The Syntactic Nature of Inner Aspect
A minimalist perspective
- Author(s): Jonathan E. MacDonald 1
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View Affiliations Hide AffiliationsAffiliations:1 Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
- Format: PDF
- Publication Date November 2008
- e-Book ISBN: 9789027289865
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/la.133
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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