disc parameter aspect parameter aspect posting continues fruitful exchange subsequent initial book review c smith 1991 parameter aspect followup review noted alternative smith proposal involving simpler binary parameter aspect part basis 1995 dissertation biblical hebrew verbal system u toronto smith reply pointed apparent empirical disconfirmation mandarin navajo treated work among others pick thread grant traditional analysis navajo especially mandarin chinese basis objection grant traditional analysis oriental languages including burmese japanese biblical hebrew representing classical semitic systems earliest layer quasiconsensus tense mood aspect tma flowing comrie 1976 1985 present early 19th century orientalist framework posits tenseless languages inflectional aspect systems b definition perfectivity based ambiguity inherent concept completion global view well relative past tense oriental orientalism see e g e said orientalism 1978 reject orientalist framework analysis semitic systems extended oriental systems extended worldwide least half world systems indirectly reject traditional analysis mandarin navajo clarify make discussion concrete offer analysis english orientalist framework please take seriously analysis english english reputable authorities agree tenseless encodes aspect cf slavic systems find arrested development actual regression robust classical aryan tma systems english one distinction ed vs 0 respectively perfective imperfective perfective signals completion vs noncompletion imperfective severely impoverished system english signals regression anglo american mind witness reagan thatcher etc etc note several key elements underlie traditional analyses socalled tenseless languages 1 tma encoded morphologically greek model morphocentric fallacy 2 perfective defined relative past tense bypassing revolution aspectology second half 1800s aorist fallacy 3 relative hierarchy languages greek sanskrit top semitic near bottom creoles bottom related relative development mind tied particular pre darwinian interpretation evolutionary theory english tenseless biblical hebrew quranic arabic japanese burmese turkish indeed mohawk haitian creole differ standard european systems systematically differ respect aspect mirrorimage fashion difference insightfully captured cowper strong claim simple binary parameter aspect system default aspectual interpretation simple tense system either perfective nonperfective aspect defaulted separately encoded crosslinguistically limited number ways european tense systems default nonperfective apparently minority marked option non european tenseless systems default perfective english simply extrapolate strong claim universal grammar systems encode tense past vs nonpast grant future tense least irrealis realis addition basic system configured binary parameter aspect virtually systems outside european sphere default perfective according studies assume unmarked setting ug major diagnostic among many non obligatory expression progressive perfective default must separately encode progressive e g mandarin must express progressive zai v construction lit v defaults perfective navajo apparently athabaskan family whole default nonperfective algonquian systems real pocket european like nonperfective defaulters work summarized tenseless languages light aspectual parameter universal grammar preliminary cross linguistic survey forthcoming fall 1995 toronto working papers linguistics mean individual lexica increase complexity system many interactions tma lexical classes also parameterized talking basic configuration tma system ug smith right point great complexity inherent systems described last posting mandarin difficulty counts inflection whether inflection infl standard theorizing recognize mandarin le inflection guo zhe smith mention v yi v include v1v2 compounds literature use divided morphosyntactic status guo zhe think way behave inflection see among many sources li thompson meaning structure complex sentences zhe mandarin chinese jaos 96 4 1976 certainly progressive perhaps sort adjectivalization navajo think jury still systems rice work slave indicates lexical nature several classes morphemes athabaskan verb complex indeed great deal complexity since athabaskan really system fall naturally proposal deserves great attention either whole project falls learn something interesting athabaskan systems proposal gets modified interesting way knows learn nothing without strong claims summary reject analysis tenseless defines perfectivity terms relative past tense comrie 1976 views embedded current consensus tma easily traced early 1800s work hebrew arabic reject early framework notso pretty cultural baggage goes place place cowper binary aspectual parameter default extend proposal oriental systems strong claim ug tma system according surveys real problem athabaskan systems project near future hope note many proposals approaches would benefit reduction simplification terms concepts etc e g bybee et al system streamlined symmetries emerge appear amenable explanation descriptive typological work put better footing well respectfully vincent decaen c near eastern studies dept 4 bancroft ave 3d floor university toronto toronto m5s 1a1 canada decaen epas utoronto ca