ASPECT AND FORCE DYNAMICS: WHICH IS MORE ESSENTIAL TO RESULTATIVES?

Verbs: Aspect and Causal Structure, by William Croft, Oxford University Press, Cambridge, Oxford, 2012, xvii+448pp.

Abstract

This paper discusses the theory of event structure proposed in Croft (2012), which integrates aspectual and force-dynamic representations. Aspectual structure, which is represented two-dimensionally according to the time dimension and the qualitative state dimension, is integrated with a force-dynamic (and causal) representation, forming a three-dimensional representation. The three-dimensional event structure is then applied to the analysis of resultatives, along with many other linguistic phenomena.

While prototypical resultatives may be characterizable in aspectual terms as Croft maintains, a closer inspection reveals that some resultatives resist a unified, aspectual characterization. If anything, some characteristics of resultatives may be better approached in terms of force-transmission. For the proposed theory to be truly explanatory, it remains to work out which characteristics of resultatives are to be accounted for in aspectual terms and which in force-dynamic terms.