EMPIRICAL ANALYSES
2. The Selection of Telicity in Chinese
First of all, as illustrated in (1a-d), [+consume] and [-def] together selects [+telic]. When
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the main verb is [+consume] and the object is [+def], [±telic] of the event is underspecified
([0-telic]).
(1) a. Wo chi-le yi-pan cai (*keshi hai-mei chi-wan)
I eat-LE one-CL dish (*but yet-not eat-InAsp)
“I ate one dish, (*but I did not finish eating it).” [+consume] [-def] [+telic]
b. Wo chi-le na-pan cai (keshi hai-mei chi-wan)1
I eat-LE that-CL dish (but yet-not eat-InAsp)
“I ate that dish, (but I did not finish eating it.)” [+consume] [+def] [0-telic]
c. Wo he-le yi-bei jiu (*keshi hai-mei he-wan)
I drink-ASP one-CL wine (*but yet-not drink-InAsp)
“I drank one cup of wine, (*but I did not finish drinking it.)[+consume] [-def] [+telic]
1 In Chinese, na-pan ‘that-CL’ can also be said as na-yi-pan ‘that-one-CL’. Na-yi-pan ‘that-one-CL’ is [+def]
and has the same effect of making [±telic] underspecified with a [+consume] verb. As shown in (i).
(i) Wo chi-le na-yi-pan cai (keshi hai-mei chi-wan) I eat-LE that-CL dish (but yet-not eat-InAsp)
“I ate that dish, (but I did not finish eating it.)” [+consume] [+def] [0-telic]
Due to this fact, na-yi-CL will not be discussed respectively in the following data.
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d. Wo he-le na-bei jiu (keshi hai-mei he-wan)
I drink-ASP that-CL wine (but yet-not drink-InAsp)
“I drank that cup of wine, (but I did not finish drinking it.) [+consume] [+def] [0-telic]
As can be observed, (1a-d) are [+past], but (1a, c) have to be [+telic] while (1b, d) do
not. Since the only semantic difference between (1a, c) and (1b, d) is [±def], [±def] should be
the key factor of the selection of [±telic] in (1a-d). As a result, (1a-d) evidence that
[+consume] [-def] together selects [+telic]2
2 Based on my observation, the semantic emphasis of the object also blocks the selection of [±telic] although the main verb is [+consume] and the object is [-def], as demonstrated in (iia-b).
. “I drank one cup of wine with super-high alcohol concentration.”
(he-le yi xiaoshi hai-mei he-wan) (drink-ASP one hour still-not drink-InAsp)
“(and I could not finish drinking it even after an hour.)” [+consume] [+def] [0-telic]
Yi-kuai te-da-hao niupai ‘a super-sized steak’ in (iia) is semantically emphasized since the size is
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Besides, the way of examination of [±telic] by Vendler (1967) also provides supporting
evidence for the [+telic] readings of (1a-d), as shown in (2a-d). Based on Vendler (1967), the
temporal phrase in a period of time, such as in an hour or in three minutes, can only be
combined with [+telic] events.
(2) a. Wo san fenzhong nei chi-le yi-pan cai [+telic]
I three minute within eat-ASP one-CL dish
“I ate one dish in three minutes.”
b. Wo san fenzhong nei chi-le na-pan cai [+telic]
I three minute within eat-ASP that-CL dish
“I ate that dish in three minutes.”
c. Wo san fenzhong nei he-le yi-bei jiu [+telic]
I three minute within drink-ASP one-CL wine
“I drank one cup of wine in three minutes.”
emphasized; on the other hand, in (iib), yi-bei chaoji nong de jiu ‘a cup of wine with super-high alcohol concentration’ is as well semantically emphasized since the concentration of the alcohol is emphasized.
In both examples, [+consume] and [-def] seem not to select the [+telic] reading as suggested in (iia-d);
however, this effect is caused by daily experience in real life rather than linguistic factors. For a normal human being, it is really difficult to eat up a steak in the super-large size, say as large as a basketball. Therefore, I will not consider examples like (iia-b) in my paper.
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d. Wo san fenzhong nei he-le na-bei jiu [+telic]
I three minute within drink-ASP that-CL wine
“I drank that cup of wine in three minutes.”
As can be indicated, (2a, c) can be perfectly combined with temporal phrases in three
minutes; on the other hand, (1b, d) are originally [0-telic], but with in three minutes in (2b, d),
only the [+telic] readings emerge.
Secondly, [-consume] has an effect on blocking the selection of [±telic], as shown in Soh
and Kuo (2005), as demonstrated in (4a-b). As shown in Chapter one, I restate the definition
of [+consume] in (3).
(3) [+consume]
A verb is [+consume] iff the action of the verb makes an element x disappear from a
given possible world.
47 (4) (Soh and Kuo 2005)
a. Ta hua-le yi-fu hua / ?yi-ge quan-quan,
he draw-ASP one-CL picture / one-CL circle
“He drew a picture/a circle,”
(keshi mei hua-wan)
(but not paint-InAsp)
“(but he didn’t finish it.)” [-consume] [-def] [0-telic]
b. Ta xie-le yi-feng xin / ?yi-ge zi,
he write-ASP one-CL letter / one-CL character
“He wrote a letter/a character,”
(keshi mei xie-wan)
(but not write-InAsp)
“(but he didn’t finish it.)” [-consume] [-def] [0-telic]
Yi-ge quan-quan ‘one circle’ in (4a) and yi-ge zi ‘one word’ in (4b) are awkward since
nobody normally says, “I drew a circle.” or “I wrote a word” while the circle or the word is
only partially completed in daily life. For example, if I write the word calculus as calc, none
will say that I wrote “a word”. As the result, the unacceptability of incomplete yi-ge
quan-quan ‘one circle’ or yi-ge zi ‘one word’ does not result from linguistic factors but from
48 the experience in daily life or world knowledge.
If non-linguistic factors are removed, (4a-b) demonstrate that [-consume] verbs such as
xie ‘write’ and hua ‘draw’ block the selection of [±telic] and overrides the effect of [-def]
objects.
Besides, I also classify some Chinese verbs, such as xue ‘learn’ and xiazai ‘download’,
as [-consume] due to the fact that learning is to copy the knowledge from books or TV
programs to one’s brain without resulting in any disappearance of some element in a given
possible world; on the other hand, downloading is to copy files from websites without
making anything disappear from the Internet. Therefore, xue ‘learn’ and xiazai ‘download’ are
categorized as [-consume] based on the definition in (3), and the two verbs also block the
selection of [±telic], as shown in (5a-b).
(5) a. Wo xue-le yi-zhong ruanti
I learn-ASP one-CL software
“I learned (how to operate) one software,”
(xue-le liang nian hai-mei xue-hao)
(learn-ASP two year yet-not learn-InAsp)
“(but I did not successfully learn it after two years.)” [-consume][-def] [0-telic]
49 b. Wo xiazai-le liang-ge dangan
I download-ASP two-CL file
“I downloaded two files,”
(xiazai-le yi xiaoshi hai-mei xiazai-wan)
(download-ASP one hour yet-not download-InAsp)
“(but I did not finish downloading it after an hour.)” [-consume][-def] [0-telic]
As can be observed, (5a) xue-le yi-zhong ruanti ‘learn one software’ does not indicate
the accomplishment of full-acquiring the knowledge and technique of the software; on the
contrary, the event can just be an experience of leaning, and therefore the event in (5a) is
[0-telic] instead of definitely [+telic]. Similarly, (5b) xiazai-le liang-ge dangan ‘download
one file’ does not imply that the file is fully downloaded; in fact, the event in (5b) can just
indicate that the file is still undergoing the process of downloading, and therefore (5b) is also
[0-telic]. As shown above, xue ‘learn’ and xiazai ‘download’ are [-consume] based on the
definition of (3) and both of the verbs have the influence on the blocking of the selection of
[±telic].
Still, some Chinese verbs that are [-consume] also show the force to block the selection
of [±telic], such as jiancha ‘examine’ and zhunbei ‘prepare’.
Based on (3), jiancha ‘examine’ and zhunbei ‘prepare’ are [-consume] since the two
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verbs do not entail any action to remove elements being examined or prepared for. These two
verbs also block the selection of [±telic], as demonstrated in (6a-b).
(6) a. Wo jiancha-le zaoshang de mao
I examine-ASP morning DE cat
“I examined the cats sent this morning.” [-consume] [0-telic]
b. Wo zhunbei-le mingtian de kaoshi
I prepare-ASP tomorrow DE test
“I prepared for the test tomorrow.” [-consume] [0-telic]
In (6a), jiancha-le yi-zhi mao ‘examine the cats’ means that an animal doctor has
operated the process of a physical examination of some cats, but the event does not definitely
indicate that the process has been fully finished; consequently, the event of (6a) is [0-telic].
Also, zhunbei-le mingtian de kaoshi ‘prepare for tomorrow’s test’ in (6b) implies that the
student has studied the subject, such as mathematics, for the test tomorrow, but the event does
not absolutely mean that the student has finished reviewing all the sections in the textbook
that the test will cover tomorrow; as a result, (6b) is also [0-telic]. As discussed above,
jiancha ‘examine’ and zhunbei ‘prepare’ block the selection of [±telic].
So far, my analyses provide the generalizations stated in (7a-c).
51 (7) a. [+consume] [-def] selects [+telic].
b. [+consume] [+def] blocks the selection of [±telic].
c. [-consume] blocks the selection of [±telic].
Moreover, above all the forces in (7a-c), overt Chinese InAsp, such as hao, wan, diao,
and guang, select [+telic] and overrides the effect of (7a-c), as demonstrated in (8a-d).
(8) a. Wo xie-hao-le yi-feng xin
I write-InAsp-ASP one-CL letter
“I finished writing one letter.” [-consume] [+telic]
b. Wo jiancha-wan-le na-zhi mao
I examine-InAsp-ASP that-CL cat
“I finished examining that cat.” [-consume] [+telic]
c. Wo chi-diao-le na-kuai dangao
I eat-InAsp-ASP
“I ate that cake.” [+consume] [+def] [+telic]
that-CL cake
d. Wo hua-guang-le naxie qian
I spend-InAsp-ASP those money
“I spent all of the money.” [+consume] [+def] [+telic]
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In (8a), the main verb is xie ‘write’ is [-consume], which should block the selection of
[±telic]; however, the letter must be completed since there is InAsp hao. In another case, wan
in (8b) forces the event to be [+telic] with the main verb being [-consume], which should lead
(8b) to be [0-telic]. In (8d), diao indicates the fact that the cake has been fully eaten while the
[+consume] verb chi ‘eat’ and the [+def] object na-kuai dangao ‘that cake’ should together
block the selection of [±telic]. Similarly, guang in (8d) indicates that all the money must have
been spent although the main verb hua ‘spend’ is [+consume] and the object is [+def].
In sum, [+present] select [-telic], as proposed by Lin (2003), but different from Lin
(2003), [+past] does not select [+telic]; instead, other semantic and syntactic factors
discussed above select [±telic] when the tense is [+past]. My current conclusion is illustrated
in (9a-d).
(9) The Generalization of the Selection of Chinese Telicity (First Version)
When the tense is [+past]:
a. Overt Chinese InAsp, such as hao, wan, diao, and guang, select [+telic].
When there is no overt InAsp:
b. [-consume] blocks the selection of [±telic].
When the main verb is [+consume]:
53 c. [-def] selects [+telic].
d. [+def] blocks the selection of [±telic].
In the following, I will further investigate the effect of objects and verbs on the selection
of Chinese [±telic].