Situation types
A particularly influential account of lexical aspect is Vendler’s (1967) account of situation types, where verbs, and hence the clauses that they head, are classified into four major categories in terms of a set of aspectual features. This model is represented in Table 18.3.
These terms are familiar from our discussion in Chapter 15. Briefly, a verb is stative if it describes an event that remains constant through time and, crucially, does not involve internal change or action. A prototypical stative verb is resemble. In contrast, a dynamic verb involves internal change (for example, grow), or action (for example, eat). The distinction between durative and punctual aspect relates to whether the event described by the verb is over almost as soon as it has begun, in which case it is punctual (for example, flash), or extends over time, in which case it is durative (for example, resemble, love, grow). The distinction between telicity and atelicity relates to whether the event described by the verb has an inherent endpoint or goal as part of its meaning, in which case it is telic (for example, die). In contrast, stative verbs like love express atelic events. Of course, it is rather misleading to suggest that verbs in isolation deter mine the situation type of the clause. This is because other parts of the clause, particularly objects and temporal adverbials, also participate in determining the aspectual properties of the clause as a whole.
These aspectual features together give rise to the taxonomy represented by Table 18.3. The examples in (23) illustrate each of the situation types.
Example (23a) is stative because knowing something does not involve internal change; it is durative because it extends across time, and it is atelic because we do not expect the situation to reach some inherent endpoint. Example (23b) is dynamic because sparkling involves inherent change. This event is also durative and atelic; of course, activities can come to an end (Lily’s eyes can stop sparkling), but this endpoint is not an intrinsic part of the meaning of sparkle. Example (23c) is dynamic because arriving involves action, and it is punctual because the act of arriving somewhere is achieved in the moment of arriving, hence its inherent endpoint or telicity. This explains why the event cannot be drawn out across time (e.g. *George arrived for hours). Finally, example (23d) is also dynamic and telic, involving action towards an inherent endpoint or goal, but it is durative because it is extended across time. In the remainder of section 18.4, we will explore the Cognitive Grammar account of these situation types.
