Re: `already'

[Ivan A Derzhanski <IAD@BGEARN.BITNET>]

On Tue, 2 Jan 1996 14:56:43 -0500 John Cowan said:
>.ui la .iVAN. cusku di'e
>
>> And of course nothing can happen before its natural start.  You don't
>> have to stop when you've finished, but you can't start without starting.
>
>This is not clear to me.  The "natural start" of "mi vasxu" was 28 May 1958,
>but in fact the event of my breathing didn't begin until the following 2 July.

Okay, let's go back to the basics (and to Vendler's famous classes).

An achievement (we assume) happens in a single moment, and we have
a ZAhO for that moment, as well as a ZAhO for the time before it
and the time after it.

A state or activity happens over an extended interval, which starts
in some moment and ends in another, and again there are ZAhO for both
moments and the three intervals before, between and after them.

Now, an accomplishment is an activity which leads to (culminates in)
an achievement.  Its start is the start of the activity; its duration
is the duration of the activity up to the moment of the completion of
the accomplishment, which is the moment of the occurrence of the
achievement.  In case the activity doesn't stop there, we get
into the "za'o" stage.

This means that in principle there can be two final moments (one where
the achievement happens and the accomplishment is completed and one
where the activity stops), but (since results have to come after
their causes) there is no room for more than one starting point.

--Ivan