present temporal domain whose central orientation time is the situation time of a present perfect tense form in a clause receiving an indefinite interpretation’.. www 9.9.4 A pre-present
Trang 1Figure 9.5 The tense structure of On one occasion I’ve even drawn the curtains across
a window through which a journalist was peeping.
present temporal domain whose central orientation time is the situation time of
a present perfect tense form in a clause receiving an indefinite interpretation’.) Has it happened that your proposalswere rejected even though you knew you were
right?(The three preterite forms express T-simultaneity.)
Has he ever promised that hewould help you? (T-posteriority)
Once or twice I have torn up a manuscript on which Ihad been working for months
[because I was dissatisfied with it].(T-anteriority)
In the past two years I’ve been told at least a dozen times that hewould soon have left [but he is still here] (The conditional perfect expresses a ‘complex relation’ combining T-posteriority and T-anteriority.)
When have you most felt that youhad lost touch with God? (www) (T-anteriority)
In many of the examples both clauses refer to repetitive hypersituations con-sisting of a number of subsituations In such cases, each subsituation of the hypersituation of the subclause is interpreted as W-simultaneous with one of the subsituations forming the hypersituation referred to in the head clause Since the pre-present domain is expanded as if it were a past domain, the subclause uses the relative past tense to express this W-simultaneity as T-simul-taneity:
His lawyer has visited him in prison as often as hewanted to.
I have sometimes rung him up when Iwas feeling lonely.
[Long interested in ragtime,] he has often felt frustrated when his limited technique
prevented him from playing the music as he heard it in his inner ear (www)
[Even though it is a malleable material,] I have often had it break while I was bending it for its intended use: reinforcement in concrete work (www)
Trang 2The following examples are similar, except for the fact that the tense of the
subclause expresses T-anteriority or T-posteriority:
But all in all, I have sometimes chosen to ride home when my taillight had quit,
[equipped only with a large amber rear reflector and pedal reflectors.] (www)
Pepe has often driven before when hehad forgotten to take his medicine [and there
has been no problem as long as the drive is short.] (www)
Fiorina has never assumed that HP’s sizewould guarantee its position in the market
place [She has pushed relentlessly for new and different products.] (www)
Bank of America, which hasn’t made a major acquisition in four years, has
fre-quently pushed aside speculation that itwould soon buy another company (www)
9.9.4 A pre-present domain established by an indefinite perfect is not
nor-mally expanded as if it were a past domain if the pre-present situation receives
a recency interpretation Thus in the following sentence, which is used to
ex-press ‘hot news’, the pre-present domain cannot be expanded:
[Listen to this!] John has just said that he {was afraid of mice / had seen a ghost /
?? would become famous}.
The normal interpretation ofwas [afraid] is not as a relative past tense form
expressing T-simultaneity to the head clause situation time, but as an absolute
preterite referring to a situation which is interpreted as W-anterior to the head
clause situation.Had seen is a relative tense, but it is unlikely to be interpreted
as expressing T-anteriority to the situation time of has said Rather, had said
is naturally interpreted as expressing T-anteriority to an unspecified orientation
time that is W-anterior to the situation time of has said As to would become,
this can hardly be interpreted as expressing T-posteriority to the head clause
situation time or to an unspecified orientation time and so is not readily
inter-pretable
By contrast, in the following examples the head clause does not receive a
recency interpretation, so that the pre-present domain is expanded (as if it were
a past domain):
Never before has John declared that he {was afraid of mice / had seen a ghost /
would become famous} (The italicized forms are relative tense forms expressing
T-simultaneity, T-anteriority and T-posteriority respectively.)
When have you most felt that youhad lost touch with God? (www) (T-anteriority)
When have you felt like your entire existence was swallowed by something you
eitherlooked into or listened to? (www) (T-simultaneity)
In sum, a pre-present domain established by an indefinite perfect can only be
expanded (as if it were a past domain) if there is not a hot news reading or
another kind of recency interpretation⫺ see 9.9.8 below for more details The
reading that best allows it is the ‘experiential’ reading (see 5.13) This is clear
from the above examples and from a comparison of the following sentences:
Trang 3[Have you heard the news?] Senator Harris has promised that he {will / *would}
help us!(indefinite perfect; ‘hot news’ reading) Has he ever promised that he {will / would} help you? (indefinite perfect; experien-tial reading)
[I seem to remember that] she has told me once that she {??has / had} quarrelled with her husband.(indefinite perfect; experiential reading) (Compare with She has just told me that she {has /?had} quarrelled with her husband, where the word just makes the use of the past perfect less likely.)
9.9.5 When a pre-present domain is expanded, the speaker relates the situa-tion time of the subclause to the pre-present situasitua-tion time of the head clause
It follows that no T-relation is expressed between the bound situation time and
t0 Because of this, there are in principle several possible interpretations as far
as the W-relation between the bound situation time and t0is concerned: Once or twice I have told her what Iwas looking for (The bound situation time is interpreted as W-anterior to t0.)
Has he ever promised that he would be here now? (The bound situation time is interpreted as W-simultaneous with t0, while it is represented as T-posterior to the situation time of the head-clause.)
He has never promised that hewould give us everything now, [but he will provide
for our daily needs and more than that too.] (www)(idem)
Has Beckham ever categorically stated that hewould transfer next year? (The bound situation time is interpreted as W-posterior to t0.)
Has the landlord ever promised that hewould have had the roof repaired by
Christ-mas day?(The bound situation time is T-anterior to an orientation time (Christmas day) which is T-posterior to another orientation time (the time of promising) which
is T-anterior to t0 It follows that the W-relation between the bound situation time and t0 can vary according to the temporal relation between t0 and Christmas day: the bound situation time may be interpreted as anterior, simultaneous, or W-posterior to t0.)
[Then one day he found himself in a “home” where several “little people” were institutionalized “There was nothing wrong with them,” says Rappaport “They weren’t ill They were there just because they were little It had a chilling effect on
me I’ve never forgotten it.”] Never in his 35 years has anyone ever suggested that
Rappaportwould end like the lost people of his (…) tale, [shunted away because of
their dwarfism.] (www)
9.9.6 Instead of expanding the pre-present domain, the tense form of the subclause may under certain conditions also ‘shift the domain’, i e use an absolute tense to create a new temporal domain in one of the four absolute time-zones
When the new temporal domain is also a present one, the two pre-present domains are often interpreted as W-simultaneous with each other In
Trang 4that case there is no difference of temporal interpretation between the use of
the present perfect in the subclause and the use of the relative past tense (which
expresses T-simultaneity):
When have you most felt that youhave lost touch with God? (Have lost is
interpre-ted as an indefinite perfect creating a pre-present domain which is interpreinterpre-ted as
W-simultaneous with the pre-present domain established by have felt The claim that
the simultaneity relation between have felt and have lost is a W-simultaneity relation
is demonstrated by the fact that it is not a relation of strict coincidence: the situation
of feeling may be properly included in the state of having lost touch.)
[“Money is something to everybody.” ⫺ “Is it?] When have you found that I have
taken any account of it? (⫽ ‘When have you found me to be taking any account of
it?’ Have taken is an absolute tense form, but its situation time is likely to be
inter-preted as W-simultaneous with that of have found.)
I’ve sometimes called him up when I {felt / have felt} lonely (felt ⫽ temporal
subor-dination; have felt ⫽ shift of domain)
My pets have never failed me when I {needed / have needed} a friend (similar)
I have often wanted to ask him for advice, to have him by my side when I have
struggled, or when I needed a hug (www) (The fact that the speaker chooses freely
between the present perfect and the past tense indicates that he does not interpret
them differently.)
Of course, there are also cases in which, for pragmatic reasons, the pre-present
domain established by the subclause is not interpreted as W-simultaneous with
that established by the head clause:
The doctor has already confirmed that Bill has sprained his ankle (The situation
time of has sprained is interpreted as W-anterior to that of has confirmed.)
When have you felt that others have taken advantage of your good nature on the
job? [What did you do about the situation?] (www)(Have taken is an absolute tense
form; its situation time is interpreted as W-anterior to that of have felt.)
The interpretation is certainly not in terms of W-simultaneity if the subclause
shifts the domain to another absolute time-zone:
Have you ever considered the possibility that Kennedy was murdered by the FBI?
(absolute past tense, establishing a past domain which is interpreted as W-anterior
to the pre-present domain established by have considered)
I have always been told that Keatsdied in Italy (idem)
When has Bush ever said that hewill use nuclear pre-emption? (www)
(W-posterior-ity)
At no time has he ever denied that hewill be a part of Damian’s life (www) (idem)
No one has ever seriously considered that Secretariat’s world record for the mile and
a half distance of the Belmont Stakes is in danger, nor has anyone ever considered
Trang 5that itwill be in the future (www) (Is and will be establish a present domain and a post-present domain, respectively.)
I haven’t met anybody yet who {was / is} not interested in money (There is a clear difference of meaning between the two tense forms If the speaker uses was, which expresses T-simultaneity in the domain established by have met, he refers to anybody
he has ever met, whether they are still living or dead By using is he limits the reference to those that are still living at t0, i e to those who can still be interested
in money at t0.)
Sheila has often told me that she {loved / loves} me (There is a meaning difference, because the situation time of loved may not include t0 whereas the situation time of loves coincides with t0 The use of loved therefore suggests that the speaker has no confidence at all that Sheila still does love him.)
Because of the difference in meaning between the relative past tense (expressing T-simultaneity with the central orientation time of the pre-present domain) and the present tense (locating the situation time of the subclause at t0), there are many cases in which only one of the two is quite suitable:
It has often struck me when I’m being quizzed (before people know my reasons)
[that however bad it feels for me, it would be infinitely worse if I had a drink.] (www) (When I was being quizzed would be possible but highly unlikely: the speaker
is talking about something that forms part of his current life, not about individual past situations.)
Until now, this has often meant that a student⫺ to be bullied digitally ⫺ needed to
be sitting at a computer connected to high-speed or a telephone line (www)(Needs
is probably unacceptable here.)
The credibility of women with disabilities has often been questioned when they report sexual assault, [particularly in the case of ] (Reported is not impossible, but
it would provoke a strong shift of temporal focus: it would put more focus on the individual past occasions rather than just characterizing the sort of situation in which the women’s credibility is questioned.)
It has often been said that they were too similar and destined to become enemies (Are could not replace were without a drastic change of temporal interpretation, because were and are refer to time-zones that are incompatible with each other ⫺
thenversusnow.)
9.9.7 In repetitive sentences like the following, the subclause uses an absolute present tense rather than a present perfect establishing a W-simultaneous do-main:
The result has often been that, after escaping the dangers of the widest seas, and the most violent storms, theywreck their ship in harbour (www)
The result has often been that health care providersopt for the cheapest patients,
[those who are not sick at all or suffering only from minor ailments.] (www)
Trang 6The result has sometimes been that we have all the numbers, [but little indication
of what those numbers are trying to tell us or why.] (www)
[We sometimes include “feed the band” in our terms.] This has sometimes meant that
weget a cheese roll each [We’ve only twice been included in the champagne.] (www)
The last example seems to be a blending of (the more or less generic sentence)
This sometimes means that we get a cheese roll each and This has sometimes
meant that we have got a cheese roll each (In 9.9.11 we will observe something
similar in connection with sentences like But whenever I’ve looked at the job
board the job asks for experience, which seems to be a blending of Whenever
I’ve looked at the job board the job has asked for experience and Whenever I
look at the job board the job asks for experience.) The speaker wants to talk
at the same time about what he believes is habitually the case and what has
habitually been the case and is thus evidence for his assertion about the
habit-ual present In other words, one clause locates its situation in the pre-present
and the other locates its situation in the present, and the listener is expected
to make sense of these temporally unconnected T-locations, using the
repeti-tiveness of the first clause as a guide to make the double interpretation
out-lined above
It should be noted that a present tense form, which locates its situation at
t0, is only possible as an alternative to a present perfect (which creates a
pre-present domain that is interpreted as W-simultaneous with the pre-pre-present
do-main of the head clause) In cases like the following, where a contrast is
ex-pressed between the present and the past, only the relative past tense
(express-ing T-simultaneity in the head clause domain) can be used:
Our quick response to immediate needs and crises has sometimes meant that we
didn’t have, or make, the time to take advantage of the technologies that can help
our work [Today, we’re using computers, the Internet, and the media both to get
our message out and to organize our work internally.] (www)
9.9.8 As noted in 9.9.4, a shift of domain is much more likely than the use
of a relative tense when the indefinite perfect receives a recency reading
Com-pare the following:
[Approach strangers with a meaningful question rather than something as mundane
as “How are you doing?”.] Questions such as “Have you found what youare looking
for?” will start your conversation off better (www)(The past tense form were
look-ing could be used here, but not as a relative past tense expresslook-ing T-simultaneity in
the pre-present domain established by have found It would be interpreted as
estab-lishing a past domain of its own, interpreted as W-anterior to the pre-present
do-main, and would therefore imply that the addressee is no longer looking for
what-ever it was that he was looking for.)
[Of all the times that Bill has claimed to have sprained his ankle,] the doctor has
only once confirmed that he {had / *has} indeed sprained his ankle (no recency
interpretation)
Trang 7[Listen to this!] The teacher has just said that Bill {has / #had} sprained his ankle (Out of context, had sprained is unacceptable, because it cannot be interpreted as a T-anteriority form expanding the domain This follows from the fact that has just said can only receive a recency (more specifically, ‘hot news’) interpretation (How-ever, had sprained is all right if the context provides a past orientation time which
is W-anterior to the teacher’s confirmation and to which the spraining of the ankle
is represented as T-anterior.))
Figure 9.6 represents the tense structure of the last example (withhas sprained).
Figure 9.6 The tense structure of The teacher has just said that Bill has sprained his
ankle.
When a subclause depending on a head clause with an indefinite present perfect form could in principle use a relative tense but uses an absolute tense form (which creates a new domain and thus effects a shift of domain), it means that the speaker wishes to represent a W-relation of some kind (temporal and/or logical) between the subclause situation and t0 For example:
The janitor has just said that he has locked the front door (The subclause uses an indefinite perfect; the W-relation between its situation and the present is of a logical rather than temporal nature: reporting the janitor’s locking the front door in the present perfect implicates current relevance, more particularly resultativeness: the front door is locked now.)
I haven’t met anybody yet whois not interested in money (As noted earlier in this section, if the speaker used was, he would be referring to anybody he has ever met, whether they are still living or dead By using is he limits the reference to those that are still living, i e to those who can still be interested in money at t0.)
Therehave been times in my life when I felt depressed, and then I have found that
good friendsare invaluable (This example illustrates both temporal subordination and domain shifting The form have been establishes a pre-present domain and the preterite form felt expresses T-simultaneity within this domain Then there is a shift
to a new pre-present domain, established by have found, which, because of then, is interpreted as W-simultaneous with the domain established by have been This do-main is not further expanded, for are, which is interpreted generically, again shifts the domain, this time to the present zone.)
It goes without saying that when the tense in the subclause shifts the domain (i e creates a temporal domain of its own), no T-relation is expressed between