Slavic–style aspect in the Caucasus
Slavic–style aspect in the Caucasus

Summary/Abstract: Cross–linguistically, the expression of the aspectual opposition ’Perfective–Imperfective’ by means of preverbs is a quite rare phenomenon; the label ’Slavic–style aspect’ proposed for this derivational category reflects the fact that the Slavic language family (Russian above all) has, until recently, been the primary source of assumptions and data about aspect. However, similar systems are to be found also in other languages and language families, which can be compared and arranged along a scale according to their degree of grammaticalization. The present article is a first attempt to compare and describe typologically some aspectual or aspectual–like features of three languages spoken in the Caucasus, Russian, Georgian and Ossetic; it discusses their behaviour and illustrates some parameters of variation within this category. Further, the possibility of contact induced changes is briefly illustrated.

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