Particles in English Phrasal Verbs: Telicity or Perfectivity - Abstract

     

     This paper deals with the question whether particles in phrasal verbs mark perfectivity or telicity of the given situation. There are many questions unanswered or partially answered regarding the categories of aspect and aktionsart, since neither is clearly defined and differentiated. The notion of phrasal verb lacks uniformity as well. Simply put, perfectivity is the category of aspect which is a verb category which presence varies from language to language; it is not language specific. What perfectivity notes is the completion of the situation denoted by the verb.  Basicaly, aspect deals with the difference between the unlimited duration of a situation (imperfective verbs) and its momentariness, i.e. limited duration (perfective verbs). On the other hand, there is recently recognized category of aktionsart and the notion of telicity. Essentially, telicity can be defined as the property of the verb phrase (or of the sentence as a whole) which indicates that an action or an event has a clear endpoint or a goal; when the goal is reached, the situation comes to an end. A verb phrase that has an endpoint is said to be telic, whereas a verb phrase that does not is said to be atelic. There are some difficulties in establishing clear boundaries between aspect and aktionsart but the two are not to be mixed. Telicity doesn't imply perfectivity and perfectivity doesn't imply telicity. Some verbs can be perfective, with clear completion of the situation, but that doesn't mean that there will be a terminal endpoint. Also, a verb can have a terminal endpoint but still be imperfective.  A phrasal verb consists of a verb and a preposition or adverb that modifies or changes the meaning; 'give up' is a phrasal verb that means 'stop doing' something, which is very different from 'give'. The word or words that modify a verb in this manner can also go under the name particle. In English, phrasal verbs can freely occur with verbal periphrases which focus on the beginning, middle, and ending phases of a given situation. They are also compatible with the imperfective (progressive), perfective (simple past), and perfect aspects. All of this suggests that verbal particles in English do not mark perfective aspect, as was traditionally assumed. The particles actually, typically express a telic notion, which means that they can add the concept of a goal or an endpoint to durative situations which otherwise may not necessarily have a defined endpoint. In other words, the particles may alter aktionsart of the given situation, and are therefore taken to be markers of telic aktionsart rather than perfective aspect. For example, a telic particle will convert an activity into an accomplishment. Particles don't always change the telicity of the verb, though. Sometimes they make the situation telic,  sometimes reemphasize the telicity, and sometimes don't change the telic situation at all, but this depends on the verb and the particle in question.