piñón: aspectual composition with degrees
conclusion
With the title 'aspectual composition with degrees' I allude to an
aspectual approach in which the notion of the degree of realization of
an event type plays a central role. In this paper, I have proposed how
such an approach might look in the context of an event semantics,
applying it in greater detail to verbs with an incremental theme and in
lesser detail to degree achievements. In a nutshell, it is an attempt to
take seriously the idea that such verbs are gradable. The present
account differs from Krifka's in that the latter lacks degrees
altogether and as a result can express the notion of partial realization
in only a roundabout way at best. Somewhat ironically, although the
present account shares a degree-based spirit with Kennedy and Levin's
approach, it mischievously recasts their degrees as extents, hence it
also ends up having degrees where the latter lacks them. Even so, the
main contrast with Kennedy and Levin's approach is undoubtedly that the
present account makes the degree functions underlying the semantics of
verbs with an incremental theme and degree achievements sensitive to the
description of the internal argument as well, whereas the
latter lacks this feature.
reference
- Piñón, Christopher. Aspectual composition with
degrees. In Louise McNally and Christopher Kennedy, editors,
Adjectives and adverbs in semantics and discourse. Oxford
University Press, to appear 2008. URL:
<http://pinon.sdf-eu.org/covers/acd.html>.
download "Aspectual composition with degrees" (prepublication
version, 22 August 2007)
go to my cover page for papers
piñón: aspectual composition with degrees
last updated on 22 aug 07
christopher piñón (pinon AT sdf HYPHEN eu DOT org)
http://pinon.sdf-eu.org/covers/acd.html