Re: Verb tenses question

>> I have been looking all over for this and couldn't find it--I
>>xxx
>> I need a name for the verb tense that denotes an action that is beginning,
>>xxxx
>> In English we don't have it and use forms like
>>      'I was going to eat',
>>      'I am about to eat',
>>      'I will be getting ready to eat'
>>xxx
>>      *Muke!
---
>
>Well, technically you're talking aspect rather than tense here.  These are
>often confused since they are such tightly coupled concepts in languages
>like English.
>xxx
>The terms typically used for this aspect are "inchoative" or "ingressive"
>aspect.
>David
I don't think there is English terminology for them. You could say,
Past Inchoative, Present Inchoative, Future Inchoative, although I've
never heard the terms.
I gave them diagrams and names in Vector tense:

           event
BB----[-*]@=====>------*---->  lu ja be |lujbe
past-now aDJjacent and exterior to the BEeginning of the event vector.

      now
BB----[*]@=====>---------->  mu ja be  |mujbe
now adjacent and exterior to the beginning of the event vector.

BB-*--[+*]@=====>---------->  nu ja be |nujbe
future-now adjacent to and exterior to the beginning of the event vector.

Depending on whether the start of the event-vector is known or vague
there are other forms in vector tense corresponding to the perfect and
imperfect aspects. I don't really have aspects in vector tense,
anything that is a statement about time is considered tense.  Aspects
are represented but not considered different conceptually from simple
tense. These are all "about to" aspects, different from "going to", as
Tom Weir | artabanos pointed out.

I hope this view clarifies your understanding. Good luck with your
lang.

Jerry