Interactions among Aspectual Properties in the - A ISSTA Imperfective Construction

Abstract

The imperfective construction -A ISSTA (also called existential construction) represents a con-sequent state, but its licensing conditions are rather complex. The three main properties that have been claimed to play key roles in licensing the construction are transitivity, unaccusativity, and telicity of the eventuality involved, but none has explained the full possible range of data in ques-tion. In this paper, we discuss the properties of this imperfective construction and argue that a more viable analysis is one that allows tight interactions among the lexical, grammatical, and phasal properties of the aspect concerned. In particular, we show that a telic, nondurative achieve-ment eventuality occurs in the construction when it reaches a culmination point and its property is attained at the consequent state.