The future tense of the perfective aspect in Russian

Abstract

The present form of perfective verbs with a future function, characteristic of Eastern and Western Slavic languages, is a constant subject of the effort to investigate and establish once and for all not only its appearance and development but also the way it functions and its meaning. The article lays out a twofold (both lexico-semantic and syntactic) analysis of the functioning of the perfective present with a future function in Russian. In consideration of the lexico-semantic and syntactic conditionality (context) the author distinguishes four basic types of the future use (meaning) of the perfective present. These are as follows: 1) the perfective present meaning a specific future action, 2) the perfective present meaning an unspecific future action, 3) particular contextual (sub)meanings of the perfective present, and 4) the perfective present meaning a correlative future action. Taking into consideration a number of aspects, the paper illuminates the functioning of the perfective aspect and the future tense.