Aspect

In Arcadia there are 4 aspect prefixes, which are used to indicate how the verb's action extends over time.

Parts of the aspect prefix

The aspect prefixes are:

• Perfect: "il", used for actions that have finished
• Prospective: "ol", used for actions that haven't started yet
• Progressive: "am", used for actions that are in progress
• Iterative: "um", used for actions that run on intervals, or as a habit

The aspect prefixes can be combined with each other to create more complex meanings. The resulting prefix is formed by concatenating the individual prefixes.

The order of the prefixes is important, as it affects the meaning of the resulting aspect. The order is:

1. Perfect/Prospective (il/ol)
2. Progressive/Iterative (am/um)

veritas

Veritas has no aspect, as it describes events and truths unaffected by time.

Usage in habits

There is a subtle difference on how we describe habits. Talking about a "typical day", we will use the aorist tense, without an aspect prefix. Talking about a habit that we have, we will use the iterative aspect prefix "um".

Examples

Aspects for timed tenses

• potivo e akvon
  • I drank water
• ilpotivo e akvon
  • I had drunk water
• olpotivo e akvon
  • I was about to drink water
• ampotivo e akvon
  • I was drinking water
• ilampotivo e akvon
  • I had been drinking water
• olampotivo e akvon
  • I was about to start drinking water
• umpotivo e akvon
  • I had the habit of drinking water
• ilumpotivo e akvon
  • I had had the habit of drinking water
• olumpotivo e akvon
  • I was about to start having the habit of drinking water