VERB ASPECTUALITY IN THE HISTORICAL PROSE OF MUHAMMAD RIZA AGAKHI: STYLISTIC AND NARRATIVE FUNCTIONS

Abstract

This article presents a systematic linguistic and narratological analysis of verb aspectuality in the historical prose of the outstanding 19th-century Khivan writer Muhammad Riza Agakhi (1809–1874). Drawing on four major works — `Riyoz ud-Davla`, `Zubdat ut-Tavorix`, `Gulshani davlat` and `Shohidi ikbol` — the study examines how Agakhi employs perfective, imperfective, iterative, semelfactive, inchoative, terminative, and habitual aspects to achieve stylistic and narrative effects that were unprecedented in classical Chagatai/Turkic prose. Through more than forty authentic textual examples, the article demonstrates that Agakhi’s conscious manipulation of aspectual forms (lexical, syntactic, and contextual) to control narrative tempo, create psychological depth, generate rhythmic tension, and produce cinematic montage-like effects. The findings reveal that Agakhi effectively constructs a fully functional aspectual system comparable to those found in modern Slavic and Germanic languages, thereby establishing him as a pioneering innovator in Uzbek psychological and stylistic prose long before the emergence of 20th-century realist traditions.