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Problems with the Meaning of the Past Perfect

BS

Membre a labase

Brian Skidmore

Résumé du colloque

It has been theorized that the essential effect of the English transcendent aspect is to place the subject in the result phase of the event; and further, that there are necessarily two, and only two, distinct and pertinent positions that the subject can occupy: the first instant after the event, or any later instant. The application of this theory to the transcendent in the past tense reveals some interesting questions about the way in which we represent temporal relations. For instance, did the writer of "He found them at 6.30 -- some eight hours after their ordeal had begun" represent "their ordeal" as in the immediate aftermath of "begun", or later?

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host icon Hôte : Université Laval

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