Categorial Character of Russian Verbal Aspect: Typological Perspective and Grammaticalization

러시아어 동사 상의 범주적 속성: 유형론적 관점과 문법화를 배경으로

The purpose of this work is to analyze categorial character of Russian verbal aspect from the typological perspective. To do this, first of all we will examine the overall historical process of grammaticalization of Russian verbal aspect. As a result of analysis, we have suggested that against wide-spread general assumptions in this area Russian verbal aspect correspond rather to lexico-grammatical category, than to purely typical grammatical category. Actually, I think this kind of approach as a pivotal point for the study of Russian verbal aspect. For example, this kind of typological approach has great advantages in a sense that firstly it gives us possibility of breaking from notorious routine Slavic-Centrism, secondly it can explain sufficiently and adequately various lexico-semantic usages of Russian verbs. Thirdly, our approach consistently accounts for various interactions of lexico-semantic, grammatical, discourse-pragmatic levels, in which Russian verbal aspect is involved. And finally, it sheds light on functional interactions between verbal categories, such as aspect, tense, and mood.