Selected Papers from the Fourteenth International ... - STIBA Malang
Selected Papers from the Fourteenth International ... - STIBA Malang
Selected Papers from the Fourteenth International ... - STIBA Malang
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44 Svenja Kranich<br />
feature of <strong>the</strong> majority of <strong>the</strong> situations expressed by predicates containing <strong>the</strong><br />
progressive in OE (cf. Nickel 966: 238–259). One may opt for an intermediate<br />
position and consider <strong>the</strong> progressive to have a ‘double core meaning’ (i.e., aspectual<br />
and attitudinal meaning), as Rydén ( 997) does. 4<br />
The combination of <strong>the</strong> progressive with always-type adverbials (henceforth<br />
ALWAYS) 5 occurs frequently, both in subjective and objective meanings. In regard<br />
to <strong>the</strong> former meaning, ALWAYS refers to a time-span perceived to be of remarkable<br />
or even excessive length by <strong>the</strong> speaker; in regard to <strong>the</strong> latter, <strong>the</strong> adverb<br />
refers to a situation that objectively holds at all times.<br />
In Middle English (ME), apart <strong>from</strong> a drop in frequency, <strong>the</strong> progressive is<br />
used more or less as in OE: it often refers to imperfective events and is commonly<br />
used “to describe in a vivid and emphatic way” (Mustanoja 960: 594). It also still<br />
regularly co-occurs with ALWAYS (cf. Scheffer 975 2 8–220 for evidence of this<br />
and o<strong>the</strong>r similarities between <strong>the</strong> use of <strong>the</strong> progressive in OE and ME). In EModE<br />
<strong>the</strong> progressive continues to be available for both aspectual and attitudinal functions,<br />
but a change becomes noticeable in regard to its aspectual use: while in OE<br />
and ME <strong>the</strong> progressive is used for imperfective situations in general, in EModE<br />
<strong>the</strong> trend becomes clear that it is more and more restricted to progressive situations,<br />
i.e., situations which are both imperfective and dynamic and hence most<br />
often of limited duration (since dynamic events require an input of energy, which<br />
is normally not endlessly supplied). This has <strong>the</strong> consequence that now ALWAYS,<br />
when combined with <strong>the</strong> progressive, rarely has <strong>the</strong> objective meaning ‘at all times<br />
possible’, as we shall see clearly in <strong>the</strong> following discussion of this type.<br />
3. The three types of subjective progressives in Early<br />
and Late Modern English<br />
Apart <strong>from</strong> this type of subjective progressive, <strong>the</strong> combination of progressive +<br />
ALWAYS (type ), we can distinguish two more types of subjective progressives,<br />
namely subjective progressives without ALWAYS (type 2) and <strong>the</strong> interpretative<br />
progressive (type 3), i.e., <strong>the</strong> use of <strong>the</strong> progressive to signal that a more basic<br />
4. One should underline, however, that it is impossible to find a ‘panchronic core meaning’ for<br />
<strong>the</strong> progressive <strong>from</strong> OE to PDE, double or o<strong>the</strong>rwise, as Rydén ( 997) endeavoured to, since<br />
<strong>the</strong> construction underwent decisive changes in regard to its functions <strong>from</strong> OE to ModE.<br />
. This means adverbials referring to <strong>the</strong> concept expressed by always, perpetually, forever<br />
and similar adverbs and adverbial phrases such as day and night, all <strong>the</strong> time. In OE among<br />
<strong>the</strong> adverbs most commonly occurring with <strong>the</strong> progressive are for instance simle, æfre, aa<br />
(cf. Nickel 966: passim).