Grammatical (Viewpoint) Aspect

For a definition of the term grammatical aspect see Grammatical Aspect (definition); For a definition of the term aspect see Aspect (definition)

Scottish Gaelic makes several semantic distinctions of viewpoint aspect, including Perfective (Aorist), Imperfective, Habitual, Stative, Perfect, After-Perfect, Prospective, and Proximate Prospective. These semantic distinctions are variously instantiated in the morphosyntax. Specifically, all of the various aspects in SG are marked with particles expect for the perfective aspect.

NAME	SG PARTICLES	ENGLISH EXAMPLE
Perfect	air 'on'	I have eaten
After-Perfect	as deidh 'after'	I have just eaten
Prospective	a' dol do 'going to	I am about to eat
Restricted Prospective	gu 'to/until'	I am about to eat
Imperfective	a' 'at'	I am eating
perfective	[analytic form]	I ate

Perfective (Aorist)

In SG, the analytic past can be said to convey perfective aspect. This same verb form may also encode the habitual.

Sgriobh	mi	na	litrichean
write.past	1s	the	letters
'I wrote the letters'

Imperfective also known as the Progressive

With a full NP object:

• Be + subject + ag + VN +object (if definite, then genitive)
• Tha mi ag deànamh an obair

Bha/tha/bithidh	mi	a'	sgriobhadh	na	litrichean
be.past/be.pres/be.fut	1s	A'	write.vn	the	letters
'I was/am/will be writing the letters.'

with a pronominal object

• Be + subject +gam/gad/ga/etc. + vn
• tha e 'gam choinneachadh
• He's meeting me.

Habitual

(1) The habitual aspect in SG may use the second indefinite form of the verb. However, this form can be ambiguous between a habitual past reading and a conditional future reading.

bhiodh	e	ann	an-comhnaidh
be.indef2	he	in it	always
'He would always be there.'

(2) Also, the analytic future form of the verb may give a habitual reading.

(3) The past (as in English) can have a habitual reading as well. 'I wrote letters.'

(4) The present habitual can be marked with a'.

Stative

The verb tha is used as a copula to express stative relationships:

Tha	an	car	mor
be	the	car	big
'The var is big'

Typically non-stative verbs may be combined with tha to create stative aspect.

Tha	Iain	a'	falbh
be	John	at	leave.vn.dat
'John is leaving'

Perfect

There are two distinct perfect aspects in SG, (1) unrestricted perfect and (2) restricted perfect. In the former, the particle air is placed after the subject, whereas in the latter case the complex particle as deidh occupies the position. The unrestricted perfect merely indicates that the event has taken place prior to the reference, but the restricted version adds another stipulation on the relationship between event and reference: the event must precede the reference by only a very short time. The rough translation for the restricted aspect into English yields 'I had just/recently gone to the store'.

Be + subject + air + (object) + (prt) + verbal noun

• Bha mi air an obair a dheànamh

With an object pronoun: Be + subject + air +possessive pronoun + verbal noun

• Bha mi air a dheanamh "I had done it"

Unrestricted Perfect

takes Inverted Nominal

Bha/tha/bithidh	mi	air	litir	a	sgriobhadh
be.past/be.pres/be.fut	1sg	AIR	letter	Agreement	write.vn
'I had/have/will have written a letter.'

Restricted Perfect (After Perfect)

takes Inverted Nominal

Bha/tha/bithidh	mi	as deidh	litir	a	sgriobhadh
be.past/be.pres/be.fut	1sg	AS DEIDH	letter	Agreement	write.vn
'I had/have/will have (just/recently) written a letter.'

Prospective

uses a' dol a + infinitive

• Bha/tha/bithidh Calum a’ dol a phòsadh
• Màiri. be.PAST/be.PRES/be.FUT Calum PROG go.VN PRT marry.VN Màiri
• ‘Calum was/is/will be going to marry Màiri.’

Proximate perspective

takes Inverted Nominal

• Tha mi gu litir a sgrìobhadh.
• Is 1S GU letter TRAN write.VN
• ‘I am about to write a letter.’

References

• MacDonald, J.A. (1976) Gàidhlig Bheo, vol 3 National Extension College