BULGARIAN PREVERBS - ASPECT IN PHRASE STRUCTURE

This paper argues for a syntactic approach to aspectuality, where sema ntic information about subevent structure is incorporated into the phr ase marker. Such an approach would be justified only if aspectual prop erties present syntactic as well as semantic effects. It is the aim of the paper to present evidence of such syntactic effects. Slavic preve rbs have standardly been regarded as perfectivizing (or telicity-marki ng) morphemes. It will be argued that preverbs are also causative morp hemes. As such, they are situated in the upper part of a VP-layer stru cture, a light verb widely accepted to be reserved for CAUSE. In Engli sh, the aspectual interpretation of a terminative or durative event de pends on the specified or unspecified cardinality of the object (Verku yl 1993) and aspect is calculated in a functional projection AspP betw een the two VP layers (Travis 1991). In Slavic, on the other hand it i s the presence oi absence of a preverb in the upper verbal head that e ncodes a terminative ol a durative interpretation. This contrast is ex plained with the relatively higher structural position of Slavic preve rbs with respect to the functional projection AspP in English. Similar scope effects are demonstrated with articles in Russian, with interpr etations of Polish and English imperfective sentences, and with manner adverbs in Bulgarian.