specification for easing functions?

specification for easing functions?

Is there a formal specification for what is expected of easing functions? 

I see that the linear and swing functions as well as the functions in the easings plugin are written to use a start value and a delta value.  But when jQuery core invokes the easing function it always passes a start of 0 and a delta of 1.

What I'm wondering is whether the start and delta values are guaranteed to always be  0 and 1 (at least for jQuery 1.4 and later).  If so, it would make easing functions a lot simpler, and Math.sqrt() becomes valid, for example.