Quantifiers and Verbal Morphology

In n n nt t t tr r r ro o o od d d du u u uc c c ct t t ti i i io o o on n n n The quantization properties of the Incremental Theme argument influence the quantization properties of complex verbal predicates. The basic principle that governs this interaction, which can be stated as in (1), was discussed in chapter 3: (1) aspectual composition : An episodic verb (in a sentence denoting a single eventuality) combined with a quantized Incremental Theme argument yields a quantized complex verbal predicate, while with a cumulative Incremental Theme argument it yields a cumulative complex verbal predicate ('Incremental Theme' corresponds to 'Gradual Patient' in Krifka's terminology.) There are also converse cases in which verbal aspect and verbal affixes constrain the interpretation of an Incremental Theme argument with respect to its quantificational, definiteness and closely related properties. Such cases will be discussed in this chapter and exemplified with data from Czech. The distribution of quantificational meanings in the Czech verb can be roughly described as follows: Verbal roots and stems encode semantic information associated with aspectual operators. Aspectual operators simultaneously quantify over (parts of) an individual (denoted by the Incremental Theme noun phrase) and (parts of) an event. In the scope of the perfective operator, the Incremental Theme noun phrase is interpreted as meaning approximately all the x, the whole of x, and in the scope of the imperfective operator it tends to be interpreted as an existentially quantified noun phrase, meaning approximately part of x, some x, provided there are no other quantificational elements present in a sentence. Such meanings are typically conveyed by determiners that are insensitive to the count-mass distinction. Verbal affixes combine adverbial meanings (temporal, spatial, directional, manner) with quantificational meanings (cardinality/measure, proportion and distributivity). While in Slavic languages adverbial meanings are also optionally expressed by adverbials and quantificational meanings by determiner quantifiers, in 226 Aspect, Eventuality Types and Noun Phrase Semantics English the expression of these meanings is more constrained: adverbial meanings are almost exclusively conveyed by adverbials and cardinality/measure, proportion and distributivity are predominantly expressed by determiner quantifiers. In Slavic languages verbal affixes as quantifiers can bind an event variable or a variable introduced by the Incremental Theme NP, or simultaneously both the event and Incremental Theme variable. For Slavic languages I propose the following generalization concerning the linking of verb arguments …