Differential subject marking in Polish: The case of Genitive vs ...

NP-related function is illustrated in (1) below (Kiparsky 1998:268). An intrinsically telic
(bounded) verb such as saan ‘get’ takes a Partitive marked object when the object is
quantitatively indeterminate (an indefinite bare plural or mass noun), otherwise the object is
marked for ACC(usative). In other words, the Partitive tells us something about the specific
interpretation of the NP in such cases. In contrast, with an aspectually unmarked verb (i.e., a verb
arguments, including subject”, “viewpoint is conveyed by a grammatical morpheme, usually verbal” (Smith
1997:2). The first type of aspect, i.e., semantic aspect, refers to the atemporal contours of an eventuality
(Richardson 2003:24, referring to Filip 1994), to internal temporal features of situations (Smith 1997:17),
such as whether they are static or durative, whether they are telic (have a natural final endpoint: a goal,
outcome, or other change of state, i.e., are in some sense “bounded”) or atelic, whether they are durative or
instantaneous. [Eventuality is a term borrowed from Bach (1981), which is used to refer to any kind of
situation type.] On the basis of the temporal properties of dynamism, durativity and telicity, Smith (1997:3,
20) distinguishes five different situation types (see also Comrie 1976:41-51 for discussion):
(i) Situation types (Smith 1997:3)
a. state: stative, durative (know the answer, love mary)
b. activity: dynamic, durative, atelic (laugh, stroll in the park)
c. accomplishment: dynamic, durative, telic, consisting of process and outcome (build a house, walk to
school, learn Greek)
d. semelfactive: dynamic, atelic, instantaneous (tap, knock)
e. achievement: dynamic, telic, instantaneous (win a race, reach the top)
In contrast, grammatical aspect (‘viewpoint aspect’) focuses on the temporal perspective of an eventuality.
Smith (1997:3) distinguishes three main viewpoint types:
(ii) Viewpoint types:
a. Perfective viewpoints focus a situation in its entirety, including both initial and final endpoint.
b. Imperfective viewpoints focus part of a situation, including neither initial or final endpoints.
c. Neutral viewpoints are flexible, including the initial endpoint of a situation and at least one internal stage
(where applicable).
Richardson (2003:28), following Klein (1994), defines grammatical aspect as the relation between the Topic
Time (a time for which the speaker wishes to make an assertion) and the Situation Time, i.e., “it signals the
way, or ways, in which an eventuality is linked to the Topic Time” (ibid.). If an eventuality is contained
within the Topic Time, i.e., it is bounded in time, a perfective viewpoint is taken. If an eventuality holds
throughout and potentially extends beyond the Topic Time, i.e., it is unbounded, an imperfective viewpoint is
taken (Richardson 2003:28-29; see also Borik 2002 for a somewhat different formalization of the notion of
viewpoint aspect, her “Reference time aspect”).
These two types of aspectual information, i.e., semantic aspect and grammatical aspect, are independent,
though they interact with each other (see, among others, Smith 1997, Borik 2002, Richardson 2003 and the
references cited there for discussion of this controversial issue). Smith (1997:1) gives the examples in (iii) to
demonstrate that the same situation may be presented from different perspectives: (iii-a) has a perfective
viewpoint, whereas (iii-b) has an imperfective viewpoint.
(iii) a. John and Mary built a rock garden last summer.
b. John and Mary were building a rock garden last summer.
Richardson (2003:25) further points out that “imperfective sentences […] can be applied to the same
situations to which a perfective verb applies, i.e., the imperfective aspect can be used to convey the infamous
konstatacija fakta ‘statement of fact’ interpretation of a verb phrase. That is, the imperfective aspect is used
felicitously in Russian even when it is understood by the interlocutors that the eventuality was completed;” cf.
(iv).
(iv) a. Ja citala “Vojnu i mir”. b. Ja procitala “Vojnu i mir”.
I readIMPERF war and peace I readPERF war and peace
‘I read “War and Peace”.’ ‘I read “War and Peace”.’
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