Grammatical aspect in English

Bibliographic Data

ID20344127
AuthorsElizabeth A Cowper, Elizabeth Cowper (0000-0002-1335-4321, corresponding author)
Year1999
Volume16
Issue3
Publication date1999-01-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Linguistic Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0167-6318 • E-ISSN: 1613-3676
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/tlir.1999.16.3.205
OpenAlexW2018500524
LanguageEN
Citations received33

This paper proposes a theory of grammatical aspect based on the Davidsonian event-place e. Eventive sentences are shown to include e, while stative sentences lack e. Parsons' (1990) arguments for an analogous element in stative sentences are shown to be incorrect. The appearance of e is shown to be independent of the choice of verb, transitivity, object case-marking and telicity. It is thus argued to project independently in the syntax. The interpretation of e has two possible values : moment and interval, one of which a language chooses as unmarked. These values correspond roughly to Smith's (1991) perfective and imperfective viewpoint aspects. Possible structural evidence from negation for the presence of a syntactically projecting e is presented

Grammar · Linguistics · Negation · Physics · Syntax · Transitive relation · Verb · Computer Science · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Linguistics and Discourse Analysis · Mathematics · Philosophy · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation

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