"Semantic Motivations for Aspectual Clusters of Russian verbs"

“Semantic Motivations for Aspectual Clusters of Russian verbs”

• Laura A. Janda

• University of Tromsø

• [e-mail]

• hum.uit.no/lajanda

Main Ideas

• Meaning of verb motivates aspectual behavior

• Conceptualization of different types of events and relationship to time

• Components of verb meaning correlate with selection of Perfectives

Theoretical Framework

• Cluster model, four types of Perfectives

• Metaphors motivate Perfectives

• Cluster structure: 0-4 types of Perfectives

• Cluster structure largely predictable from the meanings of verbs

• Motion verbs are prototypical

Overview

• Cluster model

• Types of Perfectives

• Implicational hierarchy

• Metaphorical motivation of Perfectives

• Travel vs. motion and Completability

• Granular vs. fluid and Singularizability

• Conclusions

Part 1

• What is the structure of the aspect system?

Problem:

• Model of aspectual “pairs” has a long tradition:

• Vinogradov 1938, Šaxmatov 1941, Bondarko 1983, Čertkova 1996, Zaliznjak & Šmelev 2000, Timberlake 2004

What is an aspectual cluster?

• An aspectual cluster is a group of verbs joined via transitive relationships on the basis of aspectual derivational morphology

• All verbs in a cluster are aspectually related to a single lexical item

• In addition to Imperfective Activity verbs, an aspectual cluster can include four types of Perfective verbs:

• Natural Perfective, Specialized Perfective, Complex Act, Single Act

Four types of Perfectives:

• Natural Perfective:

• написатьp ‘write’, связатьp ‘tie’, о(б)щипатьp ‘pinch/pluck’, окрепнутьp ‘get stronger’

• Specialized Perfective:

• переписатьp ‘rewrite’, развязатьp ‘untie’, переработатьp ‘revise’, вдутьp ‘blow in’, выщипатьp ‘pluck out’

• Complex Act Perfective:

• пописатьp ‘write a while’, поработатьp ‘work a while’, подутьp ‘blow a while’, пощипатьp ‘pinch/pluck a while’, поскрипетьp ‘squeak a while’

• Single Act Perfective:

• дунутьp ‘blow once’, щипнутьp ‘pinch/pluck once’, скрипнутьp ‘squeak once’

Cluster components:

• Five items (Imperfective Activity + four types of Perfectives) can compose 31 different combinations, but only 12 cluster types are attested

• The three metaphors motivate an Implicational Hierarchy that constrains the structure of aspectual clusters

The Implicational Hierarchy:

• There is a single Implicational Hierarchy that predicts all and only the aspectual clusters that exist in Russian.

• This result is based on empirical study of two multiply stratified samples of over 350 verb clusters (several thousand verbs).

The Implicational Hierarchy:

• Activity

• щипатьi ‘pinch/pluck’

• > (Natural/Specialized Perfective)

• о(б)щипатьp ‘pinch/pluck’/выщипатьp ‘pluck out’

• > Complex Act Perfective

• пощипатьp ‘pinch/pluck a while’

• > Single Act Perfective

• щипнутьp ‘pinch/pluck once’

Cluster Structures

• Activity

• Activity + Natural Perfective

• Activity + Specialized Perfective

• Activity + Natural Perfective + Specialized Perfective

• To any of the above one can add either:

• …+ Complex Act Perfective

• …+ Complex Act Perfective + Single Act Perfective

• Total: 12 extant cluster types

Part 2

• Why does the aspect system have this structure?

Metaphors and types of perfectives:

• Three metaphors govern the Russian aspectual system

• These metaphors motivate the derivation of four different types of Perfective verbs

The three metaphors

• Solid vs. Substance => Perfective vs. Imperfective

• Travel vs. Motion => Construal of Completability

• Granular vs. Fluid => Construal of Singularizability

Travel vs. Motion

• One can travel to a destination

• or –

• One can move without a destination

• This distinction is grammaticalized in Russian motion verbs: идтиi ‘walk (somewhere)’ vs. ходитьi ‘walk (around, back and forth)’

• This can be likened to the Completability of an action

Completability:

• Писатель пишетi книгу.

• ‘The writer is writing a book.’

Completability:

• Many verbs are Ambiguous:

• Completable
• Писатель пишетi книгу ‘A writer is writing a book’
• Non-Completable
• Писатель пишетi книги ‘A writer writes books’

• Some verbs are Non-Completable: стонатьi ‘moan’

• But some can be Completable if specialized
• работатьi ‘work’ > переработатьp ‘revise’

• Few verbs are unambiguously Completable:

• крепнутьi > окрепнутьp ‘get stronger’

What Completability means for aspectual derivation:

• Only verbs that can be construed as Completable have Natural Perfectives

• писатьi ‘write’ > написатьp ‘write’, крепнутьi ‘get stronger’ > окрепнутьp ‘get stronger’

• Only verbs that can be construed as Non-Completable have Complex Act Perfectives

• писатьi ‘write’> пописатьp ‘write a while’, стонатьi ‘moan’> постонатьp ‘moan a while’, работатьi ‘work’> поработатьp ‘work a while’

• Verbs that can be Completable if specialized have Specialized Perfectives

• писатьi ‘write’> переписатьp ‘rewrite’, работатьi ‘work’ > переработатьp ‘revise’

Granular vs. Fluid:

• Substances can be:

• Particulate, like sand
• Continuous, like water

Singularizability:

• Мальчик дулi на одуванчик.

• ‘The boy was blowing on the dandelion.’

• Мальчик дунулp на одуванчик.

• ‘The boy blew once on the dandelion.’

What Singularizability means for aspectual derivation:

• Only verbs that can be construed as Non-Completable and have a Complex Act Perfective can also have a Single Act Perfective:

• щипатьi ‘pinch/pluck’ + пощипатьp ‘pinch/pluck a while’ > щипнутьp ‘pinch/pluck once’
• дутьi ‘blow’ + подутьp ‘blow a while’ > дунутьp ‘blow once’
• скрипетьi ‘squeak’ + поскрипетьp ‘squeak a while’ > скрипнутьp ‘squeak once’
• работатьi ‘work’ + поработатьp ‘work a while’ > *работнутьp ‘work once’ [NB: Some are formed ad-hoc]

Singularizability and motion verbs:

• The Non-Completable motion verbs can also be construed as Singularizable

• ходитьi ‘walk’ can refer to multiple round-trips, in which case there is a Single Act Perfective сходитьp ‘make a single round trip’

Conclusions:

• The cluster model is more accurate than the “pair” model

• Cluster structures are highly constrained and transparently motivated by meanings of verbs:

• Verbs with Completable construals form Natural Perfectives
• Verbs with Non-Completable construals form Complex Act Perfectives
• Verbs with Granular construals form Single Act Perfectives

• Motion verbs play a prototypical role in the system

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