1

-Joycey

Abstract

The present paper is a comparative study of the various nuances of the Modern Greek (MG) Imperfective Past (Paratatikos) and its corresponding realization(s) in English. The study investigates the contexts in which the respective verbal forms are encountered in the two languages involved , by taking into account the types of situations that are described each time. The comparison shows that, whereas the MG Imperfective Past covers a wide range of contexts, in English one has to select d ifferent verbal forms in order to make reference to the same contexts. Based on this, it is assumed that, and further investigated whether Greek learners of English have problems in selecting and using the relevant English forms in their interlanguage.

-

- , ,

. ,

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1.

.

, i,

(Smith 1991: 111),

.

Smith (1991:111):

.. //////////// ..

(Dahl 1985: 92).

2

( ), Paprotte (1988: 451-52)

,

, (arguments). (situation aspect

Smith) ,

.

Smith (1986, 1991) viewpoint aspect.

. Kitis and Tsangalidis (2002)

/

.

, ,

, :

( -state)

( -activity)

( -accomplishment)

( -achievement) ii.

progressive

- iii.

, , ,

. progressive

.

*He is knowing the answer (state)

Mary was walking in the park (activity)

Sam was eating an apple (accomplishment)

She was blinking her eyes (achievement)

(Smith 1991: 222).

2. progressive

, ,

progressive .

, Past Progressive

. .

.

, progressive .

, , , .

progressive ,

3

states

progressive (Dowty 1977, 1986;. Mourelatos 1981; Smith 1986; Vlach 1981).

- progressive

- :

-

. ,

progressive, .

Paprotte (1988: 483), progressive

, , ,

. ,

,

. progressive

, progressive

progressive

.

.

progressive , :

, (Vlach 1981: 289)

/ ,

.

progressive , ,

( states and the progressive,

Dowty 1986: 56).

Smith (1991: 113) progressive

. , ,

.

-

.

3.

Hedin (2000: 244-56), Holton et al. (1997: 224), Mackridge (1985: 127-128),

(1946: 266-270), (2002: 289), ,

, :

)

(

, )

)

)

4

) iv

,

:

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:

(1)

(2)

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(3) ,

(4)

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(5) .

(6)

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(7)

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(8)

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(9)

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(11)

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(12) , ,

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« » « »

progressive

- . ,

,

, , , ,

Past Progressive, Simple Past, Present Perfect

Progressive, Past Perfect Simple, Past Perfect Progressive, used to/ would

could/ would, :

Past Progressive Simple Past used to/would Present Perfect Progressive Past Perfect Simple Past Perfect Progressive Could/ would

,

.

,

, .

:

,

Past Progressive, Present Perfect Progressive, Past Perfect

Simple, Past Perfect Progressive Simple Past:

- Past Progressive

, . . .

:

(13) Suddenly I saw him in front of me as I was running to catch the bus

( . 1 )

(14) While our ship was coming into the harbour, their fishing boat was leaving

for the night ( . 4

)

(15) In the summer of that year we were staying (living)v in a village that was

looking across the river and the plain to the mountain ( . 6 )

6

- Present Perfect Progressive

, (16):

(16) Just a moment to wipe my hands. I have been watering the flowers in the

garden and they are wet ( . 5 )

- Past Perfect Simple,

, o because, and, that, so

when,

.

(17) She succeeded in the exams because she had studied systematically

throughout the year

( )

(18) She had sat at the terrace of the house throughout that time

( )

- Past Perfect Progressive ,

.

(19) Mr Higgs fell asleep while driving and crashed into a pile of sand left by

workers who had been repairing the road

( Higgs

)

- Simple Past ,

, (20):

(20) She loved Peter from early childhood ( 7

)

:

- Simple Past

, (21):

(21) When he was a child he played football every afternoon (

8

)

- Used to wouldvi ( )

(22) (23):

(22) In her previous work, Mara used to work as a picture restorer

( ( )

)

(23) In the summer she would often travel abroad

7

( / / / )

- Past Progressive (Quirk & Greenbaum

1973: 46) (24)

(24) At that time we were dancing every eveningvii

( )

(25):

(25) The dog was always barking at passers-by but the owner s answer was to

assure them that the dog was harmless ( . 8 )

:

- Simple Past (10)

(26):

(26) He erased (it), wrote (it) (several times), he d idn t know how to beginviii

( . 10 )

- Past Perfect Porgressive

, (27):

(27) We were not surprised to hear that he had been stealing money from the

company

( )

-

:

-could, (28):

(28) Once in a rare while, in the margins, one could find a word like wonderful

or beautiful ( . 12 )

-would (29):

(29) I was giving him my expensive watch as a token of my gratitude but he

wouldn t take it ( . 11 )

4.

.

. . .

. 40

8

, 49 . : )

, ) - , )

) .

, ,

Past Progressive

.

,

56% .

.

50%. , :

1. ,

Simple Past (38,5%), (30):

(30) For many years, my sister bitterly regretted turning down the chance she had had

to go to university

(

)

Past Progressive (*was regretting) 20,4%.

2. Past Perfect Simple

30,5% Past Progressive 35%.

Simple Past 16%.

3. Present Perfect Progressive

(34%) . (16)-

Past Progressive (45%), Past Perfect

Progressive (36,5%)

4. used to

.

, (31) (32):

(31) I used to see a lot of her until she went to London (49%)

( )

(32) ; (43%)

(Why d idn t you tell me that you used to go on holidays to the island every

summer?)

(31) ... 43% (32)

used to 22,5%. Simple

Past 20,5% Past Progressive 38,5%.

5. ,

would could,

9

would + (69%), could ...

(38,5%), ... (16%)

(16%) (4%) .

, ,

,

,

.

,

. Past Progressive

.

5.

.

,

, . . , ,

.

i

situation , state .

ii Kitis and Tsangalidis (2002)

. (2002: 289) ( .

... ...).

iii , , ,

. .I am understanding more and more about aspect each day (Smith 1986: 98). iv , (2002: 289),

, , . v (15), Past Progressive Simple Past,

(15 ):

(15 ) In the summer of that year we lived in a village that was looking across the river and the plain to the mountain

( , ).

10

, , ,

: (6 )

vi would

, . . She would usually be hungry when she got home from school (Parrott 2000: 210). vii

. . . sometimes ( ) Past Progressive .

viii he kept ing/went on ing .

Dahl, Osten. 1985. Tense and Aspect Systems. Oxford and NY: Blackwell

Dowty, David . 1977. Towards a semantic analysis of verb aspect and the English imperfective

progressive . Linguistics and Philosophy 1. 25-77.

Dowty, David . 1986. The effects of aspectual class on the temporal structure of d iscourse:

Semantics or pragmatics? Linguistics and Philosophy 9.1. 37-62.

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Languages of Europe, ed. by Osten Dahl, 227-264. Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter,.

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grammar of the modern language. London and NY: Routledge.

Kitis, Eliza and Anastasios Tsangalid is (2002). Expressivity as an option of tense and aspect in

language: The case of Modern Greek Imperfective Past . Paper presented at the

International Linguistics Conference, organized by the Department of Language and

Linguistics, School of Philosophy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 21-24

May 2002.

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Mourelatos, Alex. 1981. Events, processes and states . Tense and Aspect: Syntax and Semantics

14, ed. by Philip Tedeschi and Annie Zaenen, 192-212. NY: Academic Press.

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and English . Topics in cognitive linguistics, ed . by Brygida Rudzka-Ostyn, 448-505.

Amsterdam/Philadelphia: Benjamins.

Parrott, Martin. 2000. Grammar for English Language Teachers. Cambridge University Press.

Quirk, Randolph and Sydney Greenbaum. 1973. A University Grammar of English. Longman.

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Smith, Carlota, S. 1991. The parameter of aspect. Dordrecht, Boston, London: Kluwer Academic

Publishers.

, A . 1946.

( ). : .

11

, . 2002. « :

». Recherches en Linguistique Grecque 1. 5

, 13-15 , 2001, ,

Christos Clairis, 287-290. L Harmattan France.

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Press.

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