Transitive verbs with non-accusative alternation in ... - Pluto Huji Ac Il

78
Rivka Halevy
3.3.1. Instantiation vs. genericity
From a logico-semantic point of view, every situation is unique and
unrepeatable. Therefore no sharp distinction can be drawn between the
individual and the generic level. However, if we adopt a less inclusive view
of the notions of individuality and actuality, we may differentiate between
individually instantiated events and generically conceived ones.
Just like there can be assumed to be a correlation between individuation,
i.e. specific instantiation, and imperfectivity, I shall suggest that there is
also a correlation between individuation and foregrounding, understood as
“high” profiling of the reference domain of the O entity.
The accusative frame is particularly suited for conveying a typereading:
in a perfectively construed event, the scope of the effect on the O
easily remains unspecified. This is illustrated in (38) where the OM ‘et is
normally used to depict a typical or generic action. It would be awkward to
turn to be- ‘in’ to mark the contact between the A and the O, since then a
discrete kind of reference would implicitly be recognized to be operative
for the O entity.
(38) gam ha-yom yeš ‘adayin horim še-makim {‘et/??be-}
even today there-are still parents who-beat {OM/??in-}
yaldeyhem
the-children-of them
‘Even today, there are still parents who beat their children’
Conversely, since the prepositional configuration invokes a view from
within, as an ongoing process, it tends to denote only individual and
specific events. A predicational relationship, in which the focus is on the
genericity of the action, as in (38) above, is therefore semantically
incompatible with the be- construction frame. In contrast, in (39) both
constructions are available.
(39) ha-šotrim še-to’adu be-video ve-zuku
the-policemen who-were-documented in-video and-acquitted
nir’u ke-še-hem makim {‘oto/bo} makot
were-seen while-they were-beating {OM-him/in-him} blows
retsax (the be- version is taken from Haaretz 29.2.02)
murderous
‘The policemen documented by video and acquitted were seen
beating him murderously’