Seeing from without, seeing from within: Aspectual differences between Spanish and Russian

Abstract

Linguistic categories such as aspect are not identical across languages, and cross-linguistic differences can reveal differences in construal and conceptual categorization, which are key concepts in cognitive linguistics. Spanish-Russian parallel data diverge in situations where Spanish uses a Perfective Past tense form, while the Russian translation equivalent is an Imperfective Past tense form. We classify examples of aspectual mismatch according to grammatical constructions and language-specific facts. We find this mismatch in contexts with overt expression of time periods, as well as situations in which a final temporal boundary either is expressed or can be inferred. We interpret this in terms of a difference in conceptualization: Spanish has a tendency to view time periods from without, interpreting them as bounded and thus Perfective, whereas Russian has a tendency to view time periods from within, interpreting them on the basis of their duration without reference to their boundaries and thus Imperfective.