Simple preterit and composite perfect tense
-
Monika Rathert
Abstract
This paper explores several interrelated pragmatic issues connected to the (verbal and adjectival) passive and the periphrastic perfect tense. The language of investigation is German. In Sections 1 and 2, I start with tense selection, as both verbal passives and Extended-Now-adverbs impose restrictions on the tenses they can co-occur with. While the passive selects the preterit (among the tenses referring to the past), Extended-Now-adverbs select the perfect. The paper then shows how the selection restrictions on tense interact with other restrictions on the use of Extended-Nowadverbs. It is demonstrated in Section 3 how this complex interaction can be described in a coherent pragmatic Optimality-Theoretic framework together with a standard semantics of tense and adverbials. The paper then concludes with Section 4, which deals with criteria shared by the adjectival passive and the perfect. Pragmatic errors in usage and the necessary repair mechanisms are also dealt with.
Abstract
This paper explores several interrelated pragmatic issues connected to the (verbal and adjectival) passive and the periphrastic perfect tense. The language of investigation is German. In Sections 1 and 2, I start with tense selection, as both verbal passives and Extended-Now-adverbs impose restrictions on the tenses they can co-occur with. While the passive selects the preterit (among the tenses referring to the past), Extended-Now-adverbs select the perfect. The paper then shows how the selection restrictions on tense interact with other restrictions on the use of Extended-Nowadverbs. It is demonstrated in Section 3 how this complex interaction can be described in a coherent pragmatic Optimality-Theoretic framework together with a standard semantics of tense and adverbials. The paper then concludes with Section 4, which deals with criteria shared by the adjectival passive and the perfect. Pragmatic errors in usage and the necessary repair mechanisms are also dealt with.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Contributor's addresses vii
- Abbreviations ix
- Introduction: Passivization and typology 1
-
Active–passive and reflexives
- Passives in Lithuanian (in comparison with Russian) 29
- Passive and middle in Indo-European 62
-
Triggers — aspectual, semantic, and discourse-pragmatic: case studies
- Pragmatic nature of Mandarin passive-like constructions 83
- Development of thùuk passive marker in Thai 115
- The passives of Modern Irish 132
- The passive in Erzya-Mordvin folklore 165
- Grammatical voice and tense-aspect in Slavic 191
- Passive in Nganasan 213
-
Actor demotion
- 'Agent defocusing' revisited 232
- Relations between Actor-demoting devices in Lithuanian 274
-
Grammaticalization in long-term diachrony
- The rise and grammaticalization paths of Latin fieri and facere as passive auxiliaries 311
- Grammatical relations in passive clauses 337
-
Argument structure and case
- Two types of detransitive constructions in the dialects of Japanese 352
- Passive and argument structure 373
- Case-driven agree, EPP, and passive in Turkish 383
- A unique feature of the direct passive in Japanese 403
-
Actor demotion
- Passive as a feature-suppression operation 442
-
Event semantics — Aspectual and semantic triggers
- The compositional nature of the passive 462
- The impersonal passive 502
- Simple preterit and composite perfect tense 518
- Author index 544
- Subject index 548
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Contributor's addresses vii
- Abbreviations ix
- Introduction: Passivization and typology 1
-
Active–passive and reflexives
- Passives in Lithuanian (in comparison with Russian) 29
- Passive and middle in Indo-European 62
-
Triggers — aspectual, semantic, and discourse-pragmatic: case studies
- Pragmatic nature of Mandarin passive-like constructions 83
- Development of thùuk passive marker in Thai 115
- The passives of Modern Irish 132
- The passive in Erzya-Mordvin folklore 165
- Grammatical voice and tense-aspect in Slavic 191
- Passive in Nganasan 213
-
Actor demotion
- 'Agent defocusing' revisited 232
- Relations between Actor-demoting devices in Lithuanian 274
-
Grammaticalization in long-term diachrony
- The rise and grammaticalization paths of Latin fieri and facere as passive auxiliaries 311
- Grammatical relations in passive clauses 337
-
Argument structure and case
- Two types of detransitive constructions in the dialects of Japanese 352
- Passive and argument structure 373
- Case-driven agree, EPP, and passive in Turkish 383
- A unique feature of the direct passive in Japanese 403
-
Actor demotion
- Passive as a feature-suppression operation 442
-
Event semantics — Aspectual and semantic triggers
- The compositional nature of the passive 462
- The impersonal passive 502
- Simple preterit and composite perfect tense 518
- Author index 544
- Subject index 548
