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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0 Svenja Kranich<br />
description which is nearer to <strong>the</strong> merely physical and is less dependent on wider<br />
circumstances” (König 980: 280), as is evident <strong>from</strong> <strong>the</strong> following examples:<br />
(9) A <strong>the</strong>y dooe moste nimbly bestur <strong>the</strong>mselvs<br />
B as if <strong>the</strong>y were dancing <strong>the</strong> Hey. (=interpretation of A)<br />
(archerii\ 600–49.bre\ 634butl.p0b 43)<br />
( 0) A <strong>the</strong>y wished him success, and prayed for him<br />
B as if he had been going to execution.<br />
(archer\ 750–99.bre\ 778reev.f3)<br />
Obviously, it would not be impossible to use a simple form in <strong>the</strong>se contexts.<br />
However, it seems clear that in PDE <strong>the</strong> progressive is <strong>the</strong> preferred form in such<br />
uses (cf. König 980), and this seems to be a trend which is slowly starting in <strong>the</strong><br />
period under consideration here.<br />
It is not necessary for two sentences to be present. If <strong>the</strong>re are, <strong>the</strong> conjunction<br />
as if, as in <strong>the</strong> two examples above, often supports <strong>the</strong> interpretative meaning<br />
of <strong>the</strong> progressive, introducing a comparison which serves to elucidate <strong>the</strong><br />
more basic description. But <strong>the</strong> role of <strong>the</strong> more basic A-part may also be some<br />
activity in <strong>the</strong> communicative situation that all participants are immediately aware<br />
of – often, this will be a speech act, as in (3) Nay, now, but don’t you go to think that<br />
I am asking for one, where <strong>the</strong> speaker rejects an interpretation that she assumes<br />
her interlocutor may have. 8 Such uses generally are not possible with a mere simple<br />
form of <strong>the</strong> verb. Ra<strong>the</strong>r, if a progressive is not chosen, one needs to express<br />
<strong>the</strong> interpretative function differently, e.g., by lexical choice or by a modal element<br />
(e.g., I wouldn’t ever ask for one).<br />
4. Objective progressives<br />
In order to evaluate <strong>the</strong> changing distribution of <strong>the</strong> subjective and objective<br />
meanings of <strong>the</strong> progressive in <strong>the</strong> data, it is necessary to relate very briefly which<br />
objective functions were distinguished. The function of <strong>the</strong> progressive is clearly<br />
a highly controversial topic. The idea that <strong>the</strong> progressive is a marker of aspect<br />
is, however, widely accepted, although whe<strong>the</strong>r it marks <strong>the</strong> general imperfective<br />
or only <strong>the</strong> progressive viewpoint is debated (cf. e.g., Hirtle 967; Goosens 994;<br />
Smith 997: 7 – 74). I have found both uses in <strong>the</strong> data and shall thus differentiate<br />
between <strong>the</strong> general imperfective (abbreviated ‘Imp.’ in <strong>the</strong> table) and <strong>the</strong><br />
progressive function (abbreviated ‘Progr.’) of <strong>the</strong> progressive form. The former is<br />
1 . It has thus been noted by Girard (2002) that it is often verbs of saying that occur in this<br />
function in present-day English.