A Time-relational Approach to Aspect in Mandarin …...A Time-relational Approach to Aspect in Mandarin Chinese and English Mingya Liu University of Tu¨bingen [email protected]

Introducing Chinese Aspect English Tense & Aspect Chinese Aspect Conclusion References

A Time-relational Approach to Aspectin Mandarin Chinese and English

Mingya Liu

University of Tubingen

[email protected]

July 22, 2008

Mingya Liu (Tubingen) Aspect in Chinese and English July 22, 2008 1 / 24


Motivation

Both English and Mandarin Chinese have (grammatical) aspect, but theformer is tensed and the latter tenseless. We compute the semantics ofChinese aspect marking of simple isolated sentences in a time-relationalframework (Reichenbach 1947) and compare it with that of English.



Structure of the Talk

1 Introducing Chinese Aspect

2 English Tense & Aspect

3 Chinese AspectZero MarkingThe Four Aspect Markers

4 Conclusion



Overview

Mandarin Chinese has a rich aspectual system.

φ

du-φLE

du-leGUO

du-guoZAI

zai-duZHE

du-zheRemnant ASPs

?du-qilai (inchoative)?du-du (tentative,cf. Chao 1968)

. . .

verb root: du ‘read’



Zero Marking vs. Aspect Markers

With Zero Marking, the temporal properties of a sentence areexpressed by time adverbials (if there is none, then time is located atthe present) and the inherent temporal properties of the verbalpredicate (Vendler 1967).

With aspect markers, the temporal properties of a sentence areconveyed by time adverbials, inherent verb meaning and aspect.

We will leave out time adverbials and only discuss how aspectinteracts with inherent verb meaning.



‘Perfective Marker’ le

Le marks a termination of an event, but not necessarily a completion.

(1) a. wo zuo-le zuo-ye.‘I did my homework.’

b. ta zuo-le zuo-ye, dan-shi hai-mei zuo-wan.‘He did his homework, but didn’t finish doing it yet.’

c. wo zuo-wan-le zuo-ye. (completion indicated by resultative verb constructions, RVCs)‘I finished doing my homework.’

d. nana pang-le. (Inchoativity if combined with states)‘Nana gained weight.’



‘Experiential Marker’ guo

Guo means that some event takes place at least once, which requires thatthe event indicated by the predicate should be repeatable.

(2) a. ?ta si-guo.‘He died once.’

b. ta chi-guo kimchi.‘He has eaten kimchi (once).’

c. ?ta chi-guo mi-fan.‘He has eaten rice (once).’



‘Imperfective Markers’ zai, zhe

‘Progressive Marker’ zai

(3) a. *ta zai zhi-dao.‘He is knowing.’

b. ta zai tiao-wu.‘He is dancing.’

c. *ta zai-yin.‘He is winning.’

‘Stative Imperfective Marker’ zhe indicates continuation either of anaction or a resultant state from an action.

(4) a. ta zai-chuan yi-jian da-yi.‘He is putting on a coat.’

b. ta chuan-zhe yi-jian da-yi.‘He is wearing a coat.’

c. *ta dao-zhe.‘He arrive-ZHE.’

d. ta ting-zhe ying-yue tiao-wu.‘He dances while listening to the music.’



Interaction with Verbal Classes

φ le guo zai zheStates + ? + ? +Actitivites + + + + +Accomplishments ? + + + +Achievements * + * * *

Some state verbs can be combined with le to indicate inchoativity.State verbs, when combined with zai, are coerced into activities.

Activities are available with any aspect marking.

Accomplishments are available with any aspect marking. However,with le and guo, the accomplishment is indicated as complete, whilewith zai and zhe it is still ongoing; with zero marking, the sentence isaspectually ambiguous.

Achievements are only compatible with le.



Reichenbach (1947)

Three notions of time:

speech time (T S): the time when the utterance is made

event time (TE ): the time when the event described in the utteranceobtains

reference time (TR): the time from which the event is seen

Definitions:

Tense: REL(TR , T S)

Aspect: REL(TR , TE )



Temporal Relations

We apply the notion of intervals of time instead of points of time andthree kinds of temporal relations:

Temporal precedence: T 1 < T 2 iff t1 < t2 for every t1 ∈ T 1 andevery t2 ∈ T 2

Temporal overlap: T 1 O T 2 iff T 1

⋂T 2 is nonempty

Temporal inclusion: T 1 ⊆ T 2 iff T 1 ⊆ T 2

Carpenter (1997: p.413)



Johnson (1981) vs. Klein (1994)

Johnson (1981) Klein (1994)

PAST TR < T S TR < T S

Tense PRESENT T S = TR T S ⊆ TR

FUTURE T S < TR T S < TR

SIMPLE TE = TR TE ⊆ TR

Aspect PROGRESSIVE For some t in TE , TR < t TR ⊂ TE

PERFECT TE < TR TE < TR

(5) a. Mary has long hair. (PRESENT: T S ⊆ TR)

b. Tom works / Tom worked. (SIMPLE: TE ⊆ TR)



An Example

±Perfect ±Progressive Time Relations Examples+ − TR < T S , TE < TR Anna had met Peter.

Past − − TR < T S , TE ⊆ TR Anna met Peter.

− + TR < T S , TR ⊂ TE Anna was meeting Peter.

+ − T S ⊆ TR , TE < TR Anna has met Peter.

Present − − T S ⊆ TR , TE ⊆ TR Anna meets Peter.

− + T S ⊆ TR , TR ⊂ TE Anna is meeting Peter.

+ − T S < TR , TE < TR Anna will have met Peter.

Future − − T S < TR , TE ⊆ TR Anna will meet Peter.

− + T S < TR , TR ⊂ TE Anna will be meeting Peter.



Zero Marking

Lin (2006): “default viewpoint aspect”

[. . . ] the temporal interpretation of sentences without anytemporal adverbs or aspectual markers is determined via theirviewpoint aspect. Namely, a sentence with imperfectiveviewpoint aspect has a present interpretation, whereas a sentencewith perfective viewpoint has a past interpretation.

(Lin 2006: p.4)

Question: How, with no aspect marker, is the default perfectivedistinguished from the default imperfective aspect?



Zero Marking

Our claim

The most essential temporal properties of an event lie in the verb(plus its arguments) above all.

Zero marking in Mandarin Chinese has the semantics of eithersimple/perfective or perfect in English, depending on Vendlerian classof the verbal predicate.

RVCs are achievements in nature. They do appear with zero marking.



Zero Marking

Time Relations with zero marking

States: [TR ⊆ T S , TE ⊆ TR ]

(6) ma-li hen gao.‘Mary is very tall.’

Activities: [TR ⊆ T S , TE ⊆ TR ]

(7) ma-li tiao-wu.‘Mary dances.’

Accomplishments: [TR ⊆ T S , TE ⊆ TR ] or [TR ⊆ T S , TE < TR ]

(8) ma-li hua yi-fu hua.‘Mary draws/has drawn a picture.’

Achievements (RVCs): [TR ⊆ T S , TE < TR ]

(9) ma-li si-diao.‘Mary has died.’



The Four Aspect Markers

Klein et al. (2000): DP

Klein’s (1994) three kinds of lexical contents:

0-phase: factual/atemporal statements

1-phase: Vendler’s states and activities or atelic/Krifka’s (1989)homogeneous predicates

2-phase: Vendler’s accomplishments and achievements ortelic/Krifka’s quantized predicates

The distinguished phase (DP):

DP is the chosen phase to which reference time (topic time or time ofassertion) is related.

DP is the only phase for 1-phase contents and for 2-phase contentse.g. < Mary die > with a source phase < Mary be not dead > and atarget phase < Mary be dead >.

Chinese takes the target phase as DP.




Klein et al. (2000): Definition

le: TR O PRETIME TDP and TDP

guo: TDP < TR

zai: TR ⊂ TDP

zhe: TR ⊂ TDP




Is DP necessary to define le?

(10) a. ma-li pang-le. [ + + ++]

‘Mary gained weight.’b. ma-li tiao-wu-le. [ ++] + + or [ + + ++]

‘Mary danced.’c. ma-li hua-le yi-fu hua. − − [− − ++] + + or − − [− − + + ++]

‘Mary drew a picture.’d. ma-li si-le. − − [− − + + ++]

‘Mary died.’

++ for DP, – for the source phase of 2-phase contents and [] for reference time

For 1-phase contents, TDP is TE , thus‘TR O PRETIME TDP and TDP ’ = ‘TR O PRETIME TE and TE ’.For 2-phase contents, the target phase is DP, and “as a consequence,the source phase is the pretime of DP” (Klein et al. 2000: p.758), soaltogether TE .It seems difficult to tell the two phases apart for e.g< Mary draw a picture >.

Conclusion: abandon DP and get back to TEMingya Liu (Tubingen) Aspect in Chinese and English July 22, 2008 19 / 24



Our definition of le

With TE and TR as intervals [t1 , t2 ] and [t3 , t4 ], (10) shows fourkinds of temporal relations, t3 < t1 < t4 < t2 , t3 < t1 < t2 ≤ t4 ,t1 < t3 < t4 < t2 and t1 < t3 < t2 ≤ t4 . All including ‘t1 < t4 ’.

le: ‘InitialPoint TE < FinalPoint TR ’.

The reason why we did not pick ‘t3 < t2 ’ i.e.’InitialPoint TR < FinalPoint TE ’, is that the former perfectlyexplains the fact that le does not indicate completion itself. As ourredefinition shows, le focuses on the relation between the initial pointof TE and the final point of TR while the final point of TE , whichdetermines the completion of an event, is left unspecified.




guo: perfect marker

For 1-phase contents, TDP is TE .

For 2-phase contents, ‘TDP < TR ’ says nothing more than‘TE < TR ’, because DP in Chinese, i.e. the target phase is evidentlythe latter part of a 2-phase content.

Conclusion: guo indicates ‘TE < TR ’ just like the English perfect. DP isnot necessary, either.




zai and zhe

Both zai and zhe appear with 1-phase contents for which TDP is TE .

Achievements do not occur with zai or zhe, while accomplishmentslike hua yi-fu hua ‘draw a picture’ can be combined with either ofthem, but then they behave rather like activities, because theresulting state i.e. DP, is not relevant or realized.

Conclusion: it is unnecessary to distinguish the source phase and DP forzai and zhe. They indicate ‘TR ⊂ TE ’ as the English progressive.



Chinese and English Aspect

Chinese English

Zero marking: T E ⊆ TR or T E < TR SIMPLE: T E ⊆ TR

le: InitialPointT E < FinalPointTR PERFECT: T E < TR

guo: T E < TR

zai: TR ⊂ T E PROGRESSIVE: TR ⊂ T E

zhe: TR ⊂ T E

Aspect in both Mandarin Chinese and English indicates a relation betweenTE and TR , either of temporal precedence or temporal inclusion, exceptfor some minor differences. How about other languages?



References

Many Thanks especially to Regine Eckardt and also to Gotz Keydana andJanino Rado.

Carpenter, Bob. 1997. Type-logical Semantics. The MIT Press.

Chao, Yuan-ren. 1968. A Grammar of Mandarin Chinese. University of California Press, Berkeley.

Johnson, Marion R. 1981. A Unified Temporal Theory of Tense and Aspect. In Philip J.Tedeschi and Annie Zaenen (eds.), Tense and Aspect, Syntax and Semantics, No. 14,Academic Press, New York.

Klein, Wolfgang. 1994. Time in Language. Routledge, London.

Krifka, Manfred. 1989. Nominalreferenz und Zeitkonstitution: zur Semantik von Massentermen,Pluraltermen und Aspektklassen. Fink, Munchen.

Lin, Jo-wang. 2006. Time in a Language Without Tense: The Case of Chinese. Journal ofSemantics (1), 1–53.

Reichenbach, Hans. 1947. Elements of the Symbolic Logic. Free Press, New York.

Vendler, Zeno. 1967. Linguistics in Philosophy. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY.


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A Time-relational Approach to Aspect in Mandarin …...A Time-relational Approach to Aspect in Mandarin Chinese and English Mingya Liu University of Tu¨bingen [email protected]