séminaire pluralité

[Bridget Copley]

Prochaine réunion du séminaire du projet "Dépendances distributives :  
pluralité
nominale et verbale"

lun 31 mars 2008, 14h30-16h30, 10 rue Charles V, 75004 Paris
S. Vogeleer & Jacqueline Guéron

Résumé :
Imperfectivité en français et en russe : aspect associé aux temps vs.  
aspect
fourni par le lexique/ Imperfectivity in French and Russian : Aspect  
associated
to tenses vs Aspect provided by the Lexicon
We compare the view-point approach to Aspect, based on temporal  
relations (cf.
a.o. Smith 1991/1997, Klein 1995), to the quantization approach, based  
on the
structure of events (cf. a.o. Krifka 1998, Filip 2001). To illustrate,  
French,
in which semantic Aspect is associated to Tense, will be compared to  
Russian,
where all verbs in the Lexicon are marked for Aspect independent of  
Tense.
We assume that while semantic Aspect is a universal semantic category,
morphosyntactic aspect (if present) varies across languages. Languages  
without
morphosyntactic aspect allow inferring semantic Aspect from a  
combination of
semantic properties of predicates.
Under the view-point approach, the temporal relation of inclusion  
(trÕte)
defines Imperfective Aspect ; while the temporal relations preterit  
(tr te) and
perfect (tr>te) are viewed as either both Perfective or else as  
Perfective and
Perfect Aspect, respectively (Paslawska & von Stechow 2003). We argue,  
however,
that while the inclusion relation indeed entails Imperfective Aspect,
imperfectivity is also compatible with the preterit and perfect  
relations
without being entailed by them.
Under the quantization approach, Perfective Aspect is viewed as  
quantization and
Imperfective Aspect as cumulativity of predicates. Krifka’s (1998)  
definition of
these notions is identical to that of telicity and atelicity,  
respectively. Two
claims will be advanced in this respect :
although quantization indeed entails telicity, the two categories must  
be
distinguished, the reason being that cumulativity does not prohibit  
telicity ;
we propose that quantization (semantic Perfective Aspect) boils down  
to the
combination of three semantic properties of predicates :
telicity+singularity+anteriority/posteriority.
The following arguments are advanced in support of these claims.
In languages like Russian, the combination
telicity+singularity+anteriority/posteriority is expressed by  
morpholexical
perfective aspect. In languages like French, the Passé Composé (PC) only
expresses anteriority, which does not entail quantization (Perfective  
Aspect).
The anteriority relation (the PC) derives either a preterit reading or
(resultative/experiential) perfect readings. However, a predicate in  
the PC
appears as quantized if its lexical and syntactic content [verb 
+DP(+modifiers)]
is such that it combines telicity with singularity. If at least one of  
these
conditions is not met, the predicate is assigned a cumulative reading,  
viz.
singular atelic, e.g. Pierre a couru, plural (anterior habitual), e.g.  
Marie a
(toujours) mangé des pommes), or number neutral (at least once)  
experiential
perfect reading, e.g. Marie a mangé une pomme (au moins) une fois dans  
sa vie.
A predicate may also remain ambiguous between quantized and cumulative
readings.
In Russian, imperfective aspect does not modify the semantic  
properties of the
vP. While ALL quantized (perfective) predicates are telic, cumulative
predicates can be telic and atelic. It follows that the distinction  
between
telicity/atelicity is only relevant for cumulative predicates.
In French, the inclusion relation expressed by the Présent and the  
Imparfait
entails cumulativity, deriving either a singular (progressive) or a  
plural
(habitual) cumulative reading. In Russian, cumulativity (imperfective  
aspect)
does not entail the inclusion relation. Cumulative predicates are  
compatible
both with inclusion and with anteriority/posteriority. They are  
assigned a
singular inclusive (progressive) or a plural inclusive (habitual)  
reading if
the temporal relation is interpreted as inclusion. If the temporal  
relation is
interpreted as anteriority, the predicate allows, depending on its  
lexical
content : (i) a singular (anterior atelic) reading, (ii) a plural  
(anterior
habitual) reading, or (iii) a number neutral (at least once)  
experiential
perfect reading. A cumulative predicate can refer to a single telic  
event if,
and only if, the existence of this event is presupposed (see Grønn  
2003).

References : Grønn, A. (2003). The Semantics and Pragmatics of the  
Russian
Factual Imperfective. PhD Thesis, University of Oslo. Filip, H.  
(2001). Nominal
and verbal semantic structure : analogies and interactions, Language  
Sciences
23(4) : 453-501. Klein, W. (1995). A time-relational analysis of Russian
aspect, Language 71 : 669-253. Krifka, M. (1998). The origins of  
telicity, in
S. Rothstein (ed), Events and Grammar, Kluwer, 197-235. Paslawska, A.  
& von
Stechow, A. (2003). Perfect readings in Russian, in A. Alexiadou et  
al. (eds),
Perfect Explorations, Berlin : Mouton de Gruyter, 307-362. Smith, C.
(1991/1997). The Parameter of Aspect, Dordrecht : Kluwer.
Vous pouvez également consulter le site pour le séminare du projet  
Dépendances
distributives.



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