On Progressive Aspect in Some Iranian Languages

Some Iranian languages spoken in the shares of the Caspian Sea or their origin was the region, also in Balochi and Bashgardi spoken in southeastern Iran, there is a specific construction for progressive aspect not seen in other Iranian languages. This paper deals with the morphological and syntactic features of the progressive form, the constituents, and their functions; and shows how this construction relates with the most common source of progressive aspect. The results show that the progressive form derives from a locative expression comprised of three basic elements: the main verb in the form of the infinitive, verbal noun, present participle, or imperfect; a copula usually used as enclitic and attached to the other constituents; and a locative adposition express the locative meaning, omitted in some varieties. A fourth element may be seen in some varieties meaning ‘in the act of, busy’ that originally is a noun form of a postural verb used to denote postural notion in the construction. The meaning of the locative construction which gives rise to the progressive is ‘be at doing something’