Abstract
This paper provides an initial analysis of continuative aspectualizers from a contrastive English-Italian perspective. The aim is to investigate the areas of overlap and contrast in terms of the lexico-syntactic behaviour and semantic scope of the main continuative verbs in the two languages, i.e., keep, continue, proceed, resume vs. (man)tenere, continuare, procedere, riprendere. The focus will also be on the identification of the cognitive factors that interact with the prototypical features of these predicates, licensing or blocking the constructions types that can embed them. Two primary mapping operations, namely metonymy and metaphor, will be observed to motivate the behaviour of continuative aspectualizers in transitive and intransitive constructions as well as in less common patterns, such as the middle, reflexive and resultative construction.
Highlights
Aspectual verb constructions are morphosyntactic configurations characterized by different degrees of complexity and with specific grammatical, lexico-semantic and pragmatic features that vary cross-linguistically
This paper provides an initial analysis of continuative aspectualizers from a contrastive English-Italian perspective
Previous studies have predominantly focused on the analysis of aspectual verbs in terms of their most common projections onto syntax, such as the to-infinitive and the -ing form in English, and on their core semantics (Freed, 1979; Tobin, 1993), disregarding, on the one hand, the fact that aspectual verbs appear in different types of more or less prototypical constructions and, on the other hand, that they often produce less core meanings resulting from the “manipulation” of their internal semantics through a process of coercion (Michaelis, 2003)
Summary
Aspectual verb constructions are morphosyntactic configurations characterized by different degrees of complexity and with specific grammatical, lexico-semantic and pragmatic features that vary cross-linguistically. They are high-frequency patterns embedding predicates indicating the state of progression of an event, i.e., its inception (start, begin, commence, initiate), continuation (continue, keep, resume, proceed) or conclusion (stop, end, finish, terminate), and producing several structural realizations and meanings depending on the context of their use.
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