From proto-slavic to old church slavonic: On perfective imperfect

Abstract

The article deals with the functioning of Perfective Imperfect and the dimensions of its usage. Perfective Imperfect was mainly used in habitual situations, when the events acquired a ritualized character or had an established order. It denoted mainly a multiplicity of completed actions in the past, though the distributive component of its semantics was completely not excluded. The paper presents some evidence of quite a widespread usage of Perfective Imperfect in Old Church Slavonic. These facts help us to have a fresh look at the evolution of Perfective Imperfect, as it has been considered before that Perfective Imperfect didn't have a Proto-Slavic origin. The appearance of Perfective Imperfect is determined by the development of aspect as a category in the Present tense stems, with which the Imperfect correlated, in Proto-Slavic.