Hanna Rönnqvist
Stockholm University, Department of Linguistics, Graduate Student
The languages belonging to the group commonly known as the “Dardic languages” are on some levels insufficiently researched and have barely been subject to any comparative research on their finer grammatical structures, such as their tense... more
The languages belonging to the group commonly known as the “Dardic languages” are on some
levels insufficiently researched and have barely been subject to any comparative research on
their finer grammatical structures, such as their tense and aspect systems. This comparative
study analyses three Dardic languages spoken in the central Dardic speaking area (Khowar,
Gawri, Palula) in view of their tense and aspect system, to find out how similar the languages
are in this respect. The comparison is based on Dahl‟s 1985 Tense and Aspect questionnaire,
partly to have an equal, comparable data set, and partly to be able to tie the results to the greater
field of language typology. The study shows that the languages studied have a common primary
focus on IPFV:PFV distinction, where past tense often is a secondary implicature following
perfective aspect. There are notable differences in how and if the languages mark future tense
and habitual aspect. The subject merits further studies on an extended sample and with more
languages from the Dardic group
levels insufficiently researched and have barely been subject to any comparative research on
their finer grammatical structures, such as their tense and aspect systems. This comparative
study analyses three Dardic languages spoken in the central Dardic speaking area (Khowar,
Gawri, Palula) in view of their tense and aspect system, to find out how similar the languages
are in this respect. The comparison is based on Dahl‟s 1985 Tense and Aspect questionnaire,
partly to have an equal, comparable data set, and partly to be able to tie the results to the greater
field of language typology. The study shows that the languages studied have a common primary
focus on IPFV:PFV distinction, where past tense often is a secondary implicature following
perfective aspect. There are notable differences in how and if the languages mark future tense
and habitual aspect. The subject merits further studies on an extended sample and with more
languages from the Dardic group
