Aspectual Values of Converbs in Turkis

Abstract

This article is a descriptive study which handles the aspect values of converbs in Turkish with simultaneous perspective. Converbs are described as structures which are connected to a upper structure/ sentence subordinately by independent affixes (such as -(y)Xp or combined forms (such as for -(X)rken -DXğXiçin) and generally used in adverbial function. Temporal functions of these structures which are dependent in syntactic terms are always highlighted like in prin cipal sentences but their aspect values are not quite mentioned. As a grammatical category, aspect is a concept which expresses the subjective perspectives of the events that enable their observation from a certain point forth. And we wanted to ground on Johanson's aspect model and describe aspect values within a holism in this study. Based on this aspect model which is developed from Turkish, there are three different perspectives in Turkish: a) intraterminal per spective which shows the event between its two limits, b) postterminal perspective which reflects the event in the phase after surpassing the critical limit and c) adterminal perspective which seizes the event when reached to its critical limit. This study shows that aspect values can be in question not only in the context of finite sentences but also in converbial clauses