Documenting and Classifying Aspectual Classes Across Languages

Descriptions of aspect systems cross-linguistically and of individual languages tend to focus on variation in grammatical aspect rather than lexical aspect, or aspectual classes. Although Vendler’s (1967) classification is often assumed to be universal, recent research reveals that the semantics of these classes is subject to cross-linguistic variation. Fieldworkers who do not investigate aspectual classes are likely to miss their potential variation in those languages. Fieldworkers who do investigate aspectual classes tend to rely on standard tests for classification (e.g., Dowty 1979). Many of these tests, however, are language-specific and depend on metalinguistic intuitions. This chapter proposes that fieldworkers need a toolkit that enables them to document the full range of variation in the inventory of aspectual classes. Investigating commonly held assumptions about aspectual classes and their documented variation, this chapter outlines the types of contrasts that should be examined when conducting cross-linguistic research on aspectual classification.