Abstract
This paper demonstrates that the progressive interpretation in Ga is an effect of the interaction between the imperfective aspect and a definite description of events. Crucially, the data from Ga point to the consequences of the view that definite descriptions of events encode the familiarity of the discourse referent and its uniqueness in bearing the property in question. Namely, they yield direct evidentiality and the necessary ongoingness of the event at the topic time. Thus, the paper identifies previously unattested variation in the semantics of the progressive in a cross-linguistic perspective and shows that not only lexical but also grammatical aspect exhibits striking parallelisms with the nominal domain.
Highlights
Deo (2009, 2015) observed that in a cross-linguistic perspective the imperfective aspect is associated with three different readings: a progressive or event-in-progress reading, a habitual or generic characterizing reading, and a continuous reading withFor insightful comments and discussion, I would like to thank Joseph P
This paper demonstrates that the progressive interpretation in Ga is an effect of the interaction between the imperfective aspect and a definite description of events
Why do clefted sentences conveying imperfective aspectual reference and with the definite determiner lE attached to the VP invariably obtain the progressive interpretation? And how is this interpretation derived compositionally? ⇒ Analytic progressive puzzle
Summary
Deo (2009, 2015) observed that in a cross-linguistic perspective the imperfective aspect is associated with three different readings: a progressive or event-in-progress reading, a habitual or generic characterizing reading, and a continuous reading with. A. event instantiated at the topic time: Tom can see that his friend John is in the process of reading something It starts with accounting for the invariable progressive interpretation of the analytic progressive, as it forms the basis for providing the answers for further puzzles, and follows with the reasons for which the analytic progressive can only refer to events which are instantiated at the topic time and requires a direct evidential context.
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