Present-and past perfect paradigms are commonly thought of as having the perfect aspect. Examining the concept of tense and aspect along with their definitions, the present study argues that what is often referred to as the perfect aspect in Persian is essentially a temporal concept. Taking into consideration the reference-, event-, and speech points, the study shows that the reference point comes necessarily after the event point in the case of the present-and the past perfect as well as their variants. In other words, this indicates the continuing relevance of a previous situation. Since this concept does not entail the completeness of the event, referring to it as “, perfect”,would be inaccurate. For this reason, the present study proposes the term the anterior tense as a substitute for the perfect aspect. The authors emphasize the significance of the reference situation in determination of grammatical tenses by referring to the function of temporal adverbs and participles. Participles, as independent words, are present in the structures of deverbal adjectives, perfect verbs, passive verbs, complex predicates, and attributive expressions. In all these functions, the morpheme of “,-te/-de”,represents the anterior tense. Reexamining the previous approaches, the present study reveals that tense, in addition to representing the reference and speech situations in the form of the trichotomy of present/past/future, represents the reference and event situations as well. In other words, tense of a verb encompasses both the trichotomy of past/present/future and the dichotomy of anterior/non-anterior.

This paper attempts to investigate the progressive aspect in Bala-Geriveh Lori /lø ri/ based on Cognitive Grammar Approach (Langacker, 1982). In this dialect, the auxiliary hɑ , derived from hɑ se ‘ to want’ , is used for making present progressive while past progressive is made by the morpheme he. Hence, this paper investigates why the use of the verb hɑ se as an auxiliary is limited. For doing this research, 820 sentences were collected from villages around Khorramabad. Then the data was analysed using a descriptive-analytical method based on Cognitive Grammar (Langacker, 1982). The data demonstrated that each morpheme has specific functions because hɑ assigns progression to the action, whereas he is used for the duration or repetition of an action. Meanwhile, both morphemes are used for making imperfective processes. Unacceptance of negation, acceptability of making present perfect progressive out of stative predicates, and simultaneous use of both morphemes in a sentence are among their important idiosyncratic features.

Some Iranian languages spoken in the shares of the Caspian Sea or their origin was the region, also in Balochi and Bashgardi spoken in southeastern Iran, there is a specific construction for progressive aspect not seen in other Iranian languages. This paper deals with the morphological and syntactic features of the progressive form, the constituents, and their functions, and shows how this construction relates with the most common source of progressive aspect. The results show that the progressive form derives from a locative expression comprised of three basic elements: the main verb in the form of the infinitive, verbal noun, present participle, or imperfect, a copula usually used as enclitic and attached to the other constituents, and a locative adposition express the locative meaning, omitted in some varieties. A fourth element may be seen in some varieties meaning ‘in the act of, busy’ that originally is a noun form of a postural verb used to denote postural notion in the construction. The meaning of the locative construction which gives rise to the progressive is ‘be at doing something’. 1. Introduction Some Iranian languages spoken in the shares of the Caspian Sea (Talyshi, Gilaki, and Tati) or their origin was the region (Hawrami and Zazaki), also in Balochi and Bashgardi spoken in southeastern Iran, there is a specific construction for progressive aspect formed by the nominal form of the verb, enclitic form of copula and a locative adposition. This paper deals with the morphological and syntactic features of the progressive form, the constituents, and their functions in the given languages, and shows how this construction relates with the most common source of progressive aspect. 2. Theoretical Framework While tense locates situations in time, usually with reference to the present moment, Aspect is concerned with the internal temporal constituency of the one situation. The progressive aspect is grammatical category that express incomplete action or state in progress at a specific time. It expresses an action as ongoing at reference time and applies typically to dynamic predicates and not to stative ones. Thus the progressive is typically used for actions that require a constant input of energy to be sustained. It is not uncommon to find progressives referred to as durative or continuative in reference grammars (Bybee et all, 1994: 125). The progressive shows a very strong tendency to have periphrastic rather than inflectional expression, this indicates that progressive constructions are relatively young grammaticalizations, and their lexical sources are often transparent (Bybee & Dahl, 1989). Explicitly locative phrases seem to be the most common sources for the progressive aspect. These usually take the form of a copula plus a locative adposition and a nominalized form of the verb. Blansitt (1975) divides sources for progressives into copula and non-copula sources, ignoring the fact that some copulas incorporate location and some do not, as well as the fact that some copula constructions are accompanied by locative adpositions while some are not. The locative notion may be expressed either in the verbal auxiliary employed or in the use of adpositions indicating location. The verbal auxiliary may derive from a specific postural verb, such as 'siť, 'stand', or ‘lie’ or it may express the notion of being in a location without references to a specific posture but meaning only 'be ať, 'stay', or, more specifically, 'live' or 'reside'. The original function of the progressive is to give the location of an agent as in the midst of an activity (Bybee et al, 1994: 134). 3. Methodology In this paper, after an introduction on aspect and progressive aspect, the morpho-syntactic features of the locative construction is examined, used in some Iranian languages including Gilaki, Talyshi, Southern Tati, Northern Tati, Balochi, Bashgardi, Hawrami, and Zazaki. 4. Result & Discussions Locative expression for progressive aspect is seen in Gilaki, where the main verb as infinitive followed by an enclitic form of copula suffixed to locative adposition used to form the progressive: ba tundi koya šuon –dǝr=i? ‘where are you going so fast’ Another way that locative meaning may enter into the progressive construction is through the use of the word kǝrǝ meaning 'doing' plus the main verb form: kǝrǝ xurdǝn dǝrǝ bum ‘I was eating’. Also, in this category are expressions used in Talyshi čayi čašme kâr=in âv karde ‘his eyes are watering (he is tearing)’ which consists of the infinitive, the copula plus the word kâr ‘doing’. Another example is southern Tati where the same expressions are used: az mišim kore raz ‘I am going to the garden’, which uses imperfect instead of the infinitive. Northern Tati also shows the same construction but without the adposition. The locative notion is expressed by the copula, like Keringani: dur kāšte-i-ne ‘I am planting a tree’. It is also used for expected future: čani sor gāndem kāšte-i-ne ‘next year I will plant wheat’. Hawramai and Zazaki now spoken in the Kurdo-phone regions but their origin is from Caspian shares, show similar construction for progressive, Hawraami: zārōlake xarik-ene musāy musā ‘the children are sleeping’. This construction consists of “xarik” ‘busy, engaged in’ followed by an enclitic copula and a double expression of the main verb in the form of infinitive and imperfect. locative expression for progressive is also seen in Balochi and Bashgardi as an areal feature shares in southeastern Iran. Balochi: man gušag-ā –un ‘I am speaking’, with an infinitive suffixed in –ag followed by an enclitic copula and without locative adposition. But also, with the present participle: ā ǝngo kār kǝnān-ynt ‘he is still working’. As we saw in Keringani, some varieties of Balochi use progressive for expected future: ā begǝa gvāzi kǝnǝgā bit ‘he will play tonight’. 5. Conclusions & Suggestions The results show that the progressive form in the given Iranian languages derives from a locative expression comprised of three basic elements: the main verb in the form of the infinitive, verbal noun, present participle, or imperfect, a copula usually used as enclitic and attached to the other constituents, and a locative adposition express the locative meaning, omitted in some varieties. A fourth element may be seen in some varieties meaning ‘in the act of, busy’ that originally is a noun form of a postural verb used to denote postural notion in the construction. The meaning of the locative construction which gives rise to the progressive is ‘be at doing something’.

The present paper, based on the grammaticalization theory, deals with the concept of possession in Persian (including Old, Middle and New Persian) and shows how the old way of expressing possession using the verb "to be" and dative /benefactive case is replaced by the verb "to have". In a later stage, the verb "to have" has been used to mark the progressive aspect in Modem Persian. This shift from "possession" to "aspect" is a. change that can be seen in many languages and is explained using the concepts of "semantic bleaching" and "metaphor".

The present study aims to figure out Kurdish imperfective aspect in the framework of minimalist program. We try to determine not only the identity of the chain “ χ æ ri: k bu: n” , as a mechanism to make imperfective aspect in Kurdish, but also the way it combines with matrix verbs. Trying to find the identity of this chain, the findings reveal that “ χ æ ri: k” belongs to adjectives, although it is not able to modify nouns like attributive adjectives. Following Baker (2003), we prove that lack of phi-features is recognized as the main reason for this unique behavior. Moreover, unlike Dabirmoghadam (2013) who considers “ χ æ ri: k bu: n” as an auxiliary, we prove that this chain, made of the adjective “ χ æ ri: k” and the axillary “ bu: n” , is a conjunct verb. Like Punjabi (Gill and Gleason, 1969), this verb is used to express imperfective Aspect in Kurdish. To find the way it combines with matrix verbs, we show that this verb joins the matrix verb in the structure of serial verbs. Following Muysken and Veenstra (2006), we reveal that “ χ æ ri: k bu: n” is inside a minor Aspect Phrase (Asp P) which joins the main (Asp P) as an adjunct, repeating the level.

This paper is restricted to only one category of grammatical aspect in Persian i.e. progressiveness. It will be demonstrated that this aspectual notion is expressed in different ways including inflectional morpheme, auxiliary verb and lexical means. Some linguists ignored the different aspectual meanings of the prefix mi- and regarded it as the exclusive marker of progressiveness .One source of controversy is the polysomic nature of the prefix mi- expressing divers aspectual notions. Indeed,  this imperfective marker in Modern Persian no longer expresses progressive aspect in the present tense. Another way to express progressiveness is the use of the verb dâštan(to have) that is used with the main verb as an auxiliary or helping verb in both present and past tenses. In sum, this paper shows that progressiveness is different from habitually and iteratively. Also, it demonstrates that the notion of progressiveness is expressed by different forms. However, it should be noted that not all Persian verbs have a progressive aspect. For example states and achievements are two main exceptions in this regard.

In this paper, we have analysed the aspectual system of three dialects of Luri, a west Iranian language which is spoken in south western, and in some areas of western part of Iran. About the classification of Luri dialects different opinions have been provided by various scholars. In this research, we follow Anonby (2003)’ s classification, who has considered Luri as a language continuum consisting of three distinct languages: Luristani, Bakhtiyari and southern Luri, but we call them dialects of Luri. Despite their similarities to standard Persian, the Luri dialects share features that set them apart as a group from the standard language (McKinon, 2011). In this research, we have looked at the verbal construction in Luri and its aspectual system. Aspects are different ways of viewing the internal temporal constituency of a situation' (Comrie, 1976: 4). Hewson & Bubenik (1997: 14) distinguish analytic and synthetic aspects in the Indo-European languages. In analytic aspect, there is an auxiliary which carries the tense marker, to which the lexical verb is dependant. On the other hand, in synthetic aspect, there is only a single word which may be marked for both tense and aspect. In these three West Iranian dialects, there are synthetic aspects as well as some analytic aspects, like their sister language Persian. The idea of the appearance of some periphrastic aspects and serial verb constructions to show the progressive aspect in some dialects of Luri can be considered as the impact of language contact, in which these dialects are getting influenced by Persian, the standard language of the country. Aspectual system in all of these three dialects is based on the ternary division between Perfective, Imperfective and Perfect aspect, like other Indo-European languages (see Hewson & Bubenik, 1997) It should be mentioned that we distinguish grammatical and lexical aspect and we are just looking at the system in grammatical aspect of Luri in this research.

Aspect is divided to lexical and grammatical types. Lexical aspect is derived from verb meaning and its subtypes are states, activities, achievements and accomplishments; Grammatical aspect is represented by inflection or some auxiliary verbs and includes perfective, imperfective, perfect and prospective ones. The present paper, in the framework of Role and Reference Grammar, studies the interaction of Aktionsart and progressive aspect in Persian verbs. It is usually accepted that states, don’ t appear with progressive aspect, while “ waxing or waning situations, agentivity and temporary situations” , pave the way for them to be used with progressive aspect. Activities are mostly compatible with progressive as their dynamicity is in accord with progression. Achievements are usually regarded unacceptable, but they can have different readings in progressive aspect including preliminary process, slow motion, iterative, futurate progressive and commentary reading. Accomplishments due to being durative and having stages, are acceptable in progressive aspect.

The process of verb serialization is rather vague and controversial and many linguists have tried to explain the features of these syntactic constructs. Most scholars agree that a serial verb construction (SVC) is a sequence of verbs which act together as a single predicate, without any overt or covert marker of coordination and subordination. Within the framework of Minimalist Program, in this paper we investigate the syntactic properties of the Persian SVCs consisting of two or three verbs that seem to share at least a single internal or external argument and to receive the same verbal features (including tense, phi features, aspect and mood), as found in the present and past progressive sentences. However, the findings of the research state that the Persian SVCs are actually not limited to progressive aspect but it is also found in the present and past perfect structures (e. g. “ u gerfte bud xā bide bud” lit: S/he had taken had slept). The main question is: If serial verb constructions form chains of verbs, what kind of structural configuration can be attributed to them? Following Baker and Stewart (2002), we claim these structures arise when one or two AspPs (i. e. ProgPs or PerfPs) are adjoined to the main AspP of the sentence, while the grammatical verbs, such a “ gereftan” (to take) and “ dā stš n” (to have) appear to be different from Persian auxiliaries on syntactic grounds. This conclusion treats serial verb constructions as adjoining structures.