Aspect and pragmatics in Polish with a view to Sorbian

In this paper, I discuss the meaning of the perfective aspect in Polish by taking a look at the so-called general-factual contexts, i.e., contexts that refer to completed events. Slavic languages rely on both perfective and imperfective aspect in such cases but differ concerning specific restrictio...

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Main Author: Karolina Zuchewicz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin 2024-12-01
Series:LingBaW
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Online Access:https://czasopisma.kul.pl/index.php/LingBaW/article/view/18023
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author Karolina Zuchewicz
author_facet Karolina Zuchewicz
author_sort Karolina Zuchewicz
collection DOAJ
description In this paper, I discuss the meaning of the perfective aspect in Polish by taking a look at the so-called general-factual contexts, i.e., contexts that refer to completed events. Slavic languages rely on both perfective and imperfective aspect in such cases but differ concerning specific restrictions on aspect choice (Altshuler 2014; Dickey 2000; Gehrke 2022, 2023; Grønn 2004; Klimek-Jankowska 2020, 2022; Łaziński 2020; Mehlig 2011; Mueller-Reichau 2018; Wiemer 2001, 2008, among many others). Whereas speakers of East Slavic languages mostly choose the imperfective aspect in general-factual contexts, speakers of West Slavic languages face a stronger competition between imperfective and perfective forms. This paper highlights the role of pragmatics in aspect choice in general-factual contexts in Polish. It makes use of the notion of pragmatic contract (Israeli 1996 for Russian) and argues that, while the presence of a contract correlates with a preference for the perfective aspect, the absence of a contract triggers a preference for imperfective forms. These assumptions are verified with data from the Narodowy Korpus Języka Polskiego (Przepiórkowski et al. 2012). The paper further shows that the pragmatic contract does not influence aspectual distribution in Upper Sorbian, pointing to a difference in the aspectual systems of the two West Slavic languages and confirming the status of Polish as transitional between East and West Slavic.
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spelling doaj-art-7ff38e65c7e843aa8488820edb6128972025-01-21T05:13:35ZengThe John Paul II Catholic University of LublinLingBaW2450-51882024-12-011010.31743/lingbaw.18023Aspect and pragmatics in Polish with a view to SorbianKarolina Zuchewicz0Universität Leipzig In this paper, I discuss the meaning of the perfective aspect in Polish by taking a look at the so-called general-factual contexts, i.e., contexts that refer to completed events. Slavic languages rely on both perfective and imperfective aspect in such cases but differ concerning specific restrictions on aspect choice (Altshuler 2014; Dickey 2000; Gehrke 2022, 2023; Grønn 2004; Klimek-Jankowska 2020, 2022; Łaziński 2020; Mehlig 2011; Mueller-Reichau 2018; Wiemer 2001, 2008, among many others). Whereas speakers of East Slavic languages mostly choose the imperfective aspect in general-factual contexts, speakers of West Slavic languages face a stronger competition between imperfective and perfective forms. This paper highlights the role of pragmatics in aspect choice in general-factual contexts in Polish. It makes use of the notion of pragmatic contract (Israeli 1996 for Russian) and argues that, while the presence of a contract correlates with a preference for the perfective aspect, the absence of a contract triggers a preference for imperfective forms. These assumptions are verified with data from the Narodowy Korpus Języka Polskiego (Przepiórkowski et al. 2012). The paper further shows that the pragmatic contract does not influence aspectual distribution in Upper Sorbian, pointing to a difference in the aspectual systems of the two West Slavic languages and confirming the status of Polish as transitional between East and West Slavic. https://czasopisma.kul.pl/index.php/LingBaW/article/view/18023aspectpragmaticsPolishWest Slavic
spellingShingle Karolina Zuchewicz
Aspect and pragmatics in Polish with a view to Sorbian
LingBaW
aspect
pragmatics
Polish
West Slavic
title Aspect and pragmatics in Polish with a view to Sorbian
title_full Aspect and pragmatics in Polish with a view to Sorbian
title_fullStr Aspect and pragmatics in Polish with a view to Sorbian
title_full_unstemmed Aspect and pragmatics in Polish with a view to Sorbian
title_short Aspect and pragmatics in Polish with a view to Sorbian
title_sort aspect and pragmatics in polish with a view to sorbian
topic aspect
pragmatics
Polish
West Slavic
url https://czasopisma.kul.pl/index.php/LingBaW/article/view/18023
work_keys_str_mv AT karolinazuchewicz aspectandpragmaticsinpolishwithaviewtosorbian