Verbs: Aspect and Causal Structure

by William Croft

This book presents a model of event structure for the analysis of aspectual constructions and argument structure constructions in English and other languages. Representing the culmination of two decades of the author's research and thought, it explores the contribution of semantics to the argument-structure and tense-aspect constructions in which verbs occur, integrating the aspectual and causal structures of events. The argument is framed in relation to current and previous scholarship and takes full account of diachronic and usage-based research. Professor Croft's analysis encompasses the full range of English verb classes and is enriched throughout by a strong typological the syntax and semantics of verbs are always seen from a crosslinguistic perspective. This allows the author to demonstrate the generality of his theory and to show how it breaks new ground in predicting and explaining linguistic facts.

The subject of the book is at the heart of current work in syntax and semantics and the interface between them. It will interest semanticists, syntacticians and cognitive and functional-typological linguists. The transparency of the author's style and his avoidance of theory-dependent constructs will extend its appeal to linguists of all theoretical stripes.

468 pages, Hardcover

First published March 15, 2012

Reviews

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second time reading this book, and now it's actually useful for my interests. The chapters follow a sort of iambic rhythm: something bad and wrong in the old frameworks -- HERE'S THE SOLUTION. Those solutions work pretty well imo. I really like the t- and q-scales for looking at aspect and how it then interacts with force-dynamics into a 2d projected structure. But it's not easy getting there; like most of Croft's writing there is often so much data to wade through (I guess this is good) that the argument gets lost. But when you manage to catch/latch on the pay-off is great.

[Mike Putnam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, an interesting overview of aspect and tense in natural languages from a Constructionist-point of view. Definitely worth the read!