IIIA Contrastive Study of English and Chinese Simple Accomplishment Sentences Thesis submitted to the College of Foreign Languages of Anhui Normal University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts By Cao Lixin Supervisor: Prof. Ouyang Junlin College of Foreign Languages, Anhui Normal University April 2003 IIIAcknowledgments There are many who I would like to thank for their contribution. First of all, of course, my advisor Prof. Ouyang Junlin. Without him the present study would not have had its present depth and scope. He has provided pertinent guidance and has been very instrumental in shaping the contents of the thesis. My sincere thanks are due to Prof. Chen Xianfu, Prof. Cai Yuhui, Prof. Yue Jinsheng for their invaluable instructions during my three years study. I would also like to thank my classmates for their support and valuable suggestions. III摘 要 语义学一般分为词汇语义学和句子语义学以前对情境类型的研究局限于词汇意义体传统上归属时被认为是一个语法单位经常与时混为一谈与作为纯语法范畴的时相对体现在被视为一个语法-语义单位对体的研究包括视点体和情境体前者提供观察的角度后者确定一个情境属何种事件或状态是句义层面上的范畴组合性原则的应用把词义研究和句义研究结合起来为句义研究扩大了范围 本文对比描写了英汉两种语言简单完成情境类句子 其目的是验证动词五分法的有效性并试图找出两种语言在反映时间性语义特征上的异同依据双成分理论本文从四个角度进行了对比分布与时间状语的同现情境体与视点体的互动以及有界性对比结果表明把动词分为状态类活动类成就类完成类和一次性事件类能够充分描写研究句子内在时间性语义特征 现代语言学的一个重要课题就是对语言普遍性的研究本文虽仅仅是对英汉两种语言某个侧面的对比描写然而根据功能类型学的观点这种研究也在一定程度上拓宽了普遍现象研究的视野 关键词 情境体 视点体 动词集 有界性 IV Abstract Semantics is generally divided into lexical semantics and sentence semantics. Earlier approach to situation types was confined in the scope of lexical semantics. Traditionally, what is identified as aspect was subsumed under the term “tense”; aspect is viewed as a grammatical unit and is often confused with tense. Though tense is indeed a pure grammatical unit, aspect is now considered both a grammatical and semantic phenomenon. Aspectology includes viewpoint aspect and situation aspect. Viewpoint aspect provides a sentence with a temporal perspective; situation aspect presents a situation as belonging to a certain category of event or state. Situation aspect is now considered to be a phenomenon at the sentence level. By applying the Principle of compositionality, the study of word (verb) meaning and that of sentence meaning unify, which to some extent widens the way to the final solution of sentence meaning. This study presents a contrastive description of English and Chinese simple accomplishment sentences. The aim is to verify the adequacy of the quinquepartition of verbs with the hope to find similarities and differences between the two languages with reference to temporality. Following the two-component theory, the study develops the contrast from four angles: distribution, co-occurrence with durative temporal adverbials, interactions between accomplishment sentences and viewpoints, and boundedness. The result shows that the quinquepartition of states, activities, accomplishments, achievements, and semelfactives is adequate for the semantic description of temporal features inherent in sentences. Language universals is now a major concern in modern linguistics. Though the paper is only a contrast across two languages, the findings will no doubt contribute to some extent to the study of universals in that this study complies with the functional-typological approach. Key words Situation aspect, viewpoint aspect, verb constellation, boundedness V Appendix 1 Symbols and Technical Conventions Since our use of symbols, abbreviations, bracketing and the like follows the practice in most works of linguistics, all that we need here is a summary of the main types of convention with a brief explanation. Fuller information is given in relevant chapters. A preceding question mark indicates dubious acceptability of a sentence; a preceding asterisk an unacceptable sentence. All examples are given in oblique boldface. Where bracketed numerals occur in oblique boldface, they indicate the sequential number of a particular example. Other symbols used in the body may include dash whish indicates a state, square bracketed + or which signals presence or absence of a feature, ellipsis dots that stand for dynamic processes, short vertical lines represent viewpoint span. For more detailed information, please confer S3.1.1. VI Appendix 2 A List of Key Terms accomplishment 完成类情景 achievement 成就类情景 activity 活动类情境 actulizational viewpoint 实现体 Aktionsart ( situation aspect) 语义体 argument 题元 atelic 无定点的 atemporal 非时间的 boundedness 有界性 compositionality (principle of) 组合性原则 degree inhoatives 等级性起始类动词