I tried writing this once and it got wiped — which is an interesting writing exercise: Write something once, then write it again but frustrated. The result will condense. Purple prose fades to a kind of beige.
Lexical aspect is the boring word for Aktionsart, which describes verbs with respect to time. There are four or five classes, which you can fill out in sort of a truth table. It goes like this.
- Achievements are those people you hate. They do everything they say they’ll do, right when they say they’re going to do it. They answer emails first thing in the morning. They drink matcha while they do it. Release, remember, notice, arrive: achievements are instantaneous, and as soon as they start, they finish.
- Accomplishments do what they say they will, but you have to trust them. It might take a few business days, and their work might be patient and invisible. Whether out of respect for modern ideas about self-care and work-life balance, or due to the lack of ambition that plagues young people these days, accomplishments take time. Cook, drown, say, fold: accomplishments fulfill some end goal over time.
- Semelfactives just sort of badger you. They blink in and out instantly (incessantly), but don’t do anything. Knock, click, sneeze: one giveaway for semelfactives is that you can repeat them over and over. (Note that we’re talking about deep brain cognitive abracadabra here, so even if a sneeze isn’t technically instantaneous, we still talk about it like it is. You wouldn’t ever say, “Oh, what were you doing while you were sneezing?”)
- Activities mosey on, hands deep in their pockets, woolgathering over shapes in the clouds or plucking blades of grass to roll between their slow fingers. They’re going nowhere, and they aren’t getting there any time soon. Walk, read, sleep, talk: activities could go on forever and ever.
- States are the “sometimes Y” of Aktionsarten. They don’t describe a goal or a lack of goal. They just are, and they stay are. Know, be, love, prefer: states reflect the unmoving world.
Do some of these seem to overlap? Can you think of verbs that fit in multiple categories? That would track. Linguists trade in permeable barriers, not rigid taxonomies. Evidenced, maybe, by the use of “achievement,” “accomplishment,” and “activity” as distinct terms of art.
My takeaway — if, indeed, there is any practical application of Aktionsarten: Try to be kind when it comes to achievements. Forgive people for what they don’t “notice”; judge them by what they don’t “look for.” Forgive people for what they don’t “remember”; judge them by what they don’t “consider.”