aspect_MV_exercises and summary

ASPECT In Grammar I we deal with aspect as a category of the verb and study the form and uses of the Progressive and the Perfect aspects. In Grammar II we view aspect as a semantic notion that extends over the whole sentence. We adopt the two-component theory of aspect, according to which aspectual meaning results from the interaction of two (independent) subcomponents: situation type and viewpoint. (Smith, Carlota. 1995. The Parameter of Aspect. Dordrecht: Kluwer. Chapters 1.2 3) She proposes three viewpoints (perfective, imperfective and neutral) and five situation types: states, activities, accomplishments, semelfactives and achievements. Situation Types Exercise 1: Say whether the following sentences denote a basic state, an activity or a derived state (ie derived means that one basic-level situation is interpreted as a different situation type, known as “shifted or derived”. For example: an activity can be interpreted as a state) Susan thought that the teacher was boring. Tigers are striped My cat eats meat. The doctors thought about the possibility of an implant The little boy was pushing a heavy cart  Exercise 2: Activity or Accomplishment? Some of them can denote both situation types. They do projects in that class. They will build a fire escape here. She was hiding the money (when I saw her) We were walking in the park We were walking to the library The film amused the children The man was watching those birds We worked until 7pm Mary combed her hair John mowed the land Exercise 3: What is the difference in situation type in each of the following pairs of sentences: a) The ship was moving b) The ship was in motion a) I saw the ocean from my window. b) Suddenly I saw a falling star a) I have kown the truth for many years b) When he rang the bell, I knew that I loved him. a) The theatre was full. b) The theatre filled up. Exercise 4: Achievment or Accomplishment? If you think it is a borderline case, discuss it. The cup broke into pieces. I recognized her the minute I saw her John melted the ice. Susan sat down because she was tired The pears ripened Viewpoint and situation type aspect Exercise 5: True or False? If false, explain why. 1-The people were complaining. (imperfective) 2- John was coughing all night (imperfective) 3- They walked to school at noon (accomplishment) 4- The river is smelling particularly bad these days (activity) 5-The bird flapped its wings (achievement) 6-They were walking in the middle of the forest (repetitive activity) Super lexical verbs (or aspectual verbs): According to Carlota Smith (1991), superlexical morphemes (verbs, in the case of English) modulate the locus of a situation type(p.76). That is to say , they produce a shifted situation type . Ex. I owned a farm is a state but I ceased to own a farm is a shifted accomplishment ( a situation type with an end point). On page 248 , she states “lexical verbs indicating beginning and ending form accomplishments and achievements. Superlexical verbs indicating continuity form activities. Ex , she continued eating peas/ she went on doing the washing up. Exercise 6: Indicate the situation type in the following sentences stating first the basic level situation type and then the shifted situation type. Mary stopped laughing . When did he start watching detective novels? One day she stopped loving him She kept asking for money to buy cigarettes. The bird cage is starting to smell. Model answer sentence1: Laughing denotes an activity but the superlexical verb modulates it into a situation type with an end- point , thus shifting it into an accomplishment. Exercise 7: Read the following text and spot an instance of: ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. State Achievement Shifted accomplishment Semelfactive. 5- Perfective viewpoint 6- Imperfective viewpoint 7- Activity Exercise 1 1-activity 2-accomplishment 3-Borderline: accomplishment or state 4- activity 5-accomplishment 6-Borderline: state or activity 7-activity 8-Accomplishment 9-Ambiguous : either an accomplishment or an activity 10- same as 9. Exercise 2 1-a) activity, b) event as state; 2- a) state, b) achievement; 3-state b) achievement 4-a) Exercise 3 1- achievement 2-Achievment , achievement;3-borderline between achievement and accomplishment;4-Accomplishment ;5- achievement(???) Exercise 4 1-true 2-false; it is a repetitive activity because the use of the progressive form doesn´t focus on the middle of one cough, but it implies repetition of the coughs. 3- False. It´s a durative situation with a momentary adverbial which results in an inceptive interpretation 4) False: state presented as activity 5) False: semelfactive 6) False: imperfective viewpoint; Exercise 7 1-basic state 2-basic state 3-habitual state 4- achievement 5- activity 3