4.5 Cengjing and Situation types
4.5.2 Cengjing and Activities
Activities are processes that involve physical or mental activity, and consist entirely in the process. They can last for an undefined period of time without a natural ending point (Smith 1997). Semelfactives are like Activities in that they are dynamic and atelic (Smith 1997) and their interactions with cengjing are also alike. Hence, in this section, the
compatibility between cengjing and Activities is discussed and cases of Semelfactives are also incorporated.
Smith (1997) finds that the form of an Activity in Mandarin is composed of intransitive activity verbs or transitive verbs with generic objects. For example, in (115) the object of kan
‘read’ has a generic reference, thus an activity situation as well.
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(115) Xuesheng -men zai kan shu.
student-PL PROG read book
‘The students are reading books/studying.’ (He 1992: 167)
Since Activity has no inherent terminal point, a postverbal duration expression helps fixate the length of a certain Activity. In (116) the book-reading has the duration of one hour.
(116) Ta kan shu kan le yi-ge xiaoshi.
he read book read PFV one-CL hour
‘He did book-reading for an hour.’ (He 1992: 171)
Activity is compatible with cengjing, which makes an Activity a past event, as in (117).
When the Activities come in the progressive aspect, cengjing is able to scope over it as well, like (118).
(117) Ta cengjing kan shu kan le yi-ge xiaoshi.
he CENGJING read book read PFV one-CL hour
‘There was a time he did book-reading for an hour.’
(118) Duo nian qian de mou-ge wuye ta cengjing hen many year before DE some-CL midnight he CENGJING very xingfen-de zai tiaowu.
excitedly PROG dance
‘In a midnight years ago he was dancing with much excitement.’
For a Semelfactive, it behaves in the same way as an Activity. The coughing situation is set in the past, like (119).
(119) Wo cengjing kesou ke-le san tian.
I CENGJING cough cough-LE three day
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‘I coughed for three days before.’
4.5.3 Cengjing and Results
Results are a prolific situation type in Mandarin; in fact, Accomplishments and Achievements in English can find a relevant match in the type of Result. They are grouped together in Mandarin because all of them show focus on the change of a situation. They are incompatible with the progressive aspect and are obligatorily suffixed with the aspect marker le in affirmative sentences (He 1992: 189). (120a) does not make semantic sense in that the arrival situation can not be ongoing; (120b) is ungrammatical because the meaning of this sentence is incomplete.
(120) a. *Wo zai dao meiguo.
I PROG arrive America
?‘I am arriving in the US.’
b. *Wo dao meiguo.
I arrive America
‘I arrive in the US.’
Results are commonly presented in the form of the resultative verb compound (RVC). In ku-hong ‘cry-red’ the resultant state is someone with red eyes and the manner in which the resultant state is achieved is expressed by the preceding activity verb, ku ‘cry’. In (121), kan-dong ‘read-realize’ dong ‘realize’ is a result after the activity of reading.
(121) Ta kan dong le na-ge xiaohua.
he see realize PFV that-CL joke
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‘He realized the joke.’
There is a great deal of variation among the Result situations. For instance, despite a result coming about in the following two examples, (122) does not give the information of the manner in which the result is attained whereas (123) does. In (122) the arrival situation takes place with unknown manner whereas (123) shows the situation is completed in the manner of running.
(122) Wo dao meiguo le.
I arrive America PFV
‘I arrived in the US.’
(123) Wo pao wan malasong le.
I run done marathon PFV
‘I finished the marathon.’
The inchoative le creates Result as well. For instance, in (124) the inchoative le, marking initiation, indicates the change into a fatter state.
(124) Ta pang le.
he fat PFV
‘He has gained weight.’ (He 1992: 197)
When cengjing is brought in, (125a) and (125b) are ungrammatical and this ungrammaticality reveals that the result brought out by Result situation, e.g. in the US territory, still holds at S. Cengjing, however, requires not only the change-of-state but also the result be set in the past. In order to be grammatical, the experiential marker guo ensures the result, i.e. staying in the US, is in the past as well. All the relevant information is in the
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past, as in (125c). The same goes to (126a) where the semantic clash occurs because the result of being fat holds at S. (126b), instead, is grammatical because of the experiential marker guo.
(125) a. *Wo cengjing dao meiguo.
I CENGJING arrive America
‘I once arrived in the US.’
b. *Wo cenging dao le meiguo.
I CENGJING arrive PFV America
‘I once arrived in the US.’
c. Wo cengjing dao-guo meiguo.
I CENGJING arrive-EXP America
‘I once arrived in the US.’
(126) a. *Ta cengjing pang le.
he CENGJING fat PFV
‘He once gained weight.’
b. Ta cengjing pang-guo.
he CENGJING fat-EXP
‘He once gained weight.’
4.5.4 Summary
In conclusion, States are likely to be scoped over by cengjing, and they should not be available at S. We have seen compatibility between cengjing and non-absolute states, existential states, and habituals. The only situation against cengjing is absolute state, which holds true across time. Activities (with Semelfactives as a subtype) of properly delineated length are generally congruous with cengjing. Results are realized by verbs implying telic
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situations, and the length may take an instant or an interval of time. The resultant state must not hold at S when Results co-occur with cengjing, preferably suffixed with guo.
4.6 Yijing and Situation types
This section will discuss the compatibility of yijing with each situation type. I will reuse some of the examples in the previous section to see their interaction with yijing.
4.6.1 Yijing and States
States do not involve changes. Similar to 4.4.1, the interaction between yijing and absolute states, non-absolute states, existential states, and habituals is discussed below.
Absolute states are at odds with yijing. Neither the relative past nor the scale analysis can reconcile yijing with absolute state. The relativity sense is contradictory to absoluteness.
It is impossible to view a constant fact as past, as in (127).
(127) *Yi jia yi yijing dengyu er.
one plus one YIJING equal two
*‘One plus one equals two.’
For non-absolute states, as in (128), yijing serves as a modifier. The yijing is unlikely to take a relative past, perhaps a result of the atemporal nature of state situations. With the meaning of relative past deactivated, the scale analysis can explain what role yijing plays in
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this sentence. (128) implies the crops are indeed green – the current shade is projected to hue ranges ordered by luminance.
(128) Zhuangjia yijing hen lu le.
crop YIJING very green PFV
‘Crops were already very green.’
Existential states present the posture and existence of an entity at a particular place. It can adopt a relative past if there is a relevant R to serve as an anchor. In (129a) by the reference time, ten o’clock, the existential situation is viewed as past. In contrast, if the state holds at S, the possibility of relative past is excluded. Such a sentence is subject to various interpretations. The intuitive one would be to make a contrast between ‘not yet’ and ‘ongoing’
stage of this state. In (129b) the happening of this lying state is earlier than the speaker’s expectation.
(129) a. Shi-dian shi chuang shang yijing tang-zhe yi-ge ten-o’clock time bed top YIJING lie-DUR one-CL bingren.
patient
‘At ten there is already a patient lying on the bed.’
b. Xiang bu dao chuang shang yijing tang-zhe yi-ge Think no to bed top YIJING lie-DUR one-CL bingren.
patient
‘It is unexpected to see a patient already lying on the bed.’
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The last one belonging to States is the habitual. Based on Reichenbach’s (1947) E-R analysis, habituals, whose E encompasses R, are apparently in conflict with the meaning of relative past. The scale interpretation might allow such combination, as in (130). The possible scenario could be a list of weight control plans, which is ranked according to intensity and effectiveness. The habit of regularly doing exercise is a plan more intense and effective than what was originally set.
(130) Wo yijing dingqi yundong le.
I YIJING regularly exercise PFV
‘I have been regularly doing exercise.’
4.6.2 Yijing and Activities
In this section, the compatibility between yijing and Activities and that between yijing and Semelfactives are discussed since Semelfactives are like Activities in that they are dynamic and atelic (Smith 1997), as mentioned above.
Compared to States, Activities are dynamic situations. In (131), a postverbal duration expression gives boundary to the Activity of reading and this event is seen as a relative past by yijing. Another interpretation of this sentence is that the one hour duration is longer than the speaker’s expectation, and the use of yijing notes the unexpected length of time.
(131) Ta yijing kan shu kan le yi-ge xiaoshi.
he YIJING read book read PFV one-CL hour
‘He already did book-reading for an hour.’ (He 1992: 171)
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In (132), where relative past is not applicable, the context is a distance scale and the use of yijing means 26-thousand-kilometer of driving has reached the threshold of expected spatial length.
(132) Wode paoche yijing xingshi le erwanliuqian gongli.
my sports.car YIJING drive PFV 26,000 kilometer
‘My sports car has run 26,000 kilometers.’
Activities are atelic situations. Each of the internal stages is homogenous, so it is hard to find natural development within the situation. Expressions of time or distance are used to measure Activity situations, like reading and driving. As the examples show, yijing is only compatible with Activities with phrases of duration or distance.
For a Semelfactive, the situation of knocking the door is interpreted differently
according to the context, just like an Activity. In (133a), the situation of knocking is viewed as relatively past to the reference time, three o’clock; in (133b), the knocking gesture is a stage more advanced than expected punctual arrival.
(133) a. San-dian shi wo yijing qiao men le.
three-o’clock time I YIJING knock door PFV
‘I have knocked the door by three o’clock.’
b. Wo budan tizao dao ye yijing qiao men le.
I not.only earlier arrive also YIJING knock door PFV
‘Not only did I arrive earlier than expected, but I also knocked the door.’
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4.6.3 Yijing and Results
Results in Mandarin feature the change of a situation. They are obligatorily suffixed with the aspect marker le in affirmative sentences (He 1992: 189). Some Results give
information about previous stages that lead to this result while other Results are less explicit.
As a relative past, yijing concerns the relation between E and R. In (134) and (135), the arrival and the completion of running marathon are considered past at R, presumably co-occurring with S, though the S is dependent on the context.
(134) Wo yijing dao meiguo le.
I YIJING arrive America PFV
‘I already arrived in the US.’
(135) Wo yijing pao wan malasong le.
I YIJING run done marathon PFV
‘I have finished the marathon.’
Smith (1991) specifies the inceptive achievement, constructed with inchoative le. This indicates a new situation. Yijing in (136) means the change of state has happened before R, the same as S, from unknown size to a body shape seen as fat.
(136) Ta yijing pang le.
he YIJING fat PFV
‘He has gained weight.’
Yijing, in combination with Results, can take both the meanings of relative past and scale. Appropriate contexts will naturally lead to each meaning. In (137a) the early arrival is
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unexpected and yijing helps deliver the speaker’s lack of belief; in (137b) yijing means the arrival is viewed as relatively past to R, tomorrow 4 pm.
(137) a. Cai qifei mei duo jiu ta yijing dao meiguo just take off not much long he YIJING arrive America le?
PFV
‘It just took off a moment ago, and he already arrived in the US?’
b. Mingtian xiawu shi-dian wo yijing dao Tomorrow afternoon four-o’clock I YIJING arrive meiguo le.
America PFV
‘Tomorrow at 4 pm I will have arrived in the US.’
4.6.4 Summary
Among the variations of States, absolute states are incompatible with yijing, regardless of any context; non-absolute and habitual states are compatible with yijing under the scale analysis. Existential states, more event-like, can accommodate both relative past meaning and scale analysis. Activities, including Semelfactives, and Results belong to the dynamic
situations; both can be seen as past event in proper context. The scale interpretation is however far more productive because of the diversity of situations. Yijing can serve to
contrast the positive of a situation with the negative, which is originally expected; it can show a situation advances ahead of expected stages. Generally, there is a certain scale underlying the situation, and yijing marks the current situation as beyond a conceptual threshold on that scale.
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4.7 Compatibility between Cengjing/Yijing and Situation Types: Summary
The compatibility of cengjing/yijing with different situation types is summarized in Table 4.
Table 4 The Compatibility of Cengjing/Yijing with Situation Types
Cengjing Yijing
Relative past Scale analysis
State
Absolute – – –
Non-absolute + – +
Existential + + +
Habitual + – +
Activity + + +
Result + (with guo) + +
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Chapter Five
Conclusion
5.1 Summary of the Study
In the study, cengjing and yijing are under a rigorous examination. The review in Chapter Two goes through the most relevant and influential studies that have shaped how academics view these two expressions. The review discloses not only mistakes in
understanding meanings of the two adverbs but a lack of thoroughly studying yijing as well.
These insufficiencies are addressed in Chapter Three by incorporating Reichenbach’s (1947) three times and the scale analysis into examining the sentences in question. A variety of situation types are seen over the course of analysis, which paves the way to a detailed look at Chinese situation types in Chapter Four.
In this thesis, cengjing is shown to be an adverb marking past time, exhibiting an R-S order, and hence is able to co-occur with the progressive marker zai. The situation under the scope of cengjing is also shown to not hold at S, since the discontinuity nature of cengjing obligates E to precede S. As to yijing, it has been wrongly granted meanings that root from elsewhere in previous studies. In this thesis, yijing is shown to have two different meanings.
First, it can be a relative past, showing the order of E-R. The other meaning is illustrated by
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scale structure, where yijing marks a threshold of degree-relevant contexts. The disorganized meanings are thus linked to one another under scale analysis.
When cengjing and yijing are discussed with States, Activities and Results respectively, each pair shows different compatibility. Among the subtypes of States, both adverbs cannot accommodate absolute states; for the others, including non-absolute, existential and habitual states, cengjing creates a past time context whereas yijing can accommodate them under the scale analysis. Activities, including Semelfactives, are allowed to be scoped over when their duration is properly measured by extra expressions. Results are compatible with cengjing and yijing, though cengjing usually requires an experiential marker to ensure the resultative state is in the past as well. The most significant divergence between cengjing and yijing is whether a situation can hold at S: the value of a situation must be negative for cengjing while yijing depends on scale structure to explain the ongoing situation.
5.2 Limitations and Suggestions
Sufficient as this study may seem, I find alternative analysis and wider range of data over the course of producing the thesis but have yet utilized those ideas in my study.
Adopting Reichenbach (1947) as well as the scale structure in the analysis of yijing addresses the problems left in the previous works; however, the possibility of extending the scale analysis to temporal meanings of cengjing and yijing is an alternative, considering the principle of parsimony. As introduced in 3.3.1, the scale is arguably inherent in every aspect
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of ontology. Further studies are suggested to investigate the potential threshold that might exist in time.
Due to the length of thesis, the range of examples representing each situation type is limited to typical examples, leaving aside other examples that may cause semantic anomalousness. The thesis is a starting point looking forward a more comprehensive and representative work in the discussion of Chinese situation types.
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