644 13. Adverbial when -clauses and the use of tenses when -clause’. As we will see in 13.11, the interval of time referred to as ‘Adv- time of the head clause’ will normally be interpreted as the same interval as that referred to as ‘Adv-time of the when-clause’. When concentrating on the fact that these two Adv-times are identical, we will use the term ‘ common Adv-time ’ to refer to either of them. In (2b), the common Adv-time is the time interval lexicalized by the antecedent (a time) of the relative clause. In (2a), the common Adv-time remains implicit, i. e. there is no NP naming the interval in question. As noted in 2.23.1, the orientation time which is specified (i. e. contained) by an Adv-time will be called the ‘ contained orientation time’. This may be either the situation time or another (nonlexicalized) orientation time to which the situation time is temporally related. Thus, in (2a) the Adv-time of the head clause contains the situation time of the head clause, whereas the Adv-time of the when-clause contains an implicit orientation time to which the situation time of the when-clause is T-anterior. Using the terminology intro- duced in 13.2 above, we can say that in (2a) [John left when Bill had already arrived] the when-clause as a whole functions as a situation-time adverbial with respect to the head clause, whereas when (meaning ‘at which time’) func- tions as orientation-time adverbial in the when-clause itself: the sentence is interpreted as ‘John left at time t, at which time Bill had already left’. In John died when he was in Spain it is the situation time of the head clause that is the ‘ contained orientation time of the head clause’, i. e. the orientation time from the structure of the tense in the head clause that is con- tained by the common Adv-time. In John had already left when Bill arrived it is the orientation time to which the situation time of the head clause is anterior that is the contained orientation time of the head clause. Similarly, the ‘ con- tained orientation time of the when -clause’ is either the situation time of the when-clause (as in John left when Bill arrived) or another orientation time to which the situation time of the when-clause is T-related (as in John left when Bill had already arrived). 13.3.4 In sum, the semantic structure of when is as represented by Figure 13.5. (Because the contained orientation time of the head clause and the con- tained orientation time of the when-clause may both in principle be either durative or punctual, and because an Adv-time may either include the con- tained orientation time or coincide with it, this representation covers all pos- sibilities: all three elements (contained orientation time of the head clause, contained orientation time of the when-clause and common Adv-time) may in principle be durative or punctual, so that the common Adv-time may either include both contained orientation times or coincide with them or include the one and coincide with the other.) II. The temporal structure of adverbial when -clauses 645 x common Adv-time x contained orientation time of the head clause contained orientation time of the when-clause Figure 13.5. The semantic structure of when. It should be clear that the above analysis accords perfectly with the fact that when is interpreted as ‘at a/the time at which’. It accounts for the presence of each constituent in this paraphrase: the first at expresses the containment relation between the Adv-time of the head clause and the contained orientation time of the head clause; the NP the time indicates the Adv-time of the head clause; the second at expresses the containment relation between the Adv-time of the when- clause and the contained orientation time of the when-clause; finally, the pronoun which indicates the Adv-time of the when-clause and, as a relative pronoun, iden- tifies the Adv-time of the when-clause with the Adv-time of the head clause. As will become clear when we discuss the temporal structures of before and after in chapter 14, there are no other temporal conjunctions whose temporal structure is anything like that represented by Figure 13.5. The reason is simply that when is not really a temporal conjunction at all, but is a headless relative. The temporal structure represented by Figure 13.5 can only be that of a head- less relative. (This is clear from the original representation in Figure 13.3.) 13.3.5 The analysis also explains why adverbial when-clauses referring to the post-present use the present tense rather than the future tense: John will leave when Bill {arrives /*will arrive}. The temporal structure of this sentence is shown in Figure 13.6: t 0 will leave —————— ——— —————x————— t 0 —— —— ——— x x arrives Figure 13.6. The tense structure of John will leave when Bill arrives. 646 13. Adverbial when -clauses and the use of tenses As predicted by our theory (see 10.3), the head clause uses the future tense to establish a post-present domain, while the Adv-time-clause uses the present tense (as a form of the Pseudo-t 0 -System Ϫ see 10.2) to represent the situation time of the when-clause as T-simultaneous with the contained orientation time of the when-clause. In more detail: (a) The future tense form will leave locates the situation time of the head clause in the post-present. (b) Because it contains the situation time of the head clause, the common Adv- time Ϫ i. e. the element ‘time’ in the ‘at the time at which’ meaning of when Ϫ must also lie in the post-present. (c) Because the common Adv-time also contains the contained orientation time of the when-clause (i. e. the ‘at which [time]’ element in the meaning of when), the latter must also lie in the post-present. (d) The relation of coincidence between the situation time of the when-clause and the contained orientation time of the when-clause has to be expressed by the present tense (used as part of the Pseudo-t 0 -System). As noted in 10.2, the Pseudo-t 0 -System uses the present tense to represent a situation time as coinciding with a binding orientation time which is treated as a post-present ‘pseudo-t 0 ’. (The binding orientation time in question is the contained orientation time of the when-clause.) 13.3.6 The analysis presented here also explains why the use of a tense form expressing T-simultaneity in the when-clause does not automatically provoke an interpretation in which the situation time of the when-clause is taken to be simultaneous with the situation time of the head clause. Let us consider the sentence John will leave when Bill arrives, whose temporal structure contains the following relations: (a) There is a common Adv-time established by when. This contains both the contained orientation time of the head clause and the contained orientation time of the when-clause. (b) The contained orientation time of the head clause is the situation time of the head clause (will leave), which is punctual. (c) The contained orientation time of the when-clause is an implicit orienta- tion time which binds the situation time of the when-clause in terms of T- simultaneity (coincidence). (d) Since the situation time of the when-clause is punctual and coincides with the contained orientation time of the when-clause, the latter is also punc- tual. (e) It follows that the two contained orientation times are punctual. As we will see, if the two contained orientation times are punctual, the com- mon Adv-time containing them is normally (i. e. by implicature) also conceived II. The temporal structure of adverbial when -clauses 647 of as punctual. The unmarked interpretation of John will leave when Bill ar- rives is therefore for the situation time of the head clause and the situation time of the when-clause to coincide. However, John will leave when Bill arrives will also turn out to be true if John’s leaving takes place immediately after Bill’s arrival. This follows from the fact that the implicature can be blocked or cancelled, in which case the common Adv-time may be durative even if the two situation times (and hence the two contained orientation times) 3 are punc- tual. Strictly speaking, John will leave when Bill arrives expresses no more than that John’s leaving and Bill’s arrival will actualize within the common Adv- time: they need not actualize at exactly the same moment. That the common Adv-time can be conceived of as durative follows from the absence of a temporal NP lexicalizing it: the length of the common Adv- time remains unspecified because there is no lexical item imposing boundaries on it. (When the Adv-time is lexicalized as yesterday, last week, at five, in the afternoon, etc., its boundaries are clear. But without lexicalization no bound- aries are specified.) However, it will be pointed out below that there is an implicature saying that, failing an indication to the contrary, the common Adv- time should be conceived of as having the same length as the situation time of the when-clause. This explains why the unmarked interpretation of John will leave when Bill arrives is for the two situations to actualize simultaneously. If the situation time of the when-clause is punctual, the contained orientation time of the when-clause binding it in terms of T-simultaneity (coincidence) must also be punctual; if, moreover, the situation time of the head clause (which is the contained orientation time of the head clause contained in the common Adv-time) is also punctual, then the common Adv-time is by implica- ture also conceived of as punctual. It follows that in that case the situation time of the head clause is interpreted as coinciding with the situation time of the when-clause. However, there is also a marked interpretation, on which the common Adv-time is longer and the two situation times contained in it do not coincide. This reading can be triggered, for example, by a causal reading of the when-clause: if John will leave because of Bill’s arrival, then he will leave after Bill’s arrival (probably immediately after it). 13.3.7 The observation that the two situation times are not related to each other, except indirectly (i. e. both are contained in the common Adv-time, as in John left when Bill left, or are related to an implicit orientation time con- tained in the common Adv-time, as in John left when Bill had already left) thus accounts for the fact that when-clauses are sometimes interpreted in a way similar to conditional clauses that are interpreted in terms of ‘ sloppy W- 3. We use the word ‘hence’ because in the head clause it is the punctual situation time that functions as contained orientation time, whereas in the when-clause the punctual situa- tion time is T-simultaneous (ϭ coinciding) with the contained orientation time. 648 13. Adverbial when -clauses and the use of tenses simultaneity’ (see 9.20.4.), e. g. You’ll arrive at 8.35 if you take the 7.56 bus.(Take is a form expressing T-simultaneity, but the two situations are not interpreted as W-simultaneous.) Consider examples like the following: When John receives your letter, he will phone the police. Here the when-clause uses a tense form expressing T-simultaneity in spite of the fact that the situation time of the when-clause is not really W-simultaneous with the situation time of the head clause. Of course, the fact that this is possible is not surprising once it is seen that the tense of the when-clause does not directly relate the situation time of the when-clause to the situation time of the head clause, but it probably does look special to those who are not aware of this because they are not aware of the fact that there are three covert constituents in the temporal structure of when, viz. the contained orientation time of the head clause, the contained orientation time of the when-clause and the common Adv-time containing both. The first two of these constituents are orientation times which are involved in the tense structure of the tense of the head clause and the when-clause, respectively. In sum, if (for convenience) we go on to use the term ‘sloppy simultaneity’ (which, in a sense, we can do because the situation time of the when-clause is not interpreted as T-simulta- neous with the situation time of the head clause in spite of the fact that the when-clause uses a tense expressing T-simultaneity), then we have to be aware of the fact that the phenomenon has nothing to do with a special use of T- simultaneity tenses (as in the case of conditional clauses) but with the nonappli- cation of the implicature that the two orientation times contained in the com- mon Adv-time should be interpreted as coinciding with each other. For this reason we will henceforth speak of pseudo-sloppy simultaneity where when- clauses are concerned. The following examples further illustrate the possibility of when-clauses receiving a pseudo-sloppy simultaneity reading: When John’s car crashes, he will buy a new one. When John goes on holiday he will give the key of his house to a neighbour. The implicit common Adv-time here contains the situation time of the head clause and the implicit orientation time with which the situation time of the when-clause is T-simultaneous. For pragmatic reasons (viz. our knowledge of the actual world), these situations are not interpreted as W-simultaneous with each other. (Two times are W-simultaneous with each other if they have at least one point in common Ϫ see 8.18.) In the actual world, it is normal to buy a new car after the old one crashes but not in the course of its crashing. As already noted, this analysis makes it clear that it is not the case that the tense form of the when-clause expresses sloppy simultaneity (as in the case of II. The temporal structure of adverbial when -clauses 649 open conditionals like If John’s car crashes, he will probably buy a new one): the tense form of the when-clause expresses true T-simultaneity (ϭ coincidence) between the situation time of the when-clause and the contained orientation time of the when-clause. In those cases where the common Adv-time includes the contained orientation time of the when-clause (which coincides with the situation time of the when-clause) and also includes the contained orientation time of the head clause (which is the situation time of the head clause if the when-clause is used as situation-time adverbial), the two contained orientation times may be located at different times within the common Adv-time. It follows that the situation time of the head clause does not need to be interpreted as actually coinciding with the situation time of the when-clause, in spite of the fact that the when-clause is used as a situation-time adverbial and uses a tense form expressing coincidence. Such a ‘pseudo-sloppy simultaneity’ reading is a marked reading, enforced by the context or by pragmatic considerations. The unmarked interpretation (if the when-clause is used as a situation-time adver- bial and uses a tense form expressing T-simultaneity) is for the common Adv- time to coincide with the contained orientation time of the when-clause, and hence with the situation time of the when-clause (since the tense form of the when-clause represents the situation time of the when-clause as coinciding with the contained orientation time of the when-clause). Since the common Adv- time contains the situation time of the head clause, the latter is then automati- cally interpreted as W-simultaneous with (because contained in) the situation time of the when-clause. Out of context, John left when Bill arrived receives this unmarked interpretation. This is because the natural interpretation of ‘at a time at which (time) Bill arrived, at that time John left’ is that John’s leaving occurred at the same time as Bill’s arrival. However, the pseudo-sloppy simulta- neity reading can be triggered by contextual or pragmatic considerations, for example, by the fact that it is common knowledge that John cannot stand Bill and always leaves the room immediately after Bill comes in. 13.3.8 Since the ‘common Adv-time’ is implicit, the speaker may in principle conceive it as having any length he likes. Still, it is clear that there must be pragmatic restrictions on the possibility of representing two non-simultaneous situations as falling within the same interval of time if the interval in question is not specified. In accordance with the Gricean Maxims, the hearer will inter- pret the interval as the shortest interval that is in keeping with the pragmatics of the sentence and its context. Thus, in the sentence When John got up, he put on his best clothes, the common Adv-time will be taken to be a subinterval of a particular morning (or day). It will not be interpreted as being, say, a particular week Ϫ an interpretation which would allow the possibility that the two situations actualized on different days. Moreover, an interpretation in terms of W-sequence (pseudo-sloppy simultaneity) will only be selected if the reading in which the situation time of the head clause is taken to be W-simulta- 650 13. Adverbial when -clauses and the use of tenses neous with the situation time of the when-clause is ruled out, or rendered implausible, by the context or by pragmatic knowledge. As noted above, the unmarked interpretation is for the common Adv-time to coincide with the situ- ation time of the when-clause, hence for the situation time of the head clause to be contained in the situation time of the when-clause. 13.3.9 A final piece of evidence in favour of the above analysis is that it offers a natural explanation of the fact that it sometimes seems irrelevant to the temporal interpretation which of the two situations is processed as head clause situation and which as when-clause situation. Compare: Josephine Baker was 68 years old when she died. Josephine Baker died when she was 68 years old. Since in both cases both situation times are represented (directly or indirectly) as contained in a common Adv-time, there is no clear difference in temporal interpretation between these two sentences. Which of them will be used in a particular context will be determined by factors that have to do with the sen- tence’s information structure (i. e. the distribution of given and new informa- tion) and communication structure (i. e. the choice of topic and comment), not by considerations that have to do with temporal interpretation. 13.4 Combining when-clauses with other time-specifying adverbials 13.4.1 If a clause contains several time adverbials, the various Adv-times are related in terms of containment. Thus, in He left after lunch yesterday the Adv- time established by yesterday includes the Adv-time established by after lunch, which itself functions as the Adv-time that contains the situation time. In sen- tences like this, one of the time adverbials may be a when-clause: He left this morning when he had finished his homework. The next day, when Hal returned from school, there was the bird in a wooden cage with bars in front. (LOB) 13.4.2 When the when-clause itself contains a time adverbial, the Adv-time established by the latter contains the Adv-time of the when-clause (expressed by when) in terms of inclusion or coincidence. (It follows that it also contains the contained orientation time of the head clause.) He was merely 51 when he died in 1950. (In 1950 establishes an Adv-time which includes ‘the time when’ he died.) He seemed agitated when he left at 5.15 p.m. (At 5.15 p.m. establishes an Adv-time which coincides with ‘the time when’ he left.) . clause; the NP the time indicates the Adv-time of the head clause; the second at expresses the containment relation between the Adv-time of the when- clause and the contained orientation time of the. orientation time of the when-clause (i. e. the ‘at which [time]’ element in the meaning of when), the latter must also lie in the post-present. (d) The relation of coincidence between the situation time of the. time of the when-clause, and hence with the situation time of the when-clause (since the tense form of the when-clause represents the situation time of the when-clause as coinciding with the contained