The Facets of Aspect: A Comparative Study of Hungarian and Italian Systems. Part I: Theoretical Background; Analysis of Hungarian

Abstract

This essay initiates a typologically grounded contrastive analysis of Italian and Hungarian aspectual systems. It aims to contribute to the theoretical debate on ATAM structures by exploring scalar categorization through prototypicality and continua, while supporting second language acquisition of Hungarian and Italian. The study is grounded in Cognitive-Functional Linguistics, integrating insights from linguistic typology, usage-based linguistics and prototype theory to develop a comprehensive framework for understanding language structure and use. The analysis focuses on key features of the Hungarian aspectual system and its graded structure, with some reflections on the role of prototype theory in language acquisition. A forthcoming companion study will investigate Italian aspect, enabling cross-linguistic comparison and informing pedagogical approaches for both languages.