Abstract:
This article presents an analysis of progressive expression types in human languages, based on a sample of 72 languages.The study focuses on the discrepancies in temporality and spatiality within these expressions.By considering the morphological changes of the core verbs, the nature of markers, and their correlation with locative meaning or components, a continuum of progressive aspect expressions emerges.This continuum reveals the varying saliency of progressive aspect expressions across different languages in conveying temporal concepts with spatial concepts.Consequently, this study unveils a continuum that characterizes the temporality and spatiality inherent in progressive aspect expressions in human languages.Additionally, this study identifies several implicational universals in progressive aspect expressions of human languages.