SASW%MX.LCS.MIT.EDU@MC.LCS.MIT.EDU.UUCP (12/14/86)
Date: Fri 5 Dec 86 18:50:06-EST
From: LPOLANYI at G.BBN.COM
LINGUISTICS AND COGNITION SEMINAR SERIES
SCIENCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM - BBN LABS
TOPIC: On the Classification of States and Events
SPEAKER: Professor Henk Verkuyl
University of Utrecht/ UMASS Amherst
WHEN & WHERE: Thursday December 11, 1986
2nd Floor Large Conference Room
BBN Labs
10 Moulton Street
Cambridge, MA
ABSTRACT:
In this talk, I shall argue that Zeno Vendler in his original classification
of aspectual categories into STATES, ACTIVITIES, ACCOMPLISHMENTS and
ACHIEVEMENTS basically proposed a two parameter cross classification
(PROCESS and DEFINITENESS/COUNT) but that he redundantly introduced a
third parameter, INTERVAL. This INTERVAL parameter based on the length
of a temporal unit has led, over the years, to many problems and
misunderstandings. In the talk, I shall argue that a re-analysis of
aspectual categories based on partial orderings provides a more
satisfying treatment of natural language aspectual phenomena.