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The aim of this work is to investigate the use of Spanish Preterit and Imperfect by English speaking learners of L2 Spanish following the Lexical Aspect Hypothesis (Andersen & Shirai, 1996; Díaz, Bel, & Bekiou, 2008; Domínguez, Tracy-Ventura, Arche, Mitchell, & Miles, 2013; González, 2003, 2013; Montrul & Slabakova, 2002). The article studies how aspectual features bias Preterit and Imperfect in initial, intermediate and advanced learners. The results, based on an approximate binomial distribution analysis, confirm that Preterit is the preferred past, which supports L1 transfer (Salaberry & Shirai, 2002). The results also verify that Preterit is biased by dynamicity and punctuality at all levels. Telicity effects come into play in intermediate levels, while punctuality effects are reinforced in advanced levels. Stativity influences the use of Imperfect in intermediate level, which reveals that there are differences in the bias effect regarding proficiency level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current use of the past imperfect tense in Albanian and Serbian – a case study The article deals with the indirect influence of Albanian grammar among the native speakers of Serbian who study Albanian as a foreign language as an awareness and transformation process when translating the past imperfect forms from Albanian as a foreign language into their mother tongue Serbian, more specifically the past imperfect of Albanian into Serbian as their mother tongue. The emphasize that while translating, the students are guided not by knowledge of formal grammar but by actual by real usage of this tense in Albanian and Serbian. Współczesne użycie imperfectum w języku serbskim i albańskim Artykuł dotyczy bezpośredniego wpływu gramatyki albańskiej na język serbski wśród Serbów uczących się języka albańskiego jako obcego. Przedmiotem opisu jest przekład albańskich form imperfektywnych w tłumaczeniu z albańskiego na serbski, w którym ta forma werbalna nie jest już używana. Autorki podkreślają, że studenci, tłumacząc, nie kierują się formalną wiedzą gramatyczną na temat funkcjonowania imperfectum w obu językach, ale realnymi zastosowaniami tej formy temporalnej.

The article deals with the indirect influence of Albanian grammar among the native speakers of Serbian who study Albanian as a foreign language as an awareness and transformation process when translating the past imperfect forms from Albanian as a foreign language into their mother tongue Serbian, more specifically the past imperfect of Albanian into Serbian as their mother tongue. The emphasize that while translating, the students are guided not by knowledge of formal grammar but by actual by real usage of this tense in Albanian and Serbian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Este artigo é uma compilação dos últimos cinco trabalhos de pós-graduação orientados por Lucia Lobato. Nossa meta é exemplificar dois temas recorrentes na linha de pesquisa desta lingüísta: (i) ênfase em traços lexicais e estruturais e (ii) composicionalidade. Considerando principalmente dados do português do Brasil, analisamos: efeitos de traços aspectuais em Concatenaçães dentro do VP e na (in)determinação de alternâncias causativa e psicológica; inversão do sujeito como um tipo de inversão locativa; alçamento manifesto ou não do objeto para [spec, AgroP]; controle nas orações infinitivas flexionadas e não-flexionadas.This is a compilation of the last five post-graduate research projects directed by Lucia Lobato. Our goal is to exemplify two recurring issues in Lobato's work: (i) the emphasis on lexical features and structural features and (ii) the study of compositionality. Considering data mainly from Brazilian Portuguese, we focus on the following phenomena: Effects of aspectual features on Merge within the VP and on (un)availability of causative and psych alternations, subject inversion as an instance of locative inversion, covert and overt object shift through [spec, AgroP], and control within inflected and non-inflected infinitival clauses.

Aspect is a grammatical category which along tense and mood, appears in grammatical structure of the clause and affects its whole meaning. The available works conducted on Persian aspect have mainly no theoretical frame work and proper classification for this category. In this paper, attempts are made to conceptualize grammatical and lexical aspect on the basis of appropriate frame works. At first, by utilizing the metaphorical extension approach as a branch of grammaticalization theory and by introducing diachronic studies conducted on old and middle Persian, grammatical aspect is conceptualized within a cognitive framework. Then, in terms of aspectual features derived from Vendler (1967) and by a bottom-up approach, five lexical aspects are introduced and three others are predicted to be found in Persian. Finally, the effect of context on the type of aspect is brought under consideration. Finding a new lexical aspect, predicting to have three other lexical aspects, and conceptualizing the grammatical and lexical aspect in Persian are among findings of this investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current paper attempts to account for the formation of English middle sentences. Discussing a set of previous analyses on the construction under investigation we show, following the assumptions of Oosten(1986) and Iwata(1999), that English middle constructions should be divided into two types: generic middle constructions and non-generic middle ones. The distinction is shown to be closely related with the tense aspect of the verbs: the structural subject in the former is interpreted as generic with the present tense, while the latter can take past tense and progressive aspect with a non-generic subject. Other thematic roles than Agent can be realized as the structural subjects. In the generic interpretation, the intrinsic property of the plays the role of cause and is primary responsible for the event denoted by middle verb. In the nongeneric interpretation, on the other hand, a specific event plays the part of cause and thus can take the past tense. Middle verbs are lexically derived from a set of activity or accomplishment verbs that carry [-state, +process] aspect features. After derivations, the verbs in the generic interpretation possess [+state, +process, +repetition] aspect feature, and those of the non-generic one, [-state, +process, -repetition]. Another contrast lies in the definiteness of the subjects: the generic interpretation involves an indefinite/generic subject and the non-generic one needs a definite/non-generic subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the semantics of six complex aspects composed of two imperfective simple aspects in Chinese, with the focus on aspectual functions, temporal structures, and semantic applicability conditions of the aspects. Based on the results of an investigation into the combination potestial of simple aspects in Chinese, we show characteristics of the Chinese complex aspects and formulate two conditions of aspect combinations. We also propose a set of rules for constructing the temporal structures of the complex aspects. A selection order principle is used in designing the system network of the Chinese aspects to guarantee the grammaticality of the produced complex aspect expressions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]