Vol. 47:4 (2023) ► pp.900–956
A cross-linguistic syntactic analysis of telicity in motion predicates in Southern Tati, Mandarin, and Ghanaian Student Pidgin
This paper proposes an analysis of telicity in motion predicates within the framework of the Exo-Skeletal Model (Borer 2005b). We hypothesize that a motion event is syntactically represented by a Path component, the core of which is a vP that introduces a Figure argument. This Path component is interpreted as quantity in the sense of Borer (2005b) when there is a certain type of morpheme present in the structure, such as a verb that denotes the reaching of an endpoint. A quantity Path component can then assign a semantic value to a functional projection called AspQP, which returns a telic interpretation. Data from Mandarin, Ghanaian Student Pidgin, and Southern Tati show AspQP can be assigned a value either with or without overt head movement. We further propose a distinction between Path and direction, which explains data that were left unexplained in previous studies and seemingly contradict our claim.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Theoretical assumptions and hypothesis
- 2.1Theoretical framework
- 2.2Telicity defined
- 2.3Motion events defined
- 2.4Hypothesis
- 3.Methodology
- 4.How telicity arises: Range assignment to [AspQ<e>]
- 4.1Quantity path as a range assigner for [AspQ<e>]
- 4.2Seemingly contradictory cases: Quantity argument as range assigner for [AspQ<e>]
- 5.Theoretical contributions and implications
- 6.Remaining questions for future research
- 6.1XP-Loc and feature checking
- 6.2Why overt head movement?
- 6.3Syntactic behaviors of other path elements in Mandarin
- 7.Conclusion
- Notes
- Abbreviations
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References
https://doi.org/10.1075/sl.22014.che