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This paper describes the interplay of lexical and grammatical aspect with other grammatical phenomena in the interpretation of the aspectual suffix ‑ile (which we analyse as Perfective) in isiNdebele, a Nguni Bantu language spoken in South Africa. Crucial other phenomena include constituency-related factors such as the conjoint-disjoint distinction and (related) penultimate lengthening, along with morphophonological conditions that trigger different forms of ‑ile. These factors appear to interact differently in isiNdebele than they do in closely related Zulu, suggesting two different paths of grammaticalization, which we argue can change the interpretation of markers of grammatical aspect as they interact with lexical aspectual classes.
There is an inexhaustible stream of theoretical work on aspect. More than 20 major books of a gelteral nature have come out during the past few years, not to mention the vast amount of shorter articles. The theoretical proposals found in these works are often radically different. What is the state of the art in this highly controversial area? To what extent can the "ordinary working linguist" profit from the flood of theoretical proposals? This paper started out as a review article on five recent books on aspect. These reviews are incorporated here into a general assessment of contemporary aspect theories. We will classify different approaches to aspect and try to sort out their theoretical primitives. The paper concludes wich a brief summary pointing out the most urgent desiderata for a typologically adequate approach to aspect.