MORPHOLOGY nou 2.ppt

8/14/2019 MORPHOLOGY nou 2.ppt

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MORPHOLOGY

Lector.dr. Raluca Galia


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Objectives of the present lecture:

- understanding the characteristics of thecategory of tense

- understanding the notions of speech time,

reference time and event time

- understanding the temporal values of tenses inEnglish


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THE CATEGORY OF TENSE

- the category of tense is signaled by inflectionalmarkers either on the verb itself (walked) or onthe auxiliary verb (will walk).

- beside tense inflections marked on the verb,temporal adverbs as well contribute to thetemporal specification of sentences.


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- in English - a clear distinction between time andtense, the latter being only loosely related to

time.

- time = a universal concept with three divisions,

past, present and future.

- tense = the category of verb which is used to

make reference to these extra-linguisticrealities.


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Generally, in many languages, the changes in theverb forms indicate present, past and future.

From this perspective, English has only twotenses, as there are only two cases where the

form of the verb varies:- presentwhich refers to present time (listen,

come)

- pastwhich refers to past time (listened,came).


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Still, the combination of will+ bare infinitive isconsidered to refer to the future; at the sametime, the combinations of be+ presentparticiple and have+ participle are also

considered as tenses.


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The Notions of Speech Time, ReferenceTime and Event Time

- the tense theory proposed by the logician HansReichenbach in 1947 - the most widelyaccepted theory of tense in present day

linguistics

- Reichenbachs tense theory characterizes alltenses in terms of three basic constitutivetemporal entities


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1. Speech Time = the time at which a certainsentence is uttered (the moment ofutterance/speech)


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2. Event Time = the moment at which the

relevant event or state occurs


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3. Reference Time= stands for the temporal axis

(present, past or future) specified in thesentence.

- it is calculated by taking intoaccount the temporal information brought in by

the tense of the sentence and by theinformation of the temporal adverb


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Ex: Mary had already won the prize last week.

ST = now

RT = past, RT < ST

ET = had already happened with respect to RT,

ET < RT


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Ex: Mary won the prize last week.

ST = now

RT < ST

ET = RT (we do not know precisely when it took

place in the period of last week)


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Ex: Mary is leaving tomorrow.

ST = now

ST > RT

ET = RT (we do not know when the event is

scheduled to take place)


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- the relations that hold between ST and RTinstantiate tense

- present: ST simultaneous with RT

- past: ST after RT

- future: ST before RT

- the relations that hold between RT and ETinstantiate aspect

- perfective aspect: RT coincides with ET- progressive aspect: RT is included in ET


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The temporal and aspectual formulae presentedabove form theAbstract Temporal

Representation of a sentence (ATR)


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Temporal Values of the Main Tenses inEnglish

1. General Properties of the English SimplePresent Tense

- the present tense simple enjoys bothpsychological being at the present moment(Leech, 1971) and actual being at now


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- in Reichenbachsterms, its ATR is [RT = ST,ET = RT]

a) it expresses habituality and genericity:

Ex: John eats an apple every day. (habitual)

- habitual sentences explicitly contain afrequency adverb that conveys the meaning ofrepetitivity


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John smokes cigars. (generic)

- generic sentences do not occur withfrequency adverbs but implicitly contain theadverb always


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- in demonstrations:

Ex: Look, I take this cart from the pack and place

it under the handkerchiefso!

- in stage directions:

Ex: He yields. The specter vanishes!


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- used with performative verbs: in this case,the event announced and the act of

announcement (ST) are the same:Ex: I beg your pardon / I accept your offer / I

promise to be here at 5 / I declare war / Ipronounce you man and wife / I declare the

meeting open


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c) the simple present tense may also be usedwith reference to the past.

- this use - a story-tellers licence, wherebypast happenings are imagined as if they weregoing on at the present time.

Ex: Mr. Tulkinghorn takes out his papers, askspermission to place them on a golden talismanof a table at my Ladys elbow, puts on his

spectacles, and begins to read by the light of ashaded lamp. (Dickens, Bleak House)


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2. The Tempo ral Values / Uses o f the Simp le

Pas t Tense

a) The Simple Past Tense w ith Deict ic Value

- the simple past tense has a basic time

association with a past moment of time,rendered by adverbs such as then, yesterday,two hours ago.


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- the simple past tense describes a situation thatoccurred before the present moment at a

moment in the past understood as definite /specific

- this definite past moment is usually indicatedby the adverb.


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- the past time adverbs most frequentlyassociated with the past tense are

yesterday/last month/night/ year, the otherday, once, two days ago, in the year 2000, inJune, when I was a child, etc

- the ATR of the past tense is [RT < ST, ET =RT].


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Ex: She sat at the window watching the eveninginvade the avenue. Her head was leaning

against the window curtains, and in her nostrilswas the color of dusty cretonne. She was tired.


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- the simple past tense with habitual value

Ex: John got up at noon every day during

his childhood.

- the simple past tense with past perfect value

Ex: He knocked and entered.

- the simple past tense referring to present time

Ex:A: Did you want me?B: Yes, I hoped you would give me a

hand with the painting.


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3. The Temporal Values / Uses of theSimple Present Perfect Tense

General Properties of the English PresentPerfect Tense

- the present perfect - described as referring topast with present relevance, or past involvingthe present

Ex: a. John read the book last year.

b. John has already read the book.


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- the present perfect - a paradoxical tense: -half past (the unspecified ET is situated before

ST)- half present (RT is situated at ST)

- its ATR is [ST = RT, ET < RT]


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- the past tense occurs with specific / definitetime adverbs (two months ago, last weekend,

yesterday, after the war, at 4, on Tuesday)

- the present perfect occurs with non-specific /

non-definite time adverbs (since 3 oclock, for2 hours, so far, yet, lately, before now)


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- linguists speak of three main uses of thepresent perfect:

a) the experiential (existential) presentperfect

b) the resultative/continuative presentperfect

c) the hot news present perfect


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a) the existential value of the present perfect

- it shows the existence of one or several

eventualities (states, processes or events) thatare presented as completed prior to the

moment of speech

Ex: a. Sam has broken my computer.

b. John has reached the top.

c. Susan has played the violin.


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b) the resultative or continuative present perfect

- it presents a state as holding from a momentin the past up to and including the moment ofspeech

Ex: Oh! My God! Sam has broken my computer.


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c) the hot news present perfect

Ex: Malcolm Jones has just been assassinated!


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The Future Value of the Present Perfect

- in adverbial clauses of time the present perfectis used with a future value

Ex: You can go when you have finished yourwork.

- the conjunctions commonly used to introducethe adverbial clauses of time are when, as

soon as, before, after, until, once, by the time(that), the moment (that).


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4. The Temporal Values / Uses of the PastPerfect

General Properties of the Past PerfectTense in Simple Sentences

Ex: Mary had left school.

The ATR of the past perfect is [RT < ST, ET RT, ET =RT] irrespective of the linguistic means that

render it.


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Leech (1971) lists the following linguistic means(belonging either to the modal system or to the

aspectual paradigm) that express futurity inModern English:

a. The present tense + future time adverbs:

Ex: Exams start tomorrow.

- it is used in situations when the event isscheduled by external factors (there is adecision taken or plan fixed according to someexternal authority)


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b. The present progressive:

Ex: The parcel is arriving tomorrow.

- it is used when an element of human volition isinvolved and it has the flavor of a planned,

arranged action that takes place in the future- it also conveys a sense of imminence


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c. Will/shall + infinitive:

Ex: The parcel will arrive tomorrow.

- they refer to future predictions due to theirmodal nuance


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d. Will/shall + progressive infinitive:

Ex: The parcel will be arriving tomorrow.

- the prediction is made with such a great degreeof certainty that the event is presented as

unfolding at a specified future reference time


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e. Be going to + infinitive:

Ex: The parcel is going to arrive tomorrow.

- the basic meaning of be going to is that offuture fulfillment of the present (Leech,

1971).


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- to the above-mentioned expressions of futurityin English we can also add the following:

- to be about to (used to express imminentfuture situations; it is less colloquial than to be

going to)Ex: He was about to retrace his steps when

he was suddenly transfixed to the spot by asudden appearance.


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- to be ready to

Ex: I was ready tocall you when you

opened the door.


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- to be on the point of/on the verge of/onthe brink of:

Ex: He has been on the brink of marryingher.

He was just on the point of proposing

to her.


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6. The Temporal Values / Uses of theFuture Perfect Tense

- the future perfect tense contains both a tensemorpheme (will / shall) and an aspectual one(have).

Ex: By this time tomorrow, I shall have crossedthe Channel.

By the end of next week, he will have left thehospital.


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- the ATR of the future perfect tense is [ST < RT,ET < RT]


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TaskFind a paragraph (three to five

sentences) from a

book/newspaper/magazine you readand identify:

- the tenses and their values (uses)

- the ATR of these tenses

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