No. 2(3) (2020)
According to G. Guillaume's already
textbook expression, the aspect is the «temps
impliqué», inner operative time of the action. In my
opinion, the time in which we now find ourselves
can be called the «inner time» of the action. After
all, each of us is acting, but each in his own
forcedly enclosed world, acting separately from
the others. Yet all of us together feel physically
alone, such that we are forced to confront external
circumstances and inner fears alone, separated from
the usual joys of scientific and just human
interaction, traveling, live discussions, real rather
than «online» meetings with fellow beings. It feels
as if the only time we actually have at our disposal
right now is inner time.
It is a symbolic, but an entire issue of our
journal is devoted precisely to Its Majesty – the inner time of action, the Verbal
Aspect in Slavic languages.
This strange category, which young children – speakers of Slavic languages –
learn and use perfectly well from almost the age of two, while speakers of «nonaspect» languages often struggle all their lives to master.
This incredibly complex category, to which scientists from various countries
devote enormous conferences, monographs, and a whole professional career.
This mysterious category, which we still haven't been able to unravel
to the end...
Without claiming to have definitive answers, we hope for a committed
reading and interest, as the contributors in this issue are aspect scientists, theorists
and practitioners from Germany, Poland, the United States, Austria, Russia
and Ukraine. We invite you to join the discussion on the pages of our new issue!
