Aspect: aspect
| Values: | Imp | Iter | Perf | Prog |
In Zaar, the aspect features are expressed together with aspect, mood, person and number features in a word functioning as a preverbal clitic tagged as an AUX. The AUX is followed by a finite form of the verb, except for the progressive aspect which is followed by a verbal noun.
Imp: imperfect
Zaar: The imperfect denotes a state or an unbounded process. It can be used in any temporal context, past, present or future. The inflection follows the pattern “pronoun+yáː”.
Example
- ʧáː poləm á Kámʃâk fáː ! “I like Kamshak I do!”
Iter: iterative
Zaar: The iterative aspect denotes a repeated or habitual process. The inflection follows the pattern “pronoun+yi”.
Example
- wéy káwây myâːn miː nger mə ɗu bôːl ɗan tu kóː kúmá tá byǎ =m ni aː // “they said that me, I played football like a professional.”
Perf: perfect
Zaar: The perfect aspect denotes a process completed with a resultative value: it has an impact on the state of affairs at the time referred to by the illocution. The inflection follows the pattern “pronoun+áː”.
Example
- àː yaddéy wò ʧanʤá kə́lâːʃíː // “He has agreed to change class.”
Prog: progressive
Zaar: The progressive aspect denotes an ongoing process. The AUX is etymologically analysed as the combination of the copular verb yi ‘be’ and the ADP ká ‘at’. It is followed by a verbal noun.
Example
- á, zaːr wò ɗyáː kap gə̀t àmáː tá mán ɓə̂líː tə́ gə̀ɗès kúmá ʧìɣá tsə́tngə̂n tə́ ŋáː =wôs áy // “Well, a man can marry but they can divorce and she will be living with her child.”
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]