Nominal aspect, quantity, and time: The case of the Finnish object

Abstract

It is well known that the quantity indicated by an NP affects clausal aspect if the referent of the NP participates in the event incrementally, i.e. in a part-by-part manner (e.g.She was mowingthe lawn). In general, an incremental NP that indicates a closed quantity makes the overall aspect of the sentence telic and thus bounded, whereas one indicating an open quantity results in unbounded aspect (e.g.Waterwas dripping from the ceiling). In this paper the interplay between quantity and aspect will be called nominal aspect. It is argued that quantity may relate with time in two different ways: first, as overall quantity (which, if incremental, cumulates over time), and second, as transient quantity. The latter term refers to the quantity involved in the situation at a given point in time. It is argued that the interpretation of certain NPs evokes both kinds of quantity; e.g. inThis machine pumpsthe waste water of the factoryinto the drainthe object indicates a quantity that is open in the overall sense (there is no end to the waste water entering the event of pumping) but closed in the transient sense (at any point, all [relevant] waste water gets pumped into the drain). A corresponding distinction is drawn in the domain of verbal aspect, which can also be bounded or unbounded in two different ways. Overall aspect unfolds over time and, if telic, ultimately reaches its endpoint, as inShe took the letter to the post office. Transient aspect is the aspectual nature of an event at any given point in time. It is understood as orthogonal to the time axis and gives a cross-section of the ongoing event. InThis brush cleans the conveyor belt before it enters the machinerythe overall aspect (of the ‘cleaning’) is unbounded, but the transient aspect is bounded, assuming that the brush continuously keeps the conveyor belt in a state of total cleanliness. In this paper, such oppositions are used in explaining the case marking of the Finnish object (partitive vs. ‘total object’ case marking), which reflects both quantificational and aspectual factors. It is argued that the total object can indicate a closed quantity and a bounded aspect not only in the overall sense but also in the transient sense. This distinction is then used to account for many hitherto unexplained uses of the cases.