periphrastic

Periphrastic is an adjective that relates to periphrasis, a linguistic construction in which meaning is expressed by more words than strictly necessary. In grammar, periphrasis refers to using auxiliary verbs or circumlocutory phrases to convey tense, aspect, mood, voice, or other grammatical categories instead of relying on a single inflected word.

Common periphrastic forms include English constructions that use auxiliary verbs to express aspect or tense. The present progressive I am writing expresses ongoing aspect with be plus the present participle. The perfect tense I have eaten uses have plus the past participle. Periphrastic future forms appear in many languages, such as the French futur proche je vais partir, which uses aller plus an infinitive to express near-future intention. French past constructions like je viens de manger illustrate periphrasis for immediacy, literally a present of venir plus de plus infinitive.

Periphrasis also appears in question formation and negation through do-support, as in Do you know? or I do not know, where an auxiliary verb is added to form the grammatical category rather than inflecting the main verb. In this sense, periphrastic forms are common in analytic or less synthetic languages and are often a focus of typological and historical studies, where languages may shift from synthetic to periphrastic systems over time.