The Parameter of Aspect

478 Pages·1991·7.706 MB·English

by  Carlota S. Smith (auth.)

THE PARAMETER OF ASPECT
Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy
Volume43
Managing Editors:
GENNARO CHIERCHIA, Cornell University
PAULINE JACOBSON, Brown University
FRANCIS J. PELLETIER, University 0/ Alberta
Editorial Board:
JOHAN VAN BENTHEM, University 0/ Amsterdam
GREGORY N. CARLSON, University 0/ Rochester
DA VID DOWTY, Ohio State University, Colurnbus
GERALD GAZDAR, University 0/ Sussex, Brighton
IRENE HEIM, MIT., Cambridge
EWAN KLEIN, University o/Edinburgh
BILL LADUSA W, University 0/ California at Santa Cruz
TERRENCE PARSONS, University o/California, Irvine
The titles published in this series are listed at the end o/this volurne.
THE PARAMETER
OF ASPECT
CARLOTA S. SMITH
Department 0/ Linguistics, The University 0/ Texas at Austin, U.S.A.
Springer-Science+Business Media, B.V.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Smith. Carlota S.
The parameter of aspect I Carlota S. Smith.
p. cm. -- (Studies in linguistics and philosophy v. 43)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-7923-2496-6 ISBN 978-94-015-7911-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-015-7911-7
1. Grammar. Comparative and general--Aspect. 1. Title.
I!. Series.
P281.S57 1991
415--dc20 91-6280
Printed on acid-free paper
All rights reserved
© 1991 by Springer Science+ Business Media Dordrecht
Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 1991
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 1991
No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner.
T ABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE xiii
INTRODUCTION xv
PART I
CHAPTER 1 - THE APPROACH 3
1.1. The general theory 3
1.1.1. The two components in sentences 5
1.1.2. Aspectual systems in language 8
1.2. Aspectual choice 10
1.3. The structure of the aspectual components 14
1.3.1. The logic of markedness 14
1.3.2. Markedness and aspectual choice 16
1.3.3. Situation type categories and prototype theory 20
1.4. The parameter of aspect and Universal Grammar 22
CHAPTER 2 - SITUATION ASPECT 27
2.1. Conceptual features of the situation types 28
VI T ABLE OF CONTENTS
2.2. The causal chain 33
2.3. The Situation Types 36
2.3.1. States 37
2.3.2. Activities 44
2.3.3. Accomplishments 49
2.3.4. Semelfactives 55
2.3.5. Achievements
The Achievement situation type 00
Achievement situations 00
Achievement sentences 00
CHAPTER 3 - THE LINGUISTIC REALIZAT ION OF THE
SITUATION TYPES 65
3.1. Semantic & syntactic properties associated with the situation
types 65
3.2. Basic-level situation types 71
3.3. Situation type shifts 75
3.3.1. Marked focus: Super-Iexical morphemes 75
3.3.2. Other cases of marked aspectual choice 79
3.3.3. Perception verbs, personal property predicates 81
3.4. Derived situation types 85
3.4.1. Multiple-event Activities 85
3.4.2. Habitual statives 86
3.5. Indeterminacy and inference 87
CHAPTER 4 - VIEWPOINT ASPECT 91
4.1.1. Families of viewpoints 93
4.1.2. Information and aspectual viewpoints 94
4.2. The main viewpoint types 101
4.2.1. Perfective viewpoints 103
4.2.2. Imperfective viewpoints 111
4.2.3. The Neutral viewpoint 119
4.3. Viewpoints and Conventions of Use 124
4.3.1. Pragmatic conventions and closed systems 124
T ABLE OF CONTENTS vii
4.3.2. Direct interpretation, Augmented interpretation, Pragmatic
focus 125
4.3.3. Some general conventions 127
4.3.4. Narrative conventions and the viewpoints 130
CHAPTER 5 - TEMPORAL LOCA TION 135
5.1. Time and temporallocation 135
5.2. Temporal information in sentences 137
5.2.1. The coordinates of temporallocation 137
5.2.2. A systematic account of temporal reference and temporal
location 140
5.3. Tenses and the Perfect 145
5.3.1. Tense 145
5.3.2. The Perfect 146
5.3.3. Senten ces about the present 151
5.4.1. Adverbials 154
5.4.2. Compositional rules 160
CHAPTER 6 - THE FORMAL ANALYSIS OF ASPECT 167
6.1. Formalizing aspectual concepts 167
6.2. Situation Aspect 168
6.3. Viewpoint aspect 171
6.3.1. The Perfective Viewpoints 173
6.3.2. The Imperfective Viewpoints 175
6.4. From form to meaning: Determining the aspectual
meaning of sentences 177
6.4.1. Intrinsic features 180
6.4.2. Sketches of compositional rules 182
CHAPTER 7 - ASPECTUAL MEANING IN DISCOURSE
REPRESENTATION THEORY 187
7.1. Meaning and language understanding 187
7.1.1. Discourse Representation Theory 191
viii T ABLE OF CONTENTS
7.2. Formalizing aspectual and temporal meanings in the DRS
framework 193
7.2.1. Aspect in Discourse Representation Structures 193
7.2.2. Temporallocation information in a DRS 199
7.2.3. Relating the DRS to a model 200
7.3. Aspectual indeterminacy and inference 202
7.4. Additional DRSs 208
PART 11
INTRODUCTION TO PART 11 217
CHAPTER 8 - THE ASPECTUAL SYSTEM OF ENGLISH 219
8.1. Introductory characterization 219
8.2. Viewpoint aspect 220
8.2.1. The perfective viewpoint 220
8.2.2. The imperfective viewpoint 222
8.2.3. Conventions of use 227
8.3. Situation type 228
8.3.1. Temporal properties in sentences of English 228
8.3.2. Statives 229
8.3.3. Activities 231
8.3.4. Accomplishments 233
8.3.5. Semelfactives 236
8.3.6. Achievements 237
8.4. Temporallocation and aspect 239
8.4.1. Present tense 240
8.4.2. The perfect 241
8.4.2.1. Temporallocation in the perfect 241
8.4.2.2. The aspectual value of the perfect 243
8.4.3. The Futurate 246
8.5. Verb constellations of special interest 248
8.5.1. Super-Iexical morphemes 248
8.5.2. Verbs of perception 249
8.5.3. Verb constellations of position and location 249
8.5.4. Personal properties 251
T AHLE OF CONTENTS ix
CHAPTER 9 - THE ASPECTUAL SYSTEM OF FRENCH 253
9.1. Introductory characterization 253
9.2. Viewpoint aspect 254
9.2.1. The perfective 254
9.2.2. The imperfective 258
9.2.3. The Neutral Viewpoint 263
9.3. Temporallocation 267
9.3.1. The Past Tenses 267
9.3.2. The Present tenses 272
9.3.3. The future tenses 275
9.3.4. Conventions of use 277
9.4. Situation aspect 280
9.4.1. Temporal properties in sentences of French 280
9.4.2. Statives 281
9.4.3. Activities 285
9.4.4. Accomplishments 289
9.4.5. Semelfactives 291
9.4.6. Achievements 292
CHAPTER 10 - THE ASPECTUAL SYSTEM OF RUSSIAN 297
with Gilbert Rappaport
10.1.1. Introductory characterization 297
10.1.2. Morphological preliminaries 298
10.2. Viewpoint aspect 300
10.2.1. The perfective viewpoint 301
10.2.2. The imperfective viewpoint 302
10.2.3. Conventions of use 306
10.3. Situation Aspect 315
10.3.1. Grammatical features of Russian 315
10.3.2. Temporal properties in sentences of Russian 316
10.3.3. Statives 318
10.3.4. Activities 320
10.3.5. Accomplishments 323
10.3.6. Semelfactives 324
10.3.7. Achievements 325
10.4. Temporallocation 327
x T ABLE OF CONTENTS
10.4.1. Tense 327
10.4.2. Adverbials 328
10.4.3. Infinitives 329
10.5. Negation 335
Appendix: Test for the viewpoint aspeet of a verb form 338
CHAPTER 11 - THE ASPECTUAL SYSTEM OF MANDARIN
CHINESE 343
11.1. Introduetory eharaeterization 343
11.2. Viewpoint aspeet 344
11.2.1. The perfeetive viewpoints 344
11.2.1.1. Le 344
11.2.1.2. Guo 348
11.2.1.3. Resultative Verb Complements and the perfective
viewpoint 353
11.2.1.4. Tentative reduplieation 356
11.2.2. The imperfeetive viewpoints 356
11.2.2.1. The progressive zai 357
11.2.2.2. The stative imperfeetive zhe 358
11.2.3. The neutral viewpoint 363
11.2.4. Conventions of use 366
11. 3. Situation aspeet 369
11.3.1. Grammatieal features of Mandarin Chinese 369
11.3.2. Temporal properties in sentenees of Mandarin Chinese 372
11.3.3. Statives 374
11.3.4. Aetivities 377
11.3.5. Aeeomplishments 380
11.3.6. Semelfaetives 384
11.3.7. Aehievements 385
11.4.1. Super-Iexical verbs 387
11.4.2. Position and loeation verbs 388