Influence
Vendler's 1957 Philosophical Review article "Verbs and times" first introduced a four-way distinction between verbs based on their aspectual features, a distinction which has had a major influence on theories of lexical aspect or aktionsart.
Under Vendler's model, events may be classified into one of four aspectual classes:
- states, which are static and do not have an endpoint ("know," "love");
- activities, which are dynamic and do not have an endpoint ("run," "drive");
- accomplishments, which have an endpoint and are incremental or gradual ("paint a picture," "build a house"); and
- achievements, which have an endpoint and occur instantaneously ("recognize," "notice").
Vendler also popularized the use of the progressive aspect as a diagnostic for distinguishing between these lexical classes; for example, activities and accomplishments are able to appear in the progressive (He is running, He is painting a picture), whereas states and achievements are not (*He is knowing French, *He is recognizing his friend). Vendler's categories are still widely used in current research in areas such as syntax, semantics, and second language acquisition. Linguist S.-Y. Kuroda has said that Vendler's terms achievement and accomplishment "have since become basic technical vocabulary in modern linguistics," and have been used to develop numerous theories and allow for "sophisticated and highly technical" research in a variety of areas.
Vendler's 1967 book Linguistics in Philosophy, a collection of some of his earlier articles, had a large influence on the field of linguistic philosophy, which attempts to use the study of language and linguistic structures to inform philosophical theory. The book has been described as an attempt to "reconcile the empirical basis of linguistic science with the a priori nature of philosophical reasoning." His 1972 Res Cogitans also dealt with the relationship between language and philosophy.
Overall, Vendler published over 30 widely cited journal articles and four monographs.
Read more about this topic: Zeno Vendler
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