The Compositional Nature of Tense, Mood and Aspect: Volume 167 (Cambridge Studies in Linguistics, Series Number 167)

Bringing together fifty years' worth of cross-linguistic research, this pioneering monograph explores the complex interaction between tense, mood and aspect. It looks at the long way of combining elementary semantic units at the bottom of phrase structure up to and including the top of a sentence. Rejecting ternary tense as blocking compositionality, it introduces three levels obtained by binary tense oppositions. It also counters an outdated view on motion by assuming that change is not expressed as having an inherent goal but rather as dynamic interaction between different number systems that allows us to package information into countable and continuous units. It formally identifies the central role of a verb in a variety of argument structures and integrates adverbial modifiers into the compositional structure at different tense levels of phrase structure. This unique contribution to the field will be essential reading for advanced students and researchers in the syntax-semantics interface. Cover Half-title Page Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents List of Figures List of Tables Preface 1 Introductory Chapter 1.1 Roadblocks to Compositionality 1.2 Finding Our Way in Babylon: Terminological Problems 1.3 A Brief Inspection of the Chapters 2 How to Deal with the Long Tradition of Going Ternary? 2.0 Introduction 2.1 The Reichenbachian Matrix in Different Forms 2.1.0 Introduction 2.1.1 3 × 3 for Latin 2.1.2 Three Times 2 × 3 for Dutch 2.1.3 Reducing 3 × 3 to 7 for English 2.1.4 3 × 3 for Classical Greek 2.1.5 Two Times ((3 × 3)-2) for French 2.2 Ternary with Intervals 2.2.0 Introduction 2.2.1 The Present Perfect Puzzle 2.2.2 Topic Time as a Key for the Solution to the Present Perfect Puzzle 2.2.3 A Pragmatic Solution 2.3 Points and Intervals 2.3.0 Introduction 2.3.1 Point of Evaluation 2.3.2 A Point as a Landmark 2.3.3 The Fleeting Point n 2.4 Conclusion 3 Binary Tense Structure 3.0 Introduction 3.1 A Brief Survey of Te Winkel's Binary System 3.2 Binary Operators 3.2.0 Introduction 3.2.1 Dyadic Branching and Binary Tense 3.2.2 Preparing for the Semantics of Binary Operators 3.3 The Present Tense Domain 3.3.0 Introduction 3.3.1 Distinguishing between Present and the Fleeting point n 3.3.2 Simple Present 3.3.3 Present Perfect 3.3.4 Taking a Snapshot at n 3.3.5 Simple Future and Future Perfect in the Present 3.4 The Past Tense Domain 3.4.0 Introduction 3.4.1 Anteriority Seen as a Relation between Two Temporal Structures 3.4.2 Simple Past 3.4.3 Past Perfect 3.4.4 Simple Future and Future Perfect in the Past 3.5 A Compositional Account of Tense Structure 3.5.0 Introduction 3.5.1 Ontological Preliminaries: Events or Indices 3.5.2 The Semantics of the Operators pres and past 3.5.3 Negation 3.6 Conclusion 4 Naive Physics and Aspectual Composition 4.0 Introduction 4.1 What Did Aristotle Tell to Ryle, Vendler and Kenny? 4.1.0 Introduction 4.1.1 Formal Semantics and Aristotle 4.1.2 Tense Oppositions in Aristotle's Metaphysics 4.1.3 Translation Problems 4.1.4 At the Bottom of the Aristotelian Notion of Motion 4.2 On the Idiosyncrasy of Criteria for Aspectual Classification 4.2.0 Introduction 4.2.1 Ryle's Criterion for Allowing Achievements: Finis 4.2.2 A Binary Alternative to Ryle's Exchangeability Criterion: The Report Mode 4.2.3 Vendler's Criteria for a Quadripartition 4.2.4 Kenny's Criteria for a Tripartition 4.2.5 Monadicity as the Disturbing Factor 4.3 Features of Aspectual Composition 4.3.0 Introduction 4.3.1 Aspectual Features and Beyond 4.3.2 Doing Away with Features 4.4 Conclusion 5 Levels of Interaction between Aspect and Tense 5.0 Introduction 5.1 At the Bottom of a Predication 5.1.0 Introduction 5.1.2 Type and Token 5.1.1 Grounding a Verb Opposition 5.1.3 Function Format 5.2 Discretization and Bounding 5.2.0 Introduction 5.2.1 Intransitive Verbs Expressing Discretization 5.2.2 Discretization and Bounding by the Internal Argument of Transitive verbs 5.2.3 Wavering between d◦su and su 5.2.4 The Role of the External Argument 5.3 A Formal Account from Lexical Bottom to S[sub(0)] 5.3.0 Introduction 5.3.1 Syntax and Semantics of Noun Phrases 5.3.2 Discretization in Sentences with Transitive Verbs 5.3.3 Discretization in Sentences with Unaccusatives and Unergatives 5.4 Conclusion 6 Binary Tense Structure and Adverbial Modification 6.0 Introduction 6.1 On the Role of Det and NP in a Temporal Adverbial 6.2 Syntax and Semantics of Non-deictic Modification 6.2.0 Introduction 6.2.1 The Predominance of Tense over Temporal Modifiers 6.2.2 Temporal Modification as a Form of Bounding 6.2.3 Connecting a Temporal Modifier to Indices at Different Levels 6.2.4 Non-deictic Relational Adverbials 6.2.5 Modification below S[sub(0)] 6.3 Frequency and Habituality 6.4 Syntax and Semantics of Deictic Modification 6.4.0 Introduction 6.4.1 Deictic Setting Adverbials 6.4.2 Deictic Relational Adverbials 6.4.3 A Structural Solution to the Present Perfect Puzzle 6.4.4 Comparing Solutions 6.5 Syntax and Semantics of Durational Adverbials 6.5.0 Introduction 6.5.1 Measuring below S[sub(0)] 6.5.2 Computing the Length of Indices 6.5.3 Computing Length at Higher Levels 6.5.4 Further Escapes from the in/for-Test 6.6 Conclusion 7 How to Deal Binarily with ...? 7.0 Introduction 7.1 The Semantics of the Progressive Form 7.1.0 Introduction 7.1.1 Attempts to Resolve the Alleged Imperfective Paradox 7.1.2 A Binary and Compositional Analysis of the Progressive Form 7.2 Binary Indices, Compositionality and Slavic Aspect 7.2.0 Introduction 7.2.1 pf vs [+t] and ipf vs [–t] 7.2.2 Dividing pf and ipf between Three Levels 7.2.3 Temporal Definiteness and Indefiniteness 7.2.4 Lexical and Grammatical Aspect 7.3 The Position of the Aorist in a Binary System 7.3.0 Introduction 7.3.1 The French Passé Simple 7.3.2 The Imperfective and Perfective Aorist in Bulgarian 7.3.3 Comparing Choices in Rich Tense Systems 7.3.4 The Aorist and the Third Binary Opposition 7.4 Conclusion 8 Tense, Mood and Aspect 8.0 Introduction 8.1 On the Nature of the Opposition between syn and post 8.1.0 Introduction 8.1.1 Existential Quantifiers and Modal Configurations 8.1.2 Indicative vs Subjunctive Mood? 8.2 Modality and Future: Linguistics or Philosophy? 8.2.0 Introduction 8.2.1 The Seabattle Tomorrow 8.2.2 Ockham or Peirce, Prior or Te Winkel? 8.2.3 Modal Base and Accessibility 8.2.4 Adapting the Connectives Introduced by syn and post 8.3 The Proof of the Modal Pudding ... 8.4 Reaching the Top: Temporalization by pres and past 8.5 Rounding Off Appendix Bibliography Author Index Subject Index Written by a well-known expert in the field, this book presents a universally applicable model of how natural language speakers deal with time in natural language, by combining semantic building blocks into larger wholes. It will be essential reading for researchers and advanced students in syntax and the syntax-semantics interface.