Abstract
This paper addresses a difference between English and Mandarin Chinese in how the perfective aspect interacts with accomplishment situations. We propose that the source of the difference lies in the different nominal systems in English and Mandarin. Specifically, while English nominal heads distinguish count nouns from mass nouns, Mandarin nominal heads do not (Chierchia 1998).
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Soh, H.L., Kuo, J.YC. (2005). Perfective Aspect and Accomplishment Situations in Mandarin Chinese. In: Verkuyl, H.J., de Swart, H., van Hout, A. (eds) Perspectives on Aspect. Studies in Theoretical Psycholinguistics, vol 32. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3232-3_11
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