Aspectual Computation: Evidence for Immediate Commitment

Aspectual interpretation may be computed incrementally as the sentence unfolds (Todorova et al. 2000a,b) or remain underspecified until explicitly required (Pickering et al. in press). We address this issue in two experiments using word-by-word self-paced reading and argue in favor of immediate interpretation. Exp1 uses materials from Todorova et al. (2000a) in a 2 (cardinality) × 2 (durativity) design. [1] Although Howard [sent a check]+BOUNDED VP/[sent checks]–BOUNDED VP to his daughter [for years]DURATIVE AdvP /[last year]NONDURATIVE AdvP she never came home. For three regions following the AdvP, +bounded durative RTs were significantly slower than +bounded non-durative RTs, replicating Todorova et al. and supporting the immediate commitment model. Additionally, we find cardinality effects in the VP. Plural direct objects and their spillover regions were read significantly slower than singulars. Since all verbs in Exp1 are inherently +bounded (Dowty 1979), the delay in processing (–bounded) plurals may be due to aspectual computation. Further literature (Verkuyl 1972, Krifka 1998, Borer 2005) suggests the determiner also plays a significant role