Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
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This thesis uses Klein’s ("Time in Language", 1994) approach to tense and aspect to analyse verbal aspect in Ecuadorian Siona, a West-Tukanoan language of north-eastern Ecuador. Siona obligatorily...Show moreThis thesis uses Klein’s ("Time in Language", 1994) approach to tense and aspect to analyse verbal aspect in Ecuadorian Siona, a West-Tukanoan language of north-eastern Ecuador. Siona obligatorily encodes either perfective or imperfective aspect on its dependent verbs. These aspectual forms have two functions: a temporal one and a discourse one. As for the temporal function, imperfective forms signal that a state of affairs (event, situation, state, etc.) does not yet come to an end at a reference time, whereas perfective forms signal that a state of affairs does come to an end at a reference time. The discourse function is found in the verb caye ‘to say, to ask’. Imperfective forms signal that the speech act will be followed by a reply or an addition, whereas perfective forms signal that this is not the case. As such, imperfective forms signal that a verbal exchange does not yet come to an end, whereas perfective forms signal that a verbal exchange does come to an end. This discourse function is the product of a metaphorical extension of the temporal function. This thesis concludes that Klein’s (1994) approach presents a considerable number of analytical advantages over Reichenbach’s (1947) approach and other neo-Reichenbachian approaches when we want to analyse the temporal function and understand the discourse function of Siona aspect.Show less
This thesis is a descriptive account of the form, function, and meaning of Korean verbs of perception in the modalities of SIGHT, HEARING, TOUCH, FEEL, TASTE and SMELL. I categorize the perception...Show moreThis thesis is a descriptive account of the form, function, and meaning of Korean verbs of perception in the modalities of SIGHT, HEARING, TOUCH, FEEL, TASTE and SMELL. I categorize the perception verbs by means of Viberg’s (1983) dynamic system of perception events, distinguishing ACTIVITIES, EXPERIENCES and STATES for each of the six modalities. Focussing on experiencer-based expressions, I find that Korean verbs of SIGHT, HEARING, FEEL, and SMELL do not lexically distinguish between an ACTIVITY and an EXPERIENCE. Stimulus-based verbs derive from experiencer-based basic verbs by means of middle marking. I also find that Korean obligatorily requires a perceived stimulus rather than a source in the domains of HEARING, FEEL, TASTE, and SMELL. Furthermore, an introductory review of the literature on intrafield ‘polysemy’ reveals inconsistencies in the hierarchical models of perception verbs. I put forward a new model that unifies earlier proposals and includes the extensions from SIGHT to TASTE and FEEL to TASTE found in Korean. Examples were retrieved from the highly contemporary VLIVE (2020) spoken corpus as well as various non-spoken corpora, accessed through the online NAVER Korean-English Dictionary (2020).Show less
