The conceptual motivation of aspect
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Teenie Matlock
Abstract
Aspect expresses information about how events unfold in time. In English, imperfective aspect is known to widen the temporal scope of the event described, but little is known about how such imperfective descriptions are processed or what motivates their use. This chapter investigates the conceptual impact of aspect, especially imperfective descriptions of past events, and argues that it shapes our understanding of events, and that its use and function is motivated by our everyday experience of perceiving and simulating events.
Abstract
Aspect expresses information about how events unfold in time. In English, imperfective aspect is known to widen the temporal scope of the event described, but little is known about how such imperfective descriptions are processed or what motivates their use. This chapter investigates the conceptual impact of aspect, especially imperfective descriptions of past events, and argues that it shapes our understanding of events, and that its use and function is motivated by our everyday experience of perceiving and simulating events.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Motivation in grammar
- Semantic motivation of the English auxiliary 29
- The mind as ground 49
- Motivating the flexibility of oriented - ly adverbs 71
- The cognitive motivation for the use of dangling participles in English 89
- What motivates an inference? 107
- The conceptual motivation of aspect 133
- Metaphoric motivation in grammatical structure 149
- Motivation in English must and Hungarian kell 171
- The socio-cultural motivation of referent honorifics in Korean and Japanese 191
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Part II. Motivation in the Lexicon
- Conceptual motivation in adjectival semantics 215
- Metonymy, metaphor and the “weekend frame of mind” 233
- Intrinsic or extrinsic motivation? 251
- Motivational networks 269
- The “meaning-full” vocabulary of English and German 287
- Name index 299
- Subject index 303
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Motivation in grammar
- Semantic motivation of the English auxiliary 29
- The mind as ground 49
- Motivating the flexibility of oriented - ly adverbs 71
- The cognitive motivation for the use of dangling participles in English 89
- What motivates an inference? 107
- The conceptual motivation of aspect 133
- Metaphoric motivation in grammatical structure 149
- Motivation in English must and Hungarian kell 171
- The socio-cultural motivation of referent honorifics in Korean and Japanese 191
-
Part II. Motivation in the Lexicon
- Conceptual motivation in adjectival semantics 215
- Metonymy, metaphor and the “weekend frame of mind” 233
- Intrinsic or extrinsic motivation? 251
- Motivational networks 269
- The “meaning-full” vocabulary of English and German 287
- Name index 299
- Subject index 303
