By “Phasal Aspect” I understand those aspectual distinctions which bear on the phase in which a certain entity finds itself in relation to the occurrence of some SoA [state of affairs] in which that entity participates.
- Dik (1989), a pag.189

More generally, Phasal Aspect distinctions can be described in terms of the following schema: (16) What can be said on the basis of information available at some reference point ti about the occurrence of some SoA [state of affairs] at some interval tj (where tj may or may not overlap with ti)? The different values that ti can take in relation to tj can be laid out as follows: (17) SoA -----……------------------…...----- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 The different possible Phasal Aspect distinctions can be defined in relation to the reference points in (17): (18) 1 Prospective “John is going to cry” 2 Immediate Prospective “John is about to cry” 3 Ingressive “John starts crying” 4 Progressive “John is crying” 5 Egressive “John stops crying” 6 Recent perfect “John has just cried” 7 Perfect “John has cried” Phasal Aspects thus have a temporal component, but their semantics is more complex than just locating the SoA on the temporal axis.
- Dik (1989), a pag.190