Semelfactive
Encyclopedia
In linguistics
, semelfactives are a class of aktionsart
or lexical verbal aspect. That is, they are a category of how, if at all, time flows (aspect) in the occurrence of an action or situation; this aspect is incorporated into the root verb itself (lexically) rather than being expressed grammatically by inflections or auxiliary verb
s. Specifically, semelfactives deal with events that are instantaneous (momentive, or punctual). They are a type of perfective aspect, this broader category referring to actions or situations that are viewed as a single unit or block of time without reference to any internal flow of time.
An English example of a semelfactive aktionsart verb (a verb describing an action that only occurs once and momentarily by its semantic definition) is blink.
Semelfactives were posited as a fifth class of aktionsart by Bernard Comrie
.
States (e.g. "know"), activities or processes (e.g. "run"), and accomplishments ("paint a picture") are seen as durative, while semelfactives and achievements (e.g. "recognize") are punctual. Like achievements and accomplishments, semelfactives are viewed as telic
, i.e. having a fixed end point.
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
, semelfactives are a class of aktionsart
Aktionsart
The lexical aspect or aktionsart of a verb is a part of the way in which that verb is structured in relation to time. Any event, state, process, or action which a verb expresses—collectively, any eventuality—may also be said to have the same lexical aspect...
or lexical verbal aspect. That is, they are a category of how, if at all, time flows (aspect) in the occurrence of an action or situation; this aspect is incorporated into the root verb itself (lexically) rather than being expressed grammatically by inflections or auxiliary verb
Auxiliary verb
In linguistics, an auxiliary verb is a verb that gives further semantic or syntactic information about a main or full verb. In English, the extra meaning provided by an auxiliary verb alters the basic meaning of the main verb to make it have one or more of the following functions: passive voice,...
s. Specifically, semelfactives deal with events that are instantaneous (momentive, or punctual). They are a type of perfective aspect, this broader category referring to actions or situations that are viewed as a single unit or block of time without reference to any internal flow of time.
An English example of a semelfactive aktionsart verb (a verb describing an action that only occurs once and momentarily by its semantic definition) is blink.
Semelfactives were posited as a fifth class of aktionsart by Bernard Comrie
Bernard Comrie
Bernard Comrie is a British-born linguist. Comrie is a specialist in linguistic typology and linguistic universals, and on Caucasian languages....
.
States (e.g. "know"), activities or processes (e.g. "run"), and accomplishments ("paint a picture") are seen as durative, while semelfactives and achievements (e.g. "recognize") are punctual. Like achievements and accomplishments, semelfactives are viewed as telic
Telicity
In linguistics, telicity is the property of a verb or verb phrase that presents an action or event as being complete in some sense...
, i.e. having a fixed end point.