sentence semantics 1: situations

sentence semantics 1: situations

1. situation type: allows the speaker to describe a situation

2. dynamic: imply that the action has sub-parts

3. stative verbs: describe states

4. aspect: grammatical system relating to time

5. dynamic verbs can be classified into a number of types

   • durative/punctual
     • is applied to the verbs which describe a situation or process which last for a period of time
     • describes an event that seems so instantaneous that it involves virtually no time
   • telic/atelic
   • events
     • the internal structure of a dynamic situation
   • processes
     • the speaker views the situation as a whole
     • inchoactives/resultatives
   • semelfactives are instantaneous atelic events
   • achievements are instantaneous changes of states

6. perfect aspect allows a speaker to emphasize the relevance to an anchoring point of an event in its past