Subject: disc : the parameter of aspect

" on the parameter of aspect " this posting continues the fruitful exchange subsequent to the initial book review of c . smith 's 1991 " the parameter of aspect " . in a follow-up to that review , i noted an alternative to smith 's proposal involving a simpler binary parameter for aspect that was in part the basis for my 1995 dissertation on the biblical hebrew verbal system ( u of toronto ) . smith 's reply pointed out the apparent empirical disconfirmation by mandarin and navajo ( treated in her work among others ) ; and this is where we pick up the thread . i do not grant the traditional analysis of navajo and especially mandarin chinese that is the basis of the objection ; nor do i grant the traditional analysis of the " oriental " languages including burmese , japanese , and above all , biblical hebrew representing the classical semitic systems . the earliest layer of the quasi-consensus on tense , mood and aspect ( tma ) , flowing from comrie 1976 , 1985 to present , is the early 19th century " orientalist " framework that posits ( a ) " tenseless " languages or " inflectional aspect " systems , and ( b ) a definition of " perfectivity " based on the ambiguity inherent in the concept of " completion " ( global view as well as relative past tense ) ; on " oriental " and " orientalism " , see e . g . , e . said 's " orientalism " 1978 . i reject the orientalist framework and the analysis of semitic systems which was extended to other " oriental " systems , which was extended worldwide to at least half of the world 's systems ; i indirectly reject the traditional analysis of mandarin and navajo . to clarify and make the discussion more concrete , i offer an analysis of english in the orientalist framework ( * please * do not take this seriously as an analysis of english ) . english , as all reputable authorities agree , is " tenseless " : it encodes only " aspect " ( cf . slavic systems ) . not only do we find arrested development , but actual regression from the robust classical aryan tma systems . english has but one distinction : - ed vs - s / - 0 , respectively perfective and imperfective . the perfective signals " completion " vs the non-completion of the imperfective . the severely impoverished system of english signals the regression of the anglo - american mind ( witness reagan and thatcher , etc . , etc . ) . we note several key elements that underlie all traditional analyses of so-called " tenseless " languages . 1 ) tma is encoded morphologically on the greek model or not at all : the " morphocentric fallacy . " 2 ) the perfective is defined as relative past tense ( bypassing the revolution in aspectology in the second half of the 1800s ) : the " aorist fallacy . " 3 ) the relative hierarchy of languages , with greek and sanskrit on top , semitic near the bottom , and now the creoles on the bottom , related to the relative development of " mind " and tied to a particular pre - darwinian interpretation of evolutionary theory . english is not tenseless , nor is biblical hebrew or quranic arabic , nor is japanese , nor burmese , nor turkish , nor indeed mohawk or haitian creole . they do differ from the standard european systems : they systematically differ with respect to aspect in mirror-image fashion . this difference is insightfully captured by cowper 's strong claim for a simple binary parameter for aspect : a system default 's for an aspectual interpretation of its simple tense system , either perfective or non-perfective . the aspect not " defaulted for " is separately encoded ( cross-linguistically in a limited number of ways ) . european " tense " systems default for the non-perfective ( apparently the minority or marked option ) ; non - european " tenseless " systems default for the perfective as does english . i simply extrapolate to a strong claim for universal grammar : all systems encode tense ( past vs non-past ; i do not grant a " future tense " ) , and at least irrealis / realis ; and in addition the basic system is configured by the binary parameter for aspect . virtually all systems outside of the european sphere default for the perfective according to my studies ; and i assume that is the unmarked setting for ug . the major diagnostic among many is the ( non - ) obligatory expression of the progressive : the perfective default must separately encode the progressive . e . g . , mandarin must express the progressive by the zai v construction ( lit . " at v " ) : it defaults for the perfective . navajo and apparently the athabaskan family as a whole default for the non-perfective ( with algonquian systems , the only real pocket of european - like non-perfective defaulters ) . this work is summarized in my " tenseless languages in light of an aspectual parameter for universal grammar : a preliminary cross - linguistic survey " , forthcoming fall 1995 , toronto working papers in linguistics . this does not mean that individual lexica cannot increase the complexity of the system , nor that the many interactions between tma and lexical classes are not also parameterized . i ' m only talking about the basic configuration of the tma system for ug . smith is right to point to great complexity inherent in the systems she described in her last posting . re mandarin . the difficulty is what counts as " inflection " , and whether " inflection " is not infl of standard theorizing . i recognize mandarin - le as inflection ; but not - guo , - zhe ( smith does not mention v - ( yi - ) v , nor does she include v1-v2 compounds ) . the literature i use is divided on the morphosyntactic status of - guo . but - zhe , i think , does not in any way behave as " inflection " : see among many sources , li , thompson , " the meaning and structure of complex sentences with - zhe in mandarin chinese " jaos 96 . 4 ( 1976 ) . it certainly is not a " progressive " ; but is perhaps some sort of " adjectivalization " . re navajo . i think the jury is still out on these systems . but rice 's work on slave indicates the lexical nature of several classes of morphemes in the athabaskan verb complex . there is indeed a great deal of complexity here . and since athabaskan is really the only system that does not fall out naturally from my proposal , it deserves great attention . either the whole project falls through , or we learn something interesting about athabaskan systems , or the proposal gets modified in an interesting way : who knows . we learn nothing without strong claims . in summary : i reject any analysis that is " tenseless " ; and / or defines perfectivity in terms of relative past tense ( with comrie 1976 ) . these views embedded in the current consensus on tma can be easily traced to the early 1800s and the work on hebrew and arabic . i reject that early framework ( and the not-so - pretty cultural baggage that goes with it ) . in its place i place cowper 's binary aspectual parameter default , and extend the proposal not only to the other " oriental " systems but to a strong claim for ug 's tma system . according to my surveys , the only real problem is what to do with athabaskan systems : a project for the near future ( i hope ) . i note that many proposals under other approaches would benefit from the reduction and simplification of terms , concepts , etc . e . g . , bybee et al 's system can be streamlined ; and symmetries emerge that appear amenable to explanation . descriptive / typological work is put on a better footing as well . respectfully , vincent decaen c / o near eastern studies dept 4 bancroft ave . , 3d floor university of toronto toronto on m5s 1a1 canada or decaen @ epas . utoronto . ca
