Re: RT list: Question about verbal aspect and RT

Hi Luis,

On Fri, Nov 30, 2007 at 02:36:59PM -0500, LuisCReyes@aol.com wrote:
> Hello RT list,
>
>
>
> I have a few questions and would appreciate any input. I am interested in
> examining how notions of lexical pragmatics, cognitive pragmatics, and RT
> can relate to ideas of the grammaticalization of verbal aspect in Koine
> Greek. Some people researching ideas of verbal aspect in Greek define
> aspect as: “the semantic category by which a speaker or writer
> grammaticalizes a view of the situation of a particular verb form in the
> verbal system. This is a grammatical category expressed by the form of the
> verb.”
>
om what I have read, most semanticist are more precise than that and
say that aspect is about the internal temporal structure of an
eventuality (state of affairs: states, events etc.).

>
>
> If verbal aspect is as an encoded semantic category of a linguistic verbal
> form, then from a RT perspective, should such grammatical aspect also be
> considered to be a part of information stored in the encyclopedia
> entry?

As far as I understand, aspect morphemes would be analysed as encoding
procedural information along the following lines: 'this eventuality is
relevant in terms of its internal temporal make-up' (imperfective
aspect), 'this eventuality is relevant in terms of its beginning'
(inchoative or ingressive aspect), 'this eventuality is relevant in
terms of its endpoint' (perfective aspect), and so on.

Since aspect morphemes encode procedures rather than concepts, they
don't have any logical or encyclopaedic entries. Consequently, they
don't communicate ad-hoc concepts and the tools of lexical pragmatics
developed for investigating words that encode and communicate concepts
don't apply to them.

Best,
Christoph

> ...

-- 
Dr. Christoph Unger
SIL International 
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Phone: +49 6355 989939