The Aspect of Verb in Aristophanes’ “Clouds”: an Applied Semantic Study.

Aristophanes (446-386 BC) is considered one of the most important comedy writers who were interested in dealing with the problems of Athenian society in his time. He used his plays to show the political hostility that Athens was suffering from in ancient times. He also used grammar rhetorically to attack his opponents and ridicule the Sophistic thought that spread in Athens during the fifth and fourth centuries BC. His satire focused on the Sophists as corruptors of Greek thought and falsifiers of truths, and he singled out Socrates for attack because he was the author of a new philosophical theory of persuasion that harmed the youth more than it benefited them.
This research paper aims to study the three aspects of verb Durative, Momentary (or simple) and completed in the different verb tenses and forms in Aristophanes’ “Clouds”, where the researcher reviews aspect in the seven verb tenses: the present simple, the Imperfect, the future simple, the Aorist, the present perfect, and the Pluperfect, And the future perfect, also in the four verb Moods:indicative, imperative, optative, and subjunctive.In this applied source study, the researcher relied on the semantic approach to show the semantic role of verb aspect in“The Clouds” to confirm Aristophanes’ success in choosing the appropriate verb aspect for the dialogic situation. It becomes clear that the most frequently used verb aspect In “The Clouds,” is the Durative aspect, followed by the momentary aspect, then the completed aspect.