Actional Characteristics of Russian and Italian Verbs

Abstract

This paper provides a contrastive analysis of verbal actional characteristics in Russian and Italian, with major regard to predications that are hybrid in their actionality. The notion of actional hybridism is examined within the Compositional Approach to Aspect and Actionality. The main characteristics of actionally hybrid predicates is defined as the manifestation of their compatibility with a range of aspectual grams, typical of more than one actional class (e.g., states, activities and accomplishments). The next step is a brief outline of an actional classification of Russian verbal lexicon based on grouping (clustering) morphologically related verbs around actionally hybrid pivot-verbs. The clustering principle takes into account both morphological criteria, and the actional characteristics of the verbs (telicity, durativity, stativity, multiplicity, etc.). We organize cluster members around 6 pivot verbs, illustrating the inner structure of the action, described by members of each specific verbal cluster. Testing the correlation of cluster members with aspectual grams, we analyze their compatibility with grams describing structural stages of the action (ingressive, delimitative, completive, etc.). The use of such a classification principle suggests the next level of abstraction if compared to the binary organization in aspectual pairs, but still does not overcome the former.

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