Johnson 2004 - CDLI - UCLA

e delimited on the basis of four features corresponding to the four questions above: (a) ±
punctate, (b) ± durative, (c) ± segmental change of state, and (d) ± agentive. If the
examples in (2) are recast in tabular format and classified on the basis of these features, a
rough idea of the lexical aspectual classes commonly in use can be elucidated in short
order.
Predicate ± punctate ± durative ± seg. change state ± agentive
(1a) run – + – +
(1b) drive a car – + – +
(1c) die + – – –
(1d) build a house + + + +
The set of features attributed to these four examples can be described in a plethora of
ways, but certain classifications and their associated terminology are relatively standard
and will be used throughout the discussion. Vendler defined four categories based on the
first three features above: “states” lack all three features ([– punctate, – durative,
– segmentable change of state]), “activities” such as (1a) and (1b) are ongoing events
with no inherent endpoint ([– punctate, + durative, – segmentable change of state]),
“achievements” are events which have both a duration and a telos but are not cumulative
([+ punctate, + durative, – segmentable change of state]), whereas “accomplishments”
can be characterized as having all three features ([+ punctate, + durative, + segmentable
change of state]). The fourth feature, agentivity, is often incorrectly characterized
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