Momentary-Durative (I)

[petegray]

> Pat said:
> I have the feeling that ... there are virtually as many
> "perfectives" as there are linguists.

Even if we had a clear definition of "perfect" or "perfective", we would
still be unsure if it applied to PIE.   Only Greek shows a clear
aorist-perfect distinction.   Sanskrit, in as much as it shows it all, has
the aorist playing the role of the Greek perfect.   Where both formations
survive in other IE languages, they are conflated in meaning (as in Celtic),
or in meaning and form, as in Latin.

The -o-grade + perfect endings can be reconstructed, but its precise
distinction from other forms is not clear.   There is a strong possibility
of a link between the perfect endings, the Hittite -hi forms, and a possible
stative meaning.

Reduplication is strongly linked with these forms in Greek and Sanskrit, but
not in other languages (never in Latin).

At least 4 aorist formations can be reconstructed for PIE:  athematic,
thematic, reduplicating and sigmatic.    If these differed in meaning, or
how they differed in meaning from the perfect cannot be clearly determined,
since the Greek and Sanskrit evidence is not in accord, and other languages
have "merged" the two formations.

It is clear proof - if it were needed - that we can reconstruct morphology
much more easily than meaning.

Peter