Away: a case of aspectual schizophrenia explained by argument properties

Lionel Dufaye (1)

1 LISAA - Littératures, Savoirs et Arts

This study investigates the relationship between the spatial values of AWAY and its aspectual uses, which display two contradictory values. AWAY can either refer to the achievement of a process (telic): 1.The bruises went away within/*for a couple of days. = The bruises disappeared. Or it can lay emphasis on the atelicity of the predicate: 2.I blithely typed away for/*within eight hours at a stretch with no breaks. = I kept typing (no end). This article argues that AWAY has an atelic value with unergative verbs, and a telic value with unaccusative verbs. The ambivalent status of AWAY could thus be accounted for by the fact that the context selects either an open/agent boundary (atelic value) or a closed/patient boundary (telic value). From a cognitive point of view, the aspectual uses of AWAY can be derived from a core spatial configuration.

Mots clés: away prepositions particle adverb aspect aspectual semantics argument structure telic telicity atelic atelicity topology unergative unergativity unaccusative unaccusativity

Domaines: Linguistique

Lionel Dufaye. Away: a case of aspectual schizophrenia explained by argument properties. Mapping Parameters of Meaning, Martine Sekali & Anne Trevise Eds. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars., pp.31-46, 2012, Mapping Parameters of Meaning, 1-4438-3897-7. ⟨hal-01143237⟩