Hark + participio: il perfetto ittita

This paper aims to provide some insights into the patterning of lexical and grammatical strategies in the domain of verbal aspect in Hittite, with special regard to the use of hark-+participle periphrasis. Following the theory and the terminology proposed in Johanson (2000), the Hittite structure is analysed in terms of defocalization-process: from a primary “high-focal postterminal” function to a late “low-focal postterminal” function. For emphasizing this evolution, the occurrences are shown divided according to this chronology: Old-Hittite (sec.2); Middle-Hittite (sec.3); Neo-Hittite (sec.4). In the ancient period, the transitive participles of this structure are characterized by the trait [+telic]; in the middle and especially in the late period they show the trait [-telic]. In the passage of this periphrasis from “high-focal postterminal” to “low-focal postterminal”, the verbs from which the participles are derived are not necessarily telic anymore. As well, in New-Hittite, the contexts the periphrasis could appear in are increased: hark-+participle could replace forms of preterit in a lot of examples, without functional difference. Summing up, the diachronic evolution shows that in a first period this structure is linked to an actional restriction and then it becomes an aspectual periphrasis, completely grammaticalized and defocalized.