NOTES ON THE MEANING OF PRESENT AND AORIST STEMS IN RIG VEDA

The paper examines the system of aspects and tenses in Rig Veda, focusing particularly on the stemsof the present (both imperfect and injunctive) and the aorist. A complex issue arises in defi ning their meanings andfunctions. The concept of confi ned versus unconfi ned action does not always adequately capture the present-aoristopposition, as present forms can sometimes refer to events that were completed in the past. The author introduces the category of “point of reference”, as articulated by Hans Reichenbach, to clarify this distinction. The aorist tense stands out from other tenses by emphasizing this reference point. Overall, the Vedic verb captures the stage of the evolution of the aspectual system into a temporal one: the imperfect denotes events from a distant mythological past (which maybe completed), while the aorist refers to more recent events or those that precede others. In this sense, the Vedic verb shares similarities with tense forms in European languages, as described by Harald Weinrich, where a contrast is drawn between foreground tenses (French passé simple) and background tenses (French imparfait). This comparison aids in understanding the development of aspect and time categories across different world languages.