Talk by Ralf Naumann
Aspectual Composition and Dynamic Logic
In this talk I will present a theory of aspect in dynamic logic which is
based on Muskens' 'Logic of Change'. Verbs are interpreted as denoting
(non-test like) relations between states and are analyzed by means of
the programming concepts assignment, test and iteration (Kleene star),
which results in a decompositional analysis in the sense of Dowty.
This makes it possible to already distinguish several aspectual
classes of verbs at the lexical level. Aspectual differences between
verbs, for instance between 'eat' and 'push', can be explained
as differences in the way the three programming concepts are used in
their representations. The contribution of nominal arguments is
explained by using the programming concept of parallelism.
Furthermore, there is no interaction between the verb and an NP, in
contrast to what is assumed in most existing theories of aspect.
This separation as well as the use of a parallelism construct makes it
possible to give a satisfactory analysis of the contribution of NPs
like 'more than five apples', which cannot be accounted for in the
theories of Verkuyl and Krifka.
Paul Dekker, November 2, 1995