Tense, aspect and text : processes of grammaticalization in the history of the English auxiliary
The primary object of inquiry is the semantics of the progressive and perfect constructions in English, and their interaction with the deictic category of tense. The domain of inquiry is text. The major concern is the argument that a full description of these constructions' development involves consideration of both functional (semantic- pragmatic) and formal (morphosyntactic) change. The bases of the framework constructed for analysis are Lyons' (1977; 1982) theory of locutionary subjectivism, and Traugott's (1982) model of semantic- pragmatic shifts in the grarrmaticalization process. Thus the description depends on the r ole of text in characterizing and shaping the meaning and use of auxiliary elements. Accordingly, I use a range of text-types for illustrative purposes. It is important to emphasize their exemplary function - they do not constitute a statistically defined or determined corpus. The main theme of this dissertation is the emergence of what I call the 'subjectivity' of these constructions in the context of their realization as grarrmatical markers of the English auxiliary. The study is divided into three parts. The first (chapters 1, 2, and 3) is a synchronic characterization of tense semantics
Wright, Susan Mary
Semantics of tense
Tense, aspect and text : processes of grammaticalization in the history of the English auxiliary. The primary object of inquiry is the semantics of the progressive and perfect constructions in English, and their interaction with the deictic category of tense. The domain of inquiry is text. The major concern is the argument that a full description of these constructions' development involves consideration of both functional (semantic- pragmatic) and formal (morphosyntactic) change. The bases of the framework constructed for analysis are Lyons' (1977; 1982) theory of locutionary subjectivism, and Traugott's (1982) model of semantic- pragmatic shifts in the grarrmaticalization process. Thus the description depends on the r ole of text in characterizing and shaping the meaning and use of auxiliary elements. Accordingly, I use a range of text-types for illustrative purposes. It is important to emphasize their exemplary function - they do not constitute a statistically defined or determined corpus. The main theme of this dissertation is the emergence of what I call the 'subjectivity' of these constructions in the context of their realization as grarrmatical markers of the English auxiliary. The study is divided into three parts. The first (chapters 1, 2, and 3) is a synchronic characterization of tense semantics
tense_aspect text process grammaticalization history_english auxiliary primary_object inquiry semantics progressive perfect construction english interaction deictic category tense domain inquiry text major_concern argument full_description construction development involve consideration functional semantic pragmatic formal morphosyntactic change base framework construct analysis person_person theory subjectivism model semantic pragmatic shift process thus description depend text characterize shape meaning use auxiliary element accordingly use range text types illustrative purpose important emphasize exemplary function constitute statistically define determined corpus main_theme emergence call subjectivity construction context realization marker english auxiliary study_divide three_part first synchronic characterization tense semantics