The Syntactic Nature of Inner Aspect

The Syntactic Nature of Inner Aspect
Author :
Publisher : John Benjamins Publishing
Total Pages : 264
Release :
ISBN-13 : 9789027289865
ISBN-10 : 9027289867
Rating : 4/5 (67 Downloads)

Book Synopsis The Syntactic Nature of Inner Aspect by : Jonathan E. MacDonald

Download or read book The Syntactic Nature of Inner Aspect written by Jonathan E. MacDonald and published by John Benjamins Publishing. This book was released on 2008-11-27 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the syntactic nature of inner aspect from a minimalist perspective. It begins with the new observation that there are two independent properties at play in English inner aspect: the object-to-event mapping and event structure. From a discussion of English statives and Russian, it is concluded that the former property is variant and the latter universal; a minimalist conception of language variation arises naturally in this context. Additionally, an exploration of a lexical derivational approach to achievements leads to the expectation that there are no accomplishments in the lexicon. A detailed look at idioms suggests that this expectation is met. These results support the division of labor between an operative lexicon and narrow syntax in aspectual composition; this naturally poses a problem for (neo-)constructional approaches to inner aspect. Finally, one conclusion reached about the syntactic nature of inner aspect regards the object-to-event mapping: it is a purely syntactic phenomenon.


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