Difference between revisions of "Huddleston and Pullum's (2002) analysis of tense"
Volker gast (talk | contribs) (extracted from a term paper by nadin Wiegandt) |
Volker gast (talk | contribs) |
||
| Line 7: | Line 7: | ||
==Primary Tense== | ==Primary Tense== | ||
===Parameters of analysis=== | ===Parameters of analysis=== | ||
| − | * Time referred to ( | + | * Time referred to (T<sub>r</sub>): time span about which information is provided |
| − | * Time of orientation ( | + | * Time of orientation (T<sub>o</sub>): reference point, usually time of utterance/ moment of speech |
| − | * Time of the situation ( | + | * Time of the situation (T<sub>sit</sub>): time span covered by the situation |
| − | * Deictic time ( | + | * Deictic time (T<sub>d</sub>): type of encoding or decoding, normally the moment of utterance |
====Relationship between Tr and T<sub>0</sub>==== | ====Relationship between Tr and T<sub>0</sub>==== | ||
| − | * past time | + | * past time T<sub>r</sub> < T<sub>o</sub> (anterior) |
| − | * present time | + | * present time T<sub>r</sub> = T<sub>o</sub> (simultaneous) |
| − | * future time | + | * future time T<sub>r</sub> > T<sub>o</sub> (posterior) |
====Examples==== | ====Examples==== | ||
| − | (1) I met Michael at seven in the morning. ( | + | (1) I met Michael at seven in the morning. (T<sub>r</sub> < T<sub>o</sub>) |
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | + | (2) I hereby confirm you husband and wife. (T<sub>r</sub> = T<sub>o</sub>) | |
| − | (4) What did you do between four and five o’clock? | + | (3) I’ll take a nap at ten. (T<sub>r</sub> > T<sub>o</sub>) |
| − | (4a) I was sleeping. | + | |
| + | * Time of situation (T<sub>sit</sub>) is not necessarily identical to time referred to (T<sub>r</sub>) | ||
| + | |||
| + | (4) What did you do between four and five o’clock?<br> | ||
| + | (4a) I was sleeping.<br> | ||
(4b) I slept. | (4b) I slept. | ||
| − | * Present tense: In most cases | + | * Present tense: In most cases T<sub>o</sub> is contained in T<sub>sit</sub> |
(5) I live in Jena. | (5) I live in Jena. | ||
| Line 42: | Line 44: | ||
===The perfect as a ‘non-deictic past tense’=== | ===The perfect as a ‘non-deictic past tense’=== | ||
| − | * it is a past tense because it is used when | + | * it is a past tense because it is used when T<sub>r</sub> <T<sub>o</sub>; |
| − | * it is non-deictic because | + | * it is non-deictic because T<sub>o</sub> is not (necessarily) identified with T<sub>d</sub>. |
| + | |||
| + | (1) He was believed [to have written it the previous week]. T<sub>r</sub> <T<sub>o</sub> (past) | ||
| + | |||
| + | (2) He is believed [to have written it last week] T<sub>r</sub> <T<sub>o</sub> (present) | ||
| − | + | (3) He hopes [to have written it by next week]. T<sub>r</sub> <T<sub>o</sub> (future) | |
| − | |||
| − | (3) He hopes [to have written it by next week]. | ||
| − | * One To functions as a time of orientation for a given | + | * One To functions as a time of orientation for a given T<sub>r</sub>; this T<sub>r</sub> is at the same time the T<sub>o</sub> for another T<sub>r</sub>. |
| − | (4) Yesterday, he was believed to have written it the previous week. ( Huddelston | + | (4) Yesterday, he was believed to have written it the previous week. (Huddelston and Pullum 2002: 140). |
===Uses the of the perfect=== | ===Uses the of the perfect=== | ||
| − | * The continuative perfect/ universal (=states) | + | * The continuative perfect/universal (=states) |
(5) She has lived in Berlin ever since she married. | (5) She has lived in Berlin ever since she married. | ||
| − | * The experiential perfect/ existential (= occurrences within the time span up to now) | + | * The experiential perfect/existential (= occurrences within the time span up to now) |
(6) His sister has been up Mont Blanc twice. | (6) His sister has been up Mont Blanc twice. | ||
| Line 69: | Line 73: | ||
* The perfect of recent past (=news announcements) | * The perfect of recent past (=news announcements) | ||
| − | (8) She has recently/just been to Paris. (Huddleston | + | (8) She has recently/just been to Paris. (Huddleston and Pullum 2002: 141f). |
| + | |||
| + | ==Literature== | ||
| + | * Huddleston, Rodney D., Pullum, Geoffrey K. (2002). ''The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language.'' Cambridge: CUP. | ||
| + | |||
| + | {{dc}} | ||
| + | [[Category:Tense]] | ||
Revision as of 18:06, 21 October 2009
According to Huddelston and Pullum (2002), English has a two-dimensional systems of temporal reference which comprises the categories primary tense and secondary tense. Primary tenses expresses the distinction between past and present time. For example, "She went to school" contains a verb in the preterite tense (went). In "She goes to school" the tense of the verb is present (cf. Huddleston and Pullum 20022: 116).
Secondary tense distinguishes perfect from non-perfect forms, the former being marked with the auxiliary have. For example, "He may have known her" is a perfect form, whereas "He may know her" is unmarked (Huddleston and Pullum 20022: 116).
Tense is regarded as a relationship between the time referred to and the time of orientation.
Primary Tense
Parameters of analysis
- Time referred to (Tr): time span about which information is provided
- Time of orientation (To): reference point, usually time of utterance/ moment of speech
- Time of the situation (Tsit): time span covered by the situation
- Deictic time (Td): type of encoding or decoding, normally the moment of utterance
Relationship between Tr and T0
- past time Tr < To (anterior)
- present time Tr = To (simultaneous)
- future time Tr > To (posterior)
Examples
(1) I met Michael at seven in the morning. (Tr < To)
(2) I hereby confirm you husband and wife. (Tr = To)
(3) I’ll take a nap at ten. (Tr > To)
- Time of situation (Tsit) is not necessarily identical to time referred to (Tr)
(4) What did you do between four and five o’clock?
(4a) I was sleeping.
(4b) I slept.
- Present tense: In most cases To is contained in Tsit
(5) I live in Jena.
- Deictic time is usually the moment of utterance. Under specific circumstances it can be shifted to the ‘decoding time’:
(6) You are now leaving West Berlin.
Secondary Tense: The perfect
Parameters of analysis: the same parameters as for primary tense
The perfect as a ‘non-deictic past tense’
- it is a past tense because it is used when Tr <To;
- it is non-deictic because To is not (necessarily) identified with Td.
(1) He was believed [to have written it the previous week]. Tr <To (past)
(2) He is believed [to have written it last week] Tr <To (present)
(3) He hopes [to have written it by next week]. Tr <To (future)
- One To functions as a time of orientation for a given Tr; this Tr is at the same time the To for another Tr.
(4) Yesterday, he was believed to have written it the previous week. (Huddelston and Pullum 2002: 140).
Uses the of the perfect
- The continuative perfect/universal (=states)
(5) She has lived in Berlin ever since she married.
- The experiential perfect/existential (= occurrences within the time span up to now)
(6) His sister has been up Mont Blanc twice.
- The resultative perfect (=change of state)
(7) She has broken her leg.
- The perfect of recent past (=news announcements)
(8) She has recently/just been to Paris. (Huddleston and Pullum 2002: 141f).
Literature
- Huddleston, Rodney D., Pullum, Geoffrey K. (2002). The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge: CUP.
