Re: Aspect revisited

At 1:07 pm -0500 15/11/98, Nik Taylor wrote:
>Okay, as I understand it, inceptive refers to begining, yes?  E.g., "he
>began to run".  What is the opposite of this called?  That is, "he
>stopped running".
'Perfective' is the one that comes immediately to mind.

The Latin perfect tense could be used this way.  There is the famous
occasion when Cicero announced that certain people had been executed
(Cataline & followers IIRC) with: "Vixerunt" -  'they've stopped living'.

But the present of the perfective aspect would, as I understand it, not
merely mean that a particular action is now completed & has, therefore,
stopped, but that it's completion can now be seen or has some relevance to
the present; i.e. in the above Cicero's one word is really 'shorthand' for:
"they've finished living and now, thank the gods, they are dead".

Ray.