PROGRESSIVES IN USE AND CONTACT Ghazaleh Vafaeian Progressives in use and contact A descriptive, areal and typological study with special focus on selected Iranian languages Ghazaleh Vafaeian ©Ghazaleh Vafaeian, Stockholm University 2018 ISBN print 978-91-7797-304-1 ISBN PDF 978-91-7797-305-8 Printed in Sweden by Universitetsservice US-AB, Stockholm 2018 Distributor: Department of Linguistics, Stockholm University det föll lite jord i min hand och handen föll i min mun och jag föll i glömska och sömn Khashayar Naderehvandi, Allting glittrar och ingenting tar slut Contents Contents ............................................................................................................... i Acknowledgements .......................................................................................... vii List of Figures.................................................................................................... ix List of Tables ..................................................................................................... xi Abbreviations .................................................................................................. xiii 1 Introductory chapter .............................................................................. 1 1.1 Introduction..................................................................................................................... 1 1.1.1 Thesis overview................................................................................................... 2 1.1.2 Treated questions................................................................................................. 3 1.2 Background..................................................................................................................... 4 1.2.1 Critical notions .................................................................................................... 4 1.2.1.1 ‘Gram’ and related concepts.......................................................................... 4 1.2.1.2 Use, function, reading and context ................................................................ 5 1.2.1.3 Most favorable contexts and peripheral uses ................................................. 5 1.2.1.4 Vendlerian taxonomy and Smith’s binary oppositions .................................. 6 1.2.2 The progressive cross-linguistically .................................................................... 7 1.2.2.1 Describing the progressive ............................................................................ 8 1.2.2.2 Focality.......................................................................................................... 8 1.2.2.3 Imperfectivity.............................................................................................. 10 1.2.2.4 Progressives and temporal restrictions......................................................... 13 1.2.2.5 Grammaticalization leading to progressives ................................................ 13 1.2.2.6 Peripheral uses............................................................................................. 15 1.2.3 Contact-induced change .................................................................................... 19 1.2.3.1 Matter and pattern borrowing ...................................................................... 20 1.2.3.2 Contact-induced grammatical change.......................................................... 22 1.2.3.3 Borrowability and stability .......................................................................... 24 1.3 Glossings and language classifications.......................................................................... 28 2 Progressive grams in parallel corpora................................................. 29 2.1 The Parallel Bible Corpus ............................................................................................. 30 2.1.1 The corpus, gram set, method and methodology ............................................... 31 2.1.1.1 The corpus................................................................................................... 31 i 2.1.1.2 Identification of progressive grams ............................................................. 32 2.1.1.3 Comparative segment sets and ‘direct speech’ passages.............................. 37 2.1.1.4 Methodological issues ................................................................................. 38 2.1.2 Data and analysis............................................................................................... 39 2.1.2.1 Top segments in the present ........................................................................ 42 2.1.2.2 Top segments in the past ............................................................................. 43 2.1.2.3 The red, green and yellow cluster groups .................................................... 44 2.1.2.4 Temporal restrictions and preferences ......................................................... 45 2.1.2.4.1 No temporal restrictions or preferences ........................................... 47 2.1.2.4.2 Present progressive grams ............................................................... 48 2.1.2.4.3 Grams with a majority of present uses............................................. 50 2.1.2.4.4 Grams with a majority of past uses.................................................. 51 2.1.2.5 ‘While’ and the progressive......................................................................... 53 2.1.2.6 Grams with peripheral uses ......................................................................... 56 2.1.2.6.1 Future segment set ........................................................................... 57 2.1.2.6.2 Segment sets with performative-like uses........................................ 58 2.1.2.6.3 Habitual segment set........................................................................ 58 2.1.2.6.4 Stative segment set .......................................................................... 59 2.1.2.6.5 Conclusion on peripheral uses ......................................................... 61 2.1.3 Summarizing section 2.1 ................................................................................... 61 2.2 TED corpus ...................................................................................................................62 2.2.1 The corpus, method and methodology............................................................... 62 2.2.1.1 The corpus................................................................................................... 62 2.2.1.2 Method, gram set and methodological issues .............................................. 63 2.2.2 Data and analysis............................................................................................... 66 2.2.2.1 Present time reference ................................................................................. 69 2.2.2.2 Past time reference ...................................................................................... 72 2.2.2.3 Secondary gram set ..................................................................................... 74 2.2.3 Summarizing section 2.2 ................................................................................... 77 3 The dāštan progressive in Persian........................................................ 79 3.1 Introduction................................................................................................................... 79 3.1.1 Morphology and syntax of the dāštan progressive ............................................ 80 3.1.2 The dāštan progressive and other periphrastic patterns..................................... 83 3.2 The Progressive Questionnaire (PROGQ)..................................................................... 86 3.2.1 Method and methodological issues.................................................................... 86 3.2.2 Data and analysis............................................................................................... 87 3.2.2.1 Most favorable contexts for the dāštan construction ................................... 92 3.2.2.2 Other patterns with ongoing uses ................................................................ 95 3.3 The dāštan construction in five Iranian movies........................................................... 100 3.3.1 Method ............................................................................................................ 100 3.3.2 Data and analysis............................................................................................. 100 3.4 Discussion...................................................................................................................102 ii 3.4.1 The dāštan construction in present and past tense........................................... 103 3.4.2 Peripheral uses of the dāštan construction....................................................... 106 3.4.2.1 Uses in DUR contexts................................................................................. 106 3.4.2.2 Proximative use ......................................................................................... 109 3.4.2.3 Futurate use ............................................................................................... 113 3.4.2.4 Iterative ongoing use ................................................................................. 115 3.4.2.5 Absentive contexts ...................................................................................