turkish phonology and morphology (türkçe ses ve b‹ç‹mb‹lg‹s‹)

Unit 8 - Word Classes
Verbs can be classified in terms of their semantic structure as well. This kind of
categorization focuses on the internal structure of the lexical meaning of a verb.
Vendler (1967: 97-121) suggested four categories: activities, accomplishments,
achievements, and states. As we mentioned earlier, verbs typically express rapid
changes and they denote what people do. Depending on the nature of the action,
doing something may involve an ongoing process in time. That is, some verbs
denote actions that last a period of time. Activity verbs such as koflmak, yürümek,
yemek yemek, araba kullanmak can be listed in this category along with
accomplishment verbs such as deney yapmak, 100m. koflmak, büyümek. Besides
the similarity in their procedural nature, activity and accomplishment verbs differ
in their reference to an end point in the activity expressed. Accomplishments have
a climax prior to which the action indicated by the verb is not fulfilled, whereas
activities do not have such a terminal point. For example, koflmak as an activity
verb denotes an action which does not require an end point for its completion.
When the runner terminates the act of running at some point in the process, it can
be said that s/he did perform the act of running. However, this does not hold for
accomplishment verbs. For example, 100 metre koflmak cannot be said to have
been performed if the runner stops the act of running at a point in the process. In
order for a runner to say 100 metre kofltum, it is necessary for him/her to have run
till the end point of 100 metre. Similarly, to be able to use the verb büyümek to
denote an accomplishment requires reaching the specified point in time that is
considered to be the end point of the process büyümek. A child, for example,
cannot be considered to have grown up before that point.
Achievement verbs are similar to accomplishment verbs as they have a terminal
point. However, the two categories differ in their procedural nature. Achievements
do not indicate a process in time. They denote instantaneous actions such as
bulmak, durmak, bafllamak, do¤mak, ölmek, farketmek. For example, an action
represented by the verb durmak can be defined as durmak only at the time when
the act of stopping is performed, neither before, nor after it. It takes place at a
definite time, and therefore does not last a period of time. Figure 8.1. is given to
illustrate these distinctions.
koflmak 100 m. koflmak
durmak
x x x
100 m.
“to run”
“to run 100 m” “to stop”
activity accomplishment
achievement
Note that not all verbs are dynamic, and not all verbs indicate a change of state.
Some verbs may denote not what people do, but what people are, how they feel,
where they are, what they believe, what they know, etc. Such verbs indicate
persistent situations lasting a period of time. These are called stative verbs. They are
non-agentive as they do not have agent subjects. Neither do they involve actions
performed deliberately. Some examples are istemek, sevmek, nefret etmek, bilmek,
inanmak. Table 8.1 is given to show the intersections between the formal and
semantic characteristics of verbs.
Figure 8.1
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