PDF《A Perspective of Scale Structure*》

LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS 14.

4:663-700,

2013 2013-0-014-004-000416-1 Aspectual Classification of Mandarin Chinese Verbs: A Perspective of Scale Structure* Jeeyoung Peck1 , Jingxia Lin2 , and Chaofen Sun3 Hanyang University1 Nanyang Technological University2 Stanford University3 Previous studies of the lexical aspect of verbs following Vendler (1967) cannot account for verbs of degree achievements (Dowty 1979, Hay et al. 1999, among others). Building on recent studies on scale structure (Hay et al. 1999, Rappaport Hovav &

Levin 2010, among others). We introduce a new aspectual feature [±scale] into the traditional Vendler system in order to more comprehensively account for a wider range of verbs. By analyzing verbs/verbal compounds from Mandarin Chinese and following the scalar approach, we propose six aspectual classes that are needed not only to adequately accommodate degree achievements, but also to provide a fuller account of all the verbs. This scalar approach can be applied to the aspectual classification of natural languages in general. Key words: scale structure, Chinese verbs, aspectual classification 1. Introduction This study is an investigation of the temporal properties of events represented by verbs or verb clusters. The lexical aspect of verbs/verb clusters (Siewierska 1991, Olsen 1997) is also called aktionsart (Agrell 1908) or situation aspect (Smith 1997), and is distinguished from aspectual properties expressed by grammatical category, which is often called viewpoint aspect (Smith 1997). Previous studies of the lexical aspect of verbs based on Vendler (1967) often classify verbs with three temporal features, [±dynamic], [±durative], and [±telic] (or equivalent features under different names) (Kearns 2000, Olsen 1994, among others). However, these studies are unable to position into the system a group of verbs that show * We are very grateful to Beth Levin for her insightful comments on an earlier draft of this paper. We also thank the anonymous reviewers and the audience of NACCL-24 and CRCL-10 for their valuable suggestions. This work was supported by the research fund of Hanyang University (HY-2013-N) and a General Research Funding in Hong Kong (GRF543512H). Jeeyoung Peck, Jingxia Lin, and Chaofen Sun

664 inconsistent telicity (Dowty 1979, Hay et al. 1999, Beavers 2008, among others). In this paper, we follow recent studies of scale structure (Hay et al. 1999, Kennedy 2001, Kennedy &

Levin 2008, among others) and introduce the feature [±scalar] for the aspectual classification of Mandarin Chinese verbs/verbal compounds, demonstrating how a scalar approach can account for a group of previously unanalyzable verbs and furthermore resolve some of the much-debated problems regarding the aspectual analysis of Mandarin Chinese verbs. 2. Previous studies In this section, we first introduce previous studies on lexical aspect and show how these studies fall short in providing a full account of the Chinese aspectual system. Many studies have attempted to classify verbs (predicates, or sentences) according to the internal temporal structure of the events they describe. The most well-known aspectual classification of verbs might be Vendler'

s (1967) classes (which was later developed in more detail by Verkuyl 1989, Olsen 1994, Smith 1997, and Kearns 2000, among others). Vendler (1967) classifies verbs into four types, i.e. state, activity, accomplishment, and achievement, in terms of three underlying aspectual notions, i.e. dynamicity, duration, and telicity. States (know/believe/have) are non-dynamic and continuous situations that are homogeneous (Dowty 1979, Kearns 1991, McClure 1994). Activities (run/walk/swim) are dynamic events that go on continuously, and have no inherent endpoint (Smith 1997). Accomplishments (draw a circle/run three miles/build a house) are dynamic and durative events with an inherent endpoint. Achievements (recognize/arrive/die) are dynamic and near-instantaneous events with an inherent endpoint. Beside the four classes, the most commonly acknowledged fifth class is semelfactives (Comrie 1976:42-43, Smith 1997). A semelfactive refers to a single event which occurs once and once only as in cough, knock, wink, hiccup, and pat, and the event is usually understood as punctual (Comrie 1976:42). In this sense, semelfactives share the same aspectual property with activities in that they are not followed by any result state. In addition, an event described by a semelfactive can be iterated, as in knock at the door (a series of repeated knocks), and in such cases, the iterated semelfactives can be understood as a single situation that does not entail any change of state in contrast to iterated telic events. Thus, a semelfactive verb cannot be distinguished from activities through aspectual diagnostics (Levin 1999, cf. Xiao &

McEnery 2004). Vendler (1967) and also Dowty (1979) do not explicitly characterize aspectual classes in terms of binary aspectual features, e.g., [±dynamic], [±durative], [±telic]. But a feature-based representation is adopted by some studies such as Kearns (2000) and Aspectual Classification of Mandarin Chinese Verbs

665 Olsen (1994, 1997), because such representation identifies different aspectual classes in a more revealing way and provides a picture of the attested and unattested aspectual classes. We will adopt the feature-based representation for the aspectual system in this paper. As presented in Table 1, the three binary features [±dynamic], [±durative], and [±telic] give rise to eight types of events, including the above mentioned Vendler'

s four classes and semelfactive, cf. Olsen (1994, 1997), Xiao &

McEnery (2004). The last three types are predicted but unattested feature combinations either because the features are conflicting or impossible in the real world. For example, [+telic] presupposes [+dynamic], thus it follows naturally that an event of [Cdynamic, +telic] is not allowed. Also, no event could be [Cdynamic, Cdurative, Ctelic] in reality. Table 1: A feature-based representation of aspectual classification ±dynamic ±durative +telic State (know) C + C Activity (run) + + C Accomplishment (draw a circle) + + + Achievement (recognize) + C + Semelfactive (cough (once)) + C C Unattested C + + Unattested C C + Unattested C C C So far, we have introduced the very traditional approach to aspectual classification. The five aspectual classes (Vendler'

s four classes and semelfactive) are distinguished from each other by the features dynamicity, duration, and telicity. Regarding the question of whether we are classifying verbs only, entire VPs, or sentences, we follow the position of Verkuyl (1993), Krifka (1989, 1998) and Rothstein (2008), among others, in assuming that verbs can be classified into aspectual classes, and that we can predict the aspectual classification of sentences based on the aspectual class of a head verb because verbs of particular aspectual classes interact with arguments and modifiers in principled ways. In other words, we assume that the same verbs can head VPs with different aspectual properties after the modification by other sentential elements such as argument NPs, adverbial NPs or PPs. Previously, a variety of important studies has been carried out on topics relevant to the aspectual classification of Mandarin Chinese, including Chao (1968), Teng (1975), Tai (1984), Chen (1988), Her (1990), Smith (1997), Xiao &

McEnery (2004), and many others. In what follows, among these works, we review some studies that adopt the Jeeyoung Peck, Jingxia Lin, and Chaofen Sun

666 feature-based approach for aspectual classification. These studies share a great deal in common in that their analyses are all based on the traditional aspectual features that we have just introduced, i.e., dynamicity, duration, and telicity, but show variations in the application of features. 2.1 Chen (1988) Chen'

s (1988) study is among the earlier comprehensive works dealing with Mandarin Chinese aspectual classification. Chen argues that the verb in a given sentence determines the potential aspectual class to which the sentence might belong, and then other elements in the sentence (without considering the grammatical aspectual markers) influence the actual aspectual understanding of the sentence. With substantial natural examples and a set of linguistic diagnostics, Chen utilizes three traditional aspectual features, i.e. dynamicity (or [±static]), duration, and telicity, to classify the Chinese aspectual system. Chen'

s (1988:407) definition of telicity follows Comrie (1976) in assuming that an event is [+telic] only if the event has a natural endpoint and a gradual process towards the endpoint (cf. Dahl 1981, Jackendoff 1990, and Tenny 1994, among others). Based on these three features, Chen proposes five aspectual classes for Mandarin Chinese sentences. Chen'

s classification is summarized in Table 2;

an example is given for each class in (1).1 Table 2: Chen'

s aspectual classification (Chen 1988:407) static durative telic State + Activity C + C Accomplishment C + + Complex change C C + Simple change C C C (1) a. State 铁具有?属的所有特性 Tiě jùyǒu jīnshǔ de suǒyǒu tèxìng iron have metal POSS all property '

Iron possesses all properties of metal.'

(Chen 1988:407, ex.(12))

1 Comrie (1976:45) argues that a telic situation involves a process that leads up to a well-defined terminal point. In this sense, [Cdurative] events cannot be telic. Aspectual Classification of Mandarin Chinese Verbs

667 b. Activity ?周平时常常写诗 Lǎozhōu píngshí chángcháng xiě shī Old.Zhou usual.time often write poem '

Old Zhou often writes poems.'

(Chen 1988:409, ex.(28)) c. Accomplishment 他上个月做?一只木箱 Tā shàngge yuè zuò-le yìzhī mùxiāng he last.CLF month make-ASP one.CLF wood.box '

He made a wood box last month.'

(Chen 1988:410, ex.(36)) d. Complex change ?国关系在?断改善 Liǎng guó guānxi zài búduàn gǎishàn two country relations PROG continuously improve '

The relations of the two countries are continuously improving.'

(Chen 1988:411, ex.(39)) e. Simple change 邻居厨房?的煤气罐突然爆炸? Línjū chúfáng-lǐ de méiqìguàn túrán bàozhà le neighbor kitchen-inside REL gas.tank suddenly explode ASP '

The gas tank in our neighbor'

s kitchen exploded suddenly.'

(Chen 1988: 413, ex.(47)) As illustrated in Table 2, Chen'

s first three classes (state, activity, accomplishment) are, to a large extent,........