Microvariation in the Slavic secondary imperfective

Abstract

While secondary imperfectivization (SI) is a prominent phenomenon in Slavic, there is variation in its realization. This study contributes novel cross-Slavic data systematizing our understanding of the distribution and meaning of SI morphology in Macedonian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Slovene, Czech, Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, and Polish. In two exploratory quantitative studies, we (1) show that SI is more productive in Rus, Ukr, Mac, and Bul than in Pol, Cze, Ser, and Slo, and (2) explore semantic conditioning of the variation in productivity of SIs of empty prefixed verbs (they get habitual meaning in Mac and Bul and both single ongoing and habitual readings in Rus and Ukr). We postulate two types of SI morphemes – SI (equally productive across Slavic) and SI-hab (productive only in Bul and Mac). At the formal level, we posit an agreement operation involving a parasitic habitual feature with different behaviors in the tested languages.