Continuous vs. Repetitive inflection in ASL

[Linda Lee Lonning]

On Fri, 7 May 1999, Don & Theresa G wrote:

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ronnie Wilbur <wilbur at OMNI.CC.PURDUE.EDU>
> To: SLLING-L at ADMIN.HUMBERC.ON.CA <SLLING-L at ADMIN.HUMBERC.ON.CA>
> Date: Friday, May 07, 1999 8:51 AM
> Subject: Re: Continuous vs. Repetitive inflection in ASL
>
>
> >Don,
> >
> >Could you help further?  How does 'durative' differ semantically from
> >'continuative'?
> >
> >Thanks,
> >
> >Ronnie
> >
> >P.S.  For those interested, formationally, the differences are shown in
> >pictures on p. 293 of Klima & Bellugi 'Signs of Lg'.
> >
>
> I had to look up the difference in the Klima/Bellugi text -- I thought they
> were the same thing (smile).
>
> I'm not quite as sure here, but my sense is that in keeping with the "kill"
> (although maybe to-kill can't quite conform to this aspect), TO-KILL
> (durative) means "to keep on killing FOR an extended period of time" while
> TO-KILL (continuative) means "to keep on killing OVER an extended period of
> time".  That is, in the durative aspect, the killing occurs fairly
> continuously during a set period of time, without much interruption, while
> in the continuative aspect, the killing occurs during a set, but extended
> period of time, with the possibility of some intervals in which killing does
> not occur.   Does this make any sense?
>
> Using the Klima/Bellugi examples of "LOOK-AT",  the durative aspect means a
> fairly steady, uninterrupted and focused gaze, while the continuative aspect
> means a fairly constant gaze that could be interrupted and is not quite so
> focused or "interested" -- maybe almost disinterested would be a better
> word.
>
> Again, this is my best sense--I'm not claiming certainty on these two here.
> I would like to hear any confirmation that my sense is correct or not.
>
> --Don Grushkin
>
Hi all--

Alright all you Spanish language gurus out there, chime in here.  This
dialog here reminds me of how spoken and written Spanish delineate their
verbs  (los verbos---remember everybody??! :)  into "preterite" and I
**think** it was "imperfect" ones for the purposes of conjugating them.  I
remember having to tease out in my mind "Ok, was this action of a certain
duration, but a discrete interval...then it fit one category...and I would
conjugate it this way..." and whatnot.  Maybe this is a nice parallel here
that would help us make a helpful comparison here.  Get out those old
Spanish 101 and 102 course books!

Linda L. Lonning, BS, CT, WITA I2 T1
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN--MILWAUKEE Part-time Staff
Community Interpreter