Colloque

When is a past participle not a past participle?

Judit Ozoray

Membre a labase

Judit Ozoray

Résumé du colloque

Past participles are usually found in perfect or passive constructions in the verb phrase. Ex: Judit has finally finished her abstract. They can also function adjectivally. Ex: Judit is now exhausted. These observations lead us to ask several fundamental questions. What in the potential significate of the past participle allows it to be used in both the noun phrase and the verb phrase? What do these two functions have in common? Is a past participle still a past participle when it is used as an adjective? And finally, why is it that not all past participles can function adjectivally? In the proposed paper we will address these questions while arguing that past participles and their adjectival equivalents share a common potential significate. In other words, we will attempt to show that all past participle applications in discourse are made possible by a single potential tongue.