A Detailed Characterization of Aspectualizers — IV: Finish, End, and Complete Compared

Abstract

In this chapter, we will consider three verbs which refer not only to the cessation, but to the completion of the events named in their complements. Finish, end, and complete refer to either a last temporal segment of the nucleus or to the coda of the events named in their complements. A historical view of this group of words does less to illuminate their differences than it did the other verbs studied. End is of a common Teutonic origin, from OE endian meaning ‘to carry through to the end’. Finish (ME fenys, finisch), on the other hand, is of a Latin and French origin, Fr. fenir from Latin finire. The dictionary describes finish in a fashion similar to end, simply as ‘bringing something to an end’. Finally, complete, a rather recent verb form (1530) is derived from the ME adjective which in turn was derived from the Latin completus or compiere. This, too, is defined as ‘bringing something to an end’ or as ‘making something whole’. As we will see, this latter statement may help explain the difference between complete and finish. The late development of the verb form may be responsible for the feeling (volunteered by many native speakers) that the verb is formal and infrequently used as compared to the ease and frequency of the adjective complete.