Abstract
As an exception to Krifka’s (1989) famous generalization that a quantized incremental theme always induces an event-homomorphic completive reading, Singh (1991, 1998) observes that in Hindi only the quantized mass noun phrases as the incremental theme entails a completive reading, but unexpectedly quantized count nouns phrases can have an incompletive reading. She proposes that count nouns can introduce a partial thematic relation, whereas mass nouns introduce a total thematic relation. With new data in Mandarin, instead of the mass/count distinction, I argue that referentiality is the crucial factor because the non-culmination readings are only felicitous with the referential objects for consumption verbs in Mandarin.
Highlights
Based on a corpus analysis of Mandarin, Koenig and Chief (2007) show that accomplishment predicates with a quantized incremental theme with the form [Num + CL + N] can have a non-culminating reading
If we replace [Num+ Cl] with [Num+ Measure], the non-culminating reading disappears as in (1). This looks similar to Singh's (1991, 1998) description of Hindi, which she analyzes in terms of two gradual patient thematic relations that differ in completion entailment in a mereological analysis of telicity
This paper investigates the patterns of incompletive readings for consumption verbs in Mandarin to shed light on the semantic composition of telic predicates in Mandarin
Summary
Based on a corpus analysis of Mandarin, Koenig and Chief (2007) show that accomplishment predicates with a quantized incremental theme with the form [Num + CL + N] can have a non-culminating reading (contra Soh and Kuo 2005). If we replace [Num+ Cl] with [Num+ Measure], the non-culminating reading disappears as in (1). This looks similar to Singh's (1991, 1998) description of Hindi (though her examples involve a contrast between mass and count nouns), which she analyzes in terms of two gradual patient thematic relations that differ in completion entailment in a mereological analysis of telicity (cf Krifka 1989). As an event measurement function that measures out the event homomorphically against the amount of the NP consumed in the event, and in this scenario only the completive reading is possible
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