Aktionsart (situation aspect) is a way of classifying situations (events and states) on the basis of their temporal contour, that is, the shape of their “run time”. A state is a situation which is homogeneous over time (nothing changes within the time span being described), while an event involves some kind of change. The primary features which are used to distinguish different classes of events are duration and telicity (boundedness).
Grammatical aspect (or “viewpoint aspect”) is a choice that the speaker makes in describing a situation, part of the claim that is being made about the situation. It is expressed by grammatical morphemes which indicate the relation between the run time of the situation and the “Topic Time”, or time about which a claim is being made. The most basic distinction is between perfective aspect, which indicates that the situation time is contained within Topic Time, vs. imperfective aspect, which indicates that the situation time extends beyond the boundaries of Topic Time.
Some tense and aspect markers impose selectional restrictions on the types of situations which they can be used to describe. De Swart (1998) refers to selectional restrictions of this kind as aspectual sensitivity. When the expected temporal contour of the described situation clashes with the aspectual sensitivity of the tense or aspect marker that is used in the description, or with some other element of the clause (e.g. an adverbial phrase), a new interpretation may be coerced that involves a different aktionsart. This type of coercion is an important factor in explaining how the basic meanings (established sense(s)) of tense and aspect markers can account for their observed range of uses.
Further reading
Comrie (1976) is still an excellent resource on the typology of grammatical aspect. C. Smith (1997) is another foundational work on grammatical (or “viewpoint”) aspect and aktionsart (situation aspect). Binnick (2006) provides a helpful overview of these topics, and Klein (2009) provides a helpful introduction to his theory of tense and aspect. Dowty (1979) provides an very good description of the aktionsart categories and summarizes a number of useful tests for identifying and distinguishing them.
Discussion exercises
A: Identify the most likely situation type (aktionsart) for the following predicates (options: state, activity, achievement, accomplishment, semelfactive):a
1. swim
2. be happy
3. wake up
4. snap your fingers
5. compose a sonnet
6. swim the English channel
7. drink coffee
8. drink two cups of coffee
9. expire (e.g., visa, passport, etc.)
10. own (e.g., John owns a parrot)
a Patterned after Kearns (2000: 225).
Homework exercises
A: Some English verbs are polysemous between a stative sense and a dynamic (eventive) sense. Show how the progressive aspect can be used to distinguish these two senses for each of the following five verbs: weigh, extend, surround, smell, apply (e.g. that law doesn’t apply vs. apply for a job).a
B: Show how you would use time adverbials (e.g. for an hour vs. in an hour) to determine whether each of the following situations is telic or atelic:
1. Walter laughed.
2. Susan realized her mistake.
3. Horace played piano sonatas.
4. Horace played Beethoven’s Pathétique sonata.
5. Martha resented George’s comment.
C: Describe the coercion effects in the following examples:
1. As I walked through his door, I was instantly aware of the quiet strength of mind Buzz possesses.b
2. William recited the Iliad for a few minutes.
3. John knocked on the door for ten minutes.
4. The children of Atuler village in Sichuan have for many years been climbing up a sheer 800 meter cliff on rattan ladders in order to attend school.
a Adapted from Saeed (2009: 147).
b http://www.vvoice.org/?module=displa...25&format=html
