“How to account for
aspectual derivation in
Russian"
Laura A. Janda
UNC-Chapel Hill/University of Tromsø
[email protected], [email protected]
www.unc.edu/~lajanda
Main Idea
• Traditional aspectual pair model is
inadequate
• Incorporate the traditional aspectual pair
model in a more complex, more accurate
model
• The new model: aspectual clusters
• Where pairs exist, they do so in the
context of (usually larger) aspectual
clusters
Laura A. Janda
Tartu 2007
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Overview
• Traditional aspectual pair model
• Definition of aspectual cluster
• Metaphorical motivation of types of
perfectives
• Distribution of types of perfectives
• Implicational hierarchy
• Distribution of cluster types
• Comparison with pair model
• Conclusions
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The Russian aspectual system:
• All verbs and all forms of all verbs are marked
for either Perfective or Imperfective aspect
– (Exception: a small set of biaspectual verbs lacks
overt marking, but aspect is always disambiguated in
context)
– Perfective and Imperfective will be marked with
superscript “p” and “i”
– For example: писатьi ‘write’, написатьp ‘write’,
пописатьp ‘write for a while’, переписатьp ‘rewrite’,
переписыватьi ‘rewrite’, etc.
• Scholars have traditionally assumed that all (or
nearly all) verbs exist in aspectual pairs
Laura A. Janda
Tartu 2007
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Problem:
• Model of aspectual
“pairs” has a long
tradition:
– Vinogradov 1938,
Šaxmatov 1941,
Bondarko 1983,
Čertkova 1996,
Zaliznjak & Šmelev
2000, Timberlake 2004
Laura A. Janda
• Suspicions that
aspectual
relationships involve
more complex
clusters have arisen:
– Isačenko 1960,
Bertinetto & Delfitto
2000, Tatevosov 2002,
Janda forthcoming
Tartu 2007
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What is an aspectual cluster?
• An aspectual cluster is a group of verbs
joined via transitive relationships on the
basis of aspectual derivational morphology
– All verbs in a cluster are aspectually related to
a single lexical item
• In addition to Imperfective Activity verbs,
an aspectual cluster can include four types
of Perfective verbs:
– Natural Perfective, Specialized Perfective,
Complex Act, Single Act
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Metaphors and types of
perfectives:
• Three metaphors govern the Russian
aspectual system, based on: properties of
matter, motion, granularity
• These metaphors motivate the derivation
of four different types of perfective verbs
• These metaphors interact to motivate the
structure of aspectual clusters of Russian
verbs
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The three metaphors
• Solid vs. Substance => Perfective vs.
Imperfective
• Travel vs. Motion => Construal of
Completability
• Granular vs. Fluid => Construal of
Singularizability
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Travel vs. Motion
One can travel to a destination
– or –
One can move without a destination
This distinction is grammaticalized in Russian
motion verbs: идтиi ‘walk (somewhere)’ vs.
ходитьi ‘walk (around, back and forth)’
This can be likened to the Completability of an
action
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Tartu 2007
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Completability:
Писатель пишетi книгу.
‘The writer is writing a
book.’
Профессор работаетi в
университете.
‘The professor is
working at the
university.’
Note that Completability is a scale
involving various kinds of construal.
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Tartu 2007
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Completability:
• Many verbs are Ambiguous:
– Completable
• Писатель пишетi книгу ‘A writer is writing a book’
– Non-Completable
• Писатель пишетi книги ‘A writer writes books’
• Some verbs are Non-Completable: стонатьi ‘moan’
– But some can be Completable if specialized
• работатьi ‘work’ > переработатьp ‘revise’
• Few verbs are unambiguously Completable:
• крепнутьi > окрепнутьp ‘get stronger’
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What Completability means for aspectual
derivation:
• Only verbs that can be construed as Completable have
Natural Perfectives
– писатьi ‘write’ > написатьp ‘write’, крепнутьi ‘get stronger’ >
окрепнутьp ‘get stronger’
• Only verbs that can be construed as Non-Completable
have Complex Act Perfectives
– писатьi ‘write’> пописатьp ‘write a while’, стонатьi ‘moan’>
постонатьp ‘moan a while’, работатьi ‘work’> поработатьp ‘work
a while’
• Verbs that can be Completable if specialized have
Specialized Perfectives
– писатьi ‘write’> переписатьp ‘rewrite’, работатьi ‘work’ >
переработатьp ‘revise’
Laura A. Janda
Tartu 2007
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Granular vs. Fluid:
Substances can be:
Particulate, like sand
Continuous, like water
This can be likened to Singularizability of an
action
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Tartu 2007
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Singularizability:
Мальчик дулi на
одуванчик.
‘The boy was blowing on the
dandelion.’
Профессор работалi в
университете.
‘The professor was working
at the university.’
Мальчик дунулp на
одуванчик.
‘The boy blew once on the
dandelion.’
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Tartu 2007
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What Singularizability means for
aspectual derivation:
• Only verbs that can be construed as NonCompletable and have a Complex Act can also
have a Single Act Perfective:
• щипатьi ‘pinch/pluck’ + пощипатьp ‘pinch/pluck a
while’ > щипнутьp ‘pinch/pluck once’
• дутьi ‘blow’ + подутьp ‘blow a while’ > дунутьp
‘blow once’
• скрипетьi ‘squeak’ + поскрипетьp ‘squeak a while’
> скрипнутьp ‘squeak once’
• работатьi ‘work’ + поработатьp ‘work a while’ >
*работнутьp ‘work once’ [NB: Some are formed
ad-hoc]
Laura A. Janda
Tartu 2007
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Singularizability and motion verbs:
• The Non-Completable motion verbs can
also be construed as Singularizable
– ходитьi ‘walk’ can refer to multiple round-trips,
in which case there is a Single Act Perfective
сходитьp ‘make a single round trip’
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Summary thus far:
• Two metaphors distinguish four different types of
Perfectives:
– Natural Perfectives
• писатьi ‘write’ > написатьp ‘write’
– Specialized Perfectives
• работатьi ‘work’ > переработатьp ‘revise’
– Complex Act Perfectives
• стонатьi ‘moan’> постонатьp ‘moan a while’
– Single Act Perfectives
• дутьi ‘blow’ + подутьp ‘blow a while’ > дунутьp ‘blow once’
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Distribution of the four types of
Perfectives:
• Natural Perfective:
– написатьp ‘write’, связатьp ‘tie’, о(б)щипатьp ‘pinch/pluck’,
окрепнутьp ‘get stronger’
• Specialized Perfective:
– переписатьp ‘rewrite’, развязатьp ‘untie’, переработатьp
‘revise’, вдутьp ‘blow in’, выщипатьp ‘pluck out’
• Complex Act:
– пописатьp ‘write a while’, поработатьp ‘work a while’, подутьp
‘blow a while’, пощипатьp ‘pinch/pluck a while’, поскрипетьp
‘squeak a while’
• Single Act:
– дунутьp ‘blow once’, щипнутьp ‘pinch/pluck once’, скрипнутьp
‘squeak once’
Laura A. Janda
Tartu 2007
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Distribution of the four types of
Perfectives:
• Natural Perfective:
– написатьp ‘write’, связатьp ‘tie’, о(б)щипатьp ‘pinch/pluck’,
окрепнутьp ‘get stronger’
• Specialized Perfective:
– переписатьp ‘rewrite’, развязатьp ‘untie’, переработатьp
‘revise’, вдутьp ‘blow in’, выщипатьp ‘pluck out’
• Complex Act:
– пописатьp ‘write a while’, поработатьp ‘work a while’, подутьp
‘blow a while’, пощипатьp ‘pinch/pluck a while’, поскрипетьp
‘squeak a while’
• Single Act:
– дунутьp ‘blow once’, щипнутьp ‘pinch/pluck once’, скрипнутьp
‘squeak once’
Laura A. Janda
Tartu 2007
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Cluster components:
• Five items (Imperfective Activity + four
types of Perfectives) can compose 31
different combinations, but only 12 cluster
types are attested
• The three metaphors motivate an
Implicational Hierarchy that constrains the
structure of aspectual clusters
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The implicational hierarchy:
• There is a single implicational hierarchy
that predicts all and only the aspectual
clusters that exist in Russian.
– This result is based on a empirical study of a
multiply stratified sample of 283 verb clusters
(including over 2000 verbs).
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The Implicational Hierarchy:
Activity
щипатьi ‘pinch/pluck’
> (Natural/Specialized Perfective)
о(б)щипатьp ‘pinch/pluck’/выщипатьp ‘pluck out’
> Complex Act
пощипатьp ‘pinch/pluck a while’
> Single Act
щипнутьp ‘pinch/pluck once’
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Extant verb clusters
•
•
•
•
Activity
Activity + Natural Perfective
Activity + Specialized Perfective
Activity + Natural Perfective + Specialized
Perfective
To any of the above one can add either:
…+ Complex Act
…+ Complex Act + Single Act
Total: 12 extant cluster types
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Tartu 2007
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What the hierarchy excludes:
• 19 unattested cluster types
• 1 cluster type (not predicted by hierarchy)
that is rare, but known to exist:
– Natural Perfective (perfectiva tantum)
• рухнутьp ‘collapse’, уцелетьp ‘survive’
• morphologically complex, probably remnants of
clusters that were historically larger
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Distribution of extant cluster types:
• Three cluster types account for over half the verbs in the
lexicon
– Activity+Natural+Specialized+Complex Act
• Like писатьi ‘write’
– Activity+Natural+Specialized
• Like вязатьi ‘tie’
– Activity+Specialized+Complex Act
• Like работатьi ‘work’
• Five cluster types follow, each representing less than
10% of verbs
• Remaining cluster types are rare (2% or less)
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Comparison with “pair” model:
• Activity + Natural Perfective type accounts for
only 6.4%, and is a semantically unusual group
(can be continued after result is achieved):
– Иван окреп. Потом он еще больше окреп.
‘Ivan got stronger. Then he got even stronger.’
– Иван написал книгу. *Потом он еще больше
написал книгу.
‘Ivan wrote a book. *Then he wrote the book even more.’
• Most attested cluster structures have 3-5
components
• The three most common cluster structures have
3 or 4 components
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Conclusions:
• The cluster model gives a richer, more
accurate account of aspectual
relationships than the “pair” model.
• Cluster structures are highly constrained
and transparently motivated.
• Both linguists and pedagogues should
describe aspectual relationships in terms
of clusters.
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