What secondary predicates in russian tell us about the link between tense, aspect and case

In this paper I show that the different case marking possibilities on predicate adjectives in depictive secondary predicates in Russian constitute the uninterpretable counterpart of the interpretable tense and aspect features of the adjective. Case agreement entails that the predicate adjective is non-eventive, i.e., it occurs when the event time of the secondary predicate is identical to the event time of the primary predicate. The instrumental case, however, entails that the secondary predicate is eventive: some change of state or transition occurred prior to or during the event time of the primary predicate. I claim that case agreement occurs in conjoined tense phrases in Russian, while the instrumental case occurs in adjoined aspectual phrases. In English, secondary predication is sensitive both to the structural location of its antecedent and to the event structure of the primary predicate. I suggest that depictives with subject antecedents in English are true adjunction structures, while those with direct object antecedents occur in a conjoined aspectual phrase. This hypothesis finds support in the different movement and semantic constraints in conjunction versus adjunction phrases in both English and Russian

The temporal perspective of epistemics in Dutch

A series of experiments is conducted on naïve native speakers of Dutch and English to study the scope relation between tense and epistemic modality. The results are consistent with the claim that epistemics scope over tense (Stowell 2004, Hacquard 2006, a.o.), and challenge recent research that states that epistemics can, or must, scope under tense (von Fintel and Gillies 2007, Rullmann & Matthewson 2018): Dutch and English participants in a Truth Value Judgment Task judge sentences to be false when the past tense forms of the modals have to and moeten 'have to' are used to make an epistemic claim that held at a time before speech time, and true when they are used to make an epistemic claim that holds at speech time. Moreover, English participants in an Acceptability Judgment Task judge sentences to be infelicitous when the same past tense form of have to is used to make an epistemic claim that held at a time before speech time. Besides these general patterns, the results show variation within and across the two languages, which leads to interesting new questions about the interaction between tense and (epistemic) modality

The development of the passé composé in lower-intermediate learners of French as a second language

In this study we tracked the development of the passe compose in second-language learners of French whose first language is English. Although the passe compose is a highly used tense among native speakers of French and it appears to present particular difficulty for first-language English speakers, its second-language development has been surprisingly under-researched. In order to trace developmental patterns of the passe compose we obtained a corpus of obligatory context use of this tense by 30 Year-12 (lower-intermediate) students at two time points six months apart and analysed the data both quantitatively and qualitatively. Our findings suggest that these students used remarkably few memorized formulas, that they passed through five distinct stages in their acquisition of the passe compose, that those early stages were characterized by transfer errors, and that the presence of the auxiliary, whether correct or incorrect, formed a crucial stage in the development of the tense. Theoretical explanations for the findings are presented together with some tentative pedagogical implications

Rule-Based Morphological Processing in a Second Language: A Behavioural Investigation

According to dual-system accounts of English past-tense processing, regular forms are decomposed into their stem and affix (played=play+ed) based on an implicit linguistic rule, whereas irregular forms (kept) are retrieved directly from the mental lexicon. In second language (L2) processing research, it has been suggested that L2 learners do not have rule-based decomposing abilities, so they process regular past-tense forms similarly to irregular ones (Silva & Clahsen 2008), without applying the morphological rule. The present study investigates morphological processing of regular and irregular verbs in Greek-English L2 learners and native English speakers. In a masked-priming experiment with regular and irregular prime-target verb pairs (playedplay/kept-keep), native speakers showed priming effects for regular pairs, compared to unrelated pairs, indicating decomposition; conversely, L2 learners showed inhibitory effects. At the same time, both groups revealed priming effects for irregular pairs. We discuss these findings in the light of available theories on L2 morphological processing

Grammatical Attributes in the Language of Communication: Conceptualization of Time, Tense and Aspect in English

Time is a concept which is related to our perception of reality. A vast majority of languages have mechanisms which enable the speakers to express time. Many languages have grammatical means that   make it possible for users to express the time when an action or event occurs. Among these languages, most of them also express time with a verb, and more specifically, with various verbal tenses. The verbal tense, a grammatical category which differs significantly from one language to another, may also be considered a grammatical component of time. Verbal tense can provide us with a particular kind of insight into our perception of chronological time which is expressed with and within the tense of the verb. Tense is concerned about how events are located, perceived and referred to along the past-present-future timeline. Aspect is about the manner in which a verbal action is experienced or regarded.  In general linguistic approaches, tense and aspect are treated as complementary ways of encoding time. They relate the happening described by the verb to time in the past, present or future. However, tense differs from aspect in showing the time reference, while aspect shows how the action or state of the verb is envisaged or seen as happening or occurring. Time, tense and aspect are inter-related concepts; time is usually perceived in relation to tense and aspect.  In the current paper, it is the author’s conviction that knowledge in the distinction between the three concepts (time, tense, aspect) will enable English speakers to communicate better, grammatically. Keywords: Time, Tense, Aspect, Grammar, English, Communication. DOI: 10.7176/NMMC/92-03 Publication date:August 31st 2020

Time and tense in English

It has not been my aim to provide conclusive evidence for or against anyone hypothesis regarding Time and Tense. I have simply attempted to collect together and collate much of what has been written on the topic of tense in English, in order to show what the current trends of thought are. In Chapter One I presented a brief survey of some of the more basic notions associated with time and tense, in order to provide a background for the more linguistic approach to follow. I therefore examined such issues as the difference between time and tense, the problem of the passage and directionality of time, of the present moment, time and space , tense as a universal, "and various features of tense systems. I sketched Bull's system of scalars, vectors and axes as representative of our English tense system. Chapter Two dealt with time and logic, but as I am a mere layman in matters logical, I refrained from discussing any individual logical system in depth, and rather discussed various problems which appear to confront the logician in formulating a tensed or tenseless logic. This chapter aimed at providing a better understanding of the linguistic issues to follow, for time and logic are intimately connected with language. Chapter Three was more linguistically oriented, and in it I attempted to provide a broad outline of the development of thoughts about tense before the Transformationalist period (pre 1960). Because of the vast scope involved, I had, perforce, to be brief at times. I gave attention to tense in classical grammatical studies, and summarized how it was seen from about 1500 to 1800. I gave more detailed treatment to the twentieth century, focussing specifically on grammarians like Jespersen (1933), Twaddell (1960), Ota (1963), Palmer (1965) and others - all, writers typical of the structuralist era. At the end of Chapter Three I provided an overall summary of ideas on the main tenses by the end of the structuralist period - ideas which were to change radically within the next few years. In Chapter Four I discussed the ideas of tense of some of the main transformationalist/generativists - Diver (1964), Crystal (1966), Huddlestone (1968), Gallagher (1970), McCawley (1971) and Seuren (1974), in an attempt to show how theories on tense were becoming increasingly abstract, and how most data indicated that it is highly probable that tense is an abstract higher predicate of the sentence in which it appears in surface structure, closely related to temporal adverbs. Chapter Five continued in the same vein. I tried to show, using syntactic tests, that tense is a higher predicate, and used arguments involving Conjunction Reduction (based on Kiparsky (1968)), VP Constituency, Sequence of Tense, Pronominalization, and Quantification. In Chapter Six I focussed more closely on tense-time adverbials, in order to show that they have the same syntactic properties as tense, are also probably deep superordinate predicates, and are closely related to tense. My suggestion was that either tense is derived from temporal adverbs or vice versa, as this would simplify the grammar. The derivation procedures at the end of the chapter (6.8) were largely based on Hausmann (1971). I made no detailed reference to extralinguistic matters which affect tenses, in this study - such factors as are diScussed by G. Lakoff (1971) (presuppositions and relative well-formedness) and by R. Lakoff (1975). Tense is not a matter of pure Structuralism, just as language is not - extralinguistic factors ought to be accounted for before any study can claim to be conclusive. For this reason I do not in any way claim to have made an exhaustive study of time and tense - I have simply attempted to summarize and coordinate thoughts on the subject, and to suggest tentatively that the most adequate grammar of English would probably derive tense from underlying temporal adverbs

Tense, aspect and time concepts in English and Bahasa Indonesia: Pedagogical implications

The aim of the study has been to provide theoretical foundations on which padagogical approaches to the teaching of English tense-aspect complexes to EFL teacher trainees in Indonesian tertiary institutions can be based. The study investigates how expression of time and related concepts in English and Bahasa Indonesia (BI) can be compared with particular regard to pedagogical implications. Two major areas of investigation have been explored: 1. questions relevant to the general linguistic theory of tense and aspect and how the two languages compared fit into such a general theory; ii. questions relevant to how the teaching of English tense-aspect complexes can be seen as consistent with contemporary views based on Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research. Within the former area, the theory of tense as a deictic category and the related \u27theory\u27 of aspect developed by Comrie (1976, 1985) are reviewed. A model of tense-aspect complexes developed for the purposes of interlanguage comparison is presented. On the basis of the model the English tense-aspectcomplexes and BI \u27temporal-aspectual complexes\u27 are described. In relation to matters pertaining to SLA theory, thefollowing steps have been taken: (1) The speciflc requirements of Indonesian EFL teacher education have been considered in the light of contemporary SLA theory; (2) Textbooks currently used for the teaching of English tense-aspect complexes in Indonesian EFL teacher education at IKIP/FKIPs have been analysed; (3) Current practices and attitudes of the teacher trainers teaching English tense-aspect complexes to EFL teacher trainees at IKlP/FKIPs have been explored. In conclusion, approaches for presenting the English tense aspect complexes based on the major findings of the study are suggested

Time Will Tell: Tense in Narration

Time Will Tell : Tense in Narration — This article examines both linguistic and narrative motivations for the use of present tense in a series of children's novels in French, concluding that the choice is dictated by temporal proximity between the time of the story and the time of the narration, and by the aspectual indeterminacy of the present tense. The choice of tense in the English translation is then discussed. Since the English tense system makes different distinctions and has different effects, various solutions are called for.Le Temps de narration — Cet article examine le choix du présent comme temps de narration dans une série de romans jeunesse, en mettant en valeur des exigences tant linguistiques que narratives. Le choix du présent est dicté par la proximité entre le moment du récit et le moment de la narration, et par la déformabilité aspectuelle du temps présent. Pour la traduction des romans en anglais, les choix sont faits en fonction d'un système différent qui donne des effets différents. Il en résulte donc des solutions diverses

Teaching the expression of time:A concise framework

ELT materials adopt a system of twelve 'tenses'. Typically, they present three factors as affecting choice of 'tense': event time, event duration and speech time. This is misleading, as many more elements are in play. Their treatment is form-based, giving piecemeal information about the uses of the forms, or providing rules with quite a few exceptions or 'special cases', a practice that tends to confuse learners. This framework is informed by descriptive and theoretical accounts of English. It takes into consideration all the component elements of expressing time in English, including the meaning of verbs and speaker subjectivity. It presents a small number of consistent and flexible guidelines, provides a systematic visual representation of time reference and helps learners put in perspective the information in pedagogical materials

Der Gebrauch des Perfekts – Ein Erklärungsmodell aus thailändischer Perspektive

In grammar and textbooks of German as a foreign language the German perfect tense (Perfekt) is mostly presented as an alternative to the preterite tense (Präteritum). However, the German perfect tense itself deserves greater attention due to its wide range of usages. This tense can mark events with reference points located either before, simultaneous with and even after the speech time. For Thai learners of German it has been established that difficulties in learning how to use the German perfect tense are not primarily concerned with problems of choosing between the perfect and the preterite but rather between the perfect tense and the present tense. This paper focuses on the aspect of "completeness", comparable to the perfective aspect, leading to different effects in the usage of the German perfect. Since German is mostly learned as a second foreign language after English, a contrastive analysis of similarities and differences between the perfect tenses in English and German have to be included in the analysis. In the conclusion, a possible description of the German perfect tense for learners of German as a foreign language is suggested