Abstract
This paper offers an analysis of ka41, an aspectual element in Changsha Xiang Chinese. It is argued that this element occupies a position in the inner-aspectual structure of the clause, between the higher aspectual marker ta21 and the lower elements expressing a lexical result (like clean in wash clean). On the basis of its co-occurrence with various verb types, we treat ka41 as an achievement marker: when present, it blocks any reading in which the denoted event proceeds along a multi-point scale, allowing only the instantaneous, two-point scale reading in which the beginning and the endpoint of the event coincide. On the basis of its syntactic distribution we argue that the syntactic position ka41 occupies is an intermediate aspectual projection (Asp2P) in the inner aspect domain, which is sandwiched between the lowest inner aspectual projection dedicated to telicity and the highest one signaling perfectivity (or realization of the end point). We review the implications of the analysis for the aspectual domain of Mandarin clauses and point out that the intermediate inner aspectual projection (Asp2P) we introduce for Changsha appears to be a suitable syntactic position for the structural analysis of the small set of grammaticalized items generally known as “Phase complements” as well.
Highlights
This paper is primarily about the marker ka41 in Changsha Xiang Chinese ( “Changsha”), the language of Changsha, the capital of Hunan province in Central China
We will argue that ka41 is an achievement marker and that, since ka41 occupies a certain position in the structure, the difference between accomplishments and achievements may be a structural affair—at least in this language
The assistant was repairing his computer b. *His son was finding his key Another difference is that, when combined with adverbs like almost, accomplishments are ambiguous between a reading with a focus on the beginning (e.g., for (2a), ‘almost started writing’) and one with a focus on the result (‘almost finished it’), whereas achievements exclusively focus on the result (see (2b)).2 (2) a
Summary
This paper is primarily about the marker ka in Changsha Xiang Chinese ( “Changsha”), the language of Changsha, the capital of Hunan province in Central China. *His son was finding his key Another difference is that, when combined with adverbs like almost, accomplishments are ambiguous between a reading with a focus on the beginning (e.g., for (2a), ‘almost started writing’) and one with a focus on the result (‘almost finished it’), whereas achievements exclusively focus on the result (see (2b)).2 These differences are often explained as resulting from a difference in the internal make up of these two verb types. It may alternatively be the case that there always is a process between the beginning and the endpoint and that the difference between achievements and accomplishments lies in the syntactic accessibility of this process. If the process is not accessible, the beginning and endpoint are effectively immediately adjacent, as is the defining property of achievements, as we just saw, and, the progressive cannot be formed. Instead, focusing on data from Changsha, it focuses on the cases in which the presence of a process is not at issue (there clearly is one) and investigates the question whether it is the case that access to the process leading up to the endpoint is determined by the nature of the endpoint denoting element or by structural factors
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