Aspect: aspect
| Values: | Hab | Perf | Pers | Prog |
Aspect describes the internal temporal properties of the described situation. In Ruuli, aspect is a feature realized on the verb as an affix. It marks whether a situation is viewed as a whole (perfective) or viewed as occupying a period of time, with further subdivisions marking a recurrent situation (habitual), a situation in progress (progressive), or marking discursive emphasis on a situation obtaining (persistive).
Ruuli also allows an additional aspect feature, annotated as Aspect[add], used in progressive with habitual combinations, where the progressive is primary and the habitual is marked as Aspect[add]=Hab.
Hab: habitual aspect
The habitual aspect is realized with the suffix -nga. It encodes situations that are recurrent, habitual, typical of the reference time.
Examples
- baazwalanga “they used to wear”
Perf: perfective aspect
The perfective aspect is realized with the suffix -ire and its allomorph -ere. It encodes situations that are viewed as a whole.
Examples
- _nsumbire_ “I cooked”
Pers: persistive aspect
The persistive aspect is realized with the prefix kya-; it is used to emphasize that a situation holds at the reference time. Functionally, this corresponds to the concepts of phrasal polarity, such as ‘still’, ‘no longer’, and ‘not yet’.
Examples
-
bakyakolesya “they still use”
-
_tibakyakolesya “they no longer use”
-
_bakyali kukolesya “they do not yet use (they are yet to use)”
Prog: progressive aspect
The progressive aspect is realized with the prefix ku-; it shows that the situation is in progress at the reference time. The Ruuli progressive is compatible with dynamic, stative, and punctual verbs.
Examples
- nkunyumirwa “I am enjoying”
Aspect in other languages: [arr] [axm] [bej] [bg] [bm] [bor] [cs] [ctn] [egy] [el] [eme] [ga] [gn] [gub] [ha] [hu] [hy] [hyw] [jaa] [ka] [ky] [la] [mdf] [myu] [myv] [naq] [nci] [nmf] [oge] [pcm] [ps] [qpm] [ruc] [ru] [say] [sl] [tpn] [tr] [tt] [u] [uk] [urb] [urj] [xcl] [xmf] [yrl]