In a general way the notion 'aspect' can be defined as the way in which a property or relation is represented in some dimension. Two kinds of aspect can be distinguished: verbal and nominal aspect. The study of verbal aspect has a long tradition, but nominal aspect has only been introduced recently, at least in the sense in which it is used here (Rijkhoff 1989b, 1990a, 1990b). After a brief look at the more familiar verbal aspects, each of the nominal aspects is discussed in some detail. Then the relevance of nominal aspect will be considered in connection with (i) certain 'number markers' (which will be analysed as nominal aspect markers below), (ii) noun-incorporation, and (iii) predicate nouns.
A more recent account of 'nominal aspect' and 'Seinsart' can be found in
- Chapter 2 ('Nominal Subcategories: Seinsarten')
- Chapter 4 ('Qualifying Modifiers in the Noun Phrase', in particular section
4.1 'Grammatical expression of the notion Quality in the noun phrase') of:
Rijkhoff, Jan. 2002(Hb)/2004(Pb). The Noun Phrase. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
