The aspectual potential of the article and case forms in German
https://doi.org/10.18384/2310-712X-2022-2-17-29
Abstract
Aim. To describe the contextual conditions under which the speaker's choice of a definite article can influence the aspectual interpretation of the verb in the sentence.
Methodology. To conduct the study, data from the German corpora DWDS, ENCOW 16, and DECOW 16A was used. In some cases, examples were given from a parallel subcorpus of the National Corpus of the Russian Language. The analysis was carried out by using the descriptive method, the method of component analysis and the comparative method. The descriptive method was used to interpret the examples; the method of component analysis and the comparative method allowed us to determine the context typical for the generic article.
Results. It is shown that the generic function of the German article finds realization under the following conditions: (1) the predicate marks the future, the past tense, or is a compound, including the variable form of the verb and the infinitive; (2) the noun refers to the uncountable (abstract, real); (3) the noun can belong to the class of countable, but must have the plural form; (4) the predicate is aspectually two-valued, i.e. capable of marking the limit / non-limit depending on the contextual environment and (5) the noun belongs to the rhema of the utterance. Case semantics affects the aspectual interpretation of a verb if the noun acts as a circumstance of a place in combination with a preposition, and the predicate is aspectually ambiguous. In this case, the use of a noun with a preposition in the form of the dative case allows us to interpret the verb as that in the non-perfect aspect, in the form of an accusative - as in the perfect aspect.
Research implications. The paper describes the conditions for the implementation of the aspectual function of the article and the case. The results obtained can be used in the classes on theoretical grammar of the German language.
About the Author
A. V. Averina
Moscow Region State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Anna V. Averina – Dr. Sci. (Philology), Prof., Department of German philology
Mytishchi
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