imperfect

[Peter &/or Graham]

Miguel asked about an inherited root "aorist":

>>Did it become an
>>imperfective/habitual past in pre-Vedic (e.g. proto-Indo-Iranian)
>>like the Greek imperfect, or did it remain a simple aspectless
>>narrative past?  And if the latter, what about marked
>>"imperfects" like <agacchat>?

The question only makes sense if there is a genuine distinction between
imperfect and aorist in Vedic.   In fact, (despite some grammars too heavily
influenced by Greek), there is no clearly discernible difference in meaning
between the two.   The labels are taken from Greek and refer to the
formation, not the function.   If a root-stem past tense has a corresponding
present, it is called "imperfect" - otherwise it is called "aorist".

Peter