Eventuality/Actionsart/Event structure/Lexicalised aspect
The eventualities verbs refer to are usually located in time: an eventuality is either
momentary, eg Lightning flickered across the sky and was instantly followed by a thunder
that cracked sharply. or it has duration, eg It snows. Or eventualities having duration may
have different stages, as when a journey is seen as a chain of events namely departing,
travelling and arriving. The terms “Aktionsart” and “verbal aspect” are used to indicate the
different ways the happening referred to by the verb phrase is mapped on to the dimension of
time.
It is possible to analyse a verb at three levels of description (Allerton 2006:152):
(1) an underlying semantic level, where the states, processes, etc. of the
world of our experience are described;
(2) a lexical level, at which lexical items are selected (by substitution of the
lexical verb (eg travel vs arrive) or the verbal construction (eg tire vs tire
out, attack vs be on the attack)), each with its individual “aspectual
character” (Lyons 1974:2: 706) or Aktionsart e.g. “durative”;
(3) a morphosyntactic level, covering the ways in which numerous
derivational, inflectional, and periphrastic variants can be created and in
which a lexeme can be modified to express the appropriate duration or
chronology: thus a verb phrase can be put into the “perfect,” “progressive”
dimension of verbal aspect.
To apply grammatical aspects is not automatic. There are many exceptions. It is
neither owe nor see ‘perceive light and colours’ nor kick which can be used in a continuous
form. Why are these cases exceptions to the rule? Apart from the common, continuous and
perfect aspects, is there another linguistic category which can overwrite the rules of
grammatical aspects? Yes, there is. It is eventuality.
An article was published in 1957. It was written by Zeno Vendler,* who attributed
different ‘time schemata’ to different verbs or verb phrases. In his opinion, on the basis of
time schema there are four classes of verbs, into which they can be grouped.
(1) Activity verbs, e.g. How long did he push the cart? He was pushing it for
half an hour. The statement implies that pushing the cart happened at any
moment of that period. This activity can be interrupted at any moment.
*
Wendler Zénó (1921—2004) He was born to German parents in Devecser, Hungary. He studied at Szeged
University, in the Netherlands and at Harvard. He settled in the United States. He was a linguist, philosopher and
was a professor of different American universities. When he retired, he returned to his fatherland. He lived at
Hetyefő and when he died, he was buried in the cemetery of Somlószőllős.
(2) Accomplishment verbs, e.g. How long did it take to draw a circle? It
took him twenty seconds to draw a circle. This kind of activity has a
terminal point, it cannot be interrupted abruptly. It has a climax, which has
to be attained if the action is to be what it is claimed to be.
(3) Achievement verbs, e.g. At what time did you reach the summit? At about
3 in the afternoon. It means that it took much time of climbing to reach the
summit.
(4) Stative verbs, e.g. know, hear, exist etc If you know something, this
knowledge cannot be restricted to any periods of time. It hold true in case
of existence of the Saturn. Its existence cannot be questioned even if it
cannot be seen in the sky by day.
(Vendler 1957)
Vendler’s article proved to be seminal. Since then many linguists have studied and
scrutinised the different ‘time schemata’ (eventuality) of verbs in many articles and books.
Today there is a much more detailed and sophisticated system of this linguistic/semantic
category.
Figure 1
Situation types (How language 2007)
static
STATES
She was sad.
Verbs of EXISTENCE (exist, live, remain); PROPERTY ATTRIBUTION/LOCATION (copula + XP), verbs
of PERCEPTION (see, hear, feel); POSSESSION (own, possess), NEED (need, want); EMOTION (love,
prefer); COGNITION (remember, understand); BELIEF (believe, know, doubt).
ACTIVITIES
She skipped.
Verbs of DIRECTED MOTION (walk, follow, run); POSTURE (sit, stand, lie); MOTION
(shiver,wiggle); LIGHT/SOUND EMISSION (shine, rumble); CONVERSATION (argue, speak,
discuss,converse); USE (eat, read, use, enjoy); PATTERN EXECUTION (dance, exercise); DIRECTED
PERCEPTION (monitor, watch); COGNITION (consider, ponder).
SITUATION TYPES
without state change
episodic
manifested
ACHIEVEMENTS
She fell down.
MENTAL EVENTS (realize, forget); SEMELFACTIVE EVENTS (cough, tap, blink); SOCIOPHYSICAL TRANSITIONS (die, collapse, win, lose); MANIFESTATIONS (appear,
disappear); boundary crossings (enter, exit, arrive, depart); POSTURE CHANGES (sit
down, stand up, lie down, wake up); ACTION ENGAGEMENT (start, stop, finish).
with state change
effected
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
She fixed the fence.
Verbs of LOCATION CHANGE (go, bring, take); TRANSFER (teach, give, load, tell);
REMOVAL (remove, steal, strip); CREATION (make, build, create, destroy); COVERAGE
(do, memorize, learn, saturate, cover), CAUSATION OF RESULT (fix, repair, smash).
Figure 2
A systematic categorisation of eventuality (Based on Allerton 2006)
verbs of possession
have, owe, contain, deserve,
lack, need, own, require etc
verbs of relation
apply to, belong to, concern,
consist of, involve, cost etc
UNCHANGING INTERNAL CONDITIONS
verbs of perception
hear, see, smell, taste,
feel, touch, nauseate etc
verbs of emotions
please, prefer, adore, astonish,
desire, mind, want, wish etc
STATES
verbs of mental processes
know, believe, doubt,
guess, regard, remember etc
static POSITIONS
lie, spread [I], stand etc
NATURAL PROCESSES
float, snow, develop, wither etc
AGENT CONTROLLED PROCESSES
run, walk, swim, push, read etc
PUNCTUAL events
kick, blink, cough, explode etc
INCEPTION (inchoative)
start, begin, go ahead, commence
TERMINATION (conclusive)
recognise, realise, stand up, find it,
lose it, reach the top etc
BASIC EVENTUALITY
PROCESSES
STROKES
EVENTUALITY
(lexicalised, semantic aspect)
Hungarian akcióminőség
German Aktionsart
stop, finish, quit, cease
CULMINATION
recover from illness, reach the summit
ACCOMPLISHMENT
paint a picture, make a chair, run a mile
CULMINATION
COMPOSITIONAL
EVENTUALITY
EXERTION
take up
Sources
Allerton 2006
Allerton, D. J. ‘Verbs and their satellites.’ In: Aarts, Bas and McMahon, April (eds.). The handbook of
English linguistics. Maldon (MA) ; Oxford (UK) ; Carlton (Australia) : Blackwell, 2006. xviii, 806 p.
(Blackwell handbooks in linguistics)
ISBN-13: 978–1–4051–1382–3 pp [146]—79
How language 2007
How language expresses properties of situations : tense, aspect and modality. [PDF].
<http://www.colorado.edu/linguistics/courses/LAM5430/Situations_5430.pdf> Uploaded: Spring 2007
Retrieved: 21-09-2014
Lyons 1994
Lyons, John. Semantics. Vol. 2. Reprinted. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1994. pp 373-897
Vendler 1957
Vendler, Zeno. ‘Verbs and times.’ In: The philosophical review ISSN 0031-8108. Vol 66 No 2 (Apr
1957) pp 143—160