The grammar of the english verb phrase part 71 ppsx

In other words, temporal subordi-nation to a present situation time by means of a relative tense form is not possible.. This means that it is not possible to express a T-relation with th

For a couple of days it’s been public knowledge that the general manager is going

to Peru at the end of the month

The fear has been that the introduction of the passes will further dissuade French

film-goers from going to small cinemas (www)

9.12 Temporal subordination after a continuative perfect

It was noted in 9.11.1 that a pre-present domain established by a ‘continuative

perfect’ cannot normally be expanded (as if it were a past domain) because the

full situation is taken to include t0 If a new clause is to be temporally

subordi-nated to such a clause, the T-relation expressed by the tense form of the new

clause must normally start from t0 This is because t0is the most basic time in

the tense system, and because it is difficult for the speaker to be concerned at

the same time with the present part of the full situation and a part of it which

is treated as over (Expanding a pre-present domain as if it were a past one

implies that the speaker treats the binding time as completely over.) Still, we

have found some examples that form an exception to this rule It is typical of

them that the head clause situation is each time a repetitive hypersituation,

consisting of a number of subsituations and gaps between them:

I’ve been told from childhood that Iwas a bastard (continuative interpretation of

the head clause; no instance of telling need include t 0 : what actualizes at t 0 may be

a gap)

For years now, Tunica County officials have been saying theywould provide

amenit-ies to make Tunica a destination, rather than just a weekend getaway (www)

They have been saying they would tear all this trash down for almost ten years [I

will be happy when it finally disappears.] (www)

In these examples the fact that nearly all the subsituations of the continuative

hypersituation precede t0apparently renders it possible to treat the

hypersitua-tion as if it were a past situahypersitua-tion

There are also examples withhave known in the head clause, in which case

the head clause situation is not a repetitive hypersituation In that case

tempo-ral subordination means that there is a (not necessarily very important) focus

on the part of the situation that precedes t0 Thus in the first example below,

the speaker’s choice of past tense might be influenced by a desire to make it

clear that he is not ‘behind the times’, i e that not only is he aware that George

Michael is gay, but he has been aware of it for as long as most people.7

7 Another possibility is that in cases like these the choice of the past tense over the present

tense might just be random, given how little difference there often seems to be between

the two in interpretive effects.

[I watched Oprah today and George Michael was on there and I enjoyed his in-terview.] I have known for some time that he was gay [but you know he is still

sexy] (www)(T-simultaneity)

I have known for some time that shewas in great pain, [but unfortunately the only

thing I could and can do is pray that God reveals his plan for her.] (www) (T-simultaneity)

I have known for some time that she would not last long, [but the news that she

has died still comes as a shock].(T-posteriority)

[We plan to place a culvert and put dirt and plant grass over it.] We have known from the beginning that wewould need to add fill dirt to bring the lot up (www) (T-posteriority)

[The loss has been very depressing.] Though we have known for some time that things had taken a turn for the worse, it is still hard to believe he is gone (www) (T-anteriority)

Williams and BMW have known since the end of July that Montoyahad signed to

drive for McLaren in 2005 (www)(T-anteriority)

9.13 Pre-present domains and use of tenses: summary

The following chart summarizes the main findings of Part II (⫽ sections 9.8⫺12):

Kind of W-interpretation Temporal subordination Shift of domain

(⫽ shift of perspective to past zone)

indefinite possible on a non-recency reading possible

continuative only very exceptionally possible as a rule obligatory

III Present domains

9.14 Head clauses referring to a nonrepetitive present

situation

Expressing a temporal relation to the time of a nonrepetitive situation located in the present zone is tantamount to relating a situation time to t0 Since expressing a tempo-ral relation to t0 is done by means of an absolute tense form, this means that a new domain is created, i e that there is a shift of domain In other words, temporal subordi-nation to a present situation time by means of a relative tense form is not possible

9.14.1 A situation that is to be temporally related to a present situation time

is, effectively, temporally related to t0 That is, a T-relation to a present

orienta-tion time has to start from t0 Logically, however, any T-relation that starts

from t0 is an ‘absolute deictic relation’: any tense form relating its situation

time to t0 is an absolute tense form, which creates a temporal domain of its

own This means that it is not possible to express a T-relation with the central

orientation time of a present domain by means of a finite verb form: a present

domain cannot be expanded by the use of relative tense forms.8 In each of

the following examples, the subclauses use absolute tense forms, thus shifting

the domain:

I am just explaining that I {did it last night / have already done it / will do it

tomorrow}

Why don’t you admit you {will leave / are leaving / are going to leave} the country

next week?

You know that I have not been able to do it because I have been too busy (The

two present perfect forms establish two separate pre-present domains, which are

pragmatically interpreted as W-simultaneous with each other.)

It seems that sheis working on a project.

I am just saying that Ibelieve that John is lying to us about what he intends to do.

In the latter two examples, none of the present tense forms is a relative tense

form expressing T-simultaneity All of them are absolute tense forms,

represent-ing their situation time as the central orientation time of a present domain

8 However, things are different when a nonfinite verb form is used, as in He seems to

have been ill As noted in 2.5, a nonfinite verb form cannot establish a domain; it

expresses no more than a single temporal relation with a contextually given orientation

time (which is usually the situation time of the head clause or t 0 ) In the above example

the perfect infinitive thus expresses anteriority in the present domain.

However, this does not mean that the simultaneity relation which we under-stand there to be between the situation of the subclause and the situation time

of the head clause is a question of pragmatic W-interpretation, as it is inWhen they had visited the house they had been accompanied by a real estate agent

(⫽ ‘indirect binding’ ⫺ see 9.29) In He says he is ill simultaneity is expressed

linguistically, not by the use of a relative tense in the subclause, but by the use

of two absolute tenses which both represent their situation time as coinciding with t0 As noted in 2.18.2, two intervals are interpreted as W-simultaneous if they have at least one point in common This means that (except in the ‘Special Present Time-sphere System⫺ see 3.2⫺11) all the situations referred to in the present tense are taken to be W-simultaneous with each other In I know he is ill we therefore have W-simultaneity rather than T-simultaneity (which is a

domain-internal relation), but this W-simultaneity reading is not caused by contextual or pragmatic factors: it follows from the fact that the two situation times are T-located at the same time

9.14.2 The question whether the present tense can or cannot express simul-taneity in a present domain may seem to be an academic question, since T-simultaneity has been defined in terms of coincidence Whether we consideris lying in I believe he is lying as a relative tense expressing T-simultaneity or as

an absolute tense establishing a new present domain, the temporal structure would each time seem to be the same: the situation time of is lying is

T-represented as coinciding with t0 However, this is not really the case If the present tense ofis lying is a relative tense expressing T-simultaneity, the

tempo-ral structure is such that the situation time of is lying is represented as

T-simultaneous with that ofbelieve, whereas if the present tense of is lying is an

absolute tense, the temporal structure is such that the situation time ofis lying

is represented as coinciding with t0 The fact that in the latter case the situation time ofbelieve also coincides with t0does not alter the fact that the latter case

is tense-structurally different from the former, and also differs from it in that

in the former (hypothetical) case, where the present tense is a relative tense, the temporal structure explicitly privileges the relationship betweenbelieve and

is lying, conveying, presumably, something about the semantics of the sentence

that the accidental⫺ albeit unavoidable ⫺ W-simultaneity of the two situations (referred to by absolute present tense forms) does not As far as we can see, there

is no such extra semantic element that would lead us to believe that the present tense can express a T-relation with a situation time which is located at t0

9.15 Head clauses referring to a present repetitive

hypersituation

Consider:

[Whenever he comes here] hetalks about what he {did the night before / has been

doing that day / has already done for me}.

[Each time he talks to me] he says Ihave a lovely face.

[Whenever I meet him] hetells me that he {will never forget my mother’s kindness

to him /is leaving to join the Foreign Legion any day now}.

It appears from these examples that the situation time of every subsituation

(forming part of a repetitive habit that is located at t0) is itself also treated as

t0 (see the discussion of ‘basic orientation time’ in 9.9.11), so that the normal

absolute tense forms (present, present perfect, past and future tenses, plus

fu-turish forms) are used to express temporal relations with this situation time

IV T-relations in a post-present domain

9.16 What counts as a post-present domain?

A post-present domain is a temporal domain whose central orientation time lies in the post-present Such a domain can be established directly by the use

of the future tense or by a futurish (see 2.9.1) verb form (e g He’s going to leave; I’m leaving tonight) It may also be established indirectly by

construc-tions which do not have a future or futurish tense form but which nevertheless imply future time reference (more specifically, future actualization), such as imperatives or certain verbs whose semantics is future-oriented, like expect or intend, or a temporal conjunction like until This possibility is illustrated by

the following examples (As we will see in 9.20, the relative tense forms ex-pressing T-simultaneity in a post-present domain are present tense forms In the examples below, the presence of a form with such an interpretation (leaves)

proves that the relevant situation time belongs to a post-present domain.) [Tell him] to arrest the man when heleaves his house.

[I expect him] to be arrested when heleaves his house.

[Promise me] not to try and stop him when heleaves his house.

I am waiting until sheleaves (Leaves expresses T-simultaneity with the orientation time that is implicit in the meaning of until (⫽ ‘until the time that’) This implicit time is taken to be a post-present time because until expresses the W-posteriority relation between the implicit time and t 0 )

9.17 Expanding a post-present domain

T-relations in a post-present domain are expressed by tenses resulting from a shift of perspective The speaker treats the post-present central orientation time as if it were t0 and uses a ‘pseudo-absolute’ tense form to T-relate another situation time to this

‘pseudo-t0’, thus locating it in any of the four possible ‘pseudo-absolute zones’ (e g the ‘pseudo-past zone’, the ‘pseudo-pre-present zone’, etc.) The pseudo-absolute tenses are the same as are used to express T-anteriority, T-simultaneity or T-posteriority to the real t0, namely the absolute past tense or the present perfect, the present tense and the future tense (or a futurish present tense form), respectively Thus, inWho will look

after you when Brad and Sybil have left?, the present perfect form have left expresses

T-anteriority to the post-present pseudo-t0

The ‘pseudo-absolute subdomains’ created by the pseudo-absolute tenses can be further expanded in exactly the same way as genuine absolute domains can be expanded

9.17.1 When a post-present domain is expanded, there is a shift of temporal

perspective: the central orientation time of the post-present domain is treated

as if it were t0 This creates all sorts of possibilities, for t0 is the time from

which the four absolute zones are defined Since the central orientation time

of a post-present domain is a ‘pseudo-t0’, it is a point from which four different

pseudo-absolute zones are defined ⫺ see Figure 9.8 ⫺ and the systems of

expressing domain-internal T-relations in these pseudo-absolute zones are

ex-actly the same as those observed above in connection with the (genuine)

abso-lute zones.9

Figure 9.8 The basic tense structure of an expanded post-present domain.

9.17.2 The shift of perspective turning the post-present central orientation

time into a pseudo-t0applies recursively This means that it also applies to any

orientation time that is T-simultaneous with, or T-posterior to, the central

orientation time or another pseudo-t0 This is clear from the use of the

itali-cized and underlined forms in the following examples The italiitali-cized present

tense forms express T-simultaneity, which means that their binding orientation

time is treated as a pseudo-t0 The underlined future tense forms or futurish

9 Naturally, this does not mean that a pseudo-absolute present domain (i e a post-present

domain) can be expanded exactly like a true present domain In 9.14 it was argued that

a genuine present domain cannot be expanded by a relative tense form because its central

orientation time coincides with t 0 : any relation starting from t 0 is an ‘absolute relation’

resulting in a shift of domain By contrast, a post-present domain can be expanded by the

use of pseudo-absolute tense forms creating pseudo-absolute subdomains ⫺ see 9.17.3.