Non-Culminating Accomplishments, a typological and theoretical study.

所谓的“成就谓语”（以下简称“成就”）通常描述动词的宾语发生变化的事件，如“割草坪”或“解魔方”。虽然过去时的成就传统上被分析为包含事件的完成（帕森斯，1990），但文献表明，这种蕴涵并不总是跨语言存在。具有这种属性的成就被称为非高潮成就（NCAs）。nca并不是一个新问题。然而，它们的跨语言特性在该领域仍未被探索。当代对非谓语语的语义分析有两种。模态观点认为，它们是特定于语言的“模态”机制的产物（Beavers & Lee， 2020年-韩语；Nadathur & Filip， 2022年-印地语），这些机制将事件的高潮时刻抵消为一组“可能世界”。如果完成在可能世界中是真的，那么在现实世界中是可否认的。标量视图（Koenig & Chief, 2008; Martin et al., 2021）声称，成就表示包含可分级属性（例如，书是如何燃烧的）的尺度，对象（书）在（燃烧）事件的过程中沿着这些属性移动。标量观点广泛地表明，NCA语言有一个特殊的要求，即只需要部分的变化就可以将一个成就解释为完整，而不是在非NCA语言中完全改变。然而，如果上述观点在跨语言上是一致的，我们会期望所有支持NCA的语言中的完成谓词都允许NCA变体。然而，像“John solved the Rubik’s Cube”这样的句子在普通话中不可能是NCA，与(1)相反。这就提出了两种观点的关键问题，即对经验反例没有原则性的解释。此外，如果我们考虑跨语言的机制是一致的，我们应该在允许NCA解释的谓词类型中看到跨语言稳定的模式。然而，这个跨语言差异的问题还没有被研究过。我提出一个统一模态和标量方法的假设。它也开始综合跨语言的数据。假设：nca是跨语言一致的情态机制的产物，它作用于表示标量变化的特定动词子集。对于某些成就谓词，只有在“可能的世界”中才需要状态的完全改变。这一假设抓住了一种直觉，即特定类型的成就更有可能接受跨语言的NCA解释，解决了当前观点的问题。它还为跨语言统一模态分析提供了框架，从而开始揭示nca的根源。因此，我的研究问题是：-我们在多大程度上可以找到跨语言的非高潮成就（NCA）现象的一致模式？-我们如何在统一的理论和跨语言模型中解释一致性/差异？为了评估假设的有效性，我们需要通过细粒度的跨语言数据进行经验建模，以跟踪语言之间NCA表达的一致性。我将使用实地调查的方法格式（Matthewson, 2004），通过从七种语言中提取数据，每种语言大约有两个人（Nauze, 2008）。第一年包括文献综述、数据提取和数据库编制。数据库将是。csv格式，语族信息与语义变量和母语使用者可接受性判断分数一起编码。这为解决跨语言一致性问题提供了正确的定性数据。第二年涉及研究问题二所需的进一步假设检验，例如：“变化的数量是否持续影响跨语言NCA的可接受程度？”我将在最后一年完成论文。

So-called "accomplishment predicates" (henceforth, accomplishments) typically describe events in which a verb's object changes, such as "mow the lawn" or "solve a Rubik's Cube". While past-tense accomplishments have traditionally been analysed as entailing the event's completion (Parsons, 1990), it is documented that such an entailment is not always present cross-linguistically. Accomplishments that have this property are called non-culminating accomplishments (NCAs). NCAs are not a novel problem. However, their cross-linguistic properties remain unexplored within the field.There are two contemporary analyses of the semantics of NCAs. Modal views claim they are a product of language-specific 'modal' mechanisms (Beavers & Lee, 2020 - Korean; Nadathur & Filip, 2022 - Hindi) that offset the culminating moment of an event into a set of 'possible worlds'. If the completion is true in a possible world, it is deniable in the actual world. Scalar views (Koenig & Chief, 2008; Martin et al., 2021) claim that accomplishments denote scales comprising gradable properties (e.g., how burned the book is) along which the object (book) shifts over the course of the (burning) event. Scalar views broadly suggest that NCA languages possess a particular requirement that only a partial amount of change is necessary for an accomplishment to be interpreted as complete, instead of a full change in a non-NCA language.However, if the above views were crosslinguistically consistent, we would expect all accomplishment predicates in NCA-capable languages to allow for an NCA variant. However, sentences like "John solved the Rubik's Cube" cannot be an NCA in Mandarin, contrasting to (1). This raises the crucial problem for both views, that there is no principled explanation for empirical counterexamples. Furthermore, if we consider mechanisms to be consistent across languages, we should see cross-linguistically stable patterns in the type of predicate that allow for an NCA interpretation. However, this question of cross-linguistic variation is unexplored.I suggest a hypothesis that unifies modal and scalar approaches. It also begins synthesising the cross-linguistic data. Hypothesis: NCAs are a product of a cross-linguistically consistent modal mechanism that acts on a specific subset of verbs denoting scalar change. For some accomplishment predicates, a full change-of-state is only required in a "possible world". This hypothesis captures the intuition that specific types of accomplishment are more likely to receive an NCA construal across languages, resolving the problems of current views. It also provides the scaffolding for a cross-linguistically uniform modal analysis to start uncovering the root of NCAs. Thus, my research questions are:- To what extent can we find consistent patterns in non-culminating accomplishment (NCA) phenomena across languages?- How can we account for consistencies/differences within a unified theoretical and cross-linguistic model?To evaluate the validity of the hypothesis, we require empirical modelling through fine-grained cross-linguistic data that tracks (in)consistencies between NCA expressions between languages. I will use a fieldwork methodological format (Matthewson, 2004) through data elicitation from seven languages, with around two speakers each (Nauze, 2008). The first year consists of the literature review, data elicitation, and database compilation. The database will be a .CSV format, with language family information coded alongside the semantic variables and native-speaker acceptability judgement scores. This provides the correct qualitative data required to address the question of cross-linguistic (in)consistency. The second year involves further hypothesis testing required for research question two, such as: "does the amount of change consistently affect the level of acceptability for an NCA across languages?". I will write up the thesis in the final year.