Mood, tense, and aspect 407

perfective corresponding to a simplex imperfective naming a state or activity, a perfective formed with a quantizing prefix can often be used. For instance, gj-kmcn∫nm is listed as the perfective corresponding to simplex kmcn∫nm. But the relationship between simplexes and quantizing perfectives is not as clear-cut as the relationship of perfective and secondary imperfective. Quantizing prefixes impose an additional -- quantizing -- meaning, and the particular prefixed derivative used is not always unique. Thus pf-rhen∫nm ‘begin to twirl’ and c-rhen∫nm ‘roll’ both are listed as perfectives for the simplex rhen∫nm. These prefixed derivatives add some meaning to the imperfective; for example, pf-rhen∫nm introduces the idea of inception of the activity. In fact, both pf-rhen∫nm and c-rhen∫nm also have secondary imperfective derivatives, pf-rhéxbdfnm and c-rhéxbdfnm. Additionally, the semelfactive rhényenm ‘twirl once’ is also listed as a perfective to rhen∫nm. Thus the relationship between simplex imperfectives and perfectives is more complex than simple pairing: more than one perfective can be related to a given simplex, and the perfectives used for this purpose have an additional quantizing component of meaning.

In summary: Simplex imperfective verbs are prefixed and yield perfectives. Many of those perfectives -- those that report a continuous process leading to a limit -- can be suffixed and yield closely related secondary imperfectives that form unambiguous aspectual pairs. Prefixed verbs that discuss discrete quanta of the activity are less amenable to forming secondary imperfectives. Because simplexes ordinarily are imperfective, one or another of the prefixed perfectives will serve as the perfective counterpart to the simplex imperfective.

6.4.4 Aspect and morphology: other strategies and groups

Semelfactive suffixation: With simplex verbs that report a cyclical or intrinsically repetitive process, adding the suffix {-nu-} (in more explicit terms, {-nu-}<pst, inf> {{-n-}<1sg,3pl> {-n˛-}<2sg . . . 2pl>}) gives a perfective verb reporting a single occasion of the cyclical activity: rhbxƒnm<if>\rh∫ryenm<pf> ‘cry’; vf[ƒnm<if>\ vƒ[yenm<pf> ‘wave’, ukjnƒnm<if>\ukjnyénm<pf> ‘swallow’.

Bi-aspectual, anaspectual verbs: A small number of verbs are said to be b i - a s p e c t u a l . This group includes: life-cycle verbs ;ty∫nmcz ‘marry’, rhtcn∫nm(cz) ‘baptize’, hjl∫nm ‘give birth to’; verbs of communication dtk†nm ‘order’, j,toƒnm ‘promise’; verbs of affect hƒybnm ‘wound’, rfpy∫nm ‘punish’. For these verbs, one and the same form can be used in contexts where imperfectives are used and in other contexts where perfectives are used. For example, ;ty∫nmcz ‘marry’ can make periphrastic futures and be used in iterative contexts, as is characteristic of imperfectives ([115]).

408 A Reference Grammar of Russian

[115] Ujvjctrcefkbcns cj dctuj vbhf ,elen ;tybnmcz<if fut> d Ghfut. Homosexuals from the whole world will get married in Prague.

But the same verb can also be used as perfective, to refer to a single completed event in the past or the future: Gtnz ;tybkcz<pf> dxthf ‘Petia got married yesterday’, Gtnz ;tybncz<pf> xthtp nhb vtczwf ‘Petia will marry in three months’.

Though the term “bi-aspectual” is widely used, it might make more sense to think of these verbs as a n a s p e c t u a l -- that is, these are verbs that do not have a clear alignment in the aspect system. Rather than belonging to both aspects, they have no aspect, and accordingly can, to some extent or another, be used in contexts in which one would otherwise expect either perfective or imperfective. (A class of anaspectual verbs could include ,ßnm ‘be’, which is hard to classify as one or the other aspect.) Consistent with this, individual verbs are losing their dualistic behavior, and over time come to behave more as one aspect or the other.22 Hjl∫nm(cz) ‘give birth to (be born)’ is now usually used as a perfective, opposed to a regularly used imperfective hj;lƒnm(cz), but its older anaspectual quality is revealed in gnomic present-tense statements (ptvkz [jhjij hjlbn<if prs> ‘the land is fecund’). Hƒybnm ‘wound’ avoids being used as a past-tense iterative. J,toƒnm ‘promise’ is more often imperfective than perfective; for the perfective sense, the unambiguous perfective gjj,toƒnm is now usual. :ty∫nmcz, as a perfective, has been superseded by gj;ty∫nmcz, at least with plural subjects.

An occasional verb seems to have made the transition from imperfective to perfective on the basis of being used frequently in contexts that normally call for perfectives. The verb ,t;ƒnm, in the particular sense of ‘flee from confinement or danger’, is used in narrative contexts that look perfective; ltdƒnm(cz) ‘place, put’ is similar.

Old aspect pairs: Another old, residual layer is the set of verbs that differ in aspect and differ only in the classificatory suffix: hti∫nm/htiƒnm ‘decide’, cnƒnm/cnfyjd∫nmcz ‘become’, dcnƒnm/dcnfdƒnm ‘stand up’, e,tl∫nm/e,t;lƒnm ‘convince, persuade’.

Borrowings: Foreign borrowings go through a life cycle of development towards pairing. In the first phase the verb is anaspectual. Then it can be prefixed, and one of the prefixed derivatives will serve as the perfective partner; prefixes commonly used in this function are j-, pf-, yf-, c-. The prefixed verb is an unambiguous perfective, which pushes the simplex towards imperfectivity. Examples: vjltk∫hjdfnm<if>‘model’, cvjltk∫hjdfnm<pf>; htuek∫hjdfnm<if> ‘regulate’, {jn,

22See Zalizniak and Shmelev 2000:71--76, who document that some collocations used in the nineteenth century are no longer usual.

410 A Reference Grammar of Russian

He would come into the house, climb the stairs, open the door, put down the suitcase, turn on the light, sit down in the chair, and light a cigar.

[118]Jy dsitk<pf pst> dj ldjh, gjqvfk<pf pst> ,f,jxre b ghbytc<pf pst> tt ljvjq. He went out to the yard, caught a butterfly and brought it home.

[119]Jy ds[jlbn<if prs> dj ldjh, kjdbn<if prs> ,f,jxre b ghbyjcbn<if prs> tt ljvjq. He goes out to the yard, catches a butterfly and brings it home.

A perfective verb counts as the partner of an imperfective if it is used to convert a description of overlapping scenes into narrative sequence ([120] to [121]):

[120]Gj;bkjq rbnftw jukzlsdfk<if pst> gecnsyysq ujhbpjyn, vjkxfk<if pst> b levfk<if pst> j xtv-nj cdjtv.

The old Chinese man surveyed the empty horizon, kept silent and was engrossed in his own thoughts.

[121]Gj;bkjq rbnftw jukzltk<pf pst> gecnsyysq ujhbpjyn, gjvjkxfk<pf pst> b yfrjytw ghbyzk<pf pst> htitybt.

The old Chinese man surveyed the empty horizon, was silent for a while and eventually made a decision.

Prefixed perfectives and their secondary imperfectives, such as ljgbcƒnm/ljg∫csdfnm ‘finish writing’, jukzl†nm/jukz´lsdfnmcz ‘look around’, jnrhßnmcz/jnrhsdƒnmcz ‘open’, yfrfpƒnm/yfrƒpsdfnm ‘punish’, satisfy these criteria for pairedness. In this way, many verbs of Russian can be viewed as members of aspectual pairs.

Simplex verbs, which by nature are quite broad in their meaning, participate in aspectual relations that are somewhat different. As noted, simplex verbs are typically imperfective, and they can be associated with more than one prefixed perfective derivative. In many instances, there is one prefixed perfective derivative that can be used as the closest thing to a perfective partner that simplex verbs have. In some instances, the prefix seems to have lost its meaning (gbcƒnm

‘write’, yf-gbcƒnm; nƒznm ‘melt’, hfc-nƒznm; ndjh∫nm ‘make, create’, cj-ndjh∫nm) but more commonly the prefixed derivative still has a trace of its own meaning. Thus prefixed derivatives in pf- maintain the sense of inception (ndthl†nm ‘gradually become hard’, pf-ndthl†nm ‘harden’); derivatives in gj- maintain the sense of small or unexpected change (gj-qn∫ ‘set off in new direction’; gj-,jz´nmcz ‘experience a reaction of fear’; gj-cjk∫nm ‘add some salt’). The prefix gj- is quite productive, and it is moving in the direction of becoming an all-purpose perfectivizing prefix. It sometimes happens that more than one prefixed form can be used, especially in borrowings; for example, Ozhegov lists as perfectives of htuek∫hjdfnm derivatives in e-, jn-, pf-. Perhaps more to the point is that simplex imperfectives have wide ranges of senses and uses, wider than the prefixed derivations that might be considered to be their partners, whereas with prefixed perfectives and their