[tied] Re: Ablaut, hi-conjugation, stress alternation, etc

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Sergejus Tarasovas"
<S.Tarasovas@...> wrote:

>
> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Piotr Gasiorowski <gpiotr@> wrote:
>
> > Not always. We Slavs use the perfective verb in sentences like "I
> read
> > the first word of the title", or "I read his name aloud", where
> > "through" is certainly inappropriate.
>
> I can't construct Russian equivalents for these sentences using
> perfectives (I get <Ja c^itáju pérvoje slóvo v zagolóvke.> and <Ja
> c^itáju jegó ímja vslux.> with imperfectives). Have I misunderstood
> something?

Probably. I think the 'read' is past tense, not present tense. The
English sentences are fully grammatical if they are in the present
tense, but would be unusual statements to make.

What if they were 'performative' statements, as though explaining what
is happening in some ritual? Would the perfective for an English
present make sense then? I think the present tense would then be
punctual in English.

Richard.