Cite this article as: Abubakar, N., & Isaac, B. H. (2025). Aspectual distinction and its contrasts in Hausa. Sokoto Journal of Linguistics and Communication Studies (SOJOLICS), 1(2), 37–50. https://doi.org/10.36349/sojolics.2025.v01i02.005
ASPECTUAL DISTINCTION
AND ITS CONTRASTS IN HAUSA
By
Nasiru Abubakar
Department of African
Languages, College of Humanities, Al-Qalam University Katsina
&
Prof. Baridisi Hope
Isaac
Department of
Linguistics and Language Arts, Faculty of Humanities,
University of Port
Harcourt.
Abstract
This study examines
aspectual distinctions and their contrasts in Hausa, a Chadic language widely
spoken across the West African Sub-Saharan region. In linguistic theory, aspect
refers to the non-deictic temporal structure of a verb, how an action unfolds
over time, independent of tense. In Hausa, aspectual distinctions do not
describe the action itself but rather capture its durative dynamics: whether an
event begins, continues, concludes, or recurs. The research investigates both
the semantic and morphosyntactic properties of aspect in Hausa, with particular
attention to its classification and contrastive patterns. Drawing on
theoretical frameworks as well as empirical evidence from natural speech and
elicited examples, the study identifies and analyses recurring patterns in
aspectual usage. Findings reveal that Hausa exhibits a rich inventory of
aspectual categories, including stative, progressive, inceptive, completive,
and habitual forms. In addition, the study proposes a set of aspectual
contrasts that shed light on the language’s grammatical architecture. These
insights underscore the relevance of Hausa aspectual distinctions for
applications in language pedagogy, translation studies, and natural language
processing. Ultimately, this research contributes to the broader discourse on
aspect in linguistic theory and deepens our understanding of an understudied
feature in Hausa.
Keywords: Aspectual verb, Classification, Contrast, Semantics, Hausa
1. Introduction
Linguistics is the
scientific study of natural human languages, focusing on understanding the
structure and function of language from a scientific perspective. It is the
study of the internal, mental knowledge of language-the system of rules that
allows humans to understand and produce an infinite number of sentences
(Chomsky, 1965). Linguistics also includes several subfields, such as applied
linguistics, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, bio-linguistics, cognitive
linguistics, neurolinguistics, clinical linguistics, computational linguistics
among others.
A critical area within
linguistics is the study of grammar, which serves as a model of the linguistic
competence of fluent native speakers. Baker (2003) and Amfani (2004) notes that
Grammar provides a systematic description of the phonology, syntax, and semantics
of a language and is essential for understanding how language functions both
cognitively and communicatively.
Grammatical aspect
refers to the way a language expresses the internal temporal structure of an
event that is, how an action unfolds in time, rather than when it happens.
Aspect contrasts with tense, which locates an event in time past,
present, future (Comrie 1976).
This study presents a
comprehensive and systematic investigation into the various roles and functions
of aspectual distinctions in Hausa, offering a detailed classification and
highlighting their contrasts in both syntactic structure and semantic interpretation.
The aim of thestudy is to carry
out a linguistic analysis of aspectual
distinctions in classifying of the aspectualdistinctions and examining of the
aspectual contrasts in Hausa.
2. Literature Review
Conceptually, aspect is
non-deictic with
the durative reference of particular point; it
relates to the situation or state affairs of the verb which is concerned with
the perfective and imperfective of the action of the verb. Aspect in grammar
refers to the way in which an action is viewed or experienced over time. It
often indicates the duration, completion, or ongoing nature of an action.
However, aspect and tense are intertwined and closely related. Linguists and
scholars have given more related definitions on it. Some of them are as
follows:
Isaac (2022, p.1)
suggests that, “aspect focuses attention on the manner in which verbal actions
are regarded or experienced by the speaker” (i.e. whether completed, continuing
through time, intermittent occurrence, beginning etc.). However, Isaac(2003) agree
that aspectual distinctions play a crucial role in the discourse structure of
natural languages. The general definition of aspect can be viewed as different
ways of viewing the internal temporal constituent of a situation (Comrie, 1976,
p.3).
In order to have a clear
understanding of the concept about the aspect category, Ejele (2003, p.23)
stated that, “aspect is a non-deictic temporal notion involving the way in
which the situation depicted by the verb is seen or experienced. In other words,
it has to do with whether the beginning, middle or end of the situation is
being referred to, for example; or whether it is single or iterative, complete
or incomplete. In this way, events, actions or states can be broken down into
phases.” Furthermore, these aspectual concepts may be expressed through
lexicalization or grammaticalization (Lyons 1977 as cited in Ejele 2003, p.23).
When lexicalized, a word is used to express the concept and when
grammaticalized, a grammatical morpheme expresses it, and the concept is said
to be formalized (Ejele 2003, p.24).
According to Bybee
(1985) as cited in Ernst-Kurdi (2016) almost 74% of the
world languages have grammatical aspect category. Several linguists have
different works on this grammatical category.
Comrie (1976) is one of
the pioneer and unique linguistic works that analyzed the concept and functions
of aspect, and discussed the aspectual verbs classification and functions
categorically.
Comrie studied the
concept of perfective and imperfective and other aspectual values, such as
habitual, progressive aspect and inherent meaning, punctual and durative, telic
and atelic, and state and dynamic situation.
Hausa linguistic
scholars such as Newman and Schuh (1974), Skinner (1977), Tuller (1986), Bagari
(1986), Abdoulaye (1992), Yalwa, (1995), Amfani (1996), Yusuf (2011), Caron
(2013), among others, agree that Hausa has grammatical category of aspect while some of them claim that Hausa has a combination of both tense and aspect (tense-aspect). Some of the works on Hausa aspect
are mentioned below to
shedmore
light for the present research.
Newman and Schuh (1974)
in their paper titled as The Hausa Aspect System suggested
that Hausa verb aspects are differentiated on the surface by distinct sets of
pronominal paradigms positioned before the verb stem. “The root-form of the
verb undergoes no change [except in the continuous but the various tenses are
formed by placing different forms of pronouns before this root]. The pronouns
mark the person, number, and, in the second and third persons singular, gender
of the subject. In addition, each ·pronominal paradigm is distinguished from
the others by some more or less constant feature such as vowel length or tone
of the pronouns or special markers added to them. The nature of features that
serve to distinguish the eight aspectual categories of Hausa are illustrated in
the following using the third person plural pronoun su as a
model” (Newman and Schuh 1974, p.3)
(1) a. sú-n Perfective
b. sú-kà Relative
Perfective (Perfective II)
c. sú-naà Continuous
d. sú-keè Relative
Continuous (Continuous II)
e. sùǾ Subjunctive
f. ... zaá-sù
Future
g. swá-à =>sá-à Potential
h. sú-kàn Habitual
As can be seen, all the
particles written in bold above serve as aspect markers in Hausa. While some of
them represents the beginning or ongoing (imperfective) situation, some others
represent the completive (perfective) situation. Examples:
(2) a. súnzoó
“they came” (perfective)
b. suúneèsúkàzoó
“they are the ones that came” (relative perfective)
c. súnaàzúwaà “they
are coming” (imperfective)
d. suúneèsúkeèzúwaà
“they are the ones that are coming” (relative imperfective)
e. sùǾjeé “they go”
(subjunctive)
f. zaásùjeé “they will go” (Future)
g. sáàjeé “they
shall go” (potential, uncertainty)
h. súkànjeé “they
used to go” (habituality past)
3. Theoretical Framework
Systemic Functional
Grammar is an approach to linguistic description which aims to provide a
comprehensive account of how language is used in context for communication. The
approach views language as a resource that is fundamentally shaped by the uses
that people make of it; it therefore aims to explain the forms of language in
terms of the meanings that they express, and to develop a grammar which is
designed to ‘make it possible to say sensible and useful things about any text,
spoken or written’ (Halliday & Matthiessen2014).SFG originated with M. A.
K. Halliday, building especially on the ideas of his tutor J. R. Firth, in
publications from the 1960s on, with major contributions by other scholars such
as Ruqaiya Hasan and, in more recent years, Jim Martin and Christian
Matthiessen among many others.
Systemic Functional
Grammar (SFG) provides a robust theoretical framework for analyzing language
features such as aspectual distinctions. This framework is
particularly relevant for the study of this grammatical aspect
in Hausa, a major language spoken in the West Africa. SFG relates to how
language encodes experiences and actions, focusing on the participants,
processes, and circumstances involved in a clause. This aspect of SFG can be
applied to analyze how Hausa uses different aspectual verb forms to express
actions, functions and states of being. SFG's aspectual distinction system
categorizes processes into different types (e.g., static, progressive,
inceptive, etc.) and identifies aspectual contrasts. This categorization can
help in examining how Hausa aspectual distinctions function in different
contexts, revealing patterns in its usage (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2014).
4. Methodology
This research employed a
descriptive research design involving elicitation of data from native speakers
since the focus of the study is to investigate Aspectual Distinction and its
Contrasts in Hausa. Therefore, this research depends on elicitation of data
that reveals the underlying rules that determine the structures under
investigation.
The data for this study
were collected from both primary and secondary sources. The primary data for this
paper were collected
through elicitation of standard Hausa usage, which is normally
found in the media houses, colleges and universities, academic
write-ups, translation works and academicconferences. The secondary data were collected
by reviewing existing literature on
aspect, grammars and linguistic studies on Hausa.
5. Data Presentation and
Analysis
Hausa
AspectualDistinction Classification
Linguistically, there
are various accounts of the semantic classifications of aspectual distinction.
Some of these classifications will be referenced to guide this work in
identifying the classification of Hausa aspectual distinctions. Lyons (1977, p.
710) categorizes the aspectual verbs into three major classes: events,
processes, and states. He distinguishes between static (non-dynamic) and
dynamic verbs, noting that most verbs in all languages are inherently dynamic.
He classifies acts as events, which are agent-controlled, and activities as
processes, which are also agent-controlled, although he treats acts and
activities as distinct types of actions (Ejele 2000, p. 44).
On the other hand,
Vendler (1967) as cited in Ejele (2000, p. 44) classifies verbs into four
distinct categories: states, activities, accomplishments, and achievements.
Based on progressivity, he groups states and achievements together (since they
do not allow the progressive form) and activities and accomplishments as
another class (which allow the progressive form).
According to Lyons'
classification, events and processes are dynamic, while states are non-dynamic.
Events involve time instants or moments, whereas processes, like states,
involve time intervals. In addition to the dynamic/non-dynamic distinction,
processes are further differentiated from states by the fact that only states
remain homogeneous and unchanging (Ejele 2000, p. 45).
Based on the information
above, the researchers are confident in proposing semantic classifications for
Hausa aspectual verbs. While Abdoulaye (1991) discussed this issue, his
analysis primarily focused on dialectal Hausa and relied on the classification
found in Van Valin (1992). In contrast, this study will focus on aspectual
verbs in standard Hausa and adopt the classification from Ejele (2000).
Therefore, the researchers propose that the semantic classifications of Hausa
verbs can be understood through the conceptual, non-deictic notions of
stativity, progressivity, completion, inception, and habituality.
i) Stativity
State verbs are
primarily categorized by their boundless temporal aspect, as they do not
indicate a beginning or an end to the state. States are situations that persist
over time, remaining consistent and unchanging throughout their duration. From
an ontological perspective, states are static (or non-dynamic) and do not occur
in the progressive (dynamic) aspect. Examples include sán "know", soó "love", yàrdaá "agree", zámaá "become", faátaá "wish", tsiíraá "escape,
survive", etc. The verbs listed above are all state verbs. While some do
not appear with continuous (progressive) markers, others may occur with them
but still do not show progressivity. See the following examples in (3a - b) and
(4a - b):
(3) a. *Áudùyánaàsánhányaà
=> Áudùyaásánhányaà
PN Agr3MS-NF-Imperf know road PN
Agr3MS-NF-Perf know road
“*Áudù is knowing
road” “Áudù knew the road”
b. *BíntàtánaàsoóÁudù
=> BíntàtaásoóÁudù
PN Agr3FS-NF-Imperf love
PN PN Agr3FS-NF-Perf love PN
“Bíntà is loving Áudù” “Bíntà has loved Áudù”
(4) a. Maálàmyánaàyardádàyaárôn
teacher Agr3MS-NF-Imperf agree with boy-the
“The teacher is agreeing with the boy”
b. Áudùyánaàzámáángoògoòbeé
PN Agr3MS-NF-Imperf become groom tomoroow
“Áudù is becoming
a groom tomoroow”
The examples in (3a
- b) above, indicate that grade 0 verbs sán“know”and the irregular verbsoó“love” are all stative verbs. As shown in (3a - b), these verbs cannot function as progressive verbs with the
progressivity markers naà/keè. Similarly, in (4a - b), the regular
verb G2 yàrdaá“agree” and the irregular verbs zámá“become” are also stative verbs. Although they can appear with the present markers, they do not exhibit progressivity semantically, as
they lack a distinct beginning or ending.
ii) Progressivity
Progressivity is a
linguistic term that refers to the aspect of a verb indicating an ongoing
action. In some languages such
as English, it is typically marked by progressive verb
forms, which combine an auxiliary verb (such as "to be") with the
present participle (-ing form) of the main verb. Progressivity expresses an
action in progress at aninterval time. It is an essential aspect of verb usage that
emphasizes ongoing activities, allowing speakers and writers to convey a sense
of dynamic action. Many Hausa verbs demonstrate progressivity, and each class
of Hausa verb contains aspectual verbs that can appear in dynamic processes.
For example, regular verbs, irregular verbs, grade 0 verbs, and verbal nouns
(or present participles) all can appear with the progressive markers naà/keè and
function progressively and
they use interchangeably. It is important to
note that, morphologically, the aspect markers in Hausa are attached to the
agreement element and syntactically precede the verb, as shown in (5a-b).
(5) a. Áudùyánaàgásànaámaà
PA Agr3MS-NF-Imperf roast meat
“Áudù is roasting meat”
b. Kàndeéceètákeèdáfànaámaà
PA FM Agr3FS-NF-Imperf cook meat
“It is Kàndeé cooking meat”
As indicated in (5a) and
(5b), the progressive aspect markers are attached to the agreement markers
(ya/ta) and are followed by the verbs gásaà and dáfaà,
respectively. In Hausa, the progressivity markers do not affect the verb’s
terminal (except in the verbal noun ‘participle’ where the suffix waá will be attached to the verb). The two verbs used in (5a
& b) above are regular, transitive, and belong to grade 1. However, other
verb grades can also exhibit the same progressivity. See examples (6a - j)
below:
(6) a. Àlíyaánaàsàyéngídá
PN Agr3MS-NF-Imperf buy
house
“Àlí is buying house”
b. kúɗín háyaà
neé Àlí yaákeèkàrɓaá
money-Gen rent FM PN Agr3MS-NF-Imperf collect
“It
is rent money Àlí is collecting”
c.
Áudù yaánaà sàuká dàgà jírgií
PN Agr3MS-NF-Imperf arrive from airplane
“Áudù is arriving from the airplane”
d. Kàndeéceè taákeèfìtá dàgàgídá
PN FM Agr3FS-NF-Imperf go from house
“It is Kàndeé going out”
e. Maálàmyaánaàgoógèàlló à ájì
teacher Agr3MS-NF-Imperf delete board in class
“Teacher is cleaning the board in the class”
f.
Ɗaàlìbái neè súkeèwánkè mákeéwáyií
students FM Agr3PL-NF-Imperf
wash toilet
“It is students washing the
toilet”
g.
‘yán sàndaá súnaàbaáyár dà sháidaà à koótuù
police Agr3PL-NF-Imperf give
with witness in court
“police are giving the witness
in a court”
h.
gwámnátì ceé taákeè sáyár dà fiílaàyén shaágúnaà
government FM Agr3FS-NF-Imperf sell with lands-POSS shops
“It is government selling the
shop plots”
i.
mánàzàrtaá súnaà gaánoó sàbàbbín cuútúkaà
researchers Agr3PL-NF-Imperf discover
new diseases
“researchers are discovering new
diseases”
j.
másùntaá neé súkeèkaámoó kiífií
fishermen FM Agr3PL-NF-Imperf
catch fish
“It is fishermen are catching
and bringing fish”
As shown above, examples
(6a) and (6b) are G2 regular verbs, while examples (6c) and (6d) are regular G3
verbs. Examples (6e) and (6f) are G4 verbs, and examples (6g) and (6h) are
regular G5 verbs. Finally, examples (6i) and (6j) are G6 verbs. In contrast,
regular G7 verbs cannot appear with the progressive markers and do not exhibit
progressivity. This may be because they are typically used into the passive
voice in Grade 7 positions. See (7) below:
(7) a. *àbíncínyaánaàdàfú
Food-the
Agr3MS-NF-Imperf cook
“*The food was
cooked well”
b. *àgoógón yaákeègyàrú
watch-the
Agr3MS-NF-Imperf repair
“*The watch was repaired
well”
c. àbíncínyaádàfú
Food-the
Agr3MS-NF-Perf cook
“the food was
cooked well”
d. àgoógón yaágyàrú
watch-the Agr3MS-NF-Perf
repair
“the watch was repaired
well”
The verbs dàfú and gyàrú are
G7 regular verbs. As seen in the examples (7a-b) above, they do not appear with
progressive markers and cannot show progressivity. On the other hand, they both
exhibit a perfective aspect in their actions as seen in (7c - d), suggesting
that they are affected by passivation. Align with Parsons (1960) and Amfani
(1996), in Hausa, most of derived verb formed with the formula of stem + short
vowel -u, combined with the LH tone pattern, automatically becomes passive in
its surface form.
However, some irregular,
grade-zeroandregularverbal nouns in Hausa can appear with progressive markers
and show progressivity directly. Consider the following examples in (8a – f):
(8) a. Áudùyaánaàɓuúyaá à gídánsà
PA
Agr3MS-NF-Imperf hide in
house-his
“Áudù is hidingin his house”
b. Kàndeé ceètaákeè ɓuúyaá
PN Agr3FS-NF-Imperf hidden
“It isKàndeé is
hiding”
c.
ɗaàlìbái súnaàcîn àbíncí
students Agr3PL-NF-Imperf eat
food
“students are eating food”
d.
yaàraâ neè súkeè shân ruúwaá
children FM Agr3PL-NF-Imperf drink
water
“It is children that drinking
water”
e.
Àlí yaánaà gaánaàwaá dà Bíntaà
PN Agr3MS-NF-Imperf meet
with PA
“Àlí is meeting with Bíntaà”
f.
Bíntà ceé taákeèsánàrwaá à gídán raádíyoò
PN FM Agr3FS-NF-Imperf announciment
in house-Gen rediyo
“It
is Bíntàthat announcing in the radio station”
Interestingly, all
categories of Hausa verbal nouns presented in (8) above, demonstrated dynamic
process characteristics, as shown in the examples. As seen, (8a) and (8b) are
irregular verbal nouns, while (8c) and (8d) are typical examples of grade-zero verbal
nouns. Additionally, (8e) and (8f) represent regular verbs with the waá suffix.
However, some verbal
nouns in Hausa can take progressive markers yet remain unprogressive because
they are not dynamic process verbs, which is aligns with Ejele (2000, P. 72)
concept of stativity and dynamic situation. Semantically, these verbal nouns function
either as stative or eventive. See examples in (9a - c) below:
(9)
a. Áudù yaánaà daácèwaá dà gídàn (events)
PN
Agr3MS-NF-Imperf with house-the
“Áudù
is suitable with the house”
b.
Àlí neè yaákeèjuúrèwaá à yaáƙiì (events)
PN FM Agr3MS-NF-Imperf endures
in war
“It
is Àlí who endures in war”
c.
Bíntà taánaàfaátaá tágàrií (stative)
PN
Agr3FS-NF-Imperf wish good
“Bíntà
has a good wishing”
It was observed that the
verbal nouns daácèwaá and juúrèwaá are
eventive verbs, as they do not show progress, despite their continuous time
aspect and the use of progressive markers. Similarly, the verbal noun faátaá is
stative because it lacks dynamic features, remains homogeneous, and cannot
exhibit progress, even though it can appear with a progressive marker (Ejele
2000, p.73).
iii) Completion
In grammatical terms, a
"completion verb" is not a widely recognized category. However, it
can be understood to refer to verbs that indicate the completion of an action
or event. These verbs express the concept of an action being fully accomplished.
In Hausa, the idea of completion is lexically conveyed through verbs like gámà/ƙaáreè "finish"
or kámmàlaá "complete". Consider the examples in (10
- 13) below:
(10) a. Bíntà taánaàshaàraá
“Bíntà is sweeping”
PN Agr3FS-NF-Imperf sweep
b.
Bíntà taáshaáreè ɗaákiì “Bíntà (has) swept the room”
PN Agr3FS-NF-Perf swept room
c.
Bíntà taá ƙaáreè shaàraá “Bíntà has finished sweeping”
PN
Agr3FS-NF-Perf finish sweep
(11)
a. Bíntà taánaà gúduù “Bíntà is running”
PN Agr3FS-NF-Imperf run
b.
Bíntà taá gúduù “Bíntà has ran away”
PN Agr3FS-NF-Perf run
c.
Bíntà taá gámàgúduù “Bíntà has finished running”
PN Agr3FS-NF-Perf finish run
(12)
a. Bíntà taánaà tsuúfaá “Bíntà is getting old”
PN Agr3FS-NF-Imperf old
b.
Bíntà taátsuúfaá “Bíntà has been old”
PN Agr3FS-NF-Perf old
c.
Bíntà taá gámà tsuúfaá “Bíntà has finished getting old”
PN Agr3FS-NF-Perf finish old
(13)
a. Áudù yaánaà giínaà gídá “Áudù is building the house”
PN Agr3MS-NF-Imperf build house
b.
Áudù yaá giínaà gídá “Áudù has built the house”
PN Agr3MS-NF-Perf build house
c.
Áudù yaá kámmàlaágiínaà gídá “Áudù has completed
building the house”
PN Agr3MS-NF-Perf complete build
house
The examples in (10 –
13) above, the verbs shaàraá "sweep" and gúduù "run"
are activity verbs, while tsuúfaá "get old"
and giínaà "build" are accomplishments. In Hausa,
both activities and accomplishments are treated as processes and exhibit
similar behavior when it comes to the concept of completion. In contrast, the
examples in (10a, 11a, 12a, & 13a) illustrate how the verbs are used in a
progressive context, while in (10b, 11b, 12b, &13b), they are used to
describe past events. Additionally, in (10c, 11c, 12c, &13c), these verbs
convey a sense of completion.
iv) Inception
Inception is not a
formal verb classification, but it conveys the idea of starting an action,
which is relevant to certain aspects of verb usage. Generally, inception refers
to the beginning or initiation of an action or event. In Hausa, the concept of
inception is lexically expressed by faárà / soómà "start/begin".
According to Ejele (2000, p. 50), all verb classes can occur with inception.
Therefore, progressive verbs, events, and states are all related to inception.
See the following examples in (14), (15), and (16) respectively:
(14) a. Áudù yaá faárà cîn
àbíncií
PN
Agr3MS-NF-Perf start eat food
“Áudù
has started eating food”
b.
Bíntà taá soómà ráwaá
PN Agr3FS-NF-Perf begin dance
“Bíntà
has begun dancing”
c. Bíntà taá soómà shaàraá
PN Agr3FS-NF-Perf begin sweep
“Bíntà
has begun sweeping”
(15)
a. Áudù yaá faárà mántàwaá
PN
Agr3MS-NF-Perf start forget
“Áudù
has started forgetting”
b.
Áudù yaá faárà túnàwaá
PN Agr3MS-NF-Perf start remember
“Áudù
has started remembering”
c.
Áudù yaá soómà faàɗùwaá
PN Agr3MS-NF-Perf begin fall
“Áudù
has begun falling”
(16) a.
Bíntà taá faárà sánîn gàrií
PN Agr3FS-Nf-Perf start know
town
“Bíntà
has started knowing town”
b.
Bíntà taá faárà gánín háskeé
PN Agr3FS-Nf-Perf start see
light
“Bíntà
has started seeing light”
c.
Bíntà taá soómà kàmaá dà baàbántà
PN Agr3FS-NF-Perf begin resemble
with father-POSS
“Bíntà
has begun resembling her father”
As observed in (14 – 16)
above, inception refers to the beginning of a new phase, with emphasis placed
on the start rather than the end. In (14a - c), inception occurs with
progressive verbs in the terminal phase, highlighting the conceptual focus on
the beginning phase. Similarly, in (15a - c), progressive events appear in the
terminal phase, while the inception focuses on the beginning phase. Finally, in
(16a - c), progressive stative verbs, conceptualized as events, occur in the
terminal phase, with the inception focusing on the beginning phase which they
are all align with Ejele (2000, p. 50).
v) Habituality
The term
"habitual" generally refers to actions or behaviors that are
performed regularly or as a routine. It describes activities or patterns that
are consistently repeated over time, often with little conscious effort. In
linguistic terms, habituality refers to the expression of an action that occurs
regularly or frequently. In Hausa, some verbs exhibit habituality when used
with present continuous markers -naà and -keè, the habitual
marker -kàn, or even an adverb. See examples (20), (21), and
(22) in 4.2Aspectual Contrasts in Hausa for further illustration.
5.2Aspectual Contrasts
in Hausa
Like many languages,
Hausa uses aspectual markers to convey the nature and timing of an action. This
analysis will examine the primary aspectual markers in Hausa, exploring their
forms, functions, and usage within both simple and complex sentence structures.
Aspect in Hausa is
primarily categorized into two types: perfective and imperfective. The
perfective aspect typically indicates completed actions or events viewed as a
whole. According to Jaggar (no date), General Perfective and Focus Perfective
is to express the temporal notion of anteriority, i.e., a time preceding the
time-orientation expressed by other elements in the sentence (or the speech
context), typically the moment of speaking. Examples (17) and (18) are
declarative statements containing General and Narrative Perfective forms
respectively, and both locate the time referred to (TR) as anterior tothe time
of speaking (or writing), i.e., the time of orientation (TO), and TR also
coincides with the time of situation (TS):
(17) TR/TS <
TO:yaámútuù[past time]
Agr3MS Perf die
“he (has) died”
(18) a. …à loókàcíndàyáꬾdaáwoó,
when Agr3MS foc-Perf
return
“when he had returned”
TR/TS < TO: b. sáiyáꬾmútuù[past time]
then Agr3MS narr-Perf
die
“then he died”
The imperfective aspect
refers to ongoing, habitual, or repeated actions while in Hausa is marked
mainly by the same markers with present and future tense verb forms and is used
to describe actions that are currently happening, habitual actions, or actions
that are expected to occur. The markers used to indicate the imperfective
aspect in Hausa include -naà, -keè, and -kàn, while the
imperfective future is marked by -zaá and -à. The present
markers (-naà and -keè) are used in progressive situations
and can also indicate habitual or frequent actions and some times when combined with an adverb. Consider the examples in (19) below:
(19) a. Yaárônyánaà[cîn]àbíncií
boy-the Agr3MS-NF-Imper eat food
“The boy is eating a food”
b. Yaárínyârtánaà[cîn]àbíncií
girl-the Agr3FS-NF-Imper eat food
“The girl is eating a food”
c. Yârànsúnaà[cîn]àbíncií
children-the Agr3PL-NF-Imper eat food
“The children are eating a food”
d. Yaárônneéyákeè[dáfà]àbíncií
boy-the FM Agr3MS-NF-Imper cook food
“It is the boy that is cooking the food”
e. Yaárínyârceétákeè[dáfà]àbíncií
girl-the FM Agr3FS-NF-Imper cook food
“It is the girl that is cooking the food”
f. Yârànneésúkeè[dáfà]àbíncií
children-the FM Agr3PL-NF-Imper cook food
“It is the children that are cooking the food”
All the above examples
demonstrate progressive situations in their constructions. While the present
marker -naà is used in (19a - c), the marker -keè appears
in the constructions (19d - f). Furthermore, the same markers can also be used
to indicate habituality, as shown in (20) below:
(20) a. Yaárônyánaà[zúwaà]mákárántaá
boy-the Agr3MS-NF-Imper go school
“The boy used to go to school”
b. Yaárínyârtánaà[zúwaà]mákárántaá
girl-the Agr3FS-NF-Imper go school
“The girl used to go to school”
c. Yârànsúnaà[zúwaà]mákárántaá
children-the Agr3PL-NF-Imper go school
“The children used to go to school”
d. Yaárônneéyákeè[sáyárdà]àbíncií
boy-the FM Agr3MS-NF-Imper sell with food
“It is the boy that used to sell the food”
e. Yaárínyârceétákeè[sáyárdà]àbíncií
girl-the FM Agr3FS-NF-Imper sell with food
“It is the girl that used to sell the food”
f. Yârànneésúkeè[sáyárdà]àbíncií
children-the FM Agr3PL-NF-Imper sell with food
“It is the children that used to sell the
food”
In this regard, it was
observed that the process verbs cîn "eating"
and dáfà "cooking" appeared as progressive in (19a -
f) when combined with the present progressive markers -naà and -keè,while
the event verbs zúwaà "go/coming" and sáyárdà "sell"
appeared in (20a - f) in combination with the same markers -naà and
-keè to indicate habitual actions. Therefore, these markers can
also be used with an adverb to express frequent habitual actions, as in (21)
below:
(21) a. YaárônyánaàzúwaàKánoòkoówánèmaákoò
boy-the Agr3MS-NF-Imper go Kánoòeveryweek
“The boy used to go to Kánoòeveryweek”
b. YaárínyârtánaàzúwaàKánoòkoówánèmaákoò
girl-the Agr3FS-NF-Imper go Kánoòeveryweek
“The girl used to go to Kánoòeveryweek”
c. YârànsúnaàzúwaàKánoòkoówánèmaákoò
children-the Agr3PL-NF-Imper go Kánoòeveryweek
“The children used to go to Kánoòeveryweek”
d. Yaárônneéyákeècíyárdàshíkúllúm
boy-the FM Agr3MS-NF-Imper feed with him
everyday
“It is the boy that used to feed him everyday”
e. Yaárínyârceétákeècíyárdàshíkúllúm
girl-the FM Agr3FS-NF-Imper feed with him
everyday
“It is the girl that used to feed him
everyday”
f. Yârànneésúkeècíyárdàshíkúllúm
children-the FM Agr3PL-NF-Imper feed with him
everyday
“It is the children that used to feed him
everyday”
In the above examples
(21a - f), the adverbial phrases koówánèmaákoò "every
week" in (21a - c) and kúllúm "everyday" in
(21d - f) were added to the constructions to show that actions are habitually
occurring in frequent situations. However, in Hausa, habitual actions, which
describe repeated actions over time, often overlap with the imperfective aspect
as in (21). The habitual aspect marker -kàn is used to
express this, and it can function without an adverb. Additionally, it can be
used in combination with both process and event verbs. Consider the following
examples in (22a - c):
(22) a. NiínákànjeésállàrJúmú’aà
I Agr-1MS-NF-HAB go pray-Gen Friday
“I used to go to Jumu’at prayer”
b. Laádiìceétákànyíwànkeé-wànkeé
PN FM Agr3FS-NF-HAB do washing-plates
“Laádì used to wash plates always”
c. Yârànsúkàndáfàwaàmaàmársùàbíncií
children-the Agr3PL-NF-HAB for mother-POSS
food
“The children used to cook food for their
mother”
The habitual aspect
marker -kàn in (22a) indicates that the speaker regularly goes to
Jumu’at prayer every week, even though the adverbial phrase is not explicitly
mentioned in the construction. In (22b), it is shown that Laádiì’s duty is to
wash plates every day over time, while in (22c), it indicates that the children
are frequently cooking food for their mother.
Regarding the
imperfective future, Hausa has two aspect markers. The first marker, -zaá,
is used to express certainty about an action occurring after the speech time,
while the second marker, -à, indicates uncertainty about the
occurrence of an action after the speech time. Traditionally, the use of -zaá in
utterances was regarded as a promise by the speaker to perform an action after
the speech time. It was observed that the same tense markers are used in Hausa
to indicate the aspectual character of verbs in the imperfective future
context. This is showing that tense and aspect are intertwined and is difficult
to separate them.
The perfective aspect
marks actions that have been completed in the past or are viewed as whole
events. In Hausa, perfective aspect markers often relate to past actions and
sometimes imply a contrast with future or present actions. The perfective
aspect markers are -á or -ø for
singular verbs, and -n or -kà for
plural verbs. See examples in (23) below:
(23) a.Yaárônyaádaáwoó
boy-the
Agr3MS-NF-Perf return
“The boy has
returned”
b. Káimaákaádaáwoó
you even Agr2MS-NF-Perf return
“You have even
returned”
c. Yaàrânsúndaáwoó
boys-the Agr3PL-NF-Perf return
“The boys have
returned”
d. Yaárônneéyáødaáwoó
boy-the FM Agr3MS-NF-Perf return
“It is the boy
that has returned”
e. Káineèmaákáødaáwoó?
you FM even Agr2MS-NF-Perf return
“You even are the
one that has returned?”
f. Yaàrânneésúkàdaáwoó
boys-the FM Agr3PL-NF-Perf return
“It is the boys
that have returned”
However, the perfective
aspect in Hausa can be expressed in contrast with the simple future and simple
present situation. Consider the following examples in (24) and (25) below:
(24) Simple
Future Perfective
a.
À loókàcín dà Áudù zaá yà (zâi) zoó án gámà áikìn
At time that PN
Fut-Imperf Agr3MS come Agr4Indf-NF-Perf finish work-the
“By the time Áudù will
come, the work would have been finished”
b. À
loókàcín dà Áudù zaá yà (zâi) zoó áikìnyaá kàmmàlú
At time that PN
Fut-Imperf Agr3MS comework-theAgr3MS-NF-Perf complete
“By the time Áudù will
come, the work would have beencompleted”
(25) Simple
Present Perfective
a.
Áudù yánaà zuúwaà, án ƙaáreè wánnàn áikiì
PN Agr3MS-NF-Imperf Agr4Indf-NF-Perf finish this work
“Áudùis coming; this work will havebeen finished”
b. Áudùyánaàzuúwaà,ƙàrshénáikìnnânyaázoó
PN Agr3MS-NF-Imperf comeend-of
work-the thisAgr3MS-NF-Perf come
“Áudù is coming, and the
work will have been finished”
Example (24a) is a
statement that expresses a situation where Áudù was expected
to come but did not, the work has already been completed, and the work had not
started before the speech time. This is expressed in a completive situation
using the perfective marker -n. Similarly, (24b) is also
statement, indicating that the work was completed when Áudù were
to come, and it is expressed with the perfective marker -á.
In (25a), the statement is informative, expressing that the arrival
of Áudù signifies the completion of the work (likely because
he has mastered it, so he can finish it without delay, or because he is an
authority who can instruct the workers to finish it promptly). The perfective
aspect marker -n is used to express this concept.
Similarly, in (25b), the sentence is constructed in the same way, but with the
perfective marker -á.
Additionally, another
contrast arises in the expression of the progressive aspect in Hausa, which can
be examined in the context of an extended situation. The extended verb form in
Hausa is represented by keè/naà-VP,
meaning “be VP-ing.” We will now examine how the progressive aspect occurs with
the three tenses: simple present extended, simple past extended and simple
future extended. Let’s discuss each one in turn.
i) Simple Present Extended
(Present Progressive)
This is the present
progressive, used to depict situations that are in progress at the speech time
(Ejele, 2003, p. 24). While the simple present -naà/-keè markers in Hausa typically expresses habitual actions, it can be extended
to contrast with the simple present tense. See examples (26a-c)
(26)
a. Áudù -naà/-keè màgánaà
PN -NF-Imperf talk or PN -NF-Imperf-use talk
“Áudù is talking/talks” or “Áudù use to talk”
b. Áudùyánaà/yákeèrìgímaà
PN
Agr3MS-NF-Imperf fight or PN Agr3MS-NF-Imperf-use fight
“Áudù is fighting”
or “Áudù use to fight”
c. Áudùyánaà/(neé)
yákeègiínàgídaá
PN
Agr3MS-NF-Imperf build house or PN FM Agr3MS-NF-Imperf-use build house
“Áudù is building the
house” or “it is Áudù use to build the house”
In examples (26a - c)
above, the markers -naà and-keè represent
the simple present tense, which is extended to indicate both progressive and
habitual actions using the same markers. Since tense and aspect are
intertwined, these markers in Hausa can simultaneously interpret deictic and
non-deictic temporal situations. Furthermore, the markers can occur without
subject agreement, as illustrated in (26a), or with subject agreement, as shown
in (26b). They can also appear with both subject agreement and a focus marker
in the same sequence, as seen with -keè in (26c).
ii) Simple Past Extended (Past
Prograssive)
In these structures, the
simple past in Hausa can take the progressive marker -naà and
express the simple past extended as seen in (28a - c). Compare the simple past
in (27a - c) with the simple past extended in (28a - c).
(27) a. Áudùyaájeésàyénmoótaà
PN
Agr3MS-NF-Perf go buy car
“Áudù went
to buy a car”
b. Bíntàceétáøtoóyaàƙoósái
PN Agr3FS-NF-Perf fry cake
“It is Bíntà that fried
a cake”
c.
Mútànèn sún zoó (or Mútànèn neé súkà zoó)
People-the
Agr3PL-NF-Perf come(or People-the FM Agr3PL-NF-Perf
come)
“The people have come(orIt is the
people that have come)”
(28) a. Áudù yaá jeé
yánaà sàyén moótaà
PN
Agr3MS-NF-Perf go Agr3MS-NF-Imperf-EXT buy car
“Áudù was
buying a car”
b.
Bíntà ceé táø kásànceé tánaà toóyaà ƙoósái
PN FM Agr3FS-NF-Perf
was Agr3FS-NF-Imperf-EXT fry cake
“It is Bíntà that was frying
a cake”
c.
Mútànèn sún kásànceé súnaà zúwaà
People-the
Agr3PL-NF-Perf was Agr3PL-NF-Imperf-EXT come
“The
people have been coming”
In the examples provided
above, it was observed that in (27a), the perfective situation is expressed
using the simple past -á marker, with two verbsjeé(events) and sàyén(processes) occurring simultaneously in the sequence. In contrast,
in (28a), the progressive marker –naàco-occurs between the
two verbs, expressing a progressive situation in conjunction with the process
verb, thus extending the simple past tense.
In (27b), the
construction expresses the simple past meaning by using the focus marker ceéand
the-ø marker with the process verb toóyaà "fry".
In contrast, in (28b), the verb kásànceé "become" is
inserted before the main verbtoóyaà in the sequence, followed by
the progressive marker-naà. This creates a shift from the simple
past to the progressive aspect.
Similarly, in (27c), the
simple past meaning is expressed using the -n and -kà markers.
However, in (28c), the verb kásànceé "become" is
inserted, and the progressive marker -naà co-occurs in
the sequence, modifying the verb zoó "come" (event)
to zúwaà "coming" (process), thereby extending the
simple past to the progressive aspect.
iii) Simple Future Extended
(Future Prograssive)
The simple future
extended refers to a situation that has not yet occurred, similar to the simple
future. However, in the former, the situation is perceived as being in progress
at the speech time (Ejele, 2003, p. 26). Thus, it is expressed as a future progressive
situation. In Hausa, the simple future extended can be expressed in three ways,
as suggested by Ejele (2003, p. 26):
i) By using the future marker -zaá in
conjunction with the extended progressive marker -naà and
the grammaticalized extended verb form (VP-waà), as in (29c). Semantically,
this construction has an anticipatory interpretation.
ii) By using the modal future marker -à in
conjunction with the extended progressive marker -naà and the grammaticalized extended verb form (VP-waà), as in
(29d). This construction semantically carries a consequential interpretation.
iii) By using an appropriate future adverbial in conjunction with the
simple (progressive)
extended marker, as in
(29e).
These three expressions
contrast with the two ways of expressing the simple future, as indicated in
(29a - b) below:
(29) a. Bíntà zaá tà
mágàntaá
PN Fut-Imperf Agr3FS talk
“Bíntà will talk”
b. Bíntàtáà mágàntaá
PN Agr3FS-Fut-Imperf talk
“Bíntà will (may) talk”
c. Bíntà zaá tà
kásànceé tánaà mágàntáwaà
PN Fut-Imperf Agr3FS be Agr3FS-NF-Imperf talk-EXT
“Bíntà will be talking”
d.
Bíntàtáà kásànceé tánaà mágàntáwaà
PN Agr3FS-Fut-Imperf be Agr3FS-NF-Imperf
talk-EXT
“Bíntà will be talking”
e. goòbeé wârhákà Bíntà tánaà zántàwaà dà ‘yánjàriìduú
tomorrow this-timePN Agr3FS-NF-Imperf talk-EXT
“Tomorrow at this
time, Bíntà is talking with
journalists”
The examples in (29a -
b) demonstrate the simple future situation, where the action is yet to take
place. However, semantically, they are modal: the situation in (29a) is
interpreted as certain, while the situation in (29b) reflects uncertainty. In
(29c), the structure uses the first future (certainty) marker -zaá in
conjunction with the progressive marker -naà and the
extended verbal morpheme -waà, resulting in an extended
future that anticipates the situation in progress, even though the action has
not yet occurred. Similarly, in (29d), the second future (uncertainty)
marker -à combined with -naà and -waà produces
an extended future, with this construction conveying a consequential
interpretation. In contrast, (29e) is the most certain expression, involving
the simple present extended situation with a temporal adverbial. In this case,
the speaker is certain that the referred situation will definitely take place,
with the action being viewed as in progress, even though it is yet to occur.
5.3 Adverbial Perfective
and Imperfective
However, in Hausa,
perfective and imperfective aspects can be expressed through adverbial temporal
lexical markers in conjunction with tone patterns. In this construction, a
sentence can have different interpretations depending on the type of adverbial
used and the tone superimposed, as illustrated in (30) below:
(30) a. JíyàÁudùyáø/yaázoó
yesterday PN Agr3MS-NF-Perf come
“Áudù has come/came yesterday”
b. YâuÁudùyáø/yaázoó
today PN Agr3MS-NF-Perf come
“Áudù has come/came today”
c. YâuÁudùyàøzoó
today PN Agr3MS-Fut-Imperf come
“Áudù has to come
today”
d. GoòbeéÁudùyàøzoó
tomoroow PN
Agr3MS-Fut-Imperf come
“Áudù has to come
tomoroow”
e. YâuÁudùyákànzoó
today PN Agr3MS-HAB-Imperf-use come
“Áudù used to come
today”
It was observed that in
(30a), the adverb jíyà "yesterday" in conjunction
with a high tone pattern on both the first and second simple past markers
indicates an action that has already occurred in the past and is fully
completed. Similarly, in (30b), the adverb yâu "today"
is used to interpret an action that happened momentarily, but when combined
with a high tone, it signals a perfective situation. In contrast, when yâu is
used with a low tone pattern, it conveys an imperfective future situation, as
shown in (30c). Additionally, when yâu is combined with the
habitual marker, it expresses a present progressive situation, as seen in
(30e).
Furthermore, the
adverb goòbeé "tomorrow" in conjunction with a low
tone, as in (30d), is interpreted as an imperfective future situation that is
yet to take place.
These adverbs can also
be used to express the perfective future situation when combined with a
conditional morpheme (ín/ìdán/índà), as illustrated in (31a - c) below:
(31) a. Índaà à
ceèyaázoójíyà, dàzângánshì
if to say Agr3MS-NF-Perf come yesterday with
will-I see him
“If (to say that) he came yesterday; I will
see him”
b. Ìdányáø/yaázoóyâuzângánshì
if Agr3MS-NF-Perf come today will see him
“If he has come today, I will see him”
c. Ínyáø/yaázoógoòbeé,zângánshì
if Agr3MS-NF-Perf come tomoroow will see him
“If he has come tomorrow, I will see him”
In (31a), the expression
in the subordinate clause Índaà à ceèyaázoójíyà "if he
came yesterday" is interpreted as a perfective situation, since the
completive aspectual marker has occurred. However, the complement zângánshì "I
will see him" indicates that the action is yet to take place. In this
case, the conditional morpheme índà "if" serves to
link the meanings of the subordinate clause and the complement. Similarly, in
(31b), the subordinate clause ìdányaázoóyâu "if he has
come today" expresses a perfective situation, whereas the complement zângánshì "I
will see him" reflects a simple future situation. Here, the conditional
element ìdán "if" connects the two situations.
In addition, the
adverb goòbeé "tomorrow" in (31c) indicates that the
action in the subordinate clause Ínyaázoógoòbeé "if he
comes tomorrow" has not yet occurred, as the adverb points to a future
event. In this case, the conditional morpheme functions as the condition for
seeing him, as expressed in the complement.
6. Findings and
Conclusion
The findings of this paper reveal that there is more accurate
aspectualdistinction classification analysis. Thus,
the study categorized Hausa
aspectual verbs on five semantic notions:stativity, progressivity, completion,
inception, and habituality.
In Hausa language, aspect plays a significant and vital role in conveying
whether an action is perfective (completed) or imperfective (ongoing or
habitual). Additionally,there is a clear contrast between the markers used for
perfective and imperfective aspects. The notion perfective
aspect which focuses on the actions completion, marked by use of markers such as -á or -ø for singular
verbs and -n or -kà for plural verbs, and imperfective
aspect marked by markers such
as -naà and -keè to indicate ongoing actions or habitual occurrences as well as markers -zaá and
-à express future actions.
Furthermore, aspectual
contrast distinctions in Hausa are also essential for expressing simple future
perfective, simple present perfective, past progressive, present progressive
and future progressive actions.
Conclusively, the study has demonstrated that the systems of aspectual distinctions in Hausa are both intricate and accessible, operating within grammatical theory and linguistic frameworks. It has introduced new concepts and insights that contribute significantly to Hausa linguistic studies and pedagogy, and also it has opened new avenues for grammatical inquiry and linguistic analysis in Hausa, particularly in the areas of syntax and semantics providing a foundation for further academic exploration and improved pedagogical approaches.
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