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LING/JAPN 563 Structure of Japanese Fall 2011

Tense, aspect, and verb classes

0. Introuct!on" #ense an aspect !n $n%l!s& an Japanese

(1) How would we translate the following verbs?

(a) Kinoo, syukudai-o __________ mae ni, terebi-o mi-ta.

yesterday homework-ACC { DO } before NI TV-ACC watch-TA

!esterday, before " did my homework, " wat#hed $%.& ' su-ru

(b) sita, kuruma-o __________ ato de, syoku*i-o tukuru.

tomorrow car-ACC { WASH } after DE mea-ACC make-!"

$omorrow, after " wash the #ar, " will make su++er.& ' arat-ta

a+anese tense (as+e#t) #ategories often behave differently from similar #ategories in /nglish

(0) "s the -taform really +ast tense2? "s the -r#form really +resent tense2?

(3) "s the -te$%-r#form really +rogressive2?

(a) Ken-wa susi-o tabe-te4i-ru.

&e'-TO( s#sh%-ACC eat-TE$I-!"

5ost salient meaning6 Ken is #urrently in the +ro#ess of eating sushi.&

7an also mean6 Ken has eaten sushi.& (has the e)*er%e'ce ofor has +#st 'ow)

(b) Kaeru-ga sin-de4i-ru.

fro,-NO d%e-TE$I-!"

7annot mean6 the frog is dying right before our eyes.&

5ust mean6 the frog has diedis dead.&

8oal of dis#ussion6 $o introdu#e some linguisti# #on#e+ts related to tense and as+e#t that willhel+ illuminate some of these differen#es between the way that tense and as+e#t #ategories aree9+ressed in a+anese and /nglish.

I. #ense an aspect" 'as!c ter(!nolo%)

(:) $erminology 7omrie (1;gihara (1;;;) ' em+hasis added

(a) Tenserelates the timeof the situation referred to to some other time...2

(b) Aspectsare different ways of viewing the internal temporal consistencyof asituation.2

>ther s#holars have distinguished between6

(i) Viewpoint aspect: hether the s+eaker #hooses to view a situation as nothaving started, as being #om+leted, as being ongoing, et#.

(ii) Lexical aspect: "ntrinsi# differen#es between +redi#ates with res+e#t to how thesituation #an be viewed, whi#h that are +artly based on the meaning of the+redi#ate and +artly arbitrary (similar to what we saw with themati# roles)

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II. Le*!cal aspect" Pre!cates +elon% to !fferent aspectual cate%or!es

(@) /nglish %As (%endlerBowty #lassifi#ation system) ' note that both the verb and itsarguments #an matter(a) state Ken knew Cren#h.(b) a#tivity Ken ate a++les.(#) a##om+lishment Ken ate an a++le.

(d) a#hievement Ken rea#hed the summit.

(=) Demanti# differen#es among these #ategories

Has the subinterval property(every subinterval E still true)

(Has duration) (Fo intrinsi# end+oint) (a) state

No subinterval propertyHas duration

No intrinsic endpoint (b) activity

Has intrinsic endpoint (c) accomplishment

No duration (Has intrinsi# end+oint) (d) achievement

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(1G) Biagnosing as+e#t #lass in a+anese6 Achievements!nstantaneous predicates

Demanti#ally, these often involve an instantaneous chan'e in state- $he same #hange in state is not ne#essarily e9+ressed as an a#hievement +redi#ate

in /nglish6 #om+ares%'-#die& (a#hievement) with /nglish d%e(a#tivitya##om+)

/96 s%r-#. >ften translated as to know&, but as+e#tual +ro+erties not like /ng k'ow

(a) Dono koto-o sir-u. ' means a++ro9. " will #ome to know that fa#t.&that fact k'ow-!"

(b) Dono koto-o sit-te4i-ru. ' usual way of e9+ressing " know that fa#t.&

that fact k'ow-TE$I-!"

(11) Fow, look ba#k at (J)and #onsider the usage of the -te$%-.r#/form in these #lasses

$here are two +ossible inter+retations of the -te$%-r##onstru#tion6

(a) +rogressive is now %ing&(b) +erfe#t resultative has (Iust) %ed is now in a state resulting from having %ed&

hi#h as+e#t #lasses allow whi#h inter+retation(s)? hy?

(10) 7onsider duration& and end+oint&6 7an this hel+ us understand the behavior of the+redi#ate #lasses with res+e#t to -te$%-.r#/forms?

(a) Dtate ----------- (homogeneously s+ans an interval of time hasno intrinsi# end+oint)

(b) #tivity (iteration or #ontinuation of a#tivity #an itself#om+rise a time s+an with no intrinsi# end+oint)

(#) ##om+lishment M..... (has end+oint, whi#h makes resultant state2a##essible)

(d) #hievement M................ (o##u+ies a single +oint in time resultant state2a##essible)

(11) #hievement +redi#ates are often used in the -taform in relative #lauses (>gihara 1;;;)

(a) ya-wa N soko-no nuketa O oke-o mot-te4i-ru.

Aya bottom-2EN ,o3m%ss%',-TA *a% hod-TE$I-!"

ya has a +ail that has no bottom.&

Dide note6 8/Fmay a++ear instead of F>5on subIe#ts in relative #lauses.

(b) Ken-wa N *ro ai-ta O mado kara nigedas-u tumori da.

&e' o*e'-TA w%'dow from esca*e-!" %'te't%o' CO("4A-!"

Ken intends to es#a+e from NthroughO an o+en window.&

(10) hat is Kindai#hi&s $y+e :2?

>ne +ossibility6 defe#tive2 sub#lass of another #ategory ' whi#h one?

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III. 'ac, to tense

(13) "f tense establishes relationships amon' times, how #an we inter+ret the differen#esbetween /nglish and a+anese?

(a) Kinoo, syukudai-o __________ mae ni, terebi-o mi-ta.

yesterday homework-ACC { DO } before NI TV-ACC watch-TA

!esterday, before " did my homework, " wat#hed $%.& ' su-ru

(b) sita, kuruma-o __________ ato de, syoku*i-o tukuru.

tomorrow car-ACC { WASH } after DE mea-ACC make-!"

$omorrow, after " wash the #ar, " will make su++er.& ' arat-ta

(1:) absolute tense6 5arks tem+oral relationshi+s with res+e#t to theutterance time

relative tense6 5arks tem+oral relationshi+s with res+e#t to some contextually salienttime, whi#h may or may not be the utteran#e time

(1@) elative tensein a+anese? (Dee >gihara (1;;;) for dis#ussion.)

%-ta %(A) +re#edes some #onte9tually salient time& P +ast2

%-r# %(A) does not +re#ede some #onte9tually salient time& P non-+ast2

(1=) Ken-wa N *ro terebi-o mita O ato de benkyoo.su-ru.

&e' TV watch-TA after DE st#dy-!"

7an be uttered if Ken has not yet started wat#hing $%.Ken will study after wat#hing $%.& ...after he has wat#hed $%.&

twatch(-ta) Q tst#dy

tst#dy(-ru) t#ttera'ce ny #laims about twatchand t#ttera'ce?

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I. Su((ar)" #ense an aspect !n Japanese an $n%l!s&

(1;) s+e#t

(a) a+anese and /nglish have essentially the same four as+e#t #lasses of +redi#ates (ifa+anese $y+e :2 is a defe#tive2 sub#lass of +erha+s #hievement"nstantaneous)

(b) #hievement"nstantaneous verbs, with #hange-of-state as an im+ortant +art of their

meanings, are numerous in a+anese s main-#lause +redi#ates, these often o##ur in the te$%- form, whi#h gets only the

resultative inter+retation (not the +rogressive)

"n relative #lauses, these often show u+ in the -taform. $his seems to be a way of

em+hasi*ing the #hange of state, but it is diffi#ult to give a formal semanti#analysis for (that is #om+atible with other uses of -ta).

(0G) $ense

(a) a+anese has only relative tensemarkers

-tameans +re#edes salient time& -ru means does not +re#ede salient time&

Dalient time may be the utteran#e time, or another time made salient in thedis#ourse (e9am+le6 the time of another +redi#ate)

(b) /nglish has both absoluteand relativetense markers

eferences

7omrie, Rernard (1;

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