Aspectual Meaning of The Japanese Verb Form Te+Iru

Authors:

Pages: 65-78

Abstract:

This paper deals with the aspectual meanings that can be realized by the verbal construction V-te + iru of Japanese verbs. As a starting point is taken Bernard Comrie’s view on the categories of tense and aspect, and the study itself summarizes the opinions of some leading Japanese language linguists, on the problem concerned. The paper covers: classification of the Japanese verbs, based on how the activity they denote is situated in time; a short overview of some interpretations of the “aspect” in Japanese language; basic aspectual meanings that can be realized by the verbal construction V-te + iru.

Keywords:

perfective, imperfective, verb form TE+IRU, types of verbs, aspectual meaning

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