The grammar of the english verb phrase part 20 pps

126 2. Towards a theory of tense and time tions, inferred from contextual information or pragmatic knowledge, between the times of full situations and orientation times. W-simultaneity occurs when at least one point of one full situation coincides in time with any point of another full situation: strict coincidence of the times of the entire situation is not necessary. 2.18.1 A situation may be interpreted as simultaneous, anterior or posterior to another situation without this being expressed by a tense form or temporal adverbial. In that case the temporal relations are not tense relations (T-rela- tions) or adverbially indicated relations (Adv-relations), but simply temporal relations that are inferred to exist in the real world (or in whatever world is being referred to) on the basis of the context or of the hearer’s pragmatic knowledge of the world in question. We will refer to such temporal relations as world relations (W-relations). [“What were they doing?”] Ϫ “Betty was reading the paper, Bill was watching TV and Jeremy was sleeping on the sofa.” (The three past tense forms are absolute tense forms which do no more than locate the three situation times in the past. In other words, none of them expresses T-simultaneity. However, it is clear from the context that the three situation times must be interpreted as W-simultaneous with each other.) When they had first visited the house, they hadn’t noticed the wet patch on the ceiling of the kitchen. (The past perfect tense forms both represent their situation time as T-anterior to an unspecified past orientation time. The relation of W-simulta- neity that is understood to exist between the two situations is not expressed by the tense forms.) John told me he was involved in an accident in France. (The two absolute past tense forms merely locate their situation times in the past Ϫ see 1.10.3. Pragmatic knowl- edge tells us that John’s accident must be understood as W-anterior to his telling me about it.) 2.18.2 Unlike simultaneity expressed by a tense form (ϭ T-simultaneity), W- simultaneity is not a semantic relation but a pragmatic one. In other words, while T-simultaneity forms part of the semantics of, for example, the relative past tense (see 2.17), W-simultaneity is to be inferred from a combination of linguistic information, the linguistic and nonlinguistic context, and other prag- matic knowledge. It follows (a) that W-simultaneity is largely a question of pragmatic interpretation rather than linguistic representation, and (b) that W- simultaneity is less rigidly defined than T-simultaneity: whereas the latter is equivalent to coincidence, W-simultaneity can, according to context, be inter- preted as coincidence, overlap or inclusion. In other words, two time intervals are W-simultaneous the moment they have one point of time in common. This I. Introduction 127 is clear from the following examples, in which all the tense forms are abso- lute preterites: Suddenly somebody fired a gun. I heard it. (The two punctual situations coincide with each other, at least in our everyday understanding of the actual world.) I met John yesterday. He was walking to work. (The full situation of John’s walking includes the punctual situation of my meeting John.) Whereas Mary was painting the front door, I was working in the garden. (The two full situations may either coincide or overlap: one situation may have started at, before or after the beginning of the other situation, and either of them may have ended at, before or after the end of the other situation. The two situations are W- simultaneous in the sense that they have at least one point of time in common.) As is clear from the comment added to these examples, a temporal W-relation holds between times that are ‘the time of a full situation’ Ϫ see sections 2.12Ϫ 13 Ϫ rather than between situation times (ϭ the times of predicated situations). This is logical, since W-relations are not linguistically represented, and full situations are not either (except if the situation time is represented as bounded, in which case the situation time coincides with the time of the full situation Ϫ see section 2.12.2.) ‘Situation time’, by contrast, is a linguistic concept, which is needed to explain how a situation is located in time by a tense form. In other words, both ‘W-relation’ and ‘full situation’ refer to nonlinguistic concepts, in the sense that they have to do with pragmatic interpretation and not (or not exclusively) with linguistic representation. By contrast, ‘T-relation’ and ‘situa- tion time’ are the names of linguistic concepts, which have to do with the way tense forms represent the temporal location of a situation. 128 2. Towards a theory of tense and time II. Special uses of tense forms In sections 2.15Ϫ17 we have pointed out the ‘normal’ uses of tenses as either absolute tenses (establishing a temporal domain) or relative tenses (expressing a T-relation in a domain.) In this section we will have a brief look at some special uses of tenses which are clearly distinguishable from the normal uses. 2.19 Modal uses of tenses Past and past perfect tense forms can be used to express tentativeness or unreality. The tentativeness may be social, as in I wondered if you might like this book or it may concern the likelihood of actualization of a situation, as in If you wanted to, you could write a book. (Note that in the first of these, the past tense wondered is a literal past tense Ϫ it has past time reference.) Both tentativeness and unreality are standardly expressed by past (perfect) tense forms in conditional sentences, as in the counterfactual If I were President, I would cancel third world debt. The past tense and the past perfect can be used to express such modal concepts as tentativeness or unreality: (a) With some verbs of volition the past tense can be used to represent a present wish or hope as more tentative (diffident, indirect, polite) than the present tense would do. I wanted to ask you a favour. [Will we see each other at the dance tonight?] I hoped you might be there. (b) Some verbs of volition can be used in the past perfect tense in order to express unreality, i. e. nonactualization of an initial expectation, inten- tion, etc. I had {wanted / meant / hoped / expected / intended} to be in London today. (implies: but I’m not) (c) In that-clauses depending on a form of the verb wish and in clauses intro- duced by if only or would that, the past tense or the past perfect can be used in order to express unreality (counterfactuality). In that case these tenses do not realize their normal tense structures but (apart from express- ing counterfactuality) merely express T-simultaneity and T-anteriority, respectively. II. Special uses of tense forms 129 I {wish / wished / had wished / will probably wish} I didn’t know his number. (modal past; the situation time in question is T-simultaneous with the situation time of the head clause.) I {wish / wished / had wished / will probably wish} I had never met him. (modal past perfect; the situation time in question is T-anterior to the situation time of the head clause.) (d) The past tense can be used to add a tentative meaning to the if-clause of a conditional sentence: I’d be happy if you did that for me. (modal past: the reference is not to the past but to future actualization, which is represented as tentatively possible.) I’d be surprised if she arrived on time. (more tentative than I’ll be surprised if she arrives on time) (e) Under certain conditions, either the past tense or the past perfect can be used in a conditional clause so as to represent fulfilment of the condition as counterfactual: If I was a rich man, I would travel a lot. (modal past: the reference is not to the past but to the present, which is represented as counterfactual (unreal).) If he had been here today, he would have been very happy. (modal past perfect: the reference is not to the past but to the present, and the actualization of the situation is represented as counterfactual.) (f) There are still other environments in which a modal past or modal past perfect can be used. For example: He looks as if he had seen a ghost. (modal past perfect, expressing counterfactual- ity as well as T-anteriority) 2.20 Shifts of temporal perspective When the temporal location of a situation is obvious from the context, it is possible for a speaker to represent a situation as lying in one time-zone whilst apparently locating it in another time-zone. In that way, by relying on the hearer to establish the temporal location from the context, the speaker combines correct time-reference with the conno- tations of location in a different time-zone. For example, The train leaves at eight represents a post-present situation as if it is already the case, thus emphasizing that the future is in this case seen as already fixed. There is a shift of temporal perspective if a tense is selected, not in order to locate a situation time in a particular time-zone (e. g. the present or the 130 2. Towards a theory of tense and time past Ϫ see section 2.37) but in order to represent it as if lying in that time- zone. The following illustrate two different typical cases: And a week later I’m on Rupert’s lawn again. And who should come squealing and bellowing through the hedge but Bill. And does he ask about my trip to America? No. Does he want my story of the upside down helicopter flight over Central Park? Or the Watneys Red Barrel ride over Niagara? (…) Not him. He’s jabbering about his brand-new putty-knife, shrieking about his broken fretsaw and intent on intro- ducing me to every single socket in the socket-set his dad got him for passing O- level French twenty years ago. (www) (This use of the present tense, which is called the ‘historic present’ or ‘historical present’ is a way of describing past situations vividly, as if they were happening here and now Ϫ see 3.3.1.) The soldiers {leave / are leaving} tomorrow. In the latter example, a future situation is represented as if it were actualizing at t 0 . This use of the present tense is a means of expressing that the speaker thinks that there can be no doubt about the future actualization of the situa- tion. The temporal domain that is established is a post-present one, but it is established as if it were a present domain. Evidence that it is really a post- present domain is the presence of tomorrow and the possibility of adding an adverbial when-clause: The soldiers are leaving tomorrow when they have fin- ished their job. Such an addition is not possible to the corresponding sentence establishing a present domain: compare The soldiers are now leaving with *The soldiers are now leaving when they have finished their job.) 2.21 Universal sentences An apparently special use of the present tense is found in ‘universal’ sentences, which refer to a state which holds at all times. (Such sentences may cite universal truths or they may refer to permanent characteristics (including habits).) For example: Elephants never forget. However, these are actually not special uses of the present tense, since they refer to homogeneous situations and thus locate a punctual situation time Ϫ which represents the time of a representative punctual section of the full situation Ϫ simulta- neous with speech-time, in accordance with the meaning of the present tense. 2.21.1 Sentences in the present tense sometimes refer to a state which holds at all times or at every time in the existence of the referent of the subject. Such sentences are called universal (or gnomic) sentences. Two and two is four. The sun rises in the east. Is Greenland a continent of its own? II. Special uses of tense forms 131 Gnomic sentences that predicate a typical characteristic of a kind (species) are also called generic sentences. {A / The} horse is a four-footed mammal. Horses do not eat meat. Habitual sentences that predicate a typical and permanent (nontemporary) characteristic of an individual are also sometimes called generic. Bill’s cat chases bikes. Most of us walk to work. 2.21.2 In fact, gnomic sentences in the present tense do not really represent a special use of this tense, because they are quite in keeping with our definition of T-simultaneity in terms of strict coincidence (see 2.17 and 8.17.1). Like habitual sentences, gnomic sentences express a characteristic. As pointed out in section 1.34.4, a characteristic is a state, and states are by definition homo- geneous. To illustrate this with a nongnomic example: if John was in the kitchen can be truly predicated of the entire interval that John spent in the kitchen, it can also be truly predicated of the various subintervals making up this interval. In the gnomic sentence Two and two is four, the situation time is located at t 0 . Since ‘is located at’ means ‘is represented as T-simultaneous (i. e. coinciding) with’, and since t 0 is conceived of as punctual in English (see 2.4), the situation time (ϭ time of the ‘predicated situation’ Ϫ see 212.) is a punctual subinterval of the time of the full situation. The fact that the predicated situa- tion is punctual does not prevent the situation from being interpreted as gnomic and making a statement about the full durative situation. The fact that we conceive of a state as unchanging and homogeneous renders that interpreta- tion possible. In sum, in gnomic clauses Ϫ and also in habitual and progressive clauses Ϫ the use of the present tense means that the situation time is punctual, because it is represented as T-simultaneous (i. e. coinciding) with t 0 , which is conceived of as punctual. However, the fact that such clauses represent their situation time as punctual does not prevent them from being pragmatically interpreted as referring to a durative situation. This is because the situation time is only a point included in a longer, homogeneous situation. The temporal interpretation of a clause usually concerns the time of the full situation rather than the situa- tion time only (which is a quite abstract concept). The full temporal interpreta- tion of a clause is not exclusively determined by the choice of tense and Adv- time: pragmatic considerations (i. e. contextual information, knowledge of the world and accepted principles of conversation) are often as important as the semantics of the tense and the Adv-time (if any). 132 2. Towards a theory of tense and time III. The role of temporal adverbials 2.22 Definition and basic classification of ‘temporal adverbials’ We distinguish three types of adverbial that give temporal information. ‘Time-specify- ing’ adverbials (e. g. at six o’clock) temporally locate an orientation time (which may be a situation time) by specifying a particular time (an ‘Adv-time’) which may be punctual or durative and which contains (i. e. coincides with or includes) the orienta- tion time. Pure duration adverbials (e. g. for six hours) specify the length of time occu- pied by a full situation, but do not locate it in time. Bifunctional adverbials (e. g. from six to eight) both temporally locate a situation time and specify the length of the corresponding full situation. Thus in Meg watched the elephant from six to eight, the temporal adverbial locates the situation time (the time of the predicated situation) at the time indicated by ‘from six to eight’ and measures the (time of the) full situation (as taking up two hours). The term temporal adverbial will be used here in the wide sense of ‘adverbial that has to do with time’. This covers the following three types: 2.22.1 Time-specifying adverbials locate an orientation time in time by in- dicating a specific Adv-time (‘adverbially indicated time’) which ‘contains’ the orientation time in question in terms of inclusion or coincidence Ϫ see 2.23.1: John was here {yesterday / at five o’clock}. The Adv-time that is indicated by a time-specifying adverbial may itself be durative or punctual. This leads to a second distinction, between durative time-specifying adverbials , which specify a durative Adv-time, and punc- tual time-specifying adverbials , which refer to a nondurative time, i. e. a moment or point in time. In both cases the relevant orientation time is con- tained (in terms of inclusion or coincidence) in the Adv-time. In the case of a punctual Adv-time the containment relation has to be a relation of coincidence; with a durative Adv-time it can also be inclusion. John left at five. (punctual Adv-time coinciding with the situation time) John had already left at five. (punctual Adv-time coinciding with the unspecified orientation time to which the situation time is T-anterior) John was in London at five. (punctual Adv-time coinciding with the situation time; the situation time is included in the time of the full situation) John left yesterday. (durative Adv-time including the punctual situation time) . after the beginning of the other situation, and either of them may have ended at, before or after the end of the other situation. The two situations are W- simultaneous in the sense that they. principles of conversation) are often as important as the semantics of the tense and the Adv-time (if any). 132 2. Towards a theory of tense and time III. The role of temporal adverbials 2.22 Definition. length of the corresponding full situation. Thus in Meg watched the elephant from six to eight, the temporal adverbial locates the situation time (the time of the predicated situation) at the time