In this article we will study the hypothesis stating there is a syntactic difference between accomplishments (i.e.,durative telic events) and achievements (i.e., non-durative telic events). Our work aims to provide arguments against the hypothesis that assumes that the syntactic distinction between accomplishments and achievements is determined by the argumental (and syntactic) structure that each of these predicates deploy. Instead, we will argue that the distinction between these two types of events is due to the way in which they construct their telicity. On the one hand, accomplishments are events that require a complement of explicit
measurement to be interpreted as telic. In this sense, they have internal structure and are interpreted as durative. On the other hand, the achievements are inherently telic (i.e., their interpretation does not depend on any argument). In this sense, they do not have an internal structure and are interpreted as without duration.
Trebisacce, R. (2019). On the importance of syntax in the interpretation of achievements and accomplishments. Lenguas Modernas, (52), pp. 257–280. Retrieved from https://revistas.uchile.cl/index.php/LM/article/view/52866
