tel.: +31 (0)50 363 5976
Web-page: Sjaak de Mey.
email: J.de.Mey@odur.let.rug.nl.
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
Postbus 716, 9700 AS.
Abstract
The topic of this paper is aspect or in Verkuyl (1993)'s terms, aspectuality. Smith (1991) distinguishes two types of aspect: situation type aspect, the classification of verbs according to their lexical meaning, and viewpoint aspect. The two main constructions exhibiting viewpoint aspect are the present perfect and the progressive.
The paper consists of three parts. In the first part I discuss the Vendler classification in light of a model theory of eventualities. In the second part I discuss the meaning of the Dutch aspectual adverbials `al' and `nog' (English `already' and `still'). Aspectual adverbials are typically process-creating words and have meanings closely related to the meaning of the progressive. The third part discusses the present perfect.