Prefixes and the Delimitation of Events *

In Slavic languages, verbal prefixes can be applied to perfective verbs deriving new perfective verbs, and multiple prefixes can occur in a single verb. This well-known type of data has not yet been adequately analyzed within current approaches to the semantics of Slavic verbal prefixes and aspect. The notion “aspect” covers “grammatical aspect”, or “viewpoint aspect” (see Smith 1991/1997), best characterized by the formal perfective vs. imperfective distinction, which is often expressed by inflectional morphology (as in Romance languages), and corresponds to propositional operators at the semantic level of representation. It also covers “lexical aspect”, “situation aspect” (see Smith ibid.), “eventuality types” (Bach 1981, 1986), or “Aktionsart” (as in Hinrichs 1985; Van Valin 1990; Dowty 1999; Paslawska and von Stechow 2002, for example), which regards the telic vs. atelic distinction and its Vendlerian subcategories (activities, accomplishments, achievements and states). It is lexicalized by verbs, encoded by derivational morphology, or by a variety of elements at the level of syntax, among which the direct object argument has a prominent role, however, the subject (external) argument is arguably a contributing factor, as well (see Dowty 1991, for example). These two “aspect” categories are orthogonal to each other and interact in systematic ways (see also Filip 1992, 1997, 1993/99; de Swart 1998; Paslawska and von Stechow 2002; Rothstein 2003, for example). Multiple prefixation and application of verbal prefixes to perfective bases is excluded by the common view of Slavic prefixes, according to which all perfective verbs are telic and prefixes constitute a uniform class of “perfective” markers that that are applied to imperfective verbs that are atelic and derive perfective verbs that are telic. Moreover, this view of perfective verbs and prefixes predicts rampant violations of the intuitive “one delimitation per event” constraint, whenever a prefix is applied to a perfective verb. This intuitive constraint is motivated by the observation that an event expressed within a single predication can be delimited only once: cp. *run a mile for ten minutes, *wash the clothes clean white.