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Quantification and aspect

Profile image of Roumyana SlabakovaRoumyana Slabakova

2005, Perspectives on aspect

https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3232-3_4
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25 pages

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Abstract

This paper brings forward new data in support of the asymmetric properties of aspect features, as defined in Di Sciullo (1997) on the basis of Romance languages. We show that prefixes encoding terminativity (internal [T]) impose a specific reading not only on determinerless DPs in languages like Russian, Czech and Polish, but also on overtly unspecified cardinality DPs as in Bulgarian. Furthermore, only a subset of Bulgarian prefixes are identified as capable of encoding the internal [T] feature. We argue against the traditional view that Slavic perfective prefixes are a homogeneous group. Outside the VP-level, specific readings of DPs provide evidence for another terminative (external [T]) feature taking asymmetric scope over arguments (subjects as well as objects). We propose that A-quantification, [T] calculus, and its effect on Dquantification, are obtained compositionally given the configurational asymmetry between external [T] and internal [T] in phrase structure. We refer to this hypothesis as the [T]/[T] asymmetry hypothesis. One desirable consequence of this hypothesis is that it allows for the elimination of AspP in the derivation of linguistic expressions.

FAQs

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AI

How does A-quantification in Slavic differ from D-quantification?add

The study proposes that A-quantification occurs through internal verb features, while D-quantification partners with noun projections, creating coherent structural relations.

What role do aspectual affixes play on verbal roots in Slavic languages?add

Aspectual affixes in Slavic languages directly impose terminative characteristics on verbs, influencing the specific interpretations of argument structures and DPs.

What evidence supports the Internal/External prefix hypothesis in Bulgarian?add

The research presents instances showing that internal prefixes modify telicity and argument structure, while external prefixes serve mainly as adverbial modifiers.

How does the presence of perfective prefixes affect object specificity in nouns?add

The findings indicate that perfective prefixes induce specific readings even in determiner-less noun phrases across languages like Russian and Bulgarian.

What implications does the [T]/[T] asymmetry hypothesis have for morphological theory?add

This hypothesis suggests that internal and external aspectual features operate in distinct planes of grammatical derivation, impacting both morphological and syntactic constructions.

Figures (2)
So, the External [T] feature can only be seen to have a quantificational effect on the object interpretation if Internal [T] is not present. In a sense, the ‘Every time she wrote (specific a number of) letters, Marina went out to mail them at the post office.’
So, the External [T] feature can only be seen to have a quantificational effect on the object interpretation if Internal [T] is not present. In a sense, the ‘Every time she wrote (specific a number of) letters, Marina went out to mail them at the post office.’
The syntactic representation in (51) is a minimalist representation, in the sense of Chomsky (2001), of the [T]/[T] hypothesis. The configurational [T]/[T] hypothesis follows from Asymmetry Theory, where both syntactic and morphological planes deploy non-isomorphic asymmetric relations, as discussed in Di Sciullo (forthcoming). Thus, in the syntactic derivation there is no Aspect projection, either in the lexical or in the functional domain. Rather, we assume that internal aspectual features are part of the v projection, while external aspectual features are part of the Tense projection. The aspectual [T] feature is part of the feature specification of the functional heads small v and Tense. The features are part of the maximal projections vP and TP including the object, YP, and the subject, XP. Thus the [T]/[T] hypothesis ensures the relation between A-quantification and D-quantification, as the [T] features of v and the [T] features of Tense compositionally derive the aspectual feature structure of TP and has consequences for the specificity feature of the DPs, both object and subject.
The syntactic representation in (51) is a minimalist representation, in the sense of Chomsky (2001), of the [T]/[T] hypothesis. The configurational [T]/[T] hypothesis follows from Asymmetry Theory, where both syntactic and morphological planes deploy non-isomorphic asymmetric relations, as discussed in Di Sciullo (forthcoming). Thus, in the syntactic derivation there is no Aspect projection, either in the lexical or in the functional domain. Rather, we assume that internal aspectual features are part of the v projection, while external aspectual features are part of the Tense projection. The aspectual [T] feature is part of the feature specification of the functional heads small v and Tense. The features are part of the maximal projections vP and TP including the object, YP, and the subject, XP. Thus the [T]/[T] hypothesis ensures the relation between A-quantification and D-quantification, as the [T] features of v and the [T] features of Tense compositionally derive the aspectual feature structure of TP and has consequences for the specificity feature of the DPs, both object and subject.

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Luisa Ruvoletto

Biblioteca di Studi Slavistici

This paper deals with the different meanings and functions of prefixes in perfective verbs derived from the indeterminate motion verbs chodit’, nosit’ and ezdit’. In some expressions with transitive verbs (e. g. vychodit’, donosit’ and naezdit’) the prefixes are lexical. Their function consists in creating accomplishment verbs with a resultative meaning. On the other side, the prefixes po-, za- and ot- in such verbs as pochodit’, zachodit’, ot’’ezdit’ are superlexical. They have the function of expressing additional meanings which refer to the duration, inception and cessation of the action.

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Супралексический префикс по- в русском и болгарском языках
Svetlana Slavkova

Biblioteca di Studi Slavistici

The aim of this paper is to compare the superlexical prefixes of Russian and Bulgarian. The main focus is on delimitative and attenuative po- in derived PF forms as well as in secondary IPF verbs. Using the Russian-Bulgarian parallel corpus, I show that there is a functional parallelism between PF and IPF delimitatives in Russian and Bulgarian. The semantic similarity between delimitative and attenuative meaning is the basis for expressing special pragmatic functions by means of both PF and IPF poattenuatives in Bulgarian, while attenuative po-verbs in Russian express specific pragmatic meanings primarily via PF forms.

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Baltic topmost superlexical prefixes as the left periphery of the verb: the permissive, the restrictive, the negative, and the debitive
Julija Korostenskiene

Journal of Baltic Studies, 2022

This article explores the topmost superlexical prefixes of the Baltic verb, the Lithuanian te- and ne- and the Latvian jā- and ne-, from the generative perspective. The prefixes are examined in light of Rizzi’s (1997) split-CP analysis. The proposed analysis formally accounts for the placement and interplay of the prefixes, in particular, the permissive and restrictive meanings of te- and the interaction between te- and ne- in Lithuanian and the debitive phenomenon and its incompatibility with ne- in Latvian. The findings of this article contribute to the debate on the distinction of the debitive as a separate mood.

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