and the immediate future
(46c). In (46b), the Perfective form appears in the antecedent of the conditional clause and
refers to the future possibility of going to Bombay. In (46c), the use of the perfective form
implies that the speaker is certain about the accomplishment of the event described by the
perfective clause. The event itself is located in the future of speech time.
(46) a. chyi suri
akha khet
nind-a
that girl.erg.sg entire field.nom.n.sg weed-perf.n.sg
That girl weeded the entire field.
b. mi
mumbai ga-yu
I.nom M
tedihi tar
kam
kari-hi
go-perf.m.sg then your work.nom.sg do-fut-1.sg
If I go (lit. went) to Mumbai, I will give him your message.

c. Tu
yahri bat.h.
mi
p
ac minit.-am
av-yu
you.nom here sit.imp.2.sg I.nom.sg five minute-loc come-perf.m.sg
You sit here. I will come (lit. came) back in five minutes.
A complete analysis of the semantics of the MIA and NIA perfective morphology is
beyond the scope of this study. These data, however show that the Pawri Perfective,
cognate to the MIA perf paradigm, lacks temporal specification and refers to culminated
events, justifying its categorization as a tenseless aspectual category rather than a tense
category. The perf form patterns uniformly with respect to these two uses in all the NIA
languages examined here. I will not be discussing this use of the perf forms for other
languages in the interest of brevity.
Pawri and the reconstruction of the MIA tense/aspect system
It needs to be pointed out here that the Pawri data, especially from the imperfective domain,
is significant for the reconstruction of the diachrony of the Indo-Aryan tense/aspect system.
The distribution of the impf paradigm in Pawri is structurally identical to the distribution
of impf in MIA. In fact, the hypothesis that the MIA system was aspect-based rather than
tense-based was formulated because of my fieldwork on Pawri. The existence of an NIA language with only an imperfective-perfective contrast and optional tense marking (surrounded
by standard languages with aspectual contrast and obligatory tense auxiliaries) triggered
135
the idea that Pawri might represent an archaic proto-system without the present-past distinction. The actual MIA data that confirms this hypothesis is abundantly documented in
the MIA literature. However an accurate analysis of this data was facilitated only after the
discovery of the Pawri facts.
The following sections will show that although the distinction between the past and the
present tenses is morphologically realized in the other NIA languages studied here, these
exist sub-domains even within the tensed systems where tense is not overtly realized.27
The hypothesis that the proto-system for NIA articulated only an imperfective-perfective
contrast and lacked the present-past tense distinctions is capable of providing an account
of the lack of tense specification in these sub-domains.
4.4.2
Konkana
Konkana presents a case where the impf paradigm, parallel to MIA, licenses both past
and present imperfective interpretations, but its forms are available only for a subset of the
cells of the person-number-gender paradigm. The Konkana Present Imperfective and Past
Imperfective paradigms are given in (47) and (48). In both tables, the singular cells and the
first person plural cell contains identical forms that are cognate to the MIA impf paradigm.
The second and third person plural forms are innovations based on the impf form that are
specified for tense information.28
27
The status of the bare impf and impf paradigms in NIA languages appears to parallel the status
of the Injunctive in Vedic (Kiparsky 2005). Both forms are unspecified for tense and in the absence of
tense auxiliaries are compatible with both a present, a past, and (in some cases) a subjunctive/irrealis
interpretation. impf, in particular, is used in several NIA languages in a counterfactual sense. This use has
been attested since MIA.
28
The first person plural cell is uniformly based on the passive stem of the verb. This change for the first
person plural cell is first attested for Gujarati in the 14th century (Bhayani 1998) and is reflected in other
non-standard languages as well. The basis of the forms in the shaded cells in the impf paradigm. In the
Present Imperfective, the auxiliary has been incorporated into the impf form. The shaded cells in the Past
Imperfective paradigm are based on impf (with an elision of the affixal -t) and a past tense auxiliary. Since
this periphrastic construction does not appear to be available as a full paradigm in Konkana, it could be
speculated that these constructions might be borrowed from the neighboring standard language Marathi to
fill in a possible morphological gap.
136
(47) Konkana imperfective present
(48) Konkana imperfective Past
person
sg
pl
person
sg
pl
bol-u
bol-ja/ju
bol-u
bol-ja/ju
2-m
bol-as
bol-t
as
2-m
bol-as
bol-a vhata
bol-tyas
2-f
bol-t
a
3-m
bol-tya
3-f
2-f
3-m
bol-a
3-f
bol-a vhatya
bol-a
bol-a vhata
bol-a vhatya
These mixed paradigms in Konkana could be puzzling because it is not clear why the
Present and Past Imperfective are identical in a subset of the cells, and why it is precisely
those cells that realize the morphological categories of person and number. Part of this
puzzle is solved when this part of the paradigm is related to the MIA impf paradigm that
it is cognate to, which inflects for person and number. On the other hand, the impf-based
cells carry gender-number information because the impf paradigm inflects for gender and
number.29
The other puzzle is why the same forms appear in both the Present and the Past Imperfective. The hypothesis that impf realizes the imperfective aspect without any temporal
specification in the proto-systme for NIA languages provides an answer to this puzzle. The
fact that the impf paradigm forms part of both the Present Imperfective and Past Imperfective paradigms in Modern Konkana in fact constitutes evidence that this paradigm must
have originally been temporally unspecified.
The examples in (49) illustrate that the subset of impf forms within the modern
Konkana paradigms are ambiguous between present and past time interpretation. (49ab) are ambiguous, while (49c) can be disambiguated by the use of present or past referring
adverbials a
t
a now and tava then.
(49) a. mi
ya.lbhar vavar
a-m j
a-u
I.nom all day field-loc go-impf.1.sg
an bh
akar=bi
r
andh-u
and bread.nom-emph cook-impf.1.sg

a. I go in the field all day, and make bread (cook) as well.
b. I would go in the field all day, and would make bread (cook) as well.
29
The morphological distinction between the second and the third persons in the Present Imperfective
paradigm is due to an incorporated second person auxiliary.
b. m
a
137
kava=bi
kapd.a
dhuv-u
an ti
bh
an.d.-a
I.nom when=emph clothes.nom.pl wash-impf.1.sg and she.nom dish-nom.pl
gh
as-a
clean-impf..3.sg
a. Always, I wash the clothes and she cleans the dishes.
b. Always, I would wash the clothes and she would clean the dishes.
c.
at
a/tava
to
n
asikla
r
ah
a
Now/back then he.nom.sg N-acc.sg live-impf..3.sg

Now/back then, he lives/lived in Nasik.
The constitution of the Konkana Imperfective paradigms provides synchronic evidence
for the semantic specification of impf. The Konkana cognate of the impf paradigm, for
the limited number of cells in which it is retained, has the same temporal and aspectual
distribution as it does in MIA, further supporting the analysis I have provided for the MIA
impf.
4.4.3
Gujarati
The distribution of the impf and impf paradigms in Modern Standard Gujarati is roughly
as follows; impf is the general imperfective form which forms periphrastic constructions
with tense and modal auxiliaries. The impf paradigm is used only with the present tense
auxiliary.30 Tense auxiliaries are considered to be obligatory in most indicative contexts,
but there are exceptions. In some cases, the bare impf paradigm may be used with past or
present time imperfective interpretation. Consider the examples from Gujarati in (50).
(50) a. m
aro divas
my
em j
a-e
ch-e.
h
u
savare
day.nom thus go.impf.3.sg pres-3.sg I.nom morning-loc
ut.h-u,
nh
a-u,
pachi puja
kar-u,
pachi
wake-impf.1.sg bathe-impf.1.sg then prayer.nom do-impf.1.sg then
a
bajar-m
j
a-u
market-loc.sg go-impf.1.sg
My day goes thus: I wake up, bathe, then pray, then go to the market ...
30
In the southern dialects of Gujarati, particularly, the Surti dialect, impf is used even with the present
tense auxiliary.
138
b. h
u
jy
are-jy
are Sanskrit bhan.-u
tyare-tyare b
a
I.nom when
S.nom study-impf.1.sg then
mother.nom
ma-ne
l
ad.u
ap-e
I-acc.sg sweet.nom give-impf.3.sg

Whenever I would study Sanskrit, my mother would give me a sweet.
The impf form ordinarily appears with present tense interpetations in periphrasis with
a tense auxiliary. However, in (50a), we see that the bare impf form in a sequence of
clauses, headed by a tensed clause, may license a habitual present time interpretation. In
(50b), the same impf form licenses a habitual past time interpretation with an overt adverb
of quantification.
The examples from (50) show that in certain contexts (e.g. sequence of events or overt
quantificational adverbials) Gujarati allows the impf form to be temporally anchored without the presence of overtly expressed tense auxiliaries. The existence of such a sub-domain
where impf is compatible with both present and past time interpretations, supports the
hypothesis that impf lacks temporal specification in MIA.
4.4.4
Ahirani, Dehawali Bhili, Marathi
In this set of languages, the impf paradigm is part of the tense/aspect system but it licenses
only a past imperfective interpretation. The precise distribution of the impf paradigm in
these three languages differs. In Ahirani, it occurs with both progressive and non-progressive
(lexical stative and habitual/generic) predicates; in Dehawali Bhili, it is restricted to nonprogressive imperfective predicates with past time interpretation. In Marathi, it is also
restricted to non-progressive past predicates, but it is further considered to be an archaic
form rarely occurring in informal discourse.31 I will discuss the facts of this synchronic variation in Chapter 6. In this section, what is relevant to our discussion is that the restriction
of the impf paradigm to a past time interpretation is inexplicable on the impf-as-present
hypothesis, but accounted for on the impf-as-imperfective hypothesis. The existence of
these languages in the NIA typology thus lends further support to the latter hypothesis. I
briefly list the impf-cognate paradigms of Ahirani, Dehawali Bhili, and Marathi and provide examples that illustrate the range of interpretations they license. The main goal of
presenting this data is to highlight the fact that in some languages impf is restricted to
past time interpretation.
31
This variation in the distribution of the impf paradigm is conditioned by the presence or absence of more
specific innovated imperfective morphology such as a progressive morphology and its grammaticalization
status in the particular language.
139
Ahirani
The Ahirani cognate of the impf paradigm is given in (51).
(51) Ahirani Imperfective Past
person
sg
pl
bol-u
bol-ut
bol-e
bol-et
bol-e
bol-et
In Ahirani, impf occurs with lexical stative as well as progressive and habitual predicates, always with a past interpretation. (52a-b). (52a) refers to an ongoing episodic event
of crying at some specific time in the past. (52b) contains a habitual predicate and is only
interpretable as referring to a past time habit. (52) contains a lexical stative predicate and
also licenses a past time interpretation.
(52) a. tumi
gay-el
vha-tat
tavhal. b
a.l
pakka rad.-e
you.nom.pl go-perf pst-m.pl then baby.nom.sg lot
cry-impf.3.sg
While you were gone, the baby was crying a lot.

b.
ami
roj
porya-s-ne
sa.la-m
a
povs-
ad.-ut
We.nom everyday boys-pl-acc school-loc reach-caus-impf.1.pl

We used to drop the children off to school everyday.
c. b
apu
mal.ya-m rh
ay-e
B.nom.sg farm-loc live-impf.3.sg
Bapu used to live on the farm.
Dehawali Bhili
Dehawali Bhili, yet another non-standard language, presents a slightly different picture.
The impf paradigm is restricted to past time interpretation, but unlike Ahirani, impf may
not license progressive interpretation. impf only occurs with lexical stative and habitual
predicates. The Dehawali Bhili cognate of the impf paradigm is given in (53).
(53) Dehawali Imperfective Past
person
sg
pl
bol-u
bol-ji
bol-o
bol-
a
bol-e
bol-e
140
The examples in (54) illustrate the use of the impf paradigm in Dehawali Bhili. impfmarked forms are restricted to lexical stative (54a) and habitual (54b-c) predicates. (54b)
refers to a habitual activity that the subject referents engaged in as children going to sell
fruit (after collecting it from the forest). (54c) describes the situation for sugarcane cutters
in Gujarat at the time when the speaker worked there as a daily laborer a stative situation
in the past time. (54d) shows that even in the absence of explicit adverbial marking,
sentences with impf-marked forms may not license the progressive interpretation. (54d) is
unacceptable on the progressive interpretation but fine on the habitual interpretation.
(54) a. m
ar
a b
ah
ako
My
m
ar
a-h
ate ro-ye
father.nom.sg me-with
live-impf.3.sg
My father used to live with me.

a
b. am
h
an
a
ath-
a
a jamba
t
ah
vec-a
j
a-ji
We.nom small pst-m.pl then J-nom.pl sell-inf go-impf.1.pl

When we were small, we used to go to sell J
amba (Eugenia Jambolana) fruit.
c. gujr
at
a-m jasti roji
G-loc
mil-e
an khel poih
a
mil-tal
a
more wage.nom.pl get-impf..3.sg and lot of money.nom get-impf.m.pl
In Gujarat, (we) used to get more wages, and (we) would get a lot of money.
a
d. am
jamba
vec
a
j
a-ji
We.nom J.nom.pl sell-inf go-impf.1.pl

*We were going to sell J
The Dehawali data thus shows the the impf paradigm is further restricted to a specific
semantic domain in the past, a situation which does not have a transparent cause if we hold
that impf is a category with present tense specification.
Marathi
In modern standard Marathi, the impf paradigm is also restricted to a past time nonprogressive interpretation, but its occurrence in the language is very rare. It appears in
literary texts and is considered to be an archaic form. Marathi does not add to the typology
of impf-distribution in NIA languages, but provides an additional instance of a language
where impf only licenses habitual and lexical stative past time interpretations, like Dehawali
Bhili. I give the Marathi cognate of the impf paradigm in (55) for completeness.
4.5. THE LOSS OF THE PRESENT-FUTURE DISTINCTION
141
(55) Marathi Imperfective Past

person
sg
pl
bol-e
bol-
u
bol-as
bol-
a
bol-e
bol-at
The upshot of the data discussed in this section is that the set of languages where impf
has only past time interpretation constitute important evidence for assuming that impf
lacks tense specification.
Summary
The distribution of the imperfective forms cognate to MIA (impf and impf) across a section
of NIA languages confirms the findings from the MIA textual data the loss of morphological distinctions between the present and the past tenses. The NIA languages retain this
underlying tenseless system to differing degrees in sub-domains of the tense/aspect system.
Pawri represents the most archaic stage with a single imperfective morphological paradigm
that has past and present reference. The Konkana imperfective paradigm is morphologically
composite and part of this paradigm, cognate to the impf paradigm, is identical for the past
and present tenses. In Gujarati, impf has both past and present time reference in specific
syntactic contexts although indicative clauses are generally tense-marked in this language.
Ahiriani, Dehawali Bhili, and Marathi, present cases where impf licenses only past-time interpretation, a situation inexplicable on the impf-as-present hypothesis. These comparative
data, taken together, provide strong support for the claim that the tense distinctions in the
NIA tense/aspect system must be considered innovations modifying a basically aspectual
substrate system. The varying distribution of the imperfective forms can be best analyzed
as relic functions of a category with general semantics that is blocked by semantically more
specific morphology.
4.5
The loss of the present-future distinction
The preceding section, based on MIA and NIA data, made the claim that the distinction
between the past and the present tenses was lost in MIA, which was based on an aspectual
contrast between the imperfective and the perfective aspects. So far we have factored out
142
the future tense from our discussion about the loss of morphological tense distinctions.
While MIA lost its past-referring categories, it retained the OIA Future paradigm. (56)
presents my understanding of the basic tense/aspect categories in MIA.
(56) MIA aspect-based system
semantic category
morphological form
imperfective aspect
impf
perfective aspect
perf
future tense
Future
The MIA Future paradigm for the verb gam go is listed in (57). The paradigm is based
on a distinct stem, formed with an augment -(i)ssa to which the primary person-number
endings are added.
(57) MIA Future paradigm
person
sg
pl
1-m f n
gam-issa-mi
gam-issa-mo
2-m f n
gam-issa-si
gam-issa-tha
3-m f n
gam-issa-i
gam-issa-nti
Of the modern NIA languages under consideration here, Marathi and Hindi have lost the
MIA Future entirely, Ahirani and Konkana in part, while the other languages retain it. In
the larger Indo-Aryan language context, most languages have lost the MIA Future and innovated/recycled forms to mark future reference. Only Gujarati and the languages/dialects
contiguous to the Gujarati linguistic area retain the OIA future morphology (Beames, 187279; Kellogg, 1893; Hoernle, 1880). As far as grammatical descriptions of MIA go, there is
no attested MIA tense/aspect system that has lost the future tense morphology. The future
is attested until the very late MIA texts (Pischel 1900, Bloch 1965).
On the other hand, in the earliest NIA texts for Marathi, the MIA Future is already lost
and a new future morphological paradigm has been innovated. Old Hindi data is slightly
more complex because there is no Old NIA text that can be traced to be the direct ancestor
of contemporary standard Hindi.32 Beames (1872-79) and Kellogg (1893) have noted the
presence of the MIA Future in the Old Hindi (Braj) literature (Beames 1966: 113-114;
32
Modern standard Hindi is closely related to the Braj, Awadhi, and Baiswari dialects in which older
literature is found and which presents an approximation of the older dialect on which standard Hindi might
be based.
143
Kellogg 1893: 313-315). However, Modern Hindi shows no traces at all of the MIA Future
and instead uses an innovated form for future reference.
This gap in the textual evidence underdetermines the precise path of morphological loss
of the OIA/MIA future morphology and the innovation of future morphology in Marathi
and Hindi. Two possibilities present themselves :
(a) The MIA Future was in direct competition with the innovated future paradigms and
it is the consequence of this competition (the loss of the old future) that is reflected
in Old NIA texts.
(b) There is no direct competition between the MIA Future and the innovated Future
paradigms but that there is an intermediate future-less stage between the two systems with future markers.
I will argue that it is possibility (b) that is the more likely option in light of the comparative evidence that we have from NIA textual and variational data. We can hypothesize
a future-less tense/aspect system as the ancestor of the NIA systems for at least some NIA
languages viz. Marathi, Hindi, and Konkana. What would be the properties of such a
proto-system? If the system lacks a distinct form for future temporal reference as a result of
the loss of future morphology, we would expect existing aspectual or modal morphology to
be employed for future reference. Such a system would lack any explicit device for temporal
location in the future. Taken together with the claim that this proto-system system (as
derivable from the MIA aspect-based system) also lacks a distinction between the past and
the present tenses, we have a reconstructed system that does not mark any tense distinctions
at all.33
I argue for the possibility (b) rather than the possibility (a) because there is no evidence
at all for a direct competition between the older and the innovated future tense paradigms.
On the other hand, the future-less system hypothesis is supported by several empirical
facts from Old Marathi and Hindi as well as data from modern Konkana and Ahirani. My
empirical claim is that some stage of proto NIA must have been a future-less stage, where the
impf was employed for future temporal reference. Thus, the innovated future morphology
in Marathi and Hindi leads to a re-articulation of tense distinctions in a basically un-tensed
system. Crucially, it is not an effect of the maintenance of existing tense distinctions from
the older tensed system.
33
This is not an empirical claim about the genetic relation between Marathi and Hindi, but rather a
speculation about the common properties that would have to characterize the ancestors for both languages.
The Marathi and Hindi innovated future tenses, although based on the same basic paradigm (the impf
paradigm), are quite different from each other.
144
I will present three arguments in support of this claim. In 4.5.1, I will provide evidence
from composite future paradigms in Ahirani and Konkana that contain elements of the impf
paradigm. In 4.5.2, I argue that the morphological structure of the Marathi and Hindi
innovated future paradigms also supports the hypothesis of a future-less stage. Finally, in
4.5.3, I demonstrate that distributional facts from Old Marathi about the innovated future
morphology and the impf paradigms also confirm the hypothesis of a future-less stage.
4.5.1
Composite paradigms
Ahirani and Konkana are characterized by composite future paradigms that contain elements from both the MIA Future paradigm (57) and the impf paradigm.34 Consider the
Ahirani paradigms in (10) and (12).35
(58) The Ahirani impf paradigm (59) The Ahirani future paradigm
person
sg
pl
person
sg
pl
bol-u
bol-u-t
bol-su
bol-su-t
bol-e
bol-e-t
bol-si
bol-sa-t
bol-e
bol-e-t
bol-e
bol-ti-t
The Ahirani future paradigm is composite in the following way. The first and second
person morphology is cognate to the MIA future paradigm. The third person forms, on the
other hand, are based on the impf paradigm.36 The third person plural future form does
not appear elsewhere in the language (because the singular forms have been generalized
across number), but it is cognate to the MIA and Old Marathi impf form for the third
person plural. The main point is that the future paradigm of Ahirani is composed from
the forms of the MIA future paradigm in the first and second persons and the forms of the
impf paradigm in the third person.
34
It is important to note that the morphological forms of impf borrowed in creating the future paradigm
do not necessarily correspond to the modern impf paradigms of these languages, since they reflect the form
of the impf paradigm from an earlier stage. In both cases, however, the borrowed forms are cognate to older
stages of the impf paradigm.
35
A fact particular to Ahirani is that the plural forms are generally derived from the singular with a -t
suffix.
36
For immediate reference, the MIA impf paradigm is listed in (??) reproduced from (60).
(60) MIA: impf
person
1-m f n
2-m f n
3-m f n
paradigm
sg
gacch
a-mi
gaccha-si
gaccha-i
pl
gacch
a-mo
gaccha-tha
gaccha-nti
145
Konkana presents a variant of a similar configuration as seen from (61) and (62).
(61) The Konkana impf paradigm (62) The Konkana future paradigm
person
sg
pl
person
sg
pl
bol-u
bol-ja
bol-i-(l)
bolu-s
bol-as
bol-a
bol-si
bol-sa
bol-a
bol-at
bol-i-(l)
bol-ti-(l)
The cells shaded grey contain forms that are cognates of the corresponding MIA Future
paradigm while the remaining forms are cognate to the impf paradigm.37 The -l affix that
is given in brackets for the forms of the impf morphology in (62) is the future marking affix
in Marathi (see 4.5.2) and is optionally employed in Konkana.38
The examples in (63) illustrate the future tense in contemporary Konkana. In (63a), the
form in the first conjunct is cognate to the MIA Future paradigm while the future-referring
form in the second conjunct has its cognate in the impf paradigm. In (63b), both forms
belong to the MIA Future paradigm.
(63) a. god.
amb
a
l
av-
si
tava=c god. amb
a
l
ag-ti
sweet mango.nom plant-fut.2.sg then sweet mango.nom bear-impf.3.pl
if you will plant a sweet mango, then sweet mangoes will be borne (on the tree).
b. jar tumi
hindu-dharma-s
arkha kar
s-
a
If you.nom.pl Hindu-religion-like
tar
mar-i
j
a
s
a
do-fut.2.pl then die-ger go-fut.2.pl
If you will do any (ritual) that is part of the Hindu religion, you will die
The configuration of the Ahirani and Konkana paradigms partially based on the older
MIA Future and partially on the impf paradigm suggests that the impf paradigm has
37
The impf part of the composite future paradigm in Konkana does not appear to be directly related to
the particular forms of the impf paradigm that are current in Konkana. However, they can be reconstructed
as variants of the impfmorphology based on data from Old Marathi, where both morphological variants are
used.
38
The use of this affix in Konkana appears to be an effect of contact with the standard language Marathi
rather than a result of common development for several reasons. First, this affix is already attested in Old
Marathi (cir. 1270 AD) for the entire paradigm without any traces of the MIA Future. If the composite
paradigm of Konkana is to be reconstructed as an intermediate stage between the stages with a complete MIA
future paradigm MIA and a complete -l affix based paradigm, we have to assume that two ordered changes
took place following the loss of the future morphology without either spreading through the entire paradigm:
(a) the spread of the impf morphology to some cells of the future paradigm, and (b) the innovation of the
-l affix that attaches only to the cells realized by the impf morphology. On the other hand, contact with
a language that has a complete -l based paradigm constitutes a simpler explanation for both the presence
of the l affixes in only a select number of cells in the future paradigm, as well as for the optionality of -l
marking.
146
spread into the semantic domain of future reference in precisely those cells of the personnumber paradigm where the future morphology is lost. While the Ahirani and Konkana
facts in themselves do not argue for a future-less stage in the diachrony of these languages,
they do show that an existing aspectual paradigm (the impf paradigm) from the system
has been employed for future reference in precisely those cells where the future morphology
is lost and there is no other exponent for the future tense. Positing that the impf paradigm
lacks temporal specification and is only specified for aspectual imperfectivity allows us to
make sense of this spread from present tense to future tense.
4.5.2
The morphological basis of the innovated future paradigms
Related to the data from Ahirani and Konkana are the morphological paradigms of Old
(and Modern) Marathi and Hindi, both of which are based entirely on the impf paradigm.
The Old Marathi Future is characterized by an invariant -l affix that is added to the impf
morphology across the paradigm while Hindi employs a g affix, inflecting for number and
gender that is suffixed to the impf morphology, already inflected for person and number.
The Old Marathi paradigms for the impf morphology and the future tense are given in
(8) and (9).39
(64) Old Marathi impf paradigm (65) Old Marathi innovated Future
person
sg
pl
person
sg
pl
bol-
om
.
bol-e-n
bol-o-ni
bol-em
.
bol-asi
bol-
a
bol-as-l
bol-a-l
bol-e
bol-ati
bol-e-l
bol-ati-l
The comparative paradigms for Old Hindi are given in (66) and (67).
(66) Old
39
Hindi
impf
paradigm (67) Old Hindi innovated future40
person
sg
pl
person
sg
pl
bol-
um
.
bol-
um
. -ga
bol-e
bol-em
.
bol-o
bol-e-ga
bol-em
. -ge
bol-o-ge
bol-e
bol-em
.
bol-e-ga
bol-em
. -ge
In the first person forms, the affixal -l assimilates to the nasalized vowel giving a dental n.
The Hindi Future also inflects for gender, which is marked on the innovated affix -g. I have factored
this information out to keep the paradigms simple. The paradigm contains forms marked for the masculine
gender.
40
147
It is fairly transparent that both these paradigms are derived from the particular cognates of the impf paradigm in the respective languages. This relation between the impf
and future paradigms is puzzling unless we hypothesize a diachronically prior future-less
stage (following the loss of MIA Future morphology) where the impf paradigm was used
to mark future temporal reference. The innovation of the new Marathi and Hindi Future
tense paradigms, on this hypothesis, would be the result of a re-articulation of the tense
contrast between the present and the future tenses.
In the next section, I examine textual data from Old Marathi that supports this claim.
4.5.3
Future reference in Old Marathi
In this section, I argue that the innovated future morphology cannot have been in direct
competition with the older MIA future morphology at any stage for MIA or post-MIA
ancestors of Old Marathi. Instead, data from Old Marathi suggests that the MIA Future
must have been replaced by the impf paradigm, resulting in a stage where there was no
morphological contrast between the present and the future tenses. The innovated future
paradigms led to the re-articulation of tense distinctions in an un-tensed system and was
not an effect of the maintenance of existing tense distinctions from the older MIA system,
which contrasted the future tense with the non-future.
My empirical arguments come from the distribution of the impf and future tense
paradigms in Old Marathi. First, in Old Marathi texts, the impf morphology is sometimes used with a future time interpretation instead of the innovated Future. Second,
negated clauses with future time reference may only occur with the impf forms and not the
Future forms. Third, impf, rather than the innovated Future morphology is preferentially
used in interrogative contexts. This demonstrates that impf is compatible with future time
reference and, in fact, in certain syntactic contexts, is the only attested form for expressing
future time.
How do these facts bear on the larger hypothesis that we are concerned with verifying?
The main claim at stake here is an empirical one: Do the available textual data support
a loss of the morphological distinction between the present and the future tenses in some
reconstructed stage between MIA and Old Marathi or do they support the hypothesis that
the tense contrast was retained throughout MIA and Old NIA, despite the replacement
of the MIA Future by the innovated Old Marathi Future paradigm? The use of impf for
future temporal reference is inexplicable if we assume that the innovated future paradigm
directly replaced the MIA Future paradigm. However, such use of the impf paradigm is to
be expected on the assumption that the loss of the MIA Future led to the use of the impf
148
morphology for future temporal reference. There was no direct morphological competition
between the MIA Future paradigm and the innovated Future of Old Marathi.
The impf morphology in future contexts
In (68a-d), we see examples of the impf morphology with distinct future reference. In
(68a-b), the impf form appears after clauses with verbs marked with the innovated future.
The eventuality referred to by the impf form is temporally located after speech time just
like the eventuality described by the future-marked forms. However, there is no explicit
marking for temporal location. In (68c), the first clause, where the verb form is impf, has
a modal interpretation and describes the possibility of someone putting the baby into the
well, and asks a question that refers to a future time. It is the impf form of the verb kar
do that is used in this future-oriented question and not a form from the Future paradigm.
(68d) announces a decision about the future made by a saint, regarding a dispute over the
control of a child, but the verb is inflected with the impf morphology.
(68) a. ...n
ak
j
ai-la
mhan.e kan
j
at-la
mhan.e
nose.nom go-fut.3.sg quo ear.nom.pl go-fut.3.pl quot
d.ol.-e
j
a-t
mhan.e
eye-nom.pl go-impf.3.pl quot
(his) nose will go, his ears will go, his eyes will go (lit. go). (GC: 73)
b. je
yen.em
samast-am
ho-ila
devatam
. karan.-i
. paritos.a
.
that this.reason-ins.sg all-acc.pl satisfaction.nom.sg be-fut.3.sg god.acc.pl
maga tem
psit-
a
arth-
a
tem
. tumh-am
.
. de-ti
Then they you-dat.pl desired-acc.sg object-acc-sg they give-impf.3.pl
If all the Gods will be satisfied (if satisfaction will become to all Gods), then they
will give (lit. give) you the desired object...
c. ekadhye vihir-i
some
gh
ali-ti
tehavel.i kai kari-si

well-loc.sg put-impf.3.pl then
what do-impf.2.sg
He might put (the baby) in a well, what will you do then (lit. do you do then)?
(GC.55)
d. tumh-a lobha
kar-um
abh-e
pari lekarum
na labh-e
. l
.
you-dat love.nom.sg do-inf get-impf.3.sg but child.nom.sg neg get-impf.3.sg
You will get to love (the child), but you will not get the child. (GC.56)
149
The data in (68) shows that the impf morphology is often used to refer to future
eventualities, and alternates with the innovated Future to mark future temporal reference.
impf with negated and interrogative future-referring sentences
I mentioned that the impf morphology, and not the innovated Future, is the only attested
form in future-referring negated sentences and preferentially used in interrogative contexts.
This section illustrates this point. Consider the example in (69). All the affirmative clauses
have future inflection while the negated clauses use the impf forms. The sentences, however,
uniformly refer to a future interval. The commas separate distinct clauses in this example.
(69)
avo kh
a-i-la
mhan.e, na kh
a-ye
mhan.e, avo h
as-ai-la
mhan.e,
Oh eat-fut.3.sg quot neg eat-impf.3.sg quo
Oh smile-fut.3.sg quot
na
h
as-e
mhan.e, avo bol-

ai-la
mhan.e, na bol-e
mhan.e
neg smile-impf.3.sg quot Oh talk-fut.3.sg quo
neg talk-impf.3.sg quo
Oh, he will eat, no, he wont eat (lit. doesnt eat); he will smile, he wont (lit. doesnt
smile); he will speak, he wont speak (lit. doesnt speak). (GC. 89)
The examples in (70a-c) are consecutive sentences within the same discourse.
a...
(70) a. kon.h
a-ci
goruv-e
r
akh
a
k
Someone-gen cattle-nom.pl tend.impf.2.pl ques
Will you tend (lit. do you tend) to someones cattle? (LC.40:37)
b. he r
akh-a-ila,
pari doh-e
n
a, sod.-la,
pari
he tend-fut.3.sg but milk-impf.3.sg neg untie-fut.3.sg but
b
andh-e
n
a
tie-impf.3.sg neg
He will tend (to the cattle), but will not (lit. does not) milk them; he will untie
(the cattle), but will not (lit. does not) tie them.
c. te-n.e
mhan.ita-le
amh
b
andhau-ni amh
dohau-ni
he-erg.sg say-perf.n.sg we-nom.pl tie-fut.1.pl we-nom.pl milk-fut.1.pl
He said, We will tie (them); we will milk (them).
The first sentence (70a) is a yes-no question with future time reference and the verb tend
is inflected with the impf morphology. In (70b), the response to the question involves the
150
use of both the impf morphology (for the negated clauses) and the innovated future (for
the affirmative clauses). The affirmative clauses in (70c), on the other hand, are inflected
with the innovated future morphology.
The data in (69) and (70) demonstrate that in some syntactic contexts, future temporal
reference is systematically expressed by the impf morphology. This pattern of distribution
is surprising and is not attested for the older MIA Future paradigm, suggesting that it is
not inherited from MIA. I can only speculate on the particular distribution of the impf
morphology in the Old Marathi data. My hypothesis is that the innovated Future morphology instantiates the non-past perfective aspect in Old Marathi, at least originally. This can
account for both the morphological facts and the distributional facts in Old Marathi. It
has been speculated that the -l endings in Marathi are of participial origin and reflect the
remnants of the perfective participle that must have been cliticized to the impf morphology
to yield the future tense. This impf+perf basis for the future tense is also visible in Hindi
where the -g endings (inflecting for number and gender like the participles) have been traced
to the participle gata gone. If the future is aspectually perfective, this otherwise unaccountable employment of the perfective forms in its formation, can be explained. Moreover,
this assumption also makes sense of the distribution of impf and the innovated Future in
Old Marathi. The future, being aspectually perfective, is restricted to eventive future eventualities. Negated, interrogative, and modal sentences do not set up perfective contexts.
The impf morphology, on the other hand, being imperfective, is aspectually compatible
with these contexts.
Old Marathi and the present-future morphological contrast
Do available textual/comparative data support a loss of morphological distinction distinctions between the present and the future tenses in some reconstructed stage between MIA
and Old Marathi/Hindi? Or do they support the hypothesis that the tense contrast was retained throughout MIA and NIA, despite the replacement of the sigmatic future morphology
by the innovated future morphology?
Let us first consider the latter hypothesis in light of the available facts. If the presentfuture contrast is retained constantly at all stages in that set of languages which have
lost the MIA future morphology, then the following distribution is to be expected in Old
Marathi.
a. The MIA future and not the impf morphology must alternate with the innovated
future, suggesting direct competition between two alternative ways of future marking.
4.6. EXTENDING THE IMPF MORPHOLOGY TO PAST AND FUTURE TIMES 151
b. The MIA future and not the impf morphology must occur in contexts in which the
innovated future morphology may not be used; viz. negated and interrogative clauses.
However, Old Marathi retains no traces at all of the MIA future and it is the impf
morphology that alternates with the future for expressing future time. This distribution is
better accounted for if we adopt the hypothesis that at some stage between the textually
documented stages of MIA and Old Marathi, the impf morphology was the only available
morphological device for future temporal reference. At such a stage, the language lacks
any morphologized distinction between the present and the future tenses. The Old Marathi
and Hindi innovated Futures constitute the re-articulation of these tense distinctions in
a later system from a prior tense-less system. Not only does this hypothesis account for
the use of the impf morphology for future reference in Old Marathi, but it also provides
a possible motivation for the morphological presence of the impf paradigm in the future
paradigms in several NIA languages. As described in 4.5.1 and 4.5.2, the forms of impf
are employed in the future tense paradigm of the modern languages in two ways. In Ahirani
and Konkana, these forms are directly incorporated into the composite future paradigm,
while in Marathi and Hindi, the innovated future paradigm is entirely based on the inflected
impf morphology.
Summary
The goal of this section was to determine whether available textual and comparative data
from Old and Modern NIA languages allow us to differentiate between two possible scenarios
that could have preceded the rise of the innovated future morphology in some NIA languages.
I argued that the limited data available supports the reconstruction of a proto-stage that
was characterized by the absence of a morphological contrast between the present and future
tenses as opposed to a stage at which the innovated future and the older future morphology
were in direct competition. At a broader level, this reconstruction, although limited by
the absence of decisive textual data, allows us to tentatively posit a completely tense-less
aspectually based proto-system for at least some Indo-Aryan languages.
4.6
Extending the impf morphology to past and future times
This chapter so far has focused on the changes in the distribution of the the impf morphology and more peripherally, the perf morphology, across stages of Indo-Aryan. On the
account presented here, the impf morphology realizes the present tense in OIA but the
imperfective aspect in MIA. This change from present tense to imperfective aspect allows
152
the impf morphology to be systematically extended to past and future temporal reference.
The problem is this: How does a morphological form specified for present tense diachronically change to realize the imperfective aspect with no tense specifications? In other words,
how do we get a change from a tense specification like the one in (71a) to the temporally
unspecified one in (71b)?
(71) a. [[impfOIA ]] = Pt [t now P(t)]
b. [[impfM IA ]] = P<s,t> t t [t nf t inst(P, t )]
Bybee et al (1994) report two crosslinguistically attested diachronic changes in morphological forms that realize the present tense in languages. In the first kind of change, a present
tense markerstarts marking the future tense across time. In the second change, the present
tense marker gets extended to marking past time imperfective reference diachronically.
(72) a. present future
b. present (past/temporally unrestricted) imperfective
The change, such as the one instantiated by the Indo-Aryan data, appears to also
have cross-linguistic parallels. But the question remains: How does a tense marking form
semantically change to become an aspect marking form diachronically?
This section is an attempt to lay out a possible answer this question for the case of the
Indo-Aryan impf morphology. A cautionary note is required. This section is speculative
in nature and is based on limited data and the observations of Sanskrit and NIA linguists.
I put forth this proposal only as a starting point for more nuanced and systematic textual
research that can verify the hypothesis presented here.
My proposal is as follows: At all times in Indo-Aryan, the impf morphology has only
an aspectual specification and no tense specification. In other words, the impf morphology
is never, even in the Oldest IA texts, the present tense morphology, but always an imperfective aspect marking morphology. Therefore, there is no change at all in the semantic
specification of the impf morphology from OIA to MIA. However, there is a marked change
in the distribution of this morphology from OIA to MIA. This distributional change is to be
attributed to the loss of existing past-referring morphological categories. Consideration of
broader OIA data and descriptions of the distribution of the impf paradigm in OIA, allows
me to make this tentative claim about the semantic contribution of impf.41
41
The question we asked about MIA comes up in this context as well. If impf paradigm denotes the
imperfective aspect in OIA, why has it been labeled the Present Tense and why does the literature on OIA
4.6.1
impf morphology as tenseless imperfective: Vedic
Delbr
uck (1876), the first detailed investigation into the tense/aspect system of OIA, notes
that the historical present use of the impf morphology was not foreign to the poets of
the R
. gveda, the oldest available IA text. I want to argue that the use of impf morphology
with past time reference is not determined by a narrative device, but is a more systematic
effect of the semantic specification of impf. impf realizes the imperfective aspect in OIA
and lacks temporal specification. In other words, i want to claim that impf in OIA is
semantically identical to impf in MIA.
Let us consider an example. (73a-b) belong to a single verse that describes the famous
conquest of Vr.tra, an enemy of Indra, who is the protagonist in this hymn, as well as several
others. This verse describes how Vr.tras mother was not spared by Indra and suffered the
same fate as her son. All the verbs (bold-faced) in this verse are past-referring categories
(the Imperfect and the Perfect), except for the last verb, which has impf inflection. The first
two verbs, abhavat became and jabh
ara cast/threw are eventive, while the impf inflected
verb saye lay in (73b) is stative and has past time reference. impf may be used for past
time reference because it is temporally unspecified and only specified for the imperfective
aspect. A stative predicate is imperfective and may be marked with the impf morphology.
avaya a-bhav-at
(73) a. nic
vr.tr
aputra
humbled become-pst-impf.3.sg V-nom.sg
ndro
asya
ava vadhar
jabh
ar-a
I-nom.sg her at thunderbolt cast-pfct.3.sg

Vr.traputra (Vr.tras mother) became humbled; Indra cast his thunderbolt at her.
(RV. 1.32.9a-b)
b. u
ttar
a s
uh.
adhara-h. putra
ast
above mother-nom.sg below

son-nom.sg be-pst.impf.3.sg
d
anuh.
say-e
sah
avats
a
n
a dhen
u-h.
D-nom lie.impf.3.sg with-calf-nom.sg like cow-nom.sg

The mother above, the son was below; Danu (Vr.tras mother) lay (lit. lies), like a
cow with her calf. (RV. 1.32.9c-d)
not make note of this fact? The answer to the first question is again, tense-bias. The answer to the second
question is that the literature does make very careful note of the non-temporally restricted (particularly
past-time) uses of the impf morphology, and as with MIA, attributes these uses to the rhetorical function
of the present tense the historical present use.
154
Some other examples from the same hymn, otherwise dominated by the OIA past referring categories, illustrate this contrast. In (74a), the sentence describes how the waters are
flowing over the body of Vr.tra, who lies, with his limbs dismembered by Indra. Uniformly,
it is stative (atelic) predicates with past time reference that appear with impf inflection.
(74) a. ...sayanam m
ano
lying
r
uh
an.
a
ati y
a-nti
apa-h.
courage rising over go-impf.3.pl water-nom.pl
The waters (of the river), taking courage, were flowing (lit. flow) over the lying
one. (RV. 1.32.8b)
b. vr.tr
a-sya nin.yam
cara-nti
apa-h.
. vi
V-gen.sg
away move-impf.3.pl water-nom.pl
The waters were carrying (lit. carry) away Vr.tras mysterious form(?) RV.1.32.10c)
(73) and (74) suggest that the distribution of the impf morphology in the oldest IndoAryan is governed by factors more systematic than rhetorical or stylistic aspects of narrative, particularly, since the impf inflection appears on stative verbs in narrative contexts
otherwise using past-referring morphological categories. I noted this correlation between
the stativity of predicates and impf inflection for the MIA impf distribution as well. As
I claimed in 4.3.1, this systematic correlation is inexplicable on the historical present
account of the use of impf for past time reference but follows naturally from the impf-asimperfective hypothesis.
Other evidence for impf as imperfective
Further evidence that the impf morphology may refer to past as well as present time imperfective eventualities comes from grammatical descriptions, both traditional and more
modern. P
ani
. ni (cir. 500 BC), specifies that the impf morphology may be used to describe
past time eventualities if it is licensed by past-time adverbials such as sma and pur
a formerly (P. 3.2.118-119). Whitney (1889: 278) observes that this restriction is not found in
the R
an.ini) and that the adverbially unmod. gveda (written at least seven centuries before P
ified impf morphology occurs freely in referring to past time eventualities (Whitney 1889:
278; Gonda (1962: 218)). Delbr
uck (1886:129) also notes that in the Brahmana language
(late Vedic stage), the impf with the marker sma may only denote imperfective aspect,
never perfective.
There is a possible generalization lurking here, which needs to be verified. The generalization is that the distribution of the impf morphology is not completely free; it is restricted
to past time imperfective reference, because the form has aspectual and not temporal meaning. This descriptive evidence for P
an.ini and the modern grammarians is only suggestive
but points to a very promising direction of research for determining the actual distribution
of impf in Vedic and the factors it is governed by.
4.6.2
impf morphology as tenseless imperfective: Epic Sanskrit
Speijer (1886: 243-245), describes the Sanskrit Present Tense as being what it is everywhere,
the expression of facts present or represented as such. Considering this self-evident, he
moves on to discuss the more important uses of the present tense impf morphology its
use in reference to eventualities in past and future time.
impf and past time reference
With respect to the past-referring function of the impf morphology, Speijer observes that
the most common employment of impf in past contexts is in denoting progressive or habitual
situations. Such use of the impf is often licensed by two past time adverbials sma and pur
a
formerly but these are not necessary and generally wanting in the body of a narration
(Speijer 1886: 245).42 Consider the examples in (75) cited in Oberlies (2003: 145-46).
(75) a. sabha-yam r.s.a-yas
tas-yam
pan.d.av-aih. saha
asa-te,
hall-loc.sg seer-nom.pl that-loc.sg P-ins.pl with sit-impf.3.sg
as
am
ca
. -cakr-uh. narendrah.
sit-pfct-3.pl king-nom.pl and
In that hall, the seers were sitting (lit. sit) with the P
an.d.vas. And the kings
became seated. (Mbh. 2.4.7)
b. s
a
pra-jajv
al-a
sarvatah., mandam
p
avakah.
. daha-ti
she-nom.sg up-light-pfct.3.sg all-around slowly burn-impf.3.sg fire-nom.sg
She (the pyre) lit up all around (in flames)....The fire was burning (lit. burns)
slowly. (R. 3.68.3).
In (75a), the first sentence refers to a past time at which the seers were sitting (in the
state of having been seated) in the hall with the P
an.d.avas. The verb is inflected with the
42
The idea that the use of the impf in past contexts must be licensed by specific adverbials is due to the
rules in P
ani
. ni (3.2.118-119). However, grammarians such as Whitney and Speijer seem to be faced with
substantial data that contradicts this rule. If what I am proposing is true, sma and pur
a are only optional
adverbial modifiers for past-time reference. The impf morphology by itself is not specified for temporal
location and is therefore compatible with past and present time reference.
156
impf morphology. The next sentence describes the kings assuming the sitting position in
that same hall; the verb has the Perfect inflection.43 Clauses are separated y commas.
In (75b), the first sentence describes the event of the pyre lighting up completely with a
Perfect-inflected form, while the next sentence describes the homogeneous process of the fire
burning afterwards, but still in the past time, with the impf morphology. The appearance
of impf with atelic predicates and licensing imperfective interpretation is consistent with
the semantics I am claiming for impf in OIA.
Further impf is often used for the backgrounding function that the progressive aspect
performs in English. impf sets up a temporal frame in the past-time, within which an
event is considered to occur. In the example in (76a), the impf-inflected form refers to an
iterated episodic eventuality, during which the event of seizing (with Perfect inflection) is
said to take place. Both eventualities are located in the past time.
(76) etad eva yad
a vakya-m
thus just as
amred.aya-ti
vasava-h.
sentence-acc.sg repeat-impf.3-sg V-nom.sg
an
adr.-tya
tatah. sakra-m
ja-gr
ah-a
bh
argava-h.
. graha-m
.
disobey-ger then S-acc.sg offering-acc.sg seize-pfct-3.sg B-nom.sg
As Vasava (Indra) repeated that sentence (over and over), disobeying Sakra
(Indra),
Bhargava seized the offering. (Mbh. 3.124.13)
in (77), the impf-inflected form han-ti licenses the futurate reading of the progressive
progressive, but with past itme reference. The form describes an unculminated eventuality
of killing, and sets up an interval during which the event of speaking takes place, also in
the past.
(77) yad
a dron.asut-o garbh-an
p
an.d.u
-n
am han-ti
Madhava
when D-nom.sg children-acc.pl P-gen.pl kill-impf.3.sg M.voc.sg
tad
a kila
tva-ya
Draun.i-h. kruddh-ena
uk-ta-h.
arimardana
then emph you-ins.sg D-nom.sg angered-ins.sg speak-perf-m.sg A.voc.sg
Madhava, As Dron.asuta was killing (was about to kill) the children of the P
an.dus, O
slayer of foes, Draun.i was spoken to thus by you, who was angered. (Mbh. 14.66.10)
In (78), we have examples of the impf morphology licensed by the past referring adverbials pur
a formerly and sma, licensing a stative (78a) and a habitual (78b) interpretation.44
43
This is the Periphrastic Perfect, distinct from the reduplicated Perfect, but with the same semantic
interpretation in Epic Sanskrit as the reduplicated Perfect.
44
Oberlies (2003: 147) notes several instances of the impf + sma used to refer to present time habitual
situations rather than past time situations in Epic Sanskrit. Here is what my hypothesis is. It might be the
(78) a. sayana-m
sam-up
asa-nti ya-m
pur
a
paramastriy-ah.
sleeping-acc.sg revere-impf.3.pl who-.acc.sg formerly excellent-women-nom.pl
The sleeping one (Bhs.ma), whom, formerly, the most excellent women revered.
(Mbh. 7.50.38a)
b. nivedaya-nti
sma tad
a kunt-ya bhaiks.-am sad
a nis-i
deliver-impf.3-pl
then K-ins.sg alms-acc.pl always night-loc.sg
They would deposit the alms with Kunti every night. (Mbh. 1.157.5)
impf and future time reference
Both Speijer (1886) and Oberlies (2003) note that the impf morphology frequently refers
to eventualities in the future. Some examples are in (79a-b).
(79) a. svo
r
ajasevak-ah.
asm
a-n
nih.-s
araya-nti
tomorrow king.servant-nom.pl us-acc.pl turn-out-impf.3.pl
Tomorrow, the kings servants will turn us out (lit. turn out) (R. 3.68.13)
b. tasm
at
sakra-vadh-
arth-
aya
vr.tr-am ut-p
ad-ay-
a-mi aham
therefore S-destruction-purpose-dat-sg V-acc.sg create-impf..3.sg I
Therefore, I will create (lit. create) Vr.tra, for the purpose of destroying Sakra
(Indra). (Mbh. 5.9.42)
c. ksipram eva
soon
vina
sya-ti
emph perish-impf.3.sg
Very soon, he will die (lit. dies). (R. 3.20.18)

Thus, we see that it is reasonable to hypothesize that the facts in Epic Sanskrit are
comparable to the facts in MIA the impf morphology is temporally unspecified at both
stages and carries only aspectual specification. impf refers to imperfective eventualities
and the temporal location of these eventualities is fixed through context or by adverbial
modifiers. If this hypothesis is proved correct, then we do not have to assume a radical shift
for impf from present tense to imperfective aspect from OIA to MIA.
case that the impf + sma construction does not really license a past time interpretation, but rather, a past
or a present time characterizing intepretation. The examples in (75a-b) are both naturally translatable by
the progressive, whereas the examples in (78) require the simple past or the would construction which both
have a characterizing interpretation.
158
4.6.3
Summary
In this section (4.6) I put forward a speculative proposal about the semantic specification
of impf in OIA. I proposed that Vedic and Epic Sanskrit data, supports the tentative
hypothesis that impf lacks tense specification even at the OIA stage. This hypothesis, if
proved correct, has the desirable consequence that we do not need to appeal to any semantic
change at all in order to understand the aspectual configuration of the MIA system. There
is no sudden extension of the impf morphology to past (and future) reference in MIA (or a
comparable prot-NIA system). The aspectual specification of impf remains constant across
OIA and MIA.
At first glance, this might look like an improbable hypothesis because we know that
there is a marked difference in the distribution of impf in OIA and in MIA. What is the
reason for this difference if impf retains the same semantics throughout? The answer to
this question, I believe, lies in the relative richness of the tense/aspect systems of OIA
and MIA. OIA had three distinct past-referring categories (the Imperfect, the Aorist, and
the Perfect) in addition to impf which was used in a particular subdomain of the past
the imperfective subdomain. The Imperfect and the Aorist, in particular, were past tense
categories (with distinct past affixes). Although the impf morphology was temporally
unspecified, the presence of these categories created the effect of a present-past opposition
between the impf on the one hand and the past-referring categories on the other. This effect,
is of course, not substantiated by the textual data, which reveals that the impf regularly
occurrs with past and future time interpretations. The presence of a distinct future referring
category, the OIA future, had a corresponding effect that descriptive grammars posited a
present-future morphological opposition, while carefully noting that this opposition was
belied by the regular use of the impf morphology in referring to future eventualities. The
loss of the past referring morphological categories by the MIA stage, and the future by the
Old NIA stage, resulted in making more visible the actual semantic domain of the impf
morphology.
If my hypothesis is correct, then the only explanation necessary for the changed distribution of impf from OIA to MIA would have to be the loss of OIA past referring categories
which makes the MIA tense/aspect system, and the actual semantic specification of impf
much more transparent. The impf morphology throughout Indo-Aryan is tenseless and
realizes the imperfective aspect.
4.7. CONCLUSION
4.7
159
Conclusion
In this chapter, I laid out the distribution of the past, present, and future referring morphological categories in OIA, MIA, and NIA. I demonstrated that the radical simplification
of the verbal system from OIA to NIA, via MIA, involves a substantive change in the configuration of Indo-Aryan tense/aspect system. Specifically, the OIA system with its tense
contrasts between the past, the present, and the future tenses, was reconfigured into an
aspect-based system with a contrast between the imperfective and the perfective aspects.
The impf morphology, which realized imperfective aspect was apparently restricted to nonpast and non-future situations in OIA, but was extended to past and (for a sub-set of
languages) future reference in MIA. The loss of the OIA Imperfect, Perfect, and Aorist
morphology in MIA correlated with the emergence of the aspectually perfective perf morphology. The MIA system, based on the impf and perf morphology, was an aspectual
system, lacking tense contrasts.
I then pointed out that the diachronic changes laid out in this chapter present a puzzle
for the semantic representation of tense and aspect categories. How does a morphological
category supposedly instantiating present tense such as the impf morphology get extended
to past, and, in some cases, to future reference? Based on evidence from Vedic and Epic
Sanskrit, I speculated that there was, in fact, no change in the semantics of the impf
morphology from OIA to MIA, and that the impf morphology realized the temporally unspecified imperfective aspect at all stages of OIA and MIA. This hypothesis, which needs to
be verified by systematic textual study, has the advantage of providing a simple explanation
for the changed distribution of impf from OIA to MIA. On this hypothesis, we do not need
to assume any radical change in the semantic specification of impf to explain its changed
distribution. This change can be interpreted as a result of the morphological loss of OIA
past referring categories in the transition from OIA to MIA. In other words, the change is
a result of an alteration in the larger tense/aspect system, and not of a radical shift in the
semantic specification of an individual morphological form.
Chapter 5
The imperfective aspect in

Indo-Aryan
5.1
Introduction
This chapter has both empirical and theoretical goals. At the descriptive level, I aim to
trace the progressive-to-imperfective grammaticalization path as it is instantiated in IndoAryan diachrony. There are two theoretical motivations to this empirical study. First, an
explication of the discrete steps involved in this widely attested path can motivate more
substantially the nested analysis of the progressive and the imperfective aspects presented
in Chapter 3. Second, a close examination of the Indo-Aryan diachronic facts reveals that
the emergence of the morphologized progressive aspect in several NIA languages is closely
linked to the emergence of morphologically overt tense marking. This connection between
the emergence of markers for temporal location and the progressive provides a new piece
of evidence for the analysis of the progressive presented in Chapter 3. The theoretical goal
of this chapter is to demonstrate how the pattern of diachronic facts discussed here follows
from the analysis in Chapter 3. There are two changes in the imperfective domain between
the MIA and the NIA stages that will be examined.
A. The tensed progressive construction: In several Old and Modern NIA languages
(Old Gujarati, Hindi, and Pawri of the set examined here) periphrastic constructions based
on imperfective morphology and present or past tense auxiliaries uniformly license a progressive interpretation. At later stages, this so-called progressive construction generalizes
to license non-progressive imperfective interpretation.
160
5.2. TENSE MARKING AND THE PERIPHRASTIC PROGRESSIVE
161
B. The Locational Progressive construction: An innovated periphrastic progressive construction based on the impf paradigm and a tenseless locational auxiliary is first
attested in the MIA tense/aspect system. This construction is ambiguous between present
and past time reference at the MIA stage.1 At the NIA stage (attested only in Old and
Middle Marathi), this construction apparently generalizes to license non-peogressive imperfective interpretation, instantiating the progressive-to-imperfective shift. I call this the
locational progressive construction because the tenseless auxiliary performs the function
of locating the imperfective predicate without explicitly anchoring with respect to speech
time like the tensed auxiliary-based progressive constructions.
These changes present a puzzle about the progressive aspect as well as the progressiveto-imperfective shift. How is the semantics of the progressive aspect connected to its morphological composition? Why do tensed or tenseless auxiliaries, in periphrasis with the
imperfective morphology, uniformly license progressive semantic interpretation? Can the
progressive-to-imperfective shift be characterized autonomously if, at least in some cases
(e.g. the tensed progressive construction), the change goes hand-in-hand with the emergence and spread of a new morphological feature such as tense in the tense/aspect system?
These are the questions that this chapter attempts to answer.
The organization of this chapter is as follows: In 5.2, I introduce data from Old and
Modern NIA languages showing the relation between overt tense marking and the progressive interpretation. 5.3 offers an account of these facts based on the theory of the
imperfective and progressive aspects that I have been developing in this dissertation. In
5.4, I discuss the Locational Progressive construction, which appears first in MIA texts
and is retained in only one NIA language Marathi and in 5.5 propose an explanation for the progressive-to-imperfective path that it appears to undergo in the history of
Marathi. The conclusion 5.6 summarizes the findings from MIA and NIA diachrony and
and relates them to the semantic representations for the imperfective and the progressive
aspects proposed in Chapter 3.
5.2
Tense marking and the periphrastic progressive
In Chapter 4 (4.3 and 4.4) I established that the impf and impf paradigms instantiate the imperfective aspect (unspecified for tense) in the MIA tense/aspect system and
may be interpreted as referring to eventualities located either in past or present time. At
1
I am going to factor out the future tense in the course of this discussion because the periphrastic
construction rarely occurs with a future tense auxiliary, and because in the later languages, this type is
attested much later than the past and present periphrastic constructions.
162
CHAPTER 5. THE IMPERFECTIVE ASPECT IN INDO-ARYAN
the next stage, NIA languages innovate tense auxiliaries that form periphrastic constructions with these imperfective forms, which explicitly locate the eventualities denoted by
the imperfective-marked predicate in the present or the past. One broad generalization
with respect to this change emerges: at the onset of their attested occurrence, periphrastic
constructions based on the imperfective forms and tense auxiliaries always license only a
progressive interpretation. In other words, at least for some NIA languages, the progressive
forms differ from the imperfective forms, only in the overt presence of a tense auxiliary. Descriptive grammars of Old and Modern NIA languages (Dave, 1935; Kellogg, 1893; Master,
1964; Tulpule, 1960; Bhayani, 1998, a.o.) clearly distinguish the progressive constructions
from the non-progressive imperfective forms and document this innovated progressive as
being constituted by the MIA imperfective morphology and innovated tense auxiliaries. At
a diachronically later stage, the periphrastic imperfective+tense constructions cease to be
restricted to the progressive interpretation and begin to license non-progressive imperfective
(lexical stative and habitual/generic) interpretations, thus manifesting the progressive-toimperfective shift (see Dahl (1995: 417) who makes that claim for Hindi.).
The table in (1) schematically represents this change. In (1) V and Aux refer to the
verbal form and the tense auxiliary respectively, while the subscripts indicate the semantic
contribution of these forms.
(1)
progressive
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
non-progressive
Vimpf
Vimpf +Auxtns
Vimpf
Vimpf +Auxtns
At stage 1, the bare imperfective form of the verb licenses both progressive and nonprogressive imperfective interpretations.
At stage 2, following the emergence of overt
tense auxiliaries, the periphrasis of the imperfective forms Vimpf with an overt past or
present tense auxiliary (Vimpf +Auxtns ), is restricted to a progressive interpretation. The
bare Vimpf forms license non-progressive imperfective interpretations. At stage 3, the periphrastic construction, Vimpf +Auxtns , generalizes to license both progressive and nonprogressive interpretations. The increase in the gray area from Stage 2 to Stage 3 represents
the progressive-to-imperfective grammaticalization shift.
The progressive-to-imperfective shift, in this particular case, can also be viewed in terms
of the spread of overt tense marking from the specific progressive semantic context to the
more general imperfective semantic context. I will argue that this instantiation of the
progressive-to-imperfective shift is better interpreted in this way.
5.2.1
163
MIA to NIA: tense auxiliaries
In Chapter 4 I showed that the MIA temporal system morphologically contrasted imperfective and perfective aspects and did not contrast the past and the present tenses. Further,
some comparative evidence from NIA supports the hypothesis that some NIA languages
originally lacked a present-future contrast as well. Most contemporary NIA languages, on
the other hand, do distinguish between the past, present, and future tenses. The pastpresent distinction, moreover, is morphologically realized by tense auxiliaries that form
periphrastic constructions in combination with the aspectual morphology inherited from
MIA.2 The table in (2) shows the difference between imperfective marking in MIA and its
modern cognates from Hindi and Gujarati.
(2)
Gloss
MIA
present
past
does
used to do
kar-ai, kar-anto
Hindi
kar-t
a hai
kar-t
a th
a
Gujarati
kar-e ch-e
kar-to hato
In MIA, the impf and the impf paradigms realize the imperfective aspect. Since these
forms are unspecified for tense, they may refer to eventualities located in the past, the
present, and sometimes, the future. In Hindi and Gujarati, on the other hand, the same
imperfective forms (factoring in phonological change) must occur in combination with tense
auxiliaries.3 Going back to the older stages of Gujarati and Hindi, it is possible to reconstruct the discrete steps along this path of change.
5.2.2
Old Gujarati to Modern Gujarati
In Old Gujarati, both the impf and the impf paradigms inherited from MIA are employed
in the formation of imperfective periphrastic constructions.4 The construction with the
2
I believe that the morphological basis of the present and past tense auxiliaries is common to the languages
investigated here and probably constitutes a common inheritance (see Beames (1966: 171-209) for discussion
on the morphological sources of these auxiliaries and changes in their phonological shape.). The present tense
auxiliaries are cognate to the impf paradigm of the verb as be or accha sit (Turner 1936). The past tense
auxiliary is based on the impf form of the MIA verb ho become (but see Beames (1966) for an alternative
proposal).
3
The English glosses in the second row are approximate and are only intended to convey that the bare
and the periphrastic forms license an imperfective interpretation.
4
All the examples for Old Gujarati are taken from the text S.ad.
avasyakab
al
avabodhavr. tti (SB), written
by Tarun.aprabh
ac
arya (cir. 1355 CE) and edited by Pandit (1976).
164
present tense reading is formed from the impf-inflected verb and the present tense auxiliary. The construction with the past tense reading is formed with the impf form and the
past tense auxiliary. In both cases, the difference between the readings for the periphrastic
constructions and the bare forms is clear. The periphrastic constructions are restricted to
the progressive interpretation while the bare forms typically license non-progressive imperfective interpretations (Bhayani 1998).5 Consider the examples in (3).
(3) a. su
ajvik
karan.
gr
amaloka-tan. am
.
he-nom.m livelihood reason-ins.sg village.people-gen.pl

vacharu
ch
ar-tu
cattle.nom graze-impf.m.sg
For his livelihood, he used to graze the cattle of the villagers. (SB. 211.19)
b. anerai din-i
sandhyasama-i... vacharu
le
ava-tau
another day-loc.sg evening-loc.sg cattle.nom bring.ger come-impf.m.sg

h
un-tau su
sarpp-i
d.as-iu
pst.m.sg he-nom.sg snake-ins.sg bite-perf.m.sg
One day, in the evening, he was bringing back the cattle (when) a snake bit him.
(SB. 211.20)
In (3a) the sentence with the bare impf form describes an eventuality located in the
past time and has a habitual reading. The immediately following sentence in the text (3b)
uses the periphrastic construction a
va-tau hun-tau was coming based on the impf form
and the past tense auxiliary, and licenses the progressive interpretation it refers to a
particular episode of bringing back the cattle, during which something happened.
(4a-b) also illustrate the same contrast. The bare impf form ram-ant
a in (4a) licenses
the habitual past interpretation while the periphrastic construction with the past tense
auxiliary gun.a-tau hu-ntau has the progressive reading. The sentence describes an ongoing
past event of reciting a text, during which the deity invoked by the text appeared before
the sage.
5
That Gujarati does not employ a single imperfective form across both tenses is an idiosyncratic fact
about the standard variety of the language. The contemporary Surti dialect spoken in South Gujarat differs
from the standard language in using the impf paradigm to realize the imperfective aspect across all tense and
modal configurations. In modern standard as well as Old Gujarati, the bare impf paradigm is not obligatorily
associated with the present tense and is often attested with past time interpretation in subordinate clauses
and in habitual/iterative contexts (see 4.4.3). What is relevant to the discussion here is that the presence
of overt tense auxiliaries results in a progressive interpretation for the periphrastic constructions in Old
Gujarati.
165
(4) a.
apan.i gam
a-tr-i
ram-ant
a
. g
we
river-bank-loc.sg play-impf.m.pl
We used to play on the river-bank...(BR. 118 (cited in Bhayani 1998: 87))
a... divakaru muni
b. tad
a kali tih
that time there D.nom
garud.opap
atadhyayanu
sage.nom G.nom
gun.a-tau
hu-ntau
repeat-impf.m.sg pst.m.sg
At that time, there, the sage Div
akara was repeating the Garud.opap
at
adhyayanu
text. (SB. 144.30-31)
A similar contrast is observed in present tense imperfective sentences. In this case, it
is the impf paradigm that gets employed in the periphrastic construction. The bare impf
form is used in characterizing sentences with habitual/generic and lexical stative predicates
as illustrated in (6a-c).6
a
sambujjh-aim
sagal
ai jva j
jv-aim
. ti
. ...
those sense-impf.3.pl those all
living those live-impf.3.pl
(6) a. ji
a
t
him
a
na kar-aim
. s
.
those violence.nom neg do-impf.3.pl
All those who sense (are conscious) are living (beings). Those who live, do not
commit violence (SB. 27.12)
b. tumhe atis.aya-sahita j
nanabhavai-tau
j
an.-a u...
m
urkhabhavat
a
you
extra-with
knowledge.quality-abl know-impf.2.pl foolishness.quality
kari
ha
u na
due to I
j
an.u
neg know-impf.1.sg
You know because of your ability for extra(sensory) knowledge. Due to my foolishness, I do not know. (SB. 62.1-2)
6
The impf paradigm by itself is not restricted to present time reference. The examples I provide here
have present reference because I am contrasting the bare impf form with the corresponding impf-based
periphrastic construction, which has only present time reference. Sentences with the bare impf form often
describe eventualities located in the past time. In (5), for instance, the context sets up a past interval, and
the impf form is interpreted as referring to a habitual situation that overlaps with this interval.
(5) Context: ...all those days, he lived in a temple called Sim
ayatana.
. hanis.ady
sandhy
asamai devagr.ha b
ahiri... sv
adhy
au kar-ai
in the evening temple outside self-study do-pres.3.sg
In the evening, he used to study outside the temple. (SB. 41.11-12)
166
(6a) is a statement about living organisms with generic reference and contains an impfinflected form. In (6b), a lexical stative predicate j
an. know also has impf inflection.
On the other hand, the predicates in (7a-b) are expressed by the periphrastic construction based on the impf form and the present tense auxiliary. These sentences license the
progressive interpretation, i.e. they are interpreted as referring to a particular ongoing
event.
(7) a. jin.-i
m
arg-i tumhe j
a-u
ch-au
teh m
arga huntau ju
which-ins path-ins you
go-impf.2.sg pres-2.sg that path from which
vamau
m
argu
tin.-i
m
arg-i mah
atm
a j
a-i
ch-ai
left-nom path-nom that-ins path-ins sage-nom go-impf.3.sg pres-3.sg
The path by which you are going, the sage is going by the path that is to the left
of that path (SB. 156. 25-26)
b. tumhar
a bh
an.ej
tum-ha
vand-iva
av-ai
ch-ai
your
nephew.nom you-acc.sg greet-inf come-impf.3.sg pres-3.sg
Your nephew is coming to greet you. (SB. 51.29)
The context for (7a) is as follows: someone, with the intention of killing the sage, asks
a passerby if he knows what path the sage has taken. The passerby responds with a lie,
hoping to avert the crime, and states that the route by which the individual is going is not
the same as the one that the sage is currently walking along. In (7b) someone is asked to
convey to the king the news that his nephew is on his way to see him. In both cases, the
periphrastic construction correlates with an episodic interpretation of the eventuality and
asserts that the eventuality has not yet culminated which is a progressive interpretation.
To summarize, the Old Gujarati data shows that the morphological distinction between imperfective forms without overt tense auxiliaries (the impf and impf forms) and
periphrastic constructions based on these forms in combination with tense auxiliaries, systematically correlates with a semantic distinction between the progressive and the nonprogressive imperfective interpretations. The generalization that these imperfective+tense
periphrases uniformly license the progressive interpretation has led to them being analyzed
as exponents of the progressive aspect in Old Gujarati (Bhayani 1998; Dave 1935).
Modern Gujarati
In Modern Gujarati, however, there is a marked difference in the distribution of these
periphrastic constructions. They are no longer restricted to the progressive interpretation
167
but are compatible with both progressive and non-progressive imperfective interpretations.
The sentences in (8) and (9) illustrates the range of semantic interpretations available to
the present and past auxiliary based periphrastic constructions.
(8) a. nisa
atyare rasod.a-m
a rot.li
ban
av-e
ch-e
N.nom.sg now kitchen-loc bread.nom.sg make-impf-3.sg pres-3.sg
Nisa is making bread in the kitchen right now.
b. nisa
roj
rot.li
ban
av-e
ch-e
N.nom.sg everyday bread.nom.sg make-impf.3.sg pres-3.sg
Nisa makes bread everyday.
c. kavi r
ajasekhar pascim taraf-no
poet R.nom
apabhram
u
. sa kavi-yo-n
direction-gen region.nom A. language poet-pl-gen
west
khas sth
an hova-n
u s
ucit
main place be-inf
prades
kar-e
ch-e
suggestion do-impf.3.sg pres-3.sg
The (writings of the) poet R

ajasekhar suggests the western region to be the main
location of the Apabhram
. sa language poets. (Bhayani 1998: 29)
d. nisa
navsari-m
a rah-e
ch-e
N.nom.sg Navsari-loc live-impf.3.sg pres-3.sg

Nisa lives in Navsari.
(8a-d) are present tense sentences based on the impf form and the present tense auxiliary. (8a) licenses a progressive interpretation parallel to its function in its Old Gujarati.
(8a) forms a minimal pair with (8b), which licenses the habitual interpretation. The adverbial modifiers in each sentence aty
are now and roj everyday serve to disambiguate the
two interpretations. (8c) is a characterizing sentence with generic reference while (8d) is
based on a lexical stative predicate and refers to a stable property of the subject referent.
The sentences in (9) show that the same range of interpretations are available to the
periphrastic construction based on the impf form and the past auxiliary. The construction
may have the progressive reading (9a), the habitual (9b) or the generic (9c) readings and
also occurs with lexical stative predicates (9d).
168
(9) a. h
u
kale
ram-ti
ha-ti
tyare man-e kat.o

I.nom yesterday play-impf.f.sg pst-f.sg then I.dat thorn.nom
lag-yo
hurt-perf.m.sg
Yesterday, I was playing when a thorn pricked me.
b. h
u
n
anpan.-m
a
benpan.iyo-s
athe b
ag-m
a ram-ti
ha-ti
I.nom childhood-loc friend-pl-with park-loc play-impf.f.sg pst-f.sg
In my childhood, I used to play with my friends in the park.
c. dh
armik s
ahitya-m
a
ket.l
ak r
ud.h
pr
akrita-prakaro
religious literature-loc many established P-varieties.nom
vapr-
a-t
a
ha-t
a
use-pass.impf.m.pl pst-m.pl
Many established varieties of Prakrit were used in religious literature. (Bhayani
(1998: 27)
d. nisa
pel
a
navsari-m
a rah-ti
ha-ti
N-nom-sg earlier Navsari-loc live-impf.f.sg pst-f.sg

Earlier, Nisa used to live in Navsari.
Summary
The data from Old and Modern Gujarati illustrates one pattern of instantiation for the
progressive-to-imperfective shift in Indo-Aryan. The main properties of this shift are: the
emergence of the progressive morphology is correlated with the emergence of a morphologically articulated past-present contrast. Diachronically, the periphrastic progressive constructions generalize to license both progressive and non-progressive imperfective interpretations. This pattern appears to be paralleled in Hindi and Pawri, which I will describe in
the next two sections.
5.2.3
Old and modern Hindi
The rare occurrence of past or present tense auxiliaries (and consequently, morphologically
expressed tense distinctions) has been noted for Old Hindi the language of Chand Baradai
169
and Old Baiswari) (Beames 1966; Kellogg 1893).7 The bare impf forms license imperfective
(progressive and non-progressive) interpretations with both past and present reference.8
The Old Hindi data comes from Prithvir
aja R
aso by Chand Bardai, the oldest attested Old
Hindi text (cir. 1300 CE).
Both the sentences in (10a-b) have the progressive reading. (10a ) is interpreted as
having past time reference, whereas (10b) has present time reference.
(10) a. tina
andara giddhani
bhrama-ta
jyau kandara muninda
that-obl inside vulture-nom.pl wander-impf.m.pl like caves
sages
Vultures were wandering through them (the elephants bodies) like sages through
mountain caves. (PR. Kanavajja 518)
b. dhuk-ata
dh
ara-dhara s
o
bak-ata
m
ara-m
ara s
o
thrust-impf.m.pl sword.nom. they shout-impf.m.pl kill
they
jhuk-ata
jhara-jhara s
o tak-ata
s
ara-t
ara s
o
crouch-impf.m.pl weapon.nom. they watch-impf.m.pl steel-blade they
They are thrusting their swords (at each other); they are shouting (crying out) kill,
kill; they are crouching from the weapons; they are watching the steel-blades. (PR.
6.39 (cited in Beames 1966: 131)
The context prior to (10a) describes the valorous act of the poet himself where he made
holes in the bodies of elephants. He observes that following this act vultures entered the
pierced bodies of these elephants and were wandering through them. In (10b), which is
part of a much longer description of a fight in the royal court, the poet describes ongoing
7
As I have described before, the NIA languages inherit two morphological exponents of the imperfective
aspect the impf and the impf paradigms. The Gujarati data shows that both forms are incorporated
in the periphrastic tensed constructions in Old and Modern Gujarati. In Hindi, the impf form is the main
exponent of the imperfective aspect in the indicative mood. The impf morphology is also used in Old Hindi
in both indicative and subjunctive contexts, but it does not participate in forming peripherastic tense-based
constructions. Further, the impf paradigm gets further and further restricted in later Hindi and is described
as having only a subjunctive/future-oriented function in 19th century grammars of Modern Hindi. In this
section, I am restricting my attention to the impf form and constructions based on it because it seems to
have continued across Hindi diachrony to be the general exponent of the imperfective aspect.
8
Beames (1966: 121-122) proposes that these bare participial forms are remnants of originally periphrastic
constructions based on the impf paradigm that are attested in MIA and Old Marathi. There is no morphological evidence for this proposal but it allows Beames to unify the variation (presence vs. absence of
auxiliaries) in Modern NIA imperfective based constructions, and establish a direct link between the Hindi
data and the MIA data. I will discuss the MIA periphrastic constructions and its NIA cognates in 5.4. Here,
unlike Beames, I am assuming that the bare impf participle is morphologically simple and not a construction
with an invisible incorporated auxiliary.
170
events as they unfold before his eyes, supporting a present time interpretation (an Old Hindi
version of the sports commentary).
The sentences with the impf forms in (11) have non-progressive interpretations with
present time reference. (11a) has the habitual present reading while (11b-c) are generic
characterizing sentences. (11b) describes changes that take place in summer and (11c)
describes the properties of a kind the virtuous wife.
(11) a. katik kara-ta
puhkara-sanana
K.loc do-impf.m.sg Puhkar-bath-nom.sg

In (the month of) K
atika, he performs ablutions in Puhkara (a pilgrimage site).
(PR. 1.198)
b. suk-ata
sarovara
mac-ata
kca
talaf-ata
dry-impf.m.pl lake-nom,pl stir-impf.m.sg mud-nom pant-impf.m.pl

mna tana
fish body.nom.pl
The lakes dry up, the mud stirs up; the bodies of the fish pant. (PR. 60.17)
c. kaha-ti
na
devar-ki
kuvata
kulatiya kalaha
speak-impf.f.sg neg brother.in.law.gen bad.word.nom virtuous quarrel

d.ar
a-ti
fear-impf.f.sg
The virtuous (wife) does not speak of her brother-in-laws bad words; (she) fears
a quarrel. (Sat. 15 cited in Beames (1966: 131-132))
(12) shows that impf forms also license non-progressive interpretations in the past time.
The context before (12a) describes a past time confrontation between an elephant and the
protagonists. The sentence in (12a) is a description of the elephant who was characterized by
the two properties a gaze and a hiss similar to those of the divine serpent. (12b) describes
the owner of this elephant, a king who reigned sovereign over his kingdom. The lexical stative
predicate r
aj rule has impf inflection and also licenses a past time interpretation.
(12) a. n
aga-n
aga sama najari
N.obl.sg like
tihi phunk
ar-atu phana
jh
un.d.
gaze.nom.sg his hiss-impf.m.sg snake-head host
His gaze was like the n

aga-n
agai (the many-headed divine serpent of Vis.n.u ) and
he used to hiss exactly like hisi host of snake-heads. (PR. DK.74a-b)
171
b. r
ajasu r
aja-ta
m
atulaha
matulahi
atula
royally reign-impf.m.sg uncle.nom.sg crazed (matta elephants) incomparable

prahar
attack
Kr.s.n.as uncle reigned royally (with style) and he had several elephants of incomparable strength to attack (PR.DK 70) elephants name is kuvalayapd.a
The examples from (10)-(12) thus show impf lacks temporal specification and realizes the
imperfective aspect in Old Hindi, licensing the progressive or non-progressive imperfective
interpretations with present or past time reference. Specifically, Old Hindi, unlike Old
Gujarati, does not have overt tense marking, nor does it have a distinct marker for the
progressive aspect. As we shall see, this situation changes in Middle Hindi and 19th century
Hindi, where the emergence of tense auxiliaries appears to correlate with the emergence of
the progressive aspect.
Middle Hindi
The case that the periphrastic constructions based on the impf form and tense auxiliaries
uniformly license the progressive interpretation cannot be made as clearly for Middle Hindi
as it has been made for Old Gujarati. The reason for this is that writers of historical
grammars of Hindi have not documented the precise communicative function of these periphrastic constructions when they occur in Middle Hindi. My own textual research can
only suggestively and not definitively point to what the facts are. Based on my observations,
it appears that Middle Hindi instantiates a stage where the bare impf forms freely alternate
with the innovated periphrastic impf+tense constructions in the expression of progressive
semantics. Recall the discussin in 3.7 where I argued that such free alternation is to be
expected at an early stage in the grammaticalization of a new progressive marker. This alternation is formally representable as a free ranking of two relevant constraints, economy
and expressiveness.
Kellogg (1893: 310-328), in his discussion of the verbal system of the Tulsi R
am
ayan.a,
a later Middle Hindi text (cir. 1600 CE) written in the Baiswari dialect, observes that
tense auxiliaries are occasionally added to the impf form to license an unambiguous present
or past time interpretation.9 However, he does not clarify whether the presence of tense
9
The language of the Tulsi R

am
ayan.a is most often noted as Awadhi. It is not clear to me why Kellogg calls the language Baiswari, but in so far as it concerns the dialect employed in the same text, this
nomenclatural variance should not make a difference.
172
auxiliaries correlates with the progressive interpretation. It is difficult to determine the

interpretations associated with the impf+tense periphrastic constructions in the absence of
more detailed philological research as has been done for Old Gujarati (Bhayani 1998).
However, a preliminary look at the tensed periphrastic constructions in Tulsi R
am
ayan. a
suggests that the Middle Hindi facts are comparable with the Old Gujarati facts, where
the impf+tense periphrastic constructions uniformly license the progressive interpretation.
Middle Hindi differs from Old Gujarati in that the bare impf forms are also freely used with
progressive interpretation. (13) illustrates the facts. In (13a), the bare impf form licenses
the progressive interpretation, while in (13b), the same form has a generic interpretation. In
(13c), the context is as follows: the wife of the protagonist (R
ama) has been kidnapped by
the demon R
avan.a and R
ama is censuring himself for having allowed it to happen. He refers
to the birds and the beasts of the forest, who he feels are rebuking him for the unhappy
incident. In this context, the most appropriate interpretation for the sentence with the
overt tense auxiliary is an episodic progressive one.
(13) a. R
ama
tuma-him
avaloka-ta
aju
R
ama.nom.sg you-acc.pl look-impf.m.sg today
R
ama is looking at you today. (TR. 2.106)
b. saba santa
all
sukh vicaran-ta
mahi
saint.nom.pl happy walk-impf.m.pl earth
All saints move about happily on earth. (TR. cited in Kellogg (1893: 318)
c. m
anah-
u
mori kara-ta
think-impf.1.sg my
hah
ninda
do-impf.m.pl pres-3.pl censure.nom
I feel as if they are rebuking me. (TR. 3. 36)

While the data in (13) can hardly be said to provide definitive evidence of the distribution
of bare impf forms and the periphrastic impf+tense constructions in Middle Hindi, they
are suggestive of one stage along the trajectory well-documented for Old Gujarati, and
synchronically investigable in Pawri (as we shall see in 5.2.4). In the next section, I
propose that facts from later Hindi (19th century), in fact, confirm the hypothesis that Hindi
parallels Gujarati in that the presence of tense auxiliaries correlates with the progressive
interpretation.
173
19th century Hindi

More direct evidence that the periphrastic impf+tense constructions are correlated with the
progressive interpretation comes from the synchronic descriptions of Hindi found in late 19th
century grammars by linguists like Kellogg and Beames. The main generalization seems to
be as follows. The bare impf form licenses only non-progressive imperfective interpretation
with both past and present reference. The impf+tense forms, on the other hand, license
both progressive and non-progressive interpretations but are restricted to the temporal
reference provided by the tense auxiliary (Kellogg 1893: 463-470; Beames 1966: 179). (14)
gives representative examples from Kellogg (1893) which contrasts the progressive (14a) and
the habitual (14b) readings for the same verbal periphrasis the impf+past construction.
(14c) illustrates that the bare impf form licenses the non-progressive interpretation.
(14) a. t.haur-t.haur dundubhi b
aj-te
th-e
every place drums
beat-impf.m.pl pst-m.pl
Drums were beating everywhere. (Kellogg 1893: 469)
b. jis
nagar-me j
a-te
th-e
a-ke
tah
r
aja
which city-loc go-impf.m.pl pst-m.pl there-gen king-nom

ati-sis.t.
ac
ar kar
courtesy
unhe
le
j
a-te
th-e
do.ger they.acc.pl take.ger go-impf.m.pl pst-m.pl
Whichever city (they) would go to, the kings of those (cities) would escort them
with utmost courtesy. (Kellogg 1893: 470)
c. koi
us-ke r
aj.bhar-me
one.neg.pol his
bh
ukha na
so-t
a
kingdom.entire-loc hungry neg sleep-impf.m.sg
No one would sleep hungry in his entire kingdom (Kellogg 1893: 464)
Beames further states that the bare impf forms are incompatible with the progressive
interpretation, a marked change from Old Hindi (10), and entirely compatible with the Modern Standard Hindi facts. This suggests that the overlapping distribution of the bare impf
form and the periphrastic impf+tense constructions in 19th century Hindi is constrained.
The bare form can only license non-progressive interpretations; it is only the periphrastic
forms that are compatible with both progressive and non-progressive interpretations. This
distribution appears to be exactly the opposite of Middle Hindi where the bare impf forms
were shown to be compatible with both the progressive and the non-progressive interpretations. How can these two stages with opposing distribution be reconciled with each other
diachronically?
174
Further the 19th century Hindi distribution of the impf and impf+tense forms is slightly
unexpected on our assumptions about the semantics of the impf forms and impf+tense constructions. impf realizes the general imperfective aspect while the impf+tense constructions
are hypothesized to realize the progressive aspect. In the 19th century Hindi distribution,
the general impf form appears to be restricted to the non-progressive imperfective interpretation (14c) while the impf+tense constructions are compatible with both progressive (14a)
and non-progressive imperfective (14b) interpretations. How is this unexpected distribution
to be accounted for?
Explaining the Middle/19th century Hindi distribution
Comparing the Middle Hindi and the 19th century Hindi scenarios allows us to hypothesize an intermediate stage (that can be confirmed through future text-based research)
which is identical to the Old Gujarati stage with a distinct morphological progressive (the
impf+tense construction and) and a general imperfective (the bare impf paradigm).
Middle Hindi, then, can be interpreted as a stage prior to the grammaticalization of
the impf+tense construction, with free alternation between the general impf and the specific impf+tense forms. This is the stage at which the economy and expressiveness
constraints are freely ranked with respect to each other, generating the variation in the
expression of progressive semantics. The table in (15) describes the relative distirbution
of impf and impf+tense constructions at the Middle Hindi stage. The left-most column
distinguishes between the progressive and the non-progressive readings. The bare impf
form is compatible with both types of readings (the English glosses give the semantic range
of interpretations available to each form or construction.) The impf+tense constructions
license only a progressive interpretation and are further restricted by the temporal reference
of the auxiliary they are based on.
(15) Middle Hindi: expressiveness, economy
impf+tense
impf
impf+pres
impf+pst
Readings
ma
a-t
a
ma ata th
a
progressive
I am/was coming
ma a-ta hum
.
I am coming
non-progressive
I come, I used to come
I was coming
The next stage is a reconstructed stage which parallels Old Gujarati. At this stage,
which I label Middle Hindi , the progressive impf+tense constructions block the impf form
175
from licensing the progressive interpretation. This stage can be modeled by a categorical
ranking of expressiveness above economy, which prevents the bare impf form from
licensing the progressive interpretation. In (16), this change is indicated by the shaded
cells for the progressive row for the impf form. The progressive interpretation is no longer
available to impf at this stage. It is important to keep in mind that this is a reconstructed
stage, for which we have no direct textual evidence but only indirect evidence from Middle
Hindi and 19th century Hindi.
(16) *Middle Hindi : expressiveness economy
impf+tense
Readings
impf
impf+pres
impf+pst
ma
a-ta
ma a-ta hum
.
I am coming
ma ata th
a
progressive
non-progressive
I was coming
In the next stage of 19th century Hindi, for which we again have documentary evidence,
the impf+tense constructions generalize, instantiating the progressive-to-imperfective shift.
The effect of this generalization is that the impf+tense constructions, earlier restricted
to only progressive interpretation, can now license both progressive and non-progressive
imperfective interpretations. The original imperfective form impf remains restricted to the
non-progressive imperfective interpretation.
(17) 19th century Hindi
impf+tense
Readings
impf
impf+pres
impf+pst
ma
a-ta
ma a-ta hum
.
I am coming
ma ata th
a
I come
I used to come
progressive
non-progressive
I was coming
The evidence from Middle Hindi and 19th century Hindi, thus, allows us to reconstruct the intermediate Middle Hindi stage at which the overt presence of tense auxiliaries
systematically correlates with the progressive interpretation, whereby the impf+tense constructions can be considered to be the exponents of the progressive aspect. Note that we do
not yet have an explanation for why the progressive-to-imperfective shift occurs either
in 19th century Hindi or in Old Gujarati. In 5.3, I will propose an explanation for this
176
shift that relies on the conflict between the same two constraints expressiveness and
economy.
Modern Hindi
Modern Hindi differs from Kelloggs documented 19th century Hindi in that the periphrastic
impf+tense constructions that licensed progressive interpretation are no longer compatible
with the progressive interpretation. In the modern language, these are restricted to nonprogressive imperfective interpretations. The progressive reading is licensed by an innovated
periphrastic construction that finds no mention in the 19th century grammars of Hindi.10
This construction is based on a gerundival form of the verb and the perfective form of the
auxiliary rah stay and tense auxiliaries (V-ger + rah-perf + tns).
The distribution of the progressive construction and the impf+tense construction is illustrated in (18). For perspicuity, I have glossed the aspectual part of this construction as
prog rather than labeling the individual parts of the periphrasis. (18a) employs the progressive construction and cannot have a non-progressive imperfective interpretation such as
the habitual interpretation. In contrast, the sentence in (18b), which originally licensed the
progressive interpretation (in 19th century Hindi) is no longer compatible with that interpretation and is restricted to the non-progressive, in this case, the habitual interpretation.
(18) a. nisa
rot.i
ban
a rah-i
hai
N.nom bread.nom make-prog.f.sg be-pr.3.sg
Nis.
a is making bread. not *Nis.a makes bread.
b. nisa
rot.i
ban
a-ti
hai
N.nom bread.nom make-impf.f.sg be-pr.3.sg
Nis.
a makes bread. not *Nis.a is making bread.
The path from Old Hindi via Middle Hindi and Kelloggs 19th century Hindi to Modern
Hindi exhibits a similar trajectory as was observed for Old and Modern Gujarati. A stage
without overt tense auxiliaries is followed by a stage with tense auxiliaries where the presence
of tense auxiliaries is correlated with the progressive interpretation. The overt presence
10
Annie Montaut (p.c.) informs me that the modern Hindi Progressive construction does occasionally
occur in the literature of the 19th century but it is the impf+tense construction that usually licenses the
progressive interpretation. In the contemporary variety of Modern Hindi, this construction, infrequently
attested in 19th century literature, has become the default exponent of the progressive aspect, blocking the
use of the impf+tense construction in this specific context.
177
of tense morphology triggers an aspectual contrast between the progressive and the nonprogressive imperfective aspects. The next stage involves the generalization of the tensed
progressive constructions, or the instantiation of the progressive-to-imperfective shift.
The Hindi case is more complicated than Gujarati in two ways. First, while the Gujarati
data presents stages of categorical distribution for the impf and impf+tense forms, the only
available evidence for Hindi is from stages of variable distribution of the two forms. Second,
while the progressive-to-imperfective shift in Gujarati has led to the leveling of aspectual
contrast between the progressive and non-progressive imperfective aspects, this aspectual
contrast has been renewed in Hindi through the syntactic innovation of a new periphrastic
progressive construction.
5.2.4
Pawri
Pawri is characterized by a pattern that appears to be similar to 19th century Hindi and Old
Gujarati. Present and past tense auxiliaries are optional in Pawri and their overt presence
corresponds to a progressive interpretation. The bare impf form is compatible with both
progressive and non-progressive interpretation.11 .
Let us consider the Pawri facts without overt auxiliaries first. A sentence with a impf
form in Pawri and no adverbial modifiers can be interpreted as containing a progressive or
a habitual predicate with present or past time reference. The four possible interpretations
are give in (19a-d).
(19) chyi lugd.
a
duv-tali
she clothes-nom.n.pl wash-impf.f.sg
a. She is washing the clothes (right now).
b. She (habitually) washes clothes.
c. She was washing the clothes (at that time).
d. She (habitually) washed clothes, (in the past).
11
The data for Pawri is based on fieldwork with speakers that involved both elicitation and observation of
spontaneous speech. Tense auxiliaries occur infrequently in spontaneous conversations, but are often supplied
when speakers are asked to translate sentences from the standard language, Marathi, which has obligatory
tense marking. My observation of naturally occurring discourse points to the pattern of distribution for
tense auxiliaries that I note here. The elicitation data also supports this pattern tense auxiliaries in
imperfective clauses most often correlate with the progressive interpretation. However, none of my informants
categorically rejected the overt presence of tense auxiliaries in non-progressive imperfective contexts. This
could be the effect of contact with more standard languages, in which tense is morphologically marked in
both progressive and non-progressive contexts. Alternatively, it could be the case that there is no categorical
restriction on the co-occurence of tense auxiliaries with non-progressive predicates. I will discuss this further
in 5.3
178
(19) shows that the impf form by itself is unspecified with respect to temporal (pastpresent) and aspectual (progressive-non-progressive) distinctions. Temporal adverbials may
be used to disambiguate the intended interpretation. The examples in (20) illustrate this.
In (20a-b), the adverbial d
ad.n always favors the habitual interpretation, while in (20b),
the adverb pel formerly further locates the eventuality prior to utterance time. In (20c-d),
the adverbs evi now and tet
ar then favor an episodic interpretation of an event in progress
at utterance time and before utterance time respectively.
(20) a. chyi d
ad.in lugd.
a
duv-tali (present habitual)
she always clothes-nom.n.pl wash-impf.f.sg
She always washes the clothes.
b. pel
chyi d
ad.in lugd.
a
duv-tali (past habitual)
Formerly she always clothes-nom.n.pl wash-impf.f.sg
Formerly, she always washed the clothes.
c. chyi evi
lugd.
a
duv-tali (present progressive)
she right now clothes-nom.n.pl wash-impf.f.sg
She is washing the clothes right now.
d. chyi tet
ar lugd.
a
duv-tali (past progressive)
she then clothes-nom.n.pl wash-impf.f.sg
She was washing the clothes right then.
Tense auxiliaries are optional, and if overtly present, temporally locate the eventualities
denoted by the predicate with respect to utterance time. The presence of tense auxiliaries,
in addition to providing temporal location, also yields a progressive interpretation of the
impf-marked predicate. The relevant examples are in (21a-b).
(21) a. chyi lugd.
a
duv-tali
se
she clothes-nom.n.pl wash-impf.f.sg be-pr.sg
She is washing the clothes.
not: She washes clothes.
b. chyi lugd.
a
duv-tali
oti
she clothes-nom.n.pl wash-impf.f.sg be-pst.f.sg
She was washing the clothes.
not: She habitually washed clothes.
179
The overt present tense auxiliary in (21a) has a present progressive interpretation, while
the overt past tense auxiliary in (21b) licenses the past progressive interpretation.
The Pawri Imperfective and Progressive paradigms are given in (22)-(24). The imperfective paradigm is temporally unrestricted and does not morphologize the present-past
distinction while the progressive paradigms are distinguished from the imperfective only
through the presence of an overt tense auxiliary.
(22) Pawri Present/Past Imperfective
gender
sg
pl
masc
duv-ta-la
fem
duv-ta-l
u
duv-ta-li
neu
duv-ta-la
duv-ta-la
duv-ta-la
(23) Pawri Present Progressive

gender
sg
pl
masc
duv-ta-la set
ah
a
fem
duv-ta-l
u se
duv-ta-li se
neu
duv-ta-la se
duv-ta-la set
ah
a
duv-ta-la set
ah
a
(24) Pawri Past Progressive

gender
sg
pl
masc
duv-ta-la ot
a
fem
duv-ta-l
u otu
duv-ta-li oti
neu
duv-ta-la ota
duv-ta-la ot
a
duv-ta-la oty
a
The generalization is that in Pawri, the periphrastic impf+tense periphrastic constructions (23)-(24) license a progressive interpretation while the bare impf form is compatible
with both the progressive and the non-progressive interpretations.
Significance of Pawri
Pawri is significant because it provides synchronic evidence for a phenomenon that has
been attested only diachronically through the Old Gujarati and Old/Middle Hindi data.
The appearance of overt tense marking in imperfective sentences correlates with the progressive interpretation for these tensed sentences. Pawri thus synchronically instantiates an
archaic stage in the development of morphological tense distinctions in a set of Indo-Aryan
languages, confirming the aspectual and temporal configuration that we posit for the Older
Gujarati and Hindi systems.
180
5.2.5
Summary
In this section, I presented data from Old and Modern Gujarati, Old, Middle, and Modern
Hindi, and Modern Pawri, in order to describe a diachronic phenomenon in some IndoAryan languages the correlation between the emergence of tense distinctions and the
emergence of the progressive as a distinct aspectual category. This correlation is attested
directly in Old Gujarati and Modern Pawri and can be reconstructed for some stage of
Middle Hindi.
Moreover the data from Modern Gujarati and Hindi shows that the aspectual contrast
between the progressive and the non-progressive imperfective aspects, morphologically articulated only by the overt presence of tense auxiliaries, is not diachronically stable. In
both these languages, the periphrastic impf+tense constructions have been extended to
non-progressive contexts and are compatible with habitual/generic and lexical stative interpretations. Gujarati and Hindi pattern differently in one respect. The impf+tense
construction may still license the progressive interpretation in Gujarati; Hindi, on the other
hand, has innovated a new progressive construction that blocks the more general impf+tense
construction from licensing the progressive interpretation.
Abstracting away from language-specific morphological forms, we can understand the
data from these three languages at different periods as instantiating stages along a single
abstract trajectory. At stage 1, MIA has a single imperfective form which licenses both
progressive and non-progressive imperfective interpretations. At stage 2, tense operators,
realized by present and past tense auxiliaries, apply to the imperfective-marked predicates and uniformly yield a progressive interpretation. The un-tensed imperfective-marked
predicates are still compatible with the progressive interpretation. At stage 3, the tensed
imperfective predicates block the progressive interpretation for the un-tensed imperfective
predicates, thus morphologizing the progressive-imperfective aspectual contrast. At stage
4, in an apparent manifestation of the progressive-to-imperfective shift, this contrast ceases
to be preserved. The tensed imperfective predicates generalize to license both progressive
and non-progressive imperfective interpretations. The un-tensed imperfective predicates
continue to be restricted to non-progressive imperfective interpretations. This leveling of
contrast is followed by a reinstatement of the same contrast through morphological innovation of a new progressive construction at stage 5, thus re-initiating the cycle. At stage
6, the innovated progressive construction blocks the distribution of the generalized progressive construction, leading to a categorical distribution of the innovated progressive and the
generalized imperfective forms.12
12
In the abstract trajectory that I describe above, stages of categorical distribution of forms (stage 1 and
181
5.3. TENSE AND THE PROGRESSIVE: AN ACCOUNT
(25) presents this trajectory in tabular form. The comma in individual cells indicates
that the two forms seperated by the comma are in free variation at that stage. The absence
of the comma indicates categorical distribution of the progressive and non-progressive imperfective forms. The languages corresponding to the different stages are in the rightmost
column (abbreviated for reasons of space).
(25) Changes in the imperfective domain in some IA languages
progressive
Stage 1
5.3
non-progressive
Vimpf
Language
MIA, Old H
Stage 2
Vimpf +Auxtns , Vimpf
Vimpf
Pawri, Old G
Stage 3
Vimpf +Auxtns
Vimpf
Mid H
Stage 4
Vimpf +Auxtns
Mod G 19C H
Stage 5
Vprog +Auxtns , Vimpf +Auxtns
Vimpf +Auxtns
Stage 6
Vprog +Auxtns
Vimpf +Auxtns
Mod H
Tense and the progressive: an account
The stages in (25) suggest a cyclic pattern of change involving the articulation, the loss,
and the re-articulation of an aspectual contrast. Constructions originally restricted to
progressive interpretation gradually generalize to also license non-progressive imperfective
interpretations, followed by the morphological renewal of the progressive aspect through
an innovated construction. The particularities of the Indo-Aryan data lead us to a specific
question about the semantic contribution of tense morphology to aspectual interpretation:
Why does imperfective morphology in periphrasis with tense auxiliaries uniformly give rise
to the progressive interpretation in the languages we have examined? I believe that the
explanation for the progressive-to-imperfective shift, at least as it is instantiated in IndoAryan, must be framed in the context of this specific question.
My account of the diachronic changes we have seen so far, and more generally, for the
trajectory in (1) consists of three ingredients. The first ingredient is the nested denotation
3) must be understood to be invariably interspersed with stages of free variation between forms (stage 2 and
4), regardless of whether we have diachronic evidence for this fact. For instance, the Gujarati data presents
two stages of categorical distribution, while the crucial Hindi evidence comes only from stages of variable
distribution. Nevertheless, the abstract trajectory in both these branches of Indo-Aryan is understood to be
the same. The data simply corresponds to distinct slices of this trajectory that are available to us through
our current state of knowledge about these languages.
182
analysis of the progressive and the imperfective operators defended in Chapter 3. It is necessary to emphasize that such an analysis is the absolute minimum we need to proceed with
a diachronic explanation for the progressive-to-imperfective shift. Without an explicit way
to relate the denotations of the progressive and the imperfective operators, it is impossible
to characterize the kind of diachronic change that is instantiated by such a generalization in
the distribution and interpretation of the specific progressive forms. The second ingredient
is the idea that the presence of tense auxiliaries in imperfective-marked sentences correlates
with a progressive interpretation because of a scalar implicature licensed by overt tense
marking rather than an explicit assertion of the impf+tense periphrasis.13 The third ingredient is the hypothesis that the progressive-to-imperfective shift is an epiphenomenal effect
of a syntactic change overt tense marking becomes obligatory in all syntactic contexts.
This weakens the conventionalized association of impf+tense periphrases with the progressive interpretation. Both progressive and non-progressive imperfective predicates must be
overtly marked for tense, resulting in the leveling of the morphological contrast between the
progressive and the non-progressive imperfective aspects.
5.3.1
Tense marking and the progressive interpretation
Consider the representations of the imperfective and the progressive operators that I proposed in Chapter 3. Recall that the distinction between the two operators lies in the properties of the larger interval which the intervals denoted by the imperfective- or progressivemarked predicates are subintervals of. The imperfective operator yields the set of intervals
that are non-final subintervals of a larger interval within (inst) which the predicate is
instantiated, while the progressive operator yields the set of intervals that are non-final
subintervals of a larger interval at (at) which the predicate is instantiated.
In Chapter 4, I argued that both the impf and impf paradigms realize the imperfective
aspect in MIA, which is inherited by the later NIA languages. Accordingly, let us assume
that the morphological affixes in these paradigms have the representation in (26a). (27)
13
The preferential interpretation for tense marked imperfective predicates as progressive predicate also
has to with the fact that progressive predicates are episodic. Episodic predicates are more likely to be
overtly specified for temporal location than non-episodic predicates. This assumption has its basis in the
general intuition that the denotations of episodic or stage-level predicates are spatio-temporally located
eventualities/intervals (Carlson 1978) with a distinct argument for spatio-temporal location (Diesing 1992;
Kratzer 1995).
183
gives a standard representation for the present and the past tenses. Tense operators are
functions of type <<i, t>,<i, t>> which take as input predicates of times (e.g. the output
of aspectual operators like the imperfective and the progressive) and locate these intervals
with respect to a time which is set up as the now of temporal deixis, the default being
utterance time.
(27) a. [[present]] = P<i,t> t [t now P(t)]
b. [[past]] = P<i,t> t [t<now P(t)]
Suppose these are the semantic values of the past and present tense auxiliaries in Gujarati, Hindi, and Pawri. Then the puzzle presented by the data in 5.2 is the following:
How does applying a tense operator (realized by an overt tense auxiliary) to the predicate
output by an imperfective operator yield a progressive predicate? In other words, how does
tense marking restrict the denotation of an imperfective-marked predicate to those intervals
that are non-final subintervals of the interval at which a predicate is instantiated? Is there
a compositional source at all for the progressive interpretation generated by the input in
the left in (28)? Can we get the output of impf to compose with the tense operators in
(27) so that the resulting predicate has exactly the same properties as a tensed progressive
predicate?
(28) [TNS[IMPF]] [TNS[PROG]]
Consider the sentence in (29a) repeated here from (7b). The uninflected eventuality
description has the simplified representation in (29b) while the fully inflected sentence with
the imperfective and tense operators can be represented as in (29c). The sentence has a
progressive interpretation.
(29) a. tumhar
a bh
an.ej tumha
vandiva
av-ai
ch-ai
your
nephew you-acc-sg greet-inf come-pres.3.sg be-pres.3.sg
Your nephew is coming to greet you. (SB. 51.29)
b. [e (come-to-greet-(e) Ag(e, your nephew) Th(e, you))]
c. [pres [impf [e (come-to-greet(e) Ag(e, your nephew) Th(e, you))]]]
Let us see how the imperfective and the present tense operators apply to the uninflected
eventuality description. I will use the term come-greet(n,y) as shorthand for the uninflected
eventuality description. The imperfective operator applies to the eventuality description
184
and outputs a set of times that are subintervals of the intervals within which the predicate
is instantiated (30a). The past tense operator applies to this property of times and locates
the imperfective interval with respect to utterance time (30b). The progressive operator, if
applied to the eventuality description, would yield the predicate given in (30c).
(30) a. impf applied to eventuality description

P<s,t> t t [t nf t inst(P, t )] (come-greet(n,y))
= t t [t nf t inst(come-greet(n,y), t )]
= t t e[t nf t come-greet(n,y)(e) (e) t )]
(by definition of inst)
b. pres applied to [impf[eventuality description]]

P<i,t> t [t now P(t)] (t t e[t nf t come-greet(n,y)(e) (e) t )])
= t [t now [t t e[t nf t come-greet(n,y)(e) (e) t )](t)]
= t [t now [t e[t nf t come-greet(n,y)(e) (e) t )]]]
= t t e[t now t nf t come-greet(n,y)(e) (e) t )]
c. prog applied to eventuality description

P<s,t> t t [t nf t at(P, t )] (come-greet(n,y))
= t t [t nf t at(come-greet(n,y),t )]
= t t e[t nf t come-greet(n,y)(e) (e) = t )
(by definition of at)
It is clear that the aspectual information contained in (30b) is not the same as that
contained in (30c). In particular, there is no piece of information in (30b) that asserts
that t must be interpreted as the interval at which the eventuality is instantiated, the
crucial condition for the progressive interpretation.14 The application of a tense operator
to a predicate modifed by the imperfective operator does not entail that the larger interval
of which the denoted interval is part of, is equivalent to the run-time of the eventuality. Why
then does the impf+tense periphrasis uniformly give rise to the progressive interpretation
in Old Gujarati, Middle and 19th century Hindi, and Modern Pawri?
14
The question of compositional equivalence is restricted to the aspectual properties of the output predicate
and not information about its temporal location, which is explicitly provided by the tense operator and not
part of the semantics of the progressive operator.
5.3.2
185
The progressive inference as implicature
My hypothesis is that the progressive interpretation (the at relation between t and t ) is

not entailed by the periphrastic impf+tense constructions. Rather, the explicit marking
of temporal location via tense auxiliaries gives rise to an implicature about the temporal
properties of t , the larger interval within which the base predicate is instantiated. The
implicature which can be called the progressive implicature is that this larger interval
is the one at which the base predicate is instantiated.
How does this inference come by? Let us reconsider the Old Gujarati facts. The bare
impf and impf forms are inherited from MIA where they are compatible with both progressive and non-progressive imperfective interpretations. At some stage in Old Gujarati, overt
tense auxiliaries start appearing in clauses with impf and impf forms, to mark temporal
location.15 This emergence of overt tense auxiliaries results in a syntactic contrast between
imperfective sentences with overt tense marking and those without overt tense marking.
Imperfective sentences with overt tense marking temporally locate the intervals denoted
by the imperfective predicate at some time in relation to the deictic now. However, they
contribute more information than their un-tensed counterparts, which are interpretable in
the present or past times without any disambiguating tense auxiliary. The use of tense
auxiliaries appears to violate the quantity maxim.16 The presence of overt tense marking
therefore triggers an inference that the speaker intends to convey something more than just
temporal location. The sentences with the tense-less imperfective predicates are understood
to make a weaker assertion than imperfective sentences with overt tense marking.
The implicature is calculated as follows: The sentence without a tense auxiliary is compatible with both progressive and non-progressive imperfective interpretations. The encoder
explicitly employed a tense auxiliary specifying the temporal location of the contextually
salient interval. Therefore, the temporal location of the relevant interval must be important
in the interpretation of the predicate denotation. It is most likely that the base predicate
15
The question of how and why exactly morphologized tense distinctions emerge in this set of languages
is a very difficult one to answer satisfactorily. Here I am assuming that tense is a core semantic category
whose morphological expression is important in the temporal systems of languages and that languages may
innovate this semantic category with already available syntactic resources. Once the grammar expresses
this category, it is reasonable to expect that its expression might diachronically become obligatory in certain
syntactic contexts. For the languages we have been examining in this chapter, overt tense marking is optional
in the same syntactic context, an imperfective-marked clause, but later becomes obligatory in this context
(Modern Gujarati and Hindi). What I am concerned with here is the systematic semantic pattern associated
with the optionality of overt tense marking.
16
The quantity submaxim requires speakers to make their contribution at least as, and not more, informative than required. This maxim is systematically exploited in pragmatics to yield upper-bounding generalized
conversational implicatures associated with scalar values (Horn 1972, 1989; Gazdar 1979; Hirschberg 1991).
186
is instantiated only at the specified temporal location and not at any other location.17 The
restrictive interpretation is that the imperfective predicate with overt tense marking denotes
a subinterval of the interval at which the base predicate is instantiated which is what
the progressive asserts.
The account sketched out in this section is really a pointer towards an analysis rather
than an explicit account of why the presence of tense auxiliaries corresponds to the progressive interpretation in the languages I described. The idea is that tense auxiliaries serve
to restrict the denotation of the imperfective-marked predicates but not in any strictly
compositional way. Taking the approach that the progressive interpretation arises as an
implicature rather than an assertion/entailment provides an explanatory account of why
this periphrasis has the interpretation it does without requiring any radical change in the
semantic value of the imperfective or the tense operators. This needs to be developed
further in future research. One piece of evidence that this account is on the right track
comes from the interpretation of imperfective clauses with overt tense marking in Pawri,
the non-standard languages that patterns similar to Old Gujarati and Middle Hindi.
5.3.3
The progressive implicature in Pawri
The patterning of tense auxiliaries in Modern Pawri (5.2.4) parallels the Old Gujarati and
Old Hindi data overt tense marking in clauses with impf forms licenses the progressive
interpretation. If I am correct in claiming that the progressive interpretation arises as an
implicature rather than being an entailment of the impf+tense periphrasis, then this should
be a testable fact in the Modern Pawri system. Specifically, the progressive implicature
should be cancellable and not result in a contradiction if explicitly denied. Secondly, the
impf+tense periphrasis should not exclusively be associated with the progressive aspect,
but rather, preferentially license the progressive interpretation.
Based on the limited data that I have, both these hypotheses seem to be verified by the
Pawri facts. In elicitations, my informants accepted tense auxiliaries in clauses with habitual
or generic interpretation although such sentences were most naturally were interpreted as
referring to on-going events.18
17
It is important to distinguish between the function of tense auxiliaries and other temporal adverbials.
The specification of adverbials explicitly restricts the predicate denotation to a given interval. Tense auxiliaries do not inherently perform any restrictive function beyond specifying the general location of an
eventuality in relation to the deictic center.
18
A note of clarification is in order. In 5.2.4 I claimed that the non-progressive imperfective interpretation
is not available to the impf+tense periphrasis. However, this was only to keep the exposition simpler. The
facts are that the non-progressive interpretation is dispreferred for the impf+tense periphrasis, not unavailable. I repeat the relevant sentences from (21) in (31). The crucial bit is that the habitual interpretations
(32) a. chyi
khet-am nind-tali
187
se
she-nom field-loc weed-impf.f.sg be-pres.sg

She is weeding in the field or %She weeds in the field.
b. chyi
kayam khet-am nind-tali
se
she-nom always field-loc weed-impf.f.sg be-pres.sg

She always weeds in the field.19
b. chyi
khet-am nind-tali
se
pan. evi ni nind-tali

she-nom field-loc weed-impf.f.sg be-pres.sg but now neg weed-impf.f.sg
She (generally) weeds in the field but she is not weeding right now.
(32a) has two interpretations, the habitual one being less preferred than the progressive
one. In (32b), which is also elicited, the habitual interpretation, triggered by the universal adverbial, is the most salient one. This supports the hypothesis that the impf+tense
periphrasis does not compositionally yield a progressive predicate of intervals, but rather,
that the progressive interpretation is the most salient interpretation available to this periphrasis by implicature that arises because of the overt expression of temporal location in
a tense/aspect system otherwise lacking the morphological expression of the past-present
distinction. Further (32c) shows that the progressive implicature is cancellable. The first
conjunct in the sentence employs the impf+tense periphrasis and implicates that there is
an ongoing weeding event overlapping with speech time. The second conjunct denies this
implication with the temporal adverbial evi now. The first conjunct thus, does not entail
that the event is in progress, because otherwise, (32c) should be a contradiction. But it is
not; it has the interpretation that although the specified individual characteristically weeds
the field, she is not engaged in that task at speech time.
The data in (32) shows that overt presence of tense auxiliaries in Pawri does not entail a
progressive interpretation. If I am correct in my claim that Pawri offers a synchronic parallel
are dispreferred for these sentences with overt tense marking.
(31) a. chyi lugd.
a
duv-tali
se
she clothes-nom.n.pl wash-impf.f.sg be-pr.sg
She is washing the clothes. dispreferred: She washes clothes.
b. chyi lugd.
a
duv-tali
oti
she clothes-nom.n.pl wash-impf.f.sg be-pst.f.sg
She was washing the clothes. dispreferred: She habitually washed clothes.
19
I verified that this sentence does not have the interpretation corresponding to Everyday, she is weeding
in the field. That interpretation requires the use of another auxiliary roy remain which allows quantification
over subintervals of the larger event interval.
188
to the Old Gujarati/Hindi impf+tense construction, then the progressive interpetation must
arise as an implicature in these languages as well. Naturally, both the diachronic and the
synchronic facts need to be much more thoroughly investigated in order to determine the
division of labor between the semantics and the pragmatics of the impf+tense construction.
What is offered here is an outline for proceeding along that investigation.
5.3.4
The progressive-to-imperfective shift
The discussion so far has attempted to explain the emergence of the progressive aspect
and how it relates to overt tense marking. I have crucially relied on the nested denotation analysis of the imperfective and the progressive operators presented in Chapter 3 and
proposed that overt tense marking in imperfective clauses gives rise to an implicature that
the imperfective-marked predicate is a progressive predicate (in other words, denotes the
set of intervals that are non-final intervals of the interval at which the base predicate is
instantiated.). However, this does not explain why the progressive-to-imperfective shift is
instantiated via distinct stages from Old to Modern Gujarati and Hindi.
In this section, I suggest that this shift is closely related to one independent ongoing
change in the tense/aspect system of these languages viz. the reinstitution of a morphological contrast between the present and the past tenses. The presence of overt tense
auxiliaries in some types of clauses reflects this ongoing change. I want to claim that
the progressive-to-imperfective shift simply reflects the completion of this change in the
imperfective domain. Within the imperfective domain, overt tense marking starts out in
clauses with episodic, progressive predicates and extends to all imperfective clauses. The
progressive-to-imperfective shift is, on this view, not a spontaneous generalization of a special progressive form, but merely an epiphenomenon of the spread of overt tense marking.
In fact, both the emergence of the progressive aspect as a distinct category, and its generalization via the progressive-to-imperfective shift, are epiphenomena of the syntactic spread
of tense marking across clause types, which happens to be conditioned by semantic contexts.
The rest of the discussion rests on three assumptions (a) The nested denotations of
the progressive and the imperfective operators, (b) that the progressive interpretation arises
as an implicature following the emergence of overt tense marking, and (c) that overt tense
marking spreads across imperfective clause types because of an independent constraint that
requires overt tense marking in all finite clauses.20
20
Some independent evidence for this assumption comes from changes between MIA and Old Marathi
examined in Deo (2001). The facts are as follows: MIA does not require an overt copula in copular constructions with nominal predicates. Nor does it require overt auxiliaries in negated clauses based on participial
forms such as impf or perf. In Old Marathi, an overt copula/auxiliary becomes obligatory in both these
189
If we assume that the progressive interpretation for impf+tense constructions first arises
as an implicature, then there are two diachronic scenarios that we can construct to explain
the progressive-to-imperfective shift. On the first scenario, this shift can be considered to be
the result of spontaneous generalization or bleaching (as is done in the grammaticalization
literature). On the second scenario, we can derive the progressive-to-imperfective shift
from the change that we know is already taking place in the language the spread of
overt tense marking. The second approach is simpler because it does not posit an ad hoc
semantic generalization of a morphological category, and it is the one that I believe must
be pursued to obtain a fuller account of the Indo-Aryan facts.
Scenario 1 spontaneous generalization
On the spontaneous generalization scenario, we start out with the implicature arising from
optional overt tense marking. Imperfective clauses with tense auxiliaries implicate that the
imperfective predicate is a progressive predicate. At the next stage this implicature undergoes pragmatic strengthening and becomes part of the assertion of the impf+tense construction. This is a necessary step on this scenario because the progressive-to-imperfective
shift requires that the starting point for such a shift is a marker that asserts progressive semantics. The impf+tense construction thus becomes compositionally non-transparent and
grammaticalizes to yield a new aspectual category the progressive. At the next stage, the
progressive marker, the non-compositional impf+tense construction, generalizes to license
both progressive and non-progressive imperfective interpretations.21 On this scenario, the
fact that overt tense marking is attested in both progressive and non-progressive imperfective clauses in Modern Gujarati and Hindi, would be interpreted as a consequence of the
progressive-to-imperfective shift. The impf+tense construction is the progressive morphology, which has diachronically generalized to license non-progressive interpretations.
The steps involved on the first scenario are shown in tabular form in (33).
contexts. In Deo (2001) I argue that these facts indicate the articulation of syntactic structure through the
diachronic rise of a functional category, say IP. The facts about negation also hold for Gujarati and Hindi
where the negation marker involves an incorporated auxiliary, a marked change from MIA. The spread of
overt tense marking across imperfective clauses in the data described here could be interpreted as yet another phenomenon ultimately tied to this abstract change in the syntax. The emergence of a new functional
category in the syntactic structure of a language might correlate with a constraint that the head of such
category be obligatorily filled. The rise and spread of tense distinctions in the form of innovated tense
auxiliaries reflects the effects of this abstract change. Regardless of whether this hypothesis is true, the
assumption that the spread of tense marking is effected by a syntactic constraint on overt tense expression
seems to be justified by the facts tense marking does get generalized in Gujarati and Hindi.
21
Because of the nested denotation that we have for the imperfective and the progressive operators, this
generalization simply involves the weakening of the semantic value of the impf+tense construction, such
that it is defined in terms of the weaker inst rather than the stronger at relation.
190
(33) Scenario 1: spontaneous semantic generalization

progressive
Stage 0
non-progressive
Vimpf
explanation
MIA
Stage 1
Vimpf +tns
Vimpf
by progressive implicature
Stage 2
[Vimpf +tns]prog+tns
Vimpf
pragmatic strengthening
Stage 3
[Vimpf +tns]impf +tns
semantic generalization
Stage 0 is the MIA stage which lacks tense marking altogether. At stage 1, overt tense
marking gives rise to the progressive implicature, which results in a morphological contrast
between progressive and imperfective predicates. At stage 2, we have pragmatic strengthening which results in a non-compositional progressive semantics for the ]impf+tense periphrasis. I have indicated this in (33) by subscripting the semantic value of the whole periphrasis
outside the square brackets. The progressive can be said to be the constructional value of
this periphrasis, since the individual forms in the composition cannot be said to contribute
this meaning. The grey shaded area in this row indicates the denotation of the impf+tense
periphrasis, which ungergoes change at stage 3, indicated by the increase in the grey area
in the next row. At stage 3, the periphrastic progressive construction generalizes to license
non-progressive interpretations. This is yet another instance of grammaticalization, which
involves change in the semantic value of the constructional progressive operator.
Scenario 2 spread of tense marking
On the second scenario, we can reconstruct the diachronic facts differently.
(34) Scenario 2: spread of tense marking
progressive
Stage 0
Stage 1
Stage 2
non-progressive
Vimpf
Vimpf +tns
Vimpf
Vimpf +tns
explanation
MIA
by progressive implicature
spread of tense marking
Just as in scenario 1, the aspectual contrast between the progressive and non-progressive
imperfective predicates arises as an implicature of overt tense marking in some imperfective clauses (stage 1). This is a conventionalized implicature and remains diachronically
stable. At stage 2, A syntactic constraint on overt tense marking in all clause types results
in the spread of tense auxiliaries to non-progressive imperfective contexts. This results in
191
the weakening of the progressive implicature for the impf+tense construction. The morphological contrast between the progressive and the non-progressive imperfective aspects is
leveled because tense marking becomes obligatory in both types of clauses.
On this scenario, the generalization of a construction restricted to progressive interpretation at a diachronically prior stage, is crucially not a result of changes in the semantic
values of forms or constructions. The impf+tense construction does not become noncompositional as in scenario 1, nor does it change in semantic value from the progressive
to the imperfective. On the second scenario, the semantic values for the compositional
elements in the construction are retained across time. The change in distribution is derived
by an extra-semantic syntactic constraint on tense expression in clauses.
Comparing the two scenarios
The first account of the progressive-to-imperfective shift presented here, needs to appeal
to two processes of grammaticalization. In the first case, we have the non-compositional
creation of a new progressive category, in the second, this category generalizes (grammaticalizes) to license non-progressive interpretations, and its semantic value changes to that
of the imperfective operator. The second scenario presents a simpler account of the same
changes because it derives the grammaticalization patterns by relating them to the semantic and pragmatic contribution of overtly expressed tense marking across time. Further, it
relies on a syntactic constraint on obligatory tense expression to explain the progressive-to
imperfective shift.
5.3.5
Summary
The main goal in 5.3 was to account for why the impf+tense periphrasis in Old Gujarati/Hindi and Pawri license the progressive interpretation and how the progressive-toimperfective shift has been instantiated in Gujarati and Hindi. I argued that the simplest
answer to this question relies on the formulation of progressive and imperfective semantics
along the lines proposed in 3, and the idea that the innovation of tense marking gives rise
to the progressive interpetation by implicature rather than by assertion. I presented some
synchronic data from Pawri to support the implicature-based account for the progressive
interpretation available to the impf+tense construction. I further argued that this account,
with very few additional assumptions, can explain the progressive-to-imperfective shift in
Gujarati and Hindi as the weakening of implicature driven by a constraint on obligatory
tense expression in finite clauses. In terms of the larger issue of aspectual representation, I
want to point out that the diachronic data presented above supports distinguishing between
192
the semantics of the progressive and imperfective aspects along the lines I have proposed
in Chapter (3). The fact that the progressive morphologically differs from the imperfective
only by the overt presence of explicit temporal locators (viz. tense auxiliaries) at some
stage in these languages constitutes evidence that the two aspects are distinguished by
some condition on temporal location, which is provided by the at relation. The progressive
asserts that a predicate is instantiated at a particular temporal location; the imperfective
is neutral with respect to this information.
5.4
The Locational Progressive construction
In 5.2 and 5.3, I examined a specific kind of change in Indo-Aryan diachrony where the
progressive-to-imperfective shift is intimately connected to the spread of overt tense marking
in imperfective clauses. In (25) (reproduced in (35)), based on the Gujarati, Hindi, and
Pawri data, I proposed an abstract trajectory for this shift, which is constituted by a series
of gradual steps.
(35) Changes in the imperfective domain in some IA languages
progressive
Stage 1
non-progressive
Vimpf
Language
MIA, Old H
Stage 2
Vimpf
Pawri, Old G
Stage 3
Vimpf +Auxtns
Vimpf
Mid H
Stage 4
Vimpf +Auxtns
Mod G 19C H
Stage 5
Vprog +Auxtns , Vimpf +Auxtns
Vimpf +Auxtns
Stage 6
Vprog +Auxtns
Vimpf +Auxtns
Mod H
In the grammaticalization literature, the progressive-to-imperfective shift is typically

described as being the result of semantic bleaching or generalization. The changes in 5.2
suggest that this shift is not effected by spontaneous generalization/bleaching in the semantics of progressive morphology, but rather by the spread of an expressive resource tense
marking. Being based in the particularities of the Gujarati/Hindi/Pawri data, it remains
to be seen if this explanation can be generalized to other crosslinguistic instances of the
progressive-to-imperfective shift. As a general principle, however, it seems desirable to be
able to account for semantic change in one domain (viz. aspect) as being motivated by an
expressive function relative to another domain (e.g. tense) rather than being a spontaneous
shift in the meaning of a morphological marker.
193
5.4. THE LOCATIONAL PROGRESSIVE CONSTRUCTION
In this section, I describe yet another instantiation of the progressive-to-imperfective

shift in Indo-Aryan history that confirms this principle, although via a more complex series
of steps. In this version of the progressive-to-imperfective shift, we have a progressive
construction based on impf and a locational tenseless auxiliary acch sit, first attested in
MIA. This construction generalizes to license non-progressive imperfective interpretations in
Middle Marathi. The changes are traceable through the Old and Middle Marathi cognates
of this construction.22
The MIA Locational Progressive construction examined here does not carry tense specification unlike the impf+tense constructions of Old Gujarati, Hindi, and Pawri. Nevertheless,
we see that this construction (or rather, its cognates) undergoes a change in its distribution
in Old and Middle Marathi. The puzzle is this: How do we motivate the progressive-toimperfective shift for this case, since it does not appear to be obviously related to the spread
of overt tense marking (or any such expressive information) across semantic contexts? Do
we need to resort to spontaneous generalization in order to explain the generalization of the
MIA Locational Progressive construction?
I will argue here, that although the MIA Locational Progressive construction appears, on
the surface, to be a counter-example to the hypothesis that the progressive-to-imperfective
shift is motivated by the spread of some expressive resource (such as tense information), a
closer look at the data shows that this change also conforms to this generalization. Specifically, the progressive-to-imperfective shift, even in this case, is correlated with the marking
of tense distinctions. The original progressive constructional paradigm (which lacks tense
specification) bifurcates into two distinct tensed paradigms diachronically. This bifurcation
goes hand-in-hand with the generalization in the semantics of this construction. Therefore,
the Locational Progressive variant of the progressive-to-imperfective shift in Indo-Aryan
also supports the hypothesis that this shift is not unmotivated but rather occurs because
the progressive marker is a more expressive form than the imperfective marker; it carries both aspectual and tense information as opposed to the imperfective that lacks tense
specification.
22
The data in this section is based on the following texts for each of the periods:
(36)
Stage
Stage
Stage
Stage
Stage
Stage
1
2
3
4
5
Language
MIA
Late MIA ( 700 CE)
Old Marathi - GC ( 1250 CE)
Old Marathi - D ( 1270 CE)
Middle Marathi ( 1650 CE)
Text
Vasudevahim
. d. (1930)
Govindaprabhucaritra (Kolte 1944)
Dny
aneswari (Dandekar 1953)
Candrac
ud.a Daftar (Apte 1920)
VH
GC
D
CD
194
5.4.1
The MIA Progressive
The impf paradigm in MIA realizes the imperfective aspect and licenses lexical stative (37a),
habitual (37b), as well as progressive (37c) interpretations. I have also shown that impf is
temporally unrestricted and is compatible with both present and past-time interpretation.
(37) a. egamm-i
kira nayar-e
ka vi gan.iya
r
uvavati
One-loc.sg some town-loc.sg some courtesan.nom.sg beautiful.nom.sg
gun.avati
parivasa-i
skilled.nom.sg live-impf.3.sg
In some town, lived a beautiful and skilled courtesan. (VH: KH 4.12)
b. so ya bambhan.-o
varise-varis-e
tamm-i
devaya-e
he and brahmin-nom.sg year-year-loc.sg that-dat.sg deity-dat.sg
...anna-pan.a-m
de-i
chagala-m
ca
nivede-ti
food-drink-acc.sg give-impf.3.sg goat-acc.sg and offer-impf.3.sg

And that Brahmin, year after year, used to give food and drink and used to offer
a goat to the deity (VH:KH 29.20)
c. so
ya d.in.d....
bhavan.a-ssa asan.n.en.a gaccha-ti
he.nom.sg and worshipper.nom.sg house-gen.sg near
go-impf.3.sg
dhan.asiriy-e tambola-m
nicchud.ha-.m
pad.iy-am
d.in.d.i-ssuvvarim
.
.
.
D-gen.sg leaf-nom.n.sg spat.out-nom.n.sg fall-perf.n.sg worshipper-loc.sg
And that worshipper was going from near that house. Dhan.asiris spat-out (betel)leaf fell upon the worshipper. (VH.D. 51.12-14)
In later MIA literature, a new periphrastic construction based on impf and the verb acch
sit is attested (Sen 1995, Pischel 1900, Bubenik 1998).23 This construction is described
as indicating continuity of action (Sen 1995: 112) and conveying that the eventuality
denoted by the verb is in progress at the reference interval. I call this construction the
Locational Progressive construction because of the use of the positional verb acch sit as
the progressive marking auxiliary in this construction. The examples in (38) illustrate the
use of this construction.
23
The grammaticalization of the verb acch-ati as an auxiliary in different NIA languages has been described
in Turner (1936). In later stages, the impf form of this verb is restricted to present tense reference. But
there is no evidence of this restriction in the MIA data.
195
The auxiliary verb acch sit (glossed prog because it contributes the progressive interpretation) has impf inflection in each of these examples and the contexts support either
a present or past interpretation. (38a) is addressed to a sleeping person, who is accused
of being irresponsible in face of the presence of a religious person outside the house. In
(38b), the grieving (weeping) of the brahmins wife is understood to be ongoing at the time
of the brahmins return, which is in the past time and expressed by the perf morphology.
Similarly, in (38c), the narrator is describing how he was in the middle of thinking up a
plan for the capture of the thief, when another person (the thief himself) approached him.
(38) a. b
ahim
gil
an.-o
accha-i
tumam
accha-si
. ... suva-anto
Outside sagenom.sg be-impf.3.sg you-nom sleep-impf.m.sg prog.impf.2.sg
There is a sage outside (and) you are sleeping. (VH:SV 117.27)

b. so vi ya bambhan.-o...
aga-o
bambhan.-
ya
that also and Brahmin-nom.sg return-perf.m.sg Brahmin-fem.nom.sg and
dnavayan.
a
paritapp-ant accha-i
sorry.face.nom.sg grieve-impf.f.sg be-prog.impf.3.sg

And the brahmin... returned. And the Brahmins wife, sorry-faced, was grieving.
(VH.D. 31.4-5)
c. aham
ayava-ssa het.t.h
a nivit.-t.ho
. ekka-ssa... sahayarap
I
one-gen.sg S.tree-gen.sg
base sit-perf.m.sg
...coragahan.op
aya-m
cintaya-nto
acch
a-mi
.
thief.capture.plan-acc.sg think-impf.m.sg prog.impf.1.sg
Seated at the base of a Sahay
ara tree, I was thinking up a plan to capture the thief.
(VH.AK.40.5-6)
Optionality of the Locational Progressive: expressiveness and economy
As with any syntactic or morphological innovation, the frequency of the progressive construction in the MIA texts where it is first attested, is relatively low.24 Further, the Locational Progressive construction is not obligatory in progressive contexts; it appears in free
variation with the impf paradigm to license progressive interpretation.
24
I have not been able to get an accurate count of the occurrences of this construction in the entire text of
Vasudevahimd
. (VH), the text I am using for MIA data; however, I have come across a total of 14 occurrences
of this construction in the text, which is approximately 200 pages in length.
196
A particularly good illustration of this optionality can be seen in the following sentences, which are separated by a single clause in the narrative. The context is as follows:
the narrators wife has apparently lost her life due to snake bite. The narrator, having fallen
unconscious by the blow, upon regaining consciousness, is grieving at the loss. Both sentences refer to the same ongoing eventuality of weeping. In (39a), the eventuality referred to
by the impf form forms the background to the event of the sun setting and must be translated with the progressive in English. In the other sentence, (39b), the overt progressive
construction backgrounds the event of a monk coming to the help of the narrator.
(39) a. ...mohamuvagato
ham
paccha
aga-to
unconsciousness.reach-perf.m.sg I
vilav
a-mi
later
ya bahum
come-perf.m.sg and a lot
t
ava
ya atthan.ga-to divasayaro
weep-impf.1.sg just then and set-perf.m.sg sun.nom.m
...I became unconscious. Later, I came to and I was weeping a lot, (and) just then,
the sun set. (VH: AK 46.29)
b. aham
avi ta-ssa
I
ghettun.a duvaram
ule
also that-gen.sg grove.temple-gen.sg her-acc.sg take-ger door-loc.sg
acch
a-mi
ujj
an.a.devakula-ssa tam
vilav-anto
prog.impf.1.sg weep-impf.m.sg
I also, taking her (body), was weeping at the door of the grove-temple. (VH:AK.
47.1)
I proposed in 3.7 that such free variation between the markers of the progressive and
the imperfective aspects is to be expected in the period following the innovation of a new
progressive morphological category and reflects the free ranking between two opposing constraints expressiveness and economy. The innovated Locational Progressive construction is more expressive since it marks progressive aspect, but it is less economical because
it is syntactically more complex than the impf paradigm. On the other hand, impf is
more economical but less expressive. The free variation between these two forms for the
expression of progressive semantics is to be expected at a diachronic stage where a new
morphological category is innovated via the progressive construction.
The MIA Locational Progressive differs from the innovated progressive constructions of
Old Gujarati, Old Hindi, and Pawri primarily in tense specification. The auxiliaries that
form the periphrastic progressive construction in those languages are overt exponents of
present or past tense; the auxiliary that is part of the MIA progressive periphrasis has no
197
temporal function and exclusively marks progressive aspect in conjunction with the impf
paradigm. In 5.3, I proposed that the progressive interpretation for the impf+tense construction arises as a result of a generalized implicature rather than from the compositional
semantics of the impf form and tense auxiliaries. With the MIA Locational Progressive
construction, I am assuming that the locational auxiliary sit directly contributes to the
progressive semantics of the construction.25 In other words, the MIA Locational Progressive
asserts, rather than implicates, progressive semantics.
5.4.2
Old Marathi
The cognates of the MIA locational progressive construction are attested only in Old
Marathi from among the set of languages examined here.26 This might be the case because
Marathi is the only language for which it is possible to trace a direct line of descent from
Middle Indo-Aryan to Old Marathi relatively accurately by following the Jaina Mahar
as.t.r
literature in the MIA period (Tulpule 1960, Bloch 1914, Master 1964). The MIA text I
have examined is an archaic representative of the Jaina Mah
ar
as.t.r literature. There are
two distinct linguistic stages detectable in the Old Marathi literature here represented
by two texts the Govindaprabhucaritra (GC) and the Dny
aneswari (D). Although these
texts have been written at approximately the same time (D is dated a couple of decades
after the GC), the GC presents a more archaic linguistic picture than the D.27
In Old Marathi, imperfective sentences are licensed by two distinct morphological forms
(a) the impf paradigm and (b) the MIA Locational Progressive construction. In GC,
the Locational Progressive licenses only progressive imperfective interpretation, while impf
is restricted to non-progressive imperfective interpretations. D should be considered less
archaic because, in this text, the Locational Progressive construction is no longer restricted
25
It is difficult to determine how exactly the lexical semantics of a verb like sit contributes the precise
temporal relation expressed by the progressive, the at relation. For the purposes of this exposition, I am
factoring out that issue and assuming that the progressive information comes from the auxiliary. I cannot
make this assumption for the tense auxiliaries of Old Gujarati, Hindi, and Modern Pawri, because, in these
cases, the auxiliaries are not uniquely employed to mark progressive aspect, but serve a temporal location
function in addition.
26
There are approximately 160 clauses with this construction in the Dny
aneswari, a text with 9000 verses.
This is based on an automatic search on the electronic version of the text, the only text for Old Marathi
that is available electronically (http://www.stanford.edu/adeo/dnya). I thank my parents, Chhaya and
Sharad Deo, for painstakingly typing in the text for the electronic version.
27
These can be attributed to two facts: first, they are written in different geographical areas, suggesting
dialectal differences in their grammars. Second, it is known that one of them, the Dny
aneswari, has been
re-edited and modernized in the 15th century AD, 200 years after the text was originally composed. It is
well-established that the GC, and the Mah
anubh
ava literature that it forms part of, reflect more faithfully
the spoken language of the period that the texts were written in than the more mainstream Bhakti literature
of the same period (Tulpule 1960, Kolte 1944)
198
only to progressive interpretations but it may also license other imperfective interpretations.
Intuitively, in D, the use of the Locational Progressive appears to be extending to nonprogressive imperfective contexts.
Old Marathi the Govindaprabhucaritra (GC)
(40) illustrates the use of the MIA locational progressive in the GC.28 As in MIA, the construction lacks tense specification; it realizes the temporally unspecified progressive aspect.
The same construction is compatible with a progressive interpretation and either past or
present temporal reference. The sentences in (40a-c) are illustrations where the Locational
Progressive licenses a present time progressive interpretation.
(40) a. kai
vo ja-le
ya
br
ahman.a-ciya r
an.d.am
. -si
What O happen-perf.n.sg this.obl brahmin-gen woman-dat.sg
amu-cem
anna
kh
a-ti
as-e
. kun.abyam
. -ce
Our
peasant-gen.n.sg food-nom.n.sg eat-impf.f.sg prog-impf.3.sg
O, What has happened to this Brahmin woman? She is eating our peasant food.
(GC. 54)
b. gun.d.o-c
a m
ath
a-houni prak
asu
niga-tu
as-e,
G-gen.sg head-from light-nom.sg emanate-impf.m.sg prog-impf.3.sg
apem
.
apo
bola-tu
as-e
self-inst.sg self-nom.sg talk-impf.m.sg prog-impf.3.sg

Light is emanating from Gun.d.os head, he is talking to himself. (GC.4)
c. r
aul.o
amh
P
an.iyem
as-o
. -vna mara-te
R-voc we-nom water-without die-impf.m.pl prog-impf.1.pl
R
aul.a, we are dying without water.
The Locational Progressive may also have past time progressive reference as is illustrated
in (41a-b), which are part of a narrative description of a past episode reported by the
narrator. The use of the perf form in the second clause in (41a) locates the description in
the past time. The progressive construction itself contributes no tense information.
28
impf has undergone phonological change and lost the nasal consonant. In Old Marathi, the form is
marked with -(a)t and often (unlike the earlier participial form of MIA) remains uninflected for gender and
number features, thus showing no agreement with the subject (41b). In the later language, this form is
uniformly uninflected in periphrastic constructions. The acch auxiliary of MIA also undergoes phonological
change and the palatal aspirated stop is weakened to a dental fricative (ch s). This change is not specific
to the auxiliary, but an independent phonological change in the language.
199
(41) a.
amhm
aul.
a-si bhtari kon.d.i-lem
mhan.auni
. r
.
we-erg R-acc.sg inside lock-perf.n.sg saying
bob
a-tem
.
ase-ti
tavam
arth
a-le
. vidy
shout-impf.m.pl prog-impf.3.pl then disciple-nom.pl come-perf.m.pl
The (boys) were shouting We have locked the R
aul.a inside. At that time, (his)
disciples came. (GC.61)
b. jhirmit.-jhirmit. p
an.i
ye-ta
as-e
drizzle
water-nom.sg come-impf prog-impf.3.sg
The water was coming in a drizzle. (GC. 121.209)
(42) clearly illustrates how the temporal interpretation of the Locational Progressive
construction is contextually determined. Both examples are from the same narrative, separated by an intermediate clause. In (42a), the locational progressive describes a playing
eventuality in the past that is ongoing at the time of the arrival of the officer, also in the
past (as determined by the perf form). This is from the narrators perspective. (42b), on
the other hand, is a sentence uttered by the servants of the officer, who protest that they
cannot go ahead because the gos
avi ascetic is playing engaged in a playing activity
at utterance time (from their perspective) . The morphology used is still the Locational
Progressive construction.
(42) a. vad.
a-c
p
aramb
dharuni gos
av
khel.u
kar-ta
Banyan-gen root-nom.sg hold-ger G-nom.pl play-nom.sg do-impf.m.pl
ase-ti
tavam
d
an.d.-ye
bais-oni a-la
. adhkarya
prog-impf.3.pl then officer-nom.m.sg carriage-loc sit-ger come-perf.m.sg
The Gos
av was playing (doing play), catching hold of the Banyan roots, when the
officer came sitting in a carriage. (GC.75)
b. th-im
.
mhan.ta-lem
amh
am
cal-av-e
n
a
.
.
they-erg say-perf.m.pl we-acc.pl walk-abil-pres.3.sg neg
pud.h
am
aul.a
khel.a-ta
ase-ti
. r
ahead R-nom.pl play-impf.m.pl prog-impf.3.pl
They said, We are not able to walk. The R

aul.a is playing ahead. (GC. 75)
200
impf in GC
In contrast to the free variation in MIA between impf and the Locational Progressive
construction, GC exhibits a non-overlapping distribution of the two morphological forms.
impf is restricted to licensing only non-progressive imperfective interpretations with both
present and past time reference. This is a categorical claim about the distribution of impf,
and it should be remembered that my evidence for this comes only from one Old Marathi
text, the GC. I have not been able to find a single example in the GC where impf licenses
a progressive interpretation. This limited data supports a non-overlapping distribution for
the locational progressive and the impf paradigm at the GC stage.
The sentences in (43a-c) illustrate the use of impf in GC. In (43a), impf licenses a
habitual interpretation with present time reference, while in (43b-c), impf refers to habitual
eventualities in the past.
(43) a. gos
avi
ye-ti
tari p
ak
parichedu
kar-iti...
G-nom.sg come-impf.3.sg then food.nom destruction.nom do-impf.3.sg

prasadu
kari-ti
offering.nom do-impf.3.sg
When the Gos
avi comes, he destroys the food.He partakes of it (lit. makes it an
offering). (GC.180)
b. ekace
lekaru
gos
av
khel.-avi-ti
te sarale
one-gen.sg child.nom G-nom.sg play-caus-impf.3.pl it die-perf.3.n.sg
The Gos
avi used to play with someones child. It died. (GC. 55)
c. cuki-bhuli
te c
at.aya-h
s
angha-ti
mistake-nom.pl he disciple-acc.pl-emph tell-impf.3.pl

an.i up
adhiy
ah
s
angha-ti
and teacher-acc.pl-emph tell-impf.3.pl

He used to tell the students as well as the teachers their mistakes. (GC. 53)
The main distinction between the MIA and the Old Marathi GC system lies in the
morphological relation between the impfparadigm (which realizes the general imperfective
aspect) and the innovated Locational Progressive construction (which realizes the specific
progressive aspect). The free variation in MIA is replaced by a categorical restriction to nonoverlapping domains for the two forms in GC. In 3.7, I mentioned that the free variation
that follows the morphological innovation of the progressive category diachronically can
201
lead to three logical possibilities (a) continued free variation, (b) categorical distribution
of the innovated progressive and the general imperfective, and (c) the loss of the innovated
progressive. The GC data appears to instantiate possibility (b) and this distribution is
consistent with later changes in the language, where the Locational Progressive extends
beyond the progressive domain.
The change from MIA to the Old Marathi of GC can be represented as in (44). Stage 1 is
the stage without a morphologically distinct progressive. Stage 2 is the stage corresponding
to late MIA, characterized by an innovated progressive (Vimpf +Auxprog ) which is in free
variation with the general imperfective aspect form (impf in this case). This is indicated
by the presence of both forms in the cell corresponding to progressive at Stage 2. The
subscript prog indicates that the locational auxiliary contributes progressive semantics. In
GC, the imperfective form no longer licenses the progressive interpretation.
(44) Change from MIA to Old Marathi - GC

progressive
non-progressive
Language
Stage 1
Vimpf
MIA
Stage 2
Vimpf +Auxprog , Vimpf
Vimpf
Late MIA
Stage 3
Vimpf +Auxprog
Vimpf
Old M - GC
Old Marathi the Dny

ane
swari (D)
D represents the next stage along this diachronic trajectory. The locational progressive
construction not only blocks the domain of the impf paradigm, but further generalizes to
license non-progressive imperfective interpretations. In GC, the Locational Progressive is
restricted to the progressive domain. But in D, the Locational Progressive is additionally
compatible with habitual/generic and lexical stative interpretations. As in GC, impf licenses only non-progressive interpretations.29 This is tabulated in 45. Stage 1 to Stage
3 are the same as for (44). Stage 4 indicates the change from GC to D. where the Locational Progressive (Vimpf +Auxprog ) expands in scope and occurs in free variation with
impf (Vimpf ) in licensing non-progressive imperfective interpretation.
29
There are two main exceptions to the restriction of impf to non-progressive contexts. First, impf is
uniformly employed in negated sentences. I have not come across an example where the auxiliary in the
progressive construction is negated. Second, the verbs of speaking (bol, mhan., s
am
. g, each of which introduce
quoted speech, occur in the impf form, although they have an episodic reading.
202
(45) Changes from MIA to Old Marathi - D

progressive
non-progressive
Stage 1
Vimpf
Language
MIA
Stage 2
Vimpf
Late MIA
Stage 3
Vimpf +Auxprog
Vimpf
Old M - GC
Stage 4
Vimpf +Auxprog
Old M - D
Examples that support this distribution of the Locational Progressive and impf are
given from (46)-(48) In (46a-b), we see that the locational progressive, like its GC cognate,
licenses progressive interpretation.30
(46) a. gavharu
jal.a-ta
as-e
fool-nom-sg sleep-pleasure-ins.sg house-nom.sg burn-impf prog-impf.3.sg
te
nidrasukhe
na
ghara
dekh-e
that-nom.sg neg see-impf.3.sg

The fool, being lost in sleep, does not see that his house is burning. (D. 13.741)
b. maga ten.em
kel
a
simhan
adu
then he-erg do-perf.m.sg lion.call-nom
to
g
aja-ta
as-e
adbhutu
that-m.sg sound-impf prog-impf.3.pl wondrous

Then, he made the lion-call (with his conch shell). That was sounding in a wondrous way (D.1.125-126)
The sentences in (47a-c) show that the Locational Progressive also licenses non-progressive
imperfective interpretations. In (47a), the sentence contains a characterizing predication.
The property of the Asvattha tree to spread downwards is not an incidental property that
holds at a particular time. The Locational Progressive, used in this sentence, is compatible
with the generic interpretation. In (47b), the Locational Progressive has generic reference
as well. The sentence does not describe a particular episode of debating but poses a general
question about whether such a property is instantiated at all. (47c) contains a lexical stative
predicate and licenses a characterizing non-progressive interpretation.
30
Yet another change in the morphology of the impf participle that is part of the Locational Progressive
construction must be mentioned. In D, and later, this form often appears as an invariant form with no
inflection for number and gender. Modern Marathi only uses the uninflected variant of impf in progressive
constructions. The sentences in (46) contain this uninflected form as well.
203
(47) a. h
a sth
avar
a-hi
tal.im
ph
amka-ta
as-e
this unmoving-acc.sg down spread-impf prog-impf.3.sg
adhimc
am
d.
a.lim
low-gen.pl branch-ins.pl
This (tree) spreads with its lower branches (all the way) down to the unmoving.
(D.15.212)
b. uju ka avhat.
a
rathu
kai
khat.apat.a
right or unused path chariot-nom.sg what debate-nom.sg
kari-tu as-e
do-impf prog-impf.3.sg
Does a chariot debate (lit. do debate) on (whether it should follow) the main road
or the unused path? (D.12.121)
c. sarvabh
ut
amkure
bija
vir
ud.ha-ta ase
all.living.sprout-loc.pl seed.nom dwell-impf prog-impf.3.sg

tem
m
that I.nom
The seed that dwells in all living beings (lit. all beings that have sprouted?), that
is me (D. 10.304)
The distribution of impf undergoes no change. It is restricted to licensing non-progressive
imperfective interpretation as in GC. (48) exemplifies some uses of impf.
(48) a. tem
brahmatva... hem
to
that B-nom
p
av-e
jo
this he.nom obtain-impf.3.sg who
ais
a m
a-tem
bhaj-e
thus I-dat
worship-impf..3.sg
That Brahmatva (oneness with Brahman), he obtains it, who worships me in this
way. (D. 14.397)
b. km
lavan.em=ci
jal.a
vir-em
samsarge
Or salt-loc=emph water-nom dissolve-impf.3.sg contact-ins

ka.lk
ut.a
mar-e
poison-nom die-impf.3.sg
Or is it water that dissolves in the salt, (or) is it the poison that dies upon contact
(with the one who consumes it)? (D.2.15)
204
5.4.3
Middle Marathi
So far we have seen that the Locational Progressive construction, with which impf freely
alternates in MIA, restricts the semantic domain of impf at the GC stage of Old Marathi.
At the D stage, the Locational Progressive generalizes and appears in free variation with
impf to license non-progressive imperfective interpretations (examples in (47) and (48)).
The next stage, represented by Middle Marathi prose, instantiates yet another step along
the progressive-to-imperfective trajectory.
(49) Changes from MIA to Middle Marathi
progressive
Stage 1
non-progressive
Vimpf
Language
MIA
Stage 2
Vimpf
Late MIA
Stage 3
Vimpf +Auxprog
Vimpf
Old M - GC
Stage 4
Vimpf +Auxprog
Old M - D
Stage 5
Vimpf +Auxprog
Mid M
At this stage, stage 5 of the tabulated version of the trajectory in (49), the locational
progressive construction fully takes over the domain of the impf paradigm and freely licenses
both progressive and non-progressive imperfective interpretations. The impf paradigm becomes infrequent and is rarely attested at this stage.31 Although the impf paradigm does
not completely disappear in Middle Marathi, it is effectively taken over by the Locational
Progressive construction at this stage. Following this stage, the Locational Progressive becomes the default exponent of the imperfective aspect in Marathi, licensing both progressive
and non-progressive interpretations. The set of changes from MIA to Middle Marathi, taken
together, instantiate the progressive-to-imperfective shift.32
31
Bloch (1914) remarks that in Modern Marathi (of his period), this form is restricted to the function of
the habitual past. In contemporary Marathi, impf is considered to be an archaic form and used sometimes
in literary texts. The only traces of this paradigm in the spoken language are for the auxiliary
ah and a
modal verb p
ahije.
32
A brief examination of the devotional (Bhakti) and other religious literature of the prior period (e.g.
Tuk
ar
amag
ath
a or the D
asabodha of R
amad
asa (both early 17th century)) reveals that the older variational
system continues in these texts. The use of impf is frequent (this appears to be a property of poetic texts even
much later) and the Locational Progressive licenses both progressive and non-progressive interpretations.
In the absence of careful statistical counts of these data, there is very little insight that can be gained from
studying these stages. Further, the fact that these are versified texts might reflect the poetic license and use
of archaisms often documented for this genre. I therefore turn to a much later period in Middle Marathi,
which being preserved in a non-literary text (official correspondence of the Candrac
ud.a family (1734-1764)),
is likely to more faithfully document the language of the period it was written in.
5.5. MIA TO MIDDLE MARATHI: THE PROGRESSIVE-TO-IMPERFECTIVE SHIFT205
5.5
MIA to Middle Marathi: The progressive-to-imperfective

shift
Before I provide data from Middle Marathi, let me again present the question that I posed
at the beginning of this section (5.4). What motivates the progressive-to-imperfective shift
from MIA to Middle Marathi? The change from Late MIA (Stage 2) to GC (Stage 3) can
be motivated through the interaction of the two opposing constraints on morphological
expression expressiveness and economy. The emergence of an innovated progressive
and the blocking that it effects at the GC stage can be understood to be the result of
the categorical ranking of expressiveness above economy. The Locational Progressive,
being semantically specific, is more expressive than the impf paradigm, and emerges as the
winning candidate for the expression of progressive meaning on this categorical ranking.
However, there is no obvious explanation for Stage 4 and Stage 5. The Locational
Progressive construction is neither more expressive nor more economical in the expression
of non-progressive imperfective meaning. The Locational Progressive is syntactically more
complex than the impf paradigm and so it violates economy. The Locational Progressive
is also specified for progressive aspect (while impf is under-specified) and so it violates
the expressiveness constraint which requires faithfulness to input. This violation arises
because the Locational Progressive is specified for extra features (prog) that are not present
in an input corresponding to a habitual or lexical stative sentence. Since the Locational
Progressive is a worse candidate for the expression of non-progressive imperfective meaning
than impf is with respect to both constraints, it is obvious that no re-ranking of these two
constraints can allows us to model this progressive-to-imperfective shift. To conclude, an
interaction of expressiveness and economy fails to explain why it is that the Locational
Progressive generalizes to license non-progressive interpretations and takes over the domain
of the impf paradigm.
Having reached this impasse, it might appear that at least for this variant of the
progressive-to-imperfective shift, we must posit that there is spontaneous generalization
in the semantics of the Locational Progressive construction. Resorting to spontaneous generalization/semantic bleaching is problematic because it implies that there can be no predictability about such a change or an understanding of the factors conditioning it. For the
first instance of the progressive-to-imperfective shift that I described, I proposed that the
progressive-to-imperfective shift could be interpreted as an epiphenomenon of the spread of
overt tense marking rather than an independent change by itself. I want to argue here that
a similar explanation for the progressive-to-imperfective shift from MIA to Middle Marathi
206
is possible if we take a closer look at the morphological facts of the linguistic stages.
My claim is that the Locational Progressive (or rather, its cognates) generalizes to license
non-progressive imperfective interpretations because it is semantically more expressive than
it competitor, the impf paradigm. It is semantically more expressive because, like its Old
Gujarati, Hindi, and Modern Pawri counterpart, it also carries tense specification. To make
sense of this apparently contradictory claim about the Locational Progressive, we must
examine the changes in the morphological paradigm of this construction that already start
being attested in Old Marathi.
The bifurcation of the Locational Progressive paradigm
An independent morphological change in the paradigm of the Locational Progressive construction is the bifurcation of the single temporally unspecified periphrastic paradigm into
two distinct paradigms which mark present and past tense location. In the original MIA
Locational Progressive construction, there is no cliticization or auxiliary incorporation. In
Old Marathi (both GC and D), however, the auxiliary -as optionally encliticizes to the
impf form. The two forms are written connected in the orthography, and the auxiliary
appears in a reduced form. (50) and (51) lists the periphrastic and cliticized paradigms of
the Locational Progressive (exemplified with the verb root bol speak).33
(50) OM Periphrastic Progressive
sg
pl
bol-at as-e
bol-at as-o
bol-at as-asi
bol-at as-e
(51) OM Cliticized Progressive

sg
pl
bol-atase, bol-ato
bol-ataso
bol-at as-
a
bol-atosi
bol-atas
a
bol-at as-ati
bol-atase, bol-ato
bol-atati
While most forms in the cliticized paradigm are transparent, the variants for the first
and third person singular present a problem because the auxiliary appears to be optionally
realized in these cells of the paradigm. Bloch (1914: 255) suggests that this shows that the
bare impf forms may also function as main verbs in Old Marathi clauses. Doderet (1927:5667), however, argues that these are the result of further incorporation of the auxiliary in the
same paradigm and the extension of the first plural in the singular. I am agnostic about the
morphological origins of these forms. What is important to the discussion here is that within
Old Marathi, there are two distinct extended and reduced variants that are cognate to
33
The participial inflection for impf in Old Marathi is either -t, -tu, or -to, when it is not declined for
number and gender. The use of the -t inflection in the paradigms is for transparency; it shows most easily
how the periphrastic paradigm is related to the cliticized paradigm.
5.5. MIA TO MIDDLE MARATHI: THE PROGRESSIVE-TO-IMPERFECTIVE SHIFT207
the same MIA Locational Progressive paradigm. Bloch (1914: 255) observes that the forms
in the cliticized paradigms often appear to be morphological variants of the periphrastic
forms. According to him, both paradigms retain the lack of temporal specification that
characterizes the original paradigm and may have both present or past time reference.
In Middle Marathi, the extended and reduced variants of the Locational Progressive
paradigm, crystallize into two distinct paradigms corresponding to the present imperfective
and the past imperfective categories respectively. The paradigm with cliticized auxiliaries
(52) has a restricted interpretation it is only compatible with present time imperfective
reference.34 The periphrastic variant of the paradigm is restricted to past time reference.
(52) MM Present Imperfective
sg
pl
bol-ato
bol-ato(o)
bol-atos
bol-ato
(53) MM Past Imperfective

sg
pl
bol-at ase
bol-at aso
bol-at
a
bol-at asasi
bol-at as
a
bol-at
at
bol-at ase
bol-at asati
(54) illustrates the use of the Locational Progressive in clauses with a non-progressive
imperfective interpretation. In (54a-b), the use of the cliticized forms licenses a present
time imperfective interpretation.
(54) a. tyaci
kharc
a-ci
begami-visi
patra
ye-t
at
he-gen expense-gen provisions-about letter-nom.pl come-pres.impf.3.pl

He sends letters about expenses (and need for) provisions. (CD.84) lit.His letters
about expenses (and need for) provisions come.
b. kam
avisd
ar-
as
patra
p
at.havi-le
tar
tum-c
a uj
ur
revenue.officer-acc.sg letter.nom send-perf.n.sg then you-gen excuse-nom

kar-t
at
make-pres.impf.3.pl
When (I) send (lit. sent) a letter to the revenue officer, then (he) gives (lit. makes)
your excuse. (CD. 115)
The bifurcation of the Locational Progressive paradigm into two distinct paradigms
which are specified for tense is an important factor that conditions its generalization. The
34
There is further incorporation of auxiliaries and the bare participial forms are the preferred variants at
this stage. The table in (52) is a partial paradigm; the feminine and neuter gender forms have not been
included for simplicity.
208
Locational Progressive paradigms carry tense specification unlike the impf paradigm and
therefore, they are more expressive and more faithful to the input than the impf paradigm.
The generalization of this construction can, on this interpretation, be motivated by the
same ranking of constraints that yields the GC system expressiveness economy.
The Locational Progressive, which marks temporal information is considered to be more
expressive than its rival candidate, the impf paradigm. The period of variation where both
the Locational progressive and impf alternate with each other can be modeled by the free
ranking of the two constraints, while the generalization of the Locational Progressive and
its takeover of the non-progresisve imperfective domain can be modeled as the result of the
categorical ranking of expressiveness above economy.35
5.5.1
Summary
The data from MIA to Middle Marathi discussed in section 5.4 presents one more version
of the progressive-to-imperfective shift. The Locational Progressive starts out in MIA as
a marker of progressive aspect and gradually generalizes to license non-progressive imperfective interpretations at the Middle Marathi stage. The apparently unmotivated nature
of this change can be explained if the changes in the morphological paradigm of the Locational Progressive are taken into consideration. The bifurcation of the originally temporally
unspecified paradigm into two distinct morphological paradigms that are specified for temporal location the Present Imperfective cliticized paradigm and the Past Imperfective
periphrastic paradigm makes the Locational Progressive semantically more expressive
than the impf construction. It is this expressiveness of the Locational Progressive that
favors this construction in contrast to the less specific impf, leading to its generalization.
5.6
Conclusion
In this chapter, I examined two variants of the progressive-to-imperfective shift in IndoAryan diachrony. The empirical findings of this investigation are that at least in the IndoAryan cases, this diachronic path is not spontaneously triggered, but is motivated by the
innovation of new expressive resources in the language specifically, tense information. In
the first change, attested in Old Gujarati and Hindi, the progressive-to-imperfective shift
35
Yet another pair of constructions that have not been mentioned here are the impf+tense constructions
that also start appearing in Old Marathi. These constructions are innovations, and like the Old Gujarati,
Hindi, and Pawri, progressive, built unambiguously, with a tense auxiliary. These constructions freely
alternate with the Locational Progressive construction in the expression of progressive semantics and in
the later language, block the use of the Locational Progressive to license progressive interpretation, thus
replaying a by-now familiar cycle of free variation and blocking.
5.6. CONCLUSION
209
is a direct consequence of the pattern of spread of innovated tense auxiliaries. In the MIAMarathi case, the shift correlates with the bifurcation of a single temporally unspecified
paradigm into two distinct paradigms with tense specification.
There are two ways in which the theory of the progressive and the imperfective aspects
developed in Chapter 3 relates to the changes described here. First, a semantics for the
progressive and imperfective operators (and the predicates they yield) that transparently
relates the two, is a minimal necessity in analyzing these changes. Without an account
of the two operators similar to the nested denotation account that I offer in Chapter 3, it
is impossible to make sense of why markers of progressive aspect appear to diachronically
turn into markers of the imperfective aspect.
Second, in Chapter 3 I characterized the main difference between the progressive and
the imperfective aspects in terms of episodicity or temporal location. The impf+tense
construction provides a particularly transparent indication that this is the key distinction
between the two aspectual categories. The progressive in Old Gujarati/Hindi and Pawri is
built out of the imperfective aspect marker (impf) and a temporal locator (tense auxiliaries).
In a less transparent way, the MIA/Marathi progressive is also built out of the same kind of
morphological material. It has been observed that the lexical sources for the progressive are
often locative elements (prepositions, locative case markers, or locative case auxiliaries (e.g.
stay, reside etc.) where spatial location is metaphorically extended to express temporal
locatedness (Bybee et al. 1994: 127-133). The Indo-Aryan data presents a clear case of
how the semantics of the progressive is basically a more specific version of the semantics of
the imperfective, with the additional information contributed being temporal location.
Chapter 6
Synchronic variation in Indo-Aryan

6.1
Introduction
The account of the imperfective and the progressive aspects I have been sketching out so far
builds on three ideas. The first is that the main distinction between the imperfective and
progressive operators is best characterizable in terms of episodicity or temporal locatedness.
The second idea is that the distributional and interpretational differences between the two
operators can be expressed formally by defining the two in terms of the inst and at relations respectively. This captures the nested relation between the two operators and their
morphological exponents, while ensuring an explanation for the full range of their interpretational possibilities as well as their stativity. A further assumption that the distribution of
overlapping semantic categories is determined by blocking accounts for the contrast between
languages with and without a morphologically realized progressive operator respectively.
Each of these three points received further support from the facts in Indo-Aryan diachrony discussed in Chapter 5. This chapter has two goals. First, it introduces a new
aspectual category called the focalized progressive that is described as a variant of the
progressive aspect in the typological literature (Bertinetto et al 2000; Johanson 1971, 2000).
I propose an analysis for this category as a more specific version of the progressive, where
the domain of the progressive operator is restricted to eventive base predicates. Second, I
describe variation in the distribution of the morphological exponents of the imperfective and
progressive aspects in contemporary Indo-Aryan languages and demonstrate how the relative semantic domains of these forms depend on the particular category of the progressive
that is realized in the language.
210
211
6.2. THE FOCALIZED PROGRESSIVE
6.2
The focalized progressive
According to Johanson (2000), the notion of focality has to do with the narrowness of the
temporal interval in relation to which a category (such as the progressive or the perfect)
may be interpreted. Johanson treats grammatical aspect markers as viewpoint operators
and classifies them into intra-terminals (roughly imperfective and progressive) and postterminals (the varieties of perfect) operators. These categories are further subject to variation in terms of the degree of focality that characterizes their distribution. The focalized
progressive is the term for a morphological form that expresses progressive semantics, but
is restricted to some kinds of intervals. The point of this section is to make precise the sort
of intervals that the focalized progressive predicate refers to.
Focalized progressive constructions are described as those expressing the notion of an
event(uality) viewed as going on at a single point in time, ...called the focalization point
(Bertinetto et al 2000). The so-called focalization point might be overtly expressed or part
of the presuppositional basis of the sentence. Further, such a point does not localize the
actual duration of the eventuality; it only asserts that the eventuality is ongoing at that
point in time.
Consider the Italian and English examples in (1). The Italian Progressive (1a and 1c),
which is said to instantiate the focalized progressive category, refers to a single point in time
at which the eventuality of working or giving a signal is taking place. The corresponding
English sentences (1b and 1 d), with the same interpretation, also have progressive marking.
(1) a. ...quando Gianni e arriv-ato Anna stava
when
ancora lavora-ndo
Gianni arrive-cp Anna be.pst still
work-prog
When Gianni arrived yesterday, Anna was still working. (Bertinetto 2000:564).
b. When John arrived, Ann was still working.
c. proprio mentre
il
capitano stava
da-ndo
il
signale
pardon come.pst the captain be.pst give-prog the signal

The pardon came when the captain was giving the signal. (Bertinetto 2000:565).
d. The pardon arrived when the captain was giving the sign to the firing squad.
On the other hand, in some contexts where English uses the Progressive construction,
the Italian Progressive appears to be ungrammatical, and the sentence must be translated
with the Imperfetto (semantically past imperfective), as in the pair of examples in (2).
212
CHAPTER 6. SYNCHRONIC VARIATION IN INDO-ARYAN
(2) a. ...il poliziotto prend-eva
nota di cio
che diceva loratore.
the policeman take-impf.pst notes of what
said
speaker
The policeman was taking notes of what the speaker said. (Bertinetto 2000: 566)
b. (Moment by moment), the policeman was taking notes of what the speaker said.
The adverbial assumed for this pair of sentences is moment by moment, which was not
translated in the actual example. According to Bertinetto, the sentence in (2a) is ungrammatical in the progressive construction because the Italian Progressive (which instantiates
the focalized progressive) is incompatible with the adverbial moment by moment, which
refers to more than one point within an eventuality interval. On the other hand, this sentence is grammatical in the English Progressive construction because the English progressive
is a durative progressive (the other progressive category) and may refer to intervals larger
than a moment within the larger eventuality interval.
The empirical differences between the Italian and the English progressive markers require us to make a two-way aspectual contrast within the progressive category: the restricted
focalized progressive exemplified by Italian and the unrestricted durative progressive exemplified by English. Two questions need to be answered once we split up the progressive
category into two distinct sub-categories. First, what is the semantic content of the focalized progressive operator as distinct from the progressive operator whose semantics was
given in Chapter 3? Second, what is the diachronic relation, if any, between the two categories? I answer both these questions in this section.
6.2.1
Characterizing the difference
The forcalized progressive category is described, to my knowledge, only in the papers in

Dahl (2000), which is a survey of tense and aspect markers in the languages of Europe.
Bertinetto et al (2000), Bertinetto (2000), and Johanson (2000) make the generalization
that the focalized progressive offers a viewpoint from a single point in time at which the
eventuality denoted by the predicate is ongoing. The durative progressive viewpoint, in
contrast, does not have to be punctual, but could be a larger interval. It is difficult to
determine exactly what this intuitive difference follows from or how it can be formalized.
In particular, it is not clear how ongoingness is to be interpreted.
Consider the examples in (3). (3a) and (3c) are from English and the predicates they
contain are perfectly acceptable in the progressive. On the other hand, (3b) and (3d), which
are translations in Italian, are ungrammatical in the progressive. They must be translated
with the Imperfetto.
213
(3) a. The socks were lying on the floor.

b. *I calzini si stavano sparpagliando per terra.
c. John was driving to the university for several months until he rented an apartment
closer.
d. *John stava guidando all universit
a per diversi mesi finche trovo un appartamento
p
u vicino.
It is hard to see how an account of the focalized progressive in terms of a single point
at which an eventuality is ongoing can explain the difference between Italian and English
acceptability judgements for the same predicates when they occur in the progressive. The
predicate lie on the floor denotes a state which holds at every subinterval (the limiting
case being an instant) of the interval at which it holds. From this, it follows that whether
the relevant viewpoint offered by the focalized progressive is punctual or involves a larger
interval, the eventuality denoted by the predicate lie on the floor must be ongoing at this
point or interval. But although this is true, the Italian progressive is ungrammatical with
this predicate. Similarly for the contrast in (3c-d). The progressive in (3c) is based on a
habitual stative predicate, which also denotes a state that holds for all of its subintervals.
This means that the state must be ongoing at the punctual viewpoint that the focalized
progressive morphology in Italian takes on the eventuality. Nevertheless, the sentence is
ungrammatical when translated with the progressive in Italian.
I take a slightly different perspective on the relative meanings of the focalizes and the
durative progressive. My hypothesis is that the differences in the distributional and interpretational properties of the two categories arises from the domains of the two operators.
The focalized progressive operator has a restricted domain it may apply only to nonstative predicates. The durative progressive operator, on the other hand, is unrestricted;
it may apply to both eventive and stative predicates. The representation for the focalized
progressive operator and the durative progressive (= the progressive described in Chapter
3) are given in (4). I use the notation ev to refer to the type of events, a subtype of the
type of s, the type of eventualities.
(4) a. [[foc-prog]] = P<ev,t> t t [t nf t at(P, t )]
b. [[dur-prog]] = P<s,t> t t [t nf t at(P, t )]
This minimal distinction between the focalized progressive and the durative progressive
operators rules out the focalized progressive with two kinds of stative predicates lexical
statives and derived habitual/generic statives. It gives a precise explanation for why (3b)
214
and (3d) are ungrammatical while the corresponding English sentences in (3a) and (3c)
are grammatical. The base predicate in both cases is a stative predicate (a lexical interval
state in (3a-b) and a derived habitual state in (3c-d). The Italian Progressive cannot
apply to these predicates because it instantiates the focalized progressive operator, which
only has eventive predicates in its domain. Therefore, the Italian sentences based on these
predicates are ungrammatical. The English Progressive can apply to stative predicates
because it instantiates the durative progressive operator.
The consequence of this distinction between the two operators and their exponents is
that a predicate modified by the focalized progressive operator, may only refer to a subinterval of a dynamic eventuality, i.e. an eventuality characterized by some internal change.
Habitual predicates, although they are often based on dynamic predicates, are themselves
stative or non-dynamic. This result is important in view of the fact that Johanson (2000)
explicitly rejects the proposal I have sketched out in his discussion of focality.
Focality oppositions do not distinguish processes (non-transitional events involving internal gradual change) from states (non-transitional events not involving any internal gradual change). (Johanson 2000:86)
The reason that Johanson comes to this conclusion is connected with the view of aspect
that he subscribes to. According to Johanson, aspectual operators are viewpoint operators
that apply to pre-determined Situation-types. Situations like drive to the university have
the situation-type of accomplishment and a viewpoint operator such as the progressive
directly applies to this situation-type to yield a viewpoint on the situation. The possibility
that the base predicate to which the progressive applies is a derived state (a habitual state,
as in (3c-d) is ruled out on this bi-componential view of aspectual operators (Smith 1991).
For Johanson, then the eventive-stative distinction is made on the basis of the situation
type of the eventuality description. Naturally, this distinction cannot account for the use of
the focalized progressive because the focalized progressive is not only ungrammatical with
lexical states, but also with derived states, which are based on eventive predicates. By
failing to make the distinction between eventive predicates and derived stative predicates
based on eventive predicates, Johanson ends up rejecting the proposal that the focalized
progressive is restricted to eventive predicates.
In so far as Bertinetto (2000), Bertinetto et al (2000), and Johanson (2000) seem to
suggest, the focalized progressive category is reasonably represented aspectual category in
European languages, particularly in Romance (Italian, French, Albanian, Romanian). If
the focalized progressive is a restrictive variant of the more familiar English type durative
progressive, then an account along the lines I have proposed provides an attractive way
215
of representing their respective semantic contributions. The focalized progressive has the
same semantics as the durative progressive with one difference. The domain of the focalized
progressive operator is restricted to eventive predicates. The focalized progressive applies
to eventive predicates and yields a set of intervals that are subintervals of the interval at
which the eventive predicate is instantiated. The durative progressive, being unrestricted
with respect to its domain, applies to both eventive and stative predicates. The advantage
of this representation is that the denotation of focalized progressive-marked predicates is
a subset of the denotation of durative progressive-marked predicates. In other words, the
focalized progressive and the durative progressive have nested denotations. This is parallel
to the relation between the progressive and the imperfective aspects that was proposed in
Chapter 3.
(5) a. [[foc-prog]] = P<ev,t> t t [t nf t at(P, t )]

b. [[dur-prog]] = P<s,t> t t [t nf t at(P, t )
c. [[impf]] = P<s,t> t t [t nf t inst(P, t )
I believe that conceiving of these categories in terms of their nested denotations (as
in (5)) is useful for explaining the facts of their relative distribution crosslinguistically.
I also consider this relation of nested denotations to be useful in characterizing the diachronic change from the progressive to the imperfective aspects. We have already seen
that diachronically, markers of the progressive aspect generalize to license non-progressive
imperfective interpretations. It is an interesting question whether the progressive aspect
starts out as a focalized progressive category and further generalizes to license durative
progressive interpretations (where the prgoressive operator may apply to both eventive and
stative predicates). Bertinetto et al (2000) present a hypothesis that the diachronic data
supports a development from the durative progressive to the focalized progressive, and illustrate this with case of changes from Latin to Italian. My analysis of the two categories
together with an assumption that more specific information cannot be added to the semantics of a grammatical form but only lost, predicts that the development should be from the
more restrictive focalized progressive to the less restrictive durative progressive. Whether
this, in fact, corresponds to the data is a matter of future research.
In the next section, I will demonstrate how this three way contrast in the imperfective
aspectual domain can explain the synchronic variation in the exponents of the imperfective
and progressive aspects in the Indo-Aryan languages I examine.
216
6.3
Synchronic variation in the Indo-Aryan imperfective
The goal of this section is to examine how the various morphological exponents of the
imperfective aspect in a set of modern Indo-Aryan languages systematically instantiate one
of the three overlapping aspectual categories that structure the imperfective domain on my
proposal the imperfective, the durative progressive, and the focalized progressive.
6.3.1
Pawri
I start with Pawri, a language in which tense information (present-past distinction) is very
infrequently realized. The bare imperfective aspect morphology in Pawri V-ta-lu/i , licenses the focalized progressive, the durative progressive, and the non-progressive interpretations.1 Consider the examples in (6).
(6) a. mi culu
I
lag
ad.-tal-i
tehi mehe
at.t.ho
cut-yu
hearth light-impf.f.sg then I-dat.sg fire-nom.m burn-perf.m.sg
I was lighting the hearth when I got burnt by the fire.

b. god.hu
gar-m
a
av-lu
karin
akkh
a
snake.nom house-loc come-pfct.m.sg therefore all
b
ayra
bi-tal-
a
women.nom.pl fear-impf-f.pl
All the women were feeling scared because the snake had come into the house.
c. chyi
pel
nandurb
ar roy-tal-i
she.nom earlier Nandurbar live-impf-f.sg

Earlier, she lived in Nandurbar.
d. agyavad.ji b
ange-n
A-nom
talapi
otu.
chyu
kayam b
ang
hemp-gen addict-nom be-pst he-nom always hemp-nom
pi-tal-u
drink-impf-m.sg
Agy
ad.vaji was a hemp addict. He always drank hemp.
(6a) has the focalized progressive interpretation and refers to a particular episode of
lighting the hearth during which the speaker got burnt. (6b) contains a lexical stative
1
I distinguish between the focalized progressive and the durative progressive interpretation on the basis
of whether the base predicate is interpreted to be eventive or stative.
6.3. SYNCHRONIC VARIATION IN THE INDO-ARYAN IMPERFECTIVE
217
predicate and receives an episodic interpretation. This corresponds to the durative progressive interpretation for the Pawri Imperfective. (6c) licenses the non-progressive stative
interpretation, while (6d) licenses the non-progressive habitual interpretation.
Thus, the Pawri system represents the typological case where a single imperfective form
licenses the interrpetations corresponding to three distinct, but overlapping categories
the focalized progressive, the durative progressive, and the imperfective.
The focalized progressive in Pawri
In 5.2.4, I discussed an optional periphrastic construction in Pawri based on the impf
form and tense auxiliaries. This construction is progressive in so far as the non-progressive
interpretation is dis-preferred for sentences appearing in this construction. In particular,
it should be noted that the most salient reading for this construction is the focalized progressive reading. Further, it is hard for speakers to get the durative progressive reading for
sentences with this construction. Consider the example in (7). The preferred reading for
this sentence is the focalized progressive the sentence asserts that the subject referent is
engaged in the weeding activity at that moment (reading a). Speakers do not rule out the
habitual reading (b) completely for this construction. But it seems to be much harder to
get the distinct durative progressive reading where the base predicates is interpreted as a
derived stative predicate to which the progressive applies.
(7) chyi
khet-am nind-tali
se
she-nom field-loc weed-impf.f.sg be-pres.sg

a. She is weeding in the field.
b. % She weeds in the field.
c. %%These days, she is weeding in the field.
I do not have an explanation for the variability in the acceptability of this construction
with the two interpretations in (7). The infrequency of the impf+tense construction in
Pawri makes it difficult to determine whether the language has a distinctly grammaticalized
focalized progressive construction at all.
6.3.2
Ahirani
Unlike Pawri, Ahirani does have a very frequently occurring progressive construction that
contrasts with the morphology that realizes imperfective aspect.2 The contrast between
2
The Ahirani progressive morphology (cognate also to the Hindi progressive) is also used in the Marathi
dialects spoken in North Maharashtra, contiguous to the Ahirani and Hindi linguistic area. The distribution
218
the imperfective and the progressive aspects in Ahirani is encoded by the (cognates of the)
impf paradigm and an innovated periphrastic progressive construction respectively. In (8)
and (9), I list the Ahirani Past Progressive and Past Imperfective paradigms.
(8) Ahirani Past Progressive3
sg
pl
kari rhayantu
kari rh
ayantut
23m
kari rh
ayant
a
kari rh
ayantat
23f
kari rh
ayanti
kari rh
ayantyat
3n
kari rh
ayanta
kari rh
yantat
(9) Ahirani Past Imperfective

person
sg
pl
kar-u
kar-ut
kar-e
kar-et
kar-e
kar-et
The distribution of these two categories in Ahirani suggests that the Ahirani Progressive
paradigm realizes the focalized progressive aspect and not the durative progressive aspect.
This is illustrated through the examples in (10) and (12).
(10) a. mi
tavhal. r
adh
a pustak
I.nom home come-perf.m.sg then R.nom book.nom
v
ac-i
ghar
a-vyu
rh
a-inti
read-ger prog-pst.f.sg
When I came home, R
adh
a was reading a book.
b. kaldis
r
adh
a ek jhad.
l
av-i
rh
a-inti
yesterday R.nom one tree.nom plant-ger prog-pst.f.sg

Yesterday, R
adh
a was planting a tree.
(10a) refers to an ongoing event of book-reading during which the speakers entry occurred. The base predicate is eventive. Similarly, (10b) is based on an eventive predicate.
The progressive construction is grammatical in both these instances. On the other hand,
is similar to that in Ahirani.
3
The progressive construction is based on the gerund form of the verb, and a progressive auxiliary cognate
to the verb stay and tense marking with a cliticized auxiliary.
219
consider the examples in (11a-b). Both these examples can be translated with the English
progressive construction and still be well-formed. However, they are ungrammatical in Ahirani. In (11a), the base predicate is a lexical stative, while in (11b), the base predicate is a
derived habitual stative, based on an eventive predicate.
(11) a. *r
adh
a-l
a bhit
R-dat
v
at.-i
rh
a-inti
fear.f.nom feel-ger prog-pst.f.sg
R
adh
a was feeling frightened.
b. *r
adh
a
te
varis sa.la-m
roj
sikv-i
rh
a-inti
R-nom.sg that year school-loc everyday teach-ger prog-pst.f.sg

That year, R
adh
a was teaching at the school everyday.
The focalized progressive restricts its domain to eventive predicates while the durative
progressive does not place such a restriction on its domain. The sentences in (11) are
ungrammatical in Ahirani because the Ahirani Progressive realizes the focalized progressive
and not the durative progressive aspect. it is precisely lexical and derived stative predicates
that are unacceptable with the progressive construction in Ahirani.
The intended interpretations for (11a-b) must be licensed by the Ahirani Imperfective
morphology (impf) as in (12a-b).
(12) a. r
adh
a-l
a bhit
v
at.-e
R-dat fear.f.nom feel-impf.3.sg

R
adh
b. r
adh
a
te
varis sa.la-m
roj
sikv-e
R-nom.sg that year school-loc everyday teach-impf.3.sg

That year, R
adh
a taught at the school everyday.
The general imperfective morphology impf also licenses lexical stative (13a) and habitual (13b) interpretations.
(13) c. r
adh
a mumbai-m
a rh
a-ye
R.nom mumbai-loc live-impf.3.sg
R
adh
a lived in Mumbai.
d. r
adh
a roj
mumbai-le
j
a-ye
R.nom everyday mumbai-acc go-impf.3.sg

R
adh
a went to Mumbai everyday.
220
The generalization for Ahirani is that Pawri realizes the imperfective and the focalized
progressive aspects. It is important to note that the focalized progressive, for the most part,
blocks the imperfective form from licensing the focalized progressive interpretation. Speakers regularly rejected sentences in which I substituted the focalized progressive construction
with the corresponding impf form to determine whether such sentences were acceptable.
An example of such contrast is in (14). (14b) is considered to be ungrammatical suggesting that the focalized progressive blocks the general imperfective form from licensing the
specific interpretation.
(14) a. kaldis
r
adh
a ek jhad.
l
av-i
rh
a-inti
yesterday R.nom one tree.nom plant-ger prog-pst.f.sg
Yesterday, R
adh
b. *kaldis
r
adh
a ek jhad.
l
av-e
yesterday R.nom one tree.nom plant-impf.3.sg

Yesterday, R
adh
An exception to this blocking relation is a restricted sub-class of activity predicates,
which includes the verbs of speaking, and some manner of motion verbs. These predicates,
inflected with the imperfective impf affixes sometimes license episodic progressive interpretations. The lack of blocking in this sub-domain also constitutes evidence that the domain
of the imperfective operator (and its morphological exponent) subsumes the domain of the
focalized progressive operator. (15) contains a spontaneously occurring example with the
activity predicate rad. cry, which has impf inflection, but gets an episodic interpretation.
(15) tumi
gay-el
vha-tat
tavhal. b
a.l
pakka rad.-e
you.nom.pl go-perf be-pst.m.pl then baby.nom.sg lot
cry-impf.3.sg
While you were gone, the baby was crying a lot.
6.3.3
Hindi
The Hindi Progressive morphology is cognate to the Ahirani progressive, but in Hindi,
this construction realizes the durative progressive and not the focalized progressive. The
imperfective aspect in Hindi is realized by the impf+tense construction discussed in Chapter
5. The main evidence that the Hindi Progressive realizes the durative progressive comes
from the compatibility of this construction with lexical and derived states. The examples
in (16) illustrate the use of this construction with base eventive predicates. (17) contains
examples of the progressive construction with base stative predicates.
(16) a. ma
ghar
a-i
221
tab r
adh
a kitab
I.nom home come-perf.m.sg then R.nom book.nom

par.h
rah-i thi
read.ger prog pst.f.sg
When I came home, R
adh
a was reading a book.
b. kal
r
adh
a ek per.
lag
a
rah-i thi
yesterday R.nom one tree.nom plant-ger prog pst.f.sg
Yesterday, R
adh
The Hindi Progressive, unlike the Ahirani progressive, may also apply to base stative
predicates. These are of two types lexical statives (17a) and derived habitual stative
predicates (17b). In Hindi, sentences containing progressive predicates based on such stative
predicates, are fully grammatical.
(17) c. r
adh
a-ko d.ar
lag
rah-
a th
a
R-dat fear.m.nom feel-ger prog pst.m.sg
R
adh
d. r
adh
a
us
s
al
skul-me
roj
par.h-
a
rah-i thi
R-nom.sg that year school-loc everyday teach-ger prog pst.f.sg
That year, R
adh
a was teaching at the school everyday.
The examples in (18a-b) illustrate the use of the Hindi Imperfective (impf+tense). The
impf+tense construction licenses non-progressive imperfective interpretations and occurs
with lexical stative predicates (18a) and habitual predicates (18b).
(18) a. r
adh
a mumbai-me rah-ti
thi
R.nom mumbai-loc live-impf.3.sg pst.f.sg

R
adh
a lived in Mumbai.
b. r
adh
a roj
mumbai-ko
j
a-ti
thi
R.nom everyday mumbai-acc go-impf.f.sg pst.f.sg

R
adh
a went to Mumbai everyday.
In Hindi, the Progressive categorically blocks the Imperfective from licensing progressive
interpretations. This is illustrated in (19). This sentence may not refer to a single crying
episode on part of the child (while the parent was away for a few hours) but must refer to
a characteristic property of the child over some long-term period of absence.
222
(19) *ap
gay-e
th-e
tab bacc
a
bahut
you-nom.pl go-perf be-pst.m.pl then baby-nom.sg lot

ro-t
a
th
a
cry-impf.m.sg pst.m.sg
a.*While you were gone, the baby was crying a lot.
b. While you were gone, the baby used to cry a lot.
These data suggest that the right semantic characterization of the Hindi Progressive
is that it realizes the durative progressive aspect while the Hindi Imperfective realizes the
imperfective aspect. Further, the Progressive categorically blocks the Imperfective from
licensing progressive interpretation.
6.3.4
Interim summary
The three languages examined so far instantiate three typological possibilities given the
nested domains of the focalized progressive, the durative progressive, and the imperfective
aspects. In Pawri, a single form of the verb realizes the most general imperfective aspect, which subsumes the meaning of the focalized progressive and the durative progressive
aspects. Ahirani (parallel to Italian) divides the imperfective domain in one way, distinguishing between the focalized progressive and the the rest of the imperfective domain.
Hindi, parallel to English divides the imperfective domain in yet another way, making the
distinction between the durative progressive and the general imperfective aspects.
(20)
Aspectual Category
focalized progressive
durative progressive
imperfective
Pawri
Ahirani
Hindi
V-ger+prog+tense
A
B
impf+tense
V-ger+prog+tense
V-talu
impf
The fourth logical possibility is a system in which the focalized progressive, the durative
progressive, and the imperfective aspects each have distinct morphological exponents. Before I examine a language which instantiates this possibility Dehawali Bhili I should
consider yet another parameter that determines the typological space of variation for the
exponents of the imperfective and two progressive aspects. This parameter is blocking, a
factor that has consistently been coming up in discussions of the distribution of aspectual
space. In addition to variation regarding which of the three categories is/are realized by
223
a language, languages may vary with respect to whether the specific categories block the
range of specific interpretations available to the general category.
It is my hypothesis that the crosslinguistic distribution of imperfective and progressive
forms can be captured by (a) this simple division of the imperfective aspectual space into
three distinct but overlapping categories (two of which are optionally realizable), and (b)
parametric variation with regard to blocking.
The final linguistic system in this study instantiates the typological possibility of a language that realizes the focalized progressive, the durative progressive, and the imperfective
aspects, in which the distribution of the general categories is not blocked by the specific
categories.
6.3.5
Dehawali Bhili
Dehawali Bhili is a language with three distinct paradigms with differing interpretations. A
progressive paradigm, cognate to Ahirani and Hindi, is restricted to the focalized progressive
interpretation. The V-talo paradigm, cognate to the general Pawri Imperfective licenses
both focalized progressive and durative progressive interpretations. Yet a third paradigm,
cognate to the impf paradigm, realizes the general imperfective aspect.
(21) The Dehawali Bhili imperfective aspectual space
Aspectual Category
Form
focalized progressive
V-ger+prog+tense
durative progressive
V-talo
imperfective
impf
Let us examine the distribution of each of these paradigms in sequence. (22) contains
examples of the construction that realizes the focalized progressive in Dehawali Bhili. The
sentence in (22a) is grammatical because it contains an eventive predicate. On the other
hand, (22b) and (22c) contain a lexical stative and a habitual predicate respectively and
are unacceptable with this progressive construction.
224
(22) a. ay
te
buk
v
ac-i
riyo
atho
a
tah
I.nom that book.nom.sg read-ger prog.m.sg pst.m.sg then

ek p
an
ph
at.i
gey-lo
one page.nom.sg tear-ger go-perf-m.sg

While I was reading the book, one page got torn.
ay
b. *
huv-i
riyo
atho
I.nom sleep-ger prog.m.sg pst.m.sg

I was sleeping. (okay on the reading: I was falling asleep.)
c. *ek voroh
o-
age
ay
sal.
a-me
hikv-i
riyo
atho
One year-before I.nom school-loc teach-ger prog.m.sg pst.m.sg

One year ago, I was teaching at a school.
The V-talo construction realizes the durative progressive aspect in Dehawali Bhili. This
form is compatible with base eventive as well as lexical stative and derived stative predicates. The focalized progressive construction in Dehawali Bhili does not block the durative
progressive in the specific forcalized progressive meaning. Consider the examples in (23a-b).
Both examples contain eventive predicates and are acceptable in the durative progressive
aspect as well as in the focalized progressive.
a
(23) a. ay
te buk
v
ac-talo
tah
I.nom that book.nom.sg read-impf.pst.m.sg then
ek p
an ph
at.i
gey-lo
one page tear-ger go-perf-m.sg one page-nom-sg
While I was reading the book, one page got torn.
b. ti
vat.e-ne to
koo
av-talo
that-fem way-ins he.nom home.nom come-impf.pst.m.sg

He was coming home taking that way.
In (24a-b), we see that the durative progressive is also compatible with base stative predicates unlike the focalized progressive in (22b-c). (24a) contains a lexical stative predicate,
while (24b) contains a habitual derived stative predicate.
(24) b.
ay
a to
tah
koo gi-yo
225
huv-talo
I.nom home go-perf.m.sg then he.nom sleep-impf.pst.m.sg

He was sleeping when I went home.
an
c. mah
ar
an.
a prat
ap-
an sivaj mah
ar
aj- iya-h
M
and S
kayam
adivas-h mod
at
they-dat.pl
mil-tali
always A-gen.sg help.nom.f.sg get-impf.pst.f.sg

aj Mahar
asis help.
Mahar
an.
a Pratap and Siv
aj were always getting the Adiv
The data in (23) and 24) shows that the V-talo form realizes the durative progressive and
is not blocked by the focalized progressive in licensing focalized progressive interpretations.
The third form in Dehawali Bhili that license imperfective interpretations is the impf
form. We know this to be the most archaic morphological layer of the three forms because
this paradigm is cognate to the OIA and MIA impf paradigms. The most salient readings
for this form are the non-progressive imperfective interpretations the lexical stative
and the habitual interpretations. The examples in (25) illustrate this use of the impf
paradigm. Note that among the three forms being discussed for Dehawali Bhili, only the
impf paradigm is compatible with lexical stative and habitual predicates to license the
characterizing interpretation.
a
(25) b.
am
h
an
a
ath-
a
a nijampura-m roy-j
tah
We-nom small pst-m.pl then N-loc
live-impf.1.pl
When we were small, we lived in Nij

ampur.
a
b.
am
h
an
a
ath-
a
a jamba
tah
vec-a
j
a-ji
We.nom small pst-m.pl then J-nom.pl sell-inf go-impf.1.pl

When we were small, we used to go to sell J
However, the impf paradigm is not blocked in licensing progressive interpretation by the
other two more specific aspectual forms. (26a-b) are examples where the impf paradigm
licenses the progressive interpretation. In (26a), the base predicate is stative and the interpretation is episodic, referring to a particular episode of sleeping. In (26b), the base
predicates are eventive and the impf forms license the focalized progressive reading.
(26) a.
ay
koo gi-yo
a to
tah
huv-e
I.nom home go-perf.m.sg then he.nom sleep-impf.3.sg

He was sleeping when I went home.
226
am nov-e
b. sehera-h
pom
b
and-
a-e
. g-e
city-loc.pl new-nom.pl house-nom.pl build-pass.impf.3.pl
an novy-
a
sod.ky-
a
ng-e
and new-nom.pl road.nom.pl appear-impf.3.pl
In the cities, new houses were being built and new roads were appearing.
It should be made clear that the impf paradigm does not freely occur with progressive
interpretations. I have not been able to determine the precise constraints on when impf is
blocked and when it is permitted to license the progressive interpretation. The alternation
between the focalized progressive and the durative progressive constructions is much more
free than that between impf and the other two forms.
6.4
Conclusion
In this chapter, I introduced yet another semantic category that is considered to be am

ore restricted variant of the progressive the focalized progressive. I proposed that this
category differs from the durative progressive (which is the specification of the English Progressive) in having a restricted domain. The focalized progressive is restricted to eventive
predicates while the durative progressive applies to predicates belonging to all eventuality
types. This distinction predicts that the focalized progressive should be ungrammatical with
lexical stative and derived stative predicates. This prediction is confirmed by the limited
available Italian data. I proceeded to use this three way aspectual contrast between the focalized progressive, the durative progressive, and the imperfective to capture the synchronic
variation in the distribution of imperfective and progressive markers in some Indo-Aryan
languages. I showed that the four languages described instantiate the four typological possibilities for imperfective and progressive marking given the nested denotations of the three
categories. Dehawali Bhili presented an additional complexity in that the distribution of
the three instantiated aspectual forms is not constrained by blocking.
Chapter 7
Conclusion and questions

The central goal of this dissertation was to examine how crosslinguistic and diachronic generalizations about aspectual categories from the grammaticalization and typological literature can be integrated with the insights about the semantics of aspectual categories coming
from the formal semantic literature. I explored this problem in the semantic domain of the
progressive and the imperfective aspects. The specific question guiding this dissertation
was: What kind of theory of progressive and imperfective semantics (and their operators
instantiated by language-specific morphology) can account for the range of interpretations
that they license as well as capture the properties of their synchronic and diachronic distribution? I proposed one such theory in Chapter 3 and showed how it meets the necessary
desiderata that I articulated for a crosslinguistically viable theory of the progressive and
the imperfective aspects. An important issue that needs to be tackled in positing that the
progressive and the imperfective have nested denotations is that of Blocking. The factors
determining whether it is free variation or blocking that can characterize the relation between the morphological exponents of the progressive and the imperfective aspects are not
completely obvious. My explanation for this optionality is tentative and requires further
explication. Moreover, there seems to be an intuitive correlation between the presence of
free variation and the relative recency of the innovated aspectual category, which needs to
be further fleshed out and examined against crosslinguistic diachronic data.
Another issue that I alluded to in the introduction to this dissertation is the relationship between the perfect and the perfective aspects. The generalizations made about the
crosslinguistic and diachronic distribution of these forms appears to closely parallel the generalizations made for the progressive and the imperfective aspects. First, in the absence of a
morphologically realized perfect operator, the perfect interpretation is often licensed by the
perfective operator (e.g. Russian, Mahar
as.t.r). Second, the presence of perfect morphology
227
228
CHAPTER 7. CONCLUSION AND QUESTIONS
often correlates with the absence of the the perfect interpretation for the perfective morphology (e.g. Hindi). Finally, morphological exponents of the perfect aspect may diachronically
generalize to license interpretations typically associated with the perfective aspect. A comparable analysis for the perfect and perfective aspects that can semantically substantiate
these observed relations between their morphological exponents can serve to underscore the
general viability of an approach that integrates typological observations about aspectual
categories with a compatible formal semantics.
The second goal of this dissertation was to present some hypotheses about the diachrony
of the Indo-Aryan tense/aspect system, based on textual and comparative evidence. Given
the preliminary stage of knowledge that we are at concerning the semantics of Indo-Aryan
tense/aspect forms, the findings are necessarily tentative. But they present several theoretical questions about the abstract changes underlying the reorganization of the Indo-Aryan
tense/aspect system from OIA to MIA and from MIA to NIA. These findings also present
specific empirical questions that can be answered on the basis of careful textual research.
One of these questions concerns the precise distribution of the impf paradigm in Vedic and
later OIA. The hypothesis that this paradigm is temporally unspecified and aspectually
imperfective opens up the possibility of re-examining its status with respect to the original
aspectual opposition in Indo-European. Within Vedic, this hypothesis also has implications
for the aspectual relation between the Present Injunctive and the impf paradigms, if we
consider that the impf takes over the imperfective domain originally realized by the Present
Injunctive. For the MIA and the NIA periods, I have pointed out locally several gaps in the
data that can be filled following meticulous research over a sustained period. Here I consider
one gap in our empirical understanding that this dissertation has helped to identify. The
rise of tense distinctions in the form of tense auxiliaries and the semantic effect it has on the
tense/aspect systems of the NIA languages has not been studied in much detail. The contribution of tense auxiliaries during the linguistic stages at which they are optional (much
of the Old and Middle NIA periods) is not well-understood. This study is important from
the philological perspective because it can facilitate a much better interpretation of texts
and the real properties of the grammatical system at different stages. From the generative
perspective, the findings of such research can serve as the empirical basis for the study of
how semantic categories get articulated in languages and the syntactic effects of this.
The third facet to this dissertation was the use of field data from undescribed nonstandard Indo-Aryan languages to reconstruct some diachronic trajectories in the IndoAryan tense/aspect system. The crucial role that these languages play in arriving at a
feasible account of some diachronic facts of MIA and Old NIA attests to their general
229
importance for understanding Indo-Aryan history and typological space. Given the scope
of this dissertation and the brevity it necessitates, it has not been possible to provide detailed
descriptive sketches of these languages as part of this dissertation. However, the project is
an important one not just for these languages, but for the larger Bhili-Khandeshi dialect
continuum in Central India that these languages belong to. Here, I have barely been able
to scratch the surface of the rich variation these languages present and the archaic systems
they retain. If this dissertation can persuade Indo-Aryan linguists and others of the need for
sustained empirical research on these languages and the promise that such research holds
for a better understanding of the Indo-Aryan language family, I would consider it to be the
main success of this endeavor.
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TENSE AND ASPECT IN INDO-ARYAN LANGUAGES: VARIATION AND

c Copyright by Ashwini Deo 2007

Paul Kiparsky Principal Adviser

impfct = OIA Imperfect

Unifying semantic and grammaticalization approaches . . . . . . . . . . . .

Describing aspectual categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Markedness, privative opposition, and blocking . . . . . . . . . . . .

Loss of tense distinctions in Indo-Aryan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The diachronic data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The synchronic data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2 Aspectual classification and stativity

Interpretation in narrative discourse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Punctual temporal adverbials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Predication over eventualities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

De Swart 1998: The progressive and aspectual coercion . . . . . . .

Analyses of the imperfective operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Predication over times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The imperfective operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The imperfective operator and habitual/generic predicates . . . . . .

3 Semantics of the imperfective and progressive

Languages without a distinct progressive morphology

Languages that realize imperfective and progressive aspect

The diachronic path from progressive to imperfective . . . . . . . . .

Episodicity and the progressive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The semantics of the imperfective operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Lexical stative predicates and the imperfective operator . . . . . . .

Habitual/generic predicates and the imperfective operator . . . . . .

The perfective-like interpretation of imperfective-marked predicates

The imperfective-perfective opposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The stativity of imperfective-marked predicates . . . . . . . . . . . .

The semantics of the progressive operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Felicity judgements with interval and object-level states . . . . . . .

Some consequences and questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The habitual reading of the progressive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Transparency and derived stative predicates . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The imperfective, the progressive, and blocking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Blocking and free variation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Inceptive and terminative inferences

4 The loss of tense distinctions

Indo-Aryan chronology and the data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Structure of the chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The past-present distinction: OIA to MIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

OIA: Epic Sanskrit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The past-present opposition in MIA? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The imperfective-perfective opposition in MIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

MIA: impf as imperfective aspect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

MIA: perf as perfective aspect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The MIA tense/aspect system: A summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Loss of the past-present distinction: Evidence from NIA . . . . . . . . . . .

Pawri: The Middle Indic Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Ahirani, Dehawali Bhili, Marathi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The loss of the present-future distinction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The morphological basis of the innovated future paradigms . . . . .

Future reference in Old Marathi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Extending the impf morphology to past and future times . . . . . . . . . .

impf morphology as tenseless imperfective: Vedic . . . . . . . . . .

impf morphology as tenseless imperfective: Epic Sanskrit . . . . . .

5 The imperfective aspect in Indo-Aryan

Tense marking and the periphrastic progressive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .