The development of future time expressions in Late Modern English: redistribution of forms or change in discourse?

2010 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
NADJA NESSELHAUF
Keyword(s):  
Comprehensive Analysis ◽  
Complex Interaction ◽  
Text Structure ◽  
Science Writing ◽  
Future Time ◽  
The Past ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
The Future ◽  
Late Modern

This article provides the first comprehensive analysis of the development of the future time expressions will, ’ll, shall, be going to, progressive with future time reference, and be to in the course of the late modern period. The article focuses on possible reasons for the considerable changes that have taken place in the past few centuries. To what degree can the changes be described as certain forms having been (partially) replaced by others? To what degree have general or register-specific changes in discourse affected the use of future time expressions? These questions are investigated on the basis of the British part of ARCHER (A Representative Corpus of Historical English Registers).The analysis reveals that it is a complex interaction of both types of processes that is responsible for the recent evolution of future time expressions. Redistribution processes turn out to be highly complex in themselves, going far beyond the frequently described replacement of shall by will and probably proceeding in chains. With respect to discourse change, one result is an unexpected overall decrease in the tendency of writers (and speakers) to refer to their own plans, intentions, etc. Partly responsible for this development is a discourse change in science writing, where the author has increasingly disappeared from the text, so that text structure is much less frequently expressed in terms of the author's intention. A further register-specific discourse change that the investigation brings to light is a development in diaries from an earlier restriction to reporting past events to the expression of more personal views, including hopes and fears for the future.

The spread of the progressive and its ‘future’ use

2007 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 191-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
NADJA NESSELHAUF
Keyword(s):  
Potential Role ◽  
Comprehensive Analysis ◽  
Future Time ◽  
British English ◽  
The Future ◽  
Late Modern

Numerous factors have been identified as being relevant to the spread of the progressive in Late Modern English. The potential role of the ‘future’ use of the construction (as in I'm flying home next week) has, however, been neglected so far. The present study aims to fill this gap by providing a comprehensive analysis of the development of the progressive with future time reference since 1750 in British English. The investigation focuses on the question of whether and to what degree the factors at work in the development of the construction coincide with factors relevant to the development of other types of progressives.The analysis demonstrates that the ‘future’ use of the progressive does indeed play a part in the spread of the progressive. Several hitherto unknown factors special to the development of the ‘future’ use of the progressive are also uncovered, among them an increased (and possibly) new use of the construction to express spontaneous decisions.

The Bridge Spanning Past, Present, and Future: Time Infrastructure

2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rob Shields
Keyword(s):  
Future Time ◽  
Topological Approach ◽  
Heritage Sites ◽  
The Past ◽  
Temporal Aspects ◽  
The Future

Background: This article considers the temporal aspects and effects of infrastructure that bridges past, present, and future rather than connecting places or delivering services.  Analysis: Four “moments” of time infrastructure will be considered in the case of a reconstructed heritage wooden bridge: heritage sites that link to the past, undertakings that mark the present, endeavours that project the current society forward into the future, and the forgetful overlooking of infrastructure as a taken-for-granted and abject temporality.  Conclusion and implications: This requires a topological approach, studying “infrastructurality” as heterochronic and as a liminal “super-object” that transcends its normative presence and Euclidean dimensions. Contexte : Cet article examine les aspects et effets temporels des infrastructures qui relient passé, présent et futur plutôt que de relier des lieux ou de fournir des services. Analyse : Quatre « moments » de ces infrastructures temporelles seront considérés par rapport à un pont en bois patrimonial reconstruit : les sites patrimoniaux qui évoquent le passé, les initiatives qui marquent le présent, les efforts qui projettent la société actuelle vers l’avenir, et l’oubli de l’infrastructure car on la considère comme temporalité abjecte qui va de soi. Conclusion et implications : Cette étude requiert une approche topologique où l’on envisagerait l’« infrastructuralité » comme hétérochronique et comme « super-objet » liminal transcendant sa présence normative et ses dimensions euclidiennes.

scholarly journals HISTORY AS FUTURE—TIME, PREDICTION, AND HISTORICAL NARRATIVE IN THE ZUO ZHUAN

Early China ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. 29-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Gibas
Keyword(s):  
Historical Narrative ◽  
Future Time ◽  
The Past ◽  
Time Prediction ◽  
Course Of Action ◽  
The Future ◽  
Moral Qualities ◽  
Zuo Zhuan

AbstractThis article demonstrates that historical narrative in the Zuo zhuan is founded on the concept of “timeliness,” that is, on the understanding of time as being endowed with moral qualities. The choice between a “timely” (shi 時) or “untimely” (bu shi 不時) course of action determines the success or failure of the person involved in it. The origins of the ideas of time that shape the historical narrative of Zuo zhuan can be traced to mantic literature of the same period, such as almanacs.Early Chinese writers of history—like diviners—strove to explain the past in order to predict the future. Seen in this light, “knowing history” implies understanding and mastering the mechanisms that drive it; and looking into the past is tantamount to “knowing” the future.

The past perfect with future time reference

1997 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renaat Declerck
Keyword(s):  
Future Time ◽  
Standard Analysis ◽  
Past Time ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Future

The standard analysis of the past perfect is that it represents the time of a situation as anterior to a time of orientation which is itself past with respect to the time of speech. However, there are a couple of uses in which the situation referred to actually lies in the future. This article concentrates on one of these uses, illustrated by sentences likeSoon you will again be able to do all the things that youhad donebefore. In this use, the past perfect refers to the future and there does not seem to be a past time of orientation at all. The article not only attempts to account for this use of the past perfect but also offers an explanation for the fact that the same tense cannot be used in other, seemingly similar, sentences, such as the following: [If you peep through this hole in the curtain]you will see the audience that {have/*had} come to see the play.

Immediacy and certainty: factors in understanding future reference

1982 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorraine Harner
Keyword(s):  
Future Time ◽  
The Past ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Remote Past ◽  
Future Reference

ABSTRACTSeventy-five children, 3, 4, and 5 years old, were interviewed about: (a) toys they had played with just a few minutes earlier, (b) toys they had played with on the preceding day, (c) toys they would play with in a few minutes, and (d) toys reserved for use on the following day. Verb forms indicating past and future time were used as well as the adverbials before and after. The past verb form was understood equally well in reference to the immediate past and the more remote past. However, the future verb form was better understood in reference to the immediate future than in reference to the remote future (the following day). The difference is discussed in terms of the intersection of time and mood in future verb forms. Immediacy of action and certainty of occurrence are suggested as early meaning components of future verb forms.

Mechanisms of language change in a functional system

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadja Nesselhauf
Keyword(s):  
Language Change ◽  
Functional System ◽  
Future Time ◽  
Cultural Changes ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
Frequent Use ◽  
Major Shift ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Many ◽  
Late Modern

In this paper, the semantic developments of the major future time expressions in Late Modern English are traced in detail, with the aim of uncovering mechanisms of language change in a complex functional system. The results of the study reveal that to express a pure prediction, the major shift that has taken place in the Late Modern period is from a comparatively frequent use of shall to a comparatively frequent use of ’ll; that to express a prediction based on the intention of the subject, BE going to and the present progressive have replaced will and shall to a certain degree; and that to express a prediction based on a previous arrangement, earlier uses of the simple present have been replaced to a considerable degree by the progressive with future time reference. In addition, the construction WANT to is identified as what may be called an emerging future marker, which has started to be used for predictions based on the subject’s intention. Finally, the possible contribution of certain stylistic and socio-cultural changes to the many recent changes in the system of English future time expressions is also considered, such as the complexification of society, (pseudo-)democratization, and a tendency of many text types towards a more personal style.

scholarly journals The past participle constructions LEE(NE)- + PTCP and SAA- + PTCP as future time reference devices: the example of Livonian against a Southern Finnic background

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 (95) ◽  
Author(s):  
Miina Norvik
Keyword(s):  
Epistemic Modality ◽  
The Other ◽  
Past Participle ◽  
Future Time ◽  
European Contact ◽  
The Past ◽  
Subordinate Clauses ◽  
The Future ◽  
Primary Meaning ◽  
Secondary Function

The present article studies the semantic functions and syntactic behaviour of past participle constructions in Livonian: līdõ ‘will be’ + active past participle (APP) / passive past participle (PPP) and sǭdõ ‘get; become’ + APP / PPP. Parallels are drawn with the corresponding constructions in the other Southern Finnic languages, as well as Northern Finnic and the Indo-European contact languages. The main focus is on Livonian līdõ ‘will be’ + APP.  Considering the primary meaning element, time reference (future, past, or present), and the clause type (main or subordinate), a distinction is made between two main functions: (i) expressing anteriority, and (ii) epistemic modality. It is argued that Livonian līdõ + APP deserves to be regarded as the future perfect, as its primary function is to express anteriority in the future domain. Furthermore, līdõ + APP is shown to stand out with regard to the usage of temporal (future) meaning in subordinate clauses, as it is more common for a future-marking device to be redundant in subordinate clauses or associated with modal meanings. The expression of epistemic modality is regarded as its secondary function and possibly a later development; the epistemic usage is primarily associated with the construction occurring in main clauses.

scholarly journals Free Time versus Occupied and Unoccupied Time in a Philosophical Context

2012 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerzy Kosiewicz
Keyword(s):  
Free Time ◽  
Future Time ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Future ◽  
Transcendental Theory ◽  
The Subject

AbstractIn the paper, previous conceptions of free time and the various definitions that are connected with it are challenged. The author assumed that the subject might not have free time at his/her disposal, because that time does not concern the subject at all. The subject did not have free time in the past; the subject can neither shape it in the present nor in the future. Free time does not concern him/her at all, because free time as such does not exist at all. We have only to do with occupied and unoccupied time. The first form of time concerns the past and the present. Future time is not occupied both in that sense that it does not exist yet and that it never exists. Moreover, the author considers the existence, understanding, and possibility of the cognition of time as such. Thus, he rejects various common theories of time. He refers to the Kantian, subjective, “self-related” conception of time and he attempts to strengthen it with the Heideggerian transcendental theory of time. According to the author, it is derived from, among other things, the considerations on being done by some of the ancient philosophers: Anaximander, Pythagoras and his followers, Parmenides, Plato, and Aristotle.

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