Lexical aspect
One of the most basic ways of classifying predicates: does this predicate describe a situation which is changing over time, or a situation which is relatively static (unchanging)? Predicates of the first type are called EVENTS, while those of the second type are called STATES.
Jackendoff (1983:170ff.) lists several simple tests for distinguishing states from events in English. First, events can be said to “happen,” while states cannot. If a particular verb (or verb phrase) can be used naturally to answer the question What happened?, then it expresses an event (9a–d); if not, it expresses a state (9e–h).
(9) What happened was that...
a Mary kissed the bishop.
b the sun set.
c Peter sang Cantonese folk songs.
d the grapes rotted on the vine.
e *Sally was Irish.
f *the grapes were rotten.
g *William had three older brothers.
h *George loved sauerkraut.
Second, only events can normally be expressed in the progressive aspect (10a–c). When states are expressed in this form, the result is normally ungrammatical as in (10d–g). Sometimes, however, speakers may use this construction to express temporary states (contrast 10g with 10h); or for states that are re-interpreted as events, e.g. behaving in a certain way as in (10i).
(10) a Mary is kissing the bishop.
b The sun is setting.
c Peter is singing Cantonese folk songs.
d *This room is being too warm.
e *Sally is being Irish.
f *William is having a headache.
g *George is loving sauerkraut.
h George is loving all the attention he is getting this week.
i Arthur is being himself.
A third test involves the use of the simple present tense. In English, events which are expressed in the simple present tense take on a habitual interpretation, whereas states do not. Examples (11a–c), involving event predicates, imply that the subject is in the habit of performing the actions described by the predicate. Examples (11d–e), however, involving stative predicates, imply only that the state of affairs being described is true at that particular time. They do not imply that the room is always too warm, or that William always has a headache.
(11) a Mary kisses the bishop (every Saturday).
b The sun sets in the west.
c Peter sings Cantonese folk songs.
d This room is too warm.
e William has a headache.
Events may be classified into two basic groups, bounded (or TELIC) vs. unbounded (or ATELIC). Telic events are those which have a natural end point. For example, consider the verbs die and give birth. When a person is dead, the act of dying is over. When the baby is fully delivered, the act of giving birth is over. These end points are an inherent part of the meaning of the predicates themselves. Contrast these telic examples with atelic verbs like walk or shine. Logically, we know that a person must eventually stop walking; we even know that the sun must eventually stop shining. But there is nothing in the meaning of the verbs themselves that implies the existence of an endpoint, or specifies when these events can be said to be complete.
Dowty (1979:56ff.) lists several tests for distinguishing telic vs. atelic events. To mention just one, atelic predicates occur quite naturally with phrases expressing duration such as for ten minutes (12a–c), where astelic predicates are less natural with such phrases (12d–f). Conversely, telic predicates occur quite naturally with phrases expressing a time limit such as in ten minutes (13d–f), whereas such phrases are much less natural with atelic predicates (13a–c).1 Similar contrasts occur with the phrases spend an hour x-ing vs. take an hour to x.
(12) For ten minutes Peter...
a sang in Cantonese.
b chased his pet iguana.
c stared at the man sitting next to him.
d*broke three teeth.
e *recognized the man sitting next to him.
f *found his pet iguana.
(13) In ten minutes Peter...
a ??sang in Cantonese.
b*chased his pet iguana.
c *stared at the man sitting next to him.
d broke three teeth.
e recognized the man sitting next to him.
f found his pet iguana.
These examples indicate that break, recognize, and find are telic, while sing, chase, and stare at are atelic. With this brief introduction to lexical aspect, let us turn our attention to aspectual features which tend to be marked morphologically.
1. In some contexts examples like (13a–c) may be acceptable, but only when the time phrase is interpreted as specifying the beginning of the event, rather than the completion of the event as in (13d–f).
