Perfective-Imperfective (2) - Habitual

[Ralf-Stefan Georg]

>However, I query the rest, which raises a familiar point, discussed by
>Comrie in his book: how often does an action have to be performed in
>order to be habitual?  There can, of course, be no absolute answer to
>this: habitual actions just shade off into occasional actions, with no
>sharp dividing line.

>Take a real case.  My friend Alex never buys or carries cigarettes, and
>she normally doesn't smoke at all, but every once in a while -- maybe
>once a week at most, generally less often -- she accepts a cigarette
>when she's with friends who are smoking.

>Now: does Alex smoke?  I would say she doesn't, but possibly not
>everybody has the same intuition.  Next time I see Alex, I'll try to
>remember to ask her if she smokes.  My guess is that she'll say "no",
>or, at best, "once in a while".  I'll be very surprised if she says
>"yes".

While it is correct to say that there simply is a continuum between
occasional and habitual actions, best grasped by a prototype approach. And
what these prototypes are is in most cases language-specific, no, let's say
culture-specific.
In a world where habitual smoking is often close to plain addiction, often
paired with the notion that the smoker may not be able to fully control
this behaviour, suffer from the fact of being one etc. etc., and the habit
of smoking is the focus of public discussions and stuff, the statement "She
smokes" will put the person considerably closer to the "habituality" end of
the continuum, than, e.g. the statement "She eats fish".
"Does she eat fish ?" (I'm inviting for a party and intend to serve some as
the main attraction)
"Does she smoke ?" (I'm inviting for a party and some Americans will be
among the guests [;-)])
Also, the question "Do you smoke ?" has definitely different values on the
habituality-scale when asked by my doctor, or by someone after an opulent
dinner offering a dessert cigar.

St.G.

PS: I smoke like a fish.

Stefan Georg
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D-53111 Bonn
FRG
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