Aspectual Use Research Articles

Scalar markers between aspect and modality: The case of Lithuanian be-

Summary The present article proposes an analysis of a subset of functions of the Lithuanian verbal prefix be-, one of a small group of prefixes performing functions usually characteristic of particles rather than prefixes, such as those of focus, phasal and scalar markers. They have correspondingly been called ‘particle-like prefixes’ in Lithuanian grammar. While in its aspectual use be- is mainly progressive in modern Lithuanian, its original function was phasal (continuative), and it is this meaning that extended to scalar meanings. The article focuses on the variety of functions this scalar be- has acquired in grammar, and the ways in which it has become a marker of various constructional meanings that can be characterized as modal. More generally, it shows the importance of the Lithuanian data in elucidating the role of scalarity as a mediator between aspect and modality.

Syntax/Semantics discrepancy in the grammaticalization of resultatives: Evidence from Karimata-Miyako Ryukyuan

I present clear evidence from Karimata-Miyako Ryukyuan that semantic change can precede a syntactic change in the process of grammaticalization. In this dialect, the morpheme ufu has an aspectual and a conjectural use, and the change proceeds from the former to the latter in accordance with the “scope-increase” (Tabor & Traugott 1998) hypothesis. While the aspectual use of ufu only takes accomplishment and activity verbs, carrying their resultative interpretations, the conjectural use is insensitive to the aspectual type of verbs and is also compatible with achievement and state verbs. In addition to evidential/modal meanings, ufu develops a tense-like meaning that refers to the past. In spite of those semantic developments, ufu occupies the same syntactic position as that of the aspectual use.

Changes in the functions of already in Singapore English

Abstract The use of the adverb already in Colloquial Singapore English has long been known as one of the most readily recognizable features defining the contact dialect, marking aspectual nuances such as anterior, completive, inchoative and inceptive functions, as noted by Bao (2005, 2015). Recent observations note that the uses of already as an inchoative marker (distinguishing the adverb as an iamitive) are more frequently found than completive uses across a small, synchronic sample of speakers (Teo 2019). It is perhaps less often recognized, though, that the aspectual use of already co-exists with the variable marking for past tense in Singlish (Ho & Platt 1993), and that both the aspectual adverb and the past tense may be seen to co-occur in the same construction. The frequency of already in its various functions is examined across two corpora, and the relative frequency of completive vs. non-completive functions is quantified diachronically. It is hypothesized that, rather than grammaticalizing onwards to become a past tense marker, as is predictable for some Portuguese creole iamitives (ya ‘already’) (Clements 2006), already is becoming increasingly restricted in its functional range in today’s Singlish, and that its perfect and completive functions may be at a stage of selective renovation by the use of the past tense in Standard Singapore English.

Bleached Verbs as Aspectual Auxiliaries in Colloquial Modern Hebrew and Arabic Dialects

Verbal inflections in Classical Hebrew and Arabic encode aspectual information such as perfective and imperfective. In modern Arabic dialects, an aspectual system has evolved through the auxiliary usage of bleached verbs, replacing the older system of aspectual inflections. Arguably, a similar process in which bleached verbs acquire aspectual use is now evolving in Colloquial Modern Hebrew. The article discusses the functions of the bleached verbs ‘sit’ and ‘come’ in Colloquial Modern Hebrew and Arabic.

A microparametric analysis of apparent postverbal negation in Taiwanese Southern Min

AbstractThis article investigates the postverbal negation construction in Taiwanese Southern Min. I propose that the construction is derived in a way similar to resultatives and that the postverbal negationboand its affirmative counterpartuare particular kinds of aspectual elements in the resultative complement. Given this, the lack of (apparent) postverbal negation in the closely-related language Mandarin Chinese can be ascribed to the fact that Mandarin Chinese lacks this particular aspectual use of affirmativeyouand negativemei(you) and thus it fails to generate the structure under investigation. It is also shown that the proposed analysis is supported by cross-linguistic correlations among Chinese languages.

Modality and Aspect: interaction of constructional meaning and aspectual meaning in the dative-infinitive construction in Russian

In the literature on modality there has been an increasing interest for the interaction and relation between aspect and modality in Slavic (for example Paducheva 2006; Rappaport 1985; Trnavac 2006; Wiemer 2001). Most of these studies proceed from cross-linguistically defined notions of modality, or even more abstract cross-linguistic notions (e. g. Trnavac 2006, who deals with the notion of subjectivity), and try to determine whether a correlation can be established between these modal notions, and the aspectual use of a form or construction. In many of these analyses, the dative infinitive construction in Russian (henceforth DI) plays an important part, primarily because the aspect of the infinitive is an important factor in the specific modality type associated with this construction. The general pattern observed in the literature on the DI is that (im)possibility is correlated with the perfective aspect, whereas the imperfective aspect is typical of necessity (see Bricyn 1990; Fortuin 2000; Maurice 1995, 1996 and Timofeev 1950). The correlation between epistemic modality and aspect seems a matter of some debate. Some argue that it is correlated with the perfective aspect (e. g. Wiemer 2001, 201), in line with the general association between epistemic modality and the perfective aspect in Russian (Wiemer 2001, 217), whereas others see a relation with the imperfective aspect (e. g. Fortuin 2000). Analyses of the aspectual usage of specific forms such as the DI which proceed from cross-linguistically modality types can provide a deeper understanding of the relation between aspect and modality cross-linguistically (see Van der Auwera and Plungian 1998 for a state of the art overview of such modality types). It is, however, important to accompany such studies with analyses that focus on the specific semantics of forms, and the internal logic of aspect of these forms. In this paper, I will provide such an analysis. As I will show, the aspectual usage of the DI differs considerably from other modal forms. This is foremost due to the fact that the modality of the DI is syntactically derived, and not expressed by one specific form. This is not to say though, that the aspectual use of the DI is an idiosyncratic phenomenon of the DI. Similar aspectual patterns can be found with other syntactic expressions of modality, and other non-modal constructions. This means that the aspectual

Particles and Prefixes in English and Serbian

The paper attempts to, by means of contrastive analysis, prove that particles belonging to phrasal verbs in English are in their linguistic essence equivalent to Serbian perfective verbal prefixes. This hypothesis has been backed up by a brief study based on 40 translation equivalents, which has shown that phrasal verb particles in English and perfective prefixes in Serbian are both markers of telic aktionsart on the lexical level of the verb. Also, the particles and the prefixes alike affect the ‘aspectual use’ of verbs in their respective languages: while the particles in English do not block their use with the progressive, the prefixes in Serbian block their use with imperfective aspect. Both semantically and grammatically, the appropriate solution for translating the English progressive of phrasal verbs into Serbian is modal aorist of Serbian perfective verbs. On the lexical and grammatical level alike, Serbian and English seem to have a convergent relationship, hence there exists a contrast between Serbian and English, the analyzed language elements are also similar with respect to distribution and equivalent with respect to meaning.

L’analyse des constructions du verbe venir avec l’infinitif

Summary The object of this paper is to explore the constructions of the French verb venir with a infinitival complement, through the analysis of a large corpus. We conclude that differences between verbs and auxiliaries are a matter of degree. Contrary to the cases of the movement verb venir (Table 2 in M. Gross, 1975, ex. Pierre est venu voir Marie), the subject, in some constructions of «venir + infinitive» is an inanimate noun. We propose to distinguish, among the constructions mentioned above, the aspectual use of venir (ex. Cet incident est venu compliquer encore la question). This use of venir is to be analyzed as an intermediate state between movement verbs and auxiliaries. In this aspectual construction, whose subject can be caracterized as an abstract noun, the verb venir does not take a locative complement, contrary to any other constructions of «venir + infinitive» (with the exception of the auxiliary use venir de). Such aspectual constructions do not exist with the verb aller, the counterpart deictic verb of venir. If venir in aspectual use is on the way to becoming an auxiliary, aller without this use can be considered as more advanced in the axe of auxiliarity.

The Effectiveness of Written Recasts in the Second Language Acquisition of Aspectual Distinctions in French: A Follow‐Up Study

This follow‐up study on the acquisition of the aspectual distinction between the passé composé (PC) and the imparfait (IMP) investigates the differential outcomes of the results presented in an earlier study, Ayoun (2001), by pursuing two lines of research: the effectiveness of written recasts versus models and traditional grammar instruction, and the development of temporality in the interlanguage of French college students as second language learners (i.e., the Aspect Hypothesis). The earlier study found that all learners improved in their use of the PC but not the IMP. The R(recast)‐group out‐performed the M(model)‐group and the G(grammar)‐group, with a significant difference over the latter but not the former, which supported the hypothesis that recasts are the most effective form of treatment. The qualitative results of the present study weaken this finding because it was more difficult to distinguish among the three different treatments: (a) The G‐group outperformed the R‐ and M‐groups in accuracy and frequency in the PC; (b) all three groups decreased in their accuracy and frequency in the IMP but the G‐group outperformed the other two groups; (c) the three groups were practically identical in the production of various predicate types in the PC and IMP on the pre‐ and posttests; and (d) overall, it was the G‐group's performance that showed a greater aspectual use of predicate frequency and type in the IMP. These new results partially support a prediction of the Aspect Hypothesis, according to which the use of past tense morphology is influenced by lexical class, but they offer only tentative support for the Imparfait Spreading hypothesis. A few preliminary suggestions regarding pedagogical applications are offered.