SITUATION ASPECT AND VIEWPOINT ASPECT: FROM SALISH TO JAPANESE by MASARU KIYOTA B.A., University of Fukuoka, 1998 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Linguistics) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) March 2008 © Masaru Kiyota, 2008 Abstract This thesis investigates lexical and grammatical aspect in two unrelated languages, S´nc&a@T´n (the Saanich dialect of Straits Salish) and Japanese. In particular, the main focus is on how various perfect readings are derived in the two languages, which show striking similarities in this respect. In S´nc&a@T´n, a particle kW¬ yields various readings depending on the situation aspect and viewpoint aspect of the predicate with which it occurs (Kiyota 2006b). These various readings include an inceptive reading, an on-going situation reading, and a completion reading. The Japanese aspectual marker -tei- also induces a range of different readings: a progressive reading, a resultant state reading, and a perfect reading (Ogihara 1998a, Nishiyama 2006, a.o.). To account for these various readings, I propose that both kW¬ in S´nc&a@T´n and -tei- in Japanese are perfect markers. However, the actual semantic function of each is different: kW¬ in S´nc&a@T´n introduces a perfect time span (Pancheva 2003), whereas -tei- in Japanese denotes an anteriority relation between an event time and a reference time (Reichenbach 1947, Klein 1992, 1994), where the event time can be the time interval of a sub-event of a larger event. -Tei- also has a pragmatic component (or presupposition), just as Portner (2003) claims for the English perfect. Aspectual properties of predicates also play a crucial role in yielding the range of different readings. Therefore, this thesis also proposes a new aspectual classification of predicates in S´nc&a@T´n and Japanese, which departs from the common classification of predicates based on Indo-European languages. In S´nc&a@T´n, various readings are derived by interaction between the semantics of verbal predicates (i.e. lexical aspect), the semantics of the grammatical aspect (perfective or imperfective), and the semantics (and possibly pragmatics) of the perfect. In Japanese, the range of interpretations is due to interaction between the semantics of verbal aspect, the function of an adverb, and the semantics and pragmatics of the perfect. In other words, the same factors enter into my analysis of both S´nc&a@T´n and Japanese, though there is one striking difference between the two languages: the perfective/imperfective opposition is involved in S´nc&a@T´n, but not in Japanese. ii Table of Contents Abstract.......................................................................................................................................... ii Table of Contents .........................................................................................................................iii List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ vi List of Figures.............................................................................................................................. vii List of Abbreviations .................................................................................................................viii Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... x Chapter 1 Introduction.......................................................................................................... 1 1 Goals of this thesis.............................................................................................................. 1 2 Aspectual classification of predicates................................................................................. 3 3 Viewpoint and perfect aspect............................................................................................ 12 Chapter 2 Aspectual classification and properties of verbs in S´nc&a@T´n ...................... 23 1 Introduction....................................................................................................................... 23 2 Classifying S´nc&a@T´n verbs ............................................................................................ 25 2.1 Diagnosing presence/absence of a final point........................................................... 26 2.1.1 Out-of-the-blue sentence interpretation ........................................................... 26 2.1.2 Interpretations with the particle kW¬ ................................................................ 34 2.1.3 (Un)availability of the stative prefix s-............................................................ 36 2.2 Two kinds of states: inchoative states and homogeneous states............................... 39 2.3 Activities and inchoative states................................................................................. 48 2.4 Achievements and accomplishments ........................................................................ 53 2.4.1 Two kinds of transitives: accomplishments or achievements?........................ 54 2.4.2 The culmination cancellation test .................................................................... 57 2.4.3 The almost test ................................................................................................. 60 2.4.3.1 Interpretations with c&´lel ............................................................................ 61 2.4.3.2 Interpretation with xWel´q .......................................................................... 64 2.4.4 Semantics of unaccusatives and the two kinds of transitives .......................... 66 2.5 Classification of S´nc&a@T´n verbs: summary of the diagnostics.............................. 68 2.6 Temporal properties and semantics of the aspectual classes .................................... 69 2.6.1 Homogeneous states and inchoative states ...................................................... 69 2.6.2 Activities.......................................................................................................... 74 2.6.3 Achievements................................................................................................... 77 2.6.4 Non-culminating accomplishments and achievements.................................... 80 3 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 83 iii Chapter 3 Viewpoint aspect and perfect aspect in S´nc&a@T´n.......................................... 85 1 Introduction....................................................................................................................... 85 2 Viewpoint aspect and situation types................................................................................ 86 2.1 The perfective-imperfective opposition.................................................................... 86 2.2 Semantics of the perfective/imperfective.................................................................. 92 3 The perfect marker kW¬ .................................................................................................... 96 3.1 kW¬ is a perfect marker ........................................................................................... 100 3.1.1 Universal Perfect............................................................................................ 101 3.1.2 Experiential Perfect........................................................................................ 103 3.1.3 Perfect of Result............................................................................................. 105 3.1.4 Perfect of Recent Past .................................................................................... 107 3.2 The temporal semantics of kW¬ ............................................................................... 110 3.2.1 Deriving the Universal Perfect reading.......................................................... 113 3.2.2 Deriving the Existential Perfect..................................................................... 115 3.2.3 The Inceptive Reading ................................................................................... 119 4 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 123 Chapter 4 Situation aspect in Japanese ........................................................................... 124 1 Introduction..................................................................................................................... 124 2 Classification of Japanese predicates.............................................................................. 124 2.1 The stative/process/change-of-state distinction...................................................... 126 2.2 Two kinds of process verbs: activities and accomplishments ................................ 130 2.3 Accomplishments and achievements ...................................................................... 140 2.4 Achievements vs. inchoative states......................................................................... 146 2.5 The fourth category verbs ....................................................................................... 150 2.6 Section summary....................................................................................................