Aspectual Properties of Deverbal Nouns

Aspectual Properties of Deverbal Nouns
PAULINE HAAS*, RICHARD HUYGHE** and RAFAEL MARÍN*
*Université Lille 3 – CNRS UMR 8163 (« STL »), **Université Paris 7
1 Introduction
Hypothesis: deverbal nouns inherit certain semantic –in particular, aspectual– properties
from the verbs they derive from.
Main goal: to find traces of such properties.
General question: to what extent nominals convey aspectual properties.
Main problem: to find adequate ‘aspectual’ tests for the nominal domain.
Aspectual classes and properties/features for verbs (Vendler-Dowty-Verkuyl):
Dynamicity Delimitedness Duration
State
–
–
–
to fear
Process
+
–
+
to push
Accomplishment
+
+
+
to write (a book)
Achievement
+
+
–
to explode (a bomb)
Nouns derived from:
-States: admiration (‘admiration’), attraction (‘attraction’).
-Processes: jardinage (‘gardening’), discussion (‘discussion’).
-Accomplishments: accouchement (‘labor’), tournage (‘filming’).
-Achievements: explosion (‘explosion’), découverte (‘discovery’).
Result nominals are not taken into account (Oswald, 2005):
(1)
a. La construction de cet immeuble a eté compliquée.
‘The construction of this building has been complex’
b. Cette construction est très solide.
‘This construction is very solid’
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[result]
2 Verbal and nominal delimitedness
2.1 Events
Why are certain nouns able to denote events while others are not?
Events are finite entities which can be directly placed in the spatial and/or temporal
domain, in virtue of their existential autonomy (Huyghe, 2006). They are, in a way,
bounded or delimited.
Only events can appear as N in N has taken place in X (a place or a moment) or in The
place of N.
Nouns derived from both accomplishments and achievements can appear in such a
position, i.e., they can denote events:
(2)
a. Le tournage / l’accouchement a eu lieu à Paris / ce matin.
‘The filming / the labor has taken place in Paris / this morning’
b. Le lieu du tournage / de l’accouchement.
‘The place of the filming / of the labor’
(3)
a. L’explosion / l’atterrissage a eu lieu à Paris / ce matin.
‘The explosion / the landing has taken place in Paris /this morning’
b. Le lieu de l’explosion / de l’atterrissage.
‘The place of the explosion / the landing’
Nouns derived from states are not allowed in these constructions:
(4)
a. *L’admiration / l’attraction a eu lieu à Paris / ce matin.
‘The admiration / the attraction has taken place in Paris / this morning’
b. *Le lieu de l’admiration / de l’attraction.
‘The place of the admiration / of the attraction’
In general, nouns derived from processes are also rejected, (5), yet surprisingly this is
not the case for all of them, (6):
(5)
a. *Le jardinage / la natation a eu lieu à Paris / ce matin.
‘The gardening / the swimming has taken place in Paris / this morning’
b. *Le lieu du jardinage / de la natation.
‘The place of the gardening / of the swimming’
(6)
a. La discussion / la manifestation a eu lieu à Paris / ce matin.
‘The discussion / the demonstration has taken place in Paris / this morning’
b. Le lieu de la discussion / de la manifestation.
‘The place of the discussion / of the demonstration’
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2.2 Two types of processive nouns
There are two types of processive nouns: (i) the mass ones (jardinage) and (ii) the count
ones (discussion).
Tests
jardinage-type discussion-type
Pluralisation
–
+
les / des / plusieurs N
Partitive article du N
+
–
beaucoup de N-singular
+
–
Quantification
beaucoup de N-plural
–
+
Only count nouns can be pluralised (Heyd & Knittel, 2006):
(7)
a. *Les jardinages sont bons pour la santé.
‘The gardenings are good for the health’
b. *Plusieurs jardinages / *trois jardinages / *des jardinages.
‘Several gardenings / three gardenings / gardenings (bare plural)’
(8)
a. Les discussions avec Paul sont toujours intéressantes.
‘The discussions with Paul are always interesting’
b. Plusieurs discussions / trois discussions / des discussions.
‘Several discussions / three discussions / discussions (bare plural’
Mass nouns accept partitive article, while count ones do not:
(9)
Paul fait du jardinage / de la natation.
‘Paul makes of the gardening / of the swimming’
(10)
*Paul fait de la discussion / de la promenade.
‘Paul makes of the discussion / of the walk’
Only mass nouns, (11), are allowed in the structure beaucoup de N-singular; count
nouns, (12), are only acceptable in plural:
(11)
a. Pierre fait beaucoup de jardinage.
‘Pierre makes a lot of gardening’
b. *Pierre fait beaucoup de jardinages.
‘Pierre makes a lot of gardenings’
(12)
a. *Pierre fait beaucoup de promenade.
‘Pierre makes a lot of walk’
b. Pierre fait beaucoup de promenades.
‘Pierre makes a lot of walks’
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2.3 The discussion class
Nominals such as discussion are, in a way, hybrid: they are count nouns, i.e. delimited
from a nominal point of view; but they derive from non-delimited verbs.
Verbal domain
Aspect
Delimitedness
acc. & ach. + telic
− non-telic
process
− non-telic
Nominal domain
Examples Examples Delimitedness
count
réparer
réparation +
mass
jardiner
jardinage −
count
discuter
discussion +
Aspect
event
non-event
event?
A possible explanation: nouns of the discussion-type denote events (cf. (6)), yet
homogenous events.
It is interesting to apply the imperfective paradox test:
(13)
a. La discussion a été interrompue au bout d’une demie-heure > Ils ont discuté.
‘The discussion has been interrupted after half an hour > They have discussed’
b. La promenade a été interrompue > Ils se sont promenés.
‘The walk has been interrupted > They have taken a walk’
Nouns derived from accomplishments show another behavior:
(14)
a. L’accouchement a été interrompu au bout d’une heure > Elle n’a pas
accouchée.
‘The labor has been interrupted after an hour > She has not given birth’
b. La réparation de l’auto a été interrompue > L’auto n’a pas été réparée.
‘The repair of the car has been interrupted > The car has not been repaired’
Contrary to accomplishment nouns, (15), discussion-type nominals, (16), could be used
in certain contexts as mass nouns (cf. Flaux & Van de Velde, 2000), almost like
jardinage-type nominals, (17):
(15)
??Deux heures d’accouchement / de réparation.
‘Two hours of labor / repair’
(16)
Deux heures de discussion / de promenade.
‘Two hours of discussion / of walk’
(17)
Deux heures de jardinage / de natation.
‘Two hours of gardening / swimming’
Nouns of the discussion-type denote entities that, as a whole (from a perfective point of
view) seem events, even if their internal structure does not include a culminant point.
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3 Remaining questions
To what extent discussion-type nouns denote events?
To what extent discussion-type nouns preserve the undelimitedness of the verbs they
derive from?
Are verbs related to discussion-type nouns already different from verbs related to
jardinage-type nouns?
Certain nouns denoting events are not related to any verb: crime, accident.
4 Concluding remarks
Nouns derived from both accomplishments and achievements denote events, while
nouns derived from states do not.
There are two types of nouns derived from processes: mass nouns (jardinage) and count
nouns (discussion). Contrary to jardinage-type nouns, discussion-type nouns seem to
denote events, yet homogenous events.
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