Note: This paper was presented at Lingüistica 2003, in Havana Cuba on Nov. 24th, 2003. The Powerpoint from the talk is available here (as a PDF) and the full paper here in PDF format. If you have any questions or comments feel free to E-mail me.

Dynamic Frames in Event Sturcture

Sean McLennan

November 24th, 2003

Abstract

The concept of a "dynamic frame" is introduced for use in the analysis of event structure. It is the external boundary metaphorically encircling a perceived event which determines the temporal scale on which the event is interpreted. The dynamic frame is used in two examples to simplify the analysis of English phenomena: 1) it is shown that semelfactive verbs can be considered a special case of accomplishment verbs and 2) it is shown that the futurate use of the progressive can be analyzed similarly to achievement verbs used in the progressive.

References

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Freed, A. (1976). The Semantices of English Aspectual Complementation. PhD thesis, University of Pennsylvania.

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Smith, C. (1991). The Parameter of Aspect. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, MA.

Vendler, Z. (1967). Linguistics and Philosophy. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY.