Volume 16 Issue 2 (2018) DOI:10.1349/PS1.1537-0852.A.479 Note: Linguistic Discovery uses Unicode characters to represent phonetic symbols. Please see Optimizing Display for requirements to accurately reproduce this page. Aspectuality in
Bantu: On the limits of Vendler's categories
Bastian Persohn University of Cologne In current-day aspectology,
there is a strong tendency towards bi-dimensional approaches in which aspectual
meaning is understood as arising through the selection of abstract lexically
specified temporal phases through morphosyntactic aspectual operators. This
leads to the question how much of a state-of-affairs can be represented in the
lexical phase structure. By looking at data from three Bantu languages this
paper shows how the widely received categories
stipulated by Vendler (1957/1967) fail to capture
the behaviour of a class of lexemes commonly called 'inchoative verbs'
in the Bantuist tradition. This paper
further shows how the
essential limits of Vendler's categories are reflected in most
mainstream radical selection theories of aspect and argues in favour of a more
fine-grained understanding of the lexical dimension. Thereby I aim to draw the attention
of the general linguistic audience
to the situation in this language
family, which previously has been somewhat
overlooked in typological studies of aspectuality. 1. The dimensions
of aspect
1.1 Introduction
In the study of the semantics of aspect, especially in
languages with a rich aspectual morphology, there is a growing agreement
towards bi-dimensional approaches (Sasse 2002; also
see Croft 2012).[1]
In these approaches an essential distinction is made between aspect as a
morphosyntactic device (Sasse's aspect1)
and the lexical (and verb phrase) dimension (Sasse's
aspect2). The latter is often termed 'verb aspect', 'lexical
aspect', or 'Aristotelian aspect'. This dimension is best understood as the
lexical aspectual potential, namely the abstract phases that make up the
state-of-affairs as encoded in the lexical verb (Binnick
1991). A dominant paradigm within bi-dimensional approaches is
the so-called “radical selection theories” (Sasse 2002, based on Bickel 1997); see Croft (2012: 48–52)
for an overview. In these theories, the lexical dimension and aspect as a
morphosyntactic device are understood as standing in a strict correspondence
relationship: grammatical aspect serves as phase-selector that selects matching
temporal phases from the lexical dimension. As Sasse
(2002: 223ff) points out, other types of bi-dimensional approaches, e.g. the
one put forward by Smith (1991), are conceptually closely related to radical
selection theories or might even constitute only a notional variant of them. It
is thus a central question
for our understanding of aspectuality in human
language, how many and which phases of a state-of-affairs may be encoded in the
lexical dimension and may then be selected by aspectual operators. This need
for identifying the language-specific lexical configurations has also been
pointed out by Tatevosov (2002) and Bar-el (2015),
amongst others. The most widely received classification of
verbal expressions, which has been taken up as an approach to the lexical
dimension of aspects by many scholars, are the four categories stipulated by Vendler (1957/1967). This
classification will therefore be taken as a jumping off point. In §§1.2–1.3, Vendler's categories and their prominence in aspectology will be discussed, followed by an introduction into the notion of
'inchoative verbs' in Bantu languages (§1.4). In a case study comparing data
from three eastern Bantu languages, these two
strands
will then be brought together and it will be shown
that Vendler's categories, in their original
formulation, fail to describe the phase structures of many verbs in these
languages (§2). Lastly, the findings of the case study will be viewed against
more recent proposals of verb classifications within radical selection theories
(§3). The overall goal of this paper is to point the general linguistic
audience towards Bantu languages, which have so far received little attention
in typological discussions of aspectuality. 1.2 Vendler's classification
The most influential classification of the
temporal constituency of verbal expressions, which has come to be understood as
a classification of the lexical dimension of aspect, goes back to the works of Zeno Vendler (1957; reprinted in 1967). In an attempt to explain
the semantic and syntactic behaviour of different verbal expressions in
English, Vendler proposes four categories based on
temporal criteria and their behaviour in specific syntactic frames: activities
(run, eat), accomplishments (grow up, recover from
illness), achievements (find, die), and states (want, know).
A major split between these categories is along the line of telicity (end-orientedness): achievements and accomplishments are
understood as telic, whereas states and activities are understood as atelic.
The latter two again differ in regards to the
parameter of dynamicity, while accomplishments and achievements differ in
regards to their duration.
1.3 Vendler's heritage
Vendler’s categories
have been accepted by a great number of scholars –albeit with minor tweaks
(e.g. Dowty 1979; Smith 1991; see Tatevososv
2002: 320f for an overview)– as valid for all human languages; An explicit
example is van Valin (2006), who discusses the
Vendlerian categories, augmented by Smith's category of semelfactives,
under the title of “[…] universals of of verbal
semantics”. This wide acceptance of Vendler's
categories also holds in the field of descriptive linguistics. Ebert (1995:
186) observes that in descriptive grammars “[m]ost
often it is assumed that a verb or verb phrase has the same actional
character as its closest English counterpart”; see Bar-el (2015) for more
discussion. A symptomatic case is Chelliah & de
Reuse's (2011) fieldwork manual, according to which “[t]he defining
characteristics of verbs are captured by the semantic classification of Vendler (1967), which has stood the test of time” (p. 92). Notwithstanding the widespread acceptance
of the Vendlerian categories, criticism has also been expressed. A contentious point is the question of the universality of these categories. As
noted above, Vendler was primarily concerned with
verbal expressions in English. Tatevosov (2002: 322),
however, observes that “the study of actionality since Vendler's
(1957/1967) pioneering work has shown but little typological awareness […] [A]
common (often tacit) assumption is that notions on which Vendlerian classes are
based are logically universal, hence are not subject to crosslinguistic
variation.” This general criticism is probably made most explicit in Filip's
(2011) review article, where she concludes that “Vendler's
classification, despite its prominence, should not be taken for granted” (p.
1193). A notoriously problematic category is that
of achievements. In a purely Vendlerian understanding, as echoed by Binnick (1991: 195) “an achievement is all culmination;
although the achievement is possibly preceded by some activity […] the verb
refers only to the achievement phase, not the preceding activity”. One of the
most cited diagnostics for this assumed lack of duration, put forward by Vendler (1957/1967) himself, is the putative
incompatibility with progressive aspect. Even in English, however, numerous
supposedly prototypical cases of achievements can be shown to be acceptable in
the progressive (e.g. Mourelatos 1978), as illustrted in (1).
An important point is
made by Botne (2003), a case study of 'to die'-verbs
across genetically and typologically distinct languages. Botne
shows that the translational near-equivalents of this
verb, often considered a prototypical achievement, may not only
lexicalize the pivotal transition from life to death, but also a coming-to-be
phase of being moribund and/or the ensuing
state of death. It is also noteworthy that those few descriptive studies which dig deeper
into verb categorization do not always reflect Vendler's
categories; see e.g. Nichols (2010) on Ingush (Nakh-Dagestanian)
or Hellwig (2011) on Goemai
(Afro-Asiatic). 1.4 The lexical dimension in Bantu
Recent years have seen a growing interest in
Bantu temporality and aspectuality. A major influence
have been the works of Robert Botne and Tiffany Kershner (e.g. Botne 1983; Botne & Kershner 2000, 2008; Kershner 2002). Scholars working on
aspectuality in Bantu have been well aware of the limits of the Vendlerian categories. As Crane (2011: 34) puts it, Bantu languages in general appear to
divide verbs differently. This is due to a distinction between non-inchoative
verbs (roughly corresponding to Vendler’s states,
activities, and accomplishments) and inchoative verbs, which encompass many of Vendler’s achievements and other verbs. The notion of 'inchoative verbs' that Crane refers to is a central one for this paper. In descriptive
works on Bantu languages it is often observed that there are numerous verbal
lexemes which are used mainly in specific verbal paradigms commonly called
'perfect', 'perfective' or 'completive',[2]
in which they normally denote a state. Cole (1955), in a grammar
of Tswana, notes: Inchoative verb stems indicate an action which can continue for
only a limited period of time before attaining completion [...] whereupon some
type of mental or physical state results. [...] such verbs when occurring in
[imperfective aspect, BP], predicate the idea of 'becoming' or entering into a
state, whereas the completed action and the resultant state is expressed by
their use in [perfective/completive aspect, BP] (p. 277) Common cases of inchoative
verbs
across Bantu include expressions of concepts such as 'hold', 'know', 'lie/sleep', 'sit', 'be angry', 'resemble', 'be various colours' (Nurse 2008: 97). (2) is representative.
It is important to note that inchoative verbs in
Bantu languages are not limited to typical experiencer verbs. Thus in the Wanga
example (3) chiːnja 'carry' is an inchoative verb, unlike its English
near-translation, which would suggest a Vendlerian activity.
Note how this interplay of aspectual operators and the lexical dimension
in Bantu languages
runs
counter to what has been widely observed from other language families, where
imperfective aspect is used to depict a state, whereas its aspectual
counterpart, depending on the specific lexeme and verb phrase, either
denotes the entrance into a state or “can only have a rather restricted semantic
range – reference to a state with its inception and termination” (Comrie 1976:
50; also cf. Tatevosov 2002). The question of selecting a mere changes-of-state vs. denotation of a
lexically encoded state will be dealt with in §2.3. A situation comparable
to the Bantu one is found in many branches of the Niger-Congo phylum (Welmers 1974: ch. 12). For a
descriptive case study see e.g. Toews (2015) on Siamou (Kru, Burkina Farso). In §§2.3–2.5 it will be
shown that it is especially this group of inchoative verbs which precludes the
application of Vendler's categories. While the shift away from the Vendlerian
categories in current Bantuist research has provided
valuable insights, the focus of studies since Botne
(1983) has been descriptive and/or oriented towards the development of
alternative classifications (see §3 on the latter). The intermediate step,
namely explicitly showing in which cases the application of the Vendlarian categories fails, has not yet been taken. This
is the enterprise of the following section. 2. The case study
2.1 The languages
The case study for this paper draws on
data from three Bantu languages spoken in a coherent area in southern Tanzania
and northern Malawi: Nyakyusa (M31), Ndali (M301) and Sukwa (M202). Nyakyusa data comes mainly from the author's original fieldwork (also Persohn 2017). Some 50 verbs and verb phrases have been
examined with at least two language assistants each. Where available, data from
texts and a draft translation of the Bible by SIL International (kindly made
available by Helen Eaton) were included in the analysis. Ndali
data comes from Botne (2008), who
unfortunately provides no further information about his sample. Lastly, Kershner (2002) examines around 200 lexical verbs in Sukwa. The three languages to be
considered share a similar inventory of basic tense-aspect categories with
nearly identical selectional properties. All three
have an imperfective present which typically allows for a progressive, a
habitual/generic as well as a futurate reading and which is formed by a prefix kʊ-/ku-. They also
have a present perfective/completive[4] marked by a
suffix -ile/-ite.
The surface realizations of the latter are subject to complex morphophonemic
alternations and the suffix often fuses with the verb base ('derivational
stem'). While Nyakyusa has the same functional
opposition in the past tense, the situation is more complex in Ndali and Sukwa, which further
distinguish between the past of an adjacent time unit and a far past.
Additionally, all three languages have a periphrastic progressive formed by a
copula plus a locative-marked
infinitive, as illustrated in (4).
2.2 Tests for lexical classes
Since the advent of Vendler's
categories a number of standard tests have been developed; for an overview see Binnick (1991: 173–197). As Bar-el (2015) points out, there
is an element of circularity, as standard tests often assume the existence of a
universal set of classes instead of documenting them. Moreover, not all of
these tests are universally applicable. Based on the tenets of radical
selection theories, Persohn (2017), and –implicitly– Kershner (2002) and Botne (2008)
apply a number of language-specific tests aimed at unveiling the range and
characteristics of the lexicalized temporal phases. For the most part, these
tests consist of checking the compatibility of verbal lexemes with either
common tense-aspect constructions or as the complements of phasal
verbs (e.g. 'to begin', 'to stop'), as well as considering
the
range of readings available in these morphosyntactic frames. While the analysis presented in this paper
is much influenced by the works of Botne and Kershner, the core argument, namely that a theory of the
lexical dimension of aspect needs to allow for more complex types than those of
the Vendlerian tradition, should prove valid outside of this specific
framework. 2.3 Punctual changes-of-state with additional phases
As pointed out in §1.3, a notoriously
difficult category within Vendler's classification is
that of achievement verbs, which supposedly encode only a punctual change-of-state.
In §1.4, the notion of inchoative verbs in Bantu has been introduced. In this
section, these two strands will be brought together. It will be shown that many verbs in Nyakyusa, Ndali, and Sukwa, whose approximate translations into English suggest
a classification as Vendlerian achievements, additionally encode a coming-to-be
phase and/or a resultant state phase. Concerning the encoding of a coming-to-be phase, one of Vendler's
most famous negative criteria for achievement verbs is their acceptability with
progressive aspect (see §1.3). Many verbs in Nyakyusa
that at first glance appear to be straight-forward candidates for Vendlerian
achievements (e.g. 'to die', 'to become angry', 'to grasp'), are, however,
perfectly compatible with the periphrastic progressive construction and have a
pre-culminative reading in it. Note that
this behaviour is independent of argument structure: while the verbs in
(5a) and (5b) are both unaccusative, (5c) illustrates
the case of a prototypical two-place verb. An entirely parallel situation is
found in Sukwa.
Note, however, that not all Nyakyusa verbs which appear achievement-like at first sight
can be used in the periphrastic progressive. At least the verb -aga 'find, encounter' – just as its English
counterpart – was unanimously judged ungrammatical in this construction (6). Kershner (2002: 70, 249) observes the same for a few more lexical verbs in Sukwa.[5] This can be taken as a first
indication that the availability of a pre-culminative reading depends on the lexicalized
phase structure, and that the class of apparent achievements is thus a
heterogenous one.
The fact that the verbs in (5) can
be employed with a single-event reading as the complement of the ingressive phasal verb -anda 'begin,
start' also indicates a lexicalized coming-to-be phase, as in (7).
As indicated in examples (7b,c), depending on context, phasal
verbs like -anda 'begin, start' in Nyakyusa can have both a single-event reading and a series/plurality
of events reading. It
is the single-event reading that is indicative of the lexically encoded
aspectual potential. Again a comparison with a verb
like -aga 'find, encounter', which does not allow
for a single event reading, is
indicative of the fact that the denotation of a pre-culmination phase is not
merely a function of the morphosyntactic device, but requires such a phase to
be available in the lexical dimension.
In summary, for a number of lexical
verbs in Nyakyusa the interaction with the
periphrastic progressive operator as well as with the phasal
verb 'begin, start' indicates a lexicalized coming-to-be phase. There are strong indications that
many of the verbs in question also lexicalize a resultant state. To begin with,
these verbs in Nyakyusa, Ndali,
and Sukwa when used in the present perfective/completive
in out-of-context utterances (9) typically receive a stative reading, just as
is characteristic of inchoative verbs in Bantu.
Note that
these verbs in the perfective/completive aspect may, however, also receive a
change-of-state reading. Thus in (10a) the event time adverbial phrase 'last year' only allows for
a change-of-state reading. In (10b), the question is about a previous event of
turning angry, not about a present state.
Given the
possibility of a posterior change-of-state reading as in (10), it might seem that the stative
reading in (9) can be
understood as an implicature. That is, one could assume that it is by conversational principles that a previous transition, e.g. into a
state of anger, is understood
as an expression of a current state of anger. Alternatively, we may assume that the
aspectual operator is vague and selects a point in time or a time span following the
change-of-state phase. According to such an understanding, the selected time
may fall within a lexically encoded result phase (9) or follow the eventuality
as a whole (10); see Welmers (1976: ch. 12) for an influential perspective and Botne (2010) as well as Crane (2011: 118– 142) for insightful
discussions. At least for Nyakyusa
and Ndali, a strong indication that the ensuing state
indeed forms part of the lexical semantics of the verbs in
question – and that
the aspectual operator
is thus semantically vague – comes from the combination of perfective aspect
with persistive aspect. As the latter is not a common
cross-linguistic category, a short digression is at hand: persistive aspect denotes that a
state-of-affairs continues to hold from an earlier point until a later point,
by default the moment of speech. It thus approximately corresponds to the
adverbial 'still'. Grammaticalized constructions for persistive
aspect are very common in Bantu languages (Nurse 2008: 245). In Nyakyusa and Ndali persistive aspect is expressed by an auxiliary kaalɪ/kaali which
typically takes an inflected verb as its complement. Consider the following
examples:
While verbs such as those in (11, 12) and many others in Nyakyusa and Ndali are acceptable
in the syntactic frame of persistive aspect plus
perfective aspect, not all verbs denoting a change-of-state are. Thus Nyakyusa verbs like -fika 'arrive' or -bɪfwa
'ripen' are entirely unacceptable in this frame (13). To express a persistent state other grammatical constructions have to be used, such as an existential
construction (14a) or a
nominal predicate featuring verb-to-adjective derivation (14b). This suggests
that a resultant state needs to be available in the lexical dimension in order
to be selected by the aspectual operator. Stated differently, we need to assume that 'to die',
'to be(come) angry' or 'to grasp/hold' but not 'to arrive' or 'to ripen' lexicalize
a resultant state in these languages. A purely Vendlerian classification would not predict these
differences in the combinatory possibilities.
2.4 Indications of punctuality
While the evidence in §2.3 suggests that verbs
such as -fwa 'to die', -kalala 'be(come) angry' and -kola 'grasp, hold' lexicalize a phase leading up
to a change-of-state as well as a resultant state phase, there are indications
that the relevant change-of-state encoded in these verbs nonetheless shows parallels
to Vendlerian achievements. A comparison of verbs roughly corresponding to Vendler's activities and accomplishments shows that we are
not dealing with processes[6] leading to a new
state, but rather with punctual changes-of-state accompanied by a coming-to-be phase plus
a resultant state phase. Nyakyusa verbs that
denote a process, such as -lya 'eat' and -tima 'rain' can be used in the syntactic frame of persistive aspect plus the imperfective present (or,
alternatively, the periphrastic progressive). In this frame, they denote the
continuation of that process (15). Botne (2008) shows
the same for Ndali (16).
Inchoative verbs of the type discussed in §2.3, however, are not generally acceptable in this syntactic frame or
only give a habitual/generic reading (17).[7]
The same holds for a verb such as -fika
'arrive', which according to the criteria employed above also
lexicalizes a coming-to-be phase (18). This behaviour can be taken as an indication that the
characteristic act as lexically encoded is not composed of subintervals: there
is no earlier and later point of time at which the transition from one state to
another can be said to be occurring. Hence the change-of-state that lies at the
heart of these verbs should be considered punctual.
Further indication of
the punctual nature of the change-of-state encoded in verbs such as 'to die',
'to be(come) angry' and 'to grasp, hold' in Nyakyusa comes from their
interaction with the phasal verb -leka 'cease, stop'. Verbs denoting a
process such as 'to eat' or 'to rain' can occur as the complement of -leka,
in which case the process is denoted as interrupted or over.
Verbs such as 'to die', 'to be(come)
angry' and 'to grasp, hold', on the other hand, only marginally allow for a
single-event reading. In this case the whole eventuality, not the development
leading up to the change-of-state is construed as past (20). Similarly, -fika 'arrive' only gives a series reading, but not
one of an interrupted development in this syntactic frame (21). Again, this
behaviour can be taken as an indication of a lack of a lexicalized durative act
and thus as an indication of a punctual change-of-state.[8]
In summary, it has been seen that a number
of achievement-like verbs in Nyakyusa, Ndali and Sukwa encode phases
additional to a mere change-of-state. With verbs such as 'to die', 'to
be(come)' angry' and 'to grasp, hold', their compatibility with progressive
aspect and the single-event reading with the phasal
verb 'to begin, start' indicate the lexicalization of a coming-to-be phase. The
possibility of expressing a persistent ensuing state in the syntactic
frame of persistive aspect plus perfective aspect is
indicative of a lexicalized resultant state. In each case, a comparison with
other verbs has shown that the respective behaviour is not solely a function of
the morphosyntactic device but sensitive to the
lexical
phase structure. Evidence for the punctual nature of the change-of-state comes
from the behaviour in the syntactic frame of persistive
aspect plus the imperfective present as well as from their behaviour with the phasal verb 'to cease, stop' when compared to durative
verbs. 2.5 Processes with a resultant state
So far the
limitations of Vendlerian achievements have been discussed. Vendler's
other category of telic verbs is accomplishments. In Nyakyusa
and Ndali, a number of verbs and
verb phrases, such as -talalɪla 'cool
(intr.)' or -lya ɪngʊkʊ joosa 'eat
a whole chicken', come close to the definition of intrinsically delimited
processes. Concerning some of the criteria used in the preceding sections,
these verbs are compatible with the syntactic frame of persistive
aspect plus imperfective present (or, alternatively, the periphrastic
progressive), in which they denote a persistant
ongoing process. They can also have a reading of an interrupted process with -leka 'cease, stop'. Both facts indicate a lexicalized
durative act. Apart from their near-translations of a
process delimited at the right edge, at least in Nyakyusa
with these verbs the time span phrase 'take X time' unambiguously denotes the
time up to the culmination of the process (22), which distinguishes these verbs
from activity-type verbs. Also, in Nyakyusa and Ndali these verbs readily obtain
a single-event reading of a process that has come to total culmination when
they are used as the complement of -mala 'finish (tr.)'. In Nyakyusa this is constrained to
subjects occupying the semantic role of agent or
force (23); Botne (2008) does not discuss possible
semantic constraints of the Ndali cognate. Again,
this fact does not hold for the type of verbs discussed §§2.3–2.4. The only possible single event reading for those verbs is one
of an egression out of the result state, which, however, was considered
uncommon by the language assistants and which also hinges on the thematic role
of the subject (24).
A closer look reveals an important subdivision
within apparent accomplishment verbs. Some verbs, such as Nyakyusa -fwala 'dress, wear', -gaala
'be(come drunk)' or Ndali -fuula
'undress', typically receive a stative reading with perfective aspect. The collocation with persistive aspect
indicates that the resultant state is available in the lexical dimension (25, 26).
Compare this to verbs
and verb phrases such as Nyakyusa -talalɪla 'cool (intr.)' or -lya ɪngʊkʊ
joosa 'eat a whole chicken':
Again it must be assumed
that the presence or absence of such a result state is a question of phase
structure. Just as those verbs discussed in §2.3 and §2.4, the group of verbs
that suggest themselves as Vendlerian accomplishments is not a heterogenous one
in the languages in question. 2.6. Summary of the case
study
By looking at inchoative verbs in three
Bantu languages, the previous sections have shown that Vendler's categories in their original fourfold formulation
are insufficient to capture the behaviour of numerous of these lexemes. It was
shown that punctual changes-of-state may additionally be accompanied by a coming-to-be phase and a
resultant state phase. Likewise, it was shown that end-oriented processes
('accomplishments') may also lexicalize a resultant state. 3. Theoretical implicationsHaving found that Vendler's
categories are insufficient to capture the aspectual behaviour of various verbs
(and verb phrases) in the three Bantu languages considered in the case study,
these findings should be viewed from a broader theoretical perspective. As
discussed in §1.3, Vendler's categories, in spite of
their widespread acceptance, have been subject to criticism and modifications.
It is thus worthwhile to consider alternative proposals, especially those
within radical selection theories. In most radical selection theories, the
proposed verb categorizations and thus the alleged limits of possible phase
structures are essentially derived from the Vendlerian categories. This becomes
clear by taking a short overview over the most prominent manifestations of
radical selection theories (also see Croft: 2011: 48–52). Walter Breu and the late Hans-Jürgen Sasse
(Breu 1984; Sasse 1991) in
their theory of aspect assume that any
state-of-affairs can maximally include one extended middle phase, a left
boundary that represents the ingression into this middle phase and a right
boundary, that is, the egression out of the middle phase. This yields a maximum
of five maximum types (Sasse 1991), the addition to Vendler's categories being 'ingressive states' (inchoativ-statische Sachverhalte
in the original German) which feature a left boundary plus a middle phase. Vendler's achievements, which they label 'totally terminatives' are understood as consisting of a left and
right boundary, which, however, coincide. Bickel's (1997) 'selection theory' in
essence reflects Sasse & Breu's
proposal, the main change being the annotation system. Likewise, Johanson (1996; 2000) uses
the same primitives of a left boundary, a middle phase ('course' in his terminology)
and a right boundary. He also postulates five
categories, which minimally differ from Sasse & Breu. First, Johanson understands
achievements as consisting of only a right boundary. Second, in Johanson's understanding both Vendlerian
activities
and states do not feature any boundaries, which
requires the postulation of a non-phasal feature
[±dynamic] to distinguish between these two. In a
footnote Bickel (1997: 117) recognizes that such an additional semantic feature
might be required to distinguish between achievements with a coming-to-be phase on
the one hand and accomplishments on the other, although he does not explore
this in his phasal representations. As can be gathered from the preceding
overview, the three proposals by Breu & Sasse, Bickel and Johanson share
a number of common denominators. To begin with, the essential addition to Vendler's categories consists of the recognition of a fifth
type of verb, namely a state that is delimited to the left. This addition
serves to explain the behaviour of certain lexemes and verb phrases in wide
array of languages, such as Spanish conocer
'(get to) know', Turkish (Turkic) otur-
(sit down, sit) or Belhare (Sino-Tibetan) misen nima '(get
to) know', which in perfective aspect either denote the transition into a state
or the state within its inception and termination, and the state itself in
imperfective aspect. Example (28) illustrates this; see Tatevosov
(2002) for more on this class of verbs.
Given the findings of the case study, two
more points require discussion. First, all three proposals depart from the
assumption that a verbal lexeme (or verb phrase) may maximally encode one
middle phase, which may or may not be delimited to its left and/or right. By
definition this excludes the transitional configurations attested in the case
study. Second, the proposed phasal structures do not
by themselves allow differentiation between a coming-to-be phase and
an end-oriented process. A possible solution implicit in Bickel's and Johanson's frameworks is the assumption of an additional
semantic feature of dynamicity for the leftmost phase. Klein (1992, 1994) postulates a very
different approach to the lexical dimension of aspectuality.
His categorization is embedded in a complex theory of temporal reference, which
in essence distinguishes between the time of utterance, a topic
time (“the time span to which the speaker's claim on this occasion is
confined”, Klein 1994: 4), and a time of situation. In Klein's theory,
aspect as a morphosyntactic device establishes a specific relation between the
time of situation and topic time. To give an example, perfective aspect is
understood as selecting a time span encompassing both the end of a specific
time of situation and the beginning of its post-time as the topic time. Regarding
the lexical dimension, Klein postulates a threefold categorization based on the
number of available phases. The term phase is understood more narrowly
in Klein's framework and excludes boundaries, which he assumes to be implicit.
The possible phase structures are: 0-state-content:
permanent properties, such as be wooden 1-state-content:
properties that allow for a potential change, such as be open 2-state-content:
a source state and a target state, e.g. to die In light of the findings from the case study,
the assumption of 2-state-content appears promising at first. There are,
however, at least two problems with it. First, in Klein's
framework one would have to assume that not only verbs such as Nyakyusa -kalala 'be(come)
angry', but also -fika 'arrive' encode both a
source state and a target state. This analysis does not explain the diverging behaviour of these lexemes in the diagnostic frame of persistive
aspect plus perfective aspect, according to which only the former, but not the
latter lexeme encodes a target state. In the same fashion, Klein's framework
does not allow to capture why the target state of a verb such as Nyakyusa -fwala 'dress,
wear', but not -talalɪla
'cool (intr.)' can be referred to by use of the same lexeme as the one
referring to the source state. Second, Klein's categorization does not distinguish between punctual transitions (§§2.3–2.4) and durative transitions (§2.5), which Klein considers to
be a question of world knowledge but not lexical semantics (Klein 1994: 87ff).
This impedes any semantic
explanation for the different behaviours of these verbs with the phasal verb -leka
'cease, stop' and regarding the combination of persistive
aspect plus imperfective aspect/progressive aspect in Nyakyusa
and Ndali. An understanding of the lexical dimension
of aspect that has been very influential in recent studies of aspectuality in Bantu languages (e.g
Crane 2011; Seidel 2008; Persohn 2017) is the one
developed by Robert Botne and Tiffany Kershner (e.g. Botne 2008; Kershner 2002; Botne
& Kershner 2000, 2008), which has its roots in Botne’s study of aspectuality in
Ruanda (JD61; Botne 1981, 1983). Botne
& Kershner's categorization of verbs adopts the
representations of the Vendlerian categories developed in Freed's (1979)
oft-neglected study of English phasal verbs ('aspectualizers' in her terms) and their interaction with
verbal semantics and the syntax of the verbal complement. In analogy with syllable
phonology Freed proposes that the underlying temporal structure of verbs can be
understood as a combination of three phases (‘segments’ in her terminology), the Onset, Nucleus, and Coda. The Onset constitutes a preliminary or
preparatory phase, while the Nucleus corresponds to the characteristic act
encoded in the verb. The Coda constitutes a culminative phase following the
characteristic act. In doing so, Freed subscribes to Vendler’s
understanding of achievements and accomplishments: she understands the first as
pure transitions that consist of a punctual Nucleus phase, while the second are
understood as consisting of an extended Nucelus phase
delimited by a punctual Coda phase.
These representations of phases mirror those of middle phases and boundaries in
Sasse & Breu's,
Bickel's and Johanson's frameworks. Botne & Kershner modify
Freed's understanding of phases by assuming that Onset and Coda phases may both
be durative and that phases may combine in more complex ways. Thus in their understanding an achievement may additionally encode a durative Onset (i.e. a coming-to-be phase)
and/or a durative Coda (the result
state). Likewise, an accomplishment may also feature a durative Coda. In this
understanding, verbs such as Nyakyusa -kalala 'be(come) angry' encode a durative Onset, a
punctual Nucleus, and a durative Coda phase. Verbs such as Nyakyusa
-fwala 'dress/wear', on the other hand, would
encode an extended Nucleus plus a durative Coda. It is this extended Coda phase
that distinguishes the latter from Vendlerian accomplishments such as -talalɪla 'cool (intr.)'. The possibility of a
single-event reading with the phasal verb -leka 'cease, stop' and in the syntactic frame of persistive aspect plus imperfective/progressive aspect, on
the other hand, can then be understood as a function of
the durative Nucleus. While Botne
& Kershner's framework allows one to capture the
different behaviour of various classes of lexemes (and verb phrases) attested
in the case study, it critically hinges on the assumption not only of a lexicalized semantic pivot (the
Nucleus), but also on the temporal notion of durativity. Hence it requires postulating
radically different phasal configurations to account
for the change-of-state encoded in e.g. -kalala 'to be(come) angry' (a
durative Onset plus a punctual Nucleus boundary that
acts as a boundary) vs. the one denoted by -fwala 'dress/wear' (a
durative Nucleus and no overt boundary). It needs to be critically examined in
how far these differences can be accounted for
in a more straightforward manner by other semantic
features, e.g. dynamicity of the first phase, and, more generally speaking, how much of aspectual
specification is strictly temporal and how much is linked to other conceptual
domains (see Croft 2012). Further, Botne & Kershner's model has explicitly been designed for Bantu
languages. Its suitability to languages outside this family has not yet been
tested; the sole exception is Botne (2003) on 'to die' verbs. 4. ConclusionIn §1 the tenets of radical selection theories
of aspect have been outlined. It was shown that within these theories the lexical and verb
phrase dimension (Sasse 2002's aspect2)
and aspect as a morphosyntactic device (Sasse 2002's
aspect1) are understood as standing in an operator-operandum relationship.
This calls for a deeper understanding of both,
of which and of how many phases, of a
state-of-affairs may be encoded in the lexical and verb phrase dimension and
can then be selected by the morphosyntactic aspectual operators. This outline
of radical selection theories was followed by a discussion of Vendler's (1957/1967) influential classification of verbal
expressions, its impact as well as criticism towards it. In the next step, the
notion of inchoative verbs in Bantu languages was introduced as a challenge for
the Vendlerian categories. In §2 a case study
with data from three Bantu languages has been given. It was shown that a strictly Vendlerian approach to the lexical
dimension of aspect fails to capture the behaviour of numerous verbs and verb
phrases in these
languages. It was shown that verbs denoting punctual changes-of-state can,
contrary to Vendler's definition of achievements, additionally encode a coming-to-be phase as
well as a resultant state. Likewise, it was shown that end-oriented processes
('accomplishments') may or may not also lexicalize a resultant state. While a
similar claim concerning Vendler's achievements has
been made by Botne (1983) for several lexemes in
Kinyarwanda and by Botne (2003) for the crosslinguistic expression of 'to die', the present case
study has taken into account a wider array of lexical verbs and a number of
additional criteria in a smaller group of related languages. Furthermore, a
wider scope has been taken by taking apparent accomplishments into account.
Observations on the latter have so far remained merely implicit in Botne (2008) and Persohn (2017)
and have not been measured against Vendler's
categorizations. In §3 it was shown that not only Vendler's original classification, but also more recent classifications
within radical selection theories do not provide for the transitional types of
verbs attested in the case study. Instead, most theories (Breu
1984; Sasse 1991; Bickel 1997; Johanson
1996, 2000) depart from the assumption that the lexical dimension may maximally
denote one sole middle phase plus its potential boundaries. While the alternative
proposal by Klein (1992; 1994) allows one to account for transitions between
two lexically encoded states, it does not allow one to account for various of
the differences in behaviour between different types of change-of-state verbs.
Lastly, it was shown that Botne & Kershner's (e.g. 2008) elaboration of the Vendlerian categories does allow
one to account for these differences,
but that it requires more cross-linguistic research
and that its basic assumptions call for a critical evaluation. To put it in a nutshell, a
cross-linguistically valid approach to aspectuality
requires more fine-grained categories than those of the
Vendlerian tradition. Also, it needs to take into account not only the possible
boundaries of a sole characteristic middle phase, but to be able to account for
the more complex transitional types of verbal lexemes that have been attested
in the three Bantu languages under consideration. Closely related to this, it needs
to be kept in mind that the lexicalization of states-of-affairs in human
languages follows arbitrary patterns and cannot be assumed to mirror alleged extra-linguistic onthological
universals; see also Bickel (1997) and Botne (1981:
77–100), among others. That is, speakers do not communicate real-world events,
but apply the available language-specific tools to shape their linguistic
portrayal of those events (e.g. Krifka 1998: 207). More detailed studies on Bantu aspectology
and the integration of data from this language family will doubtlessly provide
important insights into the conceptualization of states-of-affairs in human
language. Studies currently in progress such as the Ndebele project at the
University of Helsinki (Crane & Fleisch 2016)
promise such contributions. Abbreviations
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California Press. [1]The author wishes to thank Jens Fischer, Sebastian Dom, Thera Crane and an anonymous reviewer for Linguistic Discovery for their insightful comments on an earlier version of this paper, as well as Mary Chambers and Benjamin Twist for proofreading. Fieldwork on Nyakyusa was made possible through funding from the a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School for the Humanities Cologne. The usual disclaimer applies. [2]The exact labels for these paradigms tend to differ according to tradition, the tense of the construction in question (e.g. present/non-past vs. far past), or even within the works of the same author; see §2.3 for a discussion of their selectional properties. [3]Combinations of a letter plus digits within parenthesis indicate the code these languages receive in the updated version of Guthrie's referential system for Bantu languages (Maho 2009). [4]Persohn (2017) uses the label (present) perfective while Botne (2008) and Kershner (2002) speak of a (current) completive. [5]The verbs listed by Kershner (2002) are: -kúka 'be loose', -lékela 'be ahead of; surpass', -lémala '(be) lame', -sóngopa '(be) sharp', and -syelémuka '(be) steep'. [6]Throughout this paper, the term process will be used as an umbrella term for Vendler's activities and accomplishments. This differs from Tatevosov's (2002) definition, which reserves the term process for Vendlerian activities. [7]A few verbs such as -kola 'grasp, hold' or -fugama 'kneel' are exceptions and can be used in this frame, in which they then denote the active continuation of the result phase. This appears to be a clear case of coercion; see Michaelis (2004) for a theory of coercion. [8]A more natural way of referring to a state
of anger, e.g. of anger, which has come to an end would be the following:
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