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Universal 1678:

Posted in Universals Archive

Universal 1678:

Original
Progressives (which develop from locative, postural or movement verb constructions) tend to develop into imperfectives or occasionally presents.
Standardized
Progressives (which develop from locative, postural or movement verb constructions) tend to develop into imperfectives or occasionally presents.
Keywords
aspect, progressive, imperfective, tense, present
Domain
inflection
Type
target < source
Status
diachronic
Quality
statistical
Basis
76 languages from the GRAMCATS database
Source
Bybee 1994: 244
Counterexamples
Present progressives developing into general presents, as for example in the Chamus dialect of Maa (Mon-Khmer, Austo-Asiatic). But the latter development would only occur where a past tense already exists; if there were no past tense, the progressive would become a general imperfective (Bybee 1994: 250).

One Comment

  1. FP
    FP

    Implicationally:IF there are progressives (which develop from locative, postural or movement verb constructions), THEN they tend to develop into imperfectives or occasionally presents.

    1. May 2020

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