Tense and Aspect in Informal Welsh 9783110227970, 9783110227963

Table of contents :
Frontmatter
Contents
Conventions
Tables
Figures
Chapter 1. The data: Finite verbs and aspect
Chapter 2. Finite inflections of bod ‘be’
Chapter 3. Finite inflections of lexical and modal verbs
Chapter 4. Perfective and imperfective aspect
Chapter 5. The inflectional system
Chapter 6. Other semantic analyses of finite verb inflections
Chapter 7. Perfect aspect
Chapter 8. Progressive aspect
Chapter 9. More about aspect
Chapter 10. Closing remarks
Backmatter

Citation preview

Tense and Aspect in Informal Welsh

Trends in Linguistics Studies and Monographs 223

Editor

Volker Gast Advisory Editors

Walter Bisang Hans Henrich Hock Matthias Schlesewsky Founding Editor

Werner Winter

De Gruyter Mouton

Tense and Aspect in Informal Welsh

by

Bob Morris Jones

De Gruyter Mouton

ISBN 978-3-11-022796-3 e-ISBN 978-3-11-022797-0 ISSN 1861-4302 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Jones, Bob Morris. Tense and aspect in informal Welsh / by Bob Morris Jones. p. cm. ⫺ Welsh and English. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-3-11-022796-3 (alk. paper) 1. Welsh language ⫺ Verb. 2. Welsh language ⫺ Discourse analysis. I. Title. PB2161.J66 2010 491.6165⫺dc22 2010025276

Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de. ” 2010 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/New York Printing: Hubert & Co. GmbH & Co. KG, Göttingen ⬁ Printed on acid-free paper Printed in Germany www.degruyter.com

Angharad Gwyn Williams

Hoffwn gyflwyno’r llyfr hwn er cof am Angharad, fy chwaer-yngnghyfraith, a fu farw cyn i mi orffen yr astudiaeth hon. Bu’n gymorth gwerthfawr wrth i mi ysgrifennu’r gwaith, gan ateb cwestiynau a thrafod dehongliadau yn amyneddgar. Ond yn bennaf oll, cyfaill da ac annwyl oedd Angharad. [I should like to dedicate this book to the memory of Angharad, my sisterin-law, who died before this study was completed. Angharad was a great help as I wrote the work, patiently answering questions and discussing interpretations. But above all else, Angharad was a good and dear friend.

Acknowledgements Earlier versions of parts of this book were delivered at a seminar in the Department of Linguistics, Bangor University in the autumn of 2001, and at the Welsh Syntax Seminar, Plas Gregynog, 2004. I am grateful to all who provided valuable comments. I am especially grateful to De Gruyter Mouton’s anonymous reader whose forthright, constructive, and detailed observations allowed me to improve the presentation and content of this work. I am also very grateful to Meinir McDonald for diligently reading through a typescript for this work and pointing out numerous inaccuracies. I am entirely responsible for any remaining errors and defects. I am also extremely thankful to all who have acted as informants and patiently provided judgements. In particular, I should like to thank Emyr Davies, Meirion Davies, Bleddyn Huws, Meinir McDonald, Elgan Davies, Jayne Henley, and especially my wife, Bethan Bryn, who has borne it all rather well. I also express my thanks to De Gruyter Mouton for supporting this work. I am grateful to Kirsten Börgen, Angelika Hermann, Hans Henrich Hock, Marcia Schartz, and, especially, Birgit Sievert who helped me greatly in matters of administration and production. Any remaining deficiencies are entirely due to me.

Preface The main aim of this book is to provide descriptive analyses of the meanings of three areas of the grammar of informal Welsh: the inflections of finite verbs, perfect aspect, and progressive aspect. The semantic analyses are not based on any one approach, but variously exploit accounts in the general literature on tense and aspect (as found, for instance, in Binnick 1991; Comrie 1976, 1985; Dahl 1985; Giorgi and Pianesi 1997; Guéron and Lecarme 2004; Hornstein 1993; Klein 1994; Smith 1997; and Thompson 2005). Not only does this literature serve to develop an understanding of Welsh grammar, but it also helps to place Welsh within a wider typological context. The study also consults studies of Welsh (especially Jones, M. 1970, Jones and Thomas 1977, Ellis 1972, 1973a, 1973b, Fife 1990, Jones, R. M. 1966a, 1966b, and Rowlands 1976). Fife (1990) presents a major study of tense and aspect, and is a very valuable source for the study of the verb in informal and formal Welsh. This present study focuses entirely on informal Welsh, and only refers to formal Welsh when it contributes to the analysis of informal Welsh. Conventional reference grammars, such as Morris-Jones (1913: 315–397) and Williams (1959: 94–143; 1980: 72–109) concentrate mainly on formal written Welsh and make only passing reference to informal spoken Welsh. They provide a great amount of detail about the morphophonology of finite verbs, although their data are based mainly on spellings in formal written Welsh. They say little about aspect, which is indirectly recognized in socalled compound tense patterns. What they have to say about semantics is based mainly on conventional views of tense and mood, drawing upon a long-standing tradition in European grammar. More recent reference grammars, Thomas (1996: 25–78) and Thorne (1993: 224-314), benefit from contemporary linguistics. They give more attention to informal Welsh than the earlier reference grammars, but are still mainly concerned with formal Welsh. There are considerable differences between formal (mainly written) Welsh and informal (mainly spoken) Welsh. Sweet (1882–84) and Fynes-Clinton (1913) provide treatments of informal Welsh, but detailed analyses of tense and aspect in this style of Welsh only began to emerge with the appearance of Jones M. (1970), Jones and Thomas (1977), and Fife (1990). Readers who are interested in formal Welsh might like to consult a traditional reference grammar of Welsh and also Fife (1990), who examines both styles.

x

Preface

The examples of informal Welsh in this work are drawn from my experience of spoken Welsh and also the elicited judgements of Welsh speakers. The judgements are not based simply on yes-no answers but on wider discussions with informants about possible scenarios for the examples, and also comparisons of one example with another. These discussions were informal and were not based on a structured interview. There are, of course, instances where judgements are uncertain, and it is not always clear whether the uncertainty is grammatical, semantic or pragmatic. Existing studies of informal Welsh, given above, are also useful sources for considering judgements of the data. Chapter 1 gives a brief and selective outline of the syntax of the sentence in Welsh, and introduces the data which are the concern of this study. It outlines lexical and stylistic constraints on finite verb forms, and lists those forms which are relevant to a study of informal Welsh. It also presents the main characteristics of aspect in Welsh, distinguishing between syntactic aspect and inflectional aspect. Chapters 2 to 6 discuss the meanings of the inflections of finite verbs. Chapter 2 introduces an analysis of the semantics of the inflections of finite verbs in Welsh by concentrating on bod ‘be’, which has the richest morphology amongst finite verbs in Welsh. It discusses tense, factuality (factual and counterfactual), and habituality. It also describes the use of mynd ‘go’ in descriptions of subsequently-occurring situations. The discussion of tense considers two sorts of examples: those in which the traditional temporal properties of tense and the temporal location of the situation which is described are concurrent (for example, I am working now) and those in which the temporal properties of tense and the temporal location of the situation are non-concurrent (for example, I am working tomorrow). In seeking a general account of both sorts of examples, two different explanations of tense are considered, labelled in this work as the time-of-situation analysis and the time-of-evaluation analysis, arguing for the latter. The discussion of counterfactual meaning considers whether it can be accounted for in terms of an alternative counterfactual world or in terms of false statements in the factual world, arguing for the latter. The discussion of habituality in this chapter shows that bod ‘be’ is the only verb which has specialized (but not unique) forms which can be used in descriptions of habitual situations. Chapter 3 then considers the realization of tense, factuality, and habituality in the inflected forms of lexical verbs and modal verbs. It reveals differences between these verbs and bod ‘be’, and differences between lexical verbs and modal verbs. Chapter 4 seeks to explain the aspectual meanings of two past tenses, the imperfective and the perfective. It

Preface

xi

considers a general context-independent explanation of their semantics drawing upon the accounts of Comrie (1976) and Smith (1997). Chapter 5 gives a more detailed analysis of tense, and argues that it can be accounted for not as a collection of simple labels like past, present and so forth, but as a combination of two times, a deictic reference time and a relative evaluation time, which organize the tenses as a system. This chapter also discusses different sorts of constraints on the meanings and forms of the inflections of finite verbs. Having set out the analyses which are favoured in this study, chapter 6 considers whether other non-temporal meanings, such as epistemic modality, can be attributed to the basic semantics of finite verb inflections or whether they are due to other factors, namely, extensions of basic meanings or the effects of context. The chapter argues for the latter. The meanings of syntactic aspect are described in chapters 7 to 8. Chapter 7 discusses the semantics of the perfect aspect in Welsh, and also reexamines the semantics of tense in sentences which contain the perfect aspect. This chapter evaluates the adequacy of temporal and non-temporal explanations of the perfect aspect, and argues for the former, namely, that the perfect aspect locates a situation in anterior time (or provides a retrospective view of a situation) from the standpoint of a reference time which can be anchored in the past time, present time, or future time. Chapter 8 seeks to explain the semantics of the progressive and non-progressive aspects in Welsh. This chapter draws upon a typology of situation types, and argues that the Welsh progressive provides a durative view of a situation and that the non-progressive provides a non-durative view. The chapter also argues that there are a number of constraints on the progressive and nonprogressive, and shows that Welsh is distinctive in the use of the progressive in descriptions of statives and habitual dynamic situations. Chapter 9 considers whether other words and expressions can also be analysed as aspect markers and whether, therefore, other aspectual meanings occur in Welsh. Chapter 10, the final chapter, presents an overview of the descriptions and analyses in the preceding chapters, and suggests areas and topics which would benefit from future research.

Contents Acknowledgements Preface Conventions Tables Figures 1

The Data: Finite verbs and aspect

vii ix xviii xxi xxiii 1

1.1 The sentence in Welsh 1.1.1 Mutations 1.1.2 Finite clauses 1.1.3 Non-finite clauses 1.1.4 Absolute clauses and small clauses 1.1.5 Labels for verbal patterns 1.2 Finite verb inflections 1.2.1 Basic suffixes and other inflections 1.2.2 Lexical restrictions 1.2.3 Stylistic restrictions 1.3 Aspect 1.3.1 Syntactic aspect patterns 1.3.2 Tense and aspect

1 1 2 5 8 9 10 10 13 17 20 20 24

2

26

Finite Inflections of bod 'be'

2.1 Introduction 2.2 Tense 2.2.1 Tense and time 2.2.2 The time-of-situation analysis 2.2.3 Non-concurrent situations 2.2.4 The time-of-evaluation analysis 2.2.5 The extended present period 2.3 Factuality 2.3.1 Counterfactual meaning 2.3.2 Counterfactual and tense

26 27 27 29 35 47 56 62 62 68

xiv

Contents

2.3.3 Matrix clauses and conditional clauses 2.3.4 Counterfactual and the future-in-the-past 2.4 Habituality: Bydd and byddai again 2.5 Mynd i ‘go to’ 2.6 Summary

70 72 74 77 88

3

90

Finite inflections of lexical and modal verbs

3.1 Introduction 3.2 Tense 3.2.1 Lexical verbs 3.2.2 Modal verbs 3.3 Factuality 3.4 Habituality 3.5 Exceptional lexical verbs 3.6 Summary

90 93 93 100 103 107 109 117

4

120

Perfective and imperfective aspect

4.1 Introduction 4.1.1 The data 4.1.2 Semantics 4.2 Perfective and imperfective meanings in Welsh 4.2.1 Lexical verbs 4.2.2 Bod ‘be’ 4.2.3 Modal verbs 4.2.4 Exceptional lexical verbs 4.3 Formal differences 4.3.1 Non-concurrent situations 4.3.2 Perfect aspect 4.3.3 Other matters 4.4 Summary

120 120 124 130 131 134 142 144 146 146 148 149 155

5

157

The inflectional system

5.1 Tense 5.2 Combinatorial constraints

157 161

Contents

xv

5.2.1 Factuality 5.2.2 Habituality 5.2.3 Imperfective and perfective 5.2.4 Summary 5.3 Lexical constraints and morphology 5.4 Constraints in complement clauses 5.4.1 Bod-clauses and i-clauses 5.4.2 Exceptions 5.4.3 Adverb i-clauses 5.5 Summary

161 165 166 167 168 170 171 173 177 179

6

Other semantic analyses of finite verb inflections

181

6.1 Introduction 6.2 Implicatures and extensions of tense 6.2.1 Epistemic modality 6.2.2 Subject-oriented meaning 6.2.3 Speech acts 6.2.4 Tentativity and politeness 6.2.5 The pretend present 6.3 Implicatures and extensions of inflectional aspect 6.3.1 Completion and incompletion 6.3.2 Change and continuation 6.3.3 Narration and scene-setting 6.3.4 Remote and accessible past time 6.4 Summary

181 182 182 187 193 196 200 202 202 206 208 209 210

7

212

Perfect aspect

7.1 Introduction 7.1.1 The data 7.1.2 Semantics 7.2 Compound tense patterns 7.2.1 The perfect reference time: Tenses and adverbs 7.2.2 Tense and the time of the situation 7.3 Other patterns 7.3.1 Non-finite clauses, small clauses, and absolute clauses 7.3.2 Modal verbs

212 212 213 217 217 228 240 240 244

xvi

Contents

7.4 Summary

246

8

248

Progressive aspect

8.1 Introduction 8.1.1 The data 8.1.2 Semantics 8.2 Non-habitual dynamic situations 8.2.1 Processes 8.2.2 Punctual dynamic situations 8.2.3 Summary 8.3 Habitual dynamic situations 8.4 Stative situations 8.4.1 Non-perfect compound tense patterns and simple finite verbs: Stative lexical verbs and modal verbs 8.4.2 Other patterns: Stative lexical verbs and modal verbs 8.4.3 Copular predicates 8.4.4 Summary 8.5 The overall picture 8.5.1 A generalization and two trends 8.5.2 The non-progressive gap 8.5.3 An additional matter: Encompassing, simultaneous, and succeeding 8.6 Summary

248 248 257 260 260 264 268 268 272

9

304

More about aspect

9.1 Introduction 9.2 General characteristics of perfect wedi and progressive yn 9.2.1 Categorization 9.2.2 Complement selection 9.2.3 Summary 9.3 Similarities 9.3.1 Complement selection 9.3.2 Semantics 9.3.3 Summary

272 280 285 292 293 294 297 298 301

304 304 305 311 313 313 314 314 317

Contents

xvii

9.4 Differences 9.4.1 Ar fin ‘on edge’, ar ganol/hanner ‘on middle/half’, and ymhell o ‘far from’ 9.4.2 Am ‘for, about’ 9.4.3 Bron ‘almost’ 9.4.4 I ‘to’ and i fod i ‘supposed to’ 9.5 Possible aspect markers 9.5.1 Heb ‘without’ and newydd ‘new’ 9.5.2 Ar ‘on’ 9.6 Summary

318

10

341

Closing remarks

318 320 322 329 333 333 336 339

10.1 An overall view 10.2 Future research

341 344

Appendices Notes References Index

347 349 368 378

Conventions Examples are presented on three lines: the first line gives the Welsh data; the second line gives lexical and grammatical glosses, with the grammatical glosses in small capitals; and the third line gives an English translation. The glosses are very literal but the translations are more freely rendered – ar ôl, for example, is glossed as ‘on track’, but translated as ‘after’. It is not always easy to translate into English, especially with ungrammatical examples or examples whose grammar is quite different to that of English. In such cases, the translations are intended to be general indications of the meaning of the Welsh examples. Further, the English translations are not consistently judged for acceptability. Again, they are intended to provide a general indication of the meanings of the Welsh examples. The analyses are, of course, based on the Welsh examples and not the English translations. The orthography is used to spell spoken forms; but the spellings are based in many cases on vernacular pronunciations, e.g. cal for formal cael ‘get, receive’. The phonemic values of letters and digraphs in the examples are as follows (commas indicate another value, and ~ indicates dialect variants): a â b c ch d dd e ê f

/a/ /a:/ /b/ /k/ /x/ /d/ /ð/ /e,ũ/ /e:/ /v/

ff g h i î j l ll m n

/f/ /g/ /h/ /i, Ÿ, j/ /i:/ /Ʋ/ /l/ /ź/ /m/ /n/

ng o ô p ph r rh s sh si

/ŋ, ŋg/ /o, Ţ/ /o:/ /p/ /f/ /r/ /rh/ /s/ /Ƒ/ /Ƒ/

t th ts u w ŵ y ŷ

/t/ /θ/ /Ƶ/ /i ~ Ŷ/ /u, Ƙ, w/ /u:/ /ŧ, i ~ ŶŸ/ /i: ~ Ŷ:/

au ae oe wy

/aŶ ~ ai/ /a:Ŷ ~ ai/ /o:Ŷ ~ o:i/ /u:Ŷ ~ u:i/

The following vowel digraphs represent diphthongs: ei ai oi wy

/ei/ /ai/ /Ţi/ /Ƙi/

iw ew aw ow

/iu/ /ũu ~ eu/ /au/ /ou/

yw uw yw eu

/Ŷu ~ iu/ /Ŷu ~ iu/ /ŧX, iu ~ ŶXŸu/ /eŶ ~ ei/

Conventions

xix

Awbery (1984: 274–276) and Jones G. E. (1984) provide useful introductions to the phonetics of Welsh and, in the case of Awbery in particular, the orthography. For those who read Welsh, Thomas P. W. (1996: 747–798) presents an extensive account of the orthography. / (text) * *(text) (*text) ? ?(text) (?text) 1, 2, 3 ADV AFF CNTF CONJ F FOC FUT FUTP IMPF IMPS IMPV M NEG PAST-HAB PASTP PLUP

indicates that material on either side are alternatives; { } are used to enclose the alternatives in complex instances indicates that the bracketed material could also be present; its presence or absence may have mutational consequences which are not always represented in the examples indicates ungrammatical pattern, or unacceptable with certain semantics an asterisk outside brackets indicates that the bracketed material cannot be omitted an asterisk inside brackets indicates that the bracketed material cannot be present indicates questionable pattern, or questionable with certain semantics indicates that it is questionable whether the bracketed material can be omitted indicates that it is questionable whether the bracketed material can be present first, second, third person marker of an adverb of manner affirmative COUNTERFACTUAL

conjunctive personal pronoun feminine a focussing particle which precedes fronted phrases in embedded contexts FUTURE tense FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE impersonal mood imperative masculine negative particle or word PAST tense HABITUAL past participle PLUPERFECT

xx

Conventions

PERF PERV PL PRED PRES PRES-HAB PRESP PROG PT Q SG XP

perfect aspect tense PERFECTIVE plural marker of predicative adjective or predicative noun PRESENT tense PRESENT tense HABITUAL present participle progressive aspect particles which can precede a finite verb and which convey various grammatical features interrogative particle or word singular any phrase PAST

Some of the interlinear glosses contain forms which indicate person, number and sometimes gender, such as 3SG.M or 1PL. These sequences gloss forms like ’i (formally ei) ‘his / her’ or ych (formally eich) ‘your’, which are classed as prefixed pronouns (rhagenwau blaen) in traditional grammars of Welsh, but are referred to as clitics in contemporary treatments, as in Borsley, Tallerman, and Willis (2007).

Tables Table 1. Table 2. Table 3. Table 4. Table 5. Table 6. Table 7. Table 8. Table 9. Table 10. Table 11. Table 12. Table 13. Table 14. Table 15. Table 16. Table 17. Table 18. Table 19. Table 20. Table 21. Table 22. Table 23. Table 24. Table 25.

Initial consonant mutations in Welsh Paradigms of finite verb suffixes and other inflections in Welsh Imperfect suffixes and different stems, and their traditional labels Finite verb paradigms in formal Welsh which are inflectionally distinctive Third person forms of the PRESENT tense of bod ‘be’ Contrastive finite verb paradigms in informal Welsh An exploded display of syntactic aspect patterns in Welsh Inflected forms of bod ‘be’ The semantics of the inflected forms of bod ‘be’ Inflected forms of lexical verbs and modal verbs The Present-Forms of gwybod ‘know (a fact)’ and adnabod ‘know, recognize’ in informal Welsh Possible Future-Forms of gwybod ‘know (a fact)’ Future-Forms of adnabod ‘know, recognize’ The forms and meanings of lexical verbs (including the auxiliary gwneud ‘do’) and modals The semantics of the forms of bod ‘be’, lexical verbs, and modal verbs IMPERFECTIVE, PERFECTIVE, and progressive aspect contrasts with bod ‘be’ IMPERFECTIVE, PERFECTIVE, and progressive aspect contrasts with modal verbs IMPERFECTIVE, PERFECTIVE, and progressive aspect contrasts with lexical verbs The semantics of the forms of bod ‘be’, lexical verbs, and modal verbs Relationships between the tenses Binary choices in the inflectional system Tense features of COUNTERFACTUAL (1) Tense features of COUNTERFACTUAL (2) Binary choices and combinatorial constraints in the inflectional system Inflectional forms and meanings

2 11 14 16 16 19 24 26 88 90 109 115 115 118 119 121 122 122 156 159 161 163 163 167 170

xxii

Tables

Table 26. The finite and non-finite forms of bod ‘be’ and progressive:non-progressive contrasts in informal Welsh Table 27. The finite and non-finite forms of lexical verbs and progressive:non-progressive contrasts in informal Welsh Table 28. The finite and non-finite forms of modal verbs and progressive:non-progressive contrasts in informal Welsh Table 29. The finite and non-finite forms of lexical verbs and productive progressive:non-progressive contrasts in informal Welsh Table 30. The finite and non-finite forms of modal verbs and productive progressive:non-progressive contrasts in informal Welsh Table 31. The selection of the non-progressive and progressive in descriptions of stative situations Table 32. A summary of the progressive and non-progressive in all situational and syntactic contexts

249 249 250 257 257 292 293

Figures Figure 1. Figure 2. Figure 3. Figure 4. Figure 5. Figure 6. Figure 7. Figure 8. Figure 9. Figure 10. Figure 11. Figure 12. Figure 13. Figure 14. Figure 15. Figure 16. Figure 17. Figure 18. Figure 19. Figure 20. Figure 21. Figure 22. Figure 23. Figure 24. Figure 25. Figure 26. Figure 27.

Deictic periods of time Relative periods of time Future-in-the-past situation FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense and subsequent verification PAST tense (IMPERFECTIVE) and concurrent verification The PRESENT tense and present-time situations The PRESENT tense, present predetermination, and future situations The PAST tense and past situations The PAST tense, past predetermination, and subsequent situations The FUTURE tense and future situations The FUTURE tense, future verification, and present situations The FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense and subsequent situations The FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense, subsequent verification and non-concurrent situations The traditional tense system The temporal properties of the tenses Factuality in the inflectional system Tenses of the COUNTERFACTUAL Habituality in the inflectional system PERFECTIVE and IMPERFECTIVE in the inflectional system Lexical constraints in the inflectional system Palmer’s perfect periods of time The perfect aspect with the FUTURE tense and the FUTUREIN-THE-PAST tense in Welsh The perfect aspect with the PRESENT tense and the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE in Welsh The perfect aspect with the COUNTERFACTUAL in Welsh Past and future situations and the FUTURE tense in Welsh Past and future-in-the-past situations and the FUTURE-INTHE-PAST tense in Welsh A typology of aspectual situations

28 29 32 45 45 48 48 48 49 49 49 49 50 157 159 162 164 166 167 169 216 220 221 221 230 232 259

Chapter 1 The data: Finite verbs and aspect This chapter introduces the data which are the concern of this study. It outlines finite verb inflections and stylistic constraints on them, thus identifying those forms which are relevant to a study of informal Welsh. It also presents the main characteristics of aspect in Welsh. It distinguishes between syntactic aspect and inflectional aspect, and lists the sentential contexts in which the former occurs. But to begin with, in order to help the presentation of the data in this chapter and others, an outline of the syntax of the sentence in Welsh is given. 1.1

The sentence in Welsh

In this section, we shall sketch the main characteristics of finite and nonfinite clauses in Welsh. We shall not attempt to present a comprehensive and detailed account, but only highlight matters which are relevant to our purposes.1 1.1.1

Mutations

We shall begin by outlining a feature of Welsh which, if not explained, can be confusing to anyone who is not familiar with the language. Initial consonants of words are subject to phonological alternations – or mutations – which are caused by lexical and syntactic triggers. There are three different mutations which are traditionally labelled as soft, aspirate, and nasal. They are set out in table 1. The consonants listed under radical are the unmutated forms which can be soft mutated, nasal mutated, or aspirate mutated. The following are examples: the preposition ar ‘on’ triggers the soft mutation as in ar gefn ceffyl (radical cefn) ‘on horseback’; an adjective after a singular feminine noun is soft mutated as in cath fawr (radical mawr) ‘a big cat’; and a phrase in post-subject position in a finite clause is also soft-mutated as in agorodd Mair ddrws (radical drws) ‘Mair opened a door’. Not all Welsh speakers operate the mutations (see Ball 1988 and Ball and Müller 1992 for discussion of the sociolinguistics of the mutations). The examples in this book contain mutated words, and consequently the same word can

2

The data: Finite verbs and aspect

appear with different spellings of initial consonants. It is especially relevant to note that this applies to finite verbs, which can be mutated by preverbal particles, as explained in 1.1.2. Radical bydde ‘would be’ occurs in example (3b) but soft-mutated fydde occurs in (3c) (triggered by the preceding form na). However, mutations are not central to the aims of the study, and are not indicated in the interlinear glosses. Table 1. Initial consonant mutations in Welsh Radical

Soft

p t c b d g m ll rh

b d g f dd ø f l r

[p] [t] [k] [b] [d] [g] [m] [ź] [rh]

1.1.2

Nasal [b] [d] [g] [v] [ð] [v] [l] [r]

mh nh ngh m n ng

Aspirate [mh] [nh] [ŋh] [m] [n] [ŋ]

ph [f] th [θ] ch [x]

Finite clauses

In Welsh, the finite verb precedes the subject, which is followed by the rest of the clause, as in example (1). (Note that, in this chapter, the interlinear glosses for finite verbs simply give translations. But, in later chapters which discuss the meanings of the inflections of finite verbs, abbreviations for their meanings are given, such as FUT for FUTURE). 1 agorodd Sioned y drws. opened Sioned the door ‘Sioned opened the door.’ In the literature, languages like Welsh are described as VSO languages. This is a useful general label, and is especially appropriate for examples like (1) which have the sequence [verb + subject + object]. But VSO does not capture all the relevant descriptive facts. As well as objects which are nominal phrases, other possibilities can also follow the subject – for instance, prepositional phrase, predicatival

The sentence in Welsh

3

phrase, finite complement clause, and nothing (in the following examples overt post-subject phrases are enclosed in square brackets): 2a. edrychodd Sioned [ar y llun]. looked Sioned on the picture ‘Sioned looked at the picture.’ b. aeth Sioned [yn goch]. went Sioned PRED red ‘Sioned went red.’ c. ddydodd Sioned [bydde ’r trên yn hwyr]. said Sioned would-be the train PRED late ‘Sioned said the train would be late.’ d. besychodd Sioned. coughed Sioned ‘Sioned coughed.’ We add more details about the post-subject part of the sentence in the discussion of non-finite clauses in 1.1.3 and of aspect in 1.3.1. Further, the verb in Welsh is not necessarily always initial. Various preverbal particles can occur, whose selection is determined by mood, polarity, word order, and embedding: 3a. mi agorodd Sioned y drws. PT opened Sioned the door ‘Sioned opened the door.’ b. mi ddydodd Sioned (y) bydde ’r trên yn PT said Sioned PT would-be the train PRED ‘Sioned said that the train would be late.’ c. mi ddydodd Sioned na fydde ’r trên yn PT said Sioned PT would-be the train PRED ‘Sioned said that the train would not be late.’

hwyr. late hwyr. late

Examples (3a–c) show that the particle mi can occur in clauses which are main (that is, not embedded), positive, declarative, and of normal word order. Mi typically occurs in northern dialects; other forms, especially fe, occur in other dialects. They all trigger the soft mutation, as in the case of ddydodd (radical dyddodd) in (3b–c). Example (3b) shows that the particle y, which does not trigger a mutation, can optionally occur in informal Welsh in clauses which are embedded, positive, declarative, and of normal word order – it is mainly absent, as in (2c). Example (3c) shows that the

4

The data: Finite verbs and aspect

particle na can occur in clauses which are embedded, negative, declarative, and of normal word order; in this instance, it triggers the soft mutation. These particles are not obligatory, and the examples in (1) and (2) show that mi, fe, and, especially, y can be left out. Any mutational effects remain, as examples (2c–d) show.2 The particle na can also be left out, in which case negation is indicated by the negative word ddim in post-subject position (the mutation which na would trigger remains): 4

ddydodd Sioned fydde ’r trên ddim yn hwyr. said Sioned would-be the train NEG PRED late ‘Sioned said the train would not be late.’

Adjuncts can also precede the verb: 5a. hwyrach agorodd Sioned y drws. perhaps opened Sioned the door ‘perhaps Sioned opened the door.’ b. wel, edrychodd Mared ar y llun. well looked Mared on the picture ‘well, Mared looked at the picture.’ c. beth bynnag, drwsiodd Aeron y car. what ever repaired Aeron the car ‘however, Aeron repaired the car.’ Despite these complexities, it is convenient to use the label VSO to indicate that the verb precedes the subject, which precedes the rest of the sentence. Fronting is common in Welsh, by which means various post-verb constituents are placed in a pre-verb position in both main and embedded clauses (in the following examples an en dash indicates the canonical position of the fronted constituent): 6a. Sioned (a) agorodd – y drws i ’r gwesteion. Sioned PT opened – the door to the guests ‘it was Sioned who opened the door for the guests.’ b. y drws (a) agorodd Sioned – i ’r gwesteion. the door PT opened Sioned – to the guests ‘it was the door that Sioned opened for the guests.’ c. i ’r gwesteion (yr) agorodd Sioned y drws –. to the guests PT opened Sioned the door – ‘it was for the guests that Sioned opened the door.’

The sentence in Welsh

5

7a. ddydodd Sioned (mai) y dynion (a) fydde – ’n paentio ’r said Sioned FOC the men PT would-be – PROG paint the ffenestri. windows ‘Sioned said it was the men who would paint the windows.’ b. ddydodd Sioned (mai) paentio ’r ffenestri (y) bydde ’r dynion – said Sioned FOC paint the windows PT would-be the men – ‘Sioned said it was paint the windows that the men would (do).’ c. ddydodd Sioned (mai) y ffenestri (y) bydde ’r dynion yn said Sioned FOC the windows PT would-be the men PROG ’u paentio –. 3PL paint – ‘Sioned said it was the windows that the men would paint.’ The syntax of fronted clauses is quite complex in Welsh, and we shall not pursue the details here.3 We can briefly note the use of preverbal particles, a and y in (6–7), but these are rare in informal Welsh. Focussing particles can also occur before the fronted constituent. Mai occurs in (7). In the informal style, it is typically realized as ma’. Some southern dialects can use taw, and some northern dialects can use na (which is different to the negative preverbal particle, although phonetically identical). But in informal Welsh, these focussing particles are optional. Finally, agreement clitics can also occur, such as ’u in (7c) – but these can be omitted in informal Welsh. 1.1.3

Non-finite clauses

Non-finite verbs in Welsh only have an infinitival form. 4 There are no participial forms (such as the past and present participles in languages like English, Italian, and Spanish). Some Welsh infinitives are a stem only such as agor ‘open’, cyrraedd ‘close’, gofyn ‘ask’, meddwl ‘think’ and siarad ‘talk, speak’. Others are a stem plus suffix (some of which derive the infinitive from other parts of speech), such as coch-i ‘redden’, tywyll-u ‘darken’, troed-io ‘foot, tread’, bwyd-o ‘feed’, and dadl-au ‘argue’. Non-finite clauses can either contain or lack an overt subject, and this determines their syntax. Non-finite clauses which contain a subject have the linear sequence [i + determiner phrase + verb phrase]. The form i is homophonous with the prepositional form i ‘to, for’, the determiner phrase is the subject, and the verb phrase contains the infinitive. Borsley, Tallerman, and Willis (2007:

6

The data: Finite verbs and aspect

91–96) analyse this i as a tense marker, arguing that such sequences are finite clauses. This suggests that non-finite clause is not an appropriate label, and such clauses can be referred to as i-clauses. But, despite this, non-finite clause will be retained as it is a familiar expression in the linguistic literature for clauses which do not contain a finite verb. Examples are as follows, in which the non-finite clause occurs as a complement (the non-finite clauses are enclosed in square brackets in these illustrations): 8a. ma’ Sioned yn disgwyl [i Mair agor y drws]. is Sioned PROG expect to Mair open the door ‘Sioned expects Mair to open the door.’ b. oedd ’na fwriad [i Mair aros ar ôl]. was there intention to Mair stay on track ‘there was an intention for Mair to stay behind.’ c. fydd yn amhosibl [i Mair ofyn eto]. will-be PRED impossible to Mair ask again ‘it will be impossible for Mair to ask again.’ Non-finite clauses which contain a subject, i-clauses, figure in the discussion of constraints on tense in chapter 5. Non-finite clauses which lack an overt subject have the linear sequence either [verb phrase], [i + verb phrase], or [o + verb phrase]. The forms i and o are respectively homophonous with the prepositional forms i ‘to, for’ and o ‘of, from’. Subject-less non-finites can occur as complements in control predicates (subject and object) and raising predicates, as in the following examples: 9a. ma’ Sioned yn disgwyl [prynu car]. is Sioned PROG expect buy car ‘Sioned expects to buy a car.’ b. oedd hi ’n tueddu [i fymblan]. was she PROG tend to mumble ‘she tended to mumble.’ c. mae o ’n debygol [o fod yn hwyr]. is he PRED likely of be PRED late ‘he is likely to be late.’ Borsley, Tallerman, and Willis (2007: 91–96) analyse zero, i, and o as complementizers. Their selection depends in part on the type of predicate

The sentence in Welsh

7

and in part on the lexeme which selects the non-finite clause, but there is some variation in the selection of zero, i, or o amongst speakers.5 Non-finite clauses with or without subjects also occur as adverbs, preceded by prepositions or prepositional complexes which, traditionally, would be described as conjunctions: 10a. [cyn i Sioned brynu car], oedd hi ’n reidio beic. before to Sioned buy car was she PROG ride bike ‘before Sioned bought a car, she rode a bike.’ b. [ar ôl i Gwyn fynd], nawn ni f’yta. on track to Gwyn go will-do we eat ‘after Gwyn goes, we’ll eat.’ c. [wrth i Mair siarad], ma’ ’r plant yn swnllyd. by to Mair talk is the children PRED noisy ‘as Mair talks, the children are noisy.’ 11a. [cyn cychwyn yr injan], dw i ’n gwisgo ’r gwregys. before start the engine, am I PROG wear the harness ‘before starting the engine, I put the seat belt on.’ b. [ar ôl codi], ma’ Sioned yn rhedeg tair milltir. on track rise is Sioned PROG run three mile ‘after getting up, Sioned runs three miles.’ c. [wrth groesi ’r ffordd], welish i Mair. by cross the road saw I Mair ‘crossing the road, I saw Mair.’ The versions with subjects in (10) provide an interesting contrast with English: Welsh uses non-finite clauses (i-clauses), whereas English uses finite clauses for equivalent adverbs. To conclude, then, non-finite clauses in Welsh can be [i + determiner phrase + verb phrase] when a subject occurs or [zero / i / o + verb phrase] when an overt subject is absent. We have, then, inflectional i in non-finite clauses which contain subjects, and complementizer i in clauses which do not contain a subject (as well as complementizer o and zero complementizer in the latter). We return to non-finite clauses in the discussion of constraints on tense in complement clauses in 5.4, and the discussion of aspect in chapter 7 and chapter 8.

8 1.1.4

The data: Finite verbs and aspect

Absolute clauses and small clauses

There are two types of clauses which are made up of a subject and predicate, namely, absolute clauses and small clauses. An absolute clause is typically co-ordinated with a finite sentence, and can be illustrated as follows (enclosed in square brackets): 12a. oedd ’na barti a [finne ’n gweithio trwy ’r nos]. was there party and I.COORD PROG work through the night ‘there was a party and me working all night.’ b. oedd y ffôn yn canu a [Mair yn y bath]. was the phone PROG sing and Mair in the bath ‘the phone was ringing and Mair in the bath.’ c. oedd hi ’n gorfod gweithio a [hithe yn sâl]. was she PROG have-to work and she.COORD PRED ill ‘she had to work and her ill.’ The subject and predicate in these examples are finne + ’n gweithio trwy’r nos, Mair + yn y bath, and hithe + yn sâl. In Welsh, it is common in the context of co-ordination to use conjunctive pronouns as subjects, such as finne ‘I too’ and hithe ‘she too’ in the above examples. Small clauses occur as the complements of certain verbs such as cofio ‘remember’. They can be illustrated as follows: 13a. dw i ’n cofio [Mair yn digio ’r prifathro]. am I PROG remember Mair PROG upset the headteacher ‘I remember Mair upsetting the headteacher.’ b. o’n i ’n licio [Gwen yn y ddrama]. was I PROG like Gwen in the drama ‘I liked Gwen in the drama.’ c. dw i ’n cofio [Marc yn sâl]. am I PROG remember Marc PRED ill ‘I remember Marc ill.’ The subject and predicate combination in these examples are Mair + yn digio’r prifathro, Gwen + yn y ddrama, and Marc + yn sâl.6 We refer to absolute clauses and small clauses in the discussion of aspect in chapter 7 and chapter 8.

The sentence in Welsh

1.1.5

9

Labels for verbal patterns

In this study, the traditional expressions simple verb, compound tense, and periphrastic are used solely as labelling devices to identify various patterns which involve a finite verb.7 They can be illustrated, respectively, as follows (enclosed in square brackets): 14a. [orffena’ ] i ’r gwaith will-finish I the work ‘I’ll finish the work.’ b. [fydda’] i [’n gorffen] y gwaith will-be I PROG finish the work ‘I’ll be finishing the work.’ c. [allwn] i [orffen] y gwaith could I finish the work ‘I could finish the work.’ Clauses which involve all these patterns can be informally described as follows: Simple (14a): finite verb + subj (+ XP not aspect phrase) Compound (14b): finite bod ‘be’ + subj + aspect phrase Periphrastic (14c): finite auxiliary verb + subj + verb phrase Compound tense patterns and periphrastic patterns are superficially discontinuous in Welsh, being interrupted by an intervening subject. So-called auxiliary verbs are gallu ‘can’, medru ‘can’, cael ‘may, can, be allowed to’, dylai ‘should, ought’, gwneud ‘do’, and darfod ‘finish’.8 For the purposes of this study, it is convenient to develop the traditional labelling, and refer to modal auxiliaries, namely, gallu ‘can’, medru ‘can’, cael ‘may, can’, dylai ‘should, ought’, and non-modal auxiliaries, namely, gwneud ‘do’, and darfod ‘finish’. The modals can variously be attributed a number of meanings which are discussed in Jones and Thomas (1977: 95–112) and Fife (1990: 252–268, 274–290). We are not directly concerned with their meanings as lexemes except when they are relevant to the discussion of the meanings of the inflections and aspect. The discussion of aspect in 1.3.1 provides further comments on compound tense and periphrastic patterns.

10 1.2

The data: Finite verbs and aspect

Finite verb inflections

The aim of this section is to establish the paradigms (or conjugations) of finite verbs in informal Welsh which are the basis of the semantic analyses in subsequent chapters. In the following sections, we shall outline the basic suffixes and other inflections, their distribution over different lexemes, and differences between formal and informal Welsh. This study is not concerned with the morphophonology of finite verbs. Copious details are available in traditional reference grammars, based mainly on the formal style of Welsh.9 1.2.1

Basic suffixes and other inflections

The inflected forms of finite verbs in Welsh are predominantly produced through suffixation to a stem. There are also exceptional instances of stem changes alone (mainly in the formal style of Welsh), and suppletion in the case of a few lexemes, especially bod ‘be’. The details are given in table 2. Typical labels from standard reference grammars are used to name these sets of suffixes and inflectional marking. Older reference grammars use present rather than future for the majority of lexical verbs, but the latter is more convenient for this study. This matter is taken up in 3.2.1 and 3.5. The label imperfect is more fully past imperfect, but the shorter version is common practice and is adopted in this study. The label preterite is preferred to other alternatives, which include past perfect, aorist, and definite past. Past perfect, or simply, perfect would be convenient, as this would link with imperfect. But this could lead to confusion with perfect aspect, which is introduced in 1.3.1. Only a small number of verbs has regular inflectional forms for the present tense, mainly by suppletion. As such, there is no clear indication of stem + suffix in these forms, and it is not possible to provide a list of typical suffixes. Similarly, there is also a small number of verbs, especially in formal Welsh, whose preterite forms do not involve regular preterite suffixes (adnabod ‘know, recognize’, bod ‘be’, dod ‘come’, gwneud ‘do, make’, gwybod ‘know’, and mynd ‘go’). They are, nevertheless, variant realizations of the preterite paradigm. As can be seen, the inflections on finite verbs indicate the agreement features of number and person. In Welsh, the verb agrees with the subject only. We are not concerned with agreement in this study, but only with other meanings of the inflections.10

11

Finite verb inflections

Table 2. Paradigms of finite verb suffixes and other inflections in Welsh. (All forms are indicative unless labelled as subjunctive. Spellings of formal Welsh are on the first row of data, and informal Welsh on following rows, where relevant.11) Labels Singular

Suffixes and other inflections Plural

Impersonal

1st

2nd

3rd

1st

2nd

3rd

af a

i i

a† ith/iff

wn wn

wch wch

ant an

ir

ais ish esh

aist ist est

odd odd ws

(as)om (as)och (s)on (s)och

(as)ant (s)on

wyd

Imperfect - informal - formal

wn wn

et et at

ai e a

em en an

ech ech ach

ent en an

id

Pluperfect - formal - informal

aswn swn

aset set sat

asai se sa

asem sen san

asech sech sach

asent sen san

asid

Future - formal - formal Preterite - formal - informal

Present subjunctive - formal only wyf ych o om och ont Present No distinct regular suffixes † In formal Welsh, stem formation is also a common inflection.

er

The impersonal forms can be used in passives. They lack agreement contrasts. Examples are as follows (using the formal style): 15a. agorodd Sioned y drws. opened Sioned the door ‘Sioned opened the door.’ b. agorwyd y drws (gan Sioned). was-opened the door by Sioned ‘the door was opened (by Sioned).’ c. cafodd y drws ei agor (gan Sioned). got the door 3SG.M open by Sioned ‘the door was opened (by Sioned).’

12

The data: Finite verbs and aspect

16a. symuda ’r dynion y ceir. will-move the men the cars ‘the men will move the cars.’ b. symudir y ceir (gan y dynion). will-be-moved the cars by the men ‘the cars will be moved (by the men).’ c. caiff y ceir eu symud (gan y dynion). will-get the cars 3PL move by the men ‘the cars will be moved (by the men).’ In introducing impersonals, it is convenient to say that they are used in passives. But this leaves much unsaid. Passives can also be formed by another pattern which involves the verb cael ‘have, receive’ as in (15c) and (16c) in the forms of cafodd and caiff, and the impersonals can be used where a cael passive is not. These details are beyond the aims of this study, and no more will be said about them. 12 At this point, we can introduce labelling conventions which are followed in the remainder of this study. It is useful to have two distinct sets of labels for the paradigms in table 2: one simply to refer to the paradigms as forms; and the other to name the semantics of the paradigms. It is convenient to retain traditional labels because of their familiarity. For clarity of presentation, when these labels are used solely to refer to inflectional forms, their initial letter will be in upper case and they will be hyphenated with ‘Form(s)’ – Present-Forms, Future-Forms, and so forth. In contrast, the labels for the semantics will be printed in small capitals, and they will be commonly accompanied with a term for the semantic concept involved, for instance, PRESENT tense, FUTURE tense, and so on (but not when these words refer to other concepts, such as present plans or future time). We can then say, for example, that the Present-Forms convey the PRESENT tense. Where the forms convey only one meaning, as in the case of the PresentForms, this may seem unnecessarily complex. But some of the inflectional forms have more than one meaning, and distinguishing form and meaning is important in such cases. Other forms are introduced in 1.2.2 and are included in table 4. The meanings are explored in chapters 2 to 6, and the labels for the semantics will also be introduced in those chapters. Appendix 1 gives a list of form labels, semantic labels, and paradigms of bod ‘be’, lexical verbs, and modal verbs, which should serve as a convenient and quick reference for the reader. The data in table 2 suggest that there are six inflectional paradigms of finite verbs. Matters are more complex than this. In the following sections,

Finite verb inflections

13

we shall see that different lexemes exhibit different paradigms, and we shall also see different paradigms are available in different styles. 1.2.2

Lexical restrictions

Verb lexemes are relevant to a discussion of inflectional paradigms in Welsh in two respects. First, some lexemes have at least one additional stem which produces at least one extra finite verb paradigm. Second, not all lexemes have the same number of inflectional paradigms. There is a small number of verbs which have more than one stem, each of which can occur with the same inflection, creating additional finite verb paradigms. This involves the imperfect suffixes in table 2, and the following verbs: – – – – – – –

bod ‘be’ gwybod ‘know’ adnabod ‘know, recognize’ mynd ‘go’ dod ‘come’ gwneud ‘do, make’ cael ‘have, receive’

Bod ‘be’ and gwneud ‘do, make’ will serve to illustrate what happens, as is shown in table 3. The traditional names will be used as the form labels for these paradigms: in the case of bod ‘be’, for example, the oedd paradigm is referred to as the Imperfect-Forms, the byddai paradigm is referred to as the Imperfect-Consuetudinal-Forms (imperfect habitual and second imperfect are also labels found in Welsh reference grammars), and the bai paradigm is referred to as the Imperfect-Subjunctive-Forms. The meanings of these forms in informal Welsh are explored in chapters 2 and 3. The oedd paradigm is distinctive in that it does not have the -ai ending for the third person singular. The oedd- stem and the ba- stem only occur with the imperfect suffixes, but the bydd- stem is also used with the future suffixes. The gwnel- stem of gwneud ‘do, make’ is also used with the subjunctive suffixes.13 Other verbs which behave like bod ‘be’ are gwybod ‘know’ and adnabod ‘know, recognize’; and other verbs which behave like gwneud ‘do, make’ are mynd ‘go’, and dod ‘come’. Bod ‘be’ has another stem which can occur with the imperfect affixes, peta-. This has a specialized use in conditional clauses and is described in 2.3.3. There are also instances of extra

14

The data: Finite verbs and aspect

stems which do not result in the creation of an additional contrastive paradigm. Examples are the Present-Subjunctive-Forms of bod ‘be’, gwybod ‘know’, adnabod ‘know, recognize’ in formal Welsh. The third singular will serve to demonstrate: bo or byddo, gwypo or gwybyddo, and adnapo or adnabyddo. Table 3. Imperfect suffixes and different stems, and their traditional labels Stem 1 + Imp

Bod ‘be’ Stem 2 + Imp

Gwneud ‘do, make’ Stem 3 + Imp Stem 1 + Imp Stem 2 + Imp

oedd-

bydd-

ba-

gwna-

gwnel-

oedd+wn oedd+et oedd oedd+em oedd+ech oedd+ent

bydd+wn bydd+et bydd+ai bydd+em bydd+ech bydd+ent

ba+wn ba+et b+ai ba+em ba+ech ba+ent

gwna+wn gwna+et gwn+âi gwna+em gwna+ech gwna+ent

gwnel+wn gwnel+et gwnel+ai gwnel+em gwnel+ech gwnel+ent

Imperfect

Imperfect Consuetudinal

Imperfect Subjunctive

Imperfect

Imperfect Subjunctive

The discussion so far suggests that there is a potential maximum of eight finite verb paradigms in Welsh, produced by the six basic inflectional paradigms in table 2 plus the extra paradigms through stem contrasts in table 3. But these eight possibilities are not equally distributed over all verb lexemes. It is possible to set up three classes of the latter on this basis. The distribution of the finite verb paradigms for each class are represented in table 4. In this table and elsewhere in this study, we use the convention of representing all the forms of a paradigm with the third person singular of a typical member of each class; for example, mae ‘is’ represents all of the Present-Forms of bod ‘be’. The spellings of the forms of formal Welsh are mainly used for these labels, but informal spellings of third person singular forms are used in the examples in order to underline that the data come from the informal style (ma’ ‘is’ occurs in informal Welsh). These spoken forms can be found in appendix 2, and the formal spellings of the labels for the paradigms can be compared with the informal spellings of actual third person singular forms.

Finite verb inflections

15

The class which is represented by bod ‘be’ has eight formally distinct personal paradigms and seven formally distinct impersonal paradigms. Other verbs in this class are traditionally labelled as bod ‘be’ compounds for the obvious reasons that they end in bod and that their inflectional contrasts are based on the morphology of bod ‘be’, with the exception of the Present-Forms.14 The class of bod compounds is made up of: – – – – – – – –

adnabod ‘know, recognize’, canfod ‘perceive’, cydnabod ‘acknowledge’, cyfarfod ‘meet’, darfod ‘finish’, gorfod ‘have to’, gwybod ‘know’, hanfod ‘issue from’.

But only gwybod ‘know’ and adnabod ‘know, recognize’ can match bod ‘be’ in respect of the number of paradigms, and other bod compounds do not have the same inflectional – hanfod is especially restricted. We shall not dwell on these matters, but details can be found in traditional reference grammars of Welsh. The class which is represented by gwneud ‘do, make’ has six formally distinct personal paradigms and six impersonal paradigms. This is a very small class which is made up of: – dod ‘come’ – gwneud ‘do, make’ – mynd ‘go’

The class which is represented by cerdded ‘walk’ has five formally distinct personal paradigms and five impersonal paradigms. This class is made up of all other verbs, and has a huge membership. Traditional reference grammars refer to the class of verbs which are represented by cerdded ‘walk’ as regular verbs and the verbs in the other classes as irregular verbs. Traditional reference grammars of Welsh also list a small number of defective verbs which do not enjoy the minimum range of inflections which is seen in the cerdded ‘walk’ group – but we are not concerned with such details in this study.15

16

The data: Finite verbs and aspect

Table 4. Finite verb paradigms in formal Welsh which are inflectionally distinctive Forms Personal

Bod ‘be’

Present Future Preterite Imperfect Imperfect Consuetudinal Pluperfect Present Subjunctive Imperfect Subjunctive Impersonal Present Future Preterite Imperfect Imperfect Consuetudinal Pluperfect Present Subjunctive Imperfect Subjunctive

mae bydd bu oedd byddai buasai bo bai ydys byddir buwyd oeddid byddid buasid bydder

Gwneud ‘do, make’

Cerdded ‘walk’

gwna gwnaeth gwnâi

cerdda cerddodd cerddai

gwnaethai gwnelo gwnelai

cerddasai cerddo

gwneir gwnaethpwyd gwneid

cerddir cerddwyd cerddid

gwnaethid gwneler gwnelid

cerddasid cerdder

We shall briefly return now to comment on the Present-Forms of bod ‘be’. There is more than one form of the third persons, singular and plural. These details are not relevant to the analysis of tense in Welsh as they all have the same tense, namely, PRESENT. But it is as well to note the facts to avoid confusion in illustrations which involve the Present-Forms. The various forms are given in table 5. Table 5. Third person forms of the PRESENT tense of bod ‘be’

Singular

Plural

Formal Welsh

Informal Welsh

mae ydyw / ydy / yw oes sydd / sy maent ydynt / ŷn

mae / ma’ (y)dy / yw oes / o’s / ’s sydd / sy ma’n (y)dyn / ŷn

Finite verb inflections

17

In brief, the m-forms (mae, maent and their informal equivalents) are used in affirmative and declarative root clauses. The y-forms (ydyw, ydy, yw and their informal equivalents) are used in negatives and / or interrogatives, in clauses headed by certain conjunctions, in copular clauses which have a fronted predicatival phrase, and in responsives; the o-forms (oes and its informal equivalents) are equivalents of the y-forms when the subject is indefinite and non-generic; and sydd (which can be shortened to sy) is used in clauses which have a fronted subject.16 Traditional reference grammars account for the paradigms in table 4 within a semantic taxonomy which is based on various combinations of tense (common distinctions, using traditional labels, are present, future, past imperfect, preterite (or past perfect), and pluperfect), mood (indicative, subjunctive, and imperative), and voice (personal and impersonal). We can briefly note that in traditional taxonomies: – gwybyddai is typically aligned with gwnelai as an imperfect subjunc-

tive; – gaps in the semantic taxonomy are filled by listing a formal paradigm

more than once: for example, the Imperfect-Forms of regular verbs occur as an imperfect indicative and as an imperfect subjunctive. We shall not concern ourselves with the details of the traditional tense / mood / voice taxonomy, but an analysis of the semantics of finite verbs in informal Welsh is the main aim of this study and is explored in chapters 2 to 6. 1.2.3

Stylistic restrictions

More important for the aims of this study are stylistic restrictions on the use of the finite verb paradigms which are listed in table 4. A major stylistic difference in Welsh is one which is based on the contrast of formal Welsh and informal Welsh. The contextual variables for this distinction are difficult to define precisely. It is not entirely dichotomous, and is better seen as a cline involving different degrees of formality. Further, different speakers may variously import formal features into an informal context, and vice versa especially. Formal Welsh is typically found in literary works, religious texts, academic writings, official publications, the press, and news broadcasts (although the latter may use phonological variants from informal Welsh). It is mainly, but not exclusively, written. Informal Welsh is found

18

The data: Finite verbs and aspect

in more informal and spontaneous contexts, such as everyday conversations. It is mainly, but not exclusively, spoken. The linguistic variables which characterize the two styles are extensive in Welsh (see Jones (B.) M. 1974, 1979, 1993, and Fife 1986 for full accounts). Finite verb forms are prominent amongst the linguistic variables which help to define these two styles. We shall note three general sorts of stylistic differences. These differences are most clearly apparent when comparing informal Welsh and conservative formal Welsh. First, some inflections can occur in both the formal and informal styles but they can have different meanings in the two styles. These differences are identified in chapters 2 to 4, and we shall not pursue the details here. Second, the productivity of some inflectional paradigms is different in formal and informal Welsh. The impersonal forms and the Present-Subjunctive-Forms are mainly confined to the formal style of Welsh. There are occasional uses of these forms in informal Welsh by speakers who are familiar with the grammar of formal Welsh, but they are not productive over all speakers (the Present-Subjunctive-Forms occur in idioms, such as doed a delo ‘come what may’). The forms of the bod compounds are also mainly confined to formal Welsh. A possible exception is gwybod ‘know’, which some speakers can use with the Present-Forms and Imperfect-Forms – especially the first and second persons. Details are given in 3.5. Third, in informal Welsh several of the inflectional paradigms lose semantic contrasts which can exist in formal Welsh, and convey the same meanings, namely, all of the following paradigms: – – – –

the Imperfect-Forms of lexical verbs the Imperfect-Consuetudinal-Forms of bod ‘be’ the Pluperfect-Forms of bod ‘be’ and lexical verbs the Imperfect-Subjunctive-Forms of verbs like gwneud ‘do, make’

The meanings which they convey in formal Welsh are indicated by their form labels. In informal Welsh, all these forms convey a FUTURE-IN-THEPAST tense and COUNTERFACTUAL meaning (the details are given in chapters 2 and 3). These meanings are also found in formal Welsh, too. But their other meanings in formal Welsh are very untypical of informal Welsh. The details are given in chapters 2 and 3. In this study, we shall use Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms as a general label to refer to all these forms when they are synonymous. When there is a need to refer to them individually, a more specific label can be used, based on table 4. For example, the Imperfect-Consuetudinal-Forms, the byddai paradigm, are semantically different

Finite verb inflections

19

when used to convey a habitual meaning in informal Welsh, and details are given in 2.4. Further, the Imperfect-Subjunctive-Forms of bod ‘be’, bai, can occur in informal Welsh in certain conditional clauses, as discussed in 2.3.3. Synonymous relationships are also seen between the ImperfectForms and Pluperfect-Forms of modal verbs, but in their case the shared meanings are PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE and COUNTERFACTUAL (the details are given in chapter 3). Again we shall use Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms as a general label. This study concentrates upon informal Welsh, so the stylistic restrictions which are sketched above rule out some of the traditional paradigms and conflate others. We are left with five productive and functionally distinct finite verb paradigms, which are distributed over verb classes as summarized in table 6. Table 6. Contrastive finite verb paradigms in informal Welsh Forms

Bod ‘be’

Present Future Imperfect Imp/Pluperfect Preterite

mae bydd oedd byddai/buasai bu

Gwneud ‘do, make’

Cerdded ‘walk’

gwneith

cerddith

gwnâi/gwnaethai/gwnelai gwnaeth

cerddai/cerddasai cerddodd

This table gives the data which are the concern of this study. In the dialects, there are numerous morphophonological variants of all these paradigms (Thomas and Thomas 1989: 60–74 provide a convenient outline of their major spoken realizations). As already mentioned, this study has no aims to explore morphophonology, but in the illustrations of informal Welsh in the rest of this study, spoken forms will be represented. Table 6 retains the remnants of the morphologically-based classification of verbs in table 4. But the following chapters will show that semantic analyses of inflections in Welsh produce a different classification, namely: – bod ‘be’, analysed in chapter 2, – lexical verbs and the auxiliary gwneud ‘do’, analysed in chapter 3, – modals, also analysed in chapter 3.

Details are given in chapters 2 to 5.

20 1.3

The data: Finite verbs and aspect

Aspect

General accounts of aspect which are based on a variety of languages are available in Comrie (1976), Dahl (1985), Smith (1997), and Binnick (1991). Aspectual meanings can be realized in one of two ways, both of which can be found in Comrie (1976: 87–110) and Dahl (1985): inflectionally (which can also be called synthetic) and syntactically (frequently called analytic or periphrastic). The forms involved in inflectional aspect also convey tense contrasts as well as aspectual ones. In Welsh, this applies to the Imperfect-Forms and Preterite-Forms, and their aspectual contrasts are discussed in chapter 4. In this section, we shall introduce syntactic aspect and also emphasize that a distinction is made between tense and aspect in this study. The term aspect can also be used in a much wider sense to refer to types of situations, and is based on relationships between verb lexemes and their arguments and their adjuncts. This approach to aspect derives from the work of Vendler (1967), and examples of it are seen in Dowty (1979), Smith (1997), and Thompson (2005). This current work does not set out to discuss aspect in this very wide sense, but issues which arise out of situational aspect are drawn upon in the discussion of perfect aspect and progressive aspect in chapters 7 and 8. 1.3.1

Syntactic aspect patterns

The term aspect can refer to syntactic configurations which are based on the co-occurrence of two or more forms. A common realization involves auxiliary verbs and participial forms of verbs such as present and past participles in languages like English, Italian, Spanish, and French (past participle only), and typical contrasts variously involve progressive versus nonprogressive and perfect versus non-perfect. In Welsh, a word occurs as an aspect marker, and precedes a non-finite verb: yn marks the progressive (as in 17b and 17d, for instance) and wedi marks the perfect (as in 17c and 17d, for instance). Dahl’s (1985) survey indicates that other forms of realization are found in the world’s languages, but he also points out that realizations of the perfect and the progressive are mainly analytic in his survey (Dahl 1985: 90–91, 127–131). In Welsh, aspect phrases can occur in periphrastic patterns, compound tense patterns, non-finite clauses, small clauses, and absolute clauses. At this introductory stage, we shall simply illustrate aspect patterns in these contexts without providing detailed analyses (the lat-

Aspect

21

ter is undertaken in chapters 7 to 9). Examples of periphrastic patterns are as follows: 17a. [alle] Mair [orffen] y gwaith. could Mair finish the work ‘Mair could finish the work.’ b. [alle] Mair [fod yn gorffen] y gwaith. could Mair be PROG finish the work ‘Mair could be finishing the work.’ c. [alle] Mair [fod wedi gorffen] y gwaith. could Mair be PERF finish the work ‘Mair could have finished the work.’ d. [alle] Mair [fod wedi bod yn gorffen] y gwaith. could Mair be PERF be PROG finish the work ‘Mair could have been finishing the work.’ In (17a), no marked aspect contrasts occur: such examples can be described as non-progressive and non-perfect. In (17b–d) respectively, we have a progressive (but non-perfect) pattern, a perfect (but non-progressive) pattern, and a perfect and progressive pattern. The following are illustrations of compound tense patterns: 18a. [dria’] i orffen y gwaith. will-try I finish the work ‘I’ll try to finish the work.’ b. [fydda’] i [’n trio] gorffen y gwaith. will-be I PROG try finish the work ‘I will be trying to finish the work.’ c. [fydda’] i [wedi trio] gorffen y gwaith. will-be I PERF try finish the work ‘I will have tried to finish the work.’ d. [fydda’] i [wedi bod yn trio] gorffen y gwaith. will-be I PERF be PROG try finish the work ‘I will have been trying to finish the work.’ The example in (18a) is non-progressive and non-perfect – commonly referred to as a simple (finite) verb, represented by dria’ here. In (18b–d) respectively, we have a progressive (but non-perfect) pattern, a perfect (but non-progressive) pattern, and a perfect and progressive pattern. The following examples show aspect patterns in non-finite clauses, as complements

22

The data: Finite verbs and aspect

and adverbs. For economy of presentation, only examples with subjects are given in the examples which follow: 19a. dw i ’n disgwyl i Mair [weithio]. am I PROG expect to Mair work ‘I expect Mair to work.’ b. dw i ’n disgwyl i Mair [fod yn gweithio]. am I PROG expect to Mair be PROG work ‘I expect Mair to be working.’ c. dw i ’n disgwyl i Mair [fod wedi gweithio]. am I PROG expect to Mair be PERF work ‘I expect Mair to have worked.’ d. dw i ’n disgwyl i Mair [fod wedi bod yn gweithio]. am I PROG expect to Mair be PERF be PROG work ‘I expect Mair to have been working.’ 20a. cyn i Mair [weithio] … before to Mair work ‘before Mair works …’ b. cyn i Mair [fod yn gweithio] … before to Mair be PROG work ‘before Mair is working …’ c. cyn i Mair [fod wedi gweithio] … before to Mair be PERF work ‘before Mair has worked …’ d. cyn i Mair [fod wedi bod yn gweithio] … before to Mair be PERF be PROG work ‘before Mair has been working …’ There are non-perfect and non-progressive examples in (19a) and (20a); there are progressive (but non-perfect) examples in (19b) and (20b); there are perfect (but non-progressive) examples in (19c) and (20c); and there are perfect and progressive examples in (19d) and (20d). 17 The following examples illustrate aspect in a small clause: 21a. dw i ’n cofio Mair [yn digio] ’r prifathro. am I PROG remember Mair PROG upset the headteacher ‘I remember Mair upsetting the headteacher.’ b. dw i ’n cofio Mair [wedi colli] ’i phres. am I PROG remember Mair PERF lose 3SG.F money ‘I remember Mair having lost her money.’

Aspect

23

c. dw i ’n cofio Mair [wedi bod yn nofio]. am I PROG remember Mair PERF be PROG swim ‘I remember Mair having been swimming.’ There is a progressive (but non-perfect) example in (21a), a perfect (but non-progressive) example in (21b), and a progressive and perfect example in (21c). The following examples illustrate aspect in an absolute clause: 22a. a finnau [’n gweithio] trwy ’r nos. and I.COORD PROG work through the night ‘and me working all night.’ b. a Mair [wedi trefnu] aros yn hwyr. and Mair PERF arrange stay ADV late ‘and Mair having arranged to stay late.’ c. a hithe [wedi bod yn hel] pres am y daith. and she.COORD PERF be PROG collect money for the trip ‘and her having been saving money for the trip.’ There is a progressive (but non-perfect) example in (22a), a perfect (but non-progressive) example in (22b), and a progressive and perfect examples in (22c). The descriptive observations presented above can be summarized in the form of an exploded display as in table 7. In (ia–c) we have periphrastic patterns, in (iia–c) we have compound tense patterns, in (iiia–c) we have non-finite clauses with a subject (i-clauses), in (iva–c) we have non-finite clauses without a subject, and in (va–c) we have subject-predicate patterns which occur in small clauses and absolute clauses. In (iii), it can be seen that the form i is aligned under finite verbs. English for in equivalent constructions which contain a subject is analysed as a complementizer (Carnie 2002: 15; Radford 1997: 54–58; Radford 2004: 52–55). As previously mentioned, Borsley, Tallerman, and Willis (2007: 81–103) argue that Welsh i in non-finite clauses which contain a subject (i-clauses) occupies the position of a finite verb. We can briefly comment upon the relationship of aspect markers and forms of bod ‘be’, which is apparent in examples (17–22) and also table 7. It can be seen that a form of bod ‘be’ is absent in small clauses and absolute clauses which are either perfect (and non-progressive) or progressive (and non-perfect). In all other patterns a finite or non-finite form of bod ‘be’ occurs for each aspect marker (the non-finite form is always adjacent while the finite form is non-adjacent). The relationship of bod ‘be’ and aspect

24

The data: Finite verbs and aspect

markers properly belongs to a discussion of the syntax of aspect, and an account of this relationship is not essential for a discussion of the semantics of the perfect and progressive aspects. Apart from descriptive comments on categorization and complementation in 9.2, a detailed study of the syntax of aspect is not undertaken in this study. Table 7. An exploded display of syntactic aspect patterns in Welsh

i a b c ii a b c iii a b c iv a b c v a b c

Verb

Subject

bod ‘be’

Perf

alle alle alle fydde fydde fydde i i i

Mair Mair Mair Mair Mair Mair Mair Mair Mair

fod

wedi

Mair Mair Mair

fod

wedi wedi

fod

wedi wedi

fod bod

wedi wedi

bod

wedi wedi wedi

bod ‘be’

Prog

fod bod

yn yn

bod

yn yn

fod bod

yn yn

bod bod

yn yn

bod

yn yn

Verb trio trio trio trio trio trio trio trio trio trio trio trio trio trio trio

Our main concern is with the semantics of aspect and its relationship with the semantics of tense, and we shall consider these matters in all the contexts in which aspect occurs. The perfect aspect is discussed in chapter 7, and the progressive aspect is discussed in chapter 8. We also consider whether other forms and expressions are aspect markers in chapter 9. 1.3.2

Tense and aspect

Some accounts of tense are based on a wider consideration of the grammar of time reference, and view co-occurrences of inflectional tense-aspect forms and syntactic aspect patterns as complex tenses. Traditionally, such co-occurrences of tense forms and syntactic aspect are referred to as compound tenses in Welsh grammars (older reference grammars do not exploit syntactic aspect as a descriptive category, although it is referred to in the

Aspect

25

later works of Thomas 1996: 90–91 and Thorne 1993: 267–270). Rowland (1876: 55–113) and Thomas (1996: 97–121) provide examples from Welsh, such that (18a) above can be referred to as the future tense, and (18b-d) can be referred to as the future progressive tense, the future perfect tense, and the future progressive perfect tense respectively.18 In the study being presented here, a distinction is maintained between tense and aspect, both syntactic and inflectional aspect. Tense, perfect and progressive are assigned their own meanings, and there are no single meanings such as present perfect or past progressive. 19 The examples of aspect in non-finite clauses, which have no overt tense, emphasize the distinction between tense and syntactic aspect, and underline the approach adopted in this study that they should be accounted for separately. Consequently, in this study, labels such as PRESENT perfect should be read as PRESENT tense and perfect aspect.

Chapter 2 Finite inflections of bod ‘be’ 2.1

Introduction

The aim of this chapter is to introduce an analysis of the semantics of the inflections of finite verbs in Welsh by concentrating on bod ‘be’, which has the greatest number of finite forms of any verb in informal Welsh. We shall discuss tense, factuality, and habituality. We shall also consider the use of mynd i ‘go to’ in descriptions of subsequently-occurring situations. Inflectional aspect, that is, the contrast of PERFECTIVE and IMPERFECTIVE, is also relevant to a consideration of finite verb forms, but it is discussed in chapter 4. Other meanings, such as modal meanings, are considered in chapter 6. There are constraints on finite verbs in complement clauses, but we consider these in 5.4. The formal paradigms of bod ‘be’ in informal Welsh are given in table 6 of chapter 1, and can be re-listed here in table 8 for convenience. In order to help the reader, we shall also anticipate the analyses of the semantics of finite verb inflections by providing the semantic labels for these forms, and their abbreviated versions in the interlinear glosses. Table 8. Inflected forms of bod ‘be’ (the third person singular represents the whole paradigm) Forms mae bydd

Present-Forms Future-Forms

Meanings PRESENT FUTURE PRESENT-HABITUAL

oedd Imperfect-Forms byddai Imperfect-Consuetudinal-Forms

PAST IMPERFECTIVE FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST COUNTERFACTUAL PAST -HABITUAL

buasai Pluperfect-Forms

FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST COUNTERFACTUAL

bu

Preterite-Forms

PAST PERFECTIVE

(PRES) (FUT) (PRES-HAB) (IMPF) (FUTP) (CNTF) (PAST -HAB) (FUTP) (CNTF) (PERV)

Tense

27

It can be seen from table 8 that some forms have more than one meaning. It can also be seen that byddai and buasai paradigms share two meanings, and it will be recalled from 1.2.3 that where we need to refer to both as synonymous forms we shall use the label Imperfect/Pluperfect-Form(s). The Imperfect-Form oedd has a tense and aspectual function, PAST and IMPERFECTIVE. We are concerned only with its tense function in this chapter, and its aspectual meaning is discussed in chapter 4 along with the PreteriteForms of the bu paradigm. The analysis presented here, along with the analysis in chapter 4, provides a comprehensive account of the semantic contrasts which are conveyed by finite verb inflections. These paradigms can occur in copular sentences such as the one in (1a) and also in patterns which contain the progressive aspect, traditionally referred to as compound tenses, such as the one in (1b). This chapter is concerned only with the finite verb forms, and both copular sentences and compound tense patterns are used in illustrations. The semantics of the progressive are discussed in chapter 8. 2.2

Tense

The discussion of tense considers two analyses, which are labelled here as the time-of-situation analysis and the time-of-evaluation analysis. The former is considered in 2.2.2 and 2.2.3, and the latter is considered in 2.2.4. To begin with, we shall make introductory comments on tense and time. 2.2.1

Tense and time

We shall follow a standard contemporary approach in linguistics which distinguishes between tense as a grammatical category, and time as a philosophical concept. Our concern with time is limited to the purposes of a linguistic analysis of tense, and does not consider the wider issues of a philosophical treatment.20 Nor shall we consider a physicist’s view of time in terms of the speed of light, such that current observations of a far distant star indicate its past state and not its current state. We shall also follow another standard approach in linguistics which establishes three periods of time: past, present and future. These periods of time are typically defined in relation to the time of speaking, as in Reichenbach (1947) and Lyons (1968: 275–276, 1977: 677–690, 1995: 302–320). Lyons’ emphasis on the spatio-temporal context of the speaker defines these periods of time in

28

Finite inflections of bod ‘be’

terms of deixis, in particular, temporal deixis. The time at which the speaker delivers an utterance provides a temporal point of reference, “the temporal zero-point of the deictic centre” (Lyons 1977: 678), which can help to explain the three periods of time: the deictic past is before the moment of speaking, the deictic present coincides with the moment of speaking, and the deictic future is after the moment of speaking. It is common in discussions of tense to picture the deictic periods of time along a time line, in a display such as that given in figure 1. Before the present moment

At the present moment

Past time

Present time

After the present moment

Future time

Figure 1. Deictic periods of time

These three periods of time are sometimes conveyed formulaically. With t0 as the moment of speaking, ti < t0 represents a point or period of time before the present, tj = t0 represents a point or period of time at the moment of speaking, and tk > t0 represents a point or period of time after the moment of speaking. Reichenbach (1947) – using E(vent), S(peech Time), and relationships of anteriority, simultaneity, and posteriority – establishes formulae such as E – S (E before S) for past time, E,S (E simultaneous with S) for present time, and S – E (E after S) for future time. For the most part, we shall use the more familiar, traditional labels with their deictic definitions as just outlined (but we consider explanations of present time in greater detail in 2.2.5). There are complicating factors about the moment of speaking as the “temporal zero-point of the deictic centre”. One complication can arise when we read previously written messages. We have examples like you are now leaving West Berlin (Comrie 1985: 15–16), and I am in room 2114 (Fillmore 1976: 93, cited in Declerck 1991: 15–16 who provides other examples). We can say that, in some utterances or writings, the deictic reference time can be established not in terms of the time at which the speaker speaks (or the writer writes) but in terms of the time at which the listener or reader interprets the message. Another complication arises with the use of the PRESENT tense in the narration of past events, as in examples such as At the dawn of human history, early man looks out over the scene before him, or At the battle of Waterloo, Napoleon meets his match in the Duke of Wellington and his allies. In examples like these, the deictic centre has been

Tense

29

moved back in time, and produces an effect of immediacy. This is similar to, if not the same as, the so-called historic present, which is discussed in 2.2.3. It is possible to set up other periods of time which, although they occur within a deictic period, are defined in relation to some reference time other than the time of utterance. It is common to refer to these non-deictic periods as relative periods of time, as in Comrie (1985: 5–6). They are graphically illustrated in the display in figure 2. Before the reference time

Previous

Reference time

Simultaneous

After the reference time

Subsequent

Figure 2. Relative periods of time

The reference time can occur in the deictic past, the deictic present, or the deictic future, and a relative period of time can thus be located within these deictic periods. A reference time is one of the distinctions which is part of Reichenbach’s (1947) approach, frequently quoted in the literature, and is prominent in the analyses of perfect aspect (see Chapter 7). But a relative reference time also has a role in analysing tense, especially but not exclusively the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST, as is shown in 2.2.2, 2.2.3, and 2.2.4. Comrie (1985: 16) uses deixis in a wider sense such that any reference time can establish deictic reference. We shall, however, maintain a distinction between the deictic periods of time and the relative periods of time, and follow the stricter definition of deixis which is based on the speaker’s standpoint in the here and now. 2.2.2

The time-of-situation analysis

It is surprising that the association of tense with time is often vaguely expressed in the literature. It is frequently asserted that tense refers to time or is concerned with temporal location, without providing details about the nature of the reference or, crucially, what is temporally located. There are, however, more precise statements. General treatments of tense claim that it locates in time the event, action, state or process which is conveyed in the sentence, as in Lyons (1968: 305, 1977: 678), Comrie (1985: 36, 41), Cann (1993: 241), Allan (2001: 353), and Thompson (2005: 7, 157). In an early

30

Finite inflections of bod ‘be’

detailed grammar of Welsh, Rowland (1876: 61) says: “A tense expresses the time of the action or state of the verb.” And this view is repeated in a recent Welsh grammar by Thomas (1996: 27), who explicitly says that the function of tense is to locate the action in time – pryd y mae’r weithred yn digwydd [when the action happens]. Klein (1994: 21) refers to this approach as the standard theory of tense. 21 We shall follow Lyons (1977: 483) and Comrie (1976: 13) in using the term situation as a general term to cover actions, events, states, and processes.22 We can also add that traditional explanations, as in Rowland (1876: 62), quoted above, relate the semantics of tense too narrowly to “the action or state of the verb”. The participants involved in the action or state and other circumstantial elements are also included within the scope of the temporal context. Tense is thus a sentential category whose scope encompasses the remainder of the sentence, even though in many languages, such as Welsh, it is realized in verb morphology. The term situation is used in this wider sense to include not only the reference of the verb but also the participants and circumstances. In this study, we shall refer to the temporal view of tense which we have just outlined as the time-of-situation analysis, that is, the function of tense is to convey the temporal location of situations in deictic periods of time. The time-of-situation analysis can be supported by examples which describe situations whose temporal location is concurrent with the traditional temporal features of the tenses. In the interlinear glosses, the tenses of the finite forms of bod ‘be’ are glossed as PRES (PRESENT ), FUT (FUTURE), and IMPF (PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE), realized respectively by the Present-Forms, the Future-Forms, and the Imperfect-Forms: 1a. ma’ Mair yma rwan. be.PRES.3SG Mair here now ‘Mair is here now.’ b. ma’ Mair yn gweithio rwan. be.PRES.3SG Mair PROG work now ‘Mair is working now.’ 2a. fydd Mair yma fory. be.FUT.3SG Mair here tomorrow ‘Mair will be here tomorrow.’ b. fydd Mair yn gweithio fory. be.FUT.3SG Mair PROG work tomorrow ‘Mair will be working tomorrow.’

Tense

31

3a. oedd Mair yma ddoe. be.IMPF.3SG Mair here yesterday ‘Mair was here yesterday.’ b. oedd Mair yn gweithio ddoe. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG work yesterday ‘Mair was working yesterday.’ On the basis of examples like these, it is entirely reasonable to conclude for Welsh that the PRESENT tense is used when the situation is located in the present time, that the FUTURE tense is used when the situation is located in the future time, and that the PAST tense is used when the situation is located in the past time. At this stage, we shall assume that talking about present time is straightforward. But this matter is examined in greater detail in 2.2.5. Welsh has another PAST tense which is realized either by the ImperfectConsuetudinal-Forms, the byddai paradigm, or the Pluperfect-Forms, the buasai paradigm (the spoken forms of the latter paradigm are quite different to their formal spellings, and details are given in appendix 2). Byddai is used mainly in southern areas and buasai in northern areas, but byddai is the norm in formal Welsh. Both these forms can be used as a FUTURE-INTHE-PAST tense, which is glossed in the examples as FUTP. For convenience of exposition, however, we refer to both sets of forms as Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms when they convey this meaning. For the other tenses, we have been able to characterize the location of the situation in terms of deictic periods of time. We shall see from the illustrations given below that this is partly true of the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST: it is used to describe situations which are located in the deictic past. But this characterization alone does not distinguish the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST from the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE, which also describes situations which are located in the deictic past as in (3). In order to account for the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST, the temporal location must be explained in terms of two times in the deictic past. One is the temporal location of the situation itself, somewhere in the deictic past. The other is an implicit or explicit reference time, also somewhere in the deictic past. The crucial point is that the time of the situation is subsequent to the reference time. Figure 3 illustrates a future-in-the-past temporal context. The situation is in past time in relation to the present moment but it is subsequent to the reference time. The use of the term future is not strictly justifiable in terms of the deictic approach to periods of time that we have adopted, and the term subsequent and the expression subsequent-in-the-past are more appropriate. But the traditional expression future-in-the-past is

32

Finite inflections of bod ‘be’

familiar and well-established, and will be used for convenience of exposition to label both the temporal location of the situation and the semantics of the tense.

Past reference time

Later past situation (future-in-the-past)

Present moment

Figure 3. Future-in-the-past situation

Clear examples of a future-in-the-past situation can be provided by illustrations which explicitly convey a reference time; for example, by a main clause which introduces a complement clause, or by a temporal adverb: 4a. oedd o ’n gwbod basa/bydde fo ’n methu wedyn. be.IMPF.3SG he PROG know be.FUTP.3SG he PROG fail after ‘he knew he would fail afterwards.’ b. fasa/fydde fo byth yn gweld Mair eto ar ôl y be.FUTP.3SG he never PROG see Mair again on track the gwylie. holidays ‘he would never see Mair again after the holidays.’ In the case of (4a), oedd o’n gwbod ‘he knew’ can establish the past reference time, and the situation in the complement clause occurs at a later past time. In (4b), the time of the holidays can establish the past reference time after which the situation which is described in the rest of the sentence occurs. It is interesting to compare the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE and the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense. But this can be more effectively undertaken in 2.2.3, after we have considered additional data. We see there that the reference time is not confined to explaining the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST but is also relevant to discussing the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE and the other tenses. There are two general points which can be made about the time-ofsituation analysis. First, in the case of the past and future periods, the tenses themselves do not give us detailed locations in time. The past period is simply defined as the period of time before the moment of speaking, so the situation could be located at any point or period in an immense period of time which precedes the present moment. Decontextualized examples like the following do not give a precise temporal location of the situation:

Tense

33

5a. oedd hi ’n bwrw glaw. be.IMPF.3SG she PROG hit rain ‘it was raining.’ b. oedd yr Afon Rheidol yn gor-lifo. be.IMPF.3SG the River Rheidol PROG over-flow ‘the River Rheidol was over-flowing.’ Without a precise context, these examples could apply to any situation which accords with their descriptions at any time previous to the present moment. A similar point can be made about situations in the future period: it is a period of infinite length, it can be assumed. The details of the specific temporal location of a situation are provided either by a temporal adverb such as rwan ‘now’, yfory ‘tomorrow’ and ddoe ‘yesterday’ in examples (1–3) or by the speaker’s and listener’s knowledge and interpretation of contextual information – pragmatics. The role of pragmatics is wellillustrated by an oft-cited example from Partee (1973). As two people get into a car to depart and leave the house unoccupied, one says I didn’t turn off the stove. Clearly, our knowledge of such situations restricts the temporal location of the situation to a particular time in the immediate period which leads up to the departure and not to all of the past life of the speaker. Similarly, we can add that tense itself does not tell us anything about a sequence of events. The following examples contain similar tenses: 6 Olchish i ’r car. Dorrish i ’r gwair. Ddarllenish i wash.PERV.1SG I the car cut.PERV.1SG I the grass read.PERV.1SG I ’r papur. the paper ‘I washed the car. I cut the grass. I read the paper.’ Tense in itself does not tell us which situation occurs first, second or third. So, we could easily re-arrange the sequencing of these sentences: 7 Ddarllenish i ’r papur. Dorrish i ’r gwair. Olchish read.PERV.1SG I the paper cut.PERV.1SG I the grass wash.PERV.1SG i ’r car. I the car ‘I read the paper. I cut the grass. I washed the car.’ If order is to be determined, it is determined by means other than tense. Typically, order-of-mention can do this, so that the events are ordered dif-

34

Finite inflections of bod ‘be’

ferently in (6) and (7). Order-of-mention is not binding, however, and both these examples could be interpreted as haphazard, un-ordered recollections of the events of the day. There may also be pragmatic information arising from our understanding of the nature of events which determines their temporal sequence: 8 Ferwish i ’r wy. Dorrish i ’r top i ffwrdd. boil.PERV.1SG I the egg cut.PERV.1SG I the top to away F’ytish i ’r cyfan. eat.PERV.1SG I the complete ‘I boiled the egg. I cut the top away. I ate the lot.’ Pragmatics tells us that cooking normally precedes eating, and that slicing the top off an egg normally follows cooking and precedes eating. So, we would not expect: 9 F’ytish i ’r cyfan. Dorrish i ’r top i ffwrdd. eat.PERV.1SG I the complete cut.PERV.1SG I the top to away Ferwish i ’r wy. boil.PERV.1SG I the egg ‘I ate the lot. I cut the top away. I boiled the egg.’ Another way of determining order is through the use of adverbs, as in: 10 Yn gyntaf olchish i ’r car. Wedyn dorrish i ADV first wash.PERV.1SG I the car afterwards cut.PERV.1SG I ’r gwair. Yn ola, ddarllenish i ’r papur. the grass ADV last read.PERV.1SG I the paper ‘First I washed the car. Then I cut the grass. Lastly, I read the paper.’ A study by Partee (1984) shows that times of situations can also be dependent on other clauses in the discourse. Thus, in John left the room. He was furious, the two situations are located at the same time. But in John said that Mary was pregnant, Mary may have been pregnant before it was reported by John or when it was reported. Temporal sequencing is thus decided by order-of-mention, by pragmatics, by explicit sequencing expressions, or by reference to other clauses in the discourse, and not tense. The study of tense alone does not amount to a complete study of time in language. This work confines itself to an analysis of tense in terms of deictic

Tense

35

periods of time, and does not examine in detail the various phenomena which fix the precise temporal locations of situations.23 Second, and more significantly for this study, the time-of-situation analysis faces the problem that there are examples which describe situations whose temporal locations are not concurrent with the traditional temporal properties of the tenses. These are discussed in detail in the next subsection, 2.2.3. 2.2.3

Non-concurrent situations

In this section, we shall look at examples which describe situations which are not in periods of time which are traditionally associated with the tenses which the examples contain. For convenience of exposition, we can refer to such situations as non-concurrent situations. They involve the following combinations of tenses and temporal locations of situations: – – – –

the PRESENT tense and situations in past time and future time the PAST tense and situations in present time and future time the FUTURE tense and situations in past time and present time the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense and non-subsequent situations

We shall attempt to provide explanations for the use of tenses in sentences which describe non-concurrent situations. In this section, we shall do this descriptively, and consider a more general approach in 2.2.4. In the course of presenting the description, we shall see that the concept of a reference time is generally useful for explaining all the tenses and not just the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST (as discussed in 2.2.2). We shall look first at the PRESENT tense in descriptions of situations which are located in future time. According to Binnick (1991: 119), it has long been recognized that the PRESENT tense can be used to describe future situations, and is seen in observations to this effect by Aristotle and later by early grammarians of the so-called vernacular languages (Miege 1688 for English, and de la Touche 1696 for French). 24 The term futurate is often used to label the use of the PRESENT tense in descriptions of future-time situations. But this term is misleading as a generalization can be established with the PAST tense (IMPERFECTIVE) as is shown later in this sub-section. Examples involving the Welsh Present-Forms are as follows:

36

Finite inflections of bod ‘be’

11a. ma’ Mair yma yfory. be.PRES.3SG Mair here tomorrow ‘Mair is here tomorrow.’ b. ma’ Mair yn gweithio yfory. be.PRES.3SG Mair PROG work tomorrow ‘Mair is working / works tomorrow.’ c. ma’ ’r awyren yn gad’el am bedwar bore be.PRES.3SG the plane PROG leave at four morning fory. tomorrow ‘the plane is leaving / leaves at four tomorrow morning.’ d. dw i ’ n gweld Mair wythnos nesa. be.PRES.1SG I PROG see Mair week next ‘I’m seeing / see Mair next week.’ e. ma’ ’r llanw yn mynd allan am naw yfory. be.PRES.3SG the tide PROG go out at nine tomorrow ‘the tide goes out at nine tomorrow.’ f. ma’ ’r haul yn machlud am 9.30 nos Wener nesa. be.PRES.3SG the sun PROG set at 9.30 night Friday next ‘the sun sets at 9.30 next Friday night.’ The time-of-situation analysis cannot predict the PRESENT tense in examples like these, and they create problems for that analysis of tense. As far as Welsh is concerned, the use of the PRESENT tense to describe future situations occurs under certain conditions. Welsh is similar to English in this respect, and explanations which have been suggested for the latter language can also be applied to Welsh.25 A frequently mentioned condition is that firm present-time arrangements (especially plans or schedules) are necessary to use the PRESENT tense to describe future situations, as in Morris-Jones (1922: 132), Vetter (1973), Dowty (1979: 154–163), Comrie (1985: 47–48), Kearns (2000: 151), Allan (2001: 359), and Copley (2001: 23). Lakoff (1970: 845) holds that control or the speaker’s knowledge of control is an important factor. Binnick (1991: 280) more generally talks about the need for certainty, although Vetter (1973) argues against this. Examples like (11e–f) also show that regularly occurring events whose date and time of occurrences can be calculated in advance can also be described by a sentence which contains the PRESENT tense (Kearns 2000: 151 mentions that the situation can be “fixed as a natural event”). We can exploit these explanations by saying that such factors as firm present arrangements, control, or scientific calculations provide a basis for the use of the PRESENT

Tense

37

tense in a sentence which describes a future situation. Collectively, we can say that all these situations can be predetermined. (Dowty 1979: 154–163, following Leech 1971: 59 and Goodman 1973, uses predetermined to refer specifically to examples like 11e–f. But we shall use it as a more general label to account for all futurates.) It can be noted that we do not include intention here. Intention has a role in the account of mynd i ‘go to’ in descriptions of subsequent situations, discussed in 2.5. Further support for this explanation is provided by the observation that the Welsh PRESENT tense (like English) cannot occur with all situations which are located in future time. Where a future situation cannot be predetermined, the PRESENT tense cannot be used in a sentence to describe that future situation. In my normal world, the following cannot be arranged or calculated: 12a. * mae ’n bwrw glaw fory. be.PRES.3SG PROG hit rain tomorrow ‘it’s raining tomorrow.’ b. * ma’ ’r adar yn canu fory. be.PRES.3SG the birds PROG sing tomorrow ‘the birds are singing tomorrow.’ c. * dw i ’n ennill y loteri fory. be.PRES.1SG I PROG win the lottery tomorrow ‘I’m winning the lottery tomorrow.’ Such sentences could only be possible if they could be scheduled, arranged or scientifically calculated. Example (12a) would be possible if science could make rain. It could also be produced on the basis of good faith in an official and reliable weather forecast. Example (12b) would be possible if we could train birds to sing at a future date. Example (12c) would be possible if I were able to fix the result of a lottery competition. Unfortunately, I do not have such influence. There is typological variation in the use of the PRESENT tense to describe future situations. In that they require that future situations have to be predetermined, Welsh and English are not typical of all languages. In German (Comrie 1985: 44–45 and Klein 1994: 126–128) and Finnish (Comrie 1985: 44–45) the PRESENT tense is more widely used to describe future situations, even though these languages have expressions which specifically refer to future time. Hornstein (1990: 198, footnote 8 from page 16) records a personal communication that a sentence equivalent to ‘It rains tomorrow’

38

Finite inflections of bod ‘be’

can be used in Dutch with a normal future interpretation, which I take to mean ‘It will rain tomorrow’. Further, so far, we have looked at future situations which can be predetermined in advance. We can contrast these with future situations whose undertakings are determined momentarily and spontaneously. Welsh, like English, has the following acceptable and unacceptable examples relating to such situations: 13a. fydda’ i yn ôl yn y munud. be.FUT.1SG I in track in the minute ‘I’ll be back in a minute.’ b. * dw i yn ôl yn y munud. be.PRES.1SG I in track in the minute ‘I am back in a minute.’ As can be seen, the FUTURE tense is used rather than the PRESENT tense. Yet, it is reasonable to assume that as the speaker is also the subject, the speaker should be in a good position to predetermine the outcome of his or her momentary decisions, and that the PRESENT tense could be used. This is not the case. Such examples use the FUTURE tense and not the PRESENT tense in Welsh (and also English). But speakers of other languages can use the PRESENT tense for future situations whose undertakings are decided momentarily and spontaneously. For example, German and Spanish: 26 14a. ich bin gleich zurück. I be.PRES.1SG immediately back ‘I am back soon.’ b. vuelvo pronto. return.PRES.1SG soon ‘I return soon.’ On the basis of the data in (13–14), it can be claimed that the choice of tenses for future situations which are decided momentarily and spontaneously is subject to language-specific conventions. In Welsh, present arrangements which are laid down in advance are sufficient, but momentary and spontaneous decisions are not. But in other languages like German and Spanish, the latter can also provide a sufficient basis for the choice of the PRESENT tense. On the basis of the above data, the distinction between predetermination in advance and momentary and spontaneous decisions explains the difference between languages like Welsh and English, on the one

Tense

39

hand, and German and Spanish, on the other. We have already seen, however, that German can more widely use the PRESENT tense in descriptions of future situations, and the example in (14a) could come under this wider usage. Some languages can use the PRESENT tense to describe past situations. English can do this with the historic present, which is typically explained as describing a past event with narrative vividness. Palmer (1987: 39) gives the following example: 15 He just walks into the room and sits down in front of the fire without saying a word to anyone. Thomas (1996: 97–98) gives an example from a novel which shows the Welsh PRESENT tense describing a past situation: 16 Yn sydyn ma’ hi ’n ymwybodol o rywun yn ADV sudden be.PRES.3SG she PRED conscious of someone PROG gwylio o ’r tu ôl. watch of the side track ‘suddenly, she is conscious of someone watching from the rear.’ In the informal Welsh of the dialects which I regularly experience, the description of past situations with narrative vividness uses the demonstrative form dyma ‘here is’: 17a. dyma fo ’n codi a mynd heb dd’eud dim. here-is he PROG rise and go without say NEG ‘He gets up and goes without saying anything.’ b. dyma hi ’n dod i fewn a dechre crïo. here-is she PROG come to inside and start cry ‘She comes in and starts to cry.’ No more is said about these constructions in this study in respect of tense. 27 We shall now consider the PAST tense in descriptions of situations whose temporal location is outside past time, as in the following examples, which respectively describe a present-time situation and a future-time situation: 18a. oedd Mair yn gweithio rwan, ynd oedd? be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG work now Q.NEG be.IMPF.3SG ‘Mair was working now, wasn’t she?

40

Finite inflections of bod ‘be’

b. oedd Mair yn gweithio fory. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG work tomorrow ‘Mair was working tomorrow.’ The PAST tense is used to refer to situations in present time, as in (18a), if the situation is not witnessable at the moment of speaking. Witnessing the situation would provide a basis for using the PRESENT tense and not the PAST tense. We have seen that the PRESENT tense is used in descriptions of futuretime situations if the latter are planned, scheduled or calculated. The PAST tense is like the PRESENT tense in respect of plans and schedules as the examples in (18) indicate. But, unlike the PRESENT tense, the PAST tense cannot occur in descriptions of non-concurrent situations whose occurrences can be scientifically calculated: 19a. * oedd y llanw yn mynd allan am naw yfory. be.IMPF.3SG the tide PROG go out at nine tomorrow ‘the tide was going out at nine tomorrow.’ b. * oedd yr haul yn machlud am 9.30 nos Wener nesa. be.IMPF.3SG the sun PROG set at 9.30 night Friday next ‘the sun was setting at 9.30 next Friday night.’ We can attempt an explanation of this restriction by appealing to circumspection. The acceptable examples involving the PAST tense in (18a–b) imply circumspection. It is not necessarily the case that these situations actually take place. Circumspection, however, is a contextual effect which is produced by the speaker’s decision to base these statements on past-time factors. This temporal location confines the factors to past time and leaves it open as to whether they are still relevant at the time of speaking, thus allowing an implication of circumspection. But the certainty of situations like those in (19) rules out circumspection. Only in the event of some cataclysmic intervention could we have doubts about the predicted schedule of such happenings. This contrast of the type of non-concurrent situations which can occur with the PRESENT and PAST tenses indicates that only the PAST tense can allow circumspection and not the PRESENT tense.28 Examples (18a–b) of the PAST tense in descriptions of present and future situations have been presented to focus specifically on the function of tense in Welsh. But the PAST tense in descriptions of present or future situations can occur with mynd i ‘go to’ (discussed in detail in 2.5) or i fod i ‘supposed to’ (which is discussed in 9.4.4), or with verbs like bwriadu ‘intend’, disgwyl ‘expect’, and meddwl ‘mean’:

Tense

41

20a. oedd Mair yn mynd i weithio rwan / fory. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG go to work now tomorrow ‘Mair was going to work now / tomorrow.’ b. oedd Mair i fod yn gweithio rwan / fory. be.IMPF.3SG Mair to be PROG work now tomorrow ‘Mair was supposed to be working now / tomorrow.’ c. oedd Mair yn bwriadu aros adre fory. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG intend stay home tomorrow ‘Mair was intending to stay at home tomorrow.’ d. oedd Mair yn disgwyl benthyc y car fory. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG expect borrow the car tomorrow ‘Mair was expecting to borrow the car tomorrow.’ e. oedd Mair yn meddwl mynd i Abertawe fory. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG mean go to Swansea tomorrow ‘Mair was meaning to go to Swansea tomorrow.’ Such examples make it more explicit that there are past factors (intentions, obligations, expectations, and so forth) which justify selecting the PAST tense. The dislocation of the time of the PAST tense and the time of the situation is quite obvious in the above examples. However, it is also possible to have dislocated situations which are still in the past period. We can also have, then, a past futurate in a sense. There are predetermining factors at a past period or point, t, which can be used to propose a situation which occurs in the past after t: 21 oedd Mair yn gweithio y diwrnod wedyn. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG work the day afterwards ‘Mair was working the day after.’ It is possible to give this example an interpretation whereby the speaker is describing a situation from a reference time on the day before Mair was working. (The example is ambiguous, as the reference time and the situation could coincide. But we are not concerned with this concurrent reading here). Thomas (1996: 107) provides similar, but more explicit, examples (in the formal style) as follows: 22a. rhedodd Myfanwy am y bws. run.PERV.3SG Myfanwy for the bus ‘Myfanwy ran for the bus.’

42

Finite inflections of bod ‘be’

roedd ei thrên yn ymadael ym mhen hanner awr. be.IMPF.3SG 3SG.F train PROG leave in head half hour ‘her train was leaving in half an hour.’ b. ni wyddai Rhiannon beth i ’w wisgo. NEG know.IMPF.3SG Rhiannon what to 3SG.M wear ‘Rhiannon did not know what to wear.’ yr oedd hi ’n cyfarfod â ’i phennaeth newydd AFF be.IMPF.3SG she PROG meet with 3SG.F boss new yn y bore. in the morning ‘she was meeting her new boss in the morning.’ Thomas analyses these examples as y dyfodol o safbwynt y gorffennol [the future from the standpoint of the past]. The situation can be said to be future in the sense that it is subsequent to a reference time. But such examples are PAST tense equivalents of the use of the PRESENT tense to describe future situations. The PAST tense itself is selected on the basis of factors (like plans and schedules) which precede the time of the situation. As we have seen in 2.2.2, Welsh uses the Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms as a FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense proper. We turn now to consider examples of the FUTURE tense in descriptions of situations which occur in the present time, including the classic example in (23c): 23a. fydd Mair yna rwan. be.FUT.3SG Mair there now ‘Mair will be there now.’ b. fydd Mair yn gweithio rwan. be.FUT.3SG Mair PROG work now ‘Mair will be working now.’ c. y postmon fydd hwnna. the postman be.FUT.3SG that ‘that will be the postman.’ d. fydd Mair yn gwbod. be.PRES.3SG Mair PROG know ‘Mair will know.’ There may very well be present circumstances which encourage the belief that these situations are happening at the time of speaking. The example in (25c) is an especially appropriate illustration. The speaker may have be-

Tense

43

come aware of the postman’s arrival, possibly through the noise of his van, or the dog barking, or the letter box rattling. But the speaker may feel that none of these justifies selecting the PRESENT tense to make a confident statement about the present situation, and judges that it is more appropriate to anticipate future verification. Such future verification could be supplied by the subsequent and therefore future act of going to the door to see the postman walking away from the house, or to see the post lying at the foot of the door. It is important to emphasize that it is not the case that future verification actually takes place. It is sufficient that the speaker accepts or assumes that future verification is a possibility. We can, of course, make the point that the FUTURE tense is only one of a number of choices open to the speaker given the scenarios just described. If the speaker feels that the noise of the van, the barking of the dog or the letter box rattling are sufficient to justify the PRESENT tense, then we can have: 24 y postmon ydy hwnna. the postman be.PRES.3SG that ‘that’s the postman.’ Or the speaker may feel that an epistemic modal basis for the proposition is more appropriate: 25a. hwyrach y postmon ydy hwnna. perhaps the postman be.PRES.3SG that ‘perhaps that’s the postman.’ b. ma’ rhaid ma’ ’r postmon ydy hwnna. be.PRES.3SG necessity FOC the postman be.PRES.3SG that ‘that must be the postman.’ c. y postmon dyle hwnna fod. the postman should.CNTF.3SG that be ‘that should be the postman.’ We shall return in chapter 6 to consider modal interpretations of finite verb inflections. At this stage, we can say that one possibility which the speaker has is to assume future verification of the truth of a proposition which describes a present situation, and therefore to choose the FUTURE tense. A significant observation is that the FUTURE tense cannot occur with all situations which are located in present time. The FUTURE tense is limited to present situations whose occurrences or existence can only be verified in the future period and not those which are currently verifiable. In the case of

44

Finite inflections of bod ‘be’

(23a–b), for example, Mair’s location or activity at the time of speaking can be checked later. Thus, present situations which are described with the FUTURE tense are not directly testifiable at the moment of speaking. If Mair were directly in our sight, for example, we would have to use the PRESENT tense and not the FUTURE tense: 26a. drycha, ma’ Mair look.IMPV.2SG be.PRES.3SG Mair ‘look, Mair is here now.’ b. * drycha, fydd Mair look.IMPV.2SG be.FUT.3SG Mair = ‘look, Mair will be here now.’

yma rwan. here now yma rwan. here now

The data in (23) are acceptable because the speaker feels that he or she can anticipate verification in the future period. But (26b) is unacceptable because it is obvious that there are present grounds for using the PRESENT tense. We shall now consider the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense. We have already discussed the Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms, byddai/buasai, in 2.2.2 as a FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST which occurs in descriptions of situations which are subsequent to a relative reference time in the past. But the same tense can also occur in descriptions of situations which are concurrent with the reference time rather than subsequent to it: 27a. fasa/fydde Mair yn gweithio yr adeg hynny. be.FUTP.3SG Mair PROG work the period that ‘Mair would be working at that time.’ b. fasa/fydde Gwyn yn aros am y trên pan welist be.FUTP.3SG Gwyn PROG wait for the train when see.PERV.2SG ti o. you.SG he ‘Gwyn would be waiting for the train when you saw him.’ In the case of (27a–b), we can put forward a scenario in which friends of the speaker report that they saw Mair or Gwyn at a certain time in the past period, t, but do not say what either Mair or Gwyn was doing. The speaker can then adopt the time t as a reference time, and put forward a proposition which describes what Mair or Gwyn were doing at t and not subsequent to t. Such situations are not future-in-the-past in relation to the reference time, and they cause problems for the time-of-situation analysis. We can, how-

Tense

45

ever, explain them in other terms. We can hold that the Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms, the byddai and buasai paradigms, in examples like those in (27) are a FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense on the basis that, at the time t when the situation occurs, the speaker anticipates verification after t. In other words, the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST is not being selected on the basis of a situation which is subsequent to a reference time but on the basis of the anticipation of subsequent verification of a situation which is concurrent with the reference time. It is interesting to compare the PAST tense (IMPERFECTIVE) and the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense. They can be distinguished by reference to a reference time, t, somewhere in the past. The PAST tense establishes that there are verifying factors which are concurrent with the reference time t. In contrast, the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST indicates that the verifying factors are subsequent to t. The two can be compared in a graphic presentation as in figures 4 and 5. situation (27)

t

situation (4)

Subsequent verification

Present

Figure 4. FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense and subsequent verification (t is the reference time) situation (3)

situation (21–22)

t Concurrent verification

situation (18a)

situation (18b)

Present

Figure 5. PAST tense (IMPERFECTIVE) and concurrent verification (t is the reference time)

The situations which both tenses describe can be either concurrent or nonconcurrent with the time of verification, as we have seen and as is indicated in the diagrams. Finally, we shall consider examples which show that the PRESENT and FUTURE tenses can also occur in descriptions of past-time situations. There are two sorts of examples. First, there are those which are non-perfect in terms of aspect:

46

Finite inflections of bod ‘be’

28a. dw i yma ers dwy awr. be.PRES.1SG I here since two hour ‘I’ve been here two hours.’ b. dan ni ’n byw yn Aberystwyth ers ugien mlynedd. be.PRES.1PL we PROG live in Aberystwyth since twenty years ‘we’ve been living in Aberystwyth for twenty years.’ c. ma’ Mair yn sefyll ’ma ers meitin. be.PRES.3SG Mair PROG stand here since while ‘Mair has been standing here for a good while.’ 29a. fydd hi yna ers naw. be.FUT.3SG she there since nine ‘she will have been there since nine.’ b. fyddan nhw ’n disgwyl ers amser cinio. be.PRES.3PL they PROG wait since time lunch ‘they will have been waiting since lunch time.’ c. fydd Mair yn gweithio ers meiten. be.FUT.3SG Mair PROG work since while ‘Mair will have been working for a good while.’ The situations are on-going at the moment of speaking but they explicitly endure from the past time. The period of time is thus past-into-the-present. English typically uses the perfect aspect with situations like this. But Welsh is like other European languages which also use the PRESENT tense and the non-perfect for a persistent past situation.29 The approach to tense in terms of the time of the situation would have to accommodate this additional period. However, in respect of the PRESENT tense, it is less problematic than some of the preceding examples. The fact that the situation is on-going at the time of speaking clearly includes the present moment. But it is more of a problem for the FUTURE tense which, according to the time-of-situation analysis occurs in descriptions of future-time situations. Second, there are examples which show that the PRESENT tense and the FUTURE tense can refer to situations in the past time when the perfect aspect is used: 30a. dw i wedi gweld y ffilm ’na. be.PRES.1SG I PERF see the film there. ‘I’ve seen that film.’ b. fydd hi wedi cyrraedd erbyn rwan. be.FUT.3SG she PERF arrive against now. ‘she will have arrived by now.’

Tense

47

The time-of-situation analysis of tense cannot predict these examples, but we shall delay a discussion of such examples until 7.2.2, where perfect aspect and the time of the situation is more fully analysed. 2.2.4

The time-of-evaluation analysis

One possible solution to the problem of the description of concurrent and non-concurrent situations is to use a multi-functional analysis, which simply lists the three main factors which we have identified and their licensing effects, as follows. 1. Deictic periods of time select tenses as follows: i. the PRESENT tense in descriptions of a situation in the deictic present period; ii. the PAST tense in descriptions of a situation in the deictic past period; iii. the FUTURE tense in descriptions of a situation in the deictic future period; iv. the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense in descriptions of a situation in the future-in-the-past period. 2. Predetermination of a situation select tenses as follows: i. Present predetermination selects the PRESENT tense in descriptions of a situation in the deictic future period; ii. Past predetermination selects the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE in descriptions of a situation in the deictic present or future periods. 3. Anticipated verification select tenses as follows: i. Future verification selects the FUTURE tense in descriptions of a situation in the deictic present period; ii. Future-in-the-past verification selects the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense in descriptions of a situation which is prior to future-in-the-past time, simultaneous with the reference time. However, we shall not adopt a multi-functional approach, but we shall attempt to establish a single generalization which captures the influences of the time of the situation, predetermination, and anticipated verification. Initially, we can attempt a preliminary explanation of the sort of generalization which can be aimed for. Consider first the concurrent and nonconcurrent examples of the PRESENT tense in (1) and (11). There is a sense in which an element of presentness is involved in both types of examples. In the case of the concurrent examples in (1), the occurrence or existence of

48

Finite inflections of bod ‘be’

the situation itself at the time of speaking indicates presentness. In the case of the non-concurrent examples in (11), predetermination (plans, schedules, or calculations) at the time of speaking indicates presentness. Both elements of presentness can be graphically displayed in figures 6 and 7, which represent the examples in (1) and (11) respectively. A similar explanation can be provided for the PAST tense with concurrent and non-concurrent situations, as in (3) and (18). Figures 8 and 9 provide graphic portrayals. In the case of a concurrent past situation as in (3), the existence or occurrence of the situation itself provides the element of pastness which justifies selecting the PAST tense: figure 8 portrays (3). But where the PAST tense occurs with present or future situations, the past element which determines the selection of the PAST tense is the existence of predetermination at a past reference time: figure 9 illustrates this for examples like those in (18) (note the figure also portrays a subsequent situation which is still in the deictic past period, as in examples 21–22). Situation (1)

Present Figure 6. The PRESENT tense and present-time situations Predetermination

Present

Situation (11)

Future

Figure 7. The PRESENT tense, present predetermination, and future-time situations Situation (3)

Past Reference Time

Present

Figure 8. The PAST tense and past-time situations

Tense Predetermination

Situation (21–22)

Past Reference Time

Situation (18a)

49

Situation (18b)

Present

Future

Figure 9. The PAST tense, past predetermination, and subsequent situations

A similar explanation can be offered for the FUTURE tense. In the case of a future situation, the future existence or occurrence of the situation itself can provide the element of futureness. In the case of present-time situations, the element of futureness can be provided by anticipated verification in future time. Figures 10 and 11 provide graphic portrayals of (2) and (23) respectively. Situation (2)

Present

Future

Figure 10. The FUTURE tense and future situations Situation (23)

Present

Verification

Future

Figure 11. The FUTURE tense, future verification, and present situations Situation (4)

Past Reference Time

Present

Figure 12. The FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense and subsequent situations

50

Finite inflections of bod ‘be’ Situation (27)

Past Reference Time

Verification

Present

Figure 13. The FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense, subsequent verification and nonconcurrent situations

To complete this preliminary analysis, we can apply it to the FUTURE-IN-THEPAST tense. The element of future-in-the-pastness can be supplied either by the existence or occurrence of a situation which is subsequent to a reference time or, when the situation is located at the reference time, it can be supplied by the anticipation of subsequent verification of its existence or occurrence. Figures 12 and 13 illustrate this. Figure 12 applies to the examples in (4) and figure 13 applies to the examples in (27). In each case, there is a factor which is concurrent with the canonical temporal feature of the tenses, and which licenses the selection of tense: – presentness of the situation or predetermination licenses the PRESENT tense; – pastness of the situation or predetermination licenses the PAST tense – futureness of the situation or verification licenses the FUTURE tense – future-in-the-pastness of the situation or verification licenses the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense We have here a generalization of sorts. But a better generalization would arise if we could establish a commonality for these different factors. We shall explore whether the concept of the time of evaluation can provide a single explanation for the selection of the tenses. In work on formal logic which is associated with Prior (1967, 1968a, 1968b), tense is a logical operator which determines the time at which a proposition is true or false. In an utterance such as the goalkeeper makes a good save, the associated proposition is evaluated as true at the time of utterance, present time. In a logical analysis, this is formalized as Present(make(the goalkeeper, a good save)), in which the proposition is represented as make(the goalkeeper, a good save), and Present is an operator which establishes that the proposition is evaluated as true at the time of utterance, present time. The Priorian approach to tense has been adopted in works on linguistics, such as Bennett and Partee (1978), Cann (1993:241–

Tense

51

242), Giorgi and Pianesi (1997: 17–18, 23), Chierchia and McConnellGinet (2000: 292, 329). We shall draw upon the Priorian approach in this study, but solely for the purposes of a linguist’s descriptive analysis of the semantics of tense and not a logician’s or philosopher’s interest in the much wider concept of time. We shall not utilize all the Priorian types of tense operators, and neither shall we use a logician’s formalism. We shall claim that tense gives the time at which a proposition which is associated with an utterance can be evaluated as true or false, that is, the evaluation time. We shall also claim that the factors which are identified above – the time of a concurrent situation, the time of predetermination, and the time of anticipated verification —can each provide grounds for the evaluation of the truth of a proposition which is associated with an utterance. The temporal location of these factors determines the time of evaluation, and the latter determines the selection of the tense. The PRESENT tense evaluates a proposition as true at present time even when the situation is located in future time.30 The PAST tense evaluates a proposition as true in past time even when the situation is in present time or future time. The FUTURE tense evaluates a proposition as true in future time even when the situation is located in present time. And the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense evaluates a proposition as true in future-in-the-past time even when the situation is located earlier. On this basis, the time of evaluation provides a common factor which produces a unified analysis of tense in descriptions of concurrent situations and in descriptions of non-concurrent situations: PRESENT

PAST

tense

tense

FUTURE

tense

FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST

tense

present-time evaluation (the present-time occurrence / existence of a situation or the present-time predetermination of a futuretime situation) past-time evaluation (the past-time occurrence / existence of a situation or the pasttime predetermination of a present-time or future-time situation) future-time evaluation (the future-time occurrence / existence of a situation or the future-time verification of a present-time situation) future-in-the-past-time evaluation (the future-in-the-past-time occurrence / existence of a situation or the future-in-the-past-time verification of an earlier situation)

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Finite inflections of bod ‘be’

As well as achieving a single explanation, this approach also preserves the traditional temporal characteristics of the tenses – although what they locate is different. The Priorian approach is typically illustrated with examples of concurrent situations: a present-time situation is evaluated at present time, a pasttime situation is evaluated in past time, and so forth. It may seem, then, that in respect of concurrent situations, the time-of-evaluation analysis is the same as the time-of-situation analysis, as both share temporal features. Cann (1993: 243) says of the PAST tense in an example such as Fiona sang: “The interpretation of a PAST tense formula locates the time of the event described by the predicate at a time prior to the principal time reference, so that the truth or falsity of a formula like Past(sing’(fiona’)) is determined by whether there is some interval of time before the moment of utterance at which the formula sing’(fiona’) is true.” Here we have tense being explained both in terms of time of the situation and time of the evaluation of the truth value. But it is important for the development of a unified analysis to underline that the two approaches are different in terms of what is located at these times. The time-of-situation analysis locates the situation but, in contrast, the time-of-evaluation analysis locates the evaluation time, which can be different to the time of the situation. This disconnection of the temporal features of the situation and the temporal features of tense is an important distinction which allows us to develop a unified analysis of the function of tense in descriptions of both concurrent and non-concurrent situations. We shall assume that speakers evaluate propositions which are associated with utterances not solely on the basis of facts about the actual world but also on the basis of factual assumptions. This study therefore adopts an essentially subjective basis to the selection of tense and not an objective one. The basic requirement for the selection of tense is that speakers can decide that a proposition can be evaluated as true either in past time, futurein-the-past time, present time, or future time. This is sufficient to explain the use of tense, but for completeness we shall consider sources of information which enable speakers to determine the time of evaluation. Traditionally, the selection of the tenses is associated with the following: the PAST is based on memory, the PRESENT is based on observation, and the FUTURE is based on anticipation. We can compare these traditional sources of information with sources of information which are used in contemporary accounts of semantic and pragmatic processing of sentence meaning (and not especially for an analysis of tense), as in Blakemore (1987: 48) and Sperber and Wilson (1995: 81). They include memory, per-

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ception (which is broader than observation), linguistic input, 31 and, crucially, logical deduction. Logical deduction clearly shows that the selection of tense is not concerned solely with facts but also with factual assumptions. It is not the case that the selection of the PAST is based solely on memory, as logical deduction can also lead to the selection of the PAST tense. And neither is it the case that the PRESENT tense is selected on the basis of current perception as linguistic input, information stored in memory, and logical deduction can also be used to select this tense. The selection of the FUTURE tense is based on anticipation (of future-time perceptions, linguistic input and, possibly, logical deduction) but can also involve current logical deduction. The emphasis on the role of the speaker and subjectivity helps to explain that there is sometimes a choice in the selection of tense in descriptions of the same situation. We have seen that the there are future situations for which there are present-time arrangements or calculations (information stored in memory). An interesting point about such situations is that there is often the choice of using either the PRESENT tense or the FUTURE tense: 31a. ma’ Juventus yn chware Arsenal mis nesa. be.PRES.3SG Juventus PROG play Arsenal month next ‘Juventus are playing Arsenal next month.’ b. fydd Juventus yn chware Arsenal mis nesa. be.FUT.3SG Juventus PROG play Arsenal month next ‘Juventus will be playing Arsenal next month.’ 32a. ma’ ’r trên yn gad’el am chwech yfory. be.PRES.3SG the train PROG leave at six tomorrow ‘the train is leaving at six tomorrow.’ b. fydd y trên yn gad’el am chwech yfory. be.FUT.3SG the train PROG leave at six tomorrow ‘the train will be leaving at six tomorrow.’ 33a. ma’ ’r llanw yn mynd allan am naw yfory. be.PRES.3SG the tide PROG go out at nine tomorrow ‘the tide goes out at nine tomorrow.’ b. fydd y llanw yn mynd allan am naw yfory. be.FUT.3SG the tide PROG go out at nine tomorrow ‘the tide will be going out at nine tomorrow.’ The speaker has two sources of information on which to base the proposition. One is knowledge about the present-time predetermination of the future situation, which selects the use of the PRESENT tense (present-time

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evaluation). The other is the anticipated occurrence of the situations, which selects the FUTURE tense (future-time evaluation). It is the speaker who makes this choice. A choice of PRESENT or PAST tense is seen with: 34a. ma’ Mair yn gweithio yn Llundain be.PRES.3SG Mair PROG work in London ‘Mair is working in London today.’ b. oedd Mair yn gweithio yn Llundain be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG work in London ‘Mair was working in London today.’

heddiw. today heddiw. today

The PRESENT tense can be chosen on the basis of the speaker’s assumption or knowledge that the situation is taking place at the moment of speaking (present evaluation). But the speaker could also be aware of Mair’s previous plan or schedule to work today, and this same situation can be described on the basis of past predetermination (past evaluation). Again, it is the speaker who makes the choice of which evaluation time to adopt: the present time or the past time. We also see in 2.4 that either the FUTURE-INTHE-PAST or the PAST can be used to describe habitual situations: 35a. fasan/fydden ni ’n paentio ’r tŷ bob pum mlynedd. be.FUTP.1PL we PROG paint the house every five years ‘we would paint the house every five years.’ b. oedden ni ’n paentio ’r tŷ bob pum mlynedd. be.IMPF.1PL we PROG paint the house every five years ‘we painted the house every five years.’ Here, too, the speaker decides whether to adopt a concurrent factor or a subsequent factor as the basis for the selection of tense. The discussion of the extended present period of time in 2.2.5 and mynd i ‘go to’ in 2.5 also considers issues of the source of information for the evaluation of the truth of a proposition. We shall finish this section by looking at the views of Klein (1994: 3– 9), who also challenges the standard theory of tense but does so in a different way. He distinguishes three times: the time of a possible situation (TSit), topic time (TT), and utterance time (TU). The latter is used in the conventional way to indicate the time at which an utterance is made, and it is a reference point which establishes topic time. Klein’s situation time is different to the typical use of this expression. Given examples like The light was on and I will be here, the light being on and the speaker’s location can

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endure beyond the particular time spans which the sentences describe. In an example like, There was a book on the table. It was in Russian, the book’s being in Russian is not confined to past time but also obtains at present time and future time. In They found him in the bathtub. He was dead, the situation which is described in the second sentence is not confined to past time but endures into present time and future time. Likewise, in Then these figures were multiplied. The result was ninety-four, the result holds for all time and is not confined to past time. Klein uses time of situation in this wider sense, and it is on this basis that he argues that tense does not convey the time of the (possible wider) situation. Klein introduces topic time as the time for which an assertion (or claim) is made by a finite declarative sentence. Thus, in the case of The light was on, the assertion relates to a particular span of time in the past which may be a segment of a wider situation. In the case of I will be here, the assertion relates to a particular span of time in the future which may also be a segment of a wider situation. It is the time that the assertion refers to, relative to the time of the utterance, that is conveyed by tense. The past tense is selected for the topic time of The light was on and the future tense is selected for the topic time of I will be here. Klein therefore argues that the function of tense is to convey topic time relative to the time of the utterance and not the (wider) time of the situation. In the case of these examples, in which the topic time is fully or partly contained in the (wider) time of the situation, it can be argued that Klein’s approach is a variation of the standard analysis of tense. It can be accepted that the situation in the description in a sentence can endure before and beyond the span of time which is relevant to the sentence. But the purpose of the sentence is to describe a particular span, and it is this span which is the significant sense of the concept of situation. This more specific sense of situation is the same as the topic time as explained above, and saying that tense gives the topic time is the same as saying that tense gives the time of the situation which is actually described by the sentence. If we reject the notion of the wider situation time and use instead the described situation time, then Klein’s approach is a variation of the time-of-situation analysis rather than a radical alternative to it. However, Klein (1994: 99–119) also uses the relationship of the time of the situation and topic time to analyse aspect, and it is less clear what topic time is in some cases. Klein claims that topic time can also be located outside the situation which is described by a sentence. He suggests that this can occur with the perfect aspect and the prospective aspect. The clearest example is the perfect aspect, and we shall concentrate on this aspect. In respect of an example like John has slept without a blanket, Klein (1994: 103–105) argues that the situation is

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in past time, and that the topic time is at present time. Klein argues that the function of the perfect is to locate the situation before the topic time. But given that topic time is introduced as the time about which an assertion is made, it is unclear precisely what is being asserted about the present time. Klein (1994: 99) says that the lexical content of a sentence which may be relevant to a possible wider situation can be “hooked up” to some time span by the topic time. But this does not happen with the lexical content of perfect sentences, and it is not clear what is being hooked up by the topic time in such sentences. If an assertion is being made at present time about a past situation, then the present tense is justifiable. But this interpretation of assertion can also be applied to The light was on. A present-time assertion is also being made about a past event, ‘I now assert that the light was on’, but the past tense occurs and not the present tense. It would seem that assertion is used in one way in respect of John has slept without a blanket and in another way in respect of the light was on. Finally, in the case of perfect examples, we can also ask whether we can still make the distinction between a possible wider situation and a specific segment described by a sentence. If so, it is unclear how this would be done, as topic time is not now in the time of the wider situation and there is no concept which can distinguish the wider situation time from the time of the described segment of that situation. In this current study, we shall not follow Klein. We shall use situation to refer to the state of affairs which is particularly described by a sentence, and not that which is more widely known or is inferrable from the description. We shall use evaluation time and not topic time (that is, the time about which an assertion is made). Perfect aspect is discussed in chapter 7. 2.2.5

The extended present period

In this section, we consider issues which are problematic for a definition of present time and an analysis of the PRESENT tense. Binnick (1991: 4) reports that Aristotle recognized only the past and the future times, with the present as a dividing point between the two. It will be recalled that a deictic definition of periods of time explains present time in relation to the moment of speaking. A strict definition of a present-time situation in these terms is one which confines the situation to the duration of the utterance which describes that situation. The problematic issues arise with the so-called extended present and habitual situations. The sorts of situations which are described in this sub-section are also considered in the discussion of IMPER-

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aspect in 4.2 and the progressive aspect in 8.3 and 8.4. There we are concerned with aspect; here we are concerned with tense. We shall consider first problems for the definition of present time which are caused by situations which are on-going continuously at the moment of speaking, but whose extent of duration varies considerably. Even situations which are essentially contemporaneous are not generally restricted to the time of utterance, with the possible exception of those of a very short duration like (36a):

FECTIVE

36a. ma’ ’r cloc yn taro un. be.PRES.3SG the clock PROG strike one ‘the clock is striking one.’ b. ma’ Mair yn sgwennu nodyn i ’r dyn llefrith. be.PRES.3SG Mair PROG write note for the man milk ‘Mair is writing a note for the milkman.’ c. ma’ Mair yn golchi ’i char. be.PRES.3SG Mair PROG wash 3SG.F car ‘Mair is washing her car.’ Similarly, a stative situation is not confined to the moment of speaking; it is on-going at the moment of speaking but has also been on-going in the past time and will be on-going in the future period: 37a. ma’ Mair yn licio be.PRES.3SG Mair PROG like ‘Mair likes chocolate.’ b. ma’ Mair yn dal. be.PRES.3SG Mair PRED tall ‘Mair is tall.’ c. ma’ Mair yn byw be.PRES.3SG Mair PROG live ‘Mair lives in Aberystwyth.’

siocled. chocolate

yn Aberystwyth. in Aberystwyth

There are also situations which are variously known as gnomic, omnitemporal, timeless, general, generic, or habitual, depending upon the nature of the situation. Examples are: 38a. ma’ ’r Afon Rheidol yn rhedeg i Fae Ceredigion. be.PRES.3SG the river Rheidol PROG run to Bay Ceredigion ‘the River Rheidol runs into Ceredigion Bay.’

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Finite inflections of bod ‘be’

b. ma’ ’ r Drenewydd yn sefyll ar yr be.PRES.3SG the Newtown PROG stand on the ‘Newtown stands on the Severn.’ c. ma’ ’r lleuad yn mynd o gwmpas be.PRES.3SG the moon PROG go of circuit ‘the moon goes round the earth.’

Hafren. Severn y ddaear. the earth

Two points about the present period emerge from all these examples of ongoing situations. – Examples involving the PRESENT tense can describe situations that have begun before the moment of speaking and can continue after it. – The length of the period of time varies with the situation: it may be brief as in the case of (36a) but immense as in the case of (38c). The present period of time thus has indefinite boundaries, sometimes referred to as the elasticity of the present period. This causes difficulties for the time-of-situation analysis which needs a reasonably precise notion of what the present period is. One way whereby the time-of-situation analysis can cater for this array of examples is to define present time such that it refers to any period of time which includes the deictic present. For example, Lyons (1995: 305) says that “‘now’ refers to the moment of utterance (or to some period of time which contains the moment of utterance)”. A similar view, expressed differently, is found in Giorgi and Pianesi (1997: 168). From the point of view of the time-of-situation analysis, we can then say that the PRESENT tense is selected to describe any situation whose temporal location includes the deictic present. However, the time-of-situationanalysis now has different accounts for the PRESENT tense, on the one hand, and the PAST and FUTURE tenses, on the other hand. The PAST and FUTURE tenses are selected because the times of the situations are located in deictic periods of time, the past and future periods respectively. But the PRESENT tense is selected because the deictic present time is located in the time of the situations, which is different. The time-of-evaluation analysis is not tied to the time in which the situation endures. We simply have to acknowledge that the speaker assumes that the proposition is evaluated as true at the moment of speaking. Given this condition, then the PRESENT tense can be selected irrespective of the time of the situation. The problem of defining an elastic period of time is not as challenging for the time-of-evaluation analysis as it is for the time-ofsituation analysis, and the former approach is favoured in this current work.

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We shall now consider situations which occur over an extended present period of time but are not necessarily on-going at the moment of speaking. They pose problems for both the time-of-situation analysis and the time-ofevaluation analysis. In the case of the former, the problem is that the PRESENT tense is being used to describe a situation which is not necessarily occurring or existing at the present moment. For the latter, the problem is to establish whether there is present-time evaluation. First, we shall consider examples like the following: 39a. ma’ Mair yn siarad Sbaeneg. be.PRES.3SG Mair PROG speak Spanish ‘Mair speaks Spanish.’ b. ma’ halen yn toddi eira. be.PRES.3SG salt PROG melt snow ‘salt melts snow.’ c. ma’ ’r car newydd yn gneud 150 milltir yr awr. be.PRES.3SG the car new PROG do 150 mile the hour ‘the new car does 150 miles per hour.’ d. ma’ Sioned yn chware golff. be.PRES.3SG Sioned PROG play golf ‘Sioned plays golf.’ It is useful to appeal to the distinction between competence and performance. These examples describe general competence and not necessarily actual contemporaneous performance. It is not necessarily the case that Mair is speaking Spanish at the present moment, and nor is it necessarily the case that Mair has recently spoken Spanish (perhaps she has not done so for ages); and the same can be said for the other situations which are described in the examples in (39). Such sentences describe a general property or competence (of an entity) which endures through a period of time, including the present moment. In other words, they imply: 40a. ma’ Mair yn gallu be.PRES.3SG Mair PROG can ‘Mair can speak Spanish.’ b. ma’ halen yn gallu be.PRES.3SG salt PROG gallu ‘salt can melt snow.’

siarad Sbaeneg. speak Spanish toddi eira. melt snow

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Finite inflections of bod ‘be’

c. ma’ ’r car newydd yn gallu be.PRES.3SG the car new PROG can awr. hour ‘the new car can do 150 miles per hour.’ d. ma’ Sioned yn gallu chware be.PRES.3SG Sioned PROG can play ‘Sioned can play golf.’

gneud 150 milltir yr do 150 mile the

golff. golf

They are describing a presently-available ability or power to perform the acts indicated.32 (In the case of examples like 40a which refer to an ability to speak a language, Welsh can use the verb gallu ‘can’, and medru ‘can’, without siarad: mae Mair yn gallu / medru Sbaeneg.) This explanation of such situations essentially sees them as stative situations, like those in (37). This then justifies the selection of the PRESENT tense both on the grounds of the time-of-situation analysis (the present time is included within the period of the endurance of the competence) and the time-of-evaluation analysis (the current existence of the competence provides grounds for present-time evaluation). This current work favours the time-of-evaluation explanation. Second, there are examples which can be said to describe separate situations occurring at different times over an extended period of time, but not necessarily at the time of speaking: 41a. ma’ Mair yn gweithio i ’r cyngor. be.PRES.3SG Mair PROG work for the council ‘Mair works for the council.’ b. ma’ gwartheg yn b’yta gwair. be.PRES.3SG cows PROG eat grass ‘cows eat grass.’ c. ma’ ’r haul yn machlud yn y gorllewin. be.PRES.3SG the sun PROG set in the west ‘the sun sets in the west.’ d. dw i ’n sgwennu llyfr ar Socrates. be.PRES.1SG I PROG write book on Socrates ‘I’m writing a book on Socrates.’ Following Lyons (1977: 716), we shall argue that these sentences describe a unitary situation, which is a situation which is made up of series of separate sub-situations. In the case of (41a), for instance, separate episodes of working form a larger situation. This unitary situation has begun before

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present time, includes it, and projects into future time. We can now say that the period of the unitary situation includes the present moment. In this sense, unitary situations like those in (41) are like the continuous situations in (37) and (38). On this basis, the time-of-situation analysis and the timeof-evaluation analysis can be justified. The former can be justified because the time of the situation includes the present moment and thus satisfies the definition of extended present time as outlined above. The time-ofevaluation analysis can be justified because the occurrence or existence of the unitary situation at the present moment provides grounds for presenttime evaluation. In this current work, the concept of a unitary situation is adopted, and the time-of-evaluation approach is favoured. But we can briefly consider alternative explanations. An analysis by Cann (1993: 234, 239, 240) is broadly similar to the unitary-situation approach. He argues that although a proposition may not be true for all of a period of time, it can be held to be true at times of episodes within that period. It is then held to be true for the encompassing longer period of time. Comrie (1985: 38–39) offers a different account. He claims that sentences denoting habitual situations like (41a) assign a property of characteristic activity to the subject. It is this characteristic property which holds at the present moment and not necessarily an actual occurring instance from a series of iterative situations, and this justifies the selection of the PRESENT tense. This approach is broadly similar to the use of competence to explain the examples in (39). (It is interesting to note that Smith 1997: 106–108 attributes properties to the subject to explain the perfect aspect, as discussed in 7.1.2.) Third, other examples convey instructions, rules, and regulations: 42a. ma’ fflap A yn mynd i fewn i fflap B. be.PRES.3SG flap A PROG go to in to flap B ‘flap A goes into flap B.’ b. ma’ ’r is-lywydd yn dilyn y llywydd. be.PRES.3SG the vice-president PROG follow the president ‘the vice-president succeeds the president.’ c. ma’ ’r enillwyr yn mynd ymlaen i ’r rownd nesa be.PRES.3SG the winners PROG go forward to the round next ‘the winners go on to the next round.’ Again, these situations are not necessarily happening at the moment of speaking but they can happen at appropriate times – whenever the need arises to bring the two flaps together, when the vice-president succeeds the president, and when a game is won in a competition. And, again, this is a

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problem for the time-of-situation-analysis. Comrie’s (1985: 38–39) approach could be applied here, too: there are properties which hold at the present moment, and therefore the PRESENT tense can be used. However, the time-of-evaluation aptly applies: the instructions, rules, and regulations currently hold and provide grounds for present-time evaluation of the propositions as true, and hence the PRESENT tense is selected. It is this latter explanation which is favoured in this current study. 2.3

Factuality

This section is mainly concerned with COUNTERFACTUAL meaning, and we shall only very briefly outline FACTUAL meaning in the light of the discussion of COUNTERFACTUAL meaning. To convey COUNTERFACTUAL meaning, Welsh uses the Imperfect-Consuetudinal-Forms, the byddai paradigm, or the Pluperfect-Forms, the buasai paradigm, and in the examples they are both glossed as CNTF. Typically, byddai is used in southern dialects and buasai is used in northern dialects, but byddai is favoured in formal Welsh. For convenience of exposition, however, we refer to both sets of forms as Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms. We have seen that these forms are also used to convey a FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense, and a comparison with COUNTERFACTUAL is given in 2.3.4. Clauses which describe counterfactual situations can occur with a conditional clause, as can be seen from several of the examples below, such as (43a) faswn i’n hedfan pe basa gen i adenydd ‘I would fly if I had wings’. Here, pe basa gen i adenydd ‘if I had wings’ is the conditional clause, and we shall use the term matrix clause to describe the co-occurring (principal or main) clause faswn i’n hedfan ‘I would fly’. The conditional clause is also known as the protasis, and the matrix clause as the apodosis. In the philosophical literature, they are respectively referred to as the antecedent and the consequent. There is also the common convention of using ‘(if) P’ and ‘(then) Q’ for the conditional clause and the matrix clause respectively. 2.3.1

Counterfactual meaning

COUNTERFACTUAL meaning is discussed both in the linguistics literature and the philosophical literature. For the latter, a useful outline is available in Collins, Hall, and Paul (2004). Philosophical treatments are wider-ranging than linguistic treatments in two respects: they do not confine the discus-

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sion to empirical language data but also consider a more abstract presentation of the potential possibilities of truth values over the conditional clause and the matrix clause; and the discussion of counterfactuals is part of a broader consideration of causation. In this study, although we shall draw upon philosophical approaches, the focus is on counterfactual meaning and the data are restricted to linguistic examples. We shall attempt to develop an explanation of the meaning of COUNTERFACTUAL by distinguishing different sorts of counterfactual situations and discussing two approaches – one in terms of false statements about the actual world, and the other in terms of true statements about possible worlds. We shall see that the two approaches are not unrelated. First, there are situations which are impossible to relate to the actual world which I know. In the philosophical literature, for example Anderson (1951), they are discussed under counterfactual conditionals, but we shall refer to them in this study as unreal situations. The most obvious examples are situations which are counter to the way in which the natural world works (as described by physics, chemistry, biology, and so forth), situations which are counter to known current states of affairs, and situations which are counter to historical facts: 43a. faswn/fyddwn i ’n hedfan pe basa/bydde gen i adenydd. be.CNTF.1SG I PROG fly if be.CNTF.3SG with I wings ‘I would fly if I had wings.’ b. fasa/fydde ’r Wyddfa yn edrych yn well yn sir be.CNTF.3SG the Snowdon PROG look PRED better in shire Ddinbych. Denbigh ‘Snowdon would look better in Denbighshire.’ c. fasa/fydde Tommy Farr wedi curo Joe Louis pe basan/bydden be.CNTF.3SG Tommy Farr PERF beat Joe Louis if be.CNTF.3PL nhw wedi ymladd yng Nghymru. they PERF fight in Wales ‘Tommy Farr would have beaten Joe Louis if they had fought in Wales.’ Human beings do not have wings and cannot fly without mechanical aids. Mount Snowdon is solidly located in the county of Gwynedd and not Denbighshire. Joe Louis beat Tommy Farr in Yankee Stadium, New York in 1937, and they did not fight in Wales. Only staggering advances in science and cataclysmic natural forces could change the world so that such situa-

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Finite inflections of bod ‘be’

tions could come about. In the meantime, the descriptions in (43) are clearly counter to known reality. Other finite forms of the copula cannot be used in descriptions of unreal situations. Illustrations are seen with the PRESENT , PAST, and FUTURE tenses: 44a. * dw i ’n hedfan os oes gen i adenydd. be.PRES.1SG I PROG fly if be.PRES.3SG with I wings ‘I fly if I’ve got wings.’ b. * fydd y Wyddfa yn edrych yn well yn sir be.FUT.3SG the Snowdon PROG look PRED better in shire Ddinbych. Denbigh ‘Snowdon will look better in Denbighshire.’ c. * oedd Tommy Farr wedi curo Joe Louis os oedden be.IMPF.3SG Tommy Farr PERF beat Joe Louis if be.IMPF.3PL wedi ymladd yng Nghymru. PERF fight in Wales ‘Tommy Farr had beaten Joe Louis if they had fought in Wales.’ In respect of unreal situations, it is commonly noted that the conditional clause is false and that the matrix clause is therefore also false. Not all counterfactuals occur with a conditional clause as example (43b) shows, but it can be claimed that a conditional clause which conveys a false proposition is always implied. Lyons (1977: 795) and Giorgi and Pianesi (1997: 256–262) directly account for the falsity of the propositions. They claim that counterfactuals make false statement about the real or actual world. This approach would seem to be counter intuitive in that it commits speakers to making false propositions. There is an alternative approach which interprets counterfactual statements as true statements. This is achieved by relating counterfactual statements not to situations in the actual world but to situations in other imagined, possible worlds. These other possible worlds are different to the actual world in that the false element in the conditional clause is true and, consequently, the matrix clause is also true. Take the examples in (43). They are counter to states of affairs in the actual world. But it is possible to imagine possible worlds in which the conditions are satisfied and the situations in the matrix clause occur. This approach is mainly associated with work in the philosophical literature by Stalnaker (1968) and, especially, Lewis (1973). In the linguistic literature, the possible worlds approach is adopted by Allwood, Andersson, and Dahl (1977), Allan (2001), and Huddleston and Pullum (2002: 748–750). The possible

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worlds approach would appear to be preferable in that speakers can describe situations in terms of true statements. But the explanation in terms of false statements about the actual world has the merit that it is simple. It is based solely on the truth value which is associated with a statement. In contrast, the possible worlds approach is more complex in that it has to introduce another concept, an imagined world, to transform a false statement into a true one. Further, in respect of the apparent problem of making false statements, a counterfactual statement is not the same as making a mendacious statement. The purpose of the COUNTERFACTUAL is to convey explicitly that the statements do not describe situations in the real or actual world. Counterfactuals enable speakers to make propositions which are deliberately and openly false, and thus to describe unreal situations. Second, there are situations which can be described by the COUNTERFACTUAL but which can come about in the world which I know. In the philosophical literature, for example Anderson (1951), they are discussed under subjunctive conditionals, but we shall refer to them in this study as potentially real situations. Such situations are typically in future time. The degree of likelihood of occurrence or existence can vary. There are potentially real situations which are improbable or implausible, such as: 45a. fasa/fydde Mair yn prynu tŷ pe basa /bydde ’r arian be.CNTF.3SG Mair PROG buy house if be.CNTF.3SG the money genni hi. with.3SG.F she ‘Mair would buy a house if she had the money.’ b. fasa/fydde Clwb Peldroed Aberystwyth yn ennill Cynghrair be.CNTF.3SG Club Football Aberystwyth PROG win League Pencampwyr Ewrop pe basan/bydden nhw ’n cal digon o Champions Europe if be.CNTF.3PL they PROG have enough of lwc. luck ‘Aberystwyth Football Club would win the European Champions’ League if they had enough luck.’ c. faswn/fyddwn i ’n gyfoethog pe baswn/byddwn i ’n dod ar be.CNTF.1SG I PRED rich if be.CNTF.1SG I PROG come on draws cist o aur. cross chest of gold ‘I would be rich if I came across a chest of gold.’

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Although they may occur in the actual world, the participants have no control over these situations and their occurrences depend upon unlikely circumstances. However, as the situations are potentially real, they can be described factually, especially by the FUTURE tense: 46a. brynith Mair dŷ os bydd ’r arian genni hi. buy.FUT.3SG Mair house if be.FUT.3SG the money with.3SG.F she ‘Mair will buy a house if she has the money.’ b. enillith Clwb Peldroed Aberystwyth Gynghrair Pencampwyr win.FUT.3SG Club Football Aberystwyth League Champions Ewrop os câ’n nhw ddigon o lwc. Europe if have.FUT.3PL they enough of luck ‘Aberystwyth will win the European Champions’ League if they have enough luck.’ c. fydda’ i ’n gyfoethog os do’ i ar draws cist be.FUT.1SG I PRED rich if come.FUT.1SG I on cross chest o aur. of gold ‘I will be rich if I come across a chest of gold.’ There are potentially real situations with a greater likelihood of occurrence or existence. They can be within the control of subjects, and could come about (47c is based on an example in Giorgi and Pianesi 1997: 256–262): 47a. fasa/fydde pawb yn hapus pe basa/bydde Sioned yn be.CNTF.3SG everyone PRED happy if be.CNTF.3SG Sioned PROG canu fory. sing tomorrow ‘everyone would be happy if Sioned sang tomorrow.’ b. fasa/fydde ’r gwydr ’na ’n torri pe basat/byddet ti be.CNTF.3SG the glass there PROG break if be.CNTF.2SG you.SG ’n ’i ollwng o. PROG 3SG.M drop he ‘that glass would break if you dropped it.’ c. pe basa/bydde Mair yn dawnsio fasan/bydden ni ’n ei if be.CNTF.3SG Mair PROG dance be.CNTF.1PL we PROG 3SG.F chanmol hi. praise she ‘if Mary danced, we would praise her.’

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d. fasa/fydde Gwyn yn helpu pe basat/byddet ti ’n gofyn be.CNTF.3SG Gwyn PROG help if be.CNTF.2SG you.SG PROG ask iddo fo. to.3SG.M he ‘Gwyn would help if you asked him.’ e. faswn/fyddwn i ’n dal y bws ola’ pe baswn/byddwn i ’n be.CNTF.1SG I PROG catch the bus last if be.CNTF.1SG I PROG gad’el rwan. leave now. ‘I would catch the last bus if I left now.’ Again, an alternative factual description is possible with the realization:

FUTURE

tense

48a. fydd pawb yn hapus os canith Sioned be.FUT.3SG everyone PRED happy if sing.FUT.3SG Sioned fory. tomorrow ‘everyone will be happy if Sioned sings tomorrow.’ b. dorrith y gwydr ’na os gollyngi di o. do.FUT.2SG the glass there if drop.FUT.2SG you.SG he ‘that glass will break if you drop it.’ c. os dawnsith Mair ganmolwn ni hi. if dance.FUT.3SG Mair praise.FUT.1PL we she ‘if Mary dances, we will praise her.’ d. helpith Gwyn os gofyni di iddo fo. help.FUT.3SG Gwyn if be.FUT.2SG you.SG to.3SG.M he ‘Gwyn will help if you ask him.’ e. ddalia’ i ’r bws ola’ os gadawa’ i rwan. catch.FUT.1SG I the bus last if leave. FUT.1SG I now ‘I’ll catch the last bus if I leave now.’ These situations cannot be contradicted by known facts about the actual world, nor can they be said to be improbable or implausible. In order to account for the use of COUNTERFACTUAL to describe both unreal situations and potentially real situations, we can first consider a multi-meaning approach. Such an approach is found in Declerck (1991: 193–194), who says that the counterfactual conveys either that a situation is counterfactual (“unfulfilled in the past, present, or future”) or is hypothetical (“represents the possibility of fulfilment as rather remote”). But, if at all possible, a single meaning ap-

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proach is preferable, and we shall consider whether either the falsity account or the possible worlds account can provide reasonable explanations of potentially real situations as well as unreal situations. As the potentially real situations which are described in (45) and (47) could all come about, we cannot say that the statements which describe them are necessarily false statements, and the falsity approach then seems to be inappropriate. The possible worlds approach, with its emphasis on true statements, can accommodate the description of such situations: there is a potential world, which may turn out to be the actual world, in which they are true. But, following Giorgi and Panesi (1997: 258–259), we can claim that the choice of COUNTERFACTUAL is decided not by the nature of the situation but by the speaker’s attitudes, namely, that the speaker believes, expects, or presupposes that the condition is false; and, crucially, the speaker can choose to present the condition as false. Take example (47e). This situation is clearly within the control of the speaker and could easily come about. But the speaker chooses to describe this situation through a false statement about the actual world. In summary, then, COUNTERFACTUAL can occur in descriptions of unreal situations and potentially real situations. We shall adopt the approach of Lyons (1977: 795) and Giorgi and Pianesi (1997: 256–262) and hold that counterfactual statements make false statements about the actual world. This approach has the advantage that it presents a simple account. Falsity in the context of counterfactual statements does not amount to mendacity. And the speaker’s knowledge or attitudes respectively can select the COUNTERFACTUAL for unreal situations or potentially real situations. The forms of bod ‘be’ which are used for the PRESENT tense, the FUTURE tense, the PAST tense, the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense also convey a FACTUAL meaning as well as their tense meanings. In the light of the discussion of COUNTERFACTUAL, we shall say that FACTUAL meaning conveys true statements about real or potentially real situations in the actual world. 33 We discuss the tense features of the COUNTERFACTUAL in the next sub-section. 2.3.2

Counterfactual and tense

We have seen that factual situations can be described by a PRESENT tense, a tense, and two PAST tenses. The question arises as to whether the forms which convey COUNTERFACTUAL can also be assigned a tense feature. There are no distinct forms for the description of present and future counterfactual situations, as the following examples show: FUTURE

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49a. fasa/fydde Mair yn gweithio rwan pe basa/bydde hi ’n be.CNTF.3SG Mair PROG work now if be.CNTF.3SG she PRED ddigon iach. enough healthy ‘Mair would be working now if she were well enough.’ b. fasa/fydde Mair yn yn helpu ni fory pe basa/bydde hi be.CNTF.3SG Mair PROG 1PL help we tomorrow if be.CNTF.3SG she ’n cyrr’edd mewn pryd. PROG arrive in time ‘Mair would help us tomorrow if she arrived in time.’ Further, there is no distinct finite verb form to describe a past-time counterfactual situation. Byddai/buasai themselves cannot be used to describe a counterfactual situation in the deictic past unless the perfect aspect is selected (perfect aspect and COUNTERFACTUAL are discussed in chapter 7): 50a. * fasa/fydde Mair yn gweithio neithiwr pe basa/bydde hi be.CNTF.3SG Mair PROG work last-night if be.CNTF.3SG she ’n ddigon iach. PRED enough healthy ‘Mair would be working last night if she were well enough.’ b. fasa/fydde Mair wedi gweithio neithiwr pe basa/bydde hi be.CNTF.3SG Mair PERF work last-night if be.CNTF.3SG she wedi bod yn ddigon iach. PERF be PRED enough healthy ‘Mair would have worked last night if she had been well enough.’ We see then that forms which convey COUNTERFACTUAL do not have a PAST tense. Also, there is no morphological justification for establishing a PRESENT COUNTERFACTUAL or a FUTURE COUNTERFACTUAL. We shall leave the tense features of COUNTERFACTUAL unresolved at this stage. We shall loosely say that they are non-past, and we shall return to these matters in detail in 5.2.1. Some researchers speak not of tense and factuality but of realis and irrealis. Fife (1990: 81–214), working within the framework of cognitive grammar, conflates tense and factuality along a cline of epistemic distance: for instance, the PRESENT tense is epistemically close while the COUNTERFACTUAL is epistemically more distant. (Fife’s account considers other tenses and modal meanings, and is more complex than this). However, in the light of the above analysis of byddai/buasai in counterfactual and temporal

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terms, this current work shall claim that finite verb forms in Welsh have two meanings: one is tense, which establishes the evaluation time, and the other is factuality, which establishes either that the situation is factual (based on true evaluation) or counterfactual (based on false evaluation). 2.3.3

Matrix clauses and conditional clauses

In this sub-section, for completeness, we shall look at the verbal forms which are chosen in the matrix clause and the conditional clause, and also the forms of the conditional conjunction. Some languages use different forms in the matrix clause and the conditional clause. English, for instance, commonly uses the past tense forms of non-modal or modal verbs in the conditional clause, if I asked for more … if I could ask for more …, but only the past tense forms of modal verbs in the matrix clause, …they would not give it to me (but some speakers can used the form would in the conditional clause in place of the past tense nonmodal form, giving if I would ask for more …). Spanish and Italian use the imperfect subjunctive in the conditional clause, and the conditional in the matrix clause: si pidiera más, no me lo darían and se chiederà più, non lo davrebbero me, respectively. French uses the imperfect in the conditional clause, and the conditional in the matrix clause: si je demandais plus, ils ne me le donneraient pas. Informal Welsh is mixed. Unlike the languages just listed, informal Welsh is distinctive in that the same forms can be used in the matrix clause and the conditional clause, namely the Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms, byddai or buasai. Several examples have already been given, but an illustration can also be offered here: 51 fasa/fydde Sioned yn helpu pe basa/bydde hi yma. be.CNTF.3SG Sioned PROG help if be.CNTF.3SG she here ‘Sioned would help if she was / were here.’ However, bod ‘be’ has alternative forms which can only be used in conditional clauses in counterfactual sentences. One alternative is provided by the Imperfect-Subjunctive-Forms, which are formed with the stem ba- and the imperfect affixes (see 1.2.2). The forms in informal Welsh for the three persons, singular and plural, are bawn ‘I would be’, baet ‘you would be’, bai ‘he / she would be’, baen ‘we would be’, baech ‘you would be’, and baen ‘they would be’. The other alternative is based on the stem ta- and the imperfect suffixes or the pluperfect suffixes, prefixed (in the orthography at

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least) with the conditional conjunction pe ‘if’. In informal Welsh, the Imperfect-Forms are petawn ‘I would be’, petaet ‘you would be’, petai ‘he / she would be’, petaen ‘we would be’, petaech ‘you would be’, petaen ‘they would be’; and the Pluperfect-Forms are petaswn, petaset, petase, petasen, petasech, petasen (a is used in the suffix in some dialects in place of e). There is no semantic difference between the ba- paradigm and the petaparadigms, and, following an existing convention in this work, we can refer to them as Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms. Examples of both the ba- and petaparadigms are as follows: 52a. faswn/fyddwn i ’n hedfan {petai / petase / pe bai} gen i be.CNTF.1SG I PROG fly if.be.CNTF.3SG with I adenydd. wings ‘I would fly if I had wings.’ b. faswn/fyddwn i ’n ateb {petawn / petaswn / pe bawn} i ’n be.CNTF.1SG I PROG answer if.be.CNTF.1SG I PROG gwbod. know ‘I would answer if I knew.’ c. fasan/fydden ni ’n prynu tŷ {petaen / petasen / pe baen} ni be.CNTF.1PL we PROG buy house if.be.CNTF.1PL we ’n gallu fforddio. PROG can afford ‘we would buy a house if we could afford to.’ d. fasan/fydden nhw yn helpu {petaen / petasen / pe baen} nhw be.CNTF.3PL they PROG help if.be.CNTF.3PL they yma. here ‘they would help if they were here.’ Turning now to the conjunction in the conditional clauses, we find that this has two forms in informal Welsh. Sentences which describe a situation in the factual world can also contain a conditional clause, and os ‘if’ occurs in the latter. In sentences which describe a counterfactual situation either pe ‘if’ or os ‘if’ can occur in informal Welsh. Thus, both types of situations allow os ‘if’ in informal Welsh, but only the counterfactual situations allow pe ‘if’:

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53a. faswn/fyddwn i ’n hedfan {os / pe} basa gen i adenydd. be.CNTF.1SG I PROG fly if be.CNTF.3SG with I wings ‘I would fly if I had wings.’ b. fydda’ i ’n aros {os / (*pe)} bydd Mair yn aros. be.FUT.1SG I PROG stay if be.FUT.3SG Mair PROG aros ‘I’ll be staying if Mair is staying.’ In the formal style of Welsh, the rules for the selection of the conjunction are much stricter: os ‘if’ is confined to factual conditionals and pe ‘if’ is confined to counterfactual ones.34 In dialects which use the Pluperfect-Forms, buasai, to convey COUNTERFACTUAL, considerable elision and contraction can take place in the main clause and the conditional clause. The Pluperfect-Forms are contracted as shown in appendix 2 by eliding the initial sequence of consonant and vocalic element: for example, baswn ‘(I) would’ becomes ’swn, and basa ‘(he) would’ becomes ’sa. Given these contractions in the conditional clause, the conjunction can also be omitted: 54a. ’swn i ’n hedfan ’sa gen i adenydd. be.CNTF.1SG I PROG fly be.CNTF.3SG with I wings ‘I would fly if I had wings.’ b. ’sa Gwyn yn helpu ’sa fo yma. be.CNTF.3SG Gwyn PROG help be.CNTF.3SG he here ‘Gwyn would help if he were here.’ Similarly, in northern dialects the prefixed pe ‘if’ in forms like petasa, petaswn, petasach which are illustrated in (52), can also be dropped giving, for example, tasa ‘(if) it were’, taswn ‘(if) I were’, tasach ‘(if) you were’. 2.3.4

Counterfactual and the future-in-the-past

We have already seen in 2.2.2 and 2.2.3 that the Imperfect/PluperfectForms, byddai and buasai, are also used to convey a FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense. Welsh is not alone in this. D’hulst (2004) notes that French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Provençal also use the same forms for the FUTURE-IN-THEPAST and the COUNTERFACTUAL; and we can also add English to this list. D’hulst (2004) offers an account of the historical development of the COUNTERFACTUAL and the FUTURE-IN-THE- PAST in the Romance languages. Such an

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account would be interesting for Welsh but will not be attempted here. But we can look at differences between them in contemporary informal Welsh. The FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST describes past-time situations as in (55a) while a COUNTERFACTUAL describes situations in the non-past as in (55b); and a COUNTERFACTUAL can only describe a past situation when the perfect aspect is selected as in (55c): 55a. fasa/fydde Mair yn gweithio yr adeg hynny neithiwr. be.FUTP.3SG Mair PROG work the period that last-night ‘Mair would be working at that time last night.’ b. fasa/fydde Mair yn gweithio fory. be.FUTP.3SG Mair PROG work tomorrow ‘Mair would be working tomorrow.’ c. fasa/fydde Mair wedi bod yn gweithio yr adeg hynny . be.CNTF.3SG Mair PERF be PROG work the period that neithiwr last-night ‘Mair would have been working at that time last night.’ Further, in the case of the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST, the conjunction os ‘if’ and the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE occur in a conditional clause. In a counterfactual sentence, the conditional clause can have either the conjunction os ‘if’ or pe ‘if’ and the verbal forms are as described in 2.3.3. Thus: 56a. fasa/fydde Mair yn gweithio yr adeg hynny neithiwr be.FUTP.3SG Mair PROG work the period that last-night os / (*pe) oedd y gole ymlaen. if be.IMPF.3SG the light forward ‘Mair would be working at that time last night if the light was on.’ b. fasa/fydde Mair yn gweithio fory pe / os basa/bydde hi be.CNTF.3SG Mair PROG work tomorrow if be.CNTF.3SG she ’n cal. PROG may ‘Mair would be working tomorrow, if she were allowed.’ Semantically, too, the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST and the COUNTERFACTUAL are different. The FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST in (56a) makes a statement on the basis of true evaluation in a future-in-the-past period. The COUNTERFACTUAL in (56b) makes a statement on the basis of false evaluation in the non-past period.

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Habituality: Bydd and byddai again

In this section, we are mainly concerned with outlining uses of the FutureForms of bod ‘be’, the bydd paradigm, and the Imperfect-ConsuetudinalForms of bod ‘be’, the byddai paradigm, as specialist markers of habituality. Habituality is considered in greater detail and more extensively in 8.3 and 8.4. Some speakers can use the Future-Forms of bod ‘be’ in descriptions of a habitual situation in the extended present: 57a. fydd o ’n golchi ’i gar bob wythnos. be.PRES-HAB.3SG he PROG wash 3SG.M car every week ‘he washes his car every week.’ b. fydda’ i ’n mynd i weld pob gêm. be.PRES-HAB.1SG I PROG go to see every game ‘I go to see every game.’ c. fyddan nhw ’n nofio yn y boreau. be.PRES-HAB.3PL they PROG swim in the mornings. ‘they swim in the mornings.’ d. fydda’ i ’n codi cyn y wawr. be.PRES-HAB.1SG I PROG rise before the dawn ‘I get up before dawn.’ We have seen that habitual situations are situations which have occurred or existed in the past and are expected to occur or exist in the future period. In view of this expectancy, it is not unreasonable that a form which is otherwise used as a FUTURE tense should be used for habitual situations. So, is this bydd the FUTURE tense? The answer is ‘no’ for two reasons. First, the situations in (57) can also be described by examples which contain the PRESENT tense with little, if any, change of meaning (and for some speakers, the PRESENT tense is the preferred choice): 58a. mae o ’n golchi ’i be.PRES.3SG he PROG like 3SG.M ‘he washes his car every week.’ b. dw i ’n mynd i weld be.PRES.1SG I PROG go to see ‘I go to see every game.’

gar bob wythnos. car every week pob gêm. every game

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c. ma’n nhw ’n nofio yn y boreau. be.PRES.3PL they PROG swim in the mornings. ‘they swim in the mornings.’ d. dw i ’n codi cyn y wawr. be.PRES.1SG I PROG rise before the dawn ‘I get up before dawn.’ Second, bydd as a FUTURE tense can be used in sentences which describe habitual situations in the deictic future period: 59a. fydd o ’n golchi ’i gar bob wythnos o be.FUT.3SG he PROG wash 3SG.M car every week from rwan ymlaen. now forward ‘he will wash / be washing his car every week from now on.’ b. fydda’ i ’n mynd i weld pob gêm ar ôl symud i be.FUT.1SG I PROG go to see every game on track move to Lundain. London ‘I will go / be going to see every game after moving to London.’ c. fyddan nhw ’n nofio yn y boreau ar ôl ymddeol. be.FUT.3PL they PROG swim in the mornings on track retire ‘they will swim / be swimming in the mornings after retiring.’ d. fydda’ i ’n codi cyn y wawr yn y swydd newydd. be.FUT.1SG I PROG rise before the dawn in the job new ‘I will get / be getting up before dawn in the new job.’ Clearly, the forms of bydd which are used especially for habitual situations in (57) are not a FUTURE tense. The FUTURE tense can describe non-habitual situations and habitual situations, and is not restricted to the latter. Some speakers can use the Imperfect-Consuetudinal-Forms of bod ‘be’, the byddai paradigm, to describe habitual situations in past time. The past equivalents of (57a–d) are: 60a. fydde fo ’n golchi ’i gar be.PAST-HAB.3SG he PROG wash 3SG.M car ‘he washed his car every week.’ b. fyddwn i ’n mynd i weld pob be.PAST-HAB.1SG I PROG go to see every ‘I went to see every game.’

bob wythnos. every week gêm. game

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c. fydden nhw ’n nofio yn y boreau. be.PAST-HAB.3PL they PROG swim in the mornings. ‘they swam in the mornings.’ d. fyddwn i ’n codi cyn y wawr. be.PAST-HAB.1SG I PROG rise before the dawn ‘I got up before dawn.’ The Imperfect-Consuetudinal-Forms are also used as a FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST, as we have already seen. But, again, we can distinguish the two uses of the same forms. First, HABITUAL byddai can be replaced by the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE oedd to describe habitual situations in the past period (and for some speakers, oedd is the preferred choice in sentences which describe habitual situations): 61a. oedd o ’n golchi ’i gar bob wythnos. be.IMPF.3SG he PROG wash 3SG.M car every week ‘he washed his car every week.’ b. oeddwn i ’n mynd i weld pob gêm. be.IMPF.1SG I PROG go to see every game ‘I went to see every game.’ c. oedden nhw ’n nofio yn y boreau. be.IMPF.3PL they PROG swim in the mornings. ‘they swam in the mornings.’ d. oeddwn i ’n codi cyn y wawr. be.IMPF.1SG I PROG rise before the dawn ‘I got up before dawn.’ Second, if byddai were a FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST, these examples would be equivalent to examples which contain the Pluperfect-Forms, the buasai paradigm, which we have seen can also convey this meaning: 62a. fasa fo ’n golchi ’i gar bob wythnos. be.FUTP.3SG he PROG wash 3SG.M car every week ‘he would wash his car every week.’ b. faswn i ’n mynd i weld pob gêm. be.FUTP.1SG I PROG go to see every game ‘I would go to see every game.’ c. fasan nhw ’n nofio yn y boreau. be.FUTP.3PL they PROG swim in the mornings. ‘they would swim in the mornings.’

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d. faswn i ’n codi cyn y wawr. be.FUTP.1SG I PROG rise before the dawn ‘I would get up before dawn.’ But the examples in (62) are not equivalent to those in (60). So, it is possible to distinguish the byddai paradigm to mark habituality from the byddai paradigm to mark FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST, just as it is possible to distinguish the bydd paradigm to mark habituality from the bydd paradigm to mark the 35 FUTURE tense. The FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense can describe non-habitual situations and habitual situations, and is not restricted to the latter. We have been able to distinguish HABITUAL bydd and byddai from FUTURE bydd and FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST byddai. Bydd and byddai, when used in habitual sentences, are traditionally analysed in reference grammars of Welsh as a present habitual (or consuetudinal) tense and a past habitual (or consuetudinal) tense. But in this current work we shall make a distinction between tense and habituality. An essential characteristic of tense is that it is concerned with deictic periods of time. Habituality relates to properties of the situation and not deictic periods of time: it describes the temporal nature of the situation in terms of iterativeness and characteristic behaviour. In this light, it is more reasonable to argue that habituality is assigned to an aspectual feature of these verb forms and not to tense. Thus, HABITUAL bydd and byddai are forms which are PRESENT and PAST tenses, and which also have an additional aspectual feature, HABITUAL. They contrast with PRESENT mae ‘is’ and PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE oedd ‘was’ which have tense features but no specialized HABITUAL feature. Although the latter can be used in descriptions of habitual situations, they are not confined to them. Habitual is a property of the situation which these latter paradigms describe. It is not a feature of their forms, and they are free to occur in descriptions of habitual and non-habitual situations. These latter comments can also be applied to the other tenses and the COUNTERFACTUAL. 2.5

Mynd i ‘go to’

We see in 2.2.3 that subsequent situations relative to a reference time in the past can be described with clauses which contain the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE and the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense as in (63a–b) respectively, and that subsequent situations relative to the present moment can be described with clauses which contain the PRESENT tense and the FUTURE tense as in (64a–b) respectively. Like other European languages, including English, French,

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and Spanish, Welsh can also use the verb for ‘go’, namely mynd, to describe subsequent situations in the deictic past and the deictic future as in (63c) and (64c) respectively. 63a. oedd y ffordd newydd yn agor ar ddiwedd y mis. be.IMPF.3SG the road new PROG open on end the month ‘the new road was opening at the end of the month.’ b. fasa/fydde ’r ffordd newydd yn agor ar ddiwedd y mis. be.FUTP.3SG the road new PROG open on end the month ‘the new road would be opening at the end of the month.’ c. oedd y ffordd newydd yn mynd i agor ar ddiwedd y be.IMPF.3SG the road new PROG go to open on end the mis. month ‘the new road was going to open at the end of the month.’ 64a. ma’ ’r brotest yn digwydd yfory. be.PRES.3SG the protest PROG happen tomorrow ‘the protest is taking place tomorrow.’ b. fydd y brotest yn digwydd yfory. be.FUT.3SG the protest PROG happen tomorrow ‘the protest will be taking place tomorrow.’ c. ma’ ’r brotest yn mynd i ddigwydd yfory. be.PRES.3SG the protest PROG go to happen tomorrow ‘the protest is going to take place tomorrow.’ This use of mynd i ‘go to’ is often accounted for as a way of referring to future situations, as in (64c), but (63c) clearly shows that it can also occur in descriptions of past situations. Taking both these examples together, it is more accurate to say that this use of mynd i ‘go to’ occurs in descriptions of subsequent situations in the past or the future periods of time. The crucial matter is to explain how the examples which contain mynd i ‘go to’ are different to the other examples in (63-64). Before discussing this matter, we can note that mynd i ‘go to’ is also used to convey physical movement, and is comparable with other movement verbs like dod ‘come’ and symud ‘move’: 65a. ma’ Sioned yn mynd / dod / symud i ’r ochr. be.PRES.3SG Sioned PROG go come move to the side ‘Sioned is going / coming / moving to the side.’

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b. ma’ Sioned yn mynd / dod / symud i weld ’i be.PRES.3SG Sioned PROG go come move to see 3SG.F ffrindie. friends ‘Sioned is going / coming / moving to see her friends.’ The meaning of mynd ‘go’ in (65b) is ambiguous. It can indicate physical movement in order to see friends, like the other verbs of movement (in which case er mwyn ‘in order to’ could replace i ‘to’), or it can indicate the occurrence of a subsequent situation. We leave open the question as to whether the use of mynd i ‘go to’ in examples like (63c) and (64c) are historically derived from its movement use as in examples like those in (65). 36 We also leave open the question as to whether there is a generalization which can present a unified analysis of the movement and non-movement uses. Without such a generalization, the two uses are quite different – the subjects in (63c) and (64c) are not physically moving to another place. 37 We shall first consider the contrast of examples of mynd i ‘go to’ when co-occurring with the PRESENT and PAST tenses such as those in (63c) and (64c) with examples of the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST and the FUTURE without mynd i ‘go to’ as in (63b) and (64b). We can explain this contrast in terms of the times of evaluation of the propositions which are associated with these statements. In relation to a reference time, t, the FUTURE and the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST are licensed by evaluations which are located subsequent to t. But the occurrence of the PRESENT tense and PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE in the mynd i ‘go to’ examples are licensed by evaluations which are located at t, and the time of evaluation and the time of the situations are dislocated. We consider what the evaluations for the latter are based on in the following paragraphs. We can now turn to the contrast of examples with mynd i ‘go to’ such as those in (63c) and (64c) with equivalent examples without mynd i ‘go to’ as in (63a) and (64a). As both sorts of examples contain the same tenses, we cannot explain the contrast in terms of the time of evaluation: in all examples in this contrast, it is located at a reference time, t, and we must look for another explanation. We shall look first at the PRESENT tense, as in the following additional examples: 66a. ma’ Sioned yn mynd i orffen y gwaith fory. be.PRES.3SG Sioned PROG go to finish the work tomorrow ‘Sioned is going to finish the work tomorrow.’

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Finite inflections of bod ‘be’

b. ma’ Sioned yn gorffen y gwaith fory. be.PRES.3SG Sioned PROG finish the work tomorrow ‘Sioned is finishing the work tomorrow.’ 67a. dw i ’n mynd i weld mam fory. be.PRES.1SG I PROG go to see mother tomorrow ‘I’m going to see (my) mother tomorrow.’ b. dw i ’n gweld mam fory. be.PRES.1SG I PROG see mother tomorrow ‘I’m seeing (my) mother tomorrow.’ 68a. ma’ ’n ngwraig yn mynd i weld y deintydd be.PRES.3SG 1SG wife PROG go to see the dentist fory. tomorrow ‘my wife is going to see the dentist tomorrow.’ b. ma’ ’ n ngwraig yn gweld y deintydd fory. be.PRES.3SG 1SG wife PROG see the dentist tomorrow ‘my wife is seeing the dentist tomorrow.’ 69a. ma’ Sioned yn mynd i ad’el yn gynnar fory. be.PRES.3SG Sioned PROG go to leave ADV early tomorrow ‘Sioned is going to leave early tomorrow.’ b. ma’ Sioned yn gad’el yn gynnar fory. be.PRES.3SG Sioned PROG leave ADV early tomorrow ‘Sioned is leaving early tomorrow.’ 70a. dw i ’n mynd i olchi ’r llestri nes ymlaen. be.PRES.1SG I PROG go to wash the dishes nearer onward ‘I’m going to wash the dishes later on.’ b. dw i ’n golchi ’r llestri nes ymlaen. be.PRES.1SG I PROG wash the dishes nearer onward ‘I’m washing the dishes later on.’ In 2.2.3, it is argued that the examples of the PRESENT tense and the PAST tense without mynd i ‘go to’ are based on predetermination of the situation, such as a current arrangement or schedule. In contrast, we can say that the mynd i ‘go to’ examples involve not predetermination but the current intention of the subject to bring about the situations which the clauses describe.38 This is especially obvious in the case of examples in (68), which involve a visit to the dentist. In the case of (68a), it is possible to apply an interpretation that the subject has decided on her part to see the dentist without making a prior appointment. In the case of (68b), the typical interpretation is that a present arrangement to see the dentist exists. It is probably the case

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that other individuals in the situation know about the prior arrangement, such as the dentist. This is not necessarily so in the case of intention, which is a property of the subject, as in (68a). However, mynd i ‘go to’ is not limited to the subject’s intention. This can be demonstrated in two ways. First, mynd i ‘go to’ can describe events which involve animate subjects but which do not necessarily involve intention: 71a. ma’ Sioned yn mynd i frifo. be.PRES.3SG Sioned PROG go to hurt ‘Sioned is going to hurt herself.’ b. wyt ti ’n mynd i gal dy ddal. be.PRES.2SG you.SG PROG go to have 2SG catch ‘you are going to be caught.’ c. wyt ti ’n mynd i wlychu yn y glaw ’ma be.PRES.2SG you.SG PROG go to wet in the rain here heb gôt. without coat ‘you are going to get wet in this rain without a coat.’ d. dw i ’n mynd i fod yn sâl. be.PRES.1SG I PROG go to be PRED ill ‘I’m going to be ill.’ The examples in (71) could be given an interpretation of intention if the outcomes are a deliberate aim of the subjects. But the more typical interpretation is that the situations are going to develop without the agency of the subjects. Second, mynd i ‘go to’ can also have inanimate subjects (includiing a pleonastic one) as well as animate subjects : 72a. ma’ ’r wal yn mynd i syrthio. be.PRES.3SG the wall PROG go to fall ‘the wall is going to fall.’ b. mae ’n mynd i fwrw glaw fory. be.PRES.3SG PROG go to hit rain tomorrow ‘It’s going to rain tomorrow.’ c. ma’ ’r ffasiyne newydd yn mynd i fod yn be.PRES.3SG the fashions new PROG go to be PRED boblogaidd. popular ‘the new fashions are going to be popular.’

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Finite inflections of bod ‘be’

d. ma’ ’r afon yn mynd i sychu. be.PRES.3SG the river PROG go to dry ‘the river is going to run dry.’ It does not normally make any sense in the world that I inhabit to think of inanimate entities such as walls, the weather, clothes and rivers having intentions. With examples which cannot be given an interpretation of intention, there is some other factor which allows the speaker to propose the occurrence of a subsequent situation. Let us say that there are current signs which indicate to the speaker that a subsequent situation will develop. The analysis which we have now says that when the evaluation is based on the subject’s current intentions or on the speaker’s interpretation of current signs, then the PRESENT tense and mynd i ‘go to’ can be used. We shall not here try to answer the question as to whether there may be a generalization which can conflate current intentions and current signs into a single semantic explanation. We shall simply refer to the intention / signs use of mynd i ‘go to’. But both intention and signs uses of mynd i ‘go to’ allow subsequent situations to be described in less certain terms than equivalent descriptions without mynd i ‘go to’, which are based on predetermination.39 We return to these issues below. Turning now to the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE, the explanation based on intentions or signs can be applied, in this case in relation to a past reference time, t. The following examples illustrate the contrast between current intentions and current predetermination in past time: 73a. oedd Sioned yn mynd i orffen y gwaith y diwrnod be.IMPF.3SG Sioned PROG go to finish the work the day wedyn after. ‘Sioned was going to finish the work the day after.’ b. oedd Sioned yn gorffen y gwaith y diwrnod wedyn. be.IMPF.3SG Sioned PROG finish the work the day after ‘Sioned was finishing the work the day after.’ 74a. o’n i ’n mynd i weld mam y diwrnod wedyn. be.IMPF.1SG I PROG go to see mother the day after ‘I was going to see (my) mother the day after.’ b. o’n i ’n gweld mam y diwrnod wedyn. be.IMPF.1SG I PROG see mother the day after ‘I was seeing (my) mother the day after.’

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83

75a. oedd ’ n ngwraig yn mynd i weld y deintydd y be.IMPF.3SG1 SG wife PROG go to see the dentist the diwrnod nesa. day next ‘my wife was going to see the dentist the next day.’ b. oedd ’n ngwraig yn gweld y deintydd y diwrnod nesa. be.IMPF.3SG 1SG wife PROG see the dentist the day next ‘my wife was seeing the dentist the next day.’ 76a. oedd Sioned yn mynd i ad’el yn gynnar y diwrnod be.IMPF.3SG Sioned PROG go to leave ADV early the day nesa. next ‘Sioned was going to leave early the next day.’ b. oedd Sioned yn gad’el yn gynnar y diwrnod nesa. be.IMPF.3SG Sioned PROG leave ADV early the day next ‘Sioned was leaving early the next day.’ 77a. o’n i ’n mynd i olchi ’r llestri nes ymlaen. be.IMPF.1SG I PROG go to wash the dishes nearer forward ‘I was going to wash the dishes later on.’ b. o’n i ’n golchi ’r llestri nes ymlaen. be.IMPF.1SG I PROG wash the dishes nearer forward ‘I was washing the dishes later on.’ And the following examples illustrate evaluations which are based on signs which are current at a past reference time, t, rather than intentions: 78a. oedd Sioned yn mynd i ddiodde. be.IMPF.3SG Sioned PROG go to suffer ‘Sioned was going to suffer.’ b. oedd y dynion yn mynd i golli popeth. be.IMPF.3SG the men PROG go to lose everything ‘the men were going to lose everything.’ c. o’t ti ’n mynd i wlychu yn y glaw ’na be.IMPF.2SG you.SG PROG go to wet in the rain there heb gôt. without coat ‘you were going to get wet in that rain without a coat.’ d. o’n i ’n mynd i fod yn sâl. be.IMPF.1SG I PROG go to be PRED ill ‘I was going to be ill.’

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Finite inflections of bod ‘be’

79a. oedd y dillad yn mynd i wlychu. be.IMPF.3SG the clothes PROG go to wet ‘the clothes were going to get wet.’ b. oedd yr afon yn mynd i sychu. be.IMPF.3SG the river PROG go to dry ‘the river was going to run dry.’ c. oedd y ffasiyne newydd yn mynd i fod yn be.IMPF.3SG the fashions new PROG go to be PRED boblogaidd. popular ‘the new fashions were going to be popular.’ d. oedd y car yn mynd i fwrw ’r wal. be.IMPF.3SG the car PROG go to hit the wall ‘the car was going to hit the wall.’ We can note two differences between sentences with mynd i ‘go to’ and equivalent sentences without mynd i which give further support to the contrast of predetermination and intentions / signs. First, mynd i ‘go to’ cannot be used in descriptions of events which can be predetermined on the basis of scientific calculations (note that in these examples i ‘to’ would trigger soft mutation if it occurred): 80a. ma’ ’r llanw ’n (*mynd i) troi am saith heno. be.PRES.3SG the tide PROG go to turn at seven tonight ‘the tide turns at seven tonight / *is going to turn at seven tonight.’ b. oedd yr haul yn (*mynd i) codi am bump y bore be.IMPF.3SG the sun PROG go to rise at five the morning nesa. next ‘the sun was rising at five the next morning / *was going to rise at five the next morning.’ The element of predetermination is so firm with such situations that it cannot be replaced by current signs. Second, in the case of past-time intentions, we are in a position in present time to know whether the intention was fulfilled or not. When unfulfilled, contradiction is possible. But contradiction is not an option with sentences which lack mynd i ‘go to’:

Mynd i ‘go to’

85

81a. oedd y clwb yn mynd i gau, ond na’th o be.IMPF.3SG the club PROG go to close but do.PERV.3SG he ddim. NEG

‘the club was going to close, but it didn’t.’ b. oedd y clwb yn cau, * ond na’th o ddim. be.IMPF.3SG the club PROG close but do.PERV.3SG he NEG ‘the club was closing, * but it didn’t.’ 82a. o’n i ’n mynd i ymddiswyddo, ond nesh i be.IMPF.1SG I PROG go to resign but do.PERV.1SG I ddim. NEG

‘I was going to resign, but I didn’t.’ b. o’n i ’n ymddiswyddo, * ond nesh i ddim. be.IMPF.1SG I PROG resign but do.PERV.1SG I NEG ‘I was resigning, * but I didn’t.’ 83b. oedd y prifathro yn mynd i wahardd ffone be.IMPF.3SG the headteacher PROG go to ban phones symudol, ond na’th o ddim. mobile but do.PERV.3SG he NEG ‘the headteacher was going to ban mobile phones, but he didn’t.’ b. oedd y prifathro yn gwahardd ffone symudol, be.IMPF.3SG the headteacher PROG ban phones mobile * ond na’th o ddim. but do.PERV.3SG he NEG ‘the headteacher was banning mobile phones, but he didn’t.’ The use of mynd i ‘go to’ with the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE allows for unfulfilment: an intention can be unfulfilled but it is typically expected that a predetermined situation will occur. However, we have previously suggested in 2.2.3 that circumspection can arise when the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE is used in descriptions of non-concurrent situations (present time or future time situations) without mynd i ‘go to’. The latter leave open whether a situation occurs or not. But mynd i ‘go to’ can be used where it is known that a subsequent situation did not occur. Overall, then, the intentions / signs use of mynd i ‘go to’ makes propositions less certain than do equivalent sentences without mynd i ‘go to’.40 We shall conclude with brief observations about the syntax of mynd in this use. It occurs in a compound tense pattern which contains the progressive aspect and finite forms of bod ‘be’ which convey PRESENT tense or the

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tense IMPERFECTIVE, and is followed by an i ‘to’ verb phrase. But mynd i ‘go to’ of intentions / signs is very restricted. It does not occur with the FUTURE and the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST : PAST

84a. * fydd Sioned yn mynd i orffen y gwaith wythnos nesa. be.FUT.3SG Sioned PROG go to finish the work week next ‘Sioned will be going to finish the work next week.’ d. * fasa/fydde Sioned yn mynd i orffen y gwaith neithiwr. be.FUTP.3SG Sioned PROG go to finish the work last-night ‘Sioned would be going to finish the work last night.’ These examples are acceptable if mynd i has the meaning of physical movement. We can explain this restriction on the grounds that the FUTURE and the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST are based on evaluations which are subsequent to a time t, but mynd i ‘go to’ conveys current intentions or current signs and does not convey subsequent intentions or subsequent signs. Mynd i ‘go to’ of intentions / signs does not occur with the PAST tense PERFECTIVE: 85 * fuodd Sioned yn mynd i orffen y gwaith y be.PERV.3SG Sioned PROG go to finish the work the diwrnod wedyn. day after ‘Sioned was going to finish the work the day after.’ We argue in chapter 4 that the tense feature is current with a past reference time, t. On this basis, it is unclear why the PAST tense PERFECTIVE does not occur with mynd i ‘go to’. But we also show in chapter 4 that the PAST tense PERFECTIVE, unlike the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE, does not describe subsequent situations. We can tentatively suggest that the subsequent-situation restriction on the PERFECTIVE applies even when a developing situation is described on the basis of current intentions and signs. The occurrence of the COUNTERFACTUAL with mynd i ‘go to’ is more difficult to judge: 86 ? faswn/fyddwn i ’n mynd i roi ’r plant yn ’u gw’l’au be.CNTF.1SG I PROG go to put the children in 3PL beds rwan. now ‘I would be going to put the children in bed now.’

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87

This example could be accepted if mynd i ‘go to’ involves physical movement, but it is unclear whether the current intentions or current signs meanings are possible. It may be that there is a pragmatic restriction on describing a subsequent situation counterfactually with mynd i ‘go to’, although it is difficult to think what the precise nature of this restriction would be. Another restriction on mynd i ‘go to’ of intentions / signs is that it is confined to the progressive. It cannot occur in a clause which is nonprogressive and perfect: 87a. * ma’ Sioned wedi mynd i orffen y gwaith be.PRES.3SG Sioned PERF go to finish the work ‘Sioned has gone to finish the work this morning.’ b. * oedd Sioned wedi mynd i orffen y gwaith be.IMPF.3SG Sioned PERF go to finish the work ‘Sioned had gone to finish the work yesterday.’

bore ’ma. morning here ddoe. yesterday

And it cannot occur in clauses which are non-progressive and non-perfect: 88 * a’th Sioned i orffen y gwaith bore ’ma. be.PERV.3SG Sioned to finish the work morning here ‘Sioned went to finish the work this morning.’ Examples (87–88) are acceptable if mynd i ‘go to’ has the meaning of physical movement. But mynd i ‘go to’ of intentions / signs requires the progressive (more is said about the progressive in chapter 8). In conclusion, mynd i ‘go to’ is used in descriptions of situations which occur subsequent to a time t, but which can be evaluated as true at t. The grounds for evaluation are based on current intentions and current signs. Mynd i ‘go to’ is confined to occurring with the PRESENT tense and PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE, which are licensed by evaluation which is concurrent with a reference time, t. Such examples are different to examples of the PRESENT tense and the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE without mynd i ‘go to’ which describe subsequent situations on the basis of current predetermination; and they are different to examples of the FUTURE tense and the FUTURE-IN-THEPAST tense (both without mynd i ‘go to’) which describe subsequent situations on the basis of anticipated evaluation.

88 2.6

Finite inflections of bod ‘be’

Summary

The discussion so far has been based on bod ‘be’, which has the greatest range of inflectional contrasts. We have shown that the inflections variously convey tense, factuality, and habituality, and the distinctions which have been made can be summarized as in table 9. The Preterite-Forms of bod ‘be’, namely the bu paradigm, which contrasts with the oedd paradigm in terms of aspect, are missing from this table. These forms, and their relationship with the Imperfect-Forms, are discussed in chapter 4. Table 9. The semantics of the inflected forms of bod ‘be’ Meanings

Forms

Paradigms

FACTUAL, PRESENT

Present-Forms Future-Forms Future-Forms Imperfect-Forms Imperfect-Consuetudinal-Forms Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms

mae bydd bydd oedd byddai byddai / buasai byddai / buasai byddai / buasai

FACTUAL, PRESENT, HABITUAL FACTUAL, FUTURE FACTUAL, PAST FACTUAL, PAST, HABITUAL FACTUAL, FUTURE-IN-THE -PAST COUNTERFACTUAL, PRESENT COUNTERFACTUAL, FUTURE

This study has favoured an analysis of the function of tense in terms of time of evaluation rather than the time of the situation, which is mainly found in the literature. However, concentrating upon temporal features, the Welsh tense system can be placed against general observations which are available in Lyons (1977: 677–690, 1995: 312–320), Comrie (1985), Dahl (1985), and Binnick (1991). First, they point out that not all the world’s languages grammaticalize deictic temporal reference as tense systems. Welsh is one of the languages which does. Second, they also point out that those languages which have tense systems do not all realize them in verb morphology. Again, Welsh is one of the languages which does. Third, tense systems in the world’s languages do not all grammaticalize the three deictic periods: it is a common claim that PAST versus NON-PAST (conflating PRESENT and FUTURE) is more common than PAST versus PRESENT versus FUTURE. But Welsh has PRESENT and FUTURE tenses, and two PAST tenses, a PAST (IMPERFECTIVE) and a FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST – giving a four-term tense system. Welsh also has a PAST PERFECTIVE, which is discussed in chapter 4. However, we shall return to discuss tense as a system in 5.1, where we make generalizations

Summary

89

based on relationships between the tenses. We shall also consider there restrictions on finite verbs in complement clauses. We have also discussed mynd i ‘go to’, which can occur in descriptions of situations which are subsequent to a past or present time, t, on the basis of intentions or signs which are concurrent with t.

Chapter 3 Finite inflections of lexical and modal verbs 3.1

Introduction

The aim of this chapter is to analyse the semantics of the inflections of finite verbs other than bod ‘be’. For reasons which will become apparent in the analysis which is presented here, a distinction is made between lexical verbs, which are the majority of verbs, and modal verbs. In order to analyse the semantics of the inflected forms of both types of verbs, we can exploit comparisons with the semantics of the inflected forms of bod ‘be’ in inflectionally equivalent compound tense patterns. The productive distribution of inflections over these two types of verbs in informal Welsh is summarized in table 10. In order to help the reader, we shall anticipate the analyses of the semantics of finite verb inflections by also providing the semantic labels for these forms. Table 10. Inflected forms of lexical verbs and modal verbs (the third person singular represents the whole paradigm) Forms

Meanings

Lexical

Modal

Present-Forms Future -Forms

PRESENT FUTURE

— — siaradith

IMPERFECTIVE

—

FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST

siaradai siaradai — siaradasai siaradasai — gwnelai gwnelai siaradodd

— gall — gallai — gallai gallasai — gallasai — — — gallodd

Imperfect-Forms

PRESENT

COUNTERFACTUAL

Pluperfect-Forms

IMPERFECTIVE FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST COUNTERFACTUAL

Imperfect-Subjunctive-Forms

IMPERFECTIVE FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST COUNTERFACTUAL

Preterite-Forms

PERFECTIVE

The Preterite-Forms are listed in table 10 but they are considered in chapter 4. As can be seen the Imperfect-Forms, Pluperfect-Forms, and Imperfect-

Introduction

91

Subjunctive-Forms share meanings. Following a general convention in this study, the label Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms is used as a cover label for all these synonymous forms, unless there is good reason to refer to one paradigm individually. But for economy of presentation, the Imperfect-Forms are used in the illustrations. Neither lexical verbs nor modals have distinct Present-Forms, unlike bod ‘be’. But we shall consider in 3.5 to what extent the two lexemes gwybod ‘know (a fact)’ and adnabod ‘know, recognize’ have Present-Forms. In 3.3, we shall outline inflectional restrictions on the modal verb dylai ‘should’. Morphology alone is not enough to make detailed comparisons. The semantics of the forms provide more interesting differences not only between these verbs and bod ‘be’, but also between the lexical verbs and the modal verbs, as described in 3.2. Lexical and modal verbs have FutureForms, but those of lexical verbs convey the FUTURE tense while those of modal verbs convey the PRESENT tense. Both lexical verbs and modal verbs have Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms but those of lexical verbs convey FUTUREIN-THE-PAST or COUNTERFACTUAL while those of modal verbs convey IMPERFECTIVE or COUNTERFACTUAL. In northern areas in particular, a periphrastic pattern with the auxiliary verb gwneud ‘do’ as in the examples in (2) can be selected in place of a simple verb pattern as in (1). But gwneud ‘do’ does not always occur in place of all simple verb patterns. It occurs with lexical verbs but is marginal, if it occurs at all, with modal verbs (see 3.2.2). With lexical verbs, it productively occurs with the FUTURE tense – compare (1a) and (2a) – and PAST tense PERFECTIVE (see chapter 4 for examples). But it is less common with the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense – compare (1b) and (2b) – and it is less common still with the COUNTERFACTUAL – compare (1c) and (2c). 1a. siaradith Mair heno. talk.FUT.3SG Mair tonight ‘Mair will talk tonight.’ b. siarade Mair ddim neithiwr. talk.FUTP.3SG Mair NEG last-night ‘Mair would not talk last night.’ c. siarade Mair heno pe câi hi gyfle. talk.CNTF.3SG Mair tonight if have.CNTF.3SG she opportunity ‘Mair would talk tonight if she had a chance.’

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Finite inflections of lexical and modal verbs

2a. neith Mair siarad heno. do.FUT.3SG Mair talk tonight ‘Mair will talk tonight.’ b. nâi Mair ddim siarad neithiwr. do. FUTP.3SG Mair NEG talk last-night ‘Mair would not talk last night.’ c. nâi Mair siarad heno pe nâi hi gal do. CNTF.3SG Mair talk tonight if do. CNTF.3SG she have cyfle. opportunity ‘Mair would talk tonight if she had a chance.’ Where auxiliary gwneud is used, there is a small group of lexical verbs which occur as simple verbs more commonly than the majority of lexical verbs, namely cael ‘have, receive’, dod ‘come’, mynd ‘go’, gweld ‘see’, and gwneud ‘make, do’ itself as a lexical verb.41 Contrary to Fife (1990: 238), the auxiliary gwneud can also occur with bod ‘be’ (see also 6.2.2): 3a. fyddi di yma fory? be.FUT.2SG you.SG here tomorrow ‘will you be here tomorrow?’ b. fydd hi ’n gadeirydd? be.FUT.3SG she PRED chairperson ‘Will she be chairperson?’ 4a. nei di fod yma fory? do.FUT.2SG you.SG be here tomorrow ‘will you be here tomorrow?’ b. neith hi fod yn gadeirydd? do.IMPF.3SG she be PRED chairperson ‘will she be chairperson?’ Our main concern is with the inflected forms in both the simple pattern and the periphrastic pattern, but some comments on the semantic differences between these patterns are offered in 6.2.2. The point is made in 8.1.1 that some speakers prefer a compound tense pattern rather than a simple verb (or the periphrastic equivalent) with some inflectional meanings. This variously applies to lexical verbs and modal verbs. In this chapter, in order to establish the inflectional meanings themselves, we shall concentrate on simple verb patterns and ignore any preferences for a compound tense pattern.

Tense

3.2

93

Tense

It is seen in 2.2.2 that forms of bod ‘be’ can convey the following tenses: PRESENT , PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE, FUTURE, and FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST (the PAST tense PERFECTIVE is discussed in chapter 4). It is also shown in 2.2.2 and 2.2.3 that these tenses can occur in descriptions of situations whose temporal locations are concurrent with the traditional temporal feature of the tenses, and also in descriptions of situations whose temporal locations are non-concurrent. In this section, we shall establish whether lexical verbs and modal verbs can convey these tenses, and also whether they can describe concurrent and non-concurrent situations. We shall see that there are considerable differences between the two sorts of verbs, and also between them and bod ‘be’. 3.2.1

Lexical verbs

It is a striking characteristic of finite verbs in informal Welsh that, with a mere three exceptions, they do not have morphologically distinct PresentForms. The exceptions are bod ‘be’, and the so-called bod ‘be’ compounds, gwybod ‘know (a fact)’ and adnabod ‘know, recognize’. We have already discussed bod ‘be’ in chapter 2. Gwybod and adnabod are discussed in 3.5. Given that there are restrictions on the realization of the PRESENT tense, the question arises as to how it is conveyed in informal Welsh in respect of the majority of lexical verbs. The PRESENT tense of bod ‘be’ is used in compound tense patterns. Typical examples are as follows: 5a. ma’ Aberystwyth yn sefyll ar lan y môr. be.PRES.3SG Aberystwyth PROG stand on bank the sea ‘Aberystwyth stands on the coast.’ b. ma’ ’r ddadl hon yn dangos fy mod yn iawn. be.PRES.3SG the argument this PROG show 1SG be PRED right ‘this argument shows that I am right.’ c. ma’ Mair yn d’eud dydy hi ddim yn be.PRES.3SG Mair PROG say NEG.be.PRES.3SG she NEG PROG cytuno. agree ‘Mair says that she does not agree.’

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Finite inflections of lexical and modal verbs

There are many similar examples in chapter 2. There is also another way, which is hardly productive in the informal style, which involves the use of Future-Forms to convey the PRESENT tense. Only a few lexical verbs can do this in informal Welsh, and these are described in 3.5. Lexical verbs have Future-Forms. We have seen in chapter 2 that the Future-Forms of bod ‘be’ have a FUTURE tense meaning. We can show that the Future-Forms of lexical verbs also have a FUTURE tense meaning by comparing them with equivalent compound tense patterns which contain Future-Forms of bod ‘be’, in the (c) examples in the following set: 6a. lawith hi yfory. rain.FUT.3SG she tomorrow ‘it will rain tomorrow.’ b. neith hi lawio yfory. do.FUT.3SG she rain tomorrow ‘it will rain tomorrow.’ c. fydd hi ’n glawio yfory. be.FUT.3SG she PROG rain tomorrow ‘it will be raining tomorrow.’ 7a. wela’ i Sioned heno. see. FUT.1SG I Sioned tonight ‘I’ll see Sioned tonight.’ b. na’ i weld Sioned heno. do.FUT.1SG I see Sioned tonight ‘I’ll see Sioned tonight.’ c. fydda’ i ’n gweld Sioned heno. be.FUT.1SG I PROG see Sioned tonight ‘I’ll be seeing Sioned tonight.’ 8a. beintian nhw ’r tŷ yr wthnos nesa. paint.FUT.3PL they the house the week next ‘they’ll paint the house next week.’ b. nân nhw baentio ’r tŷ yr wthnos nesa. do.FUT.3PL they paint the house the week next ‘they’ll paint the house next week.’ c. fyddan nhw ’n paentio ’r tŷ yr wthnos nesa. be.FUT.3PL they PROG paint the house the week next ‘they’ll be painting the house next week.’ There are other differences between the simple verbs in the (a) examples and the periphrastic patterns in the (b) examples, on the one hand, and the

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compound tense patterns with bod ‘be’ in the (c) examples, on the other hand, which arise because of aspectual contrasts (which are discussed in chapter 8). But the meaning of the inflections is the same in both cases, and given that we have established that the Future-Forms with bod ‘be’ function as a FUTURE tense, we can argue that the Future-Forms with lexical verbs, and the auxiliary gwneud ‘do’, also function as a FUTURE tense. We can consider the FUTURE tense in os ‘if’ and pan ‘when’ clauses which describe future situations. Unlike English but like other European languages, Welsh can readily use the FUTURE tense in os ‘if’ and pan ‘when’ clauses which describe future situations, and when the main clause also contains the FUTURE tense: 9a. os daw Sioned, daw Mair. if come.FUT.3SG Sioned come.FUT.3SG Mair ‘if Sioned comes, Mair will come.’ b. os neith Sioned ddod, neith Mair ddod. if do.FUT.3SG Sioned come do.FUT.3SG Mair come ‘if Sioned comes, Mair will come.’ 10a. pan eith Siôn, eith Gwyn. when go.FUT.3SG Siôn go.FUT.3SG Gwyn ‘when Siôn goes, Gwyn will go.’ b. pan neith Siôn fynd, neith Gwyn fynd. when do.FUT.3SG Sioned go do.FUT.3SG Gwyn go ‘when Siôn goes, Gwyn will go.’ Welsh can also use the PRESENT tense in os ‘if’ clauses, pan ‘when’ clauses and in the main clause to describe future-time situations. But a comparison of (11) and (12a) shows that an os ‘if’ clause can allow a definite time adverbial whereas in a pan ‘when’ clause such an adverbial is doubtful: 11 os ydy Sioned yn dod fory, ma’ Mair yn if be.PRES.3SG Sioned PROG come tomorrow be.PRES.3SG Mair PROG dod. come ‘if Sioned is coming / comes tomorrow, Mair is coming / comes.’ 12a. pan ma’ Siôn yn mynd (?fory), ma’ Gwyn when be.PRES.3SG Siôn PROG go tomorrow be.PRES.3SG Gwyn yn mynd. PROG go ‘when Siôn is going / goes (tomorrow), Gwyn is going / goes.’

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Finite inflections of lexical and modal verbs

b. pan ma’ Siôn yn dod trwy ’r drws, ma’ when be.PRES.3SG Siôn PROG come through the door be.PRES.3SG pawb yn canu Pen Blwydd Hapus. every-one PROG sing head year happy ‘when Siôn comes through the door, every one sings Happy Birthday.’ The FUTURE tense locates the time of evaluation in the future period while the PRESENT tense locates it at the present moment. Referring back to the discussion in 2.2.3, the PRESENT tense can be used in descriptions of future situations which are predetermined, and this explanation is readily applicable to (11–12). Lexical verbs in informal Welsh also have Imperfect-Forms and Pluperfect-Forms. But it is a striking characteristic of informal Welsh that, although lexical verbs and the auxiliary verb gwneud ‘do’ have ImperfectForms and Pluperfect-Forms, they are not used as a PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE or as a PLUPERFECT tense. A comparison of the examples in (13a–b) with (13c) and (14a–b) with (14c) demonstrates this: 13a. * gerddwn i i ’r dre. walk.IMPF.1SG I to the town ‘I walked / was walking to town.’ b. * nawn i gerdded i ’r dre. do.IMPF.1SG I walk to the town ‘I walked / was walking to town.’ c. o’n i yn cerdded i ’r dre. be.IMPF.1SG I PROG walk to the town ‘I was walking to town.’ 14a. * siaradse Mair ddim. talk.PLUP.3SG Mair NEG ‘Mair hadn’t talked.’ b. * naethse Mair ddim siarad. do.PLUP.3SG Mair NEG talk ‘Mair hadn’t talked.’ c. oedd Mair ddim wedi siarad. be.IMPF.3SG Mair NEG PERF talk ‘Mair hadn’t talked.’ The asterisks in the above examples indicate that the Imperfect-Forms are not semantically acceptable with a PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE reading and a PLUPERFECT reading. The question arises how these meanings are conveyed

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in informal Welsh. The norm amongst the vast majority of speakers is to use a compound tense pattern which contains bod ‘be’ inflected for the PAST tense (IMPERFECTIVE). Examples like (13c) illustrate the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE and the progressive aspect, and such examples are the acceptable equivalents of (13a–b). Examples like (14c) illustrate the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE and the perfect aspect, which combination produces a pluperfectlike temporal meaning and are the acceptable equivalents of (14a–b), as is discussed in chapter 7. There are, however, lexical verbs which can exceptionally, but not productively, use Imperfect-Forms to convey the PAST tense (IMPERFECTIVE), and these are described in 3.5. As emphasized in 1.2, Imperfect-Forms and Pluperfect-Forms are synonymous in informal Welsh, and we refer to them together as Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms. These forms can be used with lexical verbs and the auxiliary gwneud ‘do’ to convey a FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense. This can be shown by comparisons with sentences which contain byddai/buasai as a FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST . It will be recalled that a FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST indicates that at a reference time in the past, t, a proposition can be evaluated at some time which is subsequent to t. The Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms can occur in classic future-in-the-past contexts where t is explicit in the sentences, either conveyed by complement clauses or by temporal adverbs. The tense of the Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms of the finite lexical verbs in (15) is equivalent to the tense of bod ‘be’ in (16): 15a. oedd hi ’n gwbod deue Mair yn ôl. be.IMPF.3SG she PROG know come.FUTP.3SG Mair in track ‘she knew Mair would come back.’ b. wele hi byth Mair eto ar ôl y gwylie . see. FUTP.3SG she never Mair again on track the holidays ‘she would never see Mair again after the holidays.’ c. yn ystod mis Awst dorre ’r car i lawr ddwywaith. in period month August break.FUTP.3SG the car to floor twice ‘during August, the car would break down twice.’ 16a. oedd hi ’n gwbod base/bydde Mair yn dod . be.IMPF.3SG she PROG know be.FUTP.3SG Mair PROG come yn ôl. in track ‘she knew that Mair would come back.’

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Finite inflections of lexical and modal verbs

b. fase/fydde hi byth yn gweld Mair eto ar ôl be.FUTP.3SG she never PROG see Mair again on track y gwylie. the holidays ‘she would never see Mair again after the holidays.’ c. yn ystod mis Awst fase/fydde ’r car yn torri i lawr in period month August be.FUTP.3SG the car PROG break to floor ddwywaith. twice. ‘during August, the car would break down twice.’ In the case of (15a), oedd hi’n gwbod ‘she knew’ establishes a reference time from which the speaker is able to propose a situation on the basis of subsequent evaluation. In (15b), the temporal adverb establishes a reference time in the past time before the holidays from which a proposition is made on the basis of later evaluation. In respect of (15c), it can be inferred that there is a reference time before or in the month of August in relation to which subsequent evaluation can be located. We can conclude the discussion of the tenses of lexical verbs by looking at concurrent and non-concurrent situations. In 2.2.3, we see that the FUTURE tense of bod ‘be’ can be used in descriptions of situations which are located at or around the present moment (we characterized these as nonconcurrent situations, that is, situations whose temporal locations are not concurrent with the temporal feature of the tense). But lexical verbs which are inflected for the Future-Forms cannot be used to describe present-time situations. They are confined to descriptions of situations which are located in future time (that is, situations whose temporal properties are concurrent with those of the tense). Consider the following: 17a. lawith hi rwan. rain.FUT.3SG she now ‘it will rain now.’ b. neith hi lawio rwan. do.FUT.3SG she rain now ‘it will rain now.’ 18a. wela’ i Sioned y foment ’ma. see. FUT.1SG I Sioned the moment here ‘I’ll see Sioned this moment.’

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b. na’ i weld Sioned y foment ’ma. do.FUT.1SG I see Sioned the moment here ‘I’ll see Sioned this moment.’ 19a. ? beintian nhw ’r tŷ ar hyn o bryd. paint.FUT.3PL they the house on this of time ‘they’ll paint the house at this time.’ b. ? nân nhw baentio ’r tŷ ar hyn o bryd. do.FUT.3PL they paint the house on this of time ‘they’ll paint the house at this time.’ The FUTURE tense with lexical verbs can occur in sentences which contain present-time adverbials like rwan ‘now’ (or its synonym nawr), y foment ’ma ‘this moment’; but this is less likely with ar hyn o bryd ‘at this time’ and perhaps not possible at all. But sentences like those in (17–18) involve an imminent future situation and not a situation which is on-going at the moment of speaking, and the present-time adverbials rwan ‘now’, nawr ‘now’, and y foment yma ‘this moment’ can be used to specify imminent situations. The restriction on concurrence also applies to lexical verbs with the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense. They cannot occur in descriptions of situations which are located at a reference time in the past but are limited to describing situations which are subsequent to the reference time: 20a. * weithie Mair yr adeg hynny. work.FUTP.3SG Mair the period that ‘Mair would work then.’ b. * nâi Mair weithio yr adeg hynny. do.FUTP.3SG Mair work the period that ‘Mair would work then.’ The asterisks in (20) indicate an unacceptable reading of the examples whereby the speaker has adopted a past reference time and whereby the situation is simultaneous with it. It is interesting to compare the English lexeme know ‘know (a fact)’ and ‘know (a person), recognize’ with its Welsh equivalents gwybod ‘know (a fact)’ and adnabod ‘know, recognize’. Know when used with will can refer to a present-time situation. Thus, John will know Mair’s address or John will know Sioned can be used to propose that John is currently in possession of Mair’s address or is currently acquainted with Sioned. As is shown in 3.5, gwybod does not have Future-Forms in informal Welsh, but it can occur in a periphrastic pattern with the auxiliary gwneud ‘do’. Adnabod has

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Finite inflections of lexical and modal verbs

Future-Forms and can also occur with the auxiliary gwneud ‘do’. However, we find that these lexemes in these patterns cannot refer to current presenttime situations. Only bod ‘be’ can do this: 21a. * neith John wbod cyfeiriad Mair. do.FUT.3SG John know address Mair ‘John will know Mair’s address.’ b. fydd John yn gwbod cyfeiriad Mair. be.FUT.3SG John PROG know address Mair ‘John will know Mair’s address.’ 22a. * nabodith John Sioned know.FUT.3SG John Sioned ‘John will know Sioned.’ b. * neith John nabod Sioned. do.FUT.3SG John know Sioned ‘John will know Sioned.’ c. fydd John yn nabod Sioned. be.FUT.3SG John PROG know Sioned ‘John will know Sioned.’ Examples (21a) and (22a–b) are acceptable when referring to future-time situations but cannot refer to present-time situations. But bod ‘be’ can be used in the FUTURE tense to describe a present-time situation, as in examples (21b) and (22c). In conclusion, lexical verbs have Future-Forms and Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms. The Future-Forms convey the FUTURE tense and the Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms convey the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense. They also have Preterite-Forms which convey a PAST tense PERFECTIVE, but these are discussed in chapter 4. 3.2.2

Modal verbs

As noted in 1.1.5, this study lists under modal verbs cael, ‘may, can’, gallu ‘can’, medru ‘can’, and the defective verb dylai ‘should’. We see in 3.2.1 that lexical verbs do not productively convey the PRESENT tense or the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE but they do productively convey the FUTURE tense and the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense. In the case of modal verbs, we find that the converse occurs. They do not convey the FUTURE tense or the FUTURE-IN-

Tense THE-PAST

tense but they do convey the

PRESENT

tense and the

PAST

101

tense IM-

PERFECTIVE.

Unlike the Future-Forms of lexical verbs, the Future-Forms of modals convey a PRESENT tense meaning. We can demonstrate this in two ways. First, there are comparisons with the meanings of the Present-Forms and the Future-Forms of bod ‘be’ in compound tense patterns: 23a. allith Mair ganu. can.PRES.3SG Mair sing ‘Mair can sing.’ b. ma’ Mair yn gallu canu. be.PRES.3SG Mair PROG can sing ‘Mair can sing.’ c. fydd Mair yn gallu canu. be.FUT.3SG Mair PROG can sing ‘Mair will be able to sing.’ 24a . alla’ i nofio. can.PRES.1SG I swim ‘I can swim.’ b. dw i ’n gallu nofio. be.PRES.1SG I PROG can swim ‘I can swim.’ c. fydda’ i ’n gallu nofio. be.FUT.1SG I PROG can swim ‘I will be able to swim.’ The Future-Forms of the modal auxiliary in (23a) and (24a) are semantically equivalent to the Present-Forms of bod ‘be’ in (23b) and (24b), but not to the Future-Forms of bod ‘be’ in (23c) and (24c). These data show that the Future-Forms of modals have a PRESENT tense meaning and not a FUTURE tense meaning. Second, as we have seen, lexical verbs can occur either as inflected verbs or as a non-finite verb in a periphrastic pattern with the auxiliary verb gwneud ‘do’: 25a. ganith Mair heno. sing.FUT.3SG Mair tonight ‘Mair will sing tonight.’ b. neith Mair ganu heno. do.FUT.3SG Mair sing tonight ‘Mair will sing tonight.’

102

Finite inflections of lexical and modal verbs

But this possibility is not clear-cut with modals: 26a. allith Mair ganu heno. can.PRES.3SG Mair sing tonight ‘Mair can sing tonight.’ b. ? neith Mair allu canu heno. do.FUT.3SG Mair can sing tonight = ‘Mair will be able to sing tonight.’ Examples like (26b) are listed in Jones, M. (1970: 114), but without discussion. But Jones and Thomas (1977: 106) and Fife (1990: 238–239) question their acceptability. But even assuming that such examples are well-formed, the relationship between (26a) and (26b) is not the same as the relationship between (25a) and (25b): both the latter examples are clearly FUTURE tense, but (26a) is PRESENT tense and (26b) could only be FUTURE tense. Where a FUTURE tense meaning is required with modals, a compound tense pattern containing the FUTURE tense of bod ‘be’ is used as in (23c) and (24c). The following data show that the Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms of modals have a PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE meaning and not a FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST meaning. As Stowell (2004) illustrates mainly through English, the PAST tense occurs with the root meanings of modals. Classic instances for Welsh are the ‘ability’ use of medru and gallu, and the ‘permission’ use of cael, and examples of the Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms with a PAST tense (IMPERFECTIVE) meaning are as follows: 27a. alle Mair ddim canu neithiwr. can.IMPF.3SG Mair NEG sing last-night ‘Mair couldn’t sing last night.’ b. oedd Mair ddim yn gallu canu neithiwr. be.IMPF.3SG Mair NEG PROG can sing last-night ‘Mair couldn’t sing last night.’ c. fasa/fydde Mair ddim yn gallu canu neithiwr. be.FUTP.3SG Mair NEG PROG can sing last-night ‘Mair wouldn’t be able to sing last night.’ 28a. gawn i aros yn lle Mair yn y dyddie hynny. may.IMPF.3SG I stay in place Mair in the days those ‘I was allowed to stay in Mair’s place in those days.’ b. o’n i ’n cal aros yn lle Mair yn y dyddie hynny. be.IMPF.1SG I PROG may stay in place Mair in the days those ‘I was allowed to stay in Mair’s place in those days.’

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c. faswn/fyddwn i ’n cal aros yn lle Mair yn y dyddie be.FUTP.1SG I PROG may stay in place Mair in the days hynny. those ‘I would be allowed to stay in Mair’s place in those days.’ The Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms of the modals in (27a) and (28a) can have the same meaning as the PAST tense (IMPERFECTIVE) in (27b) and (28b), but are semantically different to the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST in (27c) and (28c). Where a FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST meaning is required, the Imperfect/PluperfectForms of bod ‘be’ are used in a compound tense pattern as in (27c) and (28c). We see in 3.5 that, in the formal style of Welsh, the Future-Forms of lexical verbs can convey both a PRESENT tense and a FUTURE tense. We can also add that in the formal style, lexical verbs can convey a PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE as well as a FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST . We could possibly establish a PRESENT / FUTURE tense and PAST tense (IMPERFECTIVE) / FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense for lexical verbs. But, even if this were satisfactory for lexical verbs in the formal style, it is not satisfactory for modal verbs. The latter can only be PRESENT tense and PAST tense (IMPERFECTIVE). Their forms do not convey a FUTURE tense or a FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense, as we have seen, and a dual tense analysis would not be descriptively adequate. In conclusion, modal verbs have Future-Forms and Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms. The Future-Forms convey the PRESENT tense, and the Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms convey the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE. They also have Preterite-Forms which convey a PAST tense PERFECTIVE, but these are discussed in chapter 4. 3.3

Factuality

In the case of both lexical verbs (and the auxiliary gwneud ‘do’) and modal verbs, their Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms can be used to convey COUNTERFACTUAL meaning. We can again demonstrate this by comparing them with the Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms of bod ‘be’ when they convey COUNTERFACTUAL meaning, although this comparison needs to be qualified in the case of modal verbs. The examples in (29) typify lexical verbs, and the meaning of the Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms in (29a–b) is the same as the COUNTERFACTUAL meaning of bod ‘be’ in (29c) (it is mentioned in 3.1 that the auxiliary

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Finite inflections of lexical and modal verbs

gwneud is less common with the find example 29b marginal):

COUNTERFACTUAL

and some speakers may

29a. gane Mair fory pe deue hi. sing.CNTF.3SG Mair tomorrow if come.CNTF.3SG she ‘Mair would sing tomorrow if she came.’ b. nâi Mair ganu fory pe nâi hi ddod. do.CNTF.3SG Mair sing tomorrow if do.CNTF.3SG she come ‘Mair would sing tomorrow if she came.’ c. fase/fydde Mair yn canu fory pe base hi ’n be.CNTF.3SG Mair PROG sing tomorrow if be.CNTF.3SG she PROG dod. come ‘Mair would sing tomorrow if she came.’ A similar comparison is available with modal verbs when they convey a root meaning. The meanings of the Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms of gallu ‘can’ in (30a) and cael ‘may, can’ in (31a) is the same as the COUNTERFACTUAL of the forms of bod ‘be’ in (30b) and (31c). 30a. alle Mair redeg yn gyflymach pe base/bydde hi can.CNTF.3SG Mair run ADV faster if be.CNTF.3SG she ’n ymarfer. PROG train ‘Mair would be able to run faster if she trained.’ b. fase/fydde Mair yn gallu rhedeg yn gyflymach pe be.CNTF.3SG Mair PROG can run ADV faster if base/bydde hi ’n ymarfer. be.CNTF.3SG she PROG train ‘Mair would be able to run faster if she trained.’ 31a. gaet ti aros heno pe base/bydde gynnon ni may.CNTF.2SG you.SG stay tonight if be.CNTF.3SG with.1PL we le. place ‘you would be allowed to stay tonight if we had room.’ b. faset/fyddet ti ’n cal aros heno pe base/bydde be.CNTF.2SG you.SG PROG may stay tonight if be.CNTF.3SG gynnon ni le. with.1PL we place ‘you would be allowed to stay tonight if we had room.’

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Turning now to epistemic meanings, gallu, and possibly medru, can convey the epistemic meaning, logical possibility.42 Comparisons with inflectionally equivalent compound tense patterns are less clear-cut, and in examples (32b) and (33b) they are treated as marginal (but some speakers may find them acceptable). Nevertheless, a notional analysis alone of the Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms confirms that they can convey COUNTERFACTUAL meaning. 32a. alle John fod yn Llundain rwan. can.CNTF.3SG John be in London now ‘John could be in London now.’ b. ? fase/fydde John yn gallu bod yn Llundain rwan. can.CNTF.3SG John PROG can be in London now ‘John could be in London now.’ 33a. alle hi fod yn gweithio yn y llyfrgell. can.CNTF.3SG she be PROG work in the library ‘she could be working in the library.’ b. ? fase/fydde hi yn gallu bod yn gweithio yn y llyfrgell. can.CNTF.3SG she PROG can be PROG work in the library ‘she could be working in the library.’ We can note that the Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms of modal verbs which convey a root meaning can convey both the PAST tense (IMPERFECTIVE) and the COUNTERFACTUAL, as (27–28) and (30–31) show. But, in the case of epistemic meanings, only a counterfactual interpretation is possible (as Stowell 2004 also points out). We see in the discussion of bod ‘be’ in 2.3.2 that COUNTERFACTUAL cannot occur in descriptions of past-time situations unless the perfect aspect occurs. This is also so of lexical verbs and modals. In the case of lexical verbs, a compound tense pattern which contains the perfect aspect is used, as illustrated in 2.3.2. This also occurs with the root meanings of modals, as in (34a–b): 34a. fase/fydde Mair wedi gallu rhedeg yn gyflymach pe base/byddde be.CNTF.3SG Mair PERF can run ADV faster if be.CNTF.3SG hi wedi ymarfer. she PERF train ‘Mair would have been able to run faster if she had trained.’

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Finite inflections of lexical and modal verbs

b. faswn/fyddwn i wedi medru agor y drws pe baswn/byddwn be.CNTF.1SG I PERF can open the door if be.CNTF.1SG i wedi trio. I PERF try ‘I could have opened the door if I had tried.’ In the case of modal verbs which convey epistemic meaning, the perfect aspect is realized in the post-subject verb phrase: 35a. alle John fod wedi bod yn Llundain ddoe. can.CNTF.3SG John be PERF be in London yesterday ‘John could have been in London yesterday.’ b. alle hi fod wedi bod yn gweithio yn y llyfrgell. can.CNTF.3SG she be PERF be PROG work in the library ‘she could have been working in the library.’ It would require a detailed analysis of the semantics of the modals to thoroughly investigate the realization tense and the perfect aspect over the complete range of their meanings. Such a semantic analysis of modals is not part of the aims of this work, which concentrates on the meanings of finite verb inflections. The above discussion is sufficient to demonstrate the possibilities in respect of the latter. However, we discuss the perfect aspect and COUNTERFACTUAL in chapter 7. It is convenient to discuss the auxiliary dylai ‘should, ought’ separately. It has two meanings which we can label here as root obligation and epistemic likelihood. It is exceptional in three ways. First, it only inflects for the Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms and has no other finite forms. Second, it has no non-finite form so that it does not occur in equivalent compound tense patterns. Third, dylai ‘should, ought’ does not describe a past-time situation without the perfect aspect in either of its two meanings (obligation is the intended reading in 36a and likelihood is the intended reading in 36b): 36a. ddylwn i *(fod wedi) ymddiheuro neithiwr. should.CNTF.1SG I be PERF apologize last-night ‘I should {have apologized / *apologize} last night.’ b. ddyle Mair *(fod wedi) aros efo Sioned neithiwr. should. CNTF.3SG Mair be PERF stay with Sioned last-night ‘Mair should {have stayed / *stay} with Sioned last night.’

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107

Thus, the Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms of dylai can never be PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE or FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST meaning. The obvious conclusion is that they only have a COUNTERFACTUAL meaning. There is other support for a COUNTERFACTUAL meaning. The obligation meaning, in particular, can be contradicted, as in (37a). The epistemic use can also be contradicted, or at least doubted, by another epistemic meaning (in this case, logical possibility), as in (37b): 37a. ddyle Mair fod yn gweithio rwan should.CNTF.3SG Mair be PROG work now ond dydy hi ddim. but NEG.be.PRES.3SG she NEG ‘Mair should be working now but she isn’t.’ b. ddyle Mair fod yn Abertawe rwan should.CNTF.3SG Mair be in Swansea now ond hwyrach dydy hi ddim. but perhaps NEG.be.PRES.3SG she NEG ‘Mair should be in Swansea now but perhaps she isn’t.’ The possibility of contradiction allows us to view the evaluation as false, and this suggests that the Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms with dylai convey COUNTERFACTUAL meaning (see 2.3.1). In conclusion, although lexical verbs and modal verbs have different tense features, they are similar in the realization of COUNTERFACTUAL meaning: it is conveyed by their Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms. 3.4

Habituality

In this section, we shall consider whether lexical verbs and modal verbs are like bod ‘be’ in having forms which are especially used for the description of habitual situations. We see in 2.4 that the Future-Forms, bydd, describe habitual situations in extended present time as a PRESENT tense HABITUAL; and the Imperfect-Consuetudinal-Forms, byddai, describe habitual situations in past time as a PAST tense HABITUAL. We also see there that these same forms are also used as a FUTURE tense and a FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense. Lexical verbs and modal verbs do not have specialized forms for the description of habitual situations. Their Future-Forms and Imperfect-Forms do not convey PRESENT tense HABITUAL and PAST tense HABITUAL respectively. These forms can occur in descriptions of habitual situations but they

108

Finite inflections of lexical and modal verbs

are FUTURE tense and FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense, as the following examples of lexical verbs illustrate: 38a. baentiwn ni ’r tŷ bob pum mlynedd. paint.FUT.1PL we the house every five years ‘we’ll paint the house every five years.’ b. geith Siôn ginio efo ni ar bob pen blwydd. have.FUT.3SG Siôn dinner with we on every head year ‘Siôn will have dinner with us on his birthdays.’ c. helpith hi bawb. help.FUT.3SG she everyone ‘she’ll help everyone.’ d. edrychith Mair ar y teledu bob nos. look.FUT.3SG Mair on the television every night ‘Mair will look at the television every night.’ e. goda’ i cyn y wawr o rwan ymlaen. rise.FUT.1SG I before the dawn from now forward ‘I’ll get up before dawn from now on’ 39a. baentien ni ’r tŷ bob pum mlynedd. paint.FUTP.1PL we the house every five years ‘we would paint the house every five years.’ b. gethe Siôn ginio efo ni ar bob pen blwydd. have.FUTP.3SG Siôn dinner with we on every head year ‘Siôn would have dinner with us on every birthday.’ c. helpe hi bawb. help.FUTP.3SG she everyone ‘she would help everyone.’ d. edryche Mair ar y teledu bob nos. look.FUTP.3SG Mair on the television every night ‘Mair would look at the television every night.’ e. godwn i cyn y wawr am weddill yr amser. rise.FUTP.1SG I before the dawn for remainder the time ‘I would get up before the dawn for the rest of the time.’ Habituality is also discussed in chapter 8.

Exceptional lexical verbs

3.5

109

Exceptional lexical verbs

In this section we shall look at exceptions to the account of lexical verbs in 3.2.1 and 3.3. These mainly involve gwybod ‘know (a fact)’ and, to a much lesser extent, adnabod ‘know, recognize’ and a handful of other lexical verbs. We shall consider in turn exceptions relating to each of the tenses, and conclude with general observations about gwybod ‘know’. Table 11. The Present-Forms of gwybod ‘know (a fact)’ and adnabod ‘know, recognize’ in informal Welsh. (The data are based on Fynes-Clinton 1913: 165–166, 390) gwybod ‘know (a fact)’

adnabod ‘know, recognize’

gwn gwyddost gŵyr gwyddon gwyddoch gwyddon

adwyn dwynost adwaen dwynon dwynoch dwynon

‘(I) know’ ‘(you) know’ ‘(he/she) knows’ ‘(we) know’ ‘(you) know’ ‘(they) know’

‘(I) know, recognize’ ‘(you) know, recognize’ ‘(he/she) knows, recognizes’ ‘(we) know, recognize’ ‘(you) know, recognize’ ‘(they) know, recognize’

It is established in 3.2.1 that the vast majority of lexical verbs do not have distinct Present-Forms and do not convey a PRESENT tense. But there are two sorts of exceptions. First, gwybod ‘know (a fact)’ and adnabod ‘know, recognize’ have Present-Forms in informal Welsh, and they are shown in table 11. But the Present-Forms of gwybod and adnabod are not productive in the informal style, either over different speakers or even within the usage of the same speaker. Although Fynes-Clinton (1913: 390) lists finite forms of adnabod in his study of the spoken Welsh of a northern area at the beginning of the 20th century, I am not familiar with PresentForms of this verb in contemporary dialects (this does not mean that there are none – but I don’t know about them). Finite forms of adnabod are not listed by Jones G. E. (2000: 81–100) in his study of the spoken Welsh of a southern area at the end of the 20th century. However, I am familiar with Present-Forms of gwybod in informal Welsh (this lexeme occurs as [gwŸbŢd] in formal Welsh but gwbod [gƘbŢd] in informal Welsh), and it is also listed by Jones, G. E. (2000: 81–100). In the dialects with which I am familiar, the Present-Forms of gwybod occur mainly with the first person singular and the second person singular and plural; and there is also a formulaic wh- question and formulaic exclamation (in 40d–e respectively), both in the third person singular:

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Finite inflections of lexical and modal verbs

40a. wn i ddim. know.PRES.1SG I NEG ‘I don’t know.’ b. wyddost ti hynny? know.PRES.2SG you.SG that ‘do you know that?’ c. wyddoch chi? know.PRES.2PL you.PL ‘do you know?’ d. pwy a ŵyr? who PT know.PRES.3SG ‘who knows?’ e. Duw a ŵyr. God PT know.PRES.3SG ‘God knows.’ f. hyd y gwn i. length PT know.PRES.1SG I ‘as far as I know.’ The example in (40d) is not a regular wh- question but is a common saying in the sense of ‘I haven’t got a clue’ or ‘I doubt if anyone knows’. The example in (40f), which is a clause headed with hyd, can also occur in informal Welsh.43 Second, although lexical verbs lack morphologically distinct PresentForms, reference grammars note that in the formal style of Welsh a PRESENT tense meaning can be conveyed by their Future-Forms, such as in the following formal examples: 41a. ysgrifennaf atoch i gadarnhau ’r trefniadau. the arrangements write.PRES.1SG to.2PL to confirm ‘I write to you to confirm the arrangements.’ b. saif Aberystwyth ar lan y môr. stand.PRES.3SG Aberystwyth on bank the sea ‘Aberystwyth stands on the coast.’ c. dengys y ddadl hon fy mod yn iawn. show.PRES.3SG the argument this 1SG be.PRES PRED right ‘this argument shows that I am right.’ d. dywed Mair nad yw hi ’n cytuno. say.PRES.3SG Mair NEG be.PRES.3SG she PROG agree ‘Mair says that she does not agree.’

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The Future-Forms can also be used in formal Welsh as they are used in informal Welsh, that is, with a FUTURE tense meaning. In contrast, in informal Welsh, only a very small number of lexemes can convey a PRESENT tense meaning with their Future-Forms, but not productively. Gweld ‘see’ and clywed ‘hear’, especially, can convey a PRESENT tense meaning with their Future-Forms: 42a. weli di ’r tŷ ’cw? see. PRES.2SG you.SG the house yonder ‘do you see that house?’ b. wyt ti ’n gweld y tŷ ’cw? be.PRES.2SG you.SG PROG see the house yonder ‘do you see that house?’ c. fyddi di ’n gweld y tŷ ’cw? be.FUT.2SG you.SG PROG see the house yonder ‘will you be seeing that house?’ 43a. glywi di rywbeth yn crafu? hear.PRES.2SG you.SG something PROG scrape ‘do you hear something scraping?’ b. wyt ti ’n clywed rhywbeth yn crafu? be.PRES.2SG you.SG PROG hear something PROG scrape ‘do you hear something scraping?’ c. fyddi di ’n clywed rhywbeth yn crafu? be.FUT.2SG you.SG PROG hear something PROG scrape ‘will you be hearing something scraping?’ Relationships with equivalent compound tense patterns demonstrate that the tense meaning of the Future-Forms of the lexical verbs in (42a) and (43a) is the same as that of the PRESENT tense of bod ‘be’ in (42b) and (43b) and not the FUTURE tense in (42c) and (43c). Further, the Future-Forms of the auxiliary gwneud cannot be used as an equivalent realization of the PRESENT tense meaning: 44a. weli di ’r tŷ ’cw? sing.PRES.2SG you.SG the house yonder ‘do you see that house?’ b. nei di weld y tŷ ’cw? do.FUT.2SG you.SG see the house yonder = ‘will you see that house?’

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Finite inflections of lexical and modal verbs

Example (44b) is acceptable with a FUTURE tense reading, but it does not maintain the PRESENT tense reading of (44a). A final but important point to note about this very small group of lexical verbs is that, in my experience, many speakers prefer the compound tense patterns as in (42b) and (43b) and not the Future-Forms as in (42a) and (43a).44 We can also consider here the verbs credu ‘believe’ and coelio ‘believe’. Their Future-Forms, too, can convey a PRESENT tense meaning. But this use is confined to the first person singular in a particular discourse interaction in which the speaker expresses emphatic belief in what has just been said: 45a. A: ma’ Siôn yn hwyr eto. be.PRES.3SG Siôn PRED late again ‘Siôn is late again.’ B: greda’ i! believe.PRES.1SG I ‘I believe it!’ b. A: ma’ gynnon nhw ddigon o bres. be.PRES.3SG with.3PL they enough of money ‘they’ve got plenty of money.’ B: goelia’ i! believe.PRES.1SG I ‘I believe it!’ Further, unlike the other verbs which can use the Future-Forms with PRESENT tense meaning, these lexemes cannot be used with the same discourse function in compound tenses with the PRESENT tense:45 46a. A:

ma’ Siôn yn hwyr eto. be.PRES.3SG Siôn PRED late again ‘Siôn is late again.’ B: * dw i ’n credu! be.PRES.1SG I PROG believe ‘I believe it!’ b. A: ma’ gynnon nhw ddigon o bres. be.PRES.3SG with.3PL they enough of money ‘they’ve got plenty of money.’ B: * dw i ’n coelio! be.PRES.1SG I PROG believe ‘I believe it!’

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The asterisks indicate the inappropriateness of this pattern in this discourse response. Future-Forms with PRESENT tense meaning are also found with cael ‘have, receive’ as a lexical verb, in examples such as the following: 47a. gewch chi blanhigion fel hyn yn ynysoedd y Môr have.PRES.2PL you.PL plants like this in islands the Sea Tawel. Quiet ‘you get plants like this in islands in the Pacific Ocean.’ b. gewch chi adar o bell yn y gors yn y gaea’. have.PRES.2PL you.PL birds from far in the marsh in the winter ‘you get birds from afar in the marshes in the winter.’ c. gewch chi fwy o droseddu yn yr ha’. have.PRES.2PL you.PL more of crime in the summer ‘you get more crime in the summer.’ d. gewch chi lyfre fel hyn yn llyfrgell y dre. have.PRES.2PL you.PL books like this in library the town ‘you get books like this in the town library.’ e. gewch chi liwie llachar yng nghotie mwncïod. have.PRES.2PL you.PL colours bright in coats monkeys ‘you get bright colours in the coats of monkeys.’ There are two characteristics of such examples. One significant characteristic is that they are equivalent to existential copular sentences which contain the PRESENT tense: 48a. ma’ ’na blanhigion fel hyn ar ynysoedd y Môr be.PRES.3SG there plants like this on islands the Sea Tawel. Quiet ‘there are plants like this on islands in the Pacific Ocean.’ b. ma’ ’na adar o bell yn y gors yn y gaea’. be.PRES.3SG there birds from far in the marsh in the winter ‘there are birds from afar in the marshes in the winter.’ c. ma’ ’na fwy o droseddu yn yr ha’. be.PRES.3SG there more of crime in the summer ‘there is more crime in the summer.’ d. ma’ ’na lyfre fel hyn yn llyfrgell y dre. be.PRES.3SG there books like this in library the town ‘there are books like this in the town library.’

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Finite inflections of lexical and modal verbs

e. ma’ ’na liwie llachar yng nghotie mwncïod. be.PRES.3SG there colours bright in coats monkeys ‘there are bright colours in the coats of monkeys.’ Thus, we can say that cael ‘have, receive’ has an existential meaning, and that, with this meaning, the Future-Forms can be used with PRESENT tense meaning. The other characteristic is that the second person mainly occurs, typically but not exclusively plural, and not other persons. But it has a general reference which potentially includes anyone, and is not confined to referring to the addressee(s). We see in 3.2.1 that the majority of lexical verbs do not use their Imperfect-Forms to convey a PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE. However, one verb which some speakers can use with a PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE meaning is gwybod ‘know (a fact)’: 49a. wyddwn i ddim. know.IMPF.1SG I NEG ‘I didn’t know.’ b. oeddwn i ddim yn gwbod. be.IMPF.1SG I NEG PROG know ‘I didn’t know.’ 50a. wyddech chi am hynny? know.IMPF.2PL you.PL about that ‘did you know about that?’ b. oeddech chi yn gwbod am hynny? be.IMPF.2PL you.PL PROG know about that ‘did you know about that.’ The tense meaning of the Imperfect-Forms in (49a) and (50a) is equivalent to that of the Imperfect-Forms in (49b) and (50b), which we know from chapter 2 is PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE. Adnabod ‘know, recognize’ also has Imperfect-Forms, but these inflections do not occur productively in informal speech. Fynes-Clinton (1913: 390) lists only first person singular forms, which we can spell here as dwynwn and with an alternative stem nabwn ‘I knew’. Jones G. E. (2000: 83–98) does not mention ImperfectForms of adnabod. I am not familiar with their occurrence in informal Welsh. Other verbs which may possibly occur with the PAST tense (IMPERFECTIVE) meaning are gweld ‘see’ and clywed ‘hear’, such possibilities are very rare in informal Welsh.46

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We have seen that in informal Welsh the vast majority of lexical verbs have Future-Forms but gwybod ‘know (a fact)’ is an exception. The facts about the latter are given in table 12. Table 12. Possible Future-Forms of gwybod ‘know (a fact)’ gwybydda’ gwybyddi gwybydd gwybyddwn gwybyddwch gwybyddan

*gwyboda’ *gwybodi *gwybodith *gwybodwn *gwybodwch *gwybodan

*gwyba’ *gwybi *gwybith *gwybwn *gwybwch *gwyban

‘I will know’ ‘you will know’ ‘he etc will know’ ‘we will know’ ‘you will know’ ‘they will know’

The Future-Forms in the left-most column in table 12 are not used productively to my knowledge in informal Welsh (they are found in formal Welsh, although with some differences in the forms of the endings). Other possible inflections are also listed in table 12, based on possible stem formations (gwybod or gwyb-) and regular affixes. But these are not attested productively in the dialects, to the best of my knowledge. Adnabod ‘know, recognize’ is different. The initial vowel and consonant is dropped in informal Welsh, giving nabod.47 There are Future-Forms of adnabod in the dialects, as shown in table 13. These are listed in Watkins (1961: 181–182). Table 13. Future-Forms of adnabod ‘know, recognize’ nabydda’ nabyddi nabydd nabyddwn nabyddwch nabyddan

naboda’ nabodi nabodith nabodwn nabodwch nabodan

‘I will know’ ‘you will know’ ‘he etc will know’ ‘we will know’ ‘you will know’ ‘they will know’

The stem nabydd- is also found in the formal language, and according to Watkins, this stem occurs in southern dialects (Watkins specifically refers to West Glamorgan, as it was when he was writing). I am not familiar with this stem in the north and mid-Wales dialects with which I have experience. The stem nabod- is only found in informal Welsh, and Watkins particularly mentions Caernarfon in north Wales, but I am more widely familiar with this stem formation in northern dialects. However, these inflections may be more typical of older speakers by today (but that is for a sociolinguistic

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study to confirm or otherwise). To conclude, there are no Future-Forms of gwybod ‘know’ in the dialects and, although there are Future-Forms of adnabod ‘know, recognize’, they are not productively used by all speakers. The question then arises as to how the FUTURE tense is productively realized in informal Welsh with these two verbs. The answer is that either the Future-Forms of the copula are used in a compound tense pattern, or the Future-Forms of the auxiliary gwneud ‘do’ are used in a periphrastic pattern: 51a. fydd Siôn yn gwbod yr ateb. be.FUT.3SG Siôn PROG know the answer ‘Siôn will know the answer.’ b. neith Siôn wbod yr ateb. do.FUT.3SG Siôn know the answer ‘Siôn will know the answer.’ 52a. fydd Siôn yn nabod y ferch. be.FUT.3SG Siôn PROG recognize the girl ‘Siôn will know / recognize the girl.’ b. neith Siôn nabod y ferch. do.FUT.3SG Siôn recognize the girl ‘Siôn will know / recognize the girl.’ The compound tense pattern involves the progressive aspect, while the periphrastic pattern does not, and any differences are considered in chapter 8. We see in 3.2.1 that lexical verbs use their Imperfect-Forms to convey a FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense and COUNTERFACTUAL. Gwybod ‘know (a fact)’ is exceptional in that its Imperfect-Forms does not convey either meaning: 53a. * oedd o ’n meddwl gwydde Mair. be.IMPF.3SG he PROG think know.FUTP.3SG Mair ‘he thought that Mair would know.’ b. * wyddwn i ddigon pe baset/byddet ti ’n d’eud yr know.CNTF.1SG I enough if be.CNTF.2SG you.SG PROG tell the holl hanes wrtha’ i. all history to.1SG I ‘I would know enough if you told me all the story.’ The Imperfect-Forms in (53) can only convey a PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE. A tense and COUNTERFACTUAL meaning can only be achieved by finite forms of bod ‘be’ in a compound tense pattern:

FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST

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54a. oedd o ’n meddwl base/bydde Mair yn gwbod. be.IMPF.3SG he PROG think be.FUTP.3SG Mair PROG know ‘he thought that Mair would know.’ b. faswn/fyddwn i ’n gwbod digon pe baset/byddet ti ’n be.CNTF.1SG I PROG know enough if be.CNTF.2SG you.SG PROG d’eud yr holl hanes wrtha’ i. tell the all history to.1SG I ‘I would know enough if you told me the story.’ We have already seen that Imperfect-Forms of adnabod ‘know, recognize’ are rare in the dialects, if they occur at all. Gwybod ‘know’ figures prominently in these exceptions. There is symmetry in its exceptional behaviour. Most lexical verbs have Future-Forms but no Present-Forms. Gwybod has opposite morphology: it has PresentForms but no Future-Forms. For most lexical verbs, the Imperfect-Forms convey a FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense and COUNTERFACTUAL meaning, but not a PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE. Again, gwybod has opposite behaviour: its Imperfect-Forms can convey a PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE but not a FUTURE-IN-THEPAST or COUNTERFACTUAL meaning. However, the use of inflected forms of gwybod is not productive. Equivalent compound tense patterns are commonly used, and the exceptions just outlined for its inflected forms do not then occur. 3.6

Summary

Table 14 summarizes the inflectional forms of lexical verbs and modal verbs, and the meanings which they convey. Both sorts of verbs lack distinct Present-Forms, unlike bod ‘be’ (gwybod ‘know’ is a possible exception). They both have Future-Forms and Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms (and Preterite-Forms, which are included in table 14 but which are discussed in chapter 4). But the only meaning which they share is the COUNTERFACTUAL meaning, which is conveyed by their Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms. There is a converse relationship between the two groups in respect of the remaining meanings. The Future-Forms of the modals convey a PRESENT tense, but the Future-Forms of the lexical verbs (and the auxiliary verb gwneud ‘do’) convey a FUTURE tense. The Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms of the modals convey a PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE while the Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms of lexical verbs (and the auxiliary verb gwneud ‘do’) convey a FUTURE-IN-THEPAST tense. All this leaves gaps in the forms and meanings of these verbs:

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Finite inflections of lexical and modal verbs

the lexical verbs do not convey a PRESENT tense or a PAST tense IMPERFEC(there are a few exceptions, which are not productive); and the modals do not convey a FUTURE tense and a FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense. These gaps are filled by compound-tense patterns with bod ‘be’ as the finite verb. We have seen that the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST meaning and the COUNTERFACTUAL meaning can be conveyed by the Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms of lexical verbs and also by the auxiliary gwneud ‘do’ in periphrastic patterns. But we should note that some speakers prefer to use the equivalent compound tense pattern for these meanings also. The compound tense patterns involve the progressive, but this preference is not due to the meaning of the progressive. The progressive is discussed throughout chapter 8, and the preferences are specifically considered in 8.1.1. TIVE

Table 14. The forms and meanings of lexical verbs (including the auxiliary gwneud ‘do’) and modals. (For economy of presentation in this table only the Imperfect-Forms illustrate the Imperfect/Pluperfect set of inflections) Forms

Meanings

Lexical

Modal

Present-Forms Future-Forms

PRESENT

tense tense FUTURE tense PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense

— — canith — canai canai canodd

— gall — gallai — gallai gallodd

Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms

PRESENT

COUNTERFACTUAL

Preterite-Forms

PAST

tense PERFECTIVE

The facts in the formal style of Welsh are different. The Future-Forms of lexical verbs can convey a PRESENT tense and a FUTURE tense; their Imperfect-Forms can convey a PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE, a FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense, and COUNTERFACTUAL meaning, and their Pluperfect-Forms can convey a PLUPERFECT tense. Table 15 conveys the tense meanings for all the verb types which have been considered, namely, bod ‘be’, lexical verbs, and lexical auxiliary verbs (the table does not include the PAST tense PERFECTIVE, which is discussed in chapter 4). As can be seen, bod ‘be’ can be inflected to convey a much wider range of meanings than the lexical verbs and the modals, although not all speakers use the specialized habitual forms of bod ‘be’. This

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Table 15. The semantics of the forms of bod ‘be’, lexical verbs, and modal verbs Meanings PRESENT

tense

PRESENT-HABITUAL

tense

tense tense IMPERFECTIVE PAST tense HABITUAL FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense FUTURE PAST

COUNTERFACTUAL

Bod ‘be’

Lexical

Modal

mae bydd bydd oedd byddai byddai / buasai byddai / buasai

— — siaradith — — siaradai/asai siaradai/asai

gall — — gallai — — gallai/asai

summary is based on the descriptive accounts in this chapter and chapter 2, but the Welsh tense system is considered in greater detail in 5.1.

Chapter 4 Perfective and imperfective aspect 4.1

Introduction

This chapter seeks to explain the aspectual meanings of the ImperfectForms and the Preterite-Forms, namely, IMPERFECTIVE and PERFECTIVE, a contrast which we refer to as inflectional aspect in this study. Compared with the analysis of tense and factuality, achieving a precise account of these meanings is more challenging. Metaphorical explanations are found in the literature, and are also exploited in this study. 4.1.1

The data

There are four PAST tenses in informal Welsh, illustrated as follows: 1a. fasa/fydde Mair yn gweithio neithiwr. be.FUTP.3SG Mair PROG work last-night ‘Mair would be working last night.’ b. fydde Mair yn gweithio bob nos. be.PAST-HAB.3SG Mair PROG work every night ‘Mair worked / used to work every night.’ c. oedd Mair yn gweithio neithiwr. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG work last-night ‘Mair was working last night.’ d. fuodd Mair yn gweithio neithiwr. be.PERV.3SG Mair PROG work last-night ‘Mair was working last night.’ We have already accounted, in chapter 2, for the Imperfect/PluperfectForms in (1a) as a FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense and the ImperfectConsuetudinal-Forms in (1b) as a PAST tense which specifically describes habitual situations. We have also already discussed the Imperfect-Forms in (1c) as a PAST tense in chapter 2, but have not addressed its aspectual properties. So far we have said nothing about Preterite-Forms, as represented by the form fuodd in (1d) – see Appendix 2 for the spoken forms of the bu

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paradigm of bod ‘be’. We can now look in detail at Preterite-Forms and reexamine Imperfect-Forms. These two paradigms are traditionally labelled in Welsh reference grammars as the past imperfect tense, in (1c), and the past perfect tense, in (1d) (other labels for the latter are preterite, aorist, and definite past). Traditional grammars do not clearly distinguish between a tense function and an aspectual function, and their use of labels like imperfect tense and perfect tense can suggest that it is the tense function which is imperfect or perfect. We have already underlined in 1.3.2 that this study maintains a distinction between tense and aspect. Both paradigms are PAST tense but are different in terms of their aspectual features. We shall follow the practice, found in Comrie (1976: 11-13), of using IMPERFECTIVE and PERFECTIVE to label the aspectual features of these forms, and thus distinguish them from the syntactic aspects perfect and progressive which are discussed in chapters 7 and 8. English does not have a PERFECTIVE versus IMPERFECTIVE contrast in the morphology of finite verbs, although several languages do, and Spanish and Russian are oft-quoted examples (as in Comrie 1976). The tri-partite classification of verbs which are introduced in the closing paragraphs of 1.2.3 is relevant to a discussion of the PERFECTIVE and the IMPERFECTIVE, namely: – bod ‘be’, – lexical verbs and the auxiliary gwneud ‘do’, – modal auxiliaries.

The PERFECTIVE is conveyed by all three, but the IMPERFECTIVE is conveyed by only two of them. The details are summarized in tables 16–18. Table 16. IMPERFECTIVE, PERFECTIVE, and progressive aspect contrasts with bod ‘be’ PERFECTIVE

a.

fuodd Mair yn ddrwg. ‘Mair was naughty.’ b. * fuodd Mair yn bod yn ddrwg. ‘Mair was being naughty.’

IMPERFECTIVE

c. d.

oedd Mair yn ddrwg. ‘Mair was naughty.’ oedd Mair yn bod yn ddrwg. ‘Mair was being naughty.’

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Perfective and imperfective aspect

Table 17. IMPERFECTIVE, PERFECTIVE, and progressive aspect contrasts with modal verbs PERFECTIVE

a. allish i ddringo. ‘I was able to climb.’ b. fush i ’n gallu dringo. ‘I was able to climb.’

IMPERFECTIVE

c. allwn i ddringo. ‘I could climb.’ d. o’n i ’n gallu dringo. ‘I could climb.’

Table 18. IMPERFECTIVE, PERFECTIVE, and progressive aspect contrasts with lexical verbs PERFECTIVE

a. siaradodd Mair. ‘Mair talked.’ b. fuodd Mair yn siarad. ‘Mair was talking.’

IMPERFECTIVE

c. * siarade Mair. ‘Mair talked / ‘Mair was talking.’ d. oedd Mair yn siarad. ‘Mair was talking.’

In tables 16–18, the horizontal comparisons provide contrasts of inflectional aspect, PERFECTIVE versus IMPERFECTIVE, and the vertical comparisons provide contrasts of syntactic aspect, non-progressive versus progressive. Our main interest is in the IMPERFECTIVE and the PERFECTIVE, and not the non-progressive and the progressive, which are discussed in chapter 8. But these distinctions help to provide balanced comparisons which allow the PERFECTIVE and the IMPERFECTIVE to be compared in sentences which are equivalent in terms of syntactic aspect. These balanced comparisons of the PERFECTIVE and the IMPERFECTIVE are seen in the following contexts: – with inflected bod ‘be’ – in copular sentences as in table 16 (a) versus (c) – in compound tense patterns as in tables 16–18 (b) versus (d) – with modal verbs as in table 17 (a) versus (c) We can note here that the progressive with the PAST tense PERFECTIVE of the copula is starred – (b) in table 16 – and there is discussion of this pattern in 8.4.3. Table 18 re-affirms what is shown in 3.2.1, namely that, although lexical verbs have Imperfect-Forms which can be used to convey the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense and COUNTERFACTUAL, the vast majority do not con-

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vey the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE in informal Welsh. Thus, for inflected lexical verbs there is no PERFECTIVE versus IMPERFECTIVE contrast (but the latter is conveyed by lexical verbs in formal Welsh, as shown in 4.2.1). The tables also show that the IMPERFECTIVE and PERFECTIVE can occur in nonprogressive and progressive contexts. We need to ensure that the analysis can account for them in both contexts. It is sometimes difficult to translate the Welsh PAST tense PERFECTIVE into English. It is straightforward to translate a simple verb when inflected for the PAST tense PERFECTIVE, for instance, siaradodd ‘talked’, agorodd ‘opened’, and edrychodd ‘looked’ (but it is not always the case that the reverse translations from English to Welsh are appropriate). But the copula can variously be translated as ‘was’, ‘had been’, and ‘used to be’. Additionally, when the PERFECTIVE occurs with the progressive it can be translated by a simple past verb in English, for instance, fuodd hi’n gweithio yn y banc ‘she worked in the bank’. In the main, we have simply translated the PERFECTIVE copula as ‘was / were’, the same as the IMPERFECTIVE. This is not ideal, but the differences between the two are accounted for in the glosses and especially in the accompanying analyses in the text, and not in the translations. Similar problems of translation are also found with the modal verbs. In northern dialects in particular, a periphrastic pattern with the auxiliary gwneud ‘do’ can occur in place of an inflected lexical verb (it will be recalled that a similar observation is made of other inflections in 3.1): 2a. siaradodd Mair ddim. talk.PERV.3SG Mair NEG ‘Mair didn’t talk.’ b. na’th Mair ddim siarad. do.PERV.3SG Mair NEG talk ‘Mair didn’t talk.’ Further, in northern dialects, the form ddaru can also occur as an auxiliary verb with the PAST tense PERFECTIVE only. Ddaru is an invariant form which occurs with all subjects irrespective of person and number:48 3a. ddaru mi weld Mair. PERV I see Mair ‘I saw Mair.’

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b. ddaru ti fynd? PERV you.SG go ‘did you go?’ c. ddaru nhw neidio trwy ’r ffenest. PERV they jump through the window ‘they jumped through the window.’ We can add here that these auxiliary verbs can also occur with bod ‘be’ as in examples like the following, at least for some speakers: 4a. ne’st ti fod yn gas? do.PERV.2SG you.SG be PRED nasty ‘were you unpleasant?’ b. ddaru ti fod yn gas? PERV you.SG be PRED nasty ‘were you unpleasant?’ We shall not attempt to explain the differences, if any, between simple verbs, including the copula, and periphrastic patterns with gwneud ‘do’ and ddaru. For economy of exposition, the examples which are given in this chapter mainly use the auxiliary gwneud; ddaru is used more sparingly in the illustrations, but it could be substituted for gwneud by some speakers of northern dialects. We shall concentrate solely on the tense and aspect features. There is one final point about the data, but about which I cannot speak with certainty. There is a possibility that some speakers use the PERFECTIVE mainly with lexical verbs and less so with bod ‘be’, favouring the IMPERFECTIVE for the latter. I know of no sociolinguistic nor dialect studies which have investigated this. 4.1.2

Semantics

It is important to distinguish the basic meanings of the IMPERFECTIVE and from any meanings which can be attributed to contextual effects. In this section, we shall introduce a general context-independent explanation of the semantics of the PERFECTIVE and IMPERFECTIVE which can provide a framework for the analysis of Welsh. Context-dependent meanings are discussed in chapter 6.

PERFECTIVE

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Comrie (1976) and Smith (1997) are important sources for a general account of PERFECTIVE and IMPERFECTIVE. The most detailed rendering of Comrie’s interpretations of the PERFECTIVE and IMPERFECTIVE are given in relation to sentences which contain the IMPERFECTIVE (or IMPERFECTIVE equivalent) in a main clause, and the PERFECTIVE (or PERFECTIVE equivalent) in a ‘when’ clause, as in the following equivalents from English, Russian, French, Spanish, and Italian (all of which are taken from Comrie 1976: 3): 5a. John was reading when I entered. b. Ifan čital kogda ja vošel Ifan read.IMPF when I enter.PERV c. Jean lisait quand j’ entrai. Jean read.IMPF.3SG when I enter.PERV.1SG d. Juan leía cuando entré. Juan read.IMPF.3SG when enter.PERV.1SG e. Gianni leggeva quando entrai. Gianni read.IMPF.3SG when enter.PERV.1SG Both Comrie and Smith hold that the PERFECTIVE and the IMPERFECTIVE allow speakers to convey different views of the situation. But the explanations of the perfective view and the imperfective view are complex, and it is possible to extract four elements variously from the accounts in Comrie and Smith. We shall claim, however, that one element is central, and that other elements can be derived from it. Both Comrie (1976: 3) and Smith (1997: 3, 66–73) say that the perfective view of a situation is a holistic view. It includes the initial and final end-points, thus viewing the situation as a single unanalysable whole. In contrast, Smith (1997: 3, 73–77) says that the imperfective view is not a holistic one as it does not include the initial and final end-points, but spans only an internal part of the situation. Comrie’s (1976: 4) views on the inclusion or exclusion of the beginning and end of the situation are less straightforward. He says of examples like those in (5) that there is no explicit reference to the beginning or to the end of the situation. But he also says more generally that the imperfective view can look back to the beginning and look forward to the end, and also adds that the imperfective view “…is equally appropriate if the situation is one that lasts through all time, without any beginning and without any end”. However, Comrie does not definitely state that the imperfective view explicitly includes these end-points. We shall say that the IMPERFECTIVE gives a view which does not explicitly include or exclude end-points and can thus describe an internal span. We shall label such a view as a partitive view.

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The other elements in the accounts of Comrie and Smith can be derived from the holistic and partitive views. One is based on boundedness, involving the contrast of bounded and unbounded (or closed and open). Smith emphasizes that the PERFECTIVE views the situation as bounded, and thus as terminating at the final end-point. In contrast, she emphasizes that the IMPERFECTIVE views the situation as unbounded, and there is the possibility that the situation can either continue beyond the internal part which is being viewed or it can come to an end. But a bounded view follows from a holistic view, which includes the initial and final end-points, and an unbounded view follows from the partitive view which does not necessarily include the initial and final end-points. Another element is based on the contrast of external and internal (Comrie 1976: 4). The perfective view is an external one, viewing the situation from outside. In contrast, the imperfective view is an internal one, viewing the situation from inside. These contrasts are also predictable from the holistic and partitive views. The PERFECTIVE does not concern itself with the internality of the situation, and can thus be said to view the situation from the outside. The IMPERFECTIVE focuses on the internality of the situation and can be said to create a view of the situation from inside. The final element is found in Comrie (1976: 4), who says that the imperfective view explicitly refers to the “internal temporal constituency of the situation”. In contrast, the perfective view does not explicitly refer to the situation’s internal temporal constituency but presents the situation as a single unanalysable whole “with beginning, middle, and end rolled into one” (Comrie 1976: 3). Comrie does not explain in detail what is meant by internal temporal constituency, but we shall assume it involves the various intervals of time that a situation can go through. In these terms, the element of temporal constituency conveys that the situation has duration (or, in alternative terms, is continuous, on-going or in progress). We could then claim that the IMPERFECTIVE conveys a durative view of the situation, while the PERFECTIVE provides a non-durative view. But the PERFECTIVE and the IMPERFECTIVE can occur with the progressive in Welsh. Attributing durative and non-durative views to the IMPERFECTIVE and the PERFECTIVE makes it difficult to account for such co-occurrences, as we argue in chapter 8 that the progressive also conveys a durative view. We can briefly note that Welsh is not alone in allowing co-occurrences of the progressive and the IMPERFECTIVE or PERFECTIVE. Similar co-occurrences are found in Spanish and Portuguese (Comrie 1976: 22–23), for example. Here are illustrations from Spanish (modelled on Comrie’s examples):49

Introduction

6a. los visitantes estaban llegando toda the visitors be.IMPF.3PL arrive.PRESP all ‘the visitors were arriving all morning.’ b. los visitantes estuvieron llegando toda the visitors be.PERV.3PL arrive.PRESP all ‘the visitors were arriving all morning.’

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la tarde. the morning la tarde. the morning

We shall concentrate on Welsh and not pursue the semantics involved in these Spanish examples (but see Comrie 1976: 22–23). If we attribute a durative view to the IMPERFECTIVE and a non-durative view to the PERFECTIVE then, in the case of the IMPERFECTIVE and the progressive, we have two durative views, and in the case of the PERFECTIVE and the progressive, we have the contradiction of a non-durative view and a durative view. We can avoid these problems by claiming that the apparent reference to temporal constituency, and therefore durativity, is derived from the basic holistic and partitive views. We shall first consider the PERFECTIVE, as it is the easier to explain. Examples are as follows: 7a. nofi-ish i neithiwr. swim.PERV.1SG I last-night ‘I swam last night.’ b. fush i ’n nofio neithiwr. be.PERV.1SG I PROG swim last-night ‘I was swimming last night.’ 8a. siaradodd Mair yn ddistaw. spoke.PERV.3SG Mair PRED quiet ‘Mair spoke quietly.’ b. fuodd Mair yn siarad yn ddistaw. be.PERV.3SG Mair PROG speak PRED quiet ‘Mair was speaking quietly.’ The holistic view of the PERFECTIVE is not concerned with the internality of the situation and does not therefore refer to its temporal constituency. This is clearly so in the case of the non-progressive examples. But the nondurative view of such examples is due to the non-progressive and not the PERFECTIVE. We can extend this explanation to the progressive examples, which convey durativity; the beginning, middle, and end are not rolled up into one. But durativity is explicitly conveyed by the progressive. The PERFECTIVE provides a holistic, bounded and external view of a durative situation. Comrie (1976: 17–18) explains a perfective view of a durative situa-

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tion figuratively: durative situations are viewed as a blob, compared with the point-like view of situations whose duration is not conveyed or which lack duration. But we shall prefer to say that the PERFECTIVE’s view is holistic, bounded, and external, and that this view can apply to non-durative situations, durative situations which are described by the non-progressive, and durative situations which are explicitly described as such by the progressive. Turning now to the IMPERFECTIVE, examples can be given as follows: 9a.

eisteddai Mair wrth y ffenestr. sit.IMPF.3SG Mair by the window ‘Mair sat / was sitting by the window.’ b. yr oedd Mair yn eistedd wrth y ffenestr. PT be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG sit by the window ‘Mair was sitting by the window.’ 10 a. oedd Gwyn yn gas. be.IMPF.3SG Gwyn PRED nasty ‘Gwyn was nasty. b. oedd Gwyn yn bod yn gas. be.IMPF.3SG Gwyn PROG be PRED nasty ‘Gwyn was being nasty.’ The data in (9) are taken from the formal style of Welsh, but the data in (10) can occur in both formal and informal Welsh. When the IMPERFECTIVE occurs with the progressive, the latter provides a durative view and the IMPERFECTIVE provides a partitive, unbounded, internal view of an explicitly durative situation. The partitive view of the IMPERFECTIVE concentrates on the internality of the situation and can therefore imply that the situation has temporal constituency. But durative meaning is an explicit function of the progressive and not the IMPERFECTIVE. Comparing the non-progressive and progressive examples, we can add that there is a difference in the degree to which durativity is conveyed, implicitly and therefore weakly in the case of the IMPERFECTIVE but explicitly and therefore strongly in the case of the progressive. This difference is more subtle in the case of lexical verbs as in (9) than the copula as in (10). In the case of (10), there is a more marked difference between the non-progressive and progressive versions. But this difference also involves issues relating to stative and dynamic. It is argued in 8.4.3 that progressive versions of copular sentences occur in descriptions of dynamic situations. Adjectives like cas ‘nasty’ can be dynamic, and the progressive is possible. Such a comparison suggests that the progressive

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explicitly conveys durativity. We argue then that the IMPERFECTIVE is not basically concerned with conveying durativity but that it is a consequence of the partitive view, and an explicitly durative view can be attributed to the progressive. In summary, exploiting the explanations of Comrie and Smith, we shall say that different views of a situation are conveyed as follows: PERFECTIVE

IMPERFECTIVE

holistic bounded external

partitive unbounded internal

We could ignore the predictable contrasts of bounded / unbounded and external / internal and provide a less complex account in terms of holistic / partitive. We shall maintain the more detailed explanations, but also acknowledge that such conflations are possible. In order to maintain the semantic difference between the progressive and the non-progressive, on the one hand, and the IMPERFECTIVE and the PERFECTIVE, on the other hand, we shall not include durative and non-durative in this summary. Comrie (1976: 3–4) and Smith (1997: 6–8) also make an important point about the relationship between PERFECTIVE and IMPERFECTIVE views and the nature of situations. They emphasize that the two aspects are selected on the basis of the speaker’s subjective decision to view situations perfectively or imperfectively, and not on the basis of the objective characteristics of situations. This applies in the case of situations which have duration. Both the IMPERFECTIVE and the PERFECTIVE can describe the same situation but do so differently. However, in the case of situations which do not have duration, and therefore do not have internal temporal constituency, the PERFECTIVE is the only choice (see 8.2.2 for further discussion of punctual situations). It can be seen, then, that the meanings of PERFECTIVE and IMPERFECTIVE relate to a view of the situation. This makes the PERFECTIVE and the IMPERFECTIVE different to the tenses, which convey the time of evaluation (as explained in 2.2.4). The PERFECTIVE and IMPERFECTIVE are not tenses. Hence, in this study, we use the expressions PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE and PAST tense PERFECTIVE, which are intended to be read as PAST tense and IMPERFECTIVE aspect, and PAST tense and PERFECTIVE aspect. Smith (1997: 61–62, 86–94) and Comrie (1976: 16–21) distinguish the basic semantics of the PERFECTIVE and the IMPERFECTIVE from other meanings, some of which are extensions of a basic meaning and some of which

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are due to implications and inferences. We shall adopt a similar position in respect of Welsh. In addition to the general explanation outlined above, we also consider other meanings, namely: complete versus incomplete, change versus continuation, narration versus scene-setting, and remote past time versus accessible past time. These meanings are more fully explained and discussed in 6.3, where we shall consider to what extent they are derived meanings. However, it is not claimed that derived meanings are trivial or less important than the basic ones. A speaker may very well choose the PERFECTIVE or IMPERFECTIVE for a derived meaning as well as their basic meanings. Elements of the approaches of Comrie and Smith are found in other writers, for instance, in Lyons (1995: 325) and Huddleston and Pullum (2002: 124–25). It is especially relevant to note that Fife (1990: 70–73, 144–152, 156–157) in his detailed account of Welsh uses bounded and unbounded to explain the PERFECTIVE and the IMPERFECTIVE.50 4.2

Perfective and imperfective meanings in Welsh

In this section, we consider to what extent the general accounts of Comrie (1976) and Smith (1997) can be applied to the Welsh PERFECTIVE and IMPERFECTIVE. As already indicated, the account of Fife (1990) is based on Welsh data. Comrie (1976: 11, 25, 39, 99) has very brief observations on Welsh but they do not take account of the range of data which we shall look at, and neither do they make appropriate stylistic distinctions. Reference grammars of Welsh are mainly concerned with the very formal style of the language, and the accounts of the IMPERFECTIVE are based chiefly on the inflected lexical verb (that is, the simple verb), which as we have seen does not occur as an IMPERFECTIVE in the vernacular. Reference grammars do not clearly distinguish aspect and tense. Further, they do not distinguish form and meaning, and their accounts confusingly include not only the IMPERFECTIVE meaning but also the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST, the COUNTERFACTUAL, and other meanings which are discussed in chapter 6. Overall they do not offer systematic analyses which contrast the IMPERFECTIVE and PERFECTIVE in balanced data which allow a comparison of like with like. In the following sub-sections, we shall look first at simple finite lexical verbs, which do not provide balanced contrasts. We shall then separately consider the copula and modal verbs, which provide examples in which the only difference is that between the IMPERFECTIVE and PERFECTIVE, and thus give balanced contrasts for the analysis of their semantics.

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The emphasis in this chapter is on the aspectual meaning of the PAST tense PERFECTIVE. Its tense meaning is the same as the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE. That is, in the terms of the meaning of tense which is put forward in this work, it establishes that the time of evaluation is located at some point in the past. However, we see in 4.3 that the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE and the PAST tense PERFECTIVE are different in respect of the description of concurrent and non-concurrent situations: the PERFECTIVE is limited to concurrent situations while the IMPERFECTIVE can occur in descriptions of both. Given that we are claiming that their tense features are the same, these differences must be due to their aspectual properties. 4.2.1

Lexical verbs

We shall look first at the use of the PERFECTIVE and the IMPERFECTIVE in formal Welsh. Although this study is not primarily concerned with the formal style, we can make brief descriptive points. Reference grammars like Morris-Jones (1922: 107–109) and Williams (1959: 96–97; 1980: 74–75) note that both the IMPERFECTIVE and the PERFECTIVE can occur in sentences which describe a once-only situation, that is, a non-habitual situation: 11a. sefwn wrth y ffenestr . stand.IMPF.1SG by the window ‘I stood / was standing by the window.’ b. sefais wrth y ffenestr. stand.PERV.1SG by the window ‘I stood by the window.’ The traditional explanations are that the IMPERFECTIVE in (11a) conveys ongoingness or continuousness while the PERFECTIVE in (11b) is a narrative tense which describes the situation as coming about. Traditional grammars also say that the IMPERFECTIVE can describe a habitual situation as in (12a): 12a. awn i ’r gwaith ar go. IMPF.1SG to the work on ‘I went to work on the train.’ b. euthum i ’r gwaith ar go.PERV.1SG to the work on ‘I went to work on the train.’

y trên. the train y trên. the train

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Perfective and imperfective aspect

In formal Welsh, the PERFECTIVE in (12b) would typically indicate that the situation is once-only, like the example in (11b). It is possible to apply to these data in (11–12) the standard explanations of Comrie and Smith which are outlined in 4.1.2. Thus, the IMPERFECTIVE’s view is partitive, unbounded, and internal. In contrast, the PERFECTIVE’s view is holistic, bounded, and external. But what is distinctive about formal Welsh is that the PERFECTIVE is typically restricted to non-habitual situations. This work is not concerned with formal Welsh, and a detailed investigation will not be attempted. In informal Welsh, as we have established at various places in this study, lexical verbs do not productively convey the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE even though they have Imperfect-Forms. In contrast, the PAST tense PERFECTIVE is productively conveyed by the Preterite-Forms of lexical verbs. So, the IMPERFECTIVE and PERFECTIVE contrast in informal Welsh is as follows: 13a. oeddwn i ’n sefyll wrth y ffenest. be. IMPF.1SG I PROG stand by the window ‘I was standing by the window.’ b. * sefwn i wrth y ffenest. stand.IMPF.1SG I by the window ‘I stood (= was standing) by the window.’ c. sefish i wrth y ffenest. stand.PERV.1SG I by the window ‘I stood by the window.’ d. fush i ’n sefyll wrth y ffenest. be. PERF.1SG I PROG stand by the window ‘I was standing by the window.’ The asterisk in (13b) indicates that this example is not acceptable in informal Welsh with a PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE reading (but it would be acceptable with a reading as a FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense or as a COUNTERFACTUAL). In informal Welsh, simple lexical verbs which inflect for the IMPERFECTIVE have been replaced by the compound tense patterns which contain the IMPERFECTIVE of bod ‘be’ and the progressive aspect. And we shall see that this not only applies to one-off dynamic situations like (13a) but also habitual and stative situations. Turning now to the other examples, the difference between (13a) and (13c) is not simply IMPERFECTIVE and PERFECTIVE but also progressive and non-progressive respectively. The difference between (13a) and (13d) is solely IMPERFECTIVE versus PERFECTIVE. The difference between (13c) and (13d) is also non-progressive and progressive, and this contrast is discussed in chapter 8. In the following paragraphs, we shall concentrate on

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the contrast of the IMPERFECTIVE (and progressive) in examples like (13a) and the PERFECTIVE (and non-progressive) in examples like (13c). The contrast of the IMPERFECTIVE and the PERFECTIVE in progressive examples like (13a) and (13d) is undertaken in 4.2.2. Comrie’s and Smith’s general explanations are at their most obvious for Welsh when we compare the IMPERFECTIVE in a progressive aspect pattern with the PERFECTIVE in a non-progressive pattern: 14a. oedd Mair yn gweithio yn yr ardd ddoe. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG work in the garden yesterday ‘Mair was working in the garden yesterday.’ b. weithiodd Mair yn yr ardd ddoe. work.PERV.3SG Mair in the garden yesterday ‘Mair worked in the garden yesterday.’ 15a. oedd Mair yn helpu Sioned. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG help Sioned ‘Mair was helping Sioned.’ b. helpodd Mair Sioned. help.PERV.3SG Mair Sioned ‘Mair helped Sioned.’ 16a. o’n i ’n darllen y papur. be.IMPF.1SG I PROG read the paper ‘I was reading the paper.’ b. ddarllenish i ’r papur. read.PERV.1SG I the paper ‘I read the paper.’ 17a. oedd y dillad yn sychu ar y lein. be.IMPF.3SG the clothes PROG dry on the line ‘the clothes were drying on the line.’ b. sychodd y dillad ar y lein. dry.PERV.3SG the clothes on the line ‘the clothes dried on the line.’ 18a. oedd Siôn yn practisio ’r piano neithiwr. be.IMPF.3SG Siôn PROG practise the piano last-night ‘Siôn was practising the piano last night.’ b. bractisiodd Siôn y piano neithiwr. practise.PERV.3SG Siôn the piano last-night ‘Siôn practised the piano last night.’

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But the IMPERFECTIVE and PERFECTIVE examples are different in terms of progressive and non-progressive aspect, which respectively convey a durative view and a non-durative view (as discussed in chapter 8). The standard explanations which are introduced in 4.1.2 can be applied independently, without being coloured by the durative and non-durative views. The IMPERFECTIVE in the (a) examples in (14–18) provides a partitive, unbounded, and internal view of an explicitly durative situation. In contrast, the PERFECTIVE in the (b) versions provides a holistic, bounded, and external view of a situation which is also viewed non-duratively by the non-progressive. It is important to examine examples which are different only in terms of the contrast of IMPERFECTIVE and PERFECTIVE, which we shall undertake in the discussion of bod ‘be’ in 4.2.2 and the discussion of modals in 4.2.3. 4.2.2

Bod ‘be’

In this section, we shall make balanced comparisons of the IMPERFECTIVE and PERFECTIVE of bod ‘be’ in compound tense patterns and copular sentences, and consider whether they can be given the standard meanings introduced in 4.1.2. We shall consider examples which describe situations which are non-habitual or habitual, and also dynamic or stative. (These contrasts are introduced in greater detail in chapter 8) Non-habitual situations which are dynamic are to be found in descriptions with progressive sentences. Examples are as follows: 19a. oeddwn i ’n darllen trwy ’r bore. be.IMPF.1SG I PROG read through the morning ‘I was reading all morning.’ b. fush i ’n darllen trwy ’r bore. be.PERV.1SG I PROG read through the morning ‘I read all morning.’ 20a. oedd Mair yn gweithio ddoe. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG work yesterday ‘Mair was working yesterday.’ b. fuodd Mair yn gweithio ddoe. be.PERV.3SG Mair PROG work yesterday ‘Mair was working yesterday.’ 21a. oedd Mair yn bwydo ’r anifeiliaid neithiwr. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG feed the animals last-night ‘Mair was feeding the animals last night.’

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b. fuodd Mair yn bwydo ’r anifeiliaid neithiwr. be.PERV.3SG Mair PROG feed the animals last-night ‘Mair was feeding the animals last night.’ 22a. oedd Mair yn herian Siân ddoe. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG tease Siân yesterday ‘Mair was teasing Siân yesterday.’ b. fuodd Mair yn herian Siân ddoe. be.PERV.3SG Mair PROG tease Siân yesterday ‘Mair was teasing Siân yesterday.’ These examples can be given the standard interpretations which are based on Comrie and Smith. The IMPERFECTIVE provides a view of the situations which is partitive, unbounded, and internal. The view of the PERFECTIVE, in contrast, is holistic, bounded, and external. We now consider non-habitual situations which are stative, that is, temporary states. Here are examples of copular sentences, which we shall take to be stative or at least stative-like: 23a. Mair fuodd y cadeirydd y tro diwetha. Mair be.PERV.3SG the chairperson the turn last ‘Mair was the chairperson last time.’ b. Mair oedd y cadeirydd y tro diwetha. Mair be.IMPF.3SG the chairperson the turn last ‘Mair was the chairperson last time.’ 24a. fuodd Mair yn yr ardd bore ’ma. be.PERV.3SG Mair in the garden morning here ‘Mair was in the garden this morning.’ b. oedd Mair yn yr ardd bore ’ma. be.IMPF.3SG Mair in the garden morning here ‘Mair was in the garden this morning.’ 25a. fuodd Mair ar y trac hyfforddi ddoe. be.PERV.3SG Mair on the track train yesterday ‘Mair was on the training track yesterday.’ b. oedd Mair ar y trac hyfforddi ddoe. be.IMPF.3SG Mair on the track train yesterday ‘Mair was on the training track yesterday.’ 26a. fuodd Mair yn ddigalon neithiwr. be.PERV.3SG Mair PRED downhearted last-night ‘Mair was depressed last night.’

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b. oedd Mair yn ddigalon neithiwr. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PRED downhearted last-night ‘Mair was depressed last night.’ 27a. fush i ’n sâl ar ôl b’yta ’r pysgodyn. be.PERV.1SG I PRED ill on track eat the fish ‘I was ill after eating the fish.’ b. o’n i ’n sâl ar ôl b’yta ’r pysgodyn. be.IMPF.1SG I PRED ill on track eat the fish ‘I was ill after eating the fish.’ 28a. fush i ’n flin am eiliad. be.PERV.1SG I PRED angry for second ‘I was angry for a second.’ b. o’n i ’n flin am eiliad. be.IMPF.1SG I PRED angry for second ‘I was angry for a second.’ We can make standard claims for the semantics of the PERFECTIVE and the IMPERFECTIVE in these examples. The former’s view is holistic, bounded, and external. The IMPERFECTIVE’s view is partitive, unbounded, and internal. It is interesting to note from the examples in (28) that the temporary state and its duration can be very brief. Progressive sentences which describe non-habitual states are different. The IMPERFECTIVE occurs but, there is a restriction on the PERFECTIVE with stative verbs in progressives: 29a. o’dd Sioned yn licio ’r ffilm neithiwr. be.IMPF.3SG Sioned PROG like the film last-night ‘Sioned liked the film last night.’ b. * fuodd Sioned yn licio ’r ffilm neithiwr. be.PERV.3SG Sioned PROG like the film last-night ‘Sioned liked the film last night.’ 30a. oedd y plant yn gwbod yr atebion yn y cwis. be.IMPF.3SG the children PROG know the answers in the quiz ‘the children knew the answers in the quiz.’ b. * fuodd y plant yn gwbod yr atebion yn y cwis. be.PERV.3SG the children PROG know the answers in the quiz ‘the children knew the answers in the quiz.’ 31a. oedd Mair yn nabod Siân ddoe. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG know Siân yesterday ‘Mair recognized Siân yesterday.’

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b. * fuodd Mair yn nabod Siân ddoe. be.PERV.3SG Mair PROG know Siân yesterday ‘Mair recognized Siân yesterday.’ 32a. oedd Mair yn gobeithio gweld Siân ddoe. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG hope see Siân yesterday ‘Mair hoped to see Siân yesterday.’ b. * fuodd Mair yn gobeithio gweld Siân ddoe. be.PERV.3SG Mair PROG hope see Siân yesterday ‘Mair hoped to see Siân yesterday.’ 33a. oedd Mair yn deall popeth neithiwr. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG understand everything last-night ‘Mair understood everything last night.’ b. * fuodd Mair yn deall popeth neithiwr. be.PERV.3SG Mair PROG understand everything last-night ‘Mair understood everything last night.’ 34a. oedd Mair yn cofio enwe pawb ddoe. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG remember names everyone yesterday ‘Mair remembered everyone’s names yesterday.’ b. * fuodd Mair yn cofio enwe pawb ddoe. be.PERV.3SG Mair PROG remember names everyone yesterday ‘Mair remembered everyone’s names yesterday.’ The IMPERFECTIVE can be interpreted in the standard way: it provides a view which is partitive, unbounded, and internal. The restriction on the PERFECTIVE in these examples is a complex one. It cannot be explained solely in terms of the PERFECTIVE, as the PERFECTIVE is acceptable with the nonprogressive in descriptions of temporary states: 35a. liciodd Sioned y ffilm neithiwr. like. PERV.3SG Sioned the film last-night ‘Sioned liked the film last night.’ b. na’th Sioned licio ’r ffilm neithiwr. do.PERV.3SG Sioned like the film last-night ‘Sioned liked the film last night.’ 36a. * wbododd y plant yr atebion yn y cwis. know.PERV.3SG the children the answers in the quiz ‘the children knew the answers in the quiz.’ b. na’th y plant wbod yr atebion yn y cwis. do.PERV.3SG the children know the answers in the quiz ‘the children knew the answers in the quiz.’

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Perfective and imperfective aspect

37a. nabododd Mair bawb ddoe. know.PERV.3SG Mair everyone yesterday ‘Mair recognized everyone yesterday.’ b. na’th Mair nabod pawb ddoe. do.PERV.3SG Mair know everyone yesterday ‘Mair recognized everyone yesterday.’ 38a. feddyli-ish i hynny. think.PERV.1SG I that ‘I thought that.’ b. nesh i feddwl hynny. do.PERV.1SG I think that ‘I thought that.’ 39a. ddeallodd Mair bopeth neithiwr. understand.PERV.3SG Mair everything last-night ‘Mair understood everything last night.’ b. na’th Mair ddeall popeth neithiwr. do.PERV.3SG Mair understand everything last-night ‘Mair understood everything last night.’ 40a. gofiodd Mair enwe pawb ddoe. remember.PERV.3SG Mair names everyone yesterday ‘Mair remembered everyone’s names yesterday.’ b. na’th Mair gofio enwe pawb ddoe. do.PERV.3SG Mair remember names everyone yesterday ‘Mair remembered everyone’s names yesterday.’ (As is outlined in 4.2.4, the restriction on gwybod in example (36a) is a morphological one – this verb has no Preterite-Forms in informal Welsh.) Neither can we explain the restriction solely in terms of the progressive, as examples (29–34) show that the latter is acceptable in sentences which contain the IMPERFECTIVE. Another significant point is that the PERFECTIVE is acceptable with the progressive when habitual states are described, as examples (49–55) show. On the basis of all these points, three factors have to come together for the constraint to apply: the PERFECTIVE must occur, the progressive must occur, and the situation must be a non-habitual state. These data are also discussed in 8.4.1 under the perfective-progressive constraint, where it is also shown that a fourth factor is involved. We now turn to examine habitual situations. Descriptions of dynamic situations can be given with the following progressive sentences:

Perfective and imperfective meanings in Welsh

41a. fuodd Mair yn mynd i ’r gwaith be.PERV.3SG Mair PROG go to the work ‘Mair used to go to work on the bus.’ b. oedd Mair yn mynd i ’r gwaith be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG go to the work ‘Mair went to work on the bus.’ 42a. fuodd hi ’n b’yta lot o gig. be.PERV.3SG she PROG eat lot of meat ‘she used to eat a lot of meat.’ b. oedd hi ’n b’yta lot o gig. be.IMPF.3SG she PROG eat lot of meat ‘she ate a lot of meat.’

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ar y bws. on the bus ar y bws. on the bus

It is reasonable to apply standard interpretations to these examples. The perfective view is holistic, bounded, and external. The imperfective view is partitive, unbounded, and internal. Examples of habitual situations which are stative are found in copular and progressive examples. Copular examples can be given as follows: 43a. fuodd gan Mair hen gar. be.PERV.3SG with Mair old car ‘Mair had an old car.’ b. oedd gan Mair hen gar. be.IMPF.3SG with Mair old car ‘Mair had an old car.’ 44a. fuodd Mair yn hogan hyfryd. be.PERV.3SG Mair PRED girl pleasant ‘Mair used to be a pleasant girl.’ b. oedd Mair yn hogan hyfryd. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PRED girl pleasant ‘Mair was a pleasant girl.’ 45a. Mair fuodd y brifathrawes. Mair be.PERV.3SG the headteacher.F ‘the headteacher used to be Mair.’ b. Mair oedd y brifathrawes. Mair be.IMPF.3SG the headteacher.F ‘the headteacher was Mair.’ 46a. fuodd Mair yn Aber yn ystod y rhyfel. be.PERV.3SG Mair in Aber in period the war ‘Mair used to be in Aber during the war.’

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Perfective and imperfective aspect

b. oedd Mair yn Aber yn ystod y rhyfel. be.IMPF.3SG Mair in Aber in period the war ‘Mair was in Aber during the war.’ 47a. fuodd Mair ar y trac hyfforddi bob nos. be.PERV.3SG Mair on the track train every night ‘Mair was on the training track every night.’ b. oedd Mair ar y trac hyfforddi bob nos. be.IMPF.3SG Mair on the track train every night ‘Mair was on the training track every night.’ 48a. fuodd Mair yn ddigalon bob bore dydd Llun. be.PERV.3SG Mair PRED downhearted every morning day Monday ‘Mair used to be depressed every Monday morning.’ b. oedd Mair yn ddigalon bob bore dydd Llun. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PRED downhearted every morning day Monday ‘Mair was depressed every Monday morning.’ Examples of progressives which are habitual and stative can be given as follows: 49a. fuodd Mair yn licio Gwyn. be.PERV.3SG Mair PROG like Gwyn ‘Mair used to like Gwyn.’ b. oedd Mair yn licio Gwyn. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG like Gwyn ‘Mair liked Gwyn.’ 50a. fuodd Mair yn gwbod dyddiad pen blwydd pawb. be.PERV.3SG Mair PROG know date head year everyone ‘Mair used to know the date of everyone’s birthday.’ b. oedd Mair yn gwbod dyddiad pen blwydd pawb. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG know date head year everyone ‘Mair knew the date of everyone’s birthday.’ 51a. fuodd Mair yn edmygu Siân. be.PERV.3SG Mair PROG admire Siân ‘Mair used to admire Siân.’ b. oedd Mair yn edmygu Siân. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG admire Siân ‘Mair admired Siân.’ 52b. fush i ’n nabod Sioned yn dda. be.PERV.1SG I PROG know Sioned ADV good ‘I used to know Sioned well.’

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a. o’n i ’n nabod Sioned yn dda. be.IMPF.1SG I PROG know Sioned ADV good ‘I knew Sioned well.’ 53a. fuodd Sioned yn gwbod enwe pawb. be.PERV.3SG Sioned PROG know names everyone ‘Sioned used to know everyone’s name.’ b. oedd Sioned yn gwbod enwe pawb. be.IMPF.3SG Sioned PROG know names everyone ‘Sioned knew everyone’s name.’ 54a. fush i ’n licio ’r ysgol. be.PERV.1SG I PROG like the school ‘I used to like school.’ b. o’n i ’n licio ’r ysgol. be.IMPF.1SG I PROG like the school ‘I liked school.’ 55a. fuodd y llyfre ’n cynnwys awgrymiade da. be.PERV.3SG the books PROG contain suggestions good ‘the books used to contain good suggestions.’ b. oedd y llyfre ’n cynnwys awgrymiade da. be.IMPF.3SG the books PROG contain suggestions good ‘the books contained good suggestions.’ It is very striking that the PERFECTIVE can occur in descriptions of habitual (or permanent) states but not non-habitual (or temporary) states, as a comparison of these examples with those in (29–34) show. However, it is reasonable to give both the copular examples of habitual states in (43–48) and the progressive examples of habitual states in (49–55) the standard interpretation of the PERFECTIVE, namely, a view of situations which is holistic, bounded, and external. In contrast, the view of the IMPERFECTIVE is partitive, unbounded, and internal. In conclusion, it is possible to apply the standard meanings outlined in 4.1.2 to the IMPERFECTIVE and the PERFECTIVE in Welsh. We can also note that generally, in Welsh, (i) both can occur in descriptions of non-habitual and habitual situations; (ii) both can occur in descriptions of dynamic and stative situations; and (iii) both can occur with the non-progressive and progressive aspects. However, exceptional issues arise with non-habitual statives: the PERFECTIVE cannot occur with the progressive in descriptions of such situations.

142

Perfective and imperfective aspect

4.2.3

Modal verbs

Like bod ‘be’ – but unlike lexical verbs – the modals, except dylai ‘should, ought’, can also inflect for the PERFECTIVE as well as the IMPERFECTIVE. We shall see in this section that there are restrictions on the PAST tense PERFECTIVE with modals which are not found with bod ‘be’. We shall again consider non-habitual and habitual situations. The meanings which the modals convey are typically stative, but it is important to consider whether they maintain a stative meaning when inflected for the PERFECTIVE. It is not necessarily the case that all speakers follow the usage which is outlined here. Some speakers may not consistently use the Imperfect-Forms of modal verbs but may prefer compound tense patterns (see 8.1.1). Some speakers may not use the Preterite-Form of modal verbs. The IMPERFECTIVE and PERFECTIVE of modals can describe non-habitual situations. In the following examples, the meaning of ability is intended:51 56a. allish i basio ’r lori. can.PERV.1SG I pass the lorry ‘I was able to pass the lorry.’ b. allwn i basio ’r lori. can.IMPF.1SG I pass the lorry ‘I could pass the lorry.’ 57a. allish i ago r y botel. can.PERV.1SG I open the bottle ‘I was able to open the bottle.’ b. allwn i agor y botel. can.IMPF.1SG I open the bottle ‘I could open the bottle.’ We can explain this contrast in terms of competence and performance. The refers to the possession of the ability more than it does to the actual implementation of that ability on a specific occasion: that is, it refers to a state. The PERFECTIVE clearly indicates that the ability was applied and that at least on one occasion the lorry was passed and the bottle was opened: that is, it refers to the fulfilment or instantiation of a state through a dynamic act. We can also consider negative versions: IMPERFECTIVE

58a. allish i ddim pasio ’r lori. can.PERV.1SG I NEG pass the lorry ‘I wasn’t able to pass the lorry.’

Perfective and imperfective meanings in Welsh

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b. allwn i ddim pasio ’r lori. can.IMPF.1SG I NEG pass the lorry ‘I couldn’t pass the lorry.’ 59a. allish i ddim agor y botel. can.PERV.1SG I NEG open the bottle ‘I wasn’t able to open the bottle.’ b. allwn i ddim agor y botel. can.IMPF.1SG I NEG open the bottle ‘I couldn’t open the bottle.’ In both cases the lorry is not passed and the bottle is not opened. But we can again say that the IMPERFECTIVE refers to the lack of a state of ability while the PERFECTIVE describes a failed attempt to implement ability. That is, we still have the contrast of state and dynamic act. The positive and negative examples suggest that, with modal verbs, the IMPERFECTIVE and PERFECTIVE convey stative and dynamic meanings respectively. This would appear to be an addition to our standard account of the PERFECTIVE and IMPERFECTIVE, which is based on Comrie (1976) and Smith (1997). But we could argue that the PERFECTIVE’s view of the actual implementation of that ability (dynamic) is holistic, bounded, and external. We could also argue that the IMPERFECTIVE’s view of the possession of ability (stative) is partitive, unbounded, and internal. But the stative:dynamic contrast is the more obvious explanation. Habitual situations are different yet again. The IMPERFECTIVE can occur in sentences which describe states over an extended period of time:52 60a. fedrwn i nofio ’n dda pan oeddwn i ’n ifanc. can.IMPF.1SG I swim ADV good when be.IMPF.1SG I PRED young ‘I could swim well when I was young.’ b. fedre pob plentyn yn y pentre reidio ceffyl yn yr can.IMPF.3SG every child in the village ride horse in the hen ddyddie. old days ‘every child in the village could ride a horse in the old days.’ c. fedren ni gerdded i ’r dre yn gyflym pan can.IMPF.1PL we walk to the town ADV quick when oedd ’na bont. be.IMPF.3SG there bridge ‘we could walk to the town quickly when there was a bridge.’

144

Perfective and imperfective aspect

But whereas the PERFECTIVE in non-habitual situations is grammatical, it is unacceptable, or at best marginal, with habitual situations: 61a. * fedrish i nofio ’n dda pan oeddwn i ’n ifanc. can.PERV.1SG I swim ADV good when be.IMPF.1SG I PRED young ‘I could swim well when I was young.’ b. * fedrodd pob plentyn yn y pentre reidio ceffyl yn yr can.PERV.3SG every child in the village ride horse in the hen ddyddie. old days ‘every child in the village could ride a horse in the old days.’ c. * fedron ni gerdded i ’r dre yn gyflym pan can.PERV.1PL we walk to the town ADV quick when oedd ’na bont. be.IMPF.3SG there bridge ‘we were able to walk to the town quickly when there was a bridge.’ A comparison of the non-habitual examples of the PERFECTIVE in (56–57) with the habitual examples in (61) shows that the PERFECTIVE with modals is limited to non-habitual situations. But the IMPERFECTIVE can occur with modals in descriptions of both non-habituals and habituals, as is shown by the IMPERFECTIVE examples in (56–57) and (60). Modal verbs in this respect are different to bod ‘be’ in both copular sentences and compound tense patterns: bod ‘be’ can inflect for the IMPERFECTIVE and the PERFECTIVE with both non-habitual and habitual situations (but subject to the perfectiveprogressive constraint, as noted in 4.2.2). Summarising the discussion of modal verbs, the PERFECTIVE is confined to non-habitual situations while the IMPERFECTIVE can occur in descriptions of non-habitual and habitual situations. In respect of non-habitual situations, the PERFECTIVE describes them as dynamic while the IMPERFECTIVE describes them as stative. In respect of habitual situations, only a stative reading is possible, and only the IMPERFECTIVE freely occurs. We have seen that it is possible to claim standard interpretations but the stative:dynamic and non-habitual:habitual contrasts are more obvious. 4.2.4

Exceptional lexical verbs

We have seen in 3.5 that gwybod ‘know (a fact)’ is exceptional amongst lexical verbs in informal Welsh in that it has Imperfect-Forms and can also

Perfective and imperfective meanings in Welsh

145

convey the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE, although not productively. In contrast adnabod ‘know, recognize’ does not have Imperfect-Forms in informal Welsh to the same extent. We can now consider these two verbs in respect of Preterite-Forms. We see in 3.5 that gwybod ‘know (a fact)’ does not inflect for the FUTURE tense. Similarly, it does not inflect for the PAST tense PERFECTIVE in informal Welsh:53 62a. * wybodish i ’r ateb. know.PERV.1SG I the answer ‘I knew the answer.’ b. * wybododd neb ’i henw hi. know.PERV.3SG no-one 3SG.F name she ‘nobody knew her name.’ c. * wybodoch chi ’r cyfeiriad? know. PERV.2PL you.PL the address ‘did you know the address?’ d. * wybodon ni ’n syth. know. PERV.1PL we ADV straight ‘we knew immediately.’ But it can occur in a periphrastic pattern with the auxiliary gwneud ‘do’ when the latter is inflected for the PAST tense PERFECTIVE: 63a. nesh i wbod ’r ateb. do.PERV.1SG I know the answer ‘I knew the answer.’ b. na’th neb wbod ’i henw hi. do.PERV.3SG no-one know 3SG.F name she ‘nobody knew her name.’ c. ne’thoch chi wbod y cyfeiriad? do.PERV.2PL you.PL know the address ‘did you know the address?’ d. ne’thon ni wbod yn syth. do.PERV.1PL we know ADV straight ‘we knew immediately.’ In contrast, in northern dialects at least, adnabod ‘know, recognize’ can inflect for the PAST tense PERFECTIVE:

146

Perfective and imperfective aspect

64a. nabododd o ti. know.PERV.3SG he you.SG ‘he recognized you.’ b. nabodish i ’u car nhw. know.PERV.1SG I 3PL car they ‘I recognized their car.’ The distribution of the PAST tense PERFECTIVE over gwybod ‘know (a fact)’ and adnabod ‘know, recognize’ is similar to the distribution of the FUTURE tense over the same verbs (as outlined in 3.5). 54 4.3

Formal differences

In this section, we shall consider grammatical matters which show that, in comparison with other tenses, the PAST tense PERFECTIVE is exceptional (or marked) while the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE is unexceptional (or unmarked). Further, given that the IMPERFECTIVE and PERFECTIVE occur with the same tense, it is reasonable to speculate that their aspectual meanings are related to the differences between them. But it is difficult to provide a semantic explanation as to why these differences arise. In the following account, we provide descriptive characterizations only. 4.3.1

Non-concurrent situations

It is shown in 2.2.3 that the IMPERFECTIVE can occur in descriptions of situations which are located subsequent to a relative point of time, placing the situation at a later past time or at the present time or in the future time. The following contrasts show that the PERFECTIVE is different: 65a. rhedodd Myfanwy am y bws. run.PERV.3SG Myfanwy for the bus ‘Myfanwy ran for the bus.’ oedd ei thrên yn gad’el mewn hanner awr. be.IMPF.3SG her train PROG leave in half hour ‘her train was leaving in half an hour.’ b. rhedodd Myfanwy am y bws. run.PERV.3SG Myfanwy for the bus ‘Myfanwy ran for the bus.’

Formal differences

147

* fuodd ei thrên yn gad’el mewn hanner awr. be.PERV.3SG her train PROG leave in half hour ‘her train was leaving in half an hour.’ 66a. oedd Mair yn gweithio rwan, ynd oedd? be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG work now Q.NEG be.IMPF.3SG ‘Mair was working now, wasn’t she.’ b. * fuodd Mair yn gweithio rwan, yn’ do? be.PERV.3SG Mair PROG work now Q.NEG PERV = ‘Mair was working now, wasn’t she.’ 67a. oedd Mair yn gweithio fory. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG work tomorrow ‘Mair was working tomorrow.’ b. * fuodd Mair yn gweithio fory. be.PERV.3SG Mair PROG work tomorrow = ‘Mair was working tomorrow.’ The obvious conclusion is that the PERFECTIVE is restricted to descriptions of situations which are concurrent with the relative point of time in the past and cannot occur in descriptions of situations which are subsequent to that point of time (that is, non-concurrent). We can recall from the discussion in 2.5 that the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE can occur with mynd i ‘going to’; but the PAST tense PERFECTIVE cannot: 68a. *fuodd Sioned yn mynd i orffen ar ôl y gwylie. be.PERV.3SG Sioned PROG go to finish on track the holidays ‘Sioned was going to finish the work after the holidays.’ b. *fush i ’n mynd i weld mam y diwrnod wedyn. be.PERV.1SG I PROG go to see mother the day after ‘I was going to see (my) mother the day after.’ We have already seen that the PERFECTIVE, unlike the IMPERFECTIVE, does not describe subsequent situations. We can tentatively suggest a generalization, namely, that the subsequent-situation restriction on the PERFECTIVE also applies when a developing situation is described on the basis of current intentions and signs with mynd i ‘go to’.

148

Perfective and imperfective aspect

4.3.2

Perfect aspect

Comrie (1976: 61–64) considers combinations of the perfect with other aspectual distinctions in a number of languages, and concludes: “… there are some languages, like Modern Greek, where the perfect is restricted to PERFECTIVE aspect, while there are apparently none where the perfect is restricted to IMPERFECTIVE aspect, i.e. there is a more natural relationship between perfect and PERFECTIVE than between perfect and IMPERFECTIVE.” He then goes on to offer a semantic explanation for the combination of the perfect and the PERFECTIVE as follows: “the perfect looks at a situation in terms of its consequences, and while it is possible for an incomplete situation to have consequences, it is much more likely that consequences will be consequences of a situation that has been brought to completion, i.e. of a situation that is likely to be described by means of the perfective.” Welsh is counter to Comrie’s views.55 There are examples which show that the perfect aspect occurs with the IMPERFECTIVE and not the PERFECTIVE: 69a. oedd Mair wedi gweld be.IMPF.3SG Mair PERF see ‘Mair had seen Siôn.’ b. * fuodd Mair wedi gweld be.PERV.3SG Mair PERF see = ‘Mair had seen Siôn.’

Siôn. Siôn Siôn. Siôn

We shall refer to this as the perfective-perfect constraint. However, Rowlands (1976: 18) suggests that the perfect aspect can occur with the PERFECTIVE in examples such as: 70a. fuodd Mair wedi blino am wythnose. be.PERV.3SG Mair PERF tire for weeks = ‘Mair was tired for weeks.’ b. fuodd y dŵr wedi rhewi am ddyddie. be.PERV.3SG the water PERF freeze for days = ‘the water was frozen for days.’ c. fuodd y ffenestr wedi torri. be.PERV.3SG the window PERF break = ‘the window was broken.’

Formal differences

149

These examples are ergative patterns. We could therefore say that where the PERFECTIVE occurs with an ergative predicate, the perfect aspect is possible. But this does not apply to all ergative predicates: 71a. oedd y car wedi be.IMPF.3SG the car PERF ‘the car had moved.’ b. * fuodd y car wedi be.PERV.3SG the car PERF = ‘the car had moved.’

symud. move symud. move

Verbs like blino ‘tire’ and rhewi ‘freeze’ involve a change of state while a verb like symud ‘move’ does not – a change of location does not change the state of the car. On this basis, we can say that where an ergative predicate involves a change of state, then the perfect aspect marker wedi can occur with the PERFECTIVE. We can note that there is a possible generalization to account for this constraint and the constraint outlined in 4.3.1 in descriptions of subsequent situations. The latter follow a reference time, and it is shown in chapter 7 that the perfect aspect is used in descriptions of situations which precede a reference time. It could be suggested that the Welsh PERFECTIVE can only describe situations which are concurrent with a reference time, and not situations which are anterior or posterior to a reference time. But it is easier to state the characteristics of the generalization than it is to provide a semantic analysis, if any, which explains why the generalization arises. 4.3.3

Other matters

We shall now consider other data which show that the PERFECTIVE behaves exceptionally and that the IMPERFECTIVE behaves regularly, namely in relation to: – – – –

the adverbs byth ‘ever’ and erioed ‘ever’ answer words reported speech pan ‘when’ clauses

The adverbs byth ‘ever’ and erioed ‘ever’ occur as habitual/iterative adverbs. They have other meanings with which we are not concerned here

150

Perfective and imperfective aspect

(but details can be found in Jones M. 1972). As habitual/iterative adverbs, they are distributed differently with the IMPERFECTIVE and PERFECTIVE: 72a. doedd Mair byth / (*erioed) yn cwyno. NEG.be.IMPF.3SG Mair ever PROG complain ‘Mair never complained / was never complaining.’ b. fuodd Mair (*byth) / erioed yn cwyno. be.PERV.3SG Mair ever PROG complain ‘Mair never complained / was never complaining.’ As can be seen, byth occurs with the IMPERFECTIVE whereas erioed occurs with the PERFECTIVE (erioed can occur with the IMPERFECTIVE in a different sense to exclaim surprise but it cannot occur with the IMPERFECTIVE in its use as a temporal adverb). The PRESENT tense and FUTURE tense behave like the IMPERFECTIVE: 73a. fydd Mair byth / (*erioed) yn gwbod. be.FUT.3SG Mair ever PROG know ‘Mair will never know.’ b. dydy Mair byth / (*erioed) yn cwyno. NEG.be.PRES.3SG Mair ever PROG complain ‘Mair never complains.’ These observations confirm the uniqueness of the PERFECTIVE. The IMPERand FUTURE tenses can all occur with byth. It is only erioed which occurs with the PERFECTIVE.56 We shall, however, consider an apparent exception in the case of the PRESENT tense at the end of this section. Finite verbs with the PERFECTIVE, whether bod ‘be’ or a lexical verb, are unique in that ‘yes / no’ answer words to normal-order questions are provided by the forms do (positive) and naddo (negative):57

FECTIVE, PRESENT

74a. fuost ti yn y cyfarfod? be.PERV.2SG you.SG in the meeting ‘were you in the meeting?’ b. do. PERV

‘yes.’ 75a. welest ti Mair yn y cyfarfod? see.PERV.2SG you.SG Mair in the meeting ‘did you see Mair in the meeting?’

Formal differences

151

b. naddo. NEG.PERV

‘no.’ No other tenses do this. They either repeat the finite verb or use an equivalent form of the auxiliary gwneud ‘do’: 76a. oeddet ti yn y cyfarfod? be.IMPF.2SG you.SG in the meeting ‘were you in the meeting?’ b. oeddwn. be.IMPF.1SG ‘yes.’ 77b. siaradi di efo Mair yn y cyfarfod? talk.FUT.2SG you.SG with Mair in the meeting ‘will you talk to Mair in the meeting?’ b. gwnaf. do.FUT.1SG ‘yes.’ We again see that the PERFECTIVE behaves uniquely, but we shall consider an apparent exception in the case of the PRESENT tense at the end of this section. In reported speech patterns, the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE replaces the PRESENT tense (reported speech is discussed in greater detail in 5.1). But the PAST tense PERFECTIVE is outside this relationship: 78a. dydy Mair ddim yma. NEG.be.PRES.3SG Mair NEG here ‘Mair isn’t here.’ b. ddydodd o nad oedd Mair ddim yma. say.PERV.3SG he NEG be.IMPF.3SG Mair NEG here ‘he said that Mair wasn’t here.’ c. * ddydodd o na fuodd Mair ddim yma. say.PERV.3SG he NEG be.PERV.3SG Mair NEG here ‘he said that Mair wasn’t [hadn’t been] here.’ As shown in 5.4, positive complement clauses also show a relationship between the PRESENT tense and the IMPERFECTIVE in that both are replaced with the form bod ‘be’:

152

Perfective and imperfective aspect

79a. ma’ Mair yma. be.PRES.3SG Mair here ‘Mair is here.’ b. ddydodd o fod Mair yma. say.PERV.3SG he be.PRES Mair here ‘he said that Mair is here.’ 80a. oedd Mair yma. be.IMPF.3SG Mair here ‘Mair was here.’ b. ddydodd o fod Mair yma. say.PERV.3SG he be.IMPF Mair here ‘he said that Mair was here.’ 81a. fuodd Mair yma. be.PERV.3SG Mair here ‘Mair was here.’ b. ddydodd o buodd Mair yma. say.PERV.3SG he be.PERV.3SG Mair here ‘he said that Mair was here.’ c. * ddydodd o fod Mair yma. say.PERV.3SG he be.PERV Mair here ‘he said that Mair was here.’ The complement clauses in (79b) and (80b) look like tenseless clauses. But they exhibit the word-order characteristics of tensed clauses and, as the negative equivalent in (78b) shows, bod ‘be’ is equivalent to the finite forms (see Tallerman 1998 for discussion of these bod-clauses; they are also discussed in 5.4). Again, the PERFECTIVE stands outside this relationship, as the examples in (81) show. We can also see another similarity between the IMPERFECTIVE and other tenses by considering temporal relationships between situations which are described in main clauses and situations which are described in cooccurring adverbial pan ‘when’ clauses. In main clauses in which the finite verb is the copula, there is a constraint on the PERFECTIVE while the IMPERFECTIVE behaves like other tenses, and, further, the situation in the main clause encompasses the situation in the adverbial clause. This is seen in copular clauses: 82a. *fuodd Mair yna pan ganodd y gloch. be.PERV.3SG Mair there when sing.PERV.3SG the bell = ‘Mair was there when the ball rang.’

Formal differences

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b. oedd Mair yna pan ganodd y gloch. be.IMPF.3SG Mair there when sing.PERV.3SG the bell ‘Mair was there when the bell rang.’ c. fydd Mair yna pan ganith y gloch. be.IMPF.3SG Mair there when sing.FUT.3SG the bell ‘Mair will be there when the bell rings.’ d. fydde Mair yna pan gane y gloch. be.FUTP.3SG Mair there when sing.FUTP.3SG the bell ‘Mair would be there when the bell rang.’ e. ma’ Mair yna ar y foment. be.PRES.3SG Mair there on the moment ‘Mair is there at the moment.’ The same relationship is seen when the main clause contains the progressive aspect: 83a. * fuodd Mair yn cysgu pan ganodd y gloch. be.PERV.3SG Mair PROG sleep when sing.PERV.3SG the bell = ‘Mair was sleeping when the ball rang.’ b. oedd Mair yn cysgu pan ganodd y gloch. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG sleep when sing.PERV.3SG the bell ‘Mair was sleeping when the bell rang.’ c. fydd Mair yn cysgu pan ganith y gloch. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG sleep when sing.FUT.3SG the bell ‘Mair will be sleeping when the bell rings.’ d. fydde Mair yn cysgu pan gane y gloch. be.FUTP.3SG Mair PROG sleep when sing.FUTP.3SG the bell ‘Mair would be sleeping when the bell rang.’ e. ma’ Mair yn cysgu ar y foment. be.PRES.3SG Mair PROG sleeping on the moment ‘Mair is sleeping at the moment.’ In the case of the PRESENT tense in (82e) and (83e), the situation encompasses the moment of speaking. Matters are different when the finite verb in the main clause is a lexical verb. The PERFECTIVE can occur and behaves like other tenses, and, further, there is a succeeding or simultaneous relationship between the situations in the main and adverbial clauses:

154

Perfective and imperfective aspect

84a. a’th Mair allan pan ganodd y gloch. go.PERV.3SG Mair out when sing.PERV.3SG the bell ‘Mair went out when the bell rang.’ b. eith Mair allan pan ganith y gloch. go.FUT.3SG Mair out when sing.FUT.3SG the bell ‘Mair will go out when the bell rings.’ c. ai Mair allan pan gane ’r gloch. go.FUTP.3SG Mair out when sing.FUTP.3SG the bell ‘Mair would go out when the bell rang.’ In (84), the situations in both main and adverbial clauses can be seen as punctual, whereas those in (82) and (83) are durative in the main clause and punctual in the adverbial clause. The former allows a succeeding or simultaneous between the situations, while the latter allows an encompassing relationship. Rowlands (1976: 17–18) suggests that bod ‘be’ when inflected by the PERFECTIVE can occur in examples such as the following: 85 bu golau pan swijhais y trydan. be.PERV.3SG light when switch.PERV.1SG the electricity ‘there was light when I switched the electricity on.’ But we can explain such examples on the basis that the main clause describes a punctual event and not a durative one, thus satisfying the conditions for a succeeding or simultaneous relationship between situations. The above array of data shows that the PERFECTIVE is exceptional in encompassing relationships while the IMPERFECTIVE has much in common with the other tenses. In two respects, however, the PRESENT tense appears to behave like the PERFECTIVE, namely, in the case of the adverb erioed and the answer words do and naddo. The adverb erioed can occur with the PRESENT tense if the perfect aspect occurs: 86 dydy Mair erioed wedi cwyno. NEG.be.PRES.3SG Mair ever PERF complain ‘Mair has never complained.’ And, when the PRESENT tense occurs with the perfect aspect, there is the choice of using the echo responsive or do / naddo:

Summary

155

87 ydy Mair wedi mynd? be.PRES.3SG Mair PERF go ‘has Mair gone?’ ydy / nac ydy. be.PRES.3SG NEG be.PRES.3SG do / naddo. PERV

NEG.PERV

‘yes / no.’ We can claim that, in the context of the PRESENT tense, the perfect aspect allows erioed and the answer words do / naddo. 4.4

Summary

Whereas tense locates the time of evaluation, the standard view of the aspectual contrasts of PERFECTIVE and IMPERFECTIVE is that they view a situation differently: the PERFECTIVE views the situation holistically, as bounded, and externally; the IMPERFECTIVE views the situation partitively, as unbounded, and internally. The following applies in informal Welsh: – Lexical verbs do not have inflected forms which convey the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE, with the exception of gwybod ‘know’ for some speakers. Instead, compound tense patterns to convey a PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE. – Bod ‘be’ can inflect to convey both the IMPERFECTIVE and the PERFECTIVE, and the standard meanings can be applied to them. However, the PERFECTIVE is subject to the perfective-progressive constraint and the perfective-perfect constraint. – Modal verbs can also inflect to convey the IMPERFECTIVE and the PERFECTIVE. The IMPERFECTIVE can describe states which are either non-habitual or habitual, while the PERFECTIVE is confined to describing dynamic situations which are non-habitual. Standard interpretations can be applied in a very general way but the stative:dynamic and nonhabitual:habitual contrasts are more obvious. – The IMPERFECTIVE:PERFECTIVE contrast is limited to PAST tense. – The IMPERFECTIVE is more similar to the other tenses and the PERFECTIVE is exceptional. The summary of tenses which are provided in 2.6 and 3.5 can be developed to include the IMPERFECTIVE and the PERFECTIVE, as in table 19.

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Perfective and imperfective aspect

Table 19. The semantics of the forms of bod ‘be’, lexical verbs, and modal verbs Meanings

Bod

Lexical Verbs

Modal Verbs

PRESENT

mae bydd bydd oedd buodd byddai byddai/buasai byddai/buasai

— — siaradith — siaradodd — siaradai/asai siaradai/asai

gallith — — gallai gallodd — — gallai

PRESENT-HABITUAL FUTURE IMPERFECTIVE PERFECTIVE PAST- HABITUAL FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST COUNTERFACTUAL

Modal verbs in informal Welsh behave like lexical verbs in formal Welsh in respect of the use of Imperfect-Forms to convey the IMPERFECTIVE (as outlined in 4.2.1) and the use of the Future-Forms to convey the PRESENT tense (see 3.2.2). The summary in table 19 is based on descriptive accounts, but a more general account of the inflectional system is developed in greater detail in chapter 5.

Chapter 5 The inflectional system This chapter brings together the semantic analyses which have been developed in the preceding chapters, and presents a more systematic account of the Welsh finite inflectional system. It gives a more detailed analysis of the temporal features of tense. It also looks at various constraints on the inflectional system: on combinations of semantic features, on classes of lexemes, and on the realization of tense in complement clauses. 5.1

Tense

We shall look first at a traditional-style analysis of Welsh tenses, which can be given in a graphic representation as follows (at this stage we exclude the specialized habitual forms and also the forms which convey COUNTERFAC58 TUAL): Tense

PAST

IMPERFECTIVE

oedd

PRESENT

PERFECTIVE

FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST

bu

byddai/buasai

mae

FUTURE

bydd

Figure 14. The traditional tense system

The traditional approach holds that there are three PAST tenses, one PRESENT tense, and one FUTURE tense. A traditional analysis also says that the function of tense is to locate in time the situation which is described in a finite sentence. Reichenbach (1947), in an oft quoted study of tense, provides three temporal distinctions which can explain the traditional analysis: the time of speaking, which he symbolizes with S; the time of the situation, which Reichenbach refers to as the event and symbolizes with E; and a reference time, which he symbolizes with R. In addition, these three times are related to each other in terms of anteriority, simultaneity, and posteriority.

158

The inflectional system

Reichenbach’s reference time, R, is mainly used to explain the perfect aspect, as discussed in chapter 7. In order to preserve the three basic temporal distinctions, R is given as coinciding with S in descriptions of the so-called simple tenses, which are non-perfect. For our purposes, we shall ignore the reference time of perfect aspect, R, and represent the traditional analysis of the so-called simple tenses in Reichenbachian terms as the relationship of two times, S and E, as follows: – – –

tense E – S (event before the time of speaking) PRESENT tense S, E (event simultaneous with the time of speaking) FUTURE tense S – E (event after the time of speaking) PAST

The analysis of tense which has been given in 2.2 and 3.2 is different to a traditional analysis in two respects. First, we have argued that tense establishes the temporal location of the evaluation of a proposition which can be associated with an utterance and not the temporal location of the situation which is described. Second, the temporal properties of tense are different. In addition to the time of speaking, two other times are necessary to account for tense in the time-of-evaluation analysis. One is a reference time for tense which is located relative to the time of speaking: it can occur either at the time of speaking, or at some point prior to the time of speaking in the deictic past. The other time is the time of the evaluation, which is located relative to the reference time: either concurrent with or subsequent to it. The reference time for tense helps to account for the simple tenses, and is different to the one which is in Reichenbach’s analysis which accounts for perfect aspect patterns. In the case of the PRESENT tense and the FUTURE tense, the present moment is the reference time. But the relative locations of the time of evaluation are different: the PRESENT tense establishes that the time of evaluation is concurrent with the present moment, and the FUTURE tense establishes that the time of evaluation is subsequent to the present moment. In the case of the PAST tense and the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense, the speaker adopts a reference time at some time in the past. But, again, the relative locations of the time of evaluation are different: the PAST tense establishes that the time of evaluation is concurrent with the reference time, and the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense establishes that the time of evaluation is subsequent to the reference time. We shall use T=PRESENT and T=PAST for the temporal location of the reference time for tense, and we shall use CONCURRENT and SUBSEQUENT for the relative location of the time of evaluation. Tense can thus be accounted for in terms of two binary choices (which we shall enclose in curly brackets): {T=PRESENT, T=PAST} for the deictic loca-

Tense

159

tion of the reference time for tense, and { CONCURRENT, SUBSEQUENT} for the relative location of the time of evaluation. The tense system can be diagrammatically represented as in figure 15. Tense T=PRESENT

CONCURRENT

T=PAST

SUBSEQUENT

mae

CONCURRENT

SUBSEQUENT

oedd

byddai/buasai

bydd

Figure 15. The temporal properties of the tenses

The tenses can consequently be described as combinations of selections from these two binary choices (which we can trace in such diagrams), which we shall enclose in square brackets: PRESENT tense is [T=PRESENT, CONCURRENT ]; FUTURE tense is [T=PRESENT , SUBSEQUENT ]; PAST tense is [T=PAST, CONCURRENT]; and FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense is [T=PAST, SUBSEQUENT ]. The traditional analysis encourages us to think of tenses as PAST, PRESENT , and FUTURE. But the analysis which is promoted here allows us to identify more complex relationships between the tenses, as in table 20. Table 20. Relationships between the tenses CONCURRENT

tense mae tense oedd

SUBSEQUENT

tense

T=PRESENT

PRESENT

FUTURE

T=PAST

PAST

FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST

tense

bydd byddai/buasai

Tenses can be related because they share the same reference time: the mae and bydd paradigms are both T=PRESENT, and the oedd and byddai/buasai paradigms are both T=PAST. Or tenses can be related because they share the same time of evaluation: mae and oedd are both CONCURRENT; and bydd and byddai/buasai are both SUBSEQUENT. On the other hand, differences are readily explicable: the two PAST tenses, oedd and byddai/buasai, are distinguished in terms of the time of evaluation, namely, CONCURRENT and SUBSEQUENT respectively; and the two non-past tenses, mae and bydd, are like-

160

The inflectional system

wise distinguished in terms of the time of evaluation. The contrast of the two PAST tenses, in particular, provides good grounds for establishing a reference time to explain the temporal properties of the tenses. But it is generally well-motivated by the way in which it helps to explain the relationships between tenses. The relationship of mae with oedd and bydd with byddai/buasai can be further demonstrated in two ways. First, reported speech patterns establish relationships between mae and oedd, and between bydd and byddai/buasai. The PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE can replace the PRESENT tense, and the FUTUREIN-THE-PAST tense can replace the FUTURE tense: 1a. dydy Mair ddim yna. NEG.be.PRES.3SG Mair NEG there ‘Mair isn’t there.’ b. ddydodd o nad oedd Mair ddim yna. say.PERV.3SG he NEG be.IMPF.3SG Mair NEG there ‘he said that Mair wasn’t there.’ 2a. fydd Mair ddim yna. be.FUT.3SG Mair NEG there ‘Mair won’t be there.’ b. ddydodd o na fydde Mair ddim yna. say.PERV.3SG he NEG be.FUTP.3SG Mair NEG there ‘he said that Mair wouldn’t be there.’ Second, another observation draws upon the discussion of bod-clauses in 5.4, and further underlines the relationship between the PRESENT tense and the IMPERFECTIVE. The examples given above involve negative clauses. In positive clauses, both the PRESENT tense and the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE are replaced by the non-finite verb form bod ‘be’ in complement clauses (softmutated to fod in the following examples): 3a. ma’ Mair yma. be.PRES.3SG Mair here ‘Mair is here.’ b. ddydodd o fod Mair yma. say.PERV.3SG he be.PRES Mair here ‘he said that Mair is here.’ 4a. oedd Mair yma. be.IMPF.3SG Mair here ‘Mair was here.’

Combinatorial constraints

161

b. ddydodd o fod Mair yma. say.PERV.3SG he be.IMPF Mair here ‘he said that Mair was here.’ In informal Welsh, bod ‘be’ can also occur in negatives (see 5.4.2). 5.2

Combinatorial constraints

The meanings of the inflections of finite verbs can be represented as a combination of selections from binary choices as in table 21. But we shall see that they do not all combine freely, and we shall use the term constraint(s) to refer to the limitations. But the account of the constraints will be descriptive. Table 21. Binary choices in the inflectional system Tense Factuality Habituality Aspect

5.2.1

{T=PRESENT, T=PAST}, {CONCURRENT, SUBSEQUENT} {FACTUAL, COUNTERFACTUAL} {GENERAL, HABITUAL} {IMPERFECTIVE, PERFECTIVE}

Factuality

It will be recalled from 2.3 and 3.3 that COUNTERFACTUAL indicates that the evaluation is false, and FACTUAL indicates that the evaluation is true. It will also be recalled that COUNTERFACTUAL is conveyed by the Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms of bod ‘be’, lexical verbs, and modal verbs. All other meanings of finite forms which are discussed under tense (2.2 and 3.2), habituality (2.4), and inflectional aspect (chapter 4) are also FACTUAL. Using bod ‘be’ to illustrate, we can represent this binary choice graphically as in figure 16. We shall adopt the view that there are no constraints on this choice, but the contrast of FACTUAL and COUNTERFACTUAL is involved in the statement of constraints on other choices, as we shall see. 59 It is clear from the display in figure 16 that there are far more forms which convey FACTUAL than forms which convey COUNTERFACTUAL, and the constraints in other choices will provide more details about this.

162

The inflectional system Factuality

FACTUAL

COUNTERFACTUAL

oedd, byddai, bu, mae, bydd, byddai/buasai

byddai/buasai

Figure 16. Factuality in the inflectional system

We must also attempt to analyse the tense features of the COUNTERFACTUAL within the compositional analysis of tense which is given in 5.1. The following points are made in 2.3: (i) a COUNTERFACTUAL is limited to descriptions of situations in the present time or the future time, unless the perfect aspect is selected in which case it can occur in descriptions of situations in the past time; but (ii) a COUNTERFACTUAL does not have distinct PresentForms and Future-Forms. In view of the restriction in (i) we cannot say that the COUNTERFACTUAL is tenseless. Adopting such a position would not explain why the COUNTERFACTUAL does not describe past-time situations (unless the perfect aspect is selected). There are two ways of analysing the COUNTERFACTUAL to account for these points. One is to say that the reference time for tense is T=PRESENT and that the time of evaluation can be either CONCURRENT or SUBSEQUENT. Thus, we would have the contrasts in table 22. This approach gives the COUNTERFACTUAL two tenses: PRESENT tense, [T=PRESENT, CONCURRENT], and FUTURE tense, [T=PRESENT, SUBSEQUENT]. An alternative is to establish a third reference time for tense, T=NON-PAST, and restrict the COUNTERFACTUAL to being CONCURRENT with it. We would have the contrasts in table 23. This approach gives the COUNTERFACTUAL one tense, a NON-PAST tense, [T=NON-PAST, CONCURRENT]. Both approaches have advantages and disadvantages. If we adopt the non-past approach, we now have a three-way choice for the reference time for tense, {T=PRESENT, T=PAST, T=NON-PAST }. Also, four constraints are necessary to explain how these times can be combined with factuality and the time of evaluation: (i) the reference time T=PRESENT has to be confined to FACTUAL, (ii) the reference time T=PAST also has to be confined to FACTUAL, (iii) the reference time T=NON-PAST has to be confined to COUNTERFACTUAL, and (iv) SUBSEQUENT has to be confined to FACTUAL to prevent its occurrence with the COUNTERFACTUAL. However, if COUNTERFACTUAL is assigned two tenses, PRESENT and FUTURE, a simpler account is gained. Tense is now accounted for solely in terms of binary choices, and only one constraint is needed to limit the selection of the reference time T=PAST to FACTUAL to prevent it combining with COUNTERFACTUAL. We shall refer to this constraint as the past tense

Combinatorial constraints

163

constraint. This accounts for the fact that the COUNTERFACTUAL does not have a PAST tense or a FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense. But if we adopted the twotense approach, we would have homophonous forms: a PRESENT tense COUNTERFACTUAL byddai/buasai ‘would be’ and a FUTURE tense COUNTERFACTUAL byddai/buasai ‘would be’. It is not unusual to have homophonous forms. The forms byddai/buasai indicate FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense and COUNTERFACTUAL. The form bydd can be FUTURE and PRESENT HABITUAL. And in formal Welsh, the Future-Forms of lexical verbs can be PRESENT and FUTURE, such as ysgrifennaf ‘I write’ and ‘I shall write’. But, more significantly, it will be recalled from 2.3.1 that a COUNTERFACTUAL allows us to make a proposition for which the evaluation is false. If we adopt the twotense approach, we are committed to saying that the PRESENT tense COUNTERFACTUAL indicates that false evaluation exists at the present time and that the FUTURE tense COUNTERFACTUAL indicates that false evaluation exists in the future time. This is not an easy distinction to make. The non-past approach is conceptually simpler as it avoids the distinction between false evaluation in the present time and false evaluation in the future time. Table 22. Tense features of COUNTERFACTUAL (1)

T=PRESENT T=PRESENT T=PAST

CONCURRENT

SUBSEQUENT

mae ‘is’ byddai/buasai ‘would be’ oedd ‘was’

bydd ‘will be’ byddai/buasai ‘would be’ byddai/buasai ‘would be’

Table 23. Tense features of COUNTERFACTUAL (2)

T=PRESENT T=NON -PAST T=PAST

CONCURRENT

SUBSEQUENT

mae ‘is’ byddai/buasai ‘would be’ oedd ‘was’

bydd ‘will be’ — byddai/buasai ‘would be’

The two-tense approach in table 22 is adopted as it is simpler: it maintains binary choices and also has only one constraint. Adopting this approach, a graphic summary of all the tense contrasts can be given as in figure 17.60

164

The inflectional system Factuality

FACTUAL

COUNTERFACTUAL

T=PRESENT

T=PAST

T=PRESENT

CONC

SUBSEQ

CONC

SUBSEQ

CONC

mae

bydd

oedd

byddai/ buasai

byddai/ buasai

SUBSEQ

byddai/ buasai

Figure 17. Tenses of the COUNTERFACTUAL

The past tense constraint restricts COUNTERFACTUAL to [T=PRESENT]. There are some interesting properties which are produced by the analysis in figure 17. First, the reference time for tense can be in the present time or in the past time but not in the future time. Speakers in Welsh do not hold that at a future time, t, there are grounds for evaluation which are either concurrent with t or subsequent to t. A subsequent relation to a future reference time, t, would have the effect of creating a post-future time. In other words, we would have a future-in-the-future, similar to a FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST.61 Second, the time of evaluation can be located either concurrent with or subsequent to the reference time for tense but not previous to it. Third, the restriction of the reference time for tense to past time or present time produces a very striking result in figure 17, namely, future does not occur as an analytic term, but only as a label for a tense paradigm which is accounted for in the analysis as [T=PRESENT, SUBSEQUENT]. But this should not really be surprising as this is a common way of defining futurity: that is, as a time which occurs subsequent to the present moment, the deictic centre, as outlined in 2.2.1. At this point we briefly look at the relationship of tense and the perfect aspect, anticipating distinctions which are made in chapter 7. The COUNTERFACTUAL is confined to T=PRESENT but we have noted in 2.3.2 that the COUNTERFACTUAL can occur in descriptions of past-time situations if the perfect aspect occurs. It may seem contradictory that T=PRESENT can also occur in descriptions of past-time situations. But there is no contradiction here, as this study distinguishes between the function of tense to convey the evaluation time and the function of the perfect aspect to convey the time of the situation. The perfect aspect conveys anterior time (or, alternatively, con-

Combinatorial constraints

165

veys a retrospective view) in relation to a reference time either in the past, the present, or the future. The perfect aspect can locate the situation in a period which is previous to the temporal features of the tense. Thus, in the case of the PRESENT tense, the perfect can locate the situation in the past. As we have also attributed a PRESENT tense to the COUNTERFACTUAL, the latter can also occur in descriptions of past-time situations. COUNTERFACTUAL tells us that the evaluation is false at the present moment and the perfect aspect tells us that the counterfactual situation is located in past time. Chapter 7 provides fuller discussion of the relationship between the perfect aspect and the tenses. 5.2.2

Habituality

We turn now to the specialized habitual forms, introduced in 2.4. The PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE oedd ‘was’ and the PRESENT mae ‘is’ can describe both non-habitual and habitual situations, but the Imperfect-ConsuetudinalForms, the byddai paradigm, and the Future-Forms, the bydd paradigm, are available as forms which specialize in describing habitual situations. In order to cater for the contrast of specialized and non-specialized forms, we shall establish a binary choice, {GENERAL, HABITUAL}, in which GENERAL characterizes finite forms which can occur in descriptions of habitual and non-habitual situations, and in which HABITUAL characterizes the specialized use of the bydd paradigm and the byddai paradigm in descriptions of habitual situations. We can represent the possibilities in figure 18. This display shows that the selection of HABITUAL is constrained by factuality and the time of evaluation: there are no specialized habitual forms which convey COUNTERFACTUAL, and there are no specialized habitual forms which convey FACTUAL and which are also FUTURE tense or FUTURE-IN -THE-PAST tense. We can capture these restrictions by setting up a constraint, the habitual forms constraint, which says that HABITUAL can only be selected when FACTUAL and CONCURRENT are also selected. This display also shows that GENERAL can combine with the same meanings as HABITUAL, and, as mentioned already, some speakers prefer GENERAL in descriptions of habitual situations. Indeed, for such speakers it can be claimed that the system of habituality which can select specialized habitual forms does not exist, and, for them, figure 17 represents a sufficient account.

166

The inflectional system Factuality

FACTUAL

COUNTERFACTUAL

T=PRESENT

CONC

T=PAST

SUBSEQ

T=PRESENT

CONC

GEN

HAB

GEN

GEN

HAB

mae

bydd

bydd

oedd

byddai

SUBSEQ

GEN

byddai/ buasai

CONC

SUBSEQ

GEN

GEN

byddai/ buasai

byddai/ buasai

Figure 18. Habituality in the inflectional system

5.2.3

Imperfective and perfective

These aspectual meanings are discussed in chapter 4, and are represented by a binary choice {IMPERFECTIVE, PERFECTIVE}. The PERFECTIVE is traditionally paired with the IMPERFECTIVE, as both are PAST tense, so both will be introduced under T=PAST.62 Thus, we can have the representation which is given in figure 19. As can be seen, PERFECTIVE and IMPERFECTIVE are limited to the selection of [FACTUAL, T=PAST, CONCURRENT, GENERAL], but as T=PAST only occurs with FACTUAL, this licensing selection can be reduced to [T=PAST, CONCURRENT, GENERAL]. We shall refer to this constraint as the perfective-imperfective constraint (other constraints on the PERFECTIVE are discussed in 4.3 and 5.4). We have outlined in 4.3 a number of points which show that the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE shares characteristics with the other tenses and that the PAST tense PERFECTIVE is exceptional.

167

Combinatorial constraints Factuality

FACTUAL

COUNTERFACTUAL

T=PRESENT

CONC

GEN

HAB

T=PAST

SUBSEQ

GEN

CONC

GEN

IMP’IVE

mae

bydd

bydd

oedd

T=PRESENT

SUBSEQ

HAB

GEN

CONC

GEN

SUBSEQ

GEN

PERF’IVE

bu

byddai

byddai/ buasai

byddai/ buasai

byddai/ buasai

Figure 19. PERFECTIVE and IMPERFECTIVE in the inflectional system

5.2.4

Summary

The discussion up to this point completes the outline of the meanings, and their combinations, which are relevant to an analysis of the semantics of finite verb inflections. An alternative display to that in figure 19 is given in table 24, which summarizes the binary choices and explicitly locates the constraints on choices. The three constraints are the past tense constraint (PAST if [FACTUAL …]), the habitual forms constraint (HABITUAL if [FACTUAL … CONCURRENT …]), and the perfective-imperfective constraint ({ PERFECTIVE, IMPERFECTIVE} if [… T=PAST, CONCURRENT , GENERAL …]). Table 24. Binary choices and combinatorial constraints in the inflectional system Factuality Reference Time Evaluation Time Aspect Habituality

{FACTUAL, COUNTERFACTUAL} {T=PRESENT, T=PAST if [FACTUAL …]} {CONCURRENT, SUBSEQUENT } {IMPERFECTIVE; PERFECTIVE} if […T=PAST, CONCURRENT, GENERAL …] {GENERAL, HABITUAL if [FACTUAL … CONCURRENT …]}

168

The inflectional system

These constraints, in particular the past tense constraint, explain why there are fewer forms which convey COUNTERFACTUAL, first noted in relation to the display in figure 1. 5.3

Lexical constraints and morphology

We have distinguished three sorts of verbs – bod ‘be’, lexical verbs, and modal verbs – and we have seen in chapters 2 and 3 that they do not all inflect for the same meanings. There are then constraints on the lexical realization of the binary choices in figure 19 and table 24. We have also seen that the same meanings can also be realized by different inflections. There are then morphological matters to consider. The lexical constraints are given by the summary in figure 20, which includes examples of the forms of lexical verbs and modal verbs. In figure 20, the paradigms of bod ‘be’ are on the first row of data, the paradigms of lexical verbs (here represented by canu ‘sing’) are on the second row, and the paradigms of modals (here represented by gallu ‘can’) are on the third row. Bod ‘be’ occurs with all combinations of meanings. But the lexical verbs and the modal verbs are more limited. Neither have specialized habitual forms. Other limitations show a symmetrical relationship between lexical verbs and modals. Lexical verbs do not inflect for the PRESENT tense or the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE but can inflect for FUTURE tense and FUTUREIN-THE-PAST. Modals inflect for the PRESENT tense and the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE but do not inflect for the FUTURE tense and the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense. All this is brought out by the binary choice { CONCURRENT, SUBSEQUENT }. Lexical verbs select SUBSEQUENT but not CONCURRENT , while modal verbs select CONCURRENT but not SUBSEQUENT. Apart from the gaps which are caused by the absence of specialized habitual forms, the gaps in the paradigms in figure 20 can be filled with compound tense patterns involving the inflectionally-richer bod ‘be’ as the finite verb and the progressive aspect, [finite bod + subject + yn + lexical verb / modal verb]. The semantics of the use of compound tense patterns in place of simple tense patterns is discussed in 8.5.2.

169

Lexical constraints and morphology Factuality

FACTUAL

COUNTERFACTUAL

T=PRESENT

CONC

GEN

HAB

T=PAST

SUBSEQ

GEN

CONC

GEN

IMP’IVE

mae

bydd

— gall

— —

bydd

oedd

canith — — gallai

T=PRESENT

SUBSEQ

HAB

GEN

CONC

GEN

SUBSEQ

GEN

PERF’IVE

bu

byddai

canodd gallodd

— —

byddai/ buasai canai —

byddai/ buasai canai gallai

byddai/ buasai canai gallai

Figure 20. Lexical constraints in the inflectional system

Turning now to the morphological shapes which realize the meanings, we shall give a brief descriptive outline without considering the details of a formal morphological analysis. The distribution of inflectional forms is informally summarized in table 25. We must again refer to types of verbs. For ease of presentation, we use shorter labels rather than the full combinations of meanings which can be traced in figure 20. We can note two points. First, the same meanings can be realized differently. The PRESENT tense is realized with distinct Present-Forms in the case of bod ‘be’, but with Future-Forms in the case of modal verbs. The PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE is realized with Imperfect-Forms in the case of bod ‘be’, but with Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms in the case of modal verbs. Second, the same inflectional form can be used to convey different meanings. The Future-Forms can convey the PRESENT tense with modal verbs, the FUTURE tense with bod ‘be’ and lexical verbs, and the PRESENT tense HABITUAL with bod ‘be’. The Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms can convey the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE with modal verbs, the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense with bod ‘be’ and lexical verbs, and the COUNTERFACTUAL with all lexemes. The Imperfect-ConsuetudinalForms of bod ‘be’ (the byddai paradigm) can convey the PAST tense HABITUAL and also the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST and the COUNTERFACTUAL.

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The inflectional system

Table 25. Inflectional forms and meanings Meaning PRESENT

tense

tense tense IMPERFECTIVE

FUTURE PAST

tense tense PERFECTIVE

FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST PAST

COUNTERFACTUAL

tense HABITUAL tense HABITUAL

PRESENT PAST

5.4

Form

Type of Verb

Present-Forms Future-Forms Future-Forms Imperfect-Forms Imp/Plup-Forms Imp/Plup-Forms Preterite-Forms Imp/Plup-Forms Future-Forms Consuetudinal-Forms

bod ‘be’ modal verb bod ‘be’ or lexical verb bod ‘be’ modal verb bod ‘be’ or lexical verb all except gwybod ‘know’ all except gwybod ‘know’ bod ‘be’ bod ‘be’

Constraints in complement clauses

The examples in (5) and (6) show that the FUTURE tense, the FUTURE-IN-THEPAST tense, and the COUNTERFACTUAL can all occur in complement clauses which, crucially, are positive, declarative, and of normal word-order. Further, these tenses are free to occur with bod ‘be’, in (5), and lexical verbs, in (6). In these examples, the preverbal particle y would be present in formal Welsh but its presence is rare, but not impossible, in informal Welsh. 63 5a. dw i ’n meddwl (y) bydd Mair yna. be.PRES.1SG I PROG think PT be.FUT.3SG Mair there ‘I think that Mair will be there.’ b. o’n i ’n gwbod (y) bydde Mair yna neithiwr. be.IMPF.1SG I PROG know PT be.FUTP.3SG Mair there last-night ‘I knew that Mair would be there last night.’ c. dw i ’n siwr (y) basa Mair yna fory. be.PRES.1SG I PRED sure PT be.CNTF.3SG Mair there tomorrow ‘I’m sure that Mair would be there tomorrow.’ 6a. dw i ’n meddwl (y) daw Mair fory. be.PRES.1SG I PROG think PT come.FUT.3SG Mair tomorrow ‘I think that Mair will come tomorrow.’ b. o’n i ’n gwbod (y) deue Mair wedyn. be.IMPF.1SG I PROG know PT come.FUTP.3SG Mair afterwards ‘I knew that Mair would come afterwards.’

Constraints in complement clauses

171

c. dw i ’n siwr (y) deue Mair fory. be.PRES.1SG I PRED sure PT come.CNTF.3SG Mair tomorrow ‘I’m sure that Mair would come tomorrow.’ But the PRESENT tense does not occur in complement clauses which are positive, declarative, and of normal word-order, and the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE only doubtfully occurs, if at all for some speakers: 7a. dw i ’n meddwl *{(y) be.PRES.1SG I PROG think PT ‘I think that Mair is there.’ b. o’n i ’n gwbod ?{(y)r be.IMPF.1SG I PROG know PT ‘I knew that Mair was there.’

ma’ Mair yna}. be.PRES.3SG Mair there oedd Mair yna}. be.IMPF.3SG Mair there

We shall refer to this constraint as the present and imperfective constraint. Some speakers may accept to some degree the IMPERFECTIVE if the preverbal particle yr is reduced to ’r and attached to oedd, as in dw i’n meddwl roedd Mair yna ‘I think that Mair was there’, but this would still be uncommon. Further, there is a constraint on the PERFECTIVE in complement clauses. It can only doubtfully occur with lexical verbs, if at all for some speakers: 8

dw i ’n siwr ?{(y) da’th Mair ddoe}. be.PRES.1SG I PRED sure PT come.PERV.3SG Mair yesterday ‘I’m sure that Mair came yesterday.’

We shall refer to this constraint as the perfective-complement-clause constraint. There are two alternatives for the constrained clauses in (18) and (19): bod-clauses and i-clauses (we follow Thomas 1996: 468–470 in the use of these labels). 5.4.1

Bod-clauses and i-clauses

Theoretical discussion of bod-clauses is found in Tallerman (1998), Roberts (2005: 82, 116–117) and Borsley, Tallerman, and Willis (2007: 76–81). We shall concentrate on a descriptive account. Bod-clauses are clauses in which the non-finite form bod ‘be’ occurs in the position of a finite verb, that is, pre-subject: [bod + subject + XP]. For reasons which will become clear shortly, despite the occurrence of a non-finite form, bod-clauses can

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be said to have covert tense features. Such clauses only occur as complement clauses. Bod-clauses are used to overcome the present and imperfective constraint. They occur in complement clauses which would otherwise contain bod ‘be’ inflected for the PRESENT tense or the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE, giving (9) instead of (7). 9a. dw i ’n meddwl (*y) bod Mair yna. be.PRES.1SG I PROG think PT be.PRES Mair there ‘I think that Mair is there.’ b. o’n i ’n gwbod (*y) bod Mair yna. be.IMPF.1SG I PROG know PT be.IMPF Mair there ‘I knew that Mair was there.’ A comparison of (9b) with (7b) confirms the marginality of the latter – the expected usage is a bod-clause as in (9b). As the examples in (9) show, the preverbal particle y is not possible in bod-clauses, neither in formal Welsh or informal Welsh. I-clauses have the configuration [i + determiner phrase + verb phrase]. We shall follow Borsley, Tallerman, and Willis (2007: 81–103) and argue that i occupies the position of a finite verb, and that the determiner phrase is the subject.64 We gloss i in complement clauses as ‘to’, but this is not intended to represent a firm view as to whether this i is a preposition or not. See Borsley, Tallerman, and Willis (2007: 81–103) for discussion. I-clauses occur in complement clauses which would otherwise contain a lexical verb which is inflected for the PAST tense PERFECTIVE, giving (10a) instead of (8). 10a. rwy ’n siwr i Mair ddod ddoe. be.PRES.1SG PRED sure to Mair come yesterday ‘I’m sure that Mair came yesterday.’ b. dw i ’n siwr (*y) bod Mair wedi dod ddoe. be.PRES.1SG I PRED sure PT be.IMPF Mair PERF come yesterday ‘I’m sure that Mair had come yesterday.’ However, the selection of an i-clause in such complement clauses is limited to the formal style of Welsh and is not productive in informal Welsh. In informal Welsh, a bod-clause which contains a perfect aspect phrase like (10b) is strongly preferred. This is also an option in formal Welsh. The syntactic relationship between a bod-clause like the one in (10b) and the constrained clause in (8) is obscure. Let us first consider a bod-

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clause which is produced by the present and imperfective constraint, and also an i-clause which is produced by the perfective-complement-clause constraint. These clauses share characteristics with the constrained clauses which they replace. A comparison of the bod-clauses in (9a–b) with the constrained clauses in (7) shows that they both contain a form of bod in the same pre-subject position, they are both non-perfect, and they share the same tenses (although covertly in the case of the bod-clauses). A comparison of the i-clause in (10a) with the constrained clauses in (8) shows that they are both non-perfect, and they share the same tenses (although covertly in the case of the i-clause). A detailed syntactic analysis of i-clauses, as in Borsley, Tallerman, and Willis (2007: 81–103), could also argue that they share configurational similarities, but we shall not pursue the details here. But a comparison of the bod-clause which contains a perfect aspect phrase in (10b) and the constrained clause in (8) reveals three differences: (i) no form of bod occurs in the finite clause which the bod-clause replaces; (ii) a perfect aspect phrase occurs in the bod-clause but not in the clause which it replaces; and (iii) the bod-clause (covertly) contains the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE and not the PAST tense PERFECTIVE – we see in 4.3.2 and 5.2.3 that the PAST tense PERFECTIVE does not typically occur with the perfect aspect. It would seem that speakers have generalized a bod-clause to cater for the constraint on the PAST tense PERFECTIVE in complement clauses, and in so doing have restructured the complement clause which would otherwise contain the PAST tense PERFECTIVE. 5.4.2

Exceptions

There are exceptions to both constraints. The exceptions are sufficiently similar for us to consider both constraints together. They relate to negation, word order, mood, and types of verbs. Whereas the PRESENT tense, the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE and the PAST tense PERFECTIVE are constrained in positive complement clauses as in (7), they can all occur in negative complement clauses: 11a. dw i ’n gwbod nad ydy Mair yna. be.PRES.1SG I PROG know NEG be.PRES.3SG Mair there ‘I know that Mair is not there.’ b. o’n i wedi deall nad oedd Mair yna. be.IMPF.1SG I PERF understand NEG be.IMPF.3SG Mair there ‘I had understood that Mair was not there.’

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c. dw i ’n siwr na dda’th Mair ddoe. be.PRES.1SG I PRED sure NEG come.PERV.3SG Mair yesterday ‘I’m sure Mair did not come yesterday.’ It can be recalled from 1.2.2 that the third person forms of the PRESENT tense of bod ‘be’ are realized differently in negative clauses, as in the examples in (11) in which (y)dy occurs and not mae. Negation in these examples is realized with a preverbal particle na(d), but other patterns of realization also occur (and details can be found in Borsley and Jones 2005). However, in informal Welsh, a negative clause does not necessarily lift the complement-clause constraints. Bod-clauses such as those in (9) can be negated solely by inserting the negative adverbial ddim, thus: 12a. dw i ’n meddwl (*na) bod Mair ddim yna. be.PRES.1SG I PROG think NEG be.PRES Mair NEG there ‘I think that Mair is not there.’ b. o’n i wedi deall (*na) bod Mair ddim yna. be.IMPF.1SG I PERF understand NEG be.IMPF Mair NEG there ‘I had understood that Mair was not there.’ It can again be seen that a preverbal particle, in this case the negative na, is not allowed before a bod-clause. The illustrations in (12) thus show that some speakers can extend the complement-clause constraints to negative clauses. We now consider word order, first outlined in 1.1.2. Whereas the finite forms of the PRESENT tense, the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE, and the PAST tense PERFECTIVE are constrained in normal-order complement clauses, they can all occur in complement clauses of fronted word-order. But, unlike negative clauses, only the finite verb forms occur, and there is no option of using a bod-clause: 13a. dw i ’n gwbod (mai) Mair {(*bod) / sy} ’na. be.PRES.1SG I PROG know FOC Mair be.PRES.3SG there ‘I know that it’s Mair who is there.’ b. dw i ’n gwbod (mai) Mair {(*bod) / oedd} ’na. be.PRES.1SG I PROG know FOC Mair be.IMPF.3SG there ‘I know that it was Mair who was there.’ c. dw i ’n siwr (mai) Mair dda’th ddoe. be.PRES.1SG I PRED sure FOC Mair come.PERV.3SG yesterday ‘I’m sure it was Mair who came yesterday.’

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Details about fronted clauses are given in 1.1.2. In (13), the subject Mair is fronted to pre-verb position, and, as pointed out in 1.2.2, when the subject is fronted, the PRESENT tense occurs as sydd, which is commonly contracted to sy in informal Welsh. We also find that the two constraints do not apply to interrogative complement clauses, so that we have overtly finite clauses and not a bod-clause or i-clause: 14a. dw i ’n gofyn (a) ydy / (*bod) Mair yna. be.PRES.1SG I PROG ask PT be.PRES.3SG Mair there ‘I’m asking whether Mair is there.’ b. dw i ddim yn siwr (a) oedd / (*bod) Mair yna. be.PRES.1SG I NEG PRED sure PT be.IMPF.3SG Mair there ‘I’m not sure whether Mair was there.’ c. dw i ’n gofyn (a) {dda’th Mair ddoe / be.PRES.1SG I PROG ask PT come.PERV.3SG Mair yesterday *i Mair ddod ddoe}. to Mair come yesterday ‘I’m asking whether Mair came yesterday.’ In formal Welsh, the preverbal particle a occurs before interrogative complement clauses, but its occurrences in informal Welsh are uncommon and it is very commonly replaced with os ‘if’. It can also be seen that the form ydy occurs in place of mae in interrogative complement clauses, as outlined in 1.2.2. We can also consider exceptions to the complement-clause constraints which are based on types of verbs. It can be recalled from 3.2.2 and also 5.3 that modal verbs can convey the PRESENT tense and the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE with Future-Forms and Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms respectively. It will also be recalled from 3.5 that some speakers in informal Welsh can inflect gwybod ‘know’ for the PRESENT tense and the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE. These tenses, when realized by modal verbs and gwybod ‘know’, can occur in complement clauses which are positive and of normal word-order: 15a. dw i ’n meddwl (y) gall Mair gario ’r bocs. be.PRES.1SG I PROG think PT can.PRES.3SG Mair carry the box ‘I think that Mair can carry the box.’

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b. o’n i ’n gwbod (y) galle Siôn ateb y be.IMPF.1SG I PROG know PT can.IMPF.3SG Siôn answer the cwestiyne. questions ‘I knew that Siôn could answer the questions.’ 16a. ma’n nhw ’n meddwl (y) gwn i ’r ateb. be.PRES.3PL they PROG think PT know.PRES.1SG I the answer ‘they think that I know the answer.’ b. o’n i ’n credu (y) gwyddet ti am be.IMPF.1SG I PROG believe PT know.IMPF.2SG you. SG about y broblem. the problem ‘I thought that you knew about the problem.’ The perfective-complement-clause constraint is confined to lexical verbs, as in (8). The constraint does not apply to bod ‘be’ or the modal verbs: 17a. dw i ’n gwbod (y) buodd Mair yn y pwll be.PRES.1SG I PROG know PT be.PERV.3SG Mair in the pool nofio. swim ‘I know that Mair was in the swimming pool.’ b. dw i ’n deall (y) gallodd Mair agor y be.PRES.1SG I PROG understand PT can.PERV.3SG Mair open the drws. door ‘I understand that Mair was able (managed) to open the door.’ Some speakers may prefer a soft-mutated bod in the complement clause – dw i ’n gwbod fuodd Mair yn y pwll nofio. The auxiliary verbs gwneud ‘do’ and ddaru, although also judged as uncertain in (18), can occur in complement clauses with a higher level of acceptability than a finite lexical verb as in (8), at least in those dialects where these auxiliary verbs occur: 18a. dw i ’n meddwl ?{ na’th be.PRES.1SG I PROG think do.PERV.3SG ‘I think Mair came yesterday.’ b. dw i ’n meddwl ?{ddaru Mair be.PRES.1SG I PROG think PERV Mair ‘I think Mair came yesterday.’

Mair ddod ddoe}. Mair come yesterday ddod ddoe}. came yesterday

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In summary, the present and imperfective constraint applies to bod ‘be’, and the perfective-complement-clause constraint applies to lexical verbs. Putting together the introduction in 5.4.1 and the exceptions in this section, we can summarize the constraints as follows. The present and imperfective constraint operates under the following conditions: (i) in complement clauses which are positive, declarative, and of normal word order, (ii) when the tenses are either PRESENT or PAST IMPERFECTIVE, and (iii) when bod would inflect for these tenses. Under these conditions, the meanings are realized by the non-finite form bod ‘be’ to produce a bod-clause. The perfective-complement-clause constraint operates under the following conditions: (i) in complement clauses which are positive, declarative, and of normal word order, (ii) when the tense is PAST PERFECTIVE, and (iii) when a lexical verb would inflect for this tense. Given these conditions in formal Welsh, the inflectional meanings are realized by the form i to create an i-clause. But in informal Welsh, the tense is changed to the past tense imperfective and is realized by the non-finite form bod ‘be’ to produce a bod-clause, and the perfect aspect marker wedi occurs in the verb phrase. It can be seen that the conditions of the two constraints share clausal conditions but are different in terms of the tenses and the class of verb which would otherwise inflect for the tenses. 5.4.3

Adverb i-clauses

There are some adverb clauses which allow overt finite verb forms. This is seen with pan ‘when’ clauses: 19a. dw i ’n gweithio pan ma’ Mair yna. be.PRES.1SG I PROG work when be.PRES.3SG Mair there ‘I’m working when Mair is there.’ b. fydda’ i ’n gweithio pan fydd Mair yna. be.FUT.1SG I PROG work when be.FUT.3SG Mair there ‘I will be working when Mair is there.’ c. o’n i ’n gweithio pan oedd Mair yna be.IMPF.1SG I PROG work when be.IMPF.3SG Mair there neithiwr. last-night ‘I was working when Mair was there last night.’

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But there are other adverb clauses which are headed by prepositions which can contain a bod-clause or i-clause. The prepositions ar ôl ‘after’, cyn ‘before’, er ‘although’, and wrth ‘by, while’ can select an i-clause. There are three differences between i-clauses as adverbs and those discussed earlier. One is that such clauses are productive in informal Welsh as well as formal Welsh. Another is that, the constraint is extended to include other tenses and is not confined to the PAST tense PERFECTIVE. Examples are as follows: 20a. [cyn i Sioned brynu car], oedd hi ’n [before to Sioned buy car] be.IMPF.3SG she PROG ‘before Sioned bought a car, she rode a bike.’ b. [ar ôl i Gwyn fynd], nawn ni f’yta. [on track to Gwyn go] do.FUT.1PL we eat ‘after Gwyn goes, we’ll eat.’ c. [wrth i Mair siarad], ma’ ’r plant yn [by to Mair talk] be.PRES.3SG the children PRED ‘as Mair talks, the children are noisy.’

reidio beic. ride bike

swnllyd. noisy

If a finite clause were possible, the example in (20a) would involve a PAST tense, the example in (20b) would involve the FUTURE tense, and the example in (20c) would involve the PRESENT tense. The third difference is that a bod-clause is not an option for some speakers. We shall label this constraint the adverb clause constraint. There is some variation as to which prepositions select a bod-clause, an i-clause, or a finite clause. Gan ‘by, with, because’ and oherwydd ‘because’ can be followed by bod-clauses: 21a. gan fod Mair yna, ma’ pawb yn hapus. as be.PRES Mair there be.PRES.3SG everyone PRED happy ‘as Mair is there, everyone is happy.’ b. oherwydd bod Mair yn hwyr, oedd pawb arall yn because be.IMPF Mair PRED late be.IMPF.3SG everyone other PROG cwyno. complain ‘because Mair was late, everyone else was complaining.’ We have seen that cyn ‘before’ can head an i-clause, but some speakers can use cyn to select a clause which contains the FUTURE tense or a bod-clause:

Summary

22a. [cyn daw Gwyn], nawn ni [before come.FUT.3SG Gwyn] do.FUT.1PL we ‘before Gwyn comes, we’ll eat.’ b. [cyn mod i ’n gwisgo], dw [before be.PRES I PROG dress] be.PRES.1SG ‘before I get dressed, I have breakfast.’

179

f’yta. eat i ’n cal brecwast. I PROG have breakfast

And er ‘although’ variously occurs with a bod-clause and an i-clause: 23a. er bod Mair yn gyfoethog, dydy hi ddim although be.PRES Mair PRED rich NEG.be.PRES.3SG she NEG yn hapus. PRED happy ‘although Mair is rich, she is not happy.’ b. er i Mair fod yn gyfoethog, dydy hi ddim although to Mair be PRED rich NEG.be.PRES.3SG she NEG yn hapus. PRED happy ‘although Mair is rich, she is not happy.’ In summary, we can say that the adverb clause constraint operates under the following conditions: (i) in adverb clauses, and (ii) when certain lexemes occur as adverbs. Unlike the complement-clause constraint, this constraint is not sensitive to types of tenses or types of verbs. The result of the adverb clause constraint is that, depending on the adverb, the inflectional meanings are realized either by the non-finite bod ‘be’ to produce a bod-clause or by the form i to produce an i-clause. But we cannot be precise about which prepositions select which clauses in all cases, or whether there are dialectological or sociolinguistic influences. There is variation as to whether the result is a bod-clause or an i-clause, or whether the constraint does not apply, thus producing a finite clause. 5.5

Summary

The inflectional system of finite verbs in Welsh conveys meanings of tense, factuality, habituality, and aspect. Tense is a composite of a reference time, T=PRESENT or T=PAST, and the temporal location of evaluation relative to the reference time, CONCURRENT or SUBSEQUENT. They produce four combinations: the PRESENT tense [T=PRESENT, CONCURRENT], the FUTURE tense

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[T=PRESENT,

SUBSEQUENT ],

the PAST tense [T=PAST, CONCURRENT], and the FUtense [T=PAST, SUBSEQUENT]. Factuality, habituality, and inflectional aspect involve simple binary choices, namely, {FACTUAL COUNTERFACTUAL}, {GENERAL HABITUAL}, and {PERFECTIVE IMPERFECTIVE} respectively. We have seen that there are constraints which determine how tense, factuality, habituality, and inflectional aspect are combined. They are the past tense constraint, the habitual forms constraint, and the perfectiveimperfective constraint. We have seen, too, that there are lexical constraints, and differences emerge between the distribution of the meanings of the inflectional system over bod ‘be’, lexical verbs, and modal verbs. We have also seen that the same meaning, in some cases, can be realized with different inflections, and the same inflections can realize different meanings. There are also three constraints on the realization of tenses in complement clauses, namely, the present and imperfective constraint, the perfective-complement-clause constraint, and the adverb clause constraint. Apart from the stylistic difference in the perfective-complement-clause constraint, no attempt has been made to capture the variation which is described in the accounts of the constraints, especially the adverb clause constraint.

TURE-IN-THE-PAST

Chapter 6 Other semantic analyses of finite verb inflections 6.1

Introduction

The purpose of this chapter is to argue against approaches which claim that the inflections of finite verbs can be given meanings which are additional or alternative to those meanings which we have presented in chapters 2 to 4. We shall look first at other semantic analyses of the tenses. Additional or alternative meanings are especially common in respect of the Future-Forms and Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms. Such analyses can be found in respect of Welsh in Jones (1970), Ellis (1972), Fife (1990: 81–214), and Thomas (1996: 101–102). Epistemic modality, subject-oriented meanings, speech acts, tentativity, politeness, and pretence are variously put forward as additional or alternative functions of finite verb inflections. We shall then consider other semantic analyses of inflectional aspect, namely, completion, change versus continuation, narration versus scene-setting, and remote past versus accessible past. Some of these meanings can arise through the direct extension of a basic meaning. But some can also arise through the effects of context. In respect of the latter, in assessing the adequacy of claims for additional meanings, it is relevant to consider a distinction exploited by Comrie (1985: 18–35) between meanings which are independent of context and other meanings which can be implied or inferred because of the effects of context (and these latter meanings come under standard label implicatures).65 Comrie records that context-independent meanings and context-dependent meanings are distinguishable in that the latter meanings can be cancelled but not the former. He gives the well-known example of it’s cold in here, which can be given and taken as an implied directive to close the window. The implication can be cancelled, but the basic meaning about the temperature in the room cannot. We shall attempt to show that many additional or alternative meanings are context-dependent meanings, a consideration which is not fully maintained in the works listed above.66

182 6.2 6.2.1

Other semantic analyses

Implicatures and extensions of tense Epistemic modality

Modal analyses of Welsh finite verb inflections are to be found in Jones (1970), Jones and Thomas (1977), and Fife (1990: 84–103). They concentrate in particular on Future-Forms, sometimes distinguishing different sorts of modality such as epistemic and root (or epistemic and deontic modality). In this section, we shall concentrate on epistemic modality.67 The argument for an epistemic modal interpretation can be most clearly introduced by returning to examples, discussed in 2.2.3, which show that the PRESENT tense, the FUTURE tense and the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE can occur in descriptions of situations which are located outside the periods of time with which these tenses are traditionally associated. Examples of the PRESENT tense and the FUTURE tense can be re-presented here for convenience, along with examples of concurrent situations: 1a.

ma’ Mair yma rwan. be.PRES.3SG Mair here now ‘Mair is here now.’ b. ma’ Mair yma fory. be.PRES.3SG Mair here tomorrow ‘Mair is here tomorrow.’ c. * ma’ ’r adar yn canu fory. be.PRES.3SG the birds PROG sing tomorrow ‘the birds are singing tomorrow.’ 2a. * drycha, fydd Mair yma. [Mair is visibly present] look.IMPV.SG be.FUT.3SG Mair here ‘look, Mair will be here.’ b. fydd Mair yna rwan. be.FUT.3SG Mair there now ‘Mair will be there now.’ c. fydd Mair yna fory. be.FUT.3SG Mair there tomorrow ‘Mair will be there tomorrow.’ An alternative approach to both the conventional time-of-situation analysis and the time-of-evaluation analysis is to redefine the function of these paradigms in two respects. First, in order to account for the fact that both

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tenses can occur with present-time situations and future-time situations, they can be assigned the more general tense reference of non-past. Second, they can be distinguished in terms of epistemic modality. The PresentForms can be seen as non-modal, which can make propositions about nonpast situations on the basis of fact. Thus, they can occur in (1a–b) but not in (1c). The Future-Forms can be viewed as modal, which can make propositions about non-past situations on the basis of probability or prediction. Thus, they cannot describe a present-time situation for which there is direct visual evidence, as in (2a), but they can describe present and future situations for which there is no certain knowledge, as in (2b–c). This approach to the Future-Forms places them within a system of modality which includes other forms that can convey epistemic modal meanings, as in the following selection of examples: 3a. alle Mair fod yn Llundain rwan. can.CNTF.3SG Mair be in London now ‘Mair could be in London now.’ b. ma’ rhaid bod Mair yn Llundain rwan. be.PRES.3SG necessity be.PRES Mair in London now ‘Mair must be in London now.’ c. ddyle Mair fod yn Llundain rwan. should.CNTF.3SG Mair be in London now ‘Mair should be in London now.’ d. fydd Mair yn Llundain rwan. be.FUT.3SG Mair in London now ‘Mair will be in London now.’ In (3a), the auxiliary verb gallu ‘can’ conveys logical possibility, ‘it is possible that Mair is in London’. In (3b) the lexeme rhaid ‘necessity’ conveys logical necessity, ‘it is necessary that Mair is in London’. In (3c), the auxiliary verb dylai ‘should’ conveys what we shall call logical likelihood, ‘it should be the case that Mair is in London.’ To this system, we could add the FUTURE tense in terms of prediction or probability, as in (3d). Some discussions assign to Future-Forms both a modal meaning and a traditional FUTURE tense meaning, sometimes referred to as a plain FUTURE tense. A modal interpretation could account for examples of present-time situations as in the example in (2b), while a plain FUTURE tense interpretation could account for examples of future-time situations as in the example in (2c). However, probability or prediction can be applied to examples

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Other semantic analyses

which involve situations in the future time, as in (2c). In other words, all examples of a Future-Form could be given a modal interpretation. There is some support for a modal interpretation of the Future-Forms from a consideration of the epistemological nature of future situations. Lyons (1977: 814–815; 1995: 319), Dahl (1985: 102), and Comrie (1985: 43– 44) record the view that future situations are less certain than present and past situations. Lambalgen and Hamm (2005: 117), in comparing the use of the PRESENT tense and the FUTURE tense in descriptions of future-time situations, say that the former is used for “certain” events while the latter is used for “doubtful” events. We briefly outlined in 2.2.4 that some past-time situations can be recalled through memory and some present-time situations can be directly perceived. But future situations are anticipated, and we cannot be sure that future developments will follow along the anticipated path. Fife (1990: 90, 98) even goes as far as to say that “the future is (generally taken to be) unknowable” and also “… future events do not form part of reality, which consists of present and past.”. It can therefore be suggested that there is an inherent epistemic modal basis to proposing the occurrence or existence of future situations, and consequently that the Future-Forms are modal. We have outlined the case for a modal interpretation of the FUTURE tense. We shall now consider some counter arguments. First, the observations about the epistemological nature of future-time situations can also be seen as a contextual effect. The epistemic modal meaning can be attributed to the epistemological character of future-time situations and not to the Future-Forms. Further, as Lyons (1977: 814–815; 1995: 319) also claims, we can distinguish between such epistemological considerations, on the one hand, and speakers’ assumptions, on the other hand. We can claim that speakers describe future situations on the basis of their own factual assumptions and not on the basis of the uncertain epistemological character of future situations. Thus, the Future-Forms can be said to describe future situations on the basis of factual assumptions about future-time evaluation and not on a modal basis. Moreover, if we were to adopt an uncertain view of future situations, then it would not be unreasonable to claim that future situations which are described by sentences which contain the PRESENT tense are also modal. We see in 2.2.3 that the PRESENT tense can be used with future situations which can be predetermined. Future situations based on scientific calculations, such as the time of the tides or the rising and setting of the sun, can typically be viewed with certainty. However, predetermining other future situations does not always guarantee that they will occur, again because of the uncertain nature of the development of the future.

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A train timetable may tell us that a train leaves at nine the next morning but many experienced rail users would be reluctant to accept this with complete certainty. However, again we can claim that speakers make factual assumptions when using the PRESENT tense in sentences which describe future situations. Second, another relevant observation is that the Future-Forms can come under the scope of another modal feature, specifically that of possibility when conveyed in Welsh by hwyrach ‘perhaps’ (or efallai ‘perhaps’). Significantly, this can happen when a present-time situation is being described, which as we have seen is typically given a modal interpretation. Consider: 4 hwyrach bydd Mair yn Llundain rwan. perhaps be.FUT.3SG Mair in London now ‘perhaps Mair will be in London now.’ This example describes a present-time situation, and so a plain future tense interpretation is ruled out, leaving only a modal interpretation. But if the Future-Form in (4) is modal, then we have a modal feature, probability / prediction, which is under the scope of another modal feature, possibility. This does not happen with the other modal features: 5a. * hwyrach bod rhaid bod Mair yn Llundain rwan. perhaps be.PRES necessity be.PRES Mair in London now ‘perhaps it must be that Mair is in London now.’ b. * hwyrach dylai Mair fod yn Llundain rwan. perhaps should.CNTF.3SG Mair be in London now ‘perhaps Mair should be in London now.’ Example (5b) is acceptable in terms of deontic modality, namely obligation, but not in terms of epistemic modality likelihood. If the Future-Forms are treated as a FUTURE tense, then they can be seen to behave like other tenses: 6a. hwyrach nad ydy Mair yn Llundain rwan. perhaps NEG be.PRES.3SG Mair in London now ‘perhaps Mair is not in London now.’ b. hwyrach nad oedd Mair yn Llundain ddoe. perhaps NEG be.IMPF.3SG Mair in London yesterday ‘perhaps Mair was not in London yesterday.’

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Other semantic analyses

The Future-Form in (4) is a FUTURE tense under the scope of the modal feature ‘possibility’ like the other tenses of bod ‘be’ in (6a–b). Third, and last, we can also consider the relationship of epistemic modals and past-time situations. We show in 5.1 that the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense is the past equivalent of the FUTURE tense: 7a. fydd Mair yn gweithio rwan. be.FUT.3SG Mair PROG work now ‘Mair will be working now.’ b. fydde/fasa Mair yn gweithio yr adeg hynny. be.FUTP.3SG Mair PROG work the period that ‘Mair would be working then.’ The example in (7a) describes a contemporaneous present-time situation, which is a classic instance of a possible modal use of the Future-Forms. But if bydd is analysed as an epistemic modal, then byddai/buasai in examples like (7b) would then be a PAST tense equivalent of a modal. However, Stowell (2004) shows that epistemic modals in main clauses do not typically have PAST tense equivalents. They can occur in descriptions of pasttime situations if the perfect aspect also occurs: 8a. * alle / ddyle Mair weithio ddoe. can.CNTF.3SG should.CNTF.3SG Mair work yesterday ‘Mair could / should work yesterday.’ b. alle / ddyle Mair fod wedi gweithio ddoe. can.CNTF.3SG should.CNTF.3SG Mair be PERF work yesterday ‘Mair should have worked yesterday.’ If bydd ‘will be’ were an epistemic modal, it would not be typical of modals in Welsh in that it would have a PAST tense form byddai/buasai ‘would be’. But if we adopt the tense analysis of the bydd ‘will be’ and the byddai/buasai ‘would be’ paradigms then the facts in (7–8) can be coherently explained: bydd has a FUTURE tense meaning, byddai/buasai have a FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense meaning, and the inflections of the modals have COUNTERFACTUAL meaning which is PRESENT tense or possibly FUTURE tense (following the discussion of the tense features of the COUNTERFACTUAL in 5.2.1). This analysis is adopted in this work. A single time-of-evaluation analysis achieves simplicity without losing descriptive adequacy. This is especially the case when the time-ofevaluation analysis is compared with the dual analysis which assigns to Fu-

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ture-Forms both a modal meaning (in respect of past-time and present-time situations) and a plain FUTURE tense meaning (in respect of future-time situations). The time-of-evaluation analysis simply states that for situations in all periods of time, if the evaluation of the proposition is assumed to be in the future time, the FUTURE tense is selected. 6.2.2

Subject-oriented meanings

Sentences which contain the Future-Forms and the Imperfect/PluperfectForms of lexical verbs or the auxiliary verb gwneud ‘do, make’ can be given interpretations of willingness of the subject, power of the subject, and characteristic activity of the subject. All these meanings relate to properties of the subject of the sentence, and Palmer (1990: 36, 133–137) refers to them as subject-oriented meanings, a label which is adopted here for expositional convenience. We shall also consider general truths. We shall first consider willingness and power, which are typically illustrated with examples such as the following: 9a. roddith Mair help i ni. give.FUT.3SG Mair help to we ‘Mair will give us help.’ b. neith Mair roi help i ni. do.FUT.3SG Mair give help to we ‘Mair will give us help.’ 10a. roddith Mair ddim help i ni. give.FUT.3SG Mair NEG help to we ‘Mair won’t give us help.’ b. neith Mair ddim rhoi help i ni. do.FUT.3SG Mair NEG give help to we ‘Mair won’t give us help.’ 11a. agorith y drws ddim. open.FUT.3SG the door NEG ‘the door won’t open.’ b. neith y drws ddim agor. do.FUT.3SG the door NEG open ‘the door won’t open.’ Examples with similar interpretations occur with the Imperfect/PluperfectForms as a FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense:

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Other semantic analyses

12a. rodde Mair ddim help i give.FUTP.3SG Mair NEG help to ‘Mair wouldn’t give us help.’ b. nâi Mair ddim rhoi help do.FUTP.3SG Mair NEG give help ‘Mair wouldn’t give us help.’ 13a. agore y drws ddim. open.FUTP.3SG the door NEG ‘the door wouldn’t open.’ b. nâi y drws ddim agor. do.FUTP.3SG the door NEG open ‘the door wouldn’t open.’

ni. we i ni. to we

The examples in (9) can be interpreted such that it conveys the willingness of the subject; the examples in (10) and (12) convey a lack of willingness. The examples in (11) and (13) are similar to examples which involve willingness, except that they have an inanimate subject, and willingness is an inappropriate explanation. Power is the label used for these sentences, and is based on Palmer (1990: 131, 136), who follows Jespersen (1909–1949: IV: 239). The examples which demonstrate power are all examples of an ergative sentence. We shall claim that the finite inflected forms still establish the time of evaluation. It is acknowledged that meanings of willingness and power can still be associated with such examples as those given above, but they are due to other factors and not to the inflections of finite verbs. We shall look first at willingness and a typology of situations, especially the distinction between events and acts (a typology of situations is also discussed in 8.1.2). Both are dynamic situations, but acts are under the control of an agency while events are conceived as happening without any explicit reference to agency. Events and acts can share the same syntactic configuration, and many of the above examples are ambiguous. Examples (9–10) can be interpreted as describing either acts or events. But it is only in the case of acts that we can interpret the subject has having willingness. If we are describing events, then these interpretations do not arise: examples (9– 10) can be interpreted such that they are describing a future situation without involving the willingness of the subject. Willingness is thus not part of the meaning of the Future-Forms or the Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms, but is due to the type of situation. The Future-Forms and Imperfect/PluperfectForms retain the same tense functions whether the situation is an act or an event. It is more obvious that sentences involving willingness involve

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agency than do sentences which involve power: it is unusual to claim that inanimate subjects are agents. The distinction between event and act is thus more difficult to maintain in the case of power.68 The influence of types of situations can also be demonstrated in another way. If willingness and power are conveyed by the Future-Forms, it is reasonable to expect them to occur with all instances of the Future-Forms. But interpretations of willingness and power can only be attributed to the Future-Forms of finite lexical verbs or the auxiliary verb gwneud ‘do’. This is not possible when the Future-Forms are an inflection of bod ‘be’. The following comparisons of the simple verbs in (9–11) and bod ‘be’ in progressive patterns show this: 14 fydd Mair yn rhoi help i ni. be.FUT.3SG Mair PROG give help to we ‘Mair will be giving us help.’ 15 fydd Mair ddim yn rhoi help i ni. be.FUT.3SG Mair NEG PROG give help to we ‘Mair won’t be giving us help.’ 16 fydd y drws ddim yn agor. be.FUT.3SG the door NEG PROG open ‘the door won’t be opening.’ Although the Future-Forms occur in (14–16), the interpretations of willingness and power are not appropriate. The Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms confirm this restriction, as a comparison of (12–13) with the following show: 17 fydde/fase Mair ddim yn rhoi help i ni. be.FUTP.3SG Mair NEG PROG give help to we ‘Mair wouldn’t be giving us help.’ 18 fydde/fase y drws ddim yn agor. be.FUTP.3SG the door NEG PROG open ‘the door wouldn’t be opening.’ Bod ‘be’ in copular sentences also demonstrates the same restriction on interpretations of the Future-Forms and Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms: 19a. fydda’ i ’n gadeirydd. be.FUT.1SG I PRED chairperson ‘I’ll be chairperson.’

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Other semantic analyses

b. na’ i fod yn gadeirydd. do.FUT.1SG I be PRED chairperson ‘I’ll be chairperson.’ In (19b), the auxiliary gwneud ‘do’ allows an interpretation of an act, but bod ‘be’ in (19a) does not, and willingness can be attributed to the gwneud ‘do’ example but not the bod ‘be’ example. In view of this comparison of simple verbs and the auxiliary verb gwneud ‘do’ with bod ‘be’ it is reasonable to consider that there may be lexical restrictions in play here: simple verbs and gwneud ‘do’ allow willingness while bod ‘be’ does not. But we have seen that lexical verbs and gwneud ‘do’ are not confined to willingness but can also occur in descriptions of events in which an interpretation of willingness does not arise. We have a plain future reference in such examples, as is found in the bod ‘be’ examples. The significant point is that lexical verbs and the auxiliary gwneud ‘do’ can occur in descriptions of acts, but not bod ‘be’. It is the influence of the situation which is at play here and not the influence of lexemes. The common factor over all the examples (14–19) is that an interpretation of willingness or power is dependent not on tense but on the type of situation which is described. It is also relevant to note that there are examples which show that where the subject-oriented properties need to be explicitly conveyed, the FutureForms and Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms are replaced by the Present-Forms and the Imperfect-Forms, and additional lexemes are selected: 20a. ma’ Mair yn fodlon rhoi help i ni. be.PRES.3SG Mair PRED willing give help to we ‘Mair is willing to give us help.’ b. dydy Mair ddim yn fodlon rhoi help i ni. NEG.be.PRES.3SG Mair NEG PRED willing give help to we ‘Mair is not willing to give us help.’ c. ma’ Mair yn ’cau / pallu rhoi help i ni. be.PRES.3SG Mair PROG refuse give help to we ‘Mair refuses to give us help.’ d. ma’ ’r drws yn ’cau / pallu agor. be.PRES.3SG the door PROG refuse open ‘the door won’t open.’ 21a. oedd Mair yn fodlon rhoi help i ni. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PRED willing give help to we ‘Mair was willing to give us help.’

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b. doedd Mair ddim yn fodlon rhoi help i ni. NEG.be.IMPF.3SG Mair NEG PRED willing give help to we ‘Mair was not willing to give us help.’ c. oedd Mair yn ’cau / pallu rhoi help i ni. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG refuse give help to we ‘Mair refused to give us help.’ d. oedd y drws yn ’cau / pallu agor. be.IMPF.3SG the door PROG refuse open ‘the door refused to open.’ Bodlon ‘willing, pleased’ (parod ‘ready’ is also possible) can explicitly convey willingness, and can occur in an affirmative or negative clause as in (20a–b) and (21a–b). Nacau ‘refuse’, which invariably occurs as ’cau in informal Welsh, and pallu ‘refuse’ are lexically negative. They can explicitly convey lack of willingness and power, and occur in an affirmative sentences as in (20c–d) and (21c–d). Nacau is used in the vernacular of northern dialects; and pallu is used in southern areas. These data are used to argue that the subject-oriented properties in the examples which contain the Future-Forms are implicatures which are the effects of types of situations, and when these meanings are explicitly conveyed, other patterns are used. Another meaning which is attributed to the Future-Forms when they occur with a simple lexical verb or with the auxiliary gwneud ‘do’ is characteristic activity: 22a. siaradith Mair am oriau. talk.FUT.3SG Mair for hours ‘Mair will talk for hours.’ b. neith Mair siarad am oriau. do.FUT.3SG Mair talk for hours ‘Mair will talk for hours.’ 23a. siarade Mair am oriau. talk.FUTP.3SG Mair for hours ‘Mair would talk for hours.’ b. nâi Mair siarad am oriau. do.FUTP.3SG Mair talk for hours ‘Mair would talk for hours.’ There are two points which typify such examples: the subjects are active agents and the situation is habitual. It can be argued that characteristic activity is a contextual effect which is due to these two factors (see the outline

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Other semantic analyses

of the explanation of habitual by Comrie in 8.1.2, which emphasizes characteristics activity). It is also relevant to note that other tenses convey a characteristic activity when they occur in sentences which describe a habitual situation: 24a. ma’ Mair yn siarad am oriau. be.PRES.3SG Mair PROG talk for hours ‘Mair talks for hours.’ b. oedd Mair yn siarad am oriau. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG talk for hours ‘Mair talked for hours.’ Any differences between (22–23) and (24) are due to the additional interpretation of act which conveys the active role of the subject, which the syntax of (22–23) allows. This point is emphasized by the following contrast: 25a. fydd Mair yn ddistaw am be.FUT.3SG Mair PRED quiet for ‘Mair will be quiet for hours.’ b. neith Mair fod yn ddistaw do.FUT.3SG Mair be PRED quiet ‘Mair will be quiet for hours.’

oriau. hours am oriau. for hours

Both examples are habitual, but the occurrence of gwneud ‘do’, which emphasizes agency of the subject in a copular sentence, allows (25b) to be interpreted as a characteristic activity, while (25a) in comparison describes a plain habitual situation. But both examples are FUTURE tense, so there are no grounds for attributing a meaning of characteristic activity to the tense. Characteristic activity is a consequence of the properties of the situation which the sentences describe. We can also include here statements of general truths of the sort which is illustrated by examples such as the following: 26a. arhosith olew ar wyneb dŵr. stay.FUT.3SG oil on face water ‘oil will float on water.’ b. neith olew aros ar wyneb dŵr. do.FUT.3SG oil stay on face water ‘oil will float on water.’

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27a. laddith halen falwod. kill.FUT.3SG salt slugs ‘salt will kill slugs.’ b. neith halen ladd malwod. do.FUT.3SG salt kill slugs ‘salt will kill slugs.’ There are two points which typify such sentences: they have inanimate subjects which have properties which can bring about the situation; and they can imply the demonstration of the general truth. We can again claim that tense has nothing to do with a meaning of general truth. It is again relevant to note that the FUTURE tense is not unique to the description of such situations. The PRESENT tense can also be used to describe them: 28a. ma’ olew yn be.PRES.3SG oil PROG ‘oil floats on water.’ b. ma’ halen yn do.FUT.3SG salt PROG ‘salt kills slugs.’

aros ar wyneb dŵr. stay on face water lladd malwod. kill slugs

A distinction can be made, then, between the tense function of the FutureForms and other meanings which arise through contextual effects. 6.2.3

Speech acts

Several other meanings have been attributed to the Future-Forms. Consider the following examples: 29a. syrthi di o fanna. fall.FUT.2SG you.SG from there ‘you’ll fall from there.’ b. nei di syrthio o fanna. do.FUT.2SG you.SG fall from there ‘you’ll fall from there.’ 30a. awn ni rwan. go.FUT.1PL we now ‘we’ll go now.’

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Other semantic analyses

b. na’n ni fynd rwan. do.FUT.1PL we go now ‘we’ll go now.’ 31a. helpa’ i di. help.FUT.1SG I you.SG ‘I’ll help you.’ b. na’ i dy helpu di. do.FUT.1SG I 2SG help you.SG ‘I’ll help you.’ 32a. fwra’ i di. hit.FUT.1SG I you.SG ‘I’ll hit you.’ b. na’ i dy fwrw di. do.FUT.1SG I 2SG hit you.SG ‘I’ll hit you.’ 33a. agori di ’r drws i mi? open.FUT.2SG you. SG the door for me ‘will you open the door for me?’ b. nei di agor y drws i mi? do.FUT.2SG you. SG open the door for me ‘will you open the door for me?’ 34a. olcha’ i ’r llestri i ti. wash.FUT.1SG I the dishes for you. SG ‘I’ll wash the dishes for you’ b. na’ i olchi ’r llestri i ti. do.FUT.2SG I wash the dishes for you. SG ‘I’ll wash the dishes for you.’ 35a. ddaw y plant yn ôl erbyn deg. come.FUT.3SG the children in track against ten ‘the children will be back by ten.’ b. neith y plant ddod yn ôl erbyn deg. do.FUT.3SG the children come in track against ten ‘the children will be back by ten.’ It is not unreasonable to suggest that the examples in (29) can convey a warning, that the examples in (30) can convey a command, that the examples in (31) can convey a promise, that the examples in (32) can convey a threat, that the examples in (33) can convey a request, that the examples in (34) can make an offer, and that the examples in (35) can provide a guarantee. Meanings like these are discussed under speech acts, which are associ-

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ated with the work of Austin (1962) and Searle (1969). That is, in making an utterance, the speaker can perform an act, such as delivering a warning, issuing a command, making a promise, conveying a threat, making a request, and so forth. In particular, Austin referred to sentences like the above as primary performatives, that is, performatives where no expression in the utterance explicitly denotes the kind of speech act which is being performed. But we can again distinguish between those meanings which are consistently attributable to the inflections of finite verbs and those meanings which are due to contextual effects. The non-linguistic context, the relationships of the participants in the speech event, the choice of lexical items, and the value which we place upon situations can all have the effects of creating certain meanings. Falling is not usually a pleasant experience and is something best avoided: thus (29) can be interpreted as a warning. Example (30) is readily interpretable as a command to leave by the speaker to the company of which he or she is a member. Helping someone is normally a friendly act which can be welcomed, but hitting is not at all pleasant: thus (31) can be taken as a promise but (32), which has the same syntax, can be taken as a threat. In (33), the subject is asked whether he or she will perform an act, and as such it can be read as a request. If the same question is interpreted as an enquiry about the occurrence of a future event, then the implication of a request does not arise. The example in (34) is similar to the promise in (31), and the meaning of offer can arise because of similar effects. In (35), it is the authority and commitment of the speaker which guarantees the future situation and not the meaning of the inflection. There is another meaning which has been attributed to the FutureForms, and which is especially interesting: 36a. agora’ i ’r ffenest? open.FUT.1SG I the window ‘shall I open the window?’ b. na’ i agor y ffenest? do.FUT.1SG I open the window ‘shall I open the window?’ The examples in (36) can be interpreted as a request for the addressee’s sanction or approval for the subject to perform the action which is described. The speaker is not asking the addressee to judge whether a future situation is going to occur or not. Requests for the addressee’s sanction typically involve a first person subject, either single or plural. But a distinctive characteristic of such examples is that they have unusual responsives

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Other semantic analyses

for finite sentences of normal word order. Typically, responsives echo the finite verb or use a finite form of the auxiliary gwneud ‘do’, but sentences which involve external sanction use the non-echo responsives ie or nage.69 Compare the following: 37a. agora’ i ’r ffenest? open.FUT.1SG I the window ‘shall I open the window?’ b. ie / nage. yes no ‘yes / no.’ 38a. agorith y ffenest? open.FUT.3SG the window ‘will the window open?’ b. gneith / na neith. do.FUT.3SG NEG do.FUT.3SG ‘yes’ The crucial point is that it would be very unusual, but not impossible, to interpret (37a) as an enquiry about whether an event will take place or whether an act will be performed, given the person features of the subject. Assuming that the speaker is A and the addressee B, ostensibly, we have what Labov (1972) referred to as an A-event about which B has no knowledge. It is therefore typically inappropriate to interpret questions like (37a) as an enquiry as to whether the situation will or will not occur. Consequently when a speaker, A, asks an addressee, B, about an A-event, there is typically an implication that the speaker is seeking sanction for the performance of a future act. Thus, the meaning of addressee sanction arises from the pragmatic interpretation of a question and is not part of the semantics of the inflectional form.70 In all these instances, we argue that the Future-Forms convey the FUTURE tense and that all other meanings are due to the contextual effect of a speech act. The latter meanings can be associated with utterances which contain the Future-Forms, but they are not basic meanings of these forms. 6.2.4

Tentativity and politeness

We have seen in 2.2.2 and 2.3 that the Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms of bod ‘be’, byddai/buasai, are used to convey COUNTERFACTUAL meaning. An in-

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teresting use of these forms occurs in examples of requests as in (39a) and (39b), in comparison with (39c). We can note that the progressive pattern is preferred by the majority of speakers, as in (39a), and not the nonprogressive pattern, as in (39b) – some speakers may find the use of the auxiliary gwneud ‘do’ marginal, as mentioned in 3.1. 39a. faset ti ’n agor y drws? be.CNTF.2SG you.SG PROG open the door ‘would you open the door?’ b. naet ti agor y drws? be.CNTF.2SG you.SG open the door ‘would you open the door?’ c. nei di agor y drws? be.FUT.2SG you.SG open the door ‘will you open the door?’ The use of Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms in such examples can be interpreted as achieving extra politeness or tentativity, compared with the use of the Future-Forms in (39c). The question is whether we can maintain the counterfactual analysis and account for politeness and tentativity as meanings which arise because of contextual effects, or whether we need to establish an additional use of the Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms to convey politeness and tentativity. Referring to the discussion in 2.3.1, we can distinguish two sorts of situations which can be described counterfactually. One sort does not occur or exist in the actual world; they are unreal situations. The other sort relates to situations which could occur in the real world; they are potentially real situations. The situation which is described in (39a–b) is an example of the latter. Another significant point is that such requests are directed at the addressee, who is in a position, by fulfilling the request, to make a potentially real counterfactual situation a real factual situation. We can claim that the requests in (39a–b) are framed counterfactually: that is, the speaker presents the evaluation of the proposition as false. But we shall also claim that the combination of counterfactual and potential reality in examples like (39a) creates the effect of tentativity or politeness. Comrie’s (1985: 23–24) test of cancellation can be applied. If politeness and tentativity are suspended, then we are left with COUNTERFACTUAL meaning. The same conditions of counterfactual and potential reality are also found in questions which seek information:

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Other semantic analyses

40a. fase Mair yn yn helpu ni? be.CNTF.3SG Mair PROG 1PL help we ‘would Mair help us?’ b. nâi Mair yn helpu ni? be.CNTF.3SG Mair 1PL help we ‘would Mair help us?’ c. neith Mair yn helpu ni? be.FUT.3SG Mair 1PL help we ‘will Mair help us?’ The questions in (40a–b), which contain the Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms, can be interpreted as being more tentative than the one in (40c), which contains the Future-Forms. Again, we have a counterfactual situation which could be potentially factual. The COUNTERFACTUAL is also common with licio / hoffi ‘like’ in questions and statements: 41a. hoffet ti ddod gyda ni? like.CNTF.2SG you.SG come with us ‘would you like to come with us?’ b. faset ti ’n licio benthyc y car? be.CNTF.2SG you.SG PROG like borrow the car ‘would you like to borrow the car?’ 42a. faswn i ’n licio mynd i Lundain dros y Sul. be.CNTF.1SG I PROG like go to London over the Sunday ‘I’d like to go to London for the weekend.’ b. hoffwn i aros yma. like.CNTF.1SG I stay here ‘I would like to stay here.’ The potential reality of the situations, when combined with the counterfactual framing of the question or the statement, creates the effect of tentativity. Overall, then, the combination of counterfactual and a potentially real situation creates the effect of tentativity or extra politeness. In Welsh, it is a common politeness strategy to use the COUNTERFACTUAL in this way. It is noted, as in Thomas (1995: 107), that the Imperfect-Forms of bod ‘be’, the oedd ‘was’ paradigm, can be used in place of the Present-Forms in order to achieve greater politeness or tentativity, as can be seen by comparing the examples in (43) with those in (44):

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43a. dw i isio cal gair efo ti. be.PRES.1SG I want have word with you.SG ‘I want to have a word with you.’ b. wyt ti ’n gobeithio mynd yn gynnar? be.PRES.2SG you.SG PROG hope go ADV early ‘are you hoping to go early?’ 44a. o’n i isio cal gair efo ti. be.IMPF.1SG I want have word with you.SG ‘I wanted to have a word with you.’ b. o’t ti ’n gobeithio mynd yn gynnar? be.IMPF.2SG you.SG PROG hope go ADV early ‘were you hoping to go early?’ According to this approach, the needs and hopes in (44a–b) are located in the present time, and the Imperfect-Forms are used to express politeness or tentativity. This would then give us two uses of the Imperfect-Forms: as a PAST tense and as a PRESENT tense which marks politeness or tentativity. However, we shall make two points to argue that Imperfect-Forms are used only as a PAST tense and that politeness and tentativity are contextual effects. First, we shall argue that examples like those in (44) describe past-time wants and hopes, which supply the grounds for evaluation to select the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE. But the IMPERFECTIVE meaning of the Imperfect-Forms does not necessarily confine these wants and hopes to the past time but allows the possibility that they continue into present time (see the discussion in 4.1.2). By leaving open whether the wants and hopes may be confined to the past or may continue into the present, the speaker creates an element of circumspection, and it is this which creates tentativity or politeness. Second, examples like those in (44) can pass Comrie’s cancellation test. Present tentativity or politeness can be cancelled, and a PAST tense function remains. Attributing politeness / tentativity to contextual effects allows a distinction to be made between the polite / tentative use of the Imperfect-Forms and the polite / tentative use of the Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms. If both can be used to convey politeness / tentativity, then we should be able to substitute one for the other. This is not the case: 45a. faset ti ’n agor y drws? be.CNTF.2SG you.SG PROG open the door ‘would you open the door?’

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Other semantic analyses

b. oeddet ti ’n agor y drws? be.IMPF.2SG you PROG open the door ‘were you opening the door?’ 46a. oeddwn i isio cal gair efo ti. be.IMPF.1SG I want have word with you.SG ‘I wanted to have a word with you.’ b. faswn i isio cal gair efo ti. be.CNTF.1SG I want have word with you.SG ‘I would want to have a word with you.’ The Imperfect-Form in (45b) does not produce a polite request like the Imperfect/Pluperfect-Form in (45a), and the Imperfect/Pluperfect-Form in (46b) does not produce a tentative / polite statement like the ImperfectForms in (46a). If Imperfect-Forms and Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms are to be given the meaning of politeness / tentativity then there will also have to be accompanying explanation which clarifies why this difference arises. However, if we attribute to these forms their basic meanings of COUNTERFACTUAL and PAST tense, respectively, and account for politeness and tentativity in terms of contextual effects, then these problems do not arise. The two uses of PAST tense and COUNTERFACTUAL are clearly distinguishable. Where COUNTERFACTUAL relates to a potentially real counterfactual situation, politeness or tentativity is a possible contextual effect. Where the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE occurs in a description of a present situation, circumspection arises and politeness or tentativity is a possible contextual effect. 6.2.5

The pretend present

Young children describe imaginary but current events in play activities. That is, the imaginary situation is held to occur at the moment of speaking. Such situations can be described with the PRESENT tense in complement clauses to verbs whose meaning makes clear the imaginary reference: esgus, ysmalio, cocsio, and jocan, all of which are used in various dialects and can mean ‘pretend’: 47 ond esgus / smalio / cocsio / jocan y cowbois sy ’n but pretend the cowboys be.PRES.3SG PROG ennill. win ‘but pretend it’s the cowboys who are winning.’

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The PRESENT tense without esgus / smalio / cocsio / jocan can also be used to describe a present time play situation: 48a. ac ma’n nhw ’n trio taflu bom. and be.PRES.3PL they PROG try throw bomb ‘and they are trying to throw a bomb.’ b. ond y cowbois sy ’n ennill. but the cowboys be.PRES.3SG PROG win ‘but it’s the cowboys who are winning.’ Jones B. M. (1986: 188–189) notes that young children can also use the Imperfect-Forms to describe imaginary but current play activities. They can occur in a main clause without the verbs esgus / smalio / cocsio / jocan in this use: 49a. ac o’n nhw ’n trio taflu bom. and be.IMPF.3PL they PROG try throw bomb ‘and they were trying to throw a bomb.’ b. ond y cowbois oedd yn ennill. but the cowboys be.IMPF.3SG PROG win ‘but it was the cowboys who were winning.’ And the Imperfect-Forms can also be used with esgus / smalio / cocsio / jocan: 50 ond esgus / smalio / cocsio / jocan y cowbois oedd but pretend the cowboys be.IMPF.3SG ennill. win ‘but pretend it’s the cowboys who are winning.’

yn PROG

To the children, these imaginary situations, played out in word or deed, are thought to be taking place at the moment of speaking. They are the product of imaginary play, which may be acted out. Warnant (1966), Antinucci and Miller (1976), Kaper (1980), and Lodge (1979) observe similar uses of PAST tenses in French, Italian, Dutch, and English respectively. The imaginary use of the PAST tense needs to be distinguished from a COUNTERFACTUAL meaning. We cannot substitute a COUNTERFACTUAL for the PAST tense and retain the same meaning:

202

Other semantic analyses

51a. a fasan nhw ’n trio taflu bom. and be.CNTF.3PL they PROG try throw bomb ‘and they would be trying to throw a bomb.’ b. ond y cowbois fasa ’n ennill. but the cowboys be.CNTF.3SG PROG win ‘but it would the cowboys who would be winning.’ The COUNTERFACTUAL would describe these situations as ones which do not take place in the children’s play. But the situations do take place in the play scenarios of the children. It is difficult to account for the children’s use of the PAST tense as a contextual effect. It could be claimed that children have their own conversational implicature that the PAST tense, when used in the context of play, can describe an imaginary situation. But for this approach to be acceptable, we would have to argue that there is a past-time factor which otherwise justifies the selection of the PAST tense and which remains if the implicature is cancelled. We could try to argue that the children view the play scenario as a past situation, and thus select a PAST tense. But, given that the children are actually acting out the imaginary scenario in present-time play, this is not convincing. The most obvious conclusion is to establish a separate use of the Imperfect-Forms as an imaginary PRESENT tense which is characteristic of young children’s language. 6.3

Implicatures and extensions of inflectional aspect

In this section we consider other explanations of the PERFECTIVE and IMPERFECTIVE contrast, and discuss to what extent they can be attributed to extensions of basic meanings or to the effects of context. We shall consider completion and incompletion, change and continuation, narration and scene-setting, and remote and accessible past time. 6.3.1

Completion and incompletion

A common explanation of the difference between the IMPERFECTIVE and the is in terms of incomplete and complete, respectively. Watkins (1961: 41), using examples from the formal style, specifically glosses the IMPERFECTIVE as referring to rhywbeth heb ei orffen, rhywbeth parhaol [something unfinished, something continuous] and the PERFECTIVE as referPERFECTIVE

Implicatures of inflectional aspect

203

ring to rhywbeth wedi ei orffen [something finished]. King (1993: 155) also emphasizes completion as the main difference between the two. We shall argue, however, that completion or incompletion can be implied or inferred from the basic semantics of the PERFECTIVE and the IMPERFECTIVE. The PERFECTIVE’s emphasis on wholeness presents a situation which has definite boundaries and is thus complete. In contrast, the IMPERFECTIVE’s internal, unbounded view of a situation presents a situation as on-going and potentially incomplete. We shall also show that the concept of completeness is itself complex, and an account of the PERFECTIVE in terms of completion should take these complexities into consideration. In defining completion, a distinction can be made between finishing and stopping. This distinction can be explained in terms of types of situations. Some situations have natural end-points, such as I am making a chair and Bill is singing a song, and some do not, such as I make chairs and Bill is singing. The former are labelled as telic, and the latter as atelic. Atelic situations can only be stopped, bringing a situation arbitrarily to an end without reaching a natural end-point. Telic situations can be stopped or finished, and the latter means achieving the natural final end-point. Consequently, completion can mean finishing or stopping. Completion in the sense of finishing is clearly seen when a type of telic situation which is known as an accomplishment is described by a sentence which contains the PERFECTIVE and the non-progressive. Smith (1997: 67–68) shows that contradictions cannot be conjoined to such sentences: 52a. ddarllenodd Mair lyfr neithiwr (*ond orffennodd hi read.PERV.3SG Mair book last-night but finish.PERV.3SG she mohono fo). NEG.3SG.M he ‘Mair read a book last night (*but she didn’t finish it).’ b. olchish i ’r car ddoe (*ond orffennish i wash.PERV.1SG I the car yesterday but finish.PERV.1SG I mohono fo). NEG.3SG.M he ‘I washed the car yesterday (*but I didn’t finish it).’ c. dynnodd Mair lun ohona’ i echnos (*ond pull.PERV.3SG Mair picture of.1SG I night-before-last but orffennodd hi mohono fo). finish.PERV.3SG she NEG.3SG.M he ‘Mair painted my picture the night before last (*but she didn’t finish it).’

204

Other semantic analyses

d. dorrish i ’r lawnt bore ’ma (*ond orffenish i wash.PERV.3SG I the lawn morning here but finish.PERV.1SG I mohono fo). NEG.3SG.M he ‘I cut the grass this morning (*but I didn’t finish it).’ Smith (1997: 67–68) argues that these data show that completion cannot be cancelled and must be a basic part of the PERFECTIVE’s meaning. But it can also be argued that completion can be implied from the PERFECTIVE meaning: a holistic view including initial and final end-points can imply that a situation is finished. The failure to cancel completion can be attributed to the fact that the PERFECTIVE meaning always implies completion: we can no more cancel completion than we can cancel its holistic view. When the same telic situations are described with the IMPERFECTIVE, either denials or confirmations of completion can occur: 53a. oedd Mair yn darllen llyfr neithiwr ac orffennodd be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG read book last-night and finish.PERV.3SG hi o / ond orffennodd hi mohono fo. she he but finish.PERV.3SG she NEG.3SG.M he ‘Mair was reading a book last night and she finished it / but she didn’t finish it.’ b. o’n i ’n golchi ’r car ddoe ac orffennish be.IMPF.1SG I PROG wash the car yesterday and finish.PERV.1SG i o / ond orffennish i mohono fo. I he but finish.PERV.1SG I NEG.3SG.M he ‘I was washing the car yesterday and I finished it / but I didn’t finish it.’ c. oedd Mair yn tynnu llun ohona’ i echnos be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG pull picture of.1SG I night-before-last ac orffennodd hi o / ond orffennodd hi mohono fo. and finish.PERV.3SG she he but finish.PERV.3SG she NEG.3SG.M he ‘Mair was painting my picture the night before last and she finished it / but she didn’t finish it.’ d. o’n i ’n torri ’r lawnt bore ’ma ac be.IMPF.1SG I PROG cut the lawn morning here and orffennish i o / ond orffennish i mohono fo. finish.PERV.1SG I he but finish.PERV.1SG I NEG.3SG.M he ‘I was cutting the grass this morning and I finished it / but I didn’t finish it.’

Implicatures of inflectional aspect

205

It can be recalled from the outline in 4.1.2 that the imperfective viewpoint is unbounded (or open) but allows the situation to continue beyond the part of the situation which is being viewed or to come to an end. This allows either a conjoined affirmation or contradiction. But in so far as an interpretation of incompletion is possible, this can be seen as a consequence of the basic semantics of the IMPERFECTIVE: an unbounded viewpoint allows an implication of an incomplete situation. The contrast of completion and incompletion is not as obvious with other situation types. Copular sentences which describe states provide examples: 54a. o’n i yn y cyfarfod neithiwr. be.IMPF.1SG I in the meeting last-night ‘I was in the meeting last night.’ b. fush i yn y cyfarfod neithiwr. be.PERV.1SG I in the meeting last-night ‘I was in the meeting last night.’ 55a. o’n i ’n oer neithiwr. be.IMPF.1SG I PRED cold last-night ‘I was cold last night.’ b. fush i ’n oer neithiwr. be.PERV.1SG I PRED cold last-night ‘I was cold last night.’ These are atelic situations: they do not have natural endpoints. As outlined in 4.2.3, modals also provide an IMPERFECTIVE:PERFECTIVE contrast, as with the following telic situations: 56a. fedrwn i ddim agor y ffenestr. can.IMPF.1SG I NEG open the window ‘I couldn’t open the window.’ b. fedrish i ddim agor y ffenestr. can.PERV.1SG I NEG open the window ‘I couldn’t open the window.’ While an interpretation of completion is possible with the PERFECTIVE (possibly, in the sense that an attempt was made but failed, and was therefore a completed act), it is not obvious how incompletion is involved with the IMPERFECTIVE (unless we can claim that the inability can continue). It is more obvious to say that the IMPERFECTIVE is stative and the PERFECTIVE is dy-

206

Other semantic analyses

namic, as outlined in 4.2.3. Finally, there are examples of the PERFECTIVE in non-progressive sentences which can be reasonably interpreted as indicating inception rather than completion: 57a. gododd Mair o ’ r gadair. rise.PERV.3SG Mair from the chair ‘Mair got up from the chair.’ b symudish i at y ffenestr. move. PERV.1SG I to the window ‘I moved to the window.’ c. gerddodd hi i ffwrdd. walk.PERV.3SG she to away ‘she walked away.’ These examples describe atelic situations, and they can be viewed from the starting end-point rather than the closing end-point, to suggest the inception of a situation rather than its completion. To conclude, then, completion can mean either stopping or finishing, and this contrast can variously relate to different types of situations. Completion can be clearly associated with the PERFECTIVE in sentences which describe accomplishments and which are non-progressive. In descriptions of the same situations, the IMPERFECTIVE can be associated either with completion or incompletion. In respect of statives and inceptive situations, the contrast of completion and incompletion is not as obvious. However, where incompletion and completion are reasonable interpretations, they can be said to be implied by the basic PERFECTIVE and IMPERFECTIVE meanings. This is not to say that the implied meanings of incompletion and completion are inconsequential. 6.3.2

Change and continuation

We turn now to examine a contrast which is similar to completion and incompletion, and it is also found that denials and confirmations can again distinguish the PERFECTIVE and the IMPERFECTIVE. When asked to comment on sentences whose only point of difference is PERFECTIVE versus IMPERFECTIVE, informants regularly suggest that something has happened to indicate that the situation which is described by the PERFECTIVE is no longer the case; that is, that the past situation no longer holds at the time of speaking (it is with this implication that the English translation ‘used to’ is appropriate).

Implicatures of inflectional aspect

207

Sentences which contain the IMPERFECTIVE can be re-affirmed or denied for the present period, but sentences which contain the PERFECTIVE can only be denied: 58a. o’n i ’n licio cabaets a dw i ’n be.IMPF.1SG I PROG like cabbage and be.PRES.1SG I PROG dal i (’w) licio. continue to 3SG.M like ‘I liked / used to like cabbage and I still do.’ b. o’n i ’n licio cabaets ond dw i ddim rwan. be.IMPF.1SG I PROG like cabbage but be.PRES.1SG I NEG now ‘I liked / used to like cabbage but I don’t now.’ 59a. * fush i ’n licio cabaets a dw i ’n be.PERV.1SG I PROG like cabbage and be.PRES.1SG I PROG dal i (’w) licio. continue to 3SG.M like ‘I liked / used to like cabbage and I still do.’ b. fush i ’n licio cabaets ond dw i ddim rwan. be.PERV.1SG I PROG like cabbage but be.PRES.1SG I NEG now ‘I liked / used to like cabbage but I don’t now.’ 60a. o’n i ’n by’ta cig a dw i ’n dal be.IMPF.1SG I PROG eat meat and be.PRES.1SG I PROG continue i neud. to do. ‘I ate / used to eat meat and I still do.’ b. o’n i ’n b’yta cig ond dw i ddim rwan. be.IMPF.1SG I PROG eat meat but be.PRES.1SG I NEG now ‘I ate / used to eat meat but I don’t now.’ 61a. * fush i ’n b’yta cig a dw i ’n dal be.PERV.1SG I PROG eat meat and be.PRES.1SG I PROG continue i neud. to do ‘I ate / used to eat meat and I still do.’ b. fush i ’n b’yta cig ond dw i ddim rwan. be.PERV.1SG I PROG eat meat but be.PRES.1SG I NEG now ‘I ate / used to eat meat but I don’t now.’ There is at least one situation which typically does not change from past time to present time, namely, knowing a living person, and the PERFECTIVE is inappropriate or at least exceptional:

208

Other semantic analyses

62a. o’n i ’n nabod Sioned. be.IMPF.1SG I PROG know Sioned ‘I knew Sioned.’ b. * fush i ’n nabod Sioned. be.PERV.1SG I PROG know Sioned ‘I used to know / knew Sioned.’ Knowing someone in past time typically continues into present time if that person is still alive and well. Hence, the IMPERFECTIVE is normally involved in descriptions of this type of situation. Of course, if there are dramatic personality changes, then the PERFECTIVE could be used to emphasize the change. However, as with completion versus incompletion, the contrast of change versus continuation can be attributed to implications or inferences which are based on standard PERFECTIVE and IMPERFECTIVE meanings. It can be argued that because the PERFECTIVE views the situation as a whole it creates a bounded period of time which produces the effect of confining the situation to past time, and hence of suggesting that the situation no longer holds in present time. In contrast, as the IMPERFECTIVE provides an unbounded view of the situation, the past situation can be thought of either as terminating in past time or continuing into present time, and the latter viewpoint allows continuation. 6.3.3

Narration and scene-setting

Another explanation which is sometimes given by informants for the contrast of the PERFECTIVE and IMPERFECTIVE is that the latter can set the scene for other situations while the former simply narrates that a situation occurred without implying that another situation also occurred. That is, a situation which is described by a sentence which contains the IMPERFECTIVE encompasses or surrounds another situation: 63a. oedd Sioned yn gweithio neithiwr. be.IMPF.3SG Sioned PROG work last-night ‘Sioned was working last night.’ b. fuodd Sioned yn gweithio neithiwr. be.PERV.3SG Sioned PROG work last-night ‘Sioned was working last night.’

Implicatures of inflectional aspect

209

The IMPERFECTIVE example allows an inference that something else happened, whereas the PERFECTIVE example is a simple narrative description of a situation. Scene-setting or encompassing can be seen as a contextual effect. As the IMPERFECTIVE allows access to the internal temporal contour of the situation, it is possible to view another situation within its contour. But as the PERFECTIVE helps to describe a situation as a whole (bounded), the effect is that we have no access to its internal temporal constituency within which to view another situation. These effects are best illustrated with complex sentences which contain pan ‘when’ clauses which are PERFECTIVE and non-progressive (that is, they convey a punctual-like event), as follows: 64a. oedd Sioned yn gweithio pan alwodd Mair. be.IMPF.3SG Sioned PROG work when call.PERV.3SG Mair ‘Sioned was working when Mair called.’ b. *fuodd Sioned yn gweithio pan alwodd Mair. be.PERV.3SG Sioned PROG work when call.PERV.3SG Mair ‘Sioned was working when Mair called.’ c. weithiodd Sioned pan alwodd Mair. work.PERV.3SG Sioned when call.PERV.3SG Mair ‘Sioned worked when Mair called.’ Example (64a) shows that when such a pan ‘when’ clause occurs with a main clause which contains the IMPERFECTIVE, an encompassing effect is created. But example (64b) shows that when an equivalent main clause which contains the PERFECTIVE, the result is ungrammatical. Example shows that when the main clause is PERFECTIVE and non-progressive, the situation in the main clause is either simultaneous with the situation in the subordinate clause or succeeds it. These examples provide classic illustrations of the IMPERFECTIVE and PERFECTIVE contrast, and they are also discussed in 4.3.3. 6.3.4

Remote and accessible past time

Another explanation which informants report is that the PERFECTIVE conveys that a situation is more remote in time (a sort of past-past) while the IMPERFECTIVE keeps us in closer contact with a situation (a sort of present-in-thepast). A possible illustration is as follows:

210

Other semantic analyses

65a. oeddet ti yn y cyfarfod neithiwr? be.IMPF.2SG you.SG in the meeting last-night ‘were you in the meeting last night?’ b. fuost ti yn y cyfarfod neithiwr? be.PERV.2SG you.SG in the meeting last-night ‘were you in the meeting last night?’ The PERFECTIVE in (65b) could readily be used in a question by someone who had not been in the meeting, and for whom the meeting is inaccessible. In contrast, the IMPERFECTIVE in (65a) could be used by someone who had been in the meeting, and for whom the meeting is accessible. But this contrast can also be explained as an extension of the basic meanings of the IMPERFECTIVE and PERFECTIVE. The IMPERFECTIVE’s focus on an internal part of a situation can have the effect of allowing internal access to the situation and thus of taking us into the past situation. The PERFECTIVE’s external view keeps us outside and separate from the situation. In absolute time, there is no difference in terms of temporal distance, and it is therefore inappropriate to describe the PERFECTIVE as a past-past. But in terms of how we relate to situations the IMPERFECTIVE and PERFECTIVE can have different effects. 6.4

Summary

The analysis of the inflections in terms of alternative semantics has the potential to produce many meanings. In this chapter, we have considered the meanings in the list below in relation to the finite inflected forms (the Future-Forms are especially multi-functional in these terms). This list is not exhaustive, and other distinctions could be added. It is not being claimed that meanings such as the above cannot be associated with sentences which contain these forms. They obviously can. But it is claimed that they are not part of the basic semantics of finite verbal inflections but are due to other matters, namely, extensions from the basic meanings and contextual effects. This leaves the inflections free to consistently convey the semantics which have been outlined in chapters 2 to 5. A likely exception is the pretend PRESENT which is used by children in play situations, which we have suggested can only be accounted for as an additional meaning.

Summary – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

probability willingness power characteristic activity warning command promise threat request offer guarantee external sanction tentativity, politeness pretend incomplete, complete continuation, change scene-setting, narration accessible, remote

Fut-Forms Fut-Forms Fut-Forms Fut-Forms Fut-Forms Fut-Forms Fut-Forms Fut-Forms Fut-Forms Fut-Forms Fut-Forms Fut-Forms

211

Imp/Plup-Forms Imp/Plup-Forms Imp/Plup-Forms

Imp/Plup-Forms Imp-Forms Imp- or Pret-Forms Imp- or Pret-Forms Imp- or Pret-Forms Imp- or Pret-Forms Imp- or Pret-Forms

Chapter 7 Perfect aspect 7.1

Introduction

This chapter has two aims. One aim is to explain the semantics of the perfect aspect in Welsh. The other aim is to re-examine the semantics of tense in sentences which contain the perfect aspect. We can reiterate the point which is established in 1.3.2 that this study distinguishes between the semantics of tense, on the one hand, and the semantics of perfect aspect, on the other hand. We do not adopt the view that Welsh has complex tenses like the present perfect tense or the future perfect tense, although it is sometimes useful to use the traditional terms to label the data for the convenience of exposition. A similar view of the independence of tense and perfect aspect is also found in Klein (1994: 124, 131). 7.1.1

The data

The syntactic characteristics of the perfect and non-perfect are outlined in 1.3.1. It is explained there that the perfect aspect involves the aspect marker wedi and a non-finite verb such as dewis ‘choose’, giving wedi dewis ‘chosen’. It is also explained there that the perfect aspect can occur in a variety of syntactic contexts, which can be re-listed here for convenience: compound tenses; periphrastic patterns with an inflected modal verb; non-finite clauses; small clauses; absolute clauses. In general, discussions of the semantics of the perfect aspect tend to concentrate upon its occurrences in compound tense patterns, especially with the PRESENT tense – the so-called present perfect. But in this work, an explanation is sought for its occurrences in all the contexts in which it can occur. We shall use the label other patterns to refer collectively to all the patterns except the compound tense patterns.

Introduction

7.1.2

213

Semantics

Accounts of the semantics of the perfect aspect mainly say that it conveys a relationship between two times: an earlier time of a situation and a later time. We shall refer to the latter as the reference time for the perfect aspect (or perfect reference time), and it will be distinguished from the reference time for tense, which is discussed in 5.1. We shall consider three ways which explain the relationship between the earlier situation and the later perfect reference time. One is a non-temporal explanation in terms of current relevance. The other two are temporal explanations: one in terms of perfect periods of time, and the other in terms of anterior time (or a retrospective view). We shall adopt the second of the two temporal explanations, for reasons which emerge in the following discussion. The relationship between the prior situation and the later reference time is often explained in terms of the continuing relevance of the former at the time of the latter or the results of the former at the time of the latter. Thomas (1996: 100) characterizes the PRESENT tense and the perfect aspect in Welsh in these terms – cyfeirio at rywbeth a ddigwyddodd yn y gorffennol a chanddo ryw fath o gysylltiad â’r presennol [referring to something which happened in the past and has some sort of connection with the present]. Comrie (1976: 52–65) details four ways in which prior situations can be currently relevant, which he labels the perfect of result (thus incorporating the results explanation in the current relevance explanation), the experiential perfect, the perfect of persistent situation, and the perfect of recent past. These uses are mainly explained in terms of the perfect aspect and the PRESENT tense, the so-called present perfect, and can be illustrated respectively with Welsh examples as follows: 1a. ma’ John wedi cyrr’edd. be.PRES.3SG John PERF arrive ‘John has arrived.’ b. ma’ Gwil wedi bod yn America. be.PRES.3SG Gwil PERF be in America ‘Gwil has been to America.’ c. dan ni wedi byw ’ma am ddeng mlynedd. be.PRES.1PL we PERF live here for ten years ‘we’ve lived here for ten years.’ d. dw i wedi clywed y newyddion yn ddiweddar. be.PRES.1SG I PERF hear the news ADV late ‘I’ve recently heard the news.’

214

Perfect aspect

These uses are similar to explanations in an account of the English present perfect in McCawley (1971: 104–110). In (1a), the perfect of result establishes that the results of a prior situation are still evident: thus, John’s current presence is the result of his previous arrival. This is similar to McCawley’s stative (“to indicate that the direct effect of a past event still continues”), which he illustrates with the example I can’t come to your party – I’ve caught the flu. In (1b), the experiential perfect establishes that a situation has occurred at least once in a period of time which leads up to the current moment. This is similar to McCawley’s existential (“to indicate the existence of past events”), which he illustrates with the example I have read Principia Mathematica five times. In (1c), the perfect of persistent situation establishes that a situation which began in the past period is still taking place at a later time. This is similar to McCawley’s universal (“to indicate that a state of affairs prevailed throughout some interval stretching from the past into the present”), which he illustrates with the example I’ve known Max since 1960. In (1d), the perfect of recent past indicates that a prior situation has taken place very recently. This is similar to McCawley’s hot news (“to report hot news”), which he illustrates with the example Malcolm X has just been assassinated. In Welsh, newydd ‘new’ can be used in place of wedi for a recent past reference, as is discussed in chapter 9. We can note three problems with the current relevance approach. First, characterizing current relevance can be difficult. The effectiveness of Comrie’s taxonomy in explaining current relevance varies. The perfect of result and the perfect of persistent situation can indicate continuing relevance. But it is less clear how the perfect of recent past establishes current relevance, unless we can argue that recentness makes a past situation still relevant to a current time. In English, an adverb such as recently or just explicitly indicates recentness. Apart from recentness, there is little to distinguish the perfect of recent past from the experiential perfect (or existential perfect): both describe situations which occur in the past period of time. The experiential perfect is quite problematic for the current relevance analysis. Such examples describe past-time situations which can be quite distant from the present time, and their current relevance is not obvious, unless we can make very general statements that past experiences are in some way currently relevant. For instance, we could claim that past experiences are part of our general knowledge and understanding, and are thus currently relevant. Smith (1997: 106– 108) offers views along these lines. Her discussion of the perfect also variously draws upon distinctions of the sort which are outlined by Comrie (1976: 52–65). She attributes three meanings to the perfect. One, which we shall return to below in this sub-section, is a temporal one, namely, that the

Introduction

215

situation precedes the perfect reference time. But it is the other two meanings which are more significant for current relevance. She argues that in examples which contain the perfect aspect “a special property is ascribed to the subject, due to participation in the situation”, labelled the participant property. Smith also argues that the perfect has a resultant stative viewpoint. Applying Smith’s views to combinations of the PRESENT tense and the perfect aspect, then it can be claimed that the participant property and the resultant state provides the current relevance of past-time situations.71 We can also note that the problem of explaining current relevance is intensified if an objective approach is adopted, an approach which looks for explicit attributes of situations which demonstrate current relevance. But if a subjective approach is adopted, it could be claimed that current relevance depends upon the attitude of the speaker and, if current relevance of a past-time situation is assumed by the speaker, the selection of the perfect explicitly makes a previous situation relevant to a later time. We shall return to these matters in 7.2.2. Second, the temporal relationship of two times underlies current relevance: if the latter were removed, the temporal relationship would remain. The temporal explanation is thus a more basic one. The more detailed meanings of the sort which are referred to by Comrie (1976: 52–65) and McCawley (1971: 104–110), can be attributed to contextual effects within a temporal explanation: current relevance can arise through implication or inference that a situation which is located prior to a perfect reference time can be relevant to that time. Third, for current relevance to be an adequate explanation of the perfect, it must be appropriate for all the contexts in which the perfect occurs – with all the tenses in finite contexts and not just the PRESENT tense, and with all the other contexts which are discussed in 7.3. It is not clear how current relevance can apply to the examples in 7.3.1. But a temporal explanation can readily be applied to all contexts. An explanation of the perfect in terms of periods of time is found in an account of the English perfect by Palmer (1987: 36–37, 46–53), who establishes a perfect period of time, namely, “a period of time that began before, but continued right up to a point of time (either present or past, according to the tense)”, graphically represented in figure 21 (including the future time, which is omitted in Palmer’s explanation). Palmer’s perfect periods of time are relative periods of time and not deictic periods of time. They are not established in relation to the moment of speaking but are established in relation to perfect reference times which are located in the past, the present, or the future. The situations which are described by the perfect aspect are located within a perfect period of time. Palmer’s analysis can account for the

216

Perfect aspect

range of examples which are listed by Comrie and illustrated in (1). This period of time can include not only situations whose existence persist to the present moment as in (1c) but also past-time situations whose endurance does not include the present moment as in (1a), (1b), and (1d) – the latter are still within a perfect period of time. Palmer’s approach can also account for examples which involve other tenses, such as those given in 7.2, and examples which involve the other patterns in 7.3. It is also useful in distinguishing between a simple PAST tense and the perfect with the PRESENT tense (the present perfect), and we shall return to this matter in 7.2.2. But a problem with this approach is the definition of the onset of a perfect period of time. Looking at examples such as those in (1), a perfect period of time has an elastic quality: it is a long period of time in the case of an example like (1c) but a short period of time in the case of an example like (1d). The onset of a perfect period of time is thus determined by the initial end-point of the time of the situation. Consequently, there are grounds for claiming that a situation does not occur within a perfect period of time but that a situation partly determines a perfect period of time. This undermines the notion of a perfect period of time as a temporal location of situations. Past

Present

t

t

Future

t

Figure 21. Palmer’s perfect periods of time (Palmer’s “point of time” is represented by t)

Another temporal analysis emphasizes that the perfect aspect establishes anterior time. Reichenbach (1947) uses the formula E – R to indicate that an event, E, (or situation in our terms) is located anterior to a (perfect) reference time, R. (Reichenbach’s analysis incorporates an account of the perfect into an account of tense, but we shall ignore the relationship of tense and perfect at this stage). Instances of this approach are found in Quirk et al. (1985: 190) and Smith (1997: 106). A variation of the anterior time analysis can say that the later reference time supplies a standpoint from which we can look back to a prior situation, that is, a retrospective view. A retrospective view of a situation clearly implies the anterior temporal location of the situation. And the anterior temporal location of a situation in respect of a later reference time can imply a retrospective view. The anterior time approach (or retrospective view approach) will be adopted in this

Compound tense patterns

217

study for three reasons. First, it has the merit that it is relatively simple and transparent: it is based solely on the earlier time of a situation and a later perfect reference time, and requires no further argumentation either in terms of current relevance or perfect periods of time. Second, this simple temporal relationship underlies the current relevance explanation and the explanation in terms of perfect periods of time. Current relevance is based on the relationship of a prior situation and a later perfect reference time, and further, as already indicated, Comrie’s current relevance can be attributed to contextual effects and implications. Palmer’s analysis in terms of periods of time is also based on the time of the situation and the perfect reference time, which provide the starting and finishing points of a perfect period of time. Third, it is clearly applicable to all examples: it can account for the examples which involve the PRESENT tense in (1), the examples which involve other tenses as given in 7.2, and the examples which involve the other patterns in 7.3. All these situations are anterior to a perfect reference time, including the past of persistent situation in (1a), which begins in the past but endures up to the present moment. 72 We can add, too, that the perfect viewpoint involves relative periods of time and not deictic periods of time. It is thus not a tense, although we shall consider analyses which claim that the perfect can behave like a tense in 7.2.2. Like tense, however, the perfect aspect does not give precise details of the temporal location of the situation: it simply says that the situation occurs prior to a reference time, and the details of the temporal location can be established by adverbs and pragmatics. 7.2

Compound tense patterns

This section concentrates on compound tenses in which bod ‘be’ is the finite verb. We shall look at ways of establishing the perfect reference time (7.2.1). We shall also discuss the location of the situation in different deictic periods of time, and re-examine the semantics of tense (7.2.2). 7.2.1

The perfect reference time: Tenses and adverbs

Reichenbach’s (1947) well-known study emphasizes a reference time for the discussion of the perfect. We have already introduced a reference time for the analysis of tense in 2.2.2 and 5.1, and, as we shall see, the perfect aspect requires a different reference time. Comrie (1985: 128–129) also ac-

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knowledges the possibility of multi-reference times. Compared with the moment of speaking which defines deictic periods of time, the reference time for the perfect aspect is not a concept which can be defined with precision. Quirk et al. (1985: 190) refer to the perfect reference time as the “time orientation”, and they say that it “… is signalled by tense or by other elements of the sentence or its context”. Smith (1997: 101) explains the reference time as the “temporal standpoint of a sentence”, and uses it to explain both the perfect and tense. We shall claim in this study that the default is to assume that a perfect reference time is available, and that anterior time or a retrospective view in relation to this reference time is intended. And, following Quirk et al., speakers and listeners can look for the details of a perfect reference time by referring to tense, adverbs, or pragmatics. We shall look first at the relationship of the perfect reference time and tense. The perfect aspect can occur with all of the finite forms of bod ‘be’, except for one, as the following examples show: 2a.

oedd Siân wedi gorffen. be.IMPF.3SG Siân PERF finish ‘Siân had finished.’ b. ma’ Siân wedi gorffen. be.PRES.3SG Siân PERF finish ‘Siân has finished.’ c. fydd Siân wedi gorffen. be.FUT.3SG Siân PERF finish ‘Siân will have finished.’ d. fydde/fase Siân wedi gorffen. be.FUTP.3SG Siân PERF finish ‘Siân would have finished.’ e. fydde/fase Siân wedi gorffen. be.CNTF.3SG Siân PERF finish ‘Siân would have finished.’ f. * fuodd Siân wedi gorffen. be.PERV.3SG Siân PERF finish = ‘Siân has / had finished.’

The exception is the PAST tense PERFECTIVE, illustrated in (2f), which we have already discussed in 4.3.2, as the perfective-perfect constraint. There is a tendency in traditional reference grammars of Welsh, and in general discussions, to give more attention to occurrences of the perfect aspect with

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219

the PRESENT tense, the so-called present perfect. We shall look at each of the tense forms in combination with the perfect aspect. Quirk et al. (1985: 190) say that tense can supply the reference time for the perfect aspect. A similar view of the relationship of tense and the perfect reference time is found in Thompson (2005: 6). In Reichenbachian terms, she says that the tense feature orders R, the perfect reference time, in relation to S, the speech time. Thus, the PAST tense locates R previous to S (in the deictic past), and the FUTURE tense locates R after S (in the deictic future). We shall see that this applies to the Welsh perfect aspect. But it will be recalled from 5.1 that tense is analysed in this study as a combination of a reference time for tense and an evaluation time, and it is necessary to determine how the perfect aspect relates to both these times. The relationship of the perfect reference time with the temporal features of the tenses is most clearly indicated with the FUTURE tense and the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense. 3a. fydd Siân wedi gorffen. be.FUT.3SG Siân PERF finish ‘Siân will have finished.’ b. fydde/fase Siân wedi gorffen. be.FUTP.3SG Siân PERF finish ‘Siân would have finished.’ In the case of these tenses, the evaluation time is subsequent to the reference time for tense. The perfect aspect locates the situation at some time prior to the evaluation time; or, alternatively, the perfect aspect views the situation retrospectively from the standpoint of the evaluation time. This complex set of relationships can be represented as in figure 22. The perfect reference time can be anchored around the evaluation time, and the situation is located prior to the perfect reference time. In (3a), the FUTURE tense establishes that the perfect reference time is at some time in the future period, and the perfect aspect locates the situation previous to this reference time. In (3b), the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense establishes that the perfect reference time is at some time in the future-in-the-past period, and the perfect aspect places the situation in a time which is previous to this reference time. In these examples, the situation is also subsequent to the tense reference time, but in 7.2.2 we shall discuss examples which show that the anterior temporal location of the situation can occur prior to the tense reference time. The important point is that the evaluation time can indicate the reference time for the perfect aspect.

220

Perfect aspect Past

Present

Future X

Rt Past

Present

Et Rp Future

X Rt

Et Rp

Figure 22. The perfect aspect with the FUTURE tense and the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense in Welsh (X represents the situation, Rt represents the reference time for tense, Et represents the evaluation time, and Rp represents the reference time for the perfect aspect)

Examples of the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE and the perfect aspect are as follows: 4a. oedd Siân wedi be.IMPF.3SG Siân PERF ‘Siân had finished.’ b. ma’ Siân wedi be.PRES.3SG Siân PERF ‘Siân has finished.’

PRESENT

tense with the

gorffen. finish gorffen. finish

In the case of these tenses, the tense reference time and the evaluation time are concurrent. In (4a), the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE establishes that the perfect reference time is at some time in the past period, and the perfect aspect locates the situation previous to this reference time. In (4b), the PRESENT tense establishes the present moment as the perfect reference time, and the perfect aspect places the situation in a time which is previous to the present moment. All these relationships can be graphically portrayed as in figure 23. We could say that the tense reference time provides a temporal standpoint for the perfect aspect in the case of these two tenses. But this occurs because the tense reference time coincides with the evaluation time. A generalization can be established for the four tenses by claiming that the evaluation time can provide the reference time for the perfect aspect.

Compound tense patterns Past

Present

221

Future

X Rt Et Rp Past

Present

Future

X Rt Et Rp Figure 23. The perfect aspect with the PRESENT tense and the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE in Welsh (X represents the situation, Rt represents the reference time for tense, Et represents the evaluation time, and Rp represents the reference time for the perfect aspect)

The COUNTERFACTUAL meaning of the Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms also occurs with the perfect aspect: 5 fydde/fase Siân wedi gorffen fory. be.CNTF.3SG Siân PERF finish tomorrow ‘Siân would have finished tomorrow.’ We argue in 5.2.1 that the COUNTERFACTUAL has two tenses, PRESENT and FUTURE. But again, the evaluation time provides a reference time for the perfect aspect. Figure 24 illustrates the FUTURE tense and a perfect reference time somewhere in the future period. Past

Present

Future X

Rt

Et Rp

Figure 24. The perfect aspect with the COUNTERFACTUAL in Welsh (X represents the situation, Rt represents the reference time for tense, Et represents the evaluation time, and Rp represents the reference time for the perfect aspect)

222

Perfect aspect

In 7.2.2, we shall consider examples which locate the situation in the deictic past. Further evidence that the perfect reference time is located around the evaluation time can be given by comparing perfect examples with nonperfect examples of the same tense. It will be recalled from 2.2.3 that the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE and the PRESENT tense can be used to describe situations which are outside the period of time to which the tenses refer (nonconcurrent situations). We have seen that the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE can describe situations in the present time and the future time, and the PRESENT tense can describe situations which are in the future time. But this is not generally possible with the perfect aspect: 6a.

oedd Siân yn gweithio rwan, ynd oedd? be.IMPF.3SG Siân PROG work now Q.NEG be.IMPF.3SG ‘Siân was working now, wasn’t she?’ b. * oedd Siân wedi bod yn gweithio rwan, ynd oedd? be.IMPF.3SG Siân PERF be PROG work now Q.NEG be.IMPF.3SG ‘Siân had been working now, hadn’t she?’ 7a. oedd Siân yn gweithio fory. be.IMPF.3SG Siân PROG work tomorrow ‘Siân was working tomorrow.’ b. * oedd Siân wedi bod yn gweithio fory. be.IMPF.3SG Siân PERF be PROG work tomorrow ‘Siân had been working tomorrow.’ 8a. ma’ Mair yn gweld Siôn fory. be.PRES.3SG Mair PROG see Siôn tomorrow ‘Mair is seeing Siôn tomorrow.’ b. * ma’ Mair wedi bod yn gweld Siôn fory. be.PRES.3SG Mair PERF be PROG see Siôn tomorrow ‘Mair has been seeing Siôn tomorrow.’

The evidence for this restriction is weaker with the PRESENT tense. Ordinary examples as in (8) illustrate the restriction. But there are exceptional scenarios in which it is possible to have a PRESENT tense example of the perfect. For instance, consider a speaker outlining a plan of some situation which involves co-ordinated timing: erbyn hyn mae John wedi dwyn yr arian a mi ddylet ti fod yn aros efo’r car yn barod ‘by now John has stolen the money and you should be waiting with the car ready’. Or consider a superior-inferior relationship in which the superior has firm authority over the inferior (for example, military officer and private soldier), and the superior

Compound tense patterns

223

says pan ddoi’i yn ôl, ma’r cawl ’ma wedi mynd – deall? ‘when I come back, this mess has gone – understand?’. But it could be argued that these exceptional scenarios do not involve present-time pre-determination but involve the speaker, in his or her mind, moving the deictic centre to future time, and are thus describing an anterior situation from the standpoint of this shifted deictic centre. Turning now to adverbs, it is relevant to distinguish the time of the situation and the time of the perfect reference in relation to which the situation is retrospectively viewed or located. The adverbs in the following examples describe the time of the situation: 9a. o’n i wedi graddio ym mis Gorffennaf 1966. be.IMPF.1SG I PERF graduate in month July 1966 ‘I had graduated in July 1966.’ b. oedd hi wedi gad’el cartre ar ’i Phen Blwydd. be.IMPF.3SG she PERF leave home on 3SG.F head year ‘she had left home on her birthday.’ c. fyddan nhw wedi gorffen dros y Sul. be.FUT.3PL they PERF finish over the Sunday ‘they will have finished over the weekend.’ d. fydd Gwyn wedi priodi Mair yr haf nesaf. be.FUT.3SG Gwyn PERF marry Mair the summer next ‘Gwyn will have married Mair next summer.’ The following examples contain adverbs which describe the perfect reference time, and the situations are located prior to this time: 10a. oedd hi wedi gad’el cartre pan welish i hi. be.IMPF.3SG she PERF leave home when see. PERV.1SG I she ‘she had left home when I saw her.’ b. fydd Gwyn wedi priodi Mair erbyn yr Hydref. be.FUT.3SG Gwyn PERF marry Mair against the Autumn ‘Gwyn will have married Mair by the Autumn.’ And it is possible to have both an adverb which describes the time of the situation and an adverb which describes the time of the perfect reference time:

224

Perfect aspect

11a. oedd hi wedi gorffen ar y dydd Llun pan be.IMPF.3SG she PERF finish on the day Mon(day) when welish i hi. see. PERV.1SG I she ‘she had finished on the Monday when I saw her.’ b. oedd hi wedi graddio y flwyddyn flaenorol pan be.IMPF.3SG she PERF graduate the year previous when nesh i gwrdd â hi. do.PERV.1SG I meet with she ‘she had graduated the year before when I met her.’ Thompson (2005: 15–49) discusses situation-time adverbs and referencetime adverbs in detail, presenting an array of empirical evidence for the distinction. This present work concentrates on the perfect reference time, and the remainder of this section explores the sorts of adverbs which can convey the reference time. We shall return to the time of the situation in 7.2.2, when we discuss tense and aspect patterns in greater detail. When an adverb occurs which describes the perfect reference time, the latter is still confined to the deictic period which is indicated by tense. Thus, the adverb and the tense must be compatible. But the adverb provides a more specific location of the perfect reference time within a deictic period. There are adverbs which can establish a point or period of time from which a retrospective view can be adopted. Pan ‘when’ clauses are good examples. Perfect and non-perfect are different, as the following examples show: 12a. oedd Mair wedi bod yn gweithio pan gyrhaeddish i. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PERF be PROG work when arrive.PERV.1SG I ‘Mair had been working when I arrived.’ b. oedd Mair yn gweithio pan gyrhaeddish i. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG work when arrive.PERV.1SG I ‘Mair was working when I arrived.’ c. weithiodd Mair pan gyrhaeddish i. work.PERV.3SG Mair when arrive.PERV.1SG I ‘Mair worked when I arrived.’ 13a. fydd y dynion wedi gorffen pan ganith y gloch. be.FUT.3SG the men PERF finish when sing.FUT.3SG the bell ‘the men will have finished when the bell rings.’

Compound tense patterns

225

b. fydd y dynion yn gorffen pan ganith y gloch. be.FUT.3SG the men PROG finish when sing.FUT.3SG the bell ‘the men will be finishing when the bell rings.’ c. orfennith y dynion pan ganith y gloch. be.FUT.3SG the men when sing.FUT.3SG the bell ‘the men will finish when the bell rings.’ These examples show that only the perfect aspect can create an anterior temporal location for the situation (or retrospective view) in relation to the time which is established by the pan ‘when’ clause. With the non-perfect examples in (12b–c) and (13b–c), the situation either encompasses the time indicated by the pan ‘when’ clauses in the case of the progressive examples, or is simultaneous or successive in the case of the non-progressive examples. Prepositional phrases with cyn ‘before’ contain a point or period of time against which the preposition establishes a relationship of anterior to. Like pan ‘when’ clauses, cyn ‘before’ phrases, can also occur with perfect and non-perfect versions: 14a. oedd Mair wedi mynd cyn i mi gyrr’edd. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PERF go before to I arrive ‘Mair had gone before I arrived.’ b. oedd Mair yn mynd cyn i mi gyrr’edd. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG go before to I arrive ‘Mair was going before I arrived.’ c. a’th Mair cyn i mi gyrr’edd. go.PERV.3SG Mair before to I arrive ‘Mair went before I arrived.’ 15a. fydd y plant wedi bod yn ymarfer cyn wyth heno. be.FUT.3SG the children PERF be PROG practise before eight tonight ‘the children will have been practising before eight tonight.’ b. fydd y plant yn ymarfer cyn wyth heno. be.FUT.3SG the children PROG practise before eight tonight ‘the children will be practising before eight tonight.’ c. neith y plant ymarfer cyn wyth heno. do.FUT.3SG the children practise before eight tonight ‘the children will practise before eight tonight.’ In all the examples, the meaning of the preposition places the main situation before an explicit time. There is, then, no difference between perfect and non-perfect examples in terms of the location of the situation in rela-

226

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tion to this time. But we shall claim that the situation is viewed differently. In the case of the perfect, the prior situation is explicitly located in anterior time or is explicitly viewed in retrospective terms. But in the case of the non-perfect examples, the situation is simply located before another time without providing explicit anterior time or a retrospective view. Erbyn ‘against, by’ also occurs in prepositional phrases which contain a point or period of time, but this preposition indicates a time up to the latter. Perfect examples may be more typical with erbyn ‘against’, but there are also examples which allow the progressive non-perfect (especially if the situation is continuative – see 7.2.2) but not the non-progressive non-perfect: 16a. oeddwn i wedi bod yn cysgu erbyn hynny. be.IMPF.1SG I PERF be PROG sleep against then ‘I had been sleeping by then.’ b. oeddwn i ’n cysgu erbyn hynny. be.IMPF.1SG I PROG sleep by then ‘I was sleeping by then.’ c. * gysgish i erbyn hynny. sleep.PERV.1SG I by then ‘I slept by then.’ 17a. fyddi di wedi gweithio erbyn amser cinio. be.FUT.2SG you.SG PERF work by time dinner ‘you will have worked by dinner time.’ b. fyddi di ’n gweithio erbyn amser cinio. be.FUT.2SG you.SG PROG work by time dinner ‘you will be working by dinner time.’ c. * weithi-i di erbyn amser cinio. see. FUT.2SG you.SG by time dinner ‘you will work by dinner time.’ Again, the perfect examples explicitly establish anterior time or a retrospective view. Ers ‘since’ is worthy of comment (see note 29 for ers versus er). It can occur with the perfect aspect, and also with non-perfect versions but, like erbyn ‘against, by’, only if the latter are progressive. Examples are as follows: 18a. oeddwn i wedi bod yn gweithio ers amser brecwast. be.IMPF.1SG I PERF be PROG work since time breakfast ‘I’d been working since breakfast time.’

Compound tense patterns

227

b. oeddwn i ’n gweithio ers amser brecwast. be.IMPF.1SG I PROG work since time breakfast ‘I was working since breakfast time.’ c. * weithish i ers amser brecwast. work.PERV.1SG I since time breakfast ‘I worked since breakfast time.’ Ers ‘since’ indicates the inception of a period of time. Inception can be detailed either as a specific time as in ers deg o’r gloch ‘since ten o’clock’ or it can be implied by a durative phrase as in ers dwy awr ‘for two hours’. Other adverbs which occur with the perfect aspect and the non-perfect progressive, but not non-perfect and non-progressive equivalents, are eisoes ‘already’ and parod ‘ready’. They can also convey anterior time or a retrospective view. Eisoes occurs before the aspect phrase, and parod occurs after the non-finite verb in a phrase which is headed by adverbial yn. Examples are as follows: 19a. oedd o {eisoes wedi blino / wedi blino yn barod}. be.IMPF.3SG he already PERF tire PERF tire ADV ready ‘he had already tired.’ b. oedd o {eisoes yn blino / yn blino yn barod}. be.IMPF.3SG he already PROG tire PROG tire ADV ready ‘he was already tiring.’ c. * flinodd o {eisoes / yn barod}. tire.PERV.3SG he already ADV ready ‘he already tired.’ Eisoes is more typical of formal Welsh, and parod is productive in informal Welsh. To summarize, we have seen that the analysis of the combination of the perfect aspect and the tenses justifies distinguishing two reference times: one for tense and the other for the perfect aspect. The perfect conveys anterior time or a retrospective view from the standpoint of the reference time. The perfect reference time can be located at the evaluation time which is associated with the tense. The PRESENT tense places the perfect reference time at the moment of speaking, and the FUTURE tense places the perfect reference time at some time in the deictic future. Similarly, the PAST tense (IMPERFECTIVE) places the perfect reference time at some time in the deictic past, and the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense places the perfect reference time at some time in the future-in-the-past period. The PAST tense PERFECTIVE, how-

228

Perfect aspect

ever, is subject to the perfective-perfect constraint. Only the PRESENT tense allows the perfect reference time to be located precisely. The other tenses indicate its location indefinitely at some point in past or future time. However, adverbs and pragmatics can narrow its location to specific times. 7.2.2

Tense and the time of the situation

In this sub-section, we shall return to an analysis of tense and take up issues which are discussed in 2.2. We shall compare the deictic period of time in which the situation is located with the deictic period of time which is indicated by the tense. We shall see that in some cases, the situation and the tense share the same period of time (concurrent), but in other cases they can be different (non-concurrent). The latter do not raise problems for the analysis of the perfect aspect. It can be predicted that an anterior temporal location (or a retrospective view) has the potential to place the situation in a previous deictic period. But they do raise problems for the analysis of tense, as the temporal location of the situation can be different to the temporal features of the tense. This is especially a problem for the time-ofsituation analysis of tense, but it also introduces difficulties for the time-ofevaluation analysis, as we shall see. In the case of combinations of the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE and the perfect aspect, the tense feature and the temporal location of the situation are both in the deictic past. This does not raise any problems for the time-ofsituation analysis: we can say that the past-time location of the situation licenses the PAST tense. Nor does it raise problems for the time-of-evaluation analysis: we can reasonably claim that the PAST tense is licensed by evaluation at some time in the past. However, we have already seen in the discussion of cyn ‘before’ in 7.2.1 that past situations can also be described by non-perfect versions. That discussion emphasizes that the perfect explicitly creates anterior time or a retrospective view. This is also seen in the following examples, which represent question-and-answer exchanges: 20a. welist ti Mair? see.PERV.2SG you.SG Mair ‘did you see Mair?’ b. naddo, a’th hi. NEG.PERV go.PERV.3SG she ‘no, she went.’

Compound tense patterns

229

c. naddo, oedd hi wedi mynd. NEG.PERV be.IMPF.3SG she PERF go ‘no, she’d gone.’ The answer in (20c) is a more appropriate answer. It conveys that by the time which is implied in the question, Mair had already gone. But the answer in (20b) creates neither anterior time nor a retrospective view of the situation. In the case of the FUTURE tense, matters are more complex. The situation can be located in the deictic period in which the evaluation time indicated by tense, namely, the future period: 21a. fydd Mair wedi cyrraedd erbyn deg nos fory. be.FUT.3SG Mair PERF arrive against ten night tomorrow ‘Mair will have arrived by ten tomorrow night.’ b. fydd Sioned wedi penderfynu cyn wythnos nesa’. be.FUT.3SG Sioned PERF decide before week next ‘Sioned will have decided by next week.’ c. fydda’ i wedi gorffen fory. be.FUT.1SG I PERF finish tomorrow ‘I’ll have finished tomorrow.’ But a retrospective view from a future reference time can extend back into the deictic past. However, it is uncertain whether the precise temporal location of the situation can be specified by a definite past-time adverb like neithiwr ‘last night’, ddoe ‘yesterday’, or naw o’r gloch y bore ’ma ‘nine o’clock this morning’ (looking back later in the day). But more general indications of a past location are acceptable. The following examples illustrate these points: 22a. fydd Mair wedi cyrr’edd {cyn rwan / (?neithiwr)}. be.FUT.3SG Mair PERF arrive before now last-night ‘Mair will have arrived {before no / last night}.’ b. fydd Mair wedi mynd {cyn heddiw / (?ddoe)}. be.FUT.3SG Mair PERF go before today yesterday ‘Mair will have gone {before today / yesterday}.’ c. fydd hi wedi gweld y doctor (?ddoe). be.FUT.3SG she PERF see the doctor yesterday ‘she will have seen the doctor yesterday.’

230

Perfect aspect

d. fydd Mair wedi gweld Sioned {yn gynharach / be.FUT.3SG Mair PERF see Sioned ADV earlier (?bore ’ma)}. morning here ‘Mair will have seen Sioned {earlier / this morning}.’ e. fydd Mair wedi profi methiant rhywbryd yn y gorffennol. be.FUT.3SG Mair PERF arrive failure some-time in the past ‘Mair will have experienced failure sometime in the past.’ It may be that there are scenarios which allow a definite past-time adverbial with the FUTURE tense and the perfect aspect, but we have adopted a more conservative view of this possibility in the examples in (22). It would strengthen the points being made here if definite past-time adverbs were allowable. The location of the situations in (21) and (22) are represented graphically in figure 25. The examples in (22) are not mentioned in traditional reference grammars of Welsh. In each case, the FUTURE tense occurs Past

Present X (22)

Future X (21)

Rt

Et Rp

Figure 25. Past and future situations and the FUTURE tense in Welsh (X represents the situations, Rt represents the reference time for tense, Et represents the evaluation time, and Rp represents the reference time for the perfect aspect)

with a situation which is located in the deictic past. These examples create problems for the time-of-situation analysis: the past-time location of the situation cannot license the selection of the FUTURE tense. Hornstein (1990: 39) claims a tense function for the perfect aspect with the Future-Form will in English: that is, it locates the situation in past time. We shall not adopt this position. We shall claim that the time-of-evaluation analysis can account for these examples: the speaker believes that the occurrence of the past situation can be verified by some future-time evaluation. In addition, we shall also claim that the perfect is fulfilling its standard function of providing an anterior temporal location or a retrospective view from a reference time in the deictic future, and this can locate the situation in past time. The argument against the tense function for the perfect in this context is

Compound tense patterns

231

also strengthened by the fact that we can claim that the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense is the past equivalent of the FUTURE tense (see 5.1 for details of the relationship of these two tenses). Taking these points together, there is no need to claim a tense function for the perfect aspect. The FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense is similar to the FUTURE tense. It will be recalled from 2.2.2 that a future-in-the-past period is subsequent to an implied or explicit tense reference time in past time. Perfect examples can locate the situation in a future-in-the-past period: 23 oedd hi ddim yn gwbod basa hi wedi gorffen be.IMPF.3SG she NEG PROG know be.FUTP.3SG she PERF finish erbyn diwedd y dydd. against end the day ‘she didn’t know that she would have finished by the end of the day.’ In such examples, the situation is anterior to the reference time for the perfect aspect but occurs in a future-in-the-past period (that is, a period of time subsequent to the tense reference time) – see figure 26. But there are also perfect examples which place the situation before the tense reference time and thus prior to the future-in-the-past period: 24 pan welest ti Mair fasa hi wedi bod yn when see.PERV.2SG you Mair be.FUTP.3SG she PERF be PROG gweithio. work ‘when you saw Mair, she would have been working.’ In (24), the situation precedes the time of seeing Mair. The location of the situations in (23) and (24) are represented graphically in figure 26. In examples like (23), the location of the situation can be said to be in the futurein-the-past period. Such examples do not create problems for the traditional time-of-situation analysis nor the time-of-evaluation analysis. But examples like those in (24) create problems for the time-of-situation analysis. The past-time location of the situation cannot license the selection of the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense as the situation is not in a future-in-the-past period. In contrast, the time-of-evaluation analysis can account for these examples: the speaker believes that the occurrence of a past situation can be verified by some future-in-the-past evaluation, and the perfect aspect can locate this past situation in a future-in-the-past period or prior to it.

232

Perfect aspect Past X (24)

Present

Future

X (23) Rt

Et Rp

Figure 26. Past and future-in-the-past situations and the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense in Welsh (X represents the situations, Rt represents the reference time for tense, Et represents the evaluation time, and Rp represents the reference time for the perfect aspect)

The following examples of the COUNTERFACTUAL likewise show that the situation can be located either in the deictic future or the deictic past: 25a. fasa Mair wedi cyrraedd erbyn deg neithiwr pe be.CNTF.3SG Mair PERF arrive against ten last-night if basa ’ r trên wedi bod ar amser. be.CNTF.3SG the train PERF be on time ‘Mair would have arrived by ten last night if the train had been on time.’ b. fasa Mair wedi cyrraedd erbyn deg nos fory pe be.CNTF.3SG Mair PERF arrive against ten night tomorrow if bydde hi wedi cychwyn yn gynnar. be.CNTF.3SG she PERF start ADV early ‘Mair would have arrived by ten tomorrow night if she had started early.’ The retrospective view can look back to a previous period which can be in the future time or the past time. In this respect, the COUNTERFACTUAL is like the FUTURE tense. The COUNTERFACTUAL does not have a PAST tense equivalent. The only way of describing a past situation with the COUNTERFACTUAL is by using the perfect aspect. This raises the possibility that the perfect is fulfilling the function of a tense. But we shall not adopt this view. We shall claim that the perfect aspect is being used in a consistent way to produce an anterior temporal location or a retrospective view of a situation from the standpoint of a perfect reference time. The PRESENT tense is different yet again. It is useful to distinguish between those situations like the one in (lc), perfect of persistent situation, and past-time situations whose duration does not include the present moment. We shall refer to the former as continuative situations and the latter

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as non-continuative situations. The problem is to explain why the PRESENT tense is being used with a situation which is located wholly or partly in the deictic past. It will be recalled from 2.2.5 that this study claims that the PRESENT tense is used where there is present-time evaluation of a proposition which can be associated with an utterance. To achieve a consistent analysis of the PRESENT tense, it is necessary to account for the present perfect examples either in the same terms or by establishing some other present-time factor. With a continuative situation, the present moment is included in the time of the situation: 26a. ma’ Mair wedi gweithio am awr rwan. be.PRES.3SG Mair PERF work for hour now ‘Mair has worked for an hour now.’ b. dw i wedi siarad heb stopio tan rwan. be.PRES.1SG I PERF speak without stop until now ‘I have spoken without stopping until now.’ c. ma’ Sioned wedi bod yn sefyll ’ma trwy ’r amser. be.PRES.3SG Sioned PERF be PROG stand here through the time ‘Sioned has been standing here all the time.’ d. dan ni wedi bod yn byw ’ma ers 1976. be.PRES.1PL we PERF be PROG live here since 1976 ‘we’ve been living here since 1976.’ That continuative situations include the present time can be underlined by the fact that, as outlined in 2.2.3, they can be described with examples which are PRESENT tense but non-perfect: 27a. ma’ Mair yma ers dwy awr. be.PRES.3SG Mair here since two hour ‘Mair has been here for two hours.’ b. ma’ Sioned yn sefyll ’ma ers dwy awr. be.PRES.3SG Sioned PROG stand here since two hour ‘Sioned has been standing here for two hours.’ c. dan ni ’n byw ’ma ers 1976. be.PRES.1PL we PROG live here since 1976 ‘we’ve been living here since 1976.’ Tense in descriptions of continuative situations can be accounted for by both the time-of-situation analysis of tense and also the time-of-evaluation

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analysis. The time-of-situation analysis can account for the PRESENT tense in perfect continuative examples on the grounds that the present moment occurs within the time of the situation and this licenses the selection of the PRESENT tense (see definitions of present time which are discussed in 2.2.5). The time-of-evaluation analysis can account for the PRESENT tense in perfect continuative examples in that the occurrence of the situation at present time supplies the grounds for present-time evaluation, and this licenses the selection of the PRESENT tense. This is the analysis which is favoured in this current work. A non-continuative situation is wholly located in the deictic past and its occurrence or existence does not include the deictic present: 28a. dw i wedi colli ym mag! be.PRES.1SG I PERF lose 1SG bag ‘I’ve lost my bag!’ b. ma’ Mair wedi gweld Siôn bore ’ma. be.PRES.3SG Mair PERF see Siôn morning here ‘Mair has seen Siôn this morning.’ c. ma’n nhw wedi cyrraedd awr yn ôl. be.PRES.3PL they PERF arrive hour in track ‘they've arrived an hour ago.’ d. ma’ Gwyn wedi newid y dyddiad. be.PRES.3SG Gwyn PERF change the date ‘Gwyn has changed the date.’ e. dw i we di gwerthu ’r car. be.PRES.1SG I PERF sell the car ‘I’ve sold the car.’ f. ma’ hi wedi trio dysgu dreifio sawl tro. be.PRES.3SG she PERF try learn drive several turn ‘she has tried to learn to drive several times.’ g. dw i wedi darllen pob llyfr gan le Carré. be.PRES.1SG I PERF read every book by le Carré ‘I’ve read every book by le Carré.’ h. dw i wedi dringo ’r Wyddfa. be.PRES.1SG I PERF climb the Snowdon ‘I’ve climbed Snowdon.’ i. ma’ ’r Prif Weinidog wedi ymddiswyddo! be.PRES.3SG the Prime Minister PERF resign ‘the Prime Minister has resigned!’

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That these situations are clearly located in the deictic past can be demonstrated by the following examples, which involve the PAST tense (PERFECTIVE) and the non-perfect aspect but which can be compared with those in (28): 29a. gollish i ym mag. lose.PERV.1SG I 1SG bag ‘I lost my bag.’ b. welodd Mair Siôn bore ’ma. see.PERV.3SG Mair Siôn morning here ‘Mair saw Siôn this morning.’ c. gyrhaeddon nhw awr yn ôl. arrive.PERV.3PL they hour in track ‘they arrived an hour ago.’ d. newidiodd Gwyn y dyddiad. change. PERV.3SG Gwyn the date ‘Gwyn changed the date.’ e. werthish i ’r car. sell.PERV.1SG I the car ‘I sold the car.’ f. driodd hi ddysgu dreifio sawl tro. try.PERV.3SG she learn drive several turn ‘she tried to learn to drive several times.’ g. ddarllenish i bob llyfr gan le Carré. read.PERV.1SG I every book by le Carré ‘I read every book by le Carré.’ h. ddringish i ’r Wyddfa. climb.PERV.1SG I the Snowdon ‘I climbed Snowdon.’ i. ymddiswyddodd y Prif Weinidog! resign.PERV.3SG the Prime Minister ‘the Prime Minister resigned!’ We shall consider whether the time-of-situation analysis and the time-ofevaluation analysis can explain the occurrence of the PRESENT tense in descriptions of non-continuative situations. We shall first consider the time-of-situation analysis. The noncontinuative examples in (28) are clearly problematic: the situations are not located in present time, and the PRESENT tense is not properly licensed in this analysis. The time-of-situation analysis also faces another problem,

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which is made obvious with PRESENT tense examples. This analysis holds that tense establishes the temporal location of the situation. But analyses of the perfect aspect hold that the situation is located anterior to the time of the tense. The analyses of tense and the perfect aspect are contradictory: tense locates the situation in present time but the perfect aspect in relation to tense locates the situation in past time. This problem does not arise with the time-of-evaluation analysis as it does not define tense in terms of the time of the situation. In order to maintain the time-of-situation analysis we could claim that there is a composite present perfect tense, which establishes anterior time in relation to the present moment. But in this study, we adopt the view that tense and perfect aspect are independent, although they occur together in finite clauses. The time-of-evaluation analysis also faces difficulties. According to this approach, the PRESENT tense is selected because there are grounds for present-time evaluation of the proposition which is associated with an utterance. Given that the situations all take place in the past, there are grounds for past-time evaluation, which licenses the PAST tense, as in (29). We shall consider whether we could maintain the time-of-evaluation analysis of tense by returning to the current relevance interpretation of the perfect aspect. We could claim that where past situations have present-time current relevance, then the latter can in some way provide grounds for present-time evaluation which justifies the PRESENT tense. The example in (28a), compared with (29a), provides a classic illustration. The present-time absence of the bag is a result of its loss in the past, and this provides present-time evaluation for the proposition that the bag has been previously lost. But we have seen in 7.1.2 that it is not always obvious how current relevance can be applied to the experiential (or existential) examples, such as examples (28g–h). Special pleading is necessary to support the view that present-time current relevance can provide present-time evaluation for the selection of the PRESENT tense in descriptions of a past–time situation, and this is not entirely convincing. We shall therefore consider a modified version of the time-of-evaluation analysis, which is mainly appropriate to those past-time situations which are non-continuative and have no obvious results or consequences at the present moment, mainly experiential (or existential) past-time situations and also, possibly, some recent past (or hot news) situations. We shall claim that the speaker selects the PRESENT tense with the perfect aspect when he or she seeks an explicit anterior temporal location or retrospective view of a past-time situation from the point of view of the present moment. We are claiming now that the PRESENT tense is chosen not solely because of

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present-time evaluation but because its temporal feature provides a presenttime reference standpoint for the perfect aspect. In summary, we shall adopt two explanations of the PRESENT tense in examples which also contain the perfect aspect. In the case of present-time results and also continuative situations, we can claim that there are presenttime grounds for evaluation which justify the selection of the PRESENT tense. This conforms with the generalization which accounts for the PRESENT tense in non-perfect examples. In the case of non-continuative past-time situations which have no obvious present-time results or consequences and for which, therefore, there are no obvious present-time grounds for evaluation, we claim that the PRESENT tense is chosen for its temporal properties alone and not because of the availability of present-time evaluation. This approach maintains a general explanation of the perfect aspect as conveying an anterior temporal location or a retrospective view from a reference time. It also maintains at least in part a consistent explanation of the PRESENT tense in that it is selected for its temporal features in order to establish the reference time for the perfect aspect. We could establish an even greater generalization for tense in perfect examples and claim that tense is chosen simply to establish a reference time for an anterior temporal location or a retrospective view. But we shall preserve the time-of-evaluation analysis for tense, and give a special account for the PRESENT tense in sentences which describe experiential situations – non-continuative past-time situations which have no obvious connection with present time. There is another problem about the PRESENT tense and the perfect aspect, which involves adverbs which are clearly past time, such as yesterday, last night, last week, last year, eight o’clock this morning. A similar problem was mentioned in the discussion of the FUTURE tense and the perfect aspect in relation to examples (22). There are languages like French and, according to Giorgi and Pianesi (1997: 87), German, Dutch, Icelandic, and, according to Comrie (1985: 85), Spanish, which allow past-time adverbs with the PRESENT tense and the perfect. The following French and Spanish examples illustrate this (the Spanish example is from Comrie 1985: 85): 30a. j ’ ai vu Jean hier. I have.PRES.1SG see. PASTP Jean yesterday ‘I saw Jean yesterday.’ b. lo he visto hoy a las seis de la mañana. him have.PRES.1SG see. PASTP today at the.PL six of the morning ‘I saw him today at six o’clock in the morning.’

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Perfect aspect

Analyses of the English present perfect claim that it cannot occur with pasttime adverbs (Palmer 1987: 46–47, Comrie 1985: 32). Giorgi and Pianesi (1997: 87) also record that there are other languages like English, such as, Norwegian, Danish, and Swedish.73 There is a similar claim in Jones and Thomas (1977: 132) that this applies to Welsh. The common choice to describe a past situation which is specified by a past-time adverb is to use a PAST tense, as in the following examples: 31a. a’th Mair am naw bore ’ma. go.PERV.3SG Mair for nine morning here ‘Mair went at nine this morning.’ b. gyrhaeddodd Mair neithiwr. arrive.PERV.3SG Mair last-night ‘Mair arrived last night.’ c. welish i ’r doctor ddoe. see. PERV.1SG I the doctor yesterday ‘I saw the doctor yesterday.’ However, some informants especially consulted for this current study were prepared to accept examples like the following which contain adverbs that are clearly past time: 32a. ma’ Mair wedi mynd am naw bore ’ma. be.PRES.3SG Mair PERF go for nine morning here ‘Mair has gone at nine this morning.’ b. ma’ Mair wedi cyrr’edd neithiwr. be.PRES.3SG Mair PERF arrive last-night ‘Mair has arrived last night.’ c. dw i wedi gweld y doctor ddoe. be.PRES.1SG I PERF see the doctor yesterday ‘I’ve seen the doctor yesterday.’ But in considering such examples it is relevant to note that Dahl (1985: 137) refers to an English example like I have met your brother yesterday is acceptable as “an ‘afterthought’ construction”; that is, where there is some sort of intonation break before the adverb (so-called comma pause). In considering the Welsh examples, it is important to establish whether the suprasegmental characteristics of examples like (32) highlight the adverbs differently to those in (31). In (32), the adverbs are moved to a higher pitch level which moves them out of the typical contour of the utterance of sen-

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tences like those in (31). Examples like those in (25a) show that the COUNis not subject to this restriction, and neither are there restrictions on the occurrence of definite past-time adverbs with the PAST tense (IMPERFECTIVE) and the perfect aspect. This makes the use of past-time adverbs with the PRESENT tense or the FUTURE tense and perfect aspect in Welsh different from their use with PAST tenses and the COUNTERFACTUAL. Klein (1992) refers to the restriction on the PRESENT tense and the perfect aspect in English as the present perfect puzzle. In respect of Welsh, on the basis of comparisons of the PRESENT tense or FUTURE tense (with the perfect aspect) and other tenses or the COUNTERFACTUAL, any restrictions are best attributed to the PRESENT tense (FACTUAL) and the FUTURE tense (FACTUAL) and not the perfect aspect. We see in 5.4 that bod-clauses are used with the perfect aspect in complement clauses in place of regular clauses which contain the PAST tense PERFECTIVE. Such examples can contain definite past-time adverbs in the bod-clause: TERFACTUAL

33a. dw i ’n siwr bod Mair wedi mynd neithiwr. be.PRES.1SG I PRED sure be.IMPF Mair PERF go last-night ‘I’m sure that Mair left last night.’ b. ma’ pawb yn gobeithio bod yr arian wedi be.PRES.3SG every-one PROG hope be.IMPF the money PERF cyrraedd y banc cyn diwedd mis diwetha’. arrive the bank before end month last ‘every one hopes that the money reached the bank before the end of last month.’ c. mae ’ n amlwg bod nhw wedi gadael cyn naw be.PRES.3SG PRED obvious be.IMPF they PERF leave before nine echnos. night-before-last ‘it’s obvious that they left before nine on the night before last.’ We assume that there is a covert tense feature on bod in bod-clauses, and we also assume that in the bod-clauses in (33) it is the PAST tense (IMPERFECTIVE) and not the PRESENT tense. This allows a coherent explanation for the presence of definite past-time adverbs. In conclusion, the semantics of tense and the semantics of the perfect aspect can be independently established. Tense establishes the temporal location of the evaluation of a proposition which can be associated with an utterance. We have, however, established an exception to account for the

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tense when it occurs with the perfect aspect in descriptions of noncontinuative past-time situations for which there are no obvious presenttime grounds for evaluation. The perfect aspect conveys an anterior temporal location of a situation (or a retrospective view of a situation) from the standpoint of a perfect reference time. The perfect aspect is not confined to a particular deictic period of time but can establish a retrospective view from a perfect reference time in the future, a perfect reference time in the present, and a perfect reference time in the past. Any constraints in terms of deictic periods of time are due to tense and not to the perfect aspect. The discussion of the perfect aspect in the patterns in 7.3 further emphasizes the independence of the perfect aspect from tense.

PRESENT

7.3

Other patterns

We are concerned in this section with the perfect aspect in periphrastic patterns, non-finite clauses, small clauses, and absolute clauses. We shall discuss non-finite clauses, small clauses, and absolute clauses in 7.3.1 and modal verbs in periphrastic patterns in 7.3.2. We shall see that the semantics of the perfect are the same in these contexts, too: it establishes anterior temporal location or a retrospective view from an explicit or implicit reference time. We shall again see that the perfect can occur in descriptions of situations in different deictic periods of time. This distinguishes the perfect from tense, whose temporal reference is essentially defined deictically. 7.3.1

Non-finite clauses, small clauses, and absolute clauses

It will be recalled from 1.3.1 that a non-finite form of bod ‘be’ occurs with the perfect aspect marker in non-finite clauses but a form of bod ‘be’ is absent in small clauses and absolute clauses. This will be seen in the examples in this section. We shall look first at patterns which can be complements to lexemes in a matrix sentence, namely, non-finite clauses and small clauses. The matrix sentence and the complement can have different temporal properties. We shall not attempt to explore the temporal properties of complement clauses in detail (Stowell 1982 provides discussion), but we shall concentrate instead on the semantics of the perfect aspect in whatever temporal location is involved in the complement clause. The examples show how the perfect aspect, in comparison with non-perfect versions, conveys an anterior tem-

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poral location or a retrospective view of the situations which are described in the non-finite and small clauses. The following examples illustrate situations in the complement clause which are in future time (square brackets indicate the complement clauses): 34a. dw i ’n bwriadu [bod wedi gorffen pan ddaw be.PRES.1SG I PROG intend be PERF finish when come.FUT.3SG Mair fory]. Mair tomorrow ‘I intend to have finished when Mair comes tomorrow.’ b. dw i ’n bwriadu [gorffen pan ddaw finish when come.FUT.3SG be.PRES.1SG I PROG intend Mair fory]. Mair tomorrow ‘I intend to finish when Mair comes tomorrow.’ 35a. dw i ’n disgwyl [i Mair fod wedi gorffen erbyn be.PRES.1SG I PROG expect to Mair be PERF finish against deg heno]. ten tonight ‘I’m expecting Mair to have finished by ten tonight.’ b. dw i ’n disgwyl [i Mair orffen erbyn deg heno]. be.PRES.1SG I PROG expect to Mair finish against ten tonight ‘I’m expecting Mair to finish by ten tonight.’ 36a. dw i ’n gweld [Mair wedi siomi ar ôl clywed be.PRES.1SG I PROG see Mair PERF disappoint on track hear y newyddion]. the news ‘I see Mair disappointed after hearing the news.’ b. dw i ’n gweld [Mair yn siomi ar ôl clywed be.PRES.1SG I PROG see Mair PROG disappoint on track hear y newddion]. the news ‘I see Mair being disappointed after hearing the news.’ We can also add that the perfect in a small clause which describes a futuretime situation is not as common as in a non-finite clause. The perfect aspect fulfils the same function of conveying anterior time or a retrospective view in complement non-finite clauses and small clauses which describe past-time situations, respectively (37–38) and (39). Com-

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parisons with an equivalent non-perfect example, also given in the illustrations, emphasize the temporal function of the perfect aspect. 37a. o’n i ’n gobeithio [bod wedi siarad efo Mair cyn be.IMPF.1SG I PROG hope be PERF talk with Mair before y cyfarfod]. the meeting ‘I was hoping to have talked with Mair before the meeting.’ b. o’n i ’n gobeithio [siarad efo Mair cyn be.IMPF.1SG I PROG hope talk with Mair before y cyfarfod]. the meeting ‘I was hoping to talk with Mair before the meeting.’ 38a. o’n i isio [i Mair fod wedi cyrr’edd erbyn deg be.IMPF.1SG I want to Mair be PERF arrive against ten neithiwr]. last-night ‘I wanted Mair to have arrived before ten last night.’ b. o’n i isio [i Mair gyrr’edd erbyn deg neithiwr]. be.IMPF.1SG I want to Mair arrive against ten last-night ‘I wanted Mair to arrive before ten last night.’ 39a. dw i ’n cofio [Mair wedi colli ’r gystadleuaeth]. be.PRES.1SG I PROG remember Mair PERF lose the competition ‘I remember Mair having lost the competition.’ b. dw i ’n cofio [Mair yn colli ’r gystadleuaeth]. be.PRES.1SG I PROG remember Mair PROG lose the competition ‘I remember Mair losing the competition.’ Adverb non-finite clauses and absolute clauses are not complements to a lexeme in a matrix clause, but anterior time or retrospective view is also conveyed in these instances. The following examples involve a future-time location in the non-finite adverb clause and the absolute clause, respectively (40) and (41): 40a. [ar ôl i Mair fod wedi gweithio heno] fydd hi on track to Mair be PERF work tonight be.FUT.3SG she wedi blino. PERF tire ‘after Mair has worked tonight, she will be tired.’

Other patterns

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b. [ar ôl i Mair weithio heno] fydd hi wedi blino. on track to Mair work tonight be.FUT.3SG she PERF tire ‘after Mair works tonight, she will be tired.’ 41a. fydd o ddim wedi blino, a [fynte wedi gweithio be.FUT.3SG he NEG PERF tire and he.CONJ PERF work mor galed]. so hard ‘he will not be tired, and him having worked so hard.’ b. fydd o ddim wedi blino, a [fynte yn gweithio be.FUT.3SG he NEG PERF tire and he.CONJ PROG work mor galed]. so hard ‘he will not be tired, and him working so hard.’ And the following examples involve a past-time location in the non-finite clause and the absolute clause, respectively (42) and (43): 42a. [ar ôl i Mair fod wedi gweithio neithiwr] oedd hi on track to Mair be PERF work last-night be.IMPF.3SG she wedi blino. PERF tire ‘after Mair had worked last-night, she was tired.’ b. [ar ôl i Mair weithio neithiwr] oedd hi wedi blino. on track to Mair work last-night be.IMPF.3SG she PERF tire ‘after Mair worked last night, she was tired.’ 43a. dda’th Mair ddim, a [finna wedi aros amdani hi]. come.PERV.3SG Mair NEG and I.CONJ PERF wait for.3SG.F she ‘Mair didn’t come, and me having waited for her.’ b. dda’th Mair ddim a [finna yn aros amdani hi]. come.PERV.3SG Mair NEG and I.CONJ PROG wait for.3SG.F she ‘Mair didn’t come, and me waiting for her.’ Overall, then, the patterns which are discussed here show similarities with the compound tense patterns in 7.2. First, there is the same requirement for an implicit or explicit reference time for the perfect aspect. But there is no overt tense feature which can serve to anchor the perfect reference time, and there is a more prominent role for pragmatics and adverbs. Second, the perfect aspect establishes anterior temporal location or a retrospective view from the standpoint of the reference time.

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Perfect aspect

7.3.2

Modal verbs

As noted in 1.1.5, this study lists under modal verbs cael, ‘may, can’, gallu ‘can’, medru ‘can’, and the defective verb dylai ‘should’. The modal verbs can occur as the non-finite verb in the complement to the perfect aspect in compound tense patterns —dw i wedi medru agor y drws ’ma o’r blaen ‘I’ve been able to open this door before’, oedd hi wedi cal aros efo ni sawl tro ‘she had been allowed to stay with us a number of times’, and fasen ni wedi medru’u curo nhw ‘we would have been able to beat them’. We have already discussed compound tense patterns in 7.2, and no more will be said here. In this section we concentrate on examples in which the modal verb is the finite verb and the perfect aspect occurs in the verb phrase which is the complement of the modal verb – [finite modal verb + subject + bod + perfect + verb phrase]. We see in 3.2.2 that modal verbs can inflect for the PRESENT tense, the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE, the PAST tense PERFECTIVE, and the COUNTERFACTUAL (with the exception of dylai ‘should, ought’, which is confined to the COUNTERFACTUAL). Like bod ‘be’ (see 7.2.1), the PAST tense PERFECTIVE of modal verbs is subject to the perfective-perfect constraint: 44a. * gesh i fod wedi aros. may.PERV.1SG I be PERF stay ‘I could have stayed.’ b. * allodd o fod wedi pasio ’r lori. can.PERV.3SG he be PERF pass the lorry ‘he could have passed the lorry.’ c. * fedrist ti fod wedi agor y drws. can.PERV.2SG you.SG be PERF open the door ‘you could have opened the door.’ Judgement about examples which contain the perfect aspect with the PRESENT tense is problematic. Such examples are not very common and may be marginal: 45a. ? geith hi fod wedi aros. may.PRES.3SG she be PERF stay ‘she can/may =permission have stayed.’ b. ? all o fod wedi pasio ’r lori. can.PRES.3SG he be PERF pass the lorry ‘he can have passed the lorry.’

Other patterns

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c. ? fedri di fod wedi agor y drws. can.PERV.2SG you.SG be PERF open the door ‘you can have opened the door.’ Examples with the COUNTERFACTUAL are common. The counterfactual situation which is described can be located either in future time or in past time, as the following illustrations show: 46a. alle Mair fod wedi mynd neithiwr. can.CNTF.3SG Mair be PERF go last-night ‘Mair could have gone last.’ b. alle Mair fod wedi mynd erbyn deg nos fory. can.CNTF.3SG Mair be PERF go against ten night tomorrow ‘Mair could have gone by ten tomorrow night.’ 47a. ddylen ni fod wedi gorffen ddoe should.CNTF.1PL we be PERF finish yesterday ‘we should have finished yesterday.’ b. ddyle Mair fod wedi cyrr’edd erbyn deg nos fory. should.CNTF.3SG Mair be PERF arrive against ten night tomorrow ‘Mair should have arrived by ten tomorrow night.’ There are two ways of interpreting these data. We can argue that the tense features of the COUNTERFACTUAL establishes the perfect reference time either at the present moment or at some time in the future period, and the perfect can place the situation prior to either of these points (as is argued in 7.2.2). Or we can argue that we have another example of a complement non-finite clause, [bod + wedi + verb phrase], which allows anterior time or a retrospective view in different deictic periods. We shall adopt the first approach and claim that the tense features of the modal verbs help to create a perfect reference time. It can be noted that, like (25a), definite past-time adverbs can occur when modals inflect for the COUNTERFACTUAL . The Imperfect/Pluperfect-Forms of modal verbs can also convey the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE but this tense cannot occur with the perfect aspect: 48a. fedrwn i ddim agor y drws. can.IMPF.1SG I NEG open the door ‘I couldn’t open the door.’ b. * fedrwn i ddim bod wedi agor y drws. can.IMPF.1SG I NEG be PERF open the door ‘I couldn’t have opened the door.’

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49a. fedre Mair nofio ’n dda pan oedd hi ’n can.IMPF.3SG Mair swim ADV good when be.IMPF.3SG she PRED ifanc. young ‘Mair could swim well when she was young.’ b. * fedre Mair fod wedi nofio ’n dda pan oedd can.IMPF.3SG Mair be PERF swim ADV good when be.IMPF.3SG hi ’n ifanc. she PRED young ‘Mair could swim well when she was young.’ Examples (48b) and (49b) are starred with a PAST IMPERFECTIVE meaning. But they would be acceptable with a COUNTERFACTUAL meaning. Modal verbs are thus different to bod ‘be’, which, when inflected for the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE, can occur with the perfect as well as the non-perfect. There are issues involving the meanings of modal verbs: examples (45) involve root meanings like ability and permission; examples like (46–47) involve epistemic meanings like logical possibility. Such matters are better considered in a study of modal verbs and will not be pursued here. 7.4

Summary

We have claimed that the default reading of the perfect in Welsh is that it establishes anterior temporal location or a retrospective view of a situation from an implicit or explicit perfect reference time. In compound tense patterns, the perfect reference time is anchored around the evaluation time of the tense. When an adverb occurs which describes the perfect reference time, it must be compatible with the time of the tense feature; but the adverb provides a more specific location of the perfect reference time. Pragmatics is also another source for locating the perfect reference time. Other adverbs can detail the temporal location of the situation, which is anterior to the perfect reference time. Reichenbach (1947) has formulae which account for tense and perfect as a combination, thus (E stands for event, S stands for the time of speaking, and R stands for the perfect reference time): – past perfect E – R – S (simple PAST tense E – S, R) – present perfect E – S, R (simple PRESENT tense S, R, E) – future perfect S – E – R (simple FUTURE tense S, R – E)

Summary

247

We have argued that tense and perfect aspect are independent of each other on three grounds. First, they are semantically distinct: tense gives the time of evaluation of a proposition, while the perfect aspect establishes that a situation is located in anterior time or provides a retrospective view of a situation. Second, in compound tense patterns, we find that the perfect aspect is not confined to a particular deictic period. It can retrospectively describe situations in the past and future periods, and does not have a deictic basis like tense. Third, the perfect aspect can occur in environments which lack an overt tense such as non-finite clauses, small clauses and absolute clauses. All that is needed to represent the meaning of the perfect formulaically is E – R. The details of R can then be assumed from pragmatics or gained from the temporal properties of tense or adverbs. For example, the PAST tense places R at some time in the past period, the PRESENT tense places R at the present moment, and the FUTURE tense places R at some time in the future period. We have seen that perfect examples which describe non-concurrent situations are problematic for the time-of-situation analysis of tense, but can be handled by the time-of-evaluation analysis. However, the PRESENT tense is special in two ways. One is that it can be selected not necessarily because it establishes present-time evaluation but also because it has a present-time feature which allows anterior temporal location or a retrospective view from the standpoint of the present moment. And the other, which it shares with the FUTURE tense if a conservative analysis of the latter is adopted, is that definite past-time adverbs which explicitly isolate the situation in the deictic past do not typically occur.

Chapter 8 Progressive aspect 8.1

Introduction

The aim of this chapter is to explain the semantics of the progressive and non-progressive aspects in informal Welsh. A precise descriptive account is complex to present due to the amount of data which is needed to make balanced comparisons. These data involve syntactic and semantic contexts which we shall outline before presenting the details of the analysis. 8.1.1

The data

The syntactic characteristics of the progressive and non-progressive are outlined in 1.3.1. A progressive aspect phrase is made up of the aspect marker yn and a non-finite verb such as siarad ‘talk’, giving yn siarad ‘talking’. Like the perfect aspect, the progressive aspect can occur in various syntactic contexts, but to discuss the progressive, compound tense patterns are divided into non-perfect and perfect: – – – – – –

non-perfect compound tense patterns and simple finite verbs; perfect compound tense patterns; periphrastic patterns with an inflected modal verb; non-finite clauses; small clauses; absolute clauses.

The contrast of non-perfect compound tense patterns and simple finite verbs figure prominently in discussions of the progressive aspect. We shall use the label other patterns to refer collectively to the remaining contexts. As outlined in 3.1 and 4.1.1, in northern dialects, in particular, a periphrastic pattern containing the auxiliary verbs gwneud ‘do’ or ddaru is an alternative to a simple finite verb. For economy, simple verbs are mainly illustrated in the examples. However, progressive:non-progressive contrasts do not occur in all these syntactic contexts. The availability of nonprogressives is reduced by gaps and preferences or interchangeability.

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Non-progressive gaps are caused by inflectional restrictions on simple finite verbs (as outlined in 1.2 and chapter 3). Table 26 shows that each inflectional paradigm of bod ‘be’ occurs in non-progressive and progressive patterns, with one exception which is discussed in 8.4.3. Table 26. The finite and non-finite forms of bod ‘be’ and progressive:nonprogressive contrasts in informal Welsh mae Mair yn ddrwg ‘Mair is naughty’ FUTURE fydd Mair yn ddrwg ‘Mair will be naughty’ IMPERFECTIVE oedd Mair yn ddrwg ‘Mair was naughty’ PERFECTIVE fuodd Mair yn ddrwg ‘Mair was naughty’ FUTP fyddai/fuasai Mair yn ddrwg ‘Mair would be naughty’ CNTF fyddai/fuasai Mair yn ddrwg ‘Mair would be naughty’ Other patterns bod ‘be’ PRESENT

mae Mair yn bod yn ddrwg ‘Mair is being naughty’ fydd Mair yn bod yn ddrwg ‘Mair will be being naughty’ oedd Mair yn bod yn ddrwg ‘Mair was being naughty’ *fuodd Mair yn bod yn ddrwg ‘Mair was being naughty’ fyddai/fuasai Mair yn bod yn ddrwg ‘Mair would be being naughty’ fyddai/fuasai Mair yn bod yn ddrwg ‘Mair would be being naughty’ (bod) yn bod ‘(be) being’

Table 27. The finite and non-finite forms of lexical verbs and progressive:nonprogressive contrasts in informal Welsh PRESENT

—

FUTURE

siaradith Mair ‘Mair will talk’ —

IMPERFECTIVE PERFECTIVE FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST COUNTERFACTUAL

Other patterns

siaradodd ‘Mair talked’ siaradai/asai Mair ‘Mair would talk’ siaradai/asai Mair ‘Mair would talk’ siarad ‘talk’

mae Mair yn siarad ‘Mair is talking’ fydd Mair yn siarad ‘Mair will be talking’ oedd Mair yn siarad ‘Mair was talking’ fuodd Mair yn siarad ‘Mair was talking’ fyddai/fuasai Mair yn siarad ‘Mair would be talking’ fyddai/fuasai Mair yn siarad ‘Mair would be talking’ (bod) yn siarad ‘(be) talking’

250

Progressive aspect

Table 28. The finite and non-finite forms of modal verbs and progressive:nonprogressive contrasts in informal Welsh. (It is difficult to translate the progressive versions into English, and the translation for the nonprogressives has been repeated, although in some instances a version of ‘be able’ may be appropriate) PRESENT FUTURE IMPERFECTIVE PERFECTIVE FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST COUNTERFACTUAL

Other patterns

gallith Mair ganu ‘Mair can sing’ — gallai/asai Mair ganu ‘Mair could sing’ gallodd Mair ganu ‘Mair was able to sing’ — gallai/asai Mair ganu ‘Mair could sing’ gallu ‘can’

mae Mair yn gallu canu ‘Mair can sing’ fydd Mair yn gallu canu ‘Mair will be able to sing’ oedd Mair yn gallu canu ‘Mair could sing’ fuodd Mair yn gallu canu ‘Mair was able to sing’ fyddai/fuasai Mair yn gallu canu ‘Mair would be able to sing’ fyddai/fuasai Mair yn gallu canu ‘Mair could sing’ (bod) yn gallu ‘(be) able’

Table 27 shows that non-progressive gaps occur in informal Welsh with lexical verbs in the case of the PRESENT tense and the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE, and table 28 shows that non-progressive gaps occur with modal verbs in the case of the FUTURE tense and the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense. In these instances, only progressive patterns occur. However, the descriptive facts about lexical verbs are more complex than this in two respects. First, as noted in 3.5, gwybod ‘know’ can inflect for the PRESENT tense and PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE in northern dialects, and progressive and nonprogressive versions are available, as in the following: 1a. dw i ’n gwybod. be.PRES.1SG I PROG know ‘I know.’ b. wn i. know.PRES.1SG I ‘I know.’ 2a. wyt ti ddim yn gwybod? be.PRES.2SG you.SG NEG PROG know ‘don’t you know.’

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b. wyddost ti ddim? know.PRES.2SG you.SG NEG ‘don’t you know?’ 3a. o’n i ddim yn gwybod. be.IMPF.1SG I NEG PROG know ‘I didn’t know.’ b. wyddwn i ddim. know.IMPF.1SG I NEG ‘I didn’t know.’ 4a. o’t ti ddim yn gwybod? be.IMPF.2SG you.SG NEG PROG know ‘didn’t you know?’ b. wyddet ti ddim? know.IMPF.2SG you.SG NEG ‘didn’t you know?’ But there is no productive semantic contrast between the progressive and non-progressive patterns, and the progressive pattern is the most common choice. Second, in the case of the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE, consider the following data: 5a. o’n i ’n nofio. be.IMPF.1SG I PROG swim ‘I was swimming.’ b. * nofiwn i. swim.IMPF.1SG I ‘I was swimming / swam.’ c. fush i ’n nofio. be.PERV.1SG I PROG swim ‘I was swimming.’ d. nofi-ish i. swim.PERV.1SG I ‘I swam.’ The starred example in (5b) illustrates the point already made that Imperfect-Forms of lexical verbs, although they are available in informal Welsh, do not convey the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE in the informal style. There is therefore no non-progressive equivalent of examples like (5a), unlike formal Welsh (see 4.2.1). But the simple PAST tense PERFECTIVE as in (5d) contrasts with both progressive patterns in (5a) and (5c):

252

Progressive aspect

o’n i’n nofio

←

nofi-ish i

→

fush i’n nofio

On this basis, the non-progressive gap which is created by the absence of examples like (5b) in informal Welsh is filled by the simple PAST tense PERFECTIVE. It must be noted, of course, that the comparison of an example like (5a), o’n i’n nofio ‘I was swimming’, with an example like (5d), nofi-ish i ‘I swam’, is not a balanced comparison of progressive and non-progressive. There is also a contrast of IMPERFECTIVE and PERFECTIVE as well as progressive versus non-progressive, and we must bear this in mind. For different reasons, a non-progressive gap also occurs with small clauses and absolute clauses. The progressive can occur in both, but there is no non-progressive equivalent. For economy of presentation, we shall represent the choice of either non-progressive or progressive as, for instance, dw i ’n cofio Mair *(yn) nofio, which represents both dw i’n cofio Mair yn nofio ‘I remember Mair swimming’ and *dw i’n cofio Mair nofio ‘I remember Mair swim’. 6a. dw i ’n cofio Mair *(yn) nofio. be.PRES.1SG I PROG remember Mair PROG swim ‘I remember Mair swimming / swim.’ b. a hithe *(yn) hel pres am y daith. and she.CONJ PROG collect money for the trip ‘and her saving money for the trip.’ This gap arises because of syntactic reasons: the syntax of Welsh simply does not generate non-progressive equivalents in non-perfect absolute clauses and non-perfect small clauses. All the above instances of non-progressive gaps in finite clauses, small clauses and absolute clauses are non-perfect examples. But there is a progressive:non-progressive contrast with perfect versions with the PRESENT tense as in (7a), with the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE as in (7b), and in small clauses and absolute clauses as in (8a) and (8b): 7a. dw i wedi (bod yn) gweithio. be.PRES.1SG I PERF be PROG work ‘I have worked / been working.’ b. o’n i wedi (bod yn) gweithio. be.IMPF.1SG I PERF be PROG work ‘I had been working.’

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8a. dw i ’n cofio Mair wedi (bod yn) nofio. be.PRES.1SG I PROG remember Mair PERF be PROG swim ‘I remember Mair having been swimming.’ b. a hithe wedi (bod yn) hel pres am y daith. and she.CONJ PERF be PROG collect money for the trip ‘and her having been saving money for the trip.’ Consequently, an analysis of the progressive:non-progressive contrast in these instances should consider perfect examples. We do this for perfect versions of compound tense patterns, but not for small clauses and absolute clauses. We turn now to preferences or interchangeability. They arise where a progressive and non-progressive patterns are formally available in informal Welsh but typically there is no productive semantic contrast between the two. Speakers may use either the progressive or non-progressive interchangeably or there may be a preference for the progressive (in effect, such preferences, when strong, create a non-progressive gap). It is difficult to be precise about the sociolinguistics and dialectology of preferences and interchangeability. They occur with the following: – lexical verbs with – the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense – the COUNTERFACTUAL – modal verbs with – the PRESENT tense – the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE – the COUNTERFACTUAL Examples of lexical verbs are as follows – and COUNTERFACTUAL in (11–12):

FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST

9a. fydde/fase Siân ddim yn gweld Gwyn y noson yna. be.FUTP.3SG Siân NEG PROG see Gwyn the night there ‘Siân would not see Gwyn that night.’ b. wele Siân mo Gwyn y noson yna. see. FUTP.3SG Siân NEG Gwyn the night there ‘Siân would not see Gwyn that night.’ 10a. fydde/fase Siân ddim yn gweld Gwyn pob nos. be.FUTP.3SG Siân NEG PROG see Gwyn every night ‘Siân would not see Gwyn every night.’

in (9–10)

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Progressive aspect

b. wele Siân mo Gwyn pob nos. see. FUTP.3SG Siân NEG Gwyn every night ‘Siân would not see Gwyn every night.’ 11a pe bydde/base Siôn yn ennill fory, fasa pawb if be.CNTF.3SG Siôn PROG win tomorrow be.CNTF.3SG everyone yn dathlu. PROG celebrate ‘if Siôn won tomorrow, everyone would celebrate.’ b. pe enillai Siôn fory, ddathle pawb. if win.CNTF.3SG Siôn tomorrow celebrate.CNTF.3SG everyone ‘if Siôn won tomorrow, everyone would celebrate.’ 12a pe bydde/base Siôn yn cerdded i ’r gwaith, fasa fo if be.CNTF.3SG Siôn PROG walk to the work be.CNTF.3SG he ’n arbed arian. PROG save money ‘if Siôn walked to work, he would save money.’ b. pe cerdde Siôn i ’r gwaith, arbede fo arian. if walk.CNTF.3SG Siôn to the work save.CNTF.3SG he money ‘if Siôn walked to work, he would save money.’ We can note that COUNTERFACTUAL can often be conveyed by the nonprogressive pattern in common expressions in discourse, such as: 13a. wedwn i. say.CNTF.1SG I ‘I’d say.’ b. liciwn i aros. like. CNTF.1SG I stay ‘I’d like to stay.’ The form in (13a) can be heard in southern dialects, and although the form in (13b) has wider geographical distribution it is also probably more typical of southern dialects. Examples of modal verbs are as follows – PRESENT in (14–18), IMPERFECTIVE in (19–20), and COUNTERFACTUAL in (21–22): 14a. geith Mair aros heno. may.PRES.3SG Mair stay tonight ‘Mair can stay tonight.’

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b. ma’ Mair yn cal aros heno. be.PRES.3SG Mair PROG may stay tonight ‘Mair can stay tonight.’ 15a. geith hi ddefnyddio car Siôn pob penwythnos. may.PRES.3SG she use car Siôn every weekend ‘she can drive Siôn’s car every weekend.’ b. ma’ hi ’n cal defnyddio car Siôn pob penwythnos. be.PRES.3SG she PROG may use car Siôn every weekend ‘she is allowed to drive Siôn’s car every weekend.’ 16a. alli di symud y gadair? can.PRES.2SG you.SG move the chair ‘can you move the chair?’ b. wyt ti ’n gallu symud y gadair? be.PRES.2SG you.SG PROG can move the chair ‘can you move the chair?’ 17a. fedra’ i ddim nabod y car o ’i gefn yn unig. can.PRES.1SG I NEG recognize the car from 3SG.M back ADV lone ‘I can’t recognize the car from its rear alone.’ b. dw i ddim yn medru nabod y car o ’i be.PRES.1SG I NEG PROG can recognize the car from 3SG.M gefn yn unig. back ADV lone ‘I can’t recognize the car from its rear alone.’ 18a. fedra’ i nofio. can.PRES.1SG I swim ‘I can swim.’ b. dw i ’n medru nofio. be.PRES.1SG I PROG can swim ‘I can swim.’ 19a. allwn i ddim agor y drws ’ma neithiwr. can.IMPF.1SG I NEG open the door here last-night ‘I couldn’t open this door last night.’ b. o’n i ddim yn gallu agor y drws ’ma neithiwr. be.IMPF.1SG I NEG PROG can open the door here last-night ‘I couldn’t open this door last night.’ 20a. alle hi siarad Sbaeneg yn rhugl. can.IMPF.3SG she speak Spanish ADV fluent ‘she could speak Spanish fluently.’

256

Progressive aspect

b. oedd hi ’n gallu siarad Sbaeneg yn rhugl. be.IMPF.3SG she PROG can speak Spanish ADV fluent ‘she could speak Spanish fluently.’ 21a. fedrwn i symud y bwrdd ’na fory. can.CNTF.1SG I move the table there tomorrow ‘I could move that table tomorrow.’ b. faswn i ’n medru symud y bwrdd ’na fory. be.CNTF.1SG I PROG can move the table there tomorrow ‘I could move that table tomorrow.’ 22a. pe medrwn i agor y drws, fedren ni iste tu fewn. if can.CNTF.1SG I open the door can.CNTF.1PL we sit side in ‘if I could open the door, we could sit inside.’ b. pe baswn i ’n medru agor y drws, fasen ni ’n if be.CNTF.1SG I PROG can open the door be.CNTF.1PL we PROG medru iste tu mewn. can sit side in ‘if I could open the door, we could sit inside.’ Although we have argued for preference and interchangeability, in the case of modal verbs there may be a semantic contrast for some speakers which allows them to choose either the progressive or the non-progressive. This choice involves the contrast of a state and the potential instantiation of that state. It can be illustrated with the ability use of medru / gallu and the permission use of cael / gallu. Thus, adapting example (14), geith Mair aros heno ‘Mair can / may stay tonight’ offers permission which is available for one occasion, while mae Mair yn cael aros ‘Mair can / may stay’ offers permission which is generally available. Similarly, adapting example (15), alli di symud y gadair? ‘can you move the chair?’ is a request which requires the instantiation of ability, while wyt ti’n gallu symud y gadair? ‘can you move the chair?’ is an enquiry which asks whether the subject generally has the ability. But, having said this, there are speakers who prefer the progressive for both general states and potential instantiation. For the purposes of this study, we shall adopt the preference / interchangeability approach. The discussion of preferences and interchangeability has shown that some of the aspectual contrasts which are formally available in tables 25 and 26 are not productive in informal Welsh. Tables 27 and 28 are cutdown versions of tables 25 and 26, and provide a summary of the actual productive contrasts in informal Welsh.

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Table 29. The finite and non-finite forms of lexical verbs and productive progressive:non-progressive contrasts in informal Welsh FUTURE IMPERFECTIVE PERFECTIVE

siaradith Mair ‘Mair will talk’ NB PERFECTIVE siaradodd ‘Mair talked’ Other patterns ‘talk’

fydd Mair yn siarad ‘Mair will be talking’ oedd Mair yn siarad ‘Mair was talking’ fuodd Mair yn siarad ‘Mair was talking’ siarad (bod) yn siarad ‘(be) talking’

Table 30. The finite and non-finite forms of modal verbs and productive progressive:non-progressive contrasts in informal Welsh PERFECTIVE

Other patterns

gallodd Mair ganu ‘Mair was able to sing’ gallu ‘can’

fuodd Mair yn gallu canu ‘Mair was able to sing’ (bod) yn gallu ‘(be) able’

In summary, then, bod ‘be’ has the greatest range of progressive-nonprogressive contrasts as table 26 shows. Non-progressive gaps and preferences / interchangeability reduce non-progressive equivalents of nonperfect progressive patterns involving lexical verbs and modal verbs. Nonprogressive gaps also occur in absolute clauses and small clauses. 8.1.2

Semantics

In this section, we shall introduce the basic semantics of the progressive and the non-progressive, and also outline a typology of situations which allows a consideration of the adequacy of the semantic explanation. We shall adopt an explanation of the progressive which is widely found in the literature, namely, that it views a situation as continuous or in progress or on-going or durative (we shall adopt durative in this study). We shall say that the progressive provides a durative view of a situation while the non-progressive provides a non-durative view of a situation. More precise formalizations of duration are possible which are based on intervals, points and periods as in Bennet and Partee (1978), or which are based on types of events (situations) as in Lambalgen and Hamm (2005: 156–168);

258

Progressive aspect

but we shall use the more informal explanation of duration which has been given here. It will be recalled from 4.1.2 that durative can be an implied element in the semantic account of the IMPERFECTIVE. In general, Comrie (1976: 12, 24–25, 33–40) distinguishes the IMPERFECTIVE and the progressive in terms of the types of situations which they can describe. The IMPERFECTIVE can occur in descriptions of habitual situations and stative situations. In contrast the progressive is confined to non-habitual situations and non-stative situations. This claim about the progressive is a common one in the literature and is also found in Dahl (1985: 91–94), Lyons (1977: 707), and Smith (1997: 84–86). We shall see that this does not apply to Welsh as the progressive can be used in descriptions of stative situations and habitual situations, subject to the syntactic context. In Welsh, then, the progressive is used in habituals and statives where the IMPERFECTIVE is used in other languages (for example, Spanish and Italian). In order to consider the adequacy of our explanation of the progressive in Welsh, we shall exploit a typology of situations which is widely discussed in the literature.74 This study is only concerned with types of situations for the purposes of the linguistic analysis of aspect. We shall basically ask whether the progressive and non-progressive can be selected in sentences which describe different situations or not. If both can occur, we shall attempt to explain the difference between the two aspects, if any. If one cannot occur but the other can, we shall try to explain the constraint, if any. A relevant distinction for the study of the non-progressive and progressive is that between a situation which is punctual and one which is durative. A situation is punctual when it involves a momentary or instantaneous act or event, as represented, for instance, by a single blink, cough, drip, or slap. A situation can be durative when it endures without interruption over time, as in water is flowing from the reservoir; or because it is a unitary situation – that is, a situation which is made up of a thread of a main situation which is interspersed with other extraneous situations, as in John’s working in his study; or because a punctual act or event is repeated, as in he’s coughing again and the tap is dripping. Situations can be further distinguished by another distinction which is commonly made in the literature, namely, dynamic and stative. Verbs like know as in she knows the Prime Minister are stative while verbs like work as in she works for the Prime Minister are dynamic. It is conventionally held that a stative situation is constant or homogeneous, while a dynamic situation is subject to change. That is, all phases of a stative situation are similar while the phases in a dynamic situation can be different. Comrie

Introduction

259

(1976: 13, 48–51) also holds that a dynamic situation requires some form of agency or energy for it to continue, otherwise it will stop. Lyons (1977: 483–484) says that a dynamic situation may or may not be under the control of an agent. A stative situation clearly has duration. We shall refer to a durative dynamic situation as a process. We can represent the types of situations which are relevant for a linguistic analysis of progressive:non-progressive in Welsh in figure 20. Situation





 Punctual (dynamic)



Durative

Process (dynamic)



 

Stative

Figure 20. A typology of aspectual situations

In addition to the distinctions in figure 20, we shall also exploit a contrast between a habitual situation and a non-habitual situation. Habitual situations occur or exist over an extended period of time. But there are other points which need to be added to this explanation. Lyons (1977: 716) holds that, although habituals may involve the repetition of individual situations over an extended period of time, the effect is one of a unitary durative situation, as in he sits by the fire, he sneezes / coughs a lot or he kicks the cat, which are made up of a series of durative or punctual sub-situations. The important matter here is that a habitual situation occurs or exists and not that durative or punctual sub-situations are involved. Comrie (1976: 27–28) makes a distinction between characteristic and incidental: all habituals are characteristic of an extended period of time and not merely an incidental property of the moment. Lyons (1977: 716) also adds that habitual situations are not limited to those which are based on the habits of humans such as John Smith changes his shirt on Sundays but include all situations which regularly exist or occur over time, such as apple trees at the bottom of the garden shed their fruit in October. In this study, we shall include as habituals even more general statements like cows eat grass, the sun rises in the east, and statives like I knew the Countess very well. Habituality and types of situations can be crosstabulated to produce the following taxonomy:

260

Progressive aspect

– Non-habitual – punctual – process

I coughed once the women were instructing the newcomers in the morning; I was working last night; John was coughing all night long I liked the film last night

– stative – Habitual – punctual series he coughed often (a single cough each time) – process the women instructed the newcomers, I worked in the bank, I coughed a lot (a series of single coughs each time) – stative I liked my school days very much

We shall consider the Welsh data in descriptions of (i) non-habitual dynamic situations, both punctual and process, (ii) habitual dynamic situations, and (iii) statives, both non-habitual and habitual. This will enable the analysis not only to explore the adequacy of durativity as an account of the semantics of the progressive and the non-progressive but also to explore their relationship with habituality and stativity. It is the contrast of simple finite verbs (non-progressive) with equivalent non-perfect compound tense patterns (progressive) which is given the main attention in the literature generally. The analysis presented here is much more comprehensive, and in each type of situation, we shall consider the progressive and the nonprogressive in their various syntactic contexts. We shall see that we need different explanations for different contexts. Judgements about acceptability are not clear-cut in all cases. This problem can be aggravated by variation between individual Welsh speakers. Judgement is also made more difficult in the case of uncommon patterns, particularly the occurrences of the progressive in the other patterns. The challenge is to create a reasonable pragmatic context for what may seem an untypical pattern. It can be difficult to determine whether any restriction is semantic or pragmatic. 8.2 8.2.1

Non-habitual dynamic situations Processes

We shall look first at processes, that is, dynamic situations which are continuous and thus have duration. Both the progressive and the non-

Non-habitual dynamic situations

261

progressive can occur in non-perfect compound tense patterns (with the exception of the PRESENT tense, which is discussed in 8.2.2): 23a. fydd y dŵr yn llifo trwy ’r nos. be.FUT.3SG the water PROG flow through the night ‘the water will be flowing all night.’ b. lifith y dŵr trwy ’r nos. flow.FUT.3SG the water through the night ‘the water will flow all night.’ 24a. fydda’ i ’n gweithio heno rhwng saith a naw. be.FUT.1SG I PROG work tonight between seven and nine ‘I’ll be working tonight between seven and nine.’ b. weithia’ i heno rhwng saith a naw. work.FUT.1SG I tonight between seven and nine ‘I’ll work tonight between seven and nine.’ 25a. oedd yr adar yn b’yta ’r pys yn yr ardd. be.IMPF.3SG the birds PROG eat the peas in the garden ‘the birds were eating the peas in the garden.’ b. fuodd yr adar yn b’yta ’r pys yn yr ardd. be.PERV.3SG the birds PROG eat the peas in the garden ‘the birds were eating the peas in the garden.’ c. f’ytodd yr adar y pys yn yr ardd. eat.PERV.3SG the birds the peas in the garden ‘the birds ate the peas in the garden.’ 26a. o’n i ’n gwrando ar y radio trwy ’r nos. be.IMPF.1SG I PROG listen on the radio through the night ‘I was listening to the radio all night.’ b. fush i ’n gwrando ar y radio trwy ’r nos. be.PERV.1SG I PROG listen on the radio through the night ‘I was listening to the radio all night.’ c. wrandawish i ar y radio trwy ’r nos. listen.PERV.1SG I on the radio through the night ‘I listened to the radio all night.’ 27a. oedd Mair yn bwrw ’r hoelen am hanner awr. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG hit the nail for half hour ‘Mair was hitting the nail for half an hour.’ b. fuodd Mair yn bwrw ’r hoelen am hanner awr. be.PERV.3SG Mair PROG hit the nail for half hour ‘Mair was hitting the nail for half an hour.’

262

Progressive aspect

c. fwrodd Mair yr hoelen am hanner awr. hit.PERV.3SG Mair the nail for half hour ‘Mair hit the nail for half an hour.’ 28a. oedd Mair yn tisian trwy ’r bore. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG sneeze through the morning ‘Mair was sneezing all morning.’ b. fuodd Mair yn tisian trwy ’r bore. be.PERV.3SG Mair PROG sneeze through the morning ‘Mair was sneezing all morning.’ c. na’th Mair disian trwy ’r bore. do.PERV.3SG Mair sneeze through the morning ‘Mair sneezed all morning.’ 29a. oedd Mair yn pesychu trwy ’r nos. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG cough through the night ‘Mair was coughing all night.’ b. fuodd Mair yn pesychu trwy ’r nos. be.PERV.3SG Mair PROG cough through the night ‘Mair was coughing all night.’ c. besychodd Mair trwy ’r nos. cough.PERV.3SG Mair through the night ‘Mair coughed all night.’ For economy of presentation, we shall represent the choice of either nonprogressive or progressive in the other patterns as, for instance, dw i wedi (bod yn) gweithio which represents dw i wedi gweithio ‘I have worked’ or dw i wedi bod yn gweithio ‘I have been working’. The non-finite verb in the non-progressive version may be subject to soft mutation, which is not indicated in the examples again for economy of presentation. Both the progressive and the non-progressive can occur in perfect compound tense patterns: 30a. dw i [wedi (bod yn) gweithio] trwy ’r nos. be.PRES.1SG I PERF be PROG work through the night ‘I’ve worked / been working all night.’ b. o’n i [wedi (bod yn) cysgu] trwy ’r bore. be.IMPF.1SG I PERF be PROG sleep through the morning ‘I’d slept / been sleeping all morning.’ c. fydda’ i [wedi (bod yn) palu] ’r ardd nos fory. be.FUT.1SG I PERF be PROG dig the garden night tomorrow ‘I will have dug / been digging the garden tomorrow night.’

Non-habitual dynamic situations

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Both can occur in the verb phrase of periphrastic patterns, [finite modal + subject + verb phrase]. However, the selection of the progressive in periphrastic patterns is subject to the meaning of the modal lexeme, and in the following examples physical possibility and obligation are conveyed. 75 Examples involving physical possibility and obligation are as follows: 31a. alla’ i [(fod yn) gweithio] heno. can.FUT.1SG I be PROG work tonight ‘I can work / be working tonight.’ b. ddylet ti [(fod yn) torri] ’r lawnt fory. should.CNTF.2SG you. SG be PROG cut the lawn tomorrow ‘you should cut / be cutting the lawn tomorrow.’ Both can occur in non-finite clauses: 32a. dw i ’n bwriadu [(bod yn) gweithio] heno. be.PRES.1SG I PROG intend be PROG work tonight ‘I intend to work / be working tonight.’ b. cyn i mi [(fod yn) gweithio] … before to me be PROG work ‘before I am / was / will be working …’ No contrast is available in non-perfect absolute clauses and non-perfect small clauses, as only the progressive is available (see 8.2.2). In all the above cases, the progressive explicitly conveys a durative view of the situation. In contrast, the non-progressive provides a non-durative view of the situation. But the non-progressive does not make the situation itself nondurative. This point is underlined by the fact that the situation when viewed by both the progressive and non-progressive can be specified as durative with adverbs, as in examples (23), (27), and (28). Thus, with a durative situation (which is dynamic and non-habitual), it is how the speaker wishes to present the situation which determines the selection of the progressive or the non-progressive, and not the objective properties of the situation (the same point is made by Lyons 1977: 709–710; 1995: 324, and Smith 1997: 6–8, who also notes other writers who comment on subjectivity). It is significant to note that neither the progressive nor the non-progressive is the norm. Either one can be selected for the semantic reasons which we have just outlined.

264

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8.2.2

Punctual dynamic situations

A single hit and cough does have some duration, of course, but, compared with processes, such punctual situations last for a very brief time. They happen once and they happen suddenly, for which situations the label semelfactive can also be used.76 The non-progressive aspect is chosen in descriptions of such situations and not the progressive. Consider the following examples, all of which are intended to describe a sudden and momentary act or event, and not a series of acts or events: 33a. * fydd Mair yn bwrw ’r hoelen unwaith. be.FUT.3SG Mair PROG hit the nail once ‘Mair will be hitting the nail once.’ b. fwrith Mair yr hoelen unwaith. hit.FUT.3SG Mair the nail once ‘Mair will hit the nail once.’ 34a. * oedd Mair yn tisian yn sydyn. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG sneeze ADV sudden ‘Mair was sneezing suddenly.’ b. * fuodd Mair yn tisian yn sydyn. be.PERV.3SG Mair PROG sneeze ADV sudden ‘Mair was sneezing suddenly.’ c. na’th Mair disian yn sydyn. do.PERV.3SG Mair sneeze ADV sudden ‘Mair sneezed suddenly.’ 35a. * oedd Mair yn pesychu unwaith. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG cough once ‘Mair was coughing once.’ b. * fuodd Mair yn pesychu unwaith. be.PERV.3SG Mair PROG cough once ‘Mair was coughing once.’ c. besychodd Mair unwaith. cough.PERV.3SG Mair once ‘Mair coughed once.’ Only the non-progressive is found in descriptions of punctual situations in the other patterns – perfect compound tense patterns in (36), the verb phrase in periphrastic patterns, [finite modal + subject + verb phrase] in (37), and non-finite clauses in (38):

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36a. dw i [wedi *(bod yn) tisian] unwaith. be.PRES.1SG I PERF be PROG sneeze once ‘I’ve sneezed / been sneezing once.’ b. fydd Mair [wedi *(bod yn) bwrw ’r hoelen] unwaith. be.FUT.3SG Mair PERF be PROG hit the nail once ‘Mair will have hit / been hitting the nail once.’ 37a. alla’ i [*(fod yn) tisian]. can.PRES.1SG I be PROG sneeze ‘I can sneeze / be sneezing.’ b. ddylwn i [*(fod yn) bwrw] ’r hoelen unwaith. should.CNTF.1SG I be PROG hit the nail once ‘I should hit / be hitting the nail once.’ 38a. dw i ’n disgwyl [*(bod yn) tisian]. be.PRES.1SG I PROG expect be PROG sneeze ‘I expect to sneeze / be sneezing.’ b. cyn i mi [*(fod yn) tisian] … before to me be PROG sneeze ‘before I sneeze / am sneezing …’ The examples are starred to indicate that the progressive aspect is not used to describe a momentary, punctual situation. If a durative interpretation can be achieved by, for instance, imagining a prolonged slow-motion type of occurrence, then the progressive examples are acceptable. Otherwise, given a typical punctual interpretation, the non-progressive, which provides a non-durative view, is the normal choice. We can also include as punctual dynamic situations those acts which require the non-progressive and not the progressive, which are discussed in 6.2.2. They are examples of context-dependent meanings which can be associated with sentences which convey willingness or power of the subject: 39a. symuda’ i hwnna i ti. move. FUT.1SG I that for you.SG ‘I’ll move that for you.’ b. * fydda’ i ’n symud hwnna i ti. be.FUT.1SG I PROG move that for you.SG. ‘I’ll be moving that for you.’ 40a. chychwynnith y car ddim. start.FUT.3SG the car NEG ‘the car won’t start.’

266

Progressive aspect

b. * fydd y car ddim yn cychwyn. be.FUT.3SG the car NEG PROG start ‘the car won’t be starting.’ 41a. symude Siân ddim neithiwr. move. FUTP.3SG Siân NEG last-night ‘Siân wouldn’t move last night.’ b. * fydde/fasa Siân ddim yn symud neithiwr. be.FUTP.3SG Siân NEG PROG move last-night ‘Siân wouldn’t be moving last night.’ 42a. gychwynne ’r car ddim ddoe. move. FUTP.3SG the car NEG yesterday ‘the car wouldn’t start yesterday.’ b. * fydde/fasa ’r car ddim yn cychwyn ddoe. be.FUTP.3SG the car NEG PROG start yesterday ‘the car wouldn’t be starting yesterday.’ The asterisk indicates that there is a restriction on the progressive in descriptions of such acts. The progressive is acceptable if the starred examples are interpreted as descriptions of processes. We can claim that acts are punctual-like, and bring them under the same generalization which accounts for punctual situations. There are exceptions to the requirement that only the non-progressive occurs in descriptions of purely punctual situations. All involve a nonprogressive gap. In informal Welsh, lexical verbs have no simple finite forms which can convey the PRESENT tense (with a small number of nonproductive exceptions – see 3.5), unlike other European languages including English. Thus, no non-progressive (and non-perfect) pattern is possible. This is not a problem in the description of present-time situations which have duration. Like English, Welsh uses progressive patterns to describe such situations: 43a. mae ’n bwrw glaw. be.PRES.3SG PROG hit rain ‘it’s raining.’ b. ma’ Mair yn golchi ’i gwallt. be.PRES.3SG Mair PROG wash 3SG.F hair ‘Mair is washing her hair.’ c. ma’ ’r dillad yn sychu ar y lein. be.PRES.3SG the clothes PROG dry on the line ‘the clothes are drying on the line.’

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But unlike English, because of the non-progressive gap, informal Welsh does not have the option of describing present-time punctual situations with the non-progressive, such as he shoots and scores in sports commentaries in English.77 Welsh must use the progressive for these and other punctual situations, too: 44a. mae o ’n ergydio am y gôl ac yn sgorio. be.PRES.3SG he PROG strike for the goal and PROG score ‘he shoots for goal and scores.’ b. ma’ ’r ffefryn yn syrthio wrth y ffens ola. be.PRES.3SG the favourite PROG fall by the fence last ‘the favourite falls at the last fence.’ Small clauses and absolute clauses which describe punctual situations also use the progressive as the non-progressive is unavailable: 45a. dw i ’n cofio Sioned [yn tisian]. be.PRES.1SG I PROG remember Sioned PROG sneeze ‘I remember Sioned sneezing.’ b. glywodd Mair fi [’n pesychu]. hear.PERV.3SG Mair I PROG cough ‘Mair heard me cough / coughing.’ 46a. dw i ’n cadw ’n ddistaw a Sioned [yn be.PRES.1SG I PROG work PRED quiet and Sioned PROG tisian]. sneeze ‘I’m keeping quiet and Sioned sneezing.’ b. dach chi ’n agor y ffenest a finnau [’n be.PRES.2PL you.PL PROG work the window and I.CONJ PROG pesychu]. cough ‘you open the window and me coughing.’ These examples are intended to be read such that they describe a single sneeze or cough, that is, a punctual situation. (They can also be read such that they describe a series of sneezes or coughs which form a unitary durative situation, and the progressive can convey the typical meaning of providing a durative view. But we are not concerned with durative situations at this point.) Welsh is not like English, which can have a progressive:nonprogressive contrast in some instances – as in the case of the English

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equivalents of (45b). So far, we have suggested that the progressive in Welsh conveys a durative view, and such a view is incompatible with punctual situations. We shall not at this stage attempt to explain what sort of meaning the progressive conveys in such descriptions. A discussion of this issue is delayed until the overall picture is presented in 8.5, where other situations in which the progressive is promoted are also considered. 8.2.3

Summary

In the case of processes, the non-progressive and progressive convey a nondurative view and durative view respectively. In the case of purely punctual situations, only a non-durative view is possible and only the nonprogressive is selected. But the non-progressive is not available in the case of the PRESENT tense in a non-perfect compound tense pattern, in absolute clauses, and in small clauses. There is a non-progressive gap, and the progressive is compulsorily used in descriptions of punctual situations. 8.3

Habitual dynamic situations

In this section we are concerned with a characteristic pattern of activity in unitary durative situations. The unitary situation may be made up of the occurrences of processes or punctual situations, but these latter distinctions are not relevant to the main discussion of habituals. We have already looked at bydd and byddai as specialized forms, which are used specifically in descriptions of habitual situations, in 2.4. In this section, we shall see that other tenses are used in sentences which describe habitual situations, and as pointed out in 2.4, for many speakers these other tenses are the most common choice. Our interest here is in the contrast of progressive and nonprogressive. Judgements are not always clear-cut, and a very detailed account is difficult. But the data are sufficiently clear to be able to identify the main trends in the use of the progressive and non-progressive in descriptions of habitual situations. We shall not at this stage attempt to account for the meanings of the non-progressive and progressive. This is postponed until 8.5 where the overall picture is considered. Before then, we shall simply establish whether or not the non-progressive or progressive can occur in the description of habitual dynamic situations. As mentioned in 8.1.2, the literature commonly holds that the progressive does not occur in descriptions of habitual situations, and, in English,

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the non-progressive is used to describe habitual dynamic situations (unless the situations last for a limited period). But in Welsh, both the progressive and the non-progressive can occur in sentences which describe habitual dynamic situations. But the crucial point is that the norm is to use the progressive, and any problems of judgement about acceptability relate to the nonprogressive and not the progressive. 47a. o’dd Sioned yn gweithio i gyngor y dre. be.IMPF.3SG Sioned PROG work for council the town ‘Sioned worked for the town council.’ b. fuodd Sioned yn gweithio i gyngor y dre. be.PERV.3SG Sioned PROG work for council the town ‘Sioned worked for the town council.’ c. weithiodd Sioned i gyngor y dre. work.PERV.3SG Sioned for council the town ‘Sioned worked for the town council.’ 48a. fydda’ i ’n dysgu ’r plant bob dydd o rwan be.FUT.1SG I PROG teach the children every day from now ymlaen. forward ‘I’ll teach the children every day from now on.’ b. ddysga’ i ’r plant bob dydd o rwan ymlaen. teach.FUT.1SG I the children every day from now forward ‘I’ll teach the children every day from now on.’ 49a. o’n i ’n cerdded i ’r gwaith am flynyddoedd. be.IMPF.1SG I PROG walk to the work for years ‘I walked to work for years.’ b. fush i ’n cerdded i ’r gwaith am flynyddoedd. be.PERV.1SG I PROG walk to the work for years ‘I walked to work for years.’ c. gerddish i i ’r gwaith am flynyddoedd. walk.PERV.1SG I to the work for years ‘I walked to work for years.’ This use of the progressive makes Welsh distinctive. 78 We shall return to it in 8.5. We can also consider at this point limited duration. In English, limited duration can be explicitly conveyed by the progressive. Thus, we have the contrast between I walk to work and I’m walking to work these days, where the latter explicitly denotes that this situation is confined to a certain period

270

Progressive aspect

of time which is shorter than an assumed longer period of time. Comrie (1976: 38) considers whether the basic meaning of the progressive in English is that of conveying a “contingent situation”. In Welsh, the rules for limited duration are the same as those for extended duration, namely the progressive is the norm: 50a. o’dd Sioned yn gweithio yn Abertawe yn ystod be.IMPF.3SG Sioned PROG work in Swansea in period y naw dege. the nine tens ‘Sioned was working in Swansea during the nineties.’ b. fuodd Sioned yn gweithio yn Abertawe yn ystod be.PERV.3SG Sioned PROG work in Swansea in period y naw dege. the nine tens ‘Sioned was working in Swansea during the nineties.’ c. na’th Sioned weithio yn Abertawe yn ystod y naw dege. do.PERV.3SG Sioned work in Swansea in period the nine tens ‘Sioned worked in Swansea during the nineties.’ 51a. fydda’ i ’n dysgu ’r plant bob dydd am flwyddyn. be.FUT.1SG I PROG teach the children every day for year ‘I’ll be teaching the children every day for a year.’ b. ddysga’ i ’r plant bob dydd am flwyddyn. teach.FUT.1SG I the children every day for year ‘I’ll teach the children every day for a year.’ 52a. o’n i ’n cerdded i ’r gwaith llynedd . be.IMPF.1SG I PROG walk to the work last-year ‘I was walking to work last year.’ b. fush i ’n cerdded i ’r gwaith llynedd. be.PERV.1SG I PROG walk to the work last-year ‘I was walking to work last year.’ c. gerddish i i ’r gwaith llynedd. walk.PERV.1SG I to the work last-year ‘I walked to work last year.’ Welsh, then, does not grammaticalize the distinction between extended duration and limited duration. Contingency is a possible interpretation with certain adjectives which allow a dynamic interpretation in copular sentences such as John is being silly as compared with John is silly, discussed in 8.4.3. But we suggest there that, in Welsh, the progressive emphasizes

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plain duration with such examples rather than limited or contingent duration. The non-progressive or the progressive can occur in all other patterns – perfect compound tense patterns in (53), periphrastic patterns, [finite modal + subject +verb phrase] in (54), and non-finite clauses in (55).79 Unlike the non-perfect compound tense pattern, the selection of the non-progressive is not as exceptional as it is in non-perfect compound tense patterns. 53a. dw i [wedi (bod yn) gweithio] yma erioed. be.PRES.1SG I PERF be PROG work here ever ‘I’ve always worked / been working here.’ b. o’n i [wedi (bod yn) cerdded] i ’r gwaith am be.IMPF.1SG I PERF be PROG work to the work for flynyddoedd. years ‘I had been walking to work for years.’ 54a. alle hi [(fod yn) gweithio] mewn banc. can.CNTF.3SG she be PROG work in bank ‘she could work / be working in a bank.’ b. ddyle Mair [(fod yn) cerdded] i ’r gwaith. should.CNTF.3SG Mair be PROG walk to the work ‘Mair should walk / be walking to work.’ 55a. cyn i mi [(fod yn) gweithio] yn neuadd y dre… before to I be PROG work in hall the town ‘before I worked / was working in the town hall.’ b. dw i ’n disgwyl i Mair [(fod yn) gweithio] mewn be.PRES.1SG I PROG expect to Mair be PROG work in banc. bank ‘I expect Mair to work / be working in a bank.’ c. dw i ’n bwriadu [(bod yn) cerdded] i ’r gwaith. be.PRES.1SG I PROG intend be PROG walk to the work ‘I intend to walk / be walking to work.’ In summary, in the case of dynamic habitual situations, both the nonprogressive and the progressive can occur. In non-perfect compound tense patterns, the preferred selection is the progressive. The other patterns also allow both the progressive (if available) and the non-progressive, but the selection of the non-progressive is not as exceptional as it is in non-perfect compound tense patterns.80

272 8.4

Progressive aspect

Stative situations

In this section, we shall consider both non-habitual and habitual statives. However, the account of aspect in descriptions of statives is complex. We shall look at stative lexical verbs, modal verbs, and copular predicates, and consider each of these in the syntactic contexts which are outlined in 8.1.1 (except absolute clauses and small clauses). We shall first consider stative lexical verbs and modal verbs in non-perfect compound tense patterns and simple verb patterns (8.4.1). Then we shall consider the same verbs in the other patterns (8.4.2). And finally we shall examine copular predicates in all syntactic contexts (8.4.3). We shall mainly establish whether or not the non-progressive or progressive can occur in the description of stative situations. We shall not attempt to account for their meanings in these situations. This is better undertaken in 8.5 when the overall picture is available. 8.4.1

Non-perfect compound tense patterns and simple finite verbs: Stative lexical verbs and modal verbs

Well-known examples of stative lexical verbs are adnabod ‘recognize, know’, credu / coelio ‘believe’, cynnwys ‘contain’, deall ‘understand’, dychmygu ‘imagine’, gobeithio ‘hope’, gwybod ‘know’, licio / hoffi ‘like’, meddwl ‘think’, ofni ‘fear’, perthyn ‘belong’, and poeni ‘worry’. We shall also consider verbs which are related to the senses and which can occur with a predicatival adjective, namely, blasu ‘taste’, edrych ‘look’, oglau ‘smell’, swnio ‘sound’, and teimlo ‘feel’. Other verbs which we shall consider are byw ‘live’, llifo ‘flow’, sefyll ‘stand’, and rhedeg ‘run (in the sense of flow)’, all of which can convey a continuous unbroken situation. We shall see that differences in acceptability show that these verbs do not form a uniform class. As indicated in 1.1.5 and 3.2.2, modal verbs in Welsh are cael, ‘may, can’, gallu ‘can’, medru ‘can’, and the defective verb dylai ‘should’. The latter, being defective, is not included in the discussion here. As outlined in 8.1.2, the literature records that the progressive does not generally occur in descriptions of stative situations. This does not apply to Welsh non-perfect compound tense patterns. The norm is to select the progressive. All problems of judgement relate to the non-progressive which, depending on the stative verb, can freely occur, marginally occur, or not occur.81

Stative situations

273

Non-habitual statives For reasons which are explained later, we shall not include the in progressive examples of non-habitual statives at this point.

PERFECTIVE

56a. o’dd Sioned yn licio ’r ffilm neithiwr. be.IMPF.3SG Sioned PROG like the film last-night ‘Sioned liked the film last night.’ b. liciodd Sioned y ffilm neithiwr. like. PERV.3SG Sioned the film last-night ‘Sioned liked the film last night.’ 57a. fydd y plant yn gwbod yr atebion yn y cwis. be.FUT.3SG the children PROG know the answers in the quiz ‘the children will know the answers in the quiz.’ c. neith y plant wbod yr atebion yn y cwis. do.FUT.3SG the children know the answers in the quiz ‘the children will know the answers in the quiz.’ 58a. oedd Mair yn nabod pawb ddoe. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG know everyone yesterday ‘Mair recognized everyone yesterday.’ b. nabododd Mair bawb ddoe. know.PERV.3SG Mair everyone yesterday ‘Mair recognized everyone yesterday.’ 59a. oedd Mair yn deall popeth neithiwr be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG understand everything last-night ‘Mair understood everything last night.’ b. ddeallodd Mair bopeth neithiwr. understand.PERV.3SG Mair everything last-night ‘Mair understood everything last night.’ 60a. oedd Mair yn cofio enwe pawb ddoe. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG remember names everyone yesterday ‘Mair remembered everyone’s names yesterday.’ b. gofiodd Mair enwe pawb ddoe. remember.PERV.3SG Mair names everyone yesterday ‘Mair remembered everyone’s names yesterday.’ 61a. oedd Mair yn edrych yn flin ddoe. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG look PRED cross yesterday ‘Mair looked cross yesterday.’

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Progressive aspect

b. edrychodd Mair yn flin ddoe. look.PERV.3SG Mair PRED cross yesterday ‘Mair looked cross yesterday.’ 62a. fydd Siân yn swnio yn well heno. be.FUT.3SG Siân PROG sound PRED better tonight ‘Siân will sound better tonight.’ b. swni-ith Siân yn well heno. sound.FUT.3SG Siân PRED better tonight ‘Siân will sound better tonight.’ 63a. o’n i ’n teimlo ’n sal bore ’ma. be.IMPF.1SG I PROG feel PRED ill morning here ‘I was feeling ill this morning.’ b. deimlish i ’n sal bore ’ma. feel.PERV.1SG I PRED ill morning here ‘I felt ill this morning.’ But the non-progressive is doubtful or unacceptable in the case of some lexical verbs: 64a. o’n i ddim yn poeni ddoe. be.IMPF.1SG I NEG PROG worry yesterday ‘I wasn’t worried yesterday.’ b. ? boenish i ddim ddoe. worry.PERV.1SG I NEG yesterday ‘I didn’t worry yesterday.’ 65a. oedd Mair yn gobeithio gweld Siân ddoe. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG hope see Siân yesterday ‘Mair hoped to see Siân yesterday.’ b. * obeithiodd Mair weld Siân ddoe. hope.PERV.3SG Mair see Siân yesterday ‘Mair hoped to see Siân yesterday.’ 66a. oedd y dillad yn teimlo ’n wlyb. be.IMPF.3SG the clothes PROG feel PRED wet ‘the clothes felt wet.’ b. * deimlodd y dillad yn wlyb. feel.PERV.3SG the clothes PRED wet ‘the clothes felt wet.’ 67a. oedd y cawl yn blasu ’n hallt. be.IMPF.3SG the soup PROG taste PRED salty ‘the soup tasted salty.’

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275

b. * flasodd y cawl yn hallt. taste.PERV.3SG the soup PRED salty ‘the soup tasted salty.’ 68a. oedd y caws yn ogle ’n ddrwg. be.IMPF.3SG the cheese PROG smell PRED bad ‘the cheese smelled off.’ b. * oglodd y caws yn ddrwg. smell.PERV.3SG the cheese PRED bad ‘the cheese smelled off.’ Another type of constraint is found in the case of the PAST tense PERFECTIVE, which does not occur with the progressive in descriptions of non-habitual states with some, but not all, stative lexical verbs (also considered in 4.2.2): 69a. * fuodd Sioned yn licio ’r ffilm neithiwr. be.PERV.3SG Sioned PROG like the film last-night ‘Sioned liked the film last night.’ b. * fuodd Mair yn nabod Siân ddoe. be.PERV.3SG Mair PROG know Siân yesterday ‘Mair recognized Siân yesterday.’ c. * fuodd Mair yn gobeithio gweld Siân ddoe. be.PERV.3SG Mair PROG hope see Siân yesterday ‘Mair hoped to see Siân yesterday.’ d. * fuodd Mair yn deall popeth neithiwr. be.PERV.3SG Mair PROG understand everything last-night ‘Mair understood everything last night.’ e. * fuodd Mair yn cofio enwe pawb ddoe. be.PERV.3SG Mair PROG remember names everyone yesterday ‘Mair remembered everyone’s names yesterday.’ f. * fuodd y cawl yn blasu ’n hallt bore ’ma. be.PERV.3SG the soup PROG taste PRED salty morning here ‘the soup tasted salty this morning.’ 70a. fush i ddim yn poeni ddoe. be.PERV.1SG I NEG PROG worry yesterday ‘I wasn’t worried yesterday.’ b. fuodd Mair yn edrych yn flin ddoe. be.PERV.3SG Mair PROG look PRED cross yesterday ‘Mair looked cross yesterday.’

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Progressive aspect

c. fuodd y dillad yn be.PERV.3SG the clothes PROG ‘the clothes felt wet.’ d. fuodd y caws yn be.PERV.3SG the cheese PROG ‘the cheese smelled off.’

teimlo ’n wlyb. feel PRED wet ogle ’n ddrwg. smell PRED bad

We shall label this constraint the perfective-progressive constraint. A precise account of this constraint is complex. First, the situation must be stative, as PERFECTIVE and progressive sentences are appropriate in descriptions of dynamic situations, as we have seen in 8.2.1. Second, the stative situation must be non-habitual, as examples which are given later in this section show that PERFECTIVE and progressive sentences are acceptable in descriptions of habitual stative situations. Third, the constraint relates to a combination of PERFECTIVE and progressive, as the PERFECTIVE is acceptable in non-progressive sentences, and the progressive is acceptable in IMPERFECTIVE examples, as various examples in (56–63) show. Fourth, this constraint only applies to some stative lexical verbs and not all, as the examples in (64–70) show. It is difficult to explain why some stative lexical verbs are subject to this constraint and why others are not. This suggests that stative lexical verbs are not uniform as a class, and that there may be prototypical and non-prototypical members of the class. If this constraint is a semantic one, then we could say that non-habitual stative situations cannot be described as both bounded (PERFECTIVE) and durative (progressive), but they can be described as unbounded (IMPERFECTIVE) and durative (progressive) or bounded (PERFECTIVE) and non-durative (non-progressive). But it is still not clear why these semantic combinations should occur or not occur. The account of modal verbs in non-perfect compound tense patterns is subject to the observations which are made in 8.1.1 in respect of examples (9–22), namely, that there is no productive semantic contrast between the progressive and non-progressive with the majority of tenses, with the exception of the PAST tense PERFECTIVE. And with the latter, only the nonprogressive is possible and not the progressive: 71a. allish i basio ’r lori. can.PERV.1SG I pass the lorry ‘I was able to pass the lorry.’

Stative situations

277

b. * fush i ’n gallu pasio ’r lori. be.PERV.1SG I PROG can pass the lorry ‘I was able to pass the lorry.’ 72a. gesh i fenthyc bensil Mared. may.PERV.1SG I borrow pencil Mared ‘I got / was allowed to borrow Mared’s pencil.’ b. * fush i ’n cal benthyc pensil Mared. be.PERV.1SG I PROG may borrow pencil Mared ‘I got / was allowed to borrow Mared’s pencil.’ The situations which are described in examples (71a) and (72a) are viewed essentially as punctual acts, that is, a dynamic situation and not a stative one (as discussed in 4.2.3). The emphasis is on successfully fulfilling the act (instantiation). We have already seen in the discussion of dynamic situations in 8.2.2 that the non-progressive is chosen in sentences which describe punctual situations (except where the non-progressive is not available), and this can explain the restriction on the progressive in these examples. The restriction on the progressive could also be attributed to the perfective-progressive constraint, but the dynamic-stative contrast is a more obvious explanation. Habitual statives In habitual statives, the norm is again to select the progressive in nonperfect compound tense patterns, but the preference for the progressive is much stronger than in equivalent descriptions of non-habitual situations. The acceptability of the non-progressive ranges from acceptable, marginal, to unacceptable with different lexemes. But whatever judgements are made about the non-progressive, it is entirely clear that the progressive is the typical choice in descriptions of habitual statives. 82 Another point is that the perfective-progressive constraint (which prohibits a combination of the PERFECTIVE and the progressive in descriptions of non-habitual states, as outlined earlier in this section) does not apply to habitual statives. The clearest illustrations of all these points are found in the deictic past: 73a. o’n i ’n nabod Sioned yn dda. be.IMPF.1SG I PROG know Sioned ADV good ‘I knew Sioned well.’

278

Progressive aspect

b. fush i ’n nabod Sioned yn dda. be.PERV.1SG I PROG know Sioned ADV good ‘I knew Sioned well.’ c. * nabodish i Sioned yn dda. know.PERV.1SG I Sioned ADV good = ‘I knew Sioned well.’ 74a. oedd Sioned yn gwbod enwe pawb. be.IMPF.3SG Sioned PROG know names everyone ‘Sioned knew everyone’s name.’ b. fuodd Sioned yn gwbod enwe pawb. be.PERV.3SG Sioned PROG know names everyone ‘Sioned knew everyone’s name.’ c. * na’th Sioned wbod enwe pawb. do.PERV.3SG Sioned know names everyone = ‘Sioned knew everyone’s name.’ 75a. o’n i ’n licio ’r ysgol. be.IMPF.3SG I PROG like the school ‘I liked school.’ b. fush i ’n licio ’r ysgol. be.PERV.1SG I PROG like the school ‘I liked school.’ c. ? lici-ish i ’r ysgol. like. PERV.1SG I the school = ‘I liked school.’ 76a. oedd y llyfre ’n cynnwys awgrymiade be.IMPF.3SG the books PROG contain suggestions ‘the books contained good suggestions.’ b. fuodd y llyfre ’n cynnwys awgrymiade be.PERV.3SG the books PROG contain suggestions ‘the books contained good suggestions.’ c. * gynhwysodd y llyfre awgrymiade da. contain.PERV.3SG the books suggestions good = ‘the books contained good suggestions.’ 77a. o’n i ’n byw yn Wrecsam. be.IMPF.1SG I PROG live in Wrexham ‘I lived in Wrexham.’ b. fush i ’n byw yn Wrecsam. be.PERV.1SG I PROG live in Wrexham ‘I lived in Wrexham.’

da. good da. good

Stative situations

c. nesh i fyw yn Wrecsam. do.PERV.1SG I live in Wrexham = ‘I lived in Wrexham.’ 78a. oedd y castell yn sefyll ar lan y môr. be.IMPF.3SG the castle PROG stand on bank the sea ‘the castle stood on the sea shore.’ b. fuodd y castell yn sefyll ar lan y môr. be.PERV.3SG the castle PROG stand on bank the sea ‘the castle stood on the sea shore.’ c. * safodd y castell ar lan y môr. stand.PERV.3SG the castle on bank the sea = ‘the castle stood on the sea shore.’ 79a. oedd yr afon yn rhedeg trwy ganol y be.IMPF.3SG the river PROG run through middle the ‘the river ran through the middle of the town.’ b. fuodd yr afon yn rhedeg trwy ganol y be.PERV.3SG the river PROG run through middle the ‘the river ran through the middle of the town.’ c. ? redodd yr afon trwy ganol y dre. run.PERV.3SG the river through middle the town = ‘the river ran through the middle of the town.’

279

dre. town dre. town

In the case of modal verbs in descriptions of habitual statives, the progressive occurs and not the non-progressive: 80a. fush i ’n medru cerdded i ’r dre yn ddyddiol. be.PERV.1SG I PROG can walk to the town ADV daily ‘I used to be able to walk to town daily.’ b. * fedrish i gerdded i ’r dre yn ddyddiol. can.PERV.1SG I walk to the town ADV daily ‘I could walk to town daily.’ 81b. fuodd y plant yn medru canu ’n dda yn yr hen be.PERV.3SG the children PROG can sing ADV good in the old ddyddie. days ‘the children used to be able to sing well in the old days.’ b. * fedrodd y plant ganu yn dda yn yr hen ddyddie. can.PERV.3SG the children sing ADV good in the old days ‘the children could sing well in the old days.’

280

Progressive aspect

The progressive examples do not describe an act which instantiates an ability but describe the enduring state of that ability. We can note from examples (80–81) that modal verbs, like lexical verbs, are not subject to the perfective-progressive constraint in descriptions of habitual situations. Summary In descriptions of non-habitual and habitual statives in non-perfect compound tense patterns, the norm is to select the progressive. Any constraints are on the non-progressive, which is variously acceptable (but uncommon), marginal, or unacceptable. But the non-progressive is more likely in descriptions of non-habitual statives than in descriptions of habitual statives. We have also established the perfective-progressive constraint, which prohibits the combination of PAST tense PERFECTIVE and progressive in the description of non-habitual statives with some lexical stative verbs. 8.4.2

Other patterns: Stative lexical verbs and modal verbs

In this section, we shall look at the occurrences of stative lexical verbs and modal verbs in perfect compound tense patterns, periphrastic patterns, and non-finite clauses. Again, we shall consider descriptions of non-habitual situations and habitual situations. We shall see that the rules for describing states with lexical stative verbs and modal verbs in these other patterns are different. The non-progressive can be selected in all situational and syntactic contexts, and any problematic judgements relate to the progressive. But no consistent picture emerges in the selection of the progressive, which is variously acceptable, marginal, or unacceptable with different lexemes. We shall organize the discussion on the basis of the degree of acceptability of the progressive, from least acceptable to most acceptable. We shall first consider non-habitual statives in perfect compound tense patterns and non-finite clauses. Lexical verbs are illustrated in perfect compound tense patterns in (82) and in non-finite clauses in (83); and modal verbs are illustrated in perfect compound tense patterns in (84) and in nonfinite clauses in (85). 82a. o’n i [’di (?bod yn) licio] ’r ffilm neithiwr. be.IMPF.1SG I PERF be PROG like the film last-night ‘I had liked / been being liking the film last night.’

Stative situations

281

b. fydd y plant [wedi (?bod yn) gwbod] yr atebion yn be.FUT.3SG the children PERF be PROG know the answers in y cwis heno. the quiz tonight ‘the children will have known / been knowing the answers in the quiz tonight.’ c. oedd Mair [wedi (?bod yn) nabod] Siân ddoe. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PERF be PROG know Siân yesterday ‘Mair had recognized / been recognizing Siân yesterday.’ d. oedd Mair [wedi (?bod yn) deall] popeth be.IMPF.3SG Mair PERF be PROG understand everything neithiwr. last-night ‘Mair had understood / been understanding everything last night.’ e. oedd Mair [wedi (?bod yn) cofio] enwe pawb be.IMPF.3SG Mair PERF be PROG remember names everyone ddoe. yesterday ‘Mair had remembered / been remembering everyone’s names yester day.’ f. oedd y dillad [wedi (?bod yn) teimlo] ’n wlyb. be.IMPF.3SG the clothes PERF be PROG feel PRED wet ‘the clothes had felt / been feeling wet.’ g. oedd y cawl [wedi (?bod yn) blasu] ’n hallt be.IMPF.3SG the soup PERF be PROG taste PRED salty neithiwr. last- night ‘the soup had tasted / been tasting salty last night.’ h. o’n i ddim [wedi (bod yn) poeni] ddoe. be.IMPF.1SG I NEG PERF be PROG worry yesterday ‘I hadn’t worried / been worrying yesterday.’ i. oedd Mair [wedi (bod yn) gobeithio] gweld Siân be.IMPF.3SG Mair PERF be PROG hope see Siân ddoe. yesterday ‘Mair had hoped / been hoping to see Siân yesterday.’ j. oedd Mair [wedi (bod yn) edrych] yn sal ddoe. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PERF be PROG look PRED ill yesterday ‘Mair had looked / been looking ill yesterday.’

282

Progressive aspect

83a. ma’ hi ’n gobeithio [*(bod yn) gwbod] yr atebion be.PRES.3SG she PROG hope be PROG know the answers heno. tonight ‘she hopes to know / be knowing the answers tonight.’ b. ma’ hi ’n disgwy l [*(bod yn) licio] ’r ffilm heno. be.PRES.3SG she PROG expect be PROG like the film tonight ‘she expects to be liking the film tonight.’ 84a. o’n i ’di [*(bod yn) cal] gweld y ffilm neithiwr. be.IMPF.1SG I PERF be PROG may see the film last-night ‘I had been / been being allowed to see the film last night.’ b. ma’ Mair [wedi *(bod yn) cal] aros heddiw. be.PRES.3SG Mair PERF be PROG may stay today ‘Mair has been / been being allowed to stay today.’ c. o’n i [’di (?bod yn) gallu] neidio ’r wal neithiwr. be.IMPF.1SG I PERF be PROG can jump the wall last-night ‘I had been / been being able to jump the wall last night.’ 85a. ma’ hi ’n gobeithio [(*bod yn) cal] mynd i ’r be.PRES.3SG she PROG hope be PROG may go to the sinema heno. cinema tonight ‘she hopes to be / be being allowed to go to the cinema tonight.’ b. ma’ hi ’n disgwyl [(?bod yn) gallu] codi ’r be.PRES.3SG she PROG expect be PROG can raise the pwyse wedyn. weights afterwards ‘she expects to be / be being able to lift the weights afterwards.’ The non-progressive is the main choice. The progressive is mainly marginal or unacceptable, but there are a few examples in which it is acceptable. Descriptions of habitual situations are different. The non-progressive is again the main choice but the progressive is more acceptable than it is in equivalent descriptions of non-habitual situations. Lexical verbs are illustrated in perfect compound tense patterns in (86) and in non-finite clauses in (87); and modal verbs are illustrated in perfect compound tense patterns as in (88) and in non-finite clauses in (89). 86a. o’n i [’di (bod yn) edmygu] Sioned erioed. be.IMPF.1SG I PERF be PROG admire Sioned ever ‘I’d always admired / been admiring Sioned.’

Stative situations

283

b. o’n i [wedi (bod yn) nabod] Sioned yn dda. be.IMPF.1SG I PERF be PROG know Sioned ADV good ‘I had known / been knowing Sioned well.’ c. oedd Sioned [wedi (bod yn) gwbod] enwe pawb. be.IMPF.3SG Sioned PERF be PROG know names everyone ‘Sioned had known / been knowing everyone’s name.’ d. o’n i [wedi (?bod yn) licio] ’r ysgol. be.IMPF.1SG I PERF be PROG like the school ‘I had liked / been liking school.’ e. oedd y llyfre [wedi (?bod yn) cynnwys] awgrymiade be.IMPF.3SG the books PERF be PROG contain suggestions da. good ‘the books had contained / been containing good suggestions.’ f. o’n i [wedi (bod yn) byw] yn Wrecsam. be.IMPF.1SG I PERF be PROG live in Wrexham ‘I had lived / been living in Wrexham.’ g. oedd y castell [wedi (bod yn) sefyll] ar lan y môr. be.IMPF.3SG the castle PERF be PROG stand on bank the sea ‘the castle had stood / been standing on the sea shore.’ h. oedd yr afon [wedi (bod yn) rhedeg] trwy ganol be.IMPF.3SG the river PERF be PROG run through middle y dre. the town ‘the river had run / been running through the middle of the town.’ 87a. ma’ hi ’n mwynhau [(bod yn) gwbod] y rheole. be.PRES.3SG she PROG enjoy be PROG know the rules ‘she enjoys knowing / being knowing the rules.’ b. cyn iddi hi [(fod yn) nabod] y plant… before for.3SG.F she be PROG know the children ‘before she knew / was knowing the children.’ 88a. oedd hi [wedi (bod yn) medru] nofio. be.IMPF.3SG she PERF be PROG can swim ‘she had been / been being able to swim.’ b. oedd hi [wedi (bod yn) cal] defnyddio car Siôn bob be.IMPF.3SG she PERF be PROG may use car Siôn every penwythnos. weekend ‘she had been / been being allowed to drive Siôn’s car every weekend.’

284

Progressive aspect

c. oedd hi [wedi (bod yn) gallu] siarad Sbaeneg yn rhugl. be.IMPF.3SG she PERF be PROG can speak Spanish ADV fluent ‘she had been / been being able to speak Spanish fluently.’ 89a. ma’ hi ’n mwynhau [(bod yn) gallu] siarad Sbaeneg. be.PRES.3SG she PROG enjoy be PROG can speak Spanish ‘she enjoys being / be being able to speak Spanish.’ b. cyn iddi hi [(fod yn) gallu] siarad Sbaeneg … before for.3SG.F she be PROG can speak Spanish ‘before she was / was being able to speak Spanish.’ Turning to periphrastic patterns, [finite modal + subject + verb phrase], in descriptions of both non-habitual and habitual situations, the nonprogressive is again an acceptable choice, but the progressive is also mainly acceptable. Lexical stative verbs are illustrated in (90) and (91). 90a. ddyle hi [(fod yn) gwbod] yr ateb heno. should.CNTF.3SG she be PROG know the answer tonight ‘she should know / be knowing the answer tonight.’ b. alle Gwyn [(fod yn) licio] ’r ffilm heno. can.CNTF.3SG Gwyn be PROG like the film tonight ‘Gwyn could be liking the film tonight.’ 91a. fedre hi [(fod yn) licio] cabaets. can.CNTF.3SG she be PROG like cabbage ‘she could like / be liking cabbage.’ b. ddyle Mair [(fod yn) gwbod ] y rheole i gyd. should.CNTF.3SG Mair be PROG know the rules to joint ‘Mair should know / be knowing all the rules.’ In the case of modal verbs in the verb phrase, they allow both the progressive and non-progressive in descriptions of non-habitual situations as in (92), but mainly select the non-progressive in descriptions of habitual statives, as in (93). 92a. ddylai hi [(fod yn) medru] agor y drws. should.CNTF.3SG she be PROG can open the door ‘she should be / be being able to open the door.’ b. ddylai hi [(fod yn) cal] benthyg y car. should.CNTF.3SG she be PROG may borrow the car ‘she should be / be being allowed to borrow the car.’

Stative situations

285

93a. ddylai hi [(fod yn) gallu] siarad Sbaeneg. should.CNTF.3SG she be PROG can speak Spanish ‘she should be / be being able to speak Spanish.’ b. ddyle Mair [(?fod yn) cal] aros ’ma bob nos. should.CNTF.3SG Mair be PROG may stay here every night ‘Mair should be / be being allowed to stay here every night.’ In (93), the non-progressive and the progressive can occur in the case of gallu ability but the progressive is doubtful in the case of cael permission. In summary, in the other patterns overall, the norm is to select the nonprogressive in descriptions of both non-habitual statives and habitual statives. Any problems of judgement relate to the progressive – it is acceptable in some instances, marginal in others, or unacceptable in yet other instances. 8.4.3

Copular predicates

We turn now to look at copular predicates, and we shall see that matters are quite straightforward in the case of stative copulars: only the nonprogressive occurs in all contexts. But in some instances, it is possible for copular predicates to be dynamic, and both the progressive and nonprogressive are possible. Stative copulars Only the non-progressive occurs in descriptions of both non-habitual and habitual statives in all syntactic contexts; the progressive is clearly unacceptable. Examples of non-habitual situations in all syntactic contexts are as follows: 94a. Sioned ydy ’r stiward (*yn bod) heno. Sioned be.PRES.3SG the steward PROG be tonight ‘Sioned is / is being the steward tonight.’ b. oeddwn i (*yn bod) yn yr ardd bore ’ma. be.IMPF.3SG I PROG be in the garden morning here ‘I was / was being in the garden this morning.’ c. fydd (*yn bod) gan Sioned arian fory. be.FUT.3SG PROG be with Sioned money tomorrow ‘Sioned will be / be having money tomorrow.’

286

Progressive aspect

d. ma’ Mair (*yn bod) yn oer rwan. be.PRES.3SG Mair PROG be PRED cold now ‘Mair is / is being cold now.’ e. oedd Mair (*yn bod) yn wlyb neithiwr. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG be PRED wet last-night ‘Mair was / was being wet last night.’ f. o’n i (*’n bod) yn gyfforddus yn y gadair be.IMPF.1SG I PROG be PRED comfortable in the chair freichiau. arms ‘I was / was being comfortable in the armchair.’ 95a. ma’ Mair [wedi bod (*yn bod)] yn oer heddiw. be.PRES.3SG Mair PERF be PROG be PRED cold today ‘Mair has been (*being) cold today.’ b. oedd Mair [wedi bod (*yn bod)] yn wlyb neithiwr. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PERF be PROG be PRED wet last-night ‘Mair had been (*being) wet last night.’ c. o’n i [wedi bod (*yn bod)] yn gyfforddus yn y be.IMPF.1SG I PERF be PROG be PRED comfortable in the gadair freichiau chair arms ‘I had been (*being) comfortable in the armchair.’ 96a. fedre ’r dillad [fod (*yn bod)] yn sych rwan. can.CNTF.3SG the clothes be PROG be PRED dry now ‘the clothes could be (*being) dry now.’ b. ddyle Mair [fod (*yn bod)] yn well rwan. can.CNTF.3SG Mair be PROG be PRED better now ‘Mair should be (*being) better tonight.’ 97a. oedd hi ’n disgwyl [bod (*yn bod)] yn sal be.IMPF.3SG she PROG expect be PROG be PRED ill neithiwr. last-night ‘she expected to be (*being) ill last night.’ b. cyn iddi hi [fod (*yn bod)] yn sal bore ’ma… before for.3SG.F she be PROG be PRED ill morning here ‘before she was (*being) ill this morning.’ Examples of habitual situations in all syntactic contexts are as follows:

Stative situations

287

98a. Sioned oedd y brifathrawes (*yn bod) am flynyddoedd. Sioned be.IMPF.3SG the headteacher.F PROG be for years ‘Sioned was / was being the headteacher for years.’ b. oeddwn i (*yn bod) yn Llundain yn blentyn. be.IMPF.1SG I PROG be in London PRED child ‘I was / was being in London as a child.’ c. mae (*yn bod) gan Sioned ddwy chwaer. be.PRES.3SG PROG be with Sioned two.F sister ‘Sioned has / is having two sisters.’ d. ma’ Sioned (*yn bod) yn dal. be.PRES.3SG Sioned PROG be PRED tall ‘Sioned is being tall.’ e. oedd y plant (*yn bod) yn fach. be.IMPF.3SG the children PROG be PRED small ‘the children were / were being small.’ f. fydda’ i (*’n bod) yn gyfoethog. be.FUT.1SG I PROG be PRED rich ‘I’ll be / be being rich.’ g. oedd y plant (*yn bod) yn ddisgyblion yn yr be.IMPF.3SG the children PROG be PRED pupils in the ysgol leol. school local ‘the children were / were being pupils in the local school.’ h. fydda’ i (*’n bod) yn forwr. be.FUT.1SG I PROG be PRED sailor ‘I’ll be / be being a sailor.’ 99a. ma’ Gwyn [wedi bod (*yn bod)] yn dew ar hyd be.PRES.3SG Gwyn PERF be PROG be PRED fat on length ’i oes. 3SG.M life ‘Gwyn has been (*being) fat all his life.’ b. ma’ Mair [wedi bod (*yn bod)] yn ddel ers erioed. be.PRES.3SG Mair PERF be PROG be PRED pretty since ever ‘Gwyn has been (*being) pretty always.’ 100a. ddyle hi [fod (*yn bod)] yn iach trwy ’r should.CNTF.3SG she be PROG be PRED healthy through the amser. time ‘she should be (*being) healthy all the time.’

288

Progressive aspect

b. alle fo [fod (*yn bod)] yn dal yn oedolyn. should.CNTF.ISG he be PROG be PRED tall PRED adult ‘he could be (*being) tall as an adult.’ 101a. ma’ hi ’n licio [bod (*yn bod)] yn dal. be.PRES.3SG she PROG like be PROG be PRED tall ‘she likes to be (*being) tall.’ b. cyn iddi hi [fod (*yn bod)] yn sal… before for.3SG.F she be PROG be PRED ill ‘before she was (*being) ill.’ Stative copular predicates are based on a consistent and simple rule: only the non-progressive is selected in all contexts. Dynamic contexts However, some adjectives can allow the contrast of non-progressive versus progressive, as in the following non-perfect compound tense patterns: 102a. o’dd Sioned (yn bod) yn afresymol neithiwr. be.IMPF.3SG Sioned PROG be PRED unreasonable last-night ‘Sioned was being unreasonable last night.’ b. ma’ ’r plant (yn bod) yn ddrwg heddiw. be.PRES.3SG the children PROG be PRED bad today ‘the children are being naughty today.’ c. fydda’ i (’n bod) yn ddymunol heno. be.FUT.1SG I PROG be PRED pleasant tonight ‘I’ll be being pleasant tonight.’ d. wyt ti (’n bod) yn wirion ’wan. be.PRES.2SG you.SG PROG be PRED silly now ‘you are being silly now.’ Also, there are some contexts in which a noun can be used with the progressive. It would be possible to say: 103a. wyt ti (’n bod) yn athrawes heddiw? be.PRES.2SG you.SG PROG be PRED teacher.F today ‘are you (being) a teacher today?’ b. mae o (’n bod) yn niwsans heddiw. be.PRES.3SG he PROG be PRED nuisance today ‘he’s (being) a nuisance today.’

Stative situations

289

c. oedd hi (’n bod) yn boen neithiwr. be.IMPF.3SG she PROG be PRED pain last-night ‘she was (being) a pain last night.’ d. wyt ti (’n bod) yn dwpsyn ’wan. be.PRES.2SG you.SG PROG be PRED fool now ‘you’re (being) a fool / dullard now.’ e. mae o (’n bod) yn arwr. be.PRES.3SG he PROG be PRED hero ‘he’s (being) a hero.’ f. ma’ hi (’n bod) yn ferthyr eto. be.PRES.3SG she PROG be PRED martyr again ‘she’s (being) a martyr again.’ Example (103a) could be said by an adult of a child who is playing at being a schoolteacher. In perfect compound tense patterns and periphrastic patterns, the progressive can occur, but may be uncommon: 104a. ma’ hi [wedi bod (yn bod)] yn ddrwg. be.PRES.3SG she PERF be PROG be PRED bad ‘she’s been (being) naughty.’ b. ma’ Mair [wedi bod (yn bod)] yn stiward heddiw. be.PRES.3SG Mair PERF be PROG be PRED steward today ‘Mair has been (being) a steward today.’ c. fedre hi [fod (yn bod )] yn afresymol heno. can.CNTF.3SG she be PROG be PRED unreasonable tonight ‘she could be (being) unreasonable tonight.’ d. ddyle Mair [fod (yn bod)] yn neis rwan. can.CNTF.3SG Mair be PROG be PRED nice now ‘Mair should be (being) nice now.’ But the progressive does not occur in non-finite clauses 105a. oedd hi ’n trio [bod (*yn bod)] yn glyfar neithiwr. be.IMPF.3SG she PROG try be PROG be PRED clever last-night ‘she was trying to be (being) clever last night.’ b. cyn iddi hi [fod (*yn bod)] yn gas bore ’ma… before for.3SG.Fshe be PROG be PRED nasty morning here ‘before she was (being) nasty this morning…’

290

Progressive aspect

In summary, then, the non-progressive can occur in all copular sentences, but the progressive can only occur in some copular sentences. We shall partly attribute this to the general lexical properties of the nouns and adjectives which occur in copular predicates. We shall argue that certain adjectives (and certain nouns in certain pragmatic contexts) can be either stative or dynamic (a point which is also noted by Smith 1997: 58, citing other researchers). When they are dynamic, the choice of the progressive and nonprogressive is then the same as in descriptions of non-habitual dynamic situations as described in 8.2.1: the progressive can be chosen to provide a durative view and the non-progressive can be chosen to give a non-durative view. There are other adjectives which can only be stative, and only the non-progressive can occur to convey a non-durative view, even though the situations are themselves durative. A non-durative view of a durative situation is not impossible, as we have seen the same view in the discussion of stative lexical verbs in 8.4.1, and in the discussion of dynamic situations in 8.2 and 8.3. The exceptional point about the copular statives is that the nonprogressive is obligatory to the exclusion of the progressive. We shall return to these issues in 8.5.83 However, in the case of non-finite clauses, like those in (105), the stative:dynamic influence does not apply, and the prohibition on the progressive can be linked to the syntactic context, at least in descriptive terms. We shall consider, but reject, two other explanations which assign extra meanings to the progressive and the non-progressive. One possible explanation refers to agency and, therefore, dynamicness. The situations which allow the progressive in (102–103) can be brought about through the subject’s agency. They can be switched on and off. Smith (1991: 251) says that the properties which are described by these nouns and adjectives must be able to go under the control of an agency, in this case the subjects of the sentences. There is a suggestion in Comrie (1976: 37 footnote, 49 footnote) that agency can account for the use of the progressive with contingent states in English.84 Consequently, it could be argued that the function of the progressive is to convey dynamicness (agency), while the non-progressive conveys stativity. However, we have seen that this does not apply to stative lexical verbs, where the progressive can occur. Moreover, if we were to adopt this explanation, we should have two uses of the progressive (durative view and agency) and two uses of the non-progressive (non-durative view and stativity). This complicates the explanation of the nonprogressive:progressive contrast. Agency can be brought under dynamicness. As we have seen, the latter can be explained as a property of some adjectives (and some nouns in certain contexts), and we can then maintain a

Stative situations

291

generalization about the non-progressive:progressive contrast. Finally, another possible explanation of the progressive in examples (102–103) is that it conveys that the state is transitory (temporary or contingent). But this is not convincing, as all non-habitual states are transitory, including examples (94–97) which do not allow the progressive. We have seen that the copula can occur with the progressive in descriptions of dynamic attributes. But this is not the case with the PERFECTIVE: 106a. * fuodd Sioned yn bod yn afresymol neithiwr. be.PERV.3SG Sioned PROG be PRED unreasonable last-night ‘Sioned was being unreasonable last night.’ b. * fuodd o ’n bod yn anodd trwy ’r dydd. be.PERV.3SG he PROG be PRED unreasonable through the day ‘he was being difficult all day.’ c. * fuodd Siôn yn bod yn stiward ar ôl cystadlu be.PERV.3SG Siôn PROG be PRED steward on track compete ‘Sioned was being a steward after competing.’ We could consider accounting for this restriction under the perfectiveprogressive constraint, discussed in 8.4.1, which prohibits the combination of the PAST tense PERFECTIVE and the progressive under certain conditions. But these conditions include the requirement that the situation is stative, but those in (106) are dynamic. We shall therefore set up another constraint, the copular-perfective-progressive constraint, which prohibits the combination of the PERFECTIVE and the progressive in copular sentences. In the case of habitual situations, it is difficult to contextualize dynamic readings of adjectives (and nouns) which could allow the progressive. We could imagine subjects who habitually try to demonstrate the attributes which are conveyed by some adjectives: 107a. ma’ Gwyn wedi bod (yn bod) yn anodd ar hyd be.PRES.3SG Gwyn PERF be PROG be PRED difficult on length ’i oes. 3SG.M life ‘Gwyn has been (being) difficult all his life.’ b. ddyle hi (fod yn) bod yn neis trwy ’r amser. should.CNTF.3SG she be PROG be PRED nice through the time ‘she should be (being) nice all the time.’

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c. ma’ hi ’n licio (bod yn) bod yn annymunol. be.PRES.3SG she PROG like be PROG be PRED unpleasant ‘she likes to be (being) unpleasant.’ d. cyn iddi hi (fod yn) bod yn bwysig… before for.3SG.F she be PROG be PRED important ‘before she was (being) important …’ Given this type of habitual dynamic context, the progressive in the above examples is possible. These are dynamic contexts and do not come under the conventions for stative copular sentences. In summary, in the case of stative copular patterns, in all syntactic contexts, the rule is the same: the non-progressive is selected. Where a dynamic reading is possible, the rules of dynamic situations apply, and both the non-progressive and the progressive are possible. But the latter does not apply in non-finite clauses, in which only the non-progressive occurs. 8.4.4

Summary

Table 31 provides a broad summary of the main trends in the selection of either the non-progressive or the progressive in stative situations. These trends are based on overall behaviour in non-habitual and habitual stative situations, and overall behaviour in respect of individual lexemes. Table 31. The selection of the non-progressive and progressive in descriptions of stative situations

Non-perfect Perfect Periphrastic Non-finite

Lexical

Modal

Copular

Mainly Progressive Mainly Non-progressive Both Mainly Non-progressive

Progressive Mainly Non-progressive Mainly Non-progressive Mainly Non-progressive

Non-progressive Non-progressive Non-progressive Non-progressive

We can make four general observations. First, in the case of copular sentences which are stative, only the non-progressive occurs. But when a copular sentence can be given a dynamic reading we then have a dynamic situation, and both the non-progressive and the progressive can occur, with the former providing a non-durative view and the latter a durative view. Second, in non-perfect compound tense patterns (which are not copular), the

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progressive is preferred in the case of lexical verbs and is required in the case of modal verbs (the non-progressive occurs with a dynamic reading). Third, in the case of all other patterns (which are not copular), the nonprogressive is available in all cases and any constraints are on the progressive. Fourth, we have also established the perfective-progressive constraint and the copular-perfective-progressive constraint. Statives in small clauses and absolute clauses have not been considered. Table 31 shows that, overall in all syntactic types in descriptions of statives, the non-progressive is the most frequently occurring pattern. Lexical verbs and modal verbs in nonperfect compound tense patterns are exceptional. 8.5

The overall picture

Table 32 summarizes the occurrences of the progressive and nonprogressive in non-perfect compound tense patterns and other patterns, all in descriptions of different situations. Table 32. A summary of the progressive and non-progressive in all situational and syntactic contexts. (Prog > means Mainly Prog and Non-prog > means Mainly Non-prog) Non-perfect Other patterns Comp. Tense Perfect Periphrastic Non-finite Non-hab, dynamic, durative punctual Habitual, dynamic Stative verbs copular

Both Non-prog Prog > Prog > Non-prog

Both Non-prog Both Non-prog > Non-prog

Both Non-prog Both Non-prog > Non-prog

Both Non-prog Both Non-prog > Non-prog

Table 32 does not account for those contexts in which there is a nonprogressive gap (as in absolute clauses and small clauses). These are discussed 8.5.2. Table 32 summarizes a considerable amount of detail, and we shall attempt to present an informative and yet digestible account by concentrating on general conventions. On this basis, we shall establish a basic generalization and two trends which disturb that generalization.

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8.5.1

A generalization and two trends

The basic generalization maintains the explanation of the Welsh progressive and non-progressive which is introduced in 8.1.2: the progressive is used to convey a durative view, and the non-progressive conveys a nondurative view. A durative view or non-durative view can be made of a durative situation, and either the progressive or non-progressive occurs respectively. But only a non-durative view can be made of a non-durative situation, and only the non-progressive occurs. This generalization applies to non-habitual dynamic situations which can be durative (processes) or non-durative (punctuals). At this point, we shall not try to account for the non-progressive gap, which forces the use of the progressive in descriptions of non-durative situations (see 8.5.2). However, there are other contexts were the occurrences of the progressive and non-progressive cannot be predicted from their semantics and types of situation. These restrictions can only be described in terms of combinations of situational types and syntactic contexts. In some combinations, there are restrictions on the progressive and, in other combinations, there are restrictions on the non-progressive. We shall attempt to account for these restrictions by setting up two trends. The non-progressive trend promotes the non-progressive and restricts the progressive. This trend applies to varying degrees in the following combinations of situation types and syntactic contexts. It applies absolutely in descriptions of all stative situations by copular predicates in all syntactic contexts: only the non-progressive is selected. It applies to varying degrees to all stative situations (non-habitual and habitual) which are described by stative verbs (lexical and modal) in other patterns: (i) the non-progressive trend is strongest in perfect compound tense patterns and non-finite clauses which describe non-habitual stative situations; (ii) the trend applies less strongly in perfect compound tense patterns and non-finite clauses in descriptions of habitual stative situations; (iii) the trend applies least strongly, and perhaps not at all, in descriptions of non-habitual and habitual situations by periphrastic patterns. There might be grounds here for removing the combinations in (iii) from the non-progressive trend, if they apply perhaps not at all. But there is some merit in keeping them under this trend as it allows a comparison of the different behaviour of stative lexical verbs and modal verbs in non-perfect compound tense patterns (which come under the progressive trend) and the same verbs in other patterns. The occurrence of the non-progressive in descriptions of durative situations does not undermine the basic generalization, which allows the non-

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progressive to convey a non-durative view of such situations. Further, the exclusive choice of the non-progressive in Welsh copular predicates follows the convention which is found in other languages that the nonprogressive is used in descriptions of states. However, as we have seen, the non-progressive trend allows the progressive to some degree in other patterns which involve lexical stative verbs or modal verbs. The progressive is not typically associated with stative situations in other languages. But we discuss the use of the progressive in these terms in detail in the account of the second trend. The progressive trend promotes the progressive and restricts the nonprogressive. This trend applies to descriptions of habitual situations and stative situations with non-perfect compound tense patterns, but applies to varying degrees as follows: (i) habitual statives are strongly subject to this trend (the non-progressive is quite exceptional in varieties of Welsh with which I am familiar); (ii) habitual dynamic situations are less strongly subject to it; and (iii) non-habitual statives are least strongly subject to this trend. It can be seen that these combinations involve a non-perfect compound tense pattern and the situation is either stative or habitual (or both). The progressive trend in Welsh raises interesting issues. As outlined in 8.1.2, the literature suggests that non-stative and non-habitual are part of the meaning of progressiveness, and that stative lexical verbs do not cooccur with the progressive “since this would involve an internal contradiction between the stativity of the verb and the nonstativity essential to the progressive” (Comrie 1976: 35). Lyons (1977: 707) also provides a semantic explanation for this incompatibility: “The incompatibility of stativity and progressivity is explicable, however, in terms of the languageindependent ontological distinction of static and dynamic situations." And Lyons goes on to say that She has a headache is stative but She is having a headache can only be given a dynamic interpretation. But, in Welsh, the progressive trend promotes the progressive in descriptions of stative situations and habitual situations with non-perfect compound tense patterns (as is also noted by Comrie 1976: 39). The question is whether the Welsh progressive maintains its basic meaning of conveying a durative view or whether other explanations are more appropriate. We shall consider three possibilities: (i) that the Welsh progressive can convey a neutral view as well as a durative one; (ii) that it can also convey a non-durative view as well as a durative one; or (iii) that it conveys the durative view in all contexts. Fife (1990: 368–377) claims that the progressive marker also has an aspect-neutral use, and that it is this use which occurs in descriptions of ha-

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bitual and stative situations. Fife assigns to the progressive marker a complex of semantic factors which include a durative meaning and other basic meanings, such as internality and concepts from cognitive grammar. The details of the latter need not concern us too much. Fife acknowledges that the progressive can have a durative meaning in many cases. But the important point is that Fife argues that in descriptions of stative situations and habitual situations, in which the progressive is typologically rare, a durative meaning is not present and only the basic aspect-neutral meanings remain. This neutral use simply conveys that “a process is ‘in effect’, without any durative connotations”, like a “‘simple’ tense” (Fife 1990: 371–372). We shall not adopt Fife’s multi-meaning approach for two reasons. First, in Welsh, in some descriptions of states and habitual dynamic situations, there is a contrast between progressive and non-progressive. Nonprogressives are seen in descriptions of non-habitual statives in (56–63), habitual dynamic situations in (47–49), and, although more limited, habitual stative situations in (73–79). Further, contrasts of progressive and nonprogressive are also found in descriptions of these situations in other patterns. We can reasonably say that the non-progressive’s non-durative view is “without any durative connotations” like a simple tense, and it is difficult to explain how the neutral view of the progressive which is offered by Fife is different to the meaning of the non-progressive. The same points can also reject the possibility that the progressive can convey a non-durative view. The latter can be provided by the non-progressive alternatives in the examples listed above, and thus cannot therefore be conveyed by the progressive examples, which are semantically different. Second, we only need Fife’s neutral use if we accept the view that the progressive is limited to conveying continuousness (a durative view) in non-habitual and non-stative situations, and is incompatible with stative and habitual situations. But the Welsh progressive is clearly not incompatible with stativity or habituality. We shall maintain the interpretation that the progressive and nonprogressive respectively convey a durative view (of durative situations only) and a non-durative view (of durative and non-durative situations), and that this can apply in descriptions of stative and habitual situations. In considering the meaning of the Welsh progressive, we should be wary of applying analyses of English translations of Welsh statives and habituals to the Welsh examples themselves. In respect of the examples beth yn union da chi’n feddwl wrth hynny? ‘what exactly do you mean by that’ and dw i’n deall bod y ddrama ddim wedi gorffen ‘I understand the drama has not yet finished’, Fife (1990: 370) writes “As the translation indicates, the force of these sentences is not that the process is explicitly

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durative, continuous or on-going.” The English non-progressive may well provide a non-durative view of a stative situation and a habitual situation, but we should not use English grammar as a metalanguage for analysing Welsh. In the case of the PAST tense, the IMPERFECTIVE would occur in translations to Spanish or Italian. We should be equally wary of identifying literal English translations of Welsh progressive examples. Thus, beth yn union da chi’n feddwl wrth hynny? may be literally translated as ‘what exactly are you meaning by that?’, but we should not assume that this is what the Welsh progressive means. The English progressive may have suggestions of agency or contingency (Comrie 1976: 37 footnote, 49 footnote), which the Welsh progressive does not have. It is not surprising that the progressive provides a durative view or that the non-progressive provides a non-durative view. The surprising point is that the progressive and the non-progressive are constrained from providing these views of all durative situations. The progressive trend and the nonprogressive trend capture the descriptive facts in terms of combinations of syntactic contexts and types of situations, but they do not reveal any underlying principle as to why they should apply as they do. It is not possible to provide an explanation in terms of semantics alone, that is, in terms of situational types. The same situational types are described differently in different syntactic contexts. Habituals and statives are durative situations, and the progressive trend applies in descriptions of them in non-perfect compound tense patterns.85 But the non-progressive trend applies in descriptions of the same situations in other patterns. Further, the non-progressive trend applies in descriptions of durative situations in copular predicates. Thus, syntactic contexts are key matters in identifying when stative and habitual situations are sometimes described by the progressive and sometimes by the nonprogressive in Welsh. This may lack explanatory power on a principled basis, but it captures the descriptive facts. 8.5.2

The non-progressive gap

We shall now consider the promotion of the progressive due to a nonprogressive gap. It will be recalled that a non-progressive gap arises where finite verbs in informal Welsh do not convey certain tenses, or where the syntax of the language cannot create a non-progressive pattern. Nonprogressive gaps occur with the following:

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– simple finite verbs – the PRESENT tense of lexical verbs – the FUTURE tense and the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense of modal verbs – small clauses – absolute clauses We can recall, too, that simple finite verbs do not inflect for the IMPERFECin informal Welsh. But we have suggested that the PERFECTIVE fills this non-progressive gap. The interesting point about the above contexts is that the progressive has to be selected in the description of non-durative (punctual) situations as in examples (44–46). Our basic generalization says that a durative view of such situations is not possible and, therefore, the progressive should not occur. There are two ways of accounting for this: either the progressive can have a non-durative view or it has a neutral view (again following Fife 1990: 368–377 for the latter approach). We have argued above against both these views in the case of habitual situations and stative situations partly on the grounds that a non-progressive equivalent is possible to some extent. But that objection does not apply here, as we have a non-progressive gap. Given that the progressive fills a non-progressive gap, we shall claim that the progressive can take on the meaning of the non-progressive, that is, that it can convey a non-durative view. This is restricted exclusively to the combination of a punctual situation and a non-progressive gap. We shall refer to this as the non-progressive gap constraint.

TIVE

8.5.3

An additional matter: Encompassing, simultaneous, and succeeding

In this section, we shall consider temporal relationships between situations which are described in main and adverbial clauses (see also 4.3.3). When a main clause contains the progressive aspect and a co-occurring adverbial pan ‘when’ clause contains the non-progressive aspect, the situation in the main clause encompasses the situation in the adverbial clause: 108a. fydda’ i ’n gweithio pan ddaw y bos. be.FUT.1SG I PROG work when come.FUT.3SG the boss ‘I’ll be working when the boss comes.’ b. oedd y côr yn canu pan gyrhaeddish i. be.IMPF.3SG the choir PROG sing when arrive.PERV.1SG I ‘the choir was singing when I arrived.’

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c. oedd y drws yn agor pan ganodd y gloch. be.IMPF.3SG the door PROG open when sing.PERV.3SG the bell ‘the door was opening when the bell rang.’ When the non-progressive is in both clauses, the situation in the main clause is simultaneous with or succeeds the situation in the adverbial clause: 109a. weitha’ i pan ddaw y bos. work.FUT.1SG I when come.FUT.3SG the boss ‘I’ll work when the boss comes.’ b. ganodd y côr pan gyrhaeddish i. sing.PERV.3SG the choir when arrive.PERV.1SG I ‘the choir sang when I arrived.’ c. agorodd y drws pan ganodd y gloch. open.PERV.3SG the door when arrive.PERV.3SG the bell ‘the door opened when the bell rang.’ The same contrasts between the progressive and non-progressive aspect occur in the other patterns (perfect compound tense patterns, periphrastic patterns, and non-finite clauses): 110a. dw i wedi gweithio bob tro ma’ ’r bos be.PRES.1SG I PERF work every turn be.PRES.3SG the boss wedi dod. PERF come ‘I’ve worked every time the boss has come.’ b. dw i wedi bod yn gweithio bob tro ma’ ’r be.PRES.1SG I PERF be PROG work every turn be.PRES.3SG the bos wedi dod. boss PERF come ‘I’ve been working every time the boss has come.’ 111a. alla’ i weithio heno pan ddaw y bos. can.FUT.1SG I work tonight when come.FUT.3SG the boss ‘I can work tonight when the boss comes.’ b. alla’ i fod yn gweithio heno pan ddaw can.FUT.1SG I be PROG work tonight when come.FUT.3SG y bos. the boss ‘I can be working tonight when the boss comes.’

300

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112a. dw i ’n bwriadu gweithio pan ddaw be.PRES.1SG I PROG intend work when come.FUT.3SG y bos. the boss ‘I intend to work when the boss comes.’ b. dw i ’n bwriadu bod yn gweithio pan be.PRES.1SG I PROG intend be PROG work when ddaw y bos. come. FUT.3SG the boss ‘I intend to be working when the boss comes.’ On the basis of all these data, there are grounds for arguing that the progressive and non-progressive have additional meanings: encompassing in the case of the progressive and simultaneous or succeeding in the case of the non-progressive. But there is evidence to suggest that it is not the progressive and non-progressive which are responsible for these meanings. We can first argue that the additional meanings are contextual effects. The encompassing relationship arises when a situation which is durative is located with a situation which is non-durative or is viewed non-duratively. The simultaneous / succeeding relationship arises when a situation which is nondurative or is viewed non-duratively is located with a situation which is also non-durative or is viewed non-duratively. We can also note examples of copular main clauses like the following: 113a. fydda’ i yn y labordy pan ddaw y bos. be.FUT.1SG I in the laboratory when come.FUT.3SG the boss ‘I’ll be in the laboratory when the boss comes.’ b. oedd y plant yn afreolus pan gyrhaeddish i. be.IMPF.3SG the children PRED unruly when arrive.PERV.1SG I ‘the children were unruly when I arrived.’ The main clauses are non-progressive but they encompass the situations in the pan ‘when’ clauses. The situations in the main clause are durative, and the situations in the adverbial clauses are non-durative or are viewed nonduratively. In the light of these points, we shall argue that the progressive and non-progressive do not have additional meanings, although the sentences in which they occur can be given these meanings.

Summary

8.6

301

Summary

The data in this chapter have been wide-ranging, and have not been easy to present or explain. But we have developed a general analysis that, in Welsh, the progressive conveys a durative view of a situation and that the non-progressive conveys a non-durative view of a situation. But there are constraints and trends which disturb this general picture, namely: – The perfective-progressive constraint prohibits the progressive in combination with the PAST tense PERFECTIVE in descriptions of non-habitual states with certain stative verbs. – The copular-perfective-progressive constraint prohibits the progressive occurring with the PAST tense PERFECTIVE in copular predicates. – The non-progressive gap constraint: the progressive conveys a nondurative view in those cases where the non-progressive is not available and where the situation is a single punctual one. – The non-progressive trend promotes the non-progressive, and applies absolutely to all stative copular predicates but applies to varying degrees to stative situations in other patterns. – The progressive trend promotes the progressive in non-perfect compound tense patterns; it strongly applies in descriptions of habitual stative situations and more weakly applies in descriptions of non-habitual statives and habitual dynamic situations. In addition to these constraints and trends, there is variability in the case of lexical verbs and modal verbs (with some speakers preferring the progressive). But in the case of modal verbs, there may be a stative (progressive) or dynamic (non-progressive) contrast. What is striking about Welsh, in contrast to English, is that the progressive trend allows the progressive in non-perfect compound tense patterns not only to describe non-habitual dynamic situations as in (114a) but also to describe statives (non-habitual and habitual) as in (114b) and (115b) and habitual dynamic situations as in (115a): 114a. o’n i ’n gwylio ’r ffilm neithiwr. be.IMPF.1SG I PROG watch the film last-night ‘I was watching the film last night.’ b. o’n i ’n licio ’r ffilm neithiwr. be.IMPF.1SG I PROG like the film last-night ‘I liked the film last night.’

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115a. oedd hi ’n b’yta cig be.IMPF.3SG she PROG eat meat ‘she ate meat all her life.’ b. oedd hi ’n licio cig be.IMPF.3SG she PROG like meat ‘she liked meat all her life.’

ar hyd ’i hoes. on length 3SG.F period ar hyd ’i hoes. on length 3SG.F period

With dynamic situations, in the case of non-habitual ones at least as in (114a), the non-progressive is available as a regular option to view a situation without emphasising its durativity. But the choice of the nonprogressive with habitual statives is exceptional, if not marginal. In Welsh, the progressive is used where other languages use the IMPERFECTIVE, as in French (Smith 1997: 197–199), Italian, Spanish, and Russian (see Smith 1997: 248–250). The relationship of stativity with aspect raises some interesting typological issues. There are comments in Comrie (1976: 35) and Lyons (1977: 707) to the effect that the progressive and stative are incompatible. There is empirical evidence for this in English, as many works indicate.86 Comrie (1976: 34) provides evidence for Spanish. This incompatibility of progressivity and stativity does not apply to Welsh in the case of stative lexical verbs in non-perfect compound tense patterns. The progressive in Welsh, unlike English, must thus be thought of as being able to support their durative character. Welsh operates a rule of mutuality rather than incompatibility in these cases. A similar claim can also be made about dynamic habituals. They are durative, and on this basis the durative meaning of the progressive is redundant. But in Welsh, the progressive is the normal choice, and again we can argue that we have a rule of mutuality. 87 However, the rule of mutuality does not consistently apply with statives or habituals, as we have seen. As table 32 shows, some stative situations in certain syntactic contexts prefer the non-progressive. Because the nonperfect compound tenses are especially highlighted in treatments of Welsh, it is easy to create the impression that the relationship of stativity and progressivity in Welsh is very different to that of English. But there are syntactic contexts which readily allow the Welsh non-progressive to describe either a stative situation or a habitual dynamic situation. Non-perfect compound tense patterns favour the progressive, while other patterns and copular predicates favour the non-progressive. It is very clear from the discussion throughout this chapter that the relationship of the progressive aspect with time is very different to that of tense and the perfect aspect. Both the latter are concerned with periods of time:

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tense in deictic terms and perfect aspect in relative terms. The progressive aspect provides a durative view of a situation and does not convey a deictic or relative period of time. The progressive is able to encompass a point of time while the non-progressive succeeds or coincides with a point of time. But this can be attributed to the contextual effects of juxtaposing a situation which is conveyed in non-durative terms with a situation which is conveyed as having duration or not having duration. And we have also seen that the encompassing relationship can occur with bod ‘be’ in a non-progressive pattern.

Chapter 9 More about aspect 9.1

Introduction

This chapter discusses whether various words and expressions which are listed in Fife (1990: 326–398), Thomas (1996: 90-97), and Thorne (1993: 267–270) can be analysed as aspect markers. These forms are: – – – – – – – – –

am ‘for, about’ ar ‘on’ ar fin ‘on edge, margin’ ar ganol ‘on middle’ ar hanner ‘on half’ bron ‘almost, just, nearly’88 heb ‘without’ newydd ‘new’ ymhell o ‘far from’

Anticipating comments on the semantics of these words and expressions in 9.4.1, we can note that ar ‘on’ and ar fin ‘on edge’ are synonymous or near synonymous, as are ar ganol ‘on middle’ and ar hanner ‘on half’. Allowing for these synonymous relationships, there would be seven extra aspects in Welsh, making nine aspects in all when added to the widely recognized perfect and progressive aspects. Can this be so? We shall attempt to answer this question by establishing not only whether these forms and expressions have characteristics which are similar to the Welsh perfect and progressive aspect markers, but also whether they have characteristics which are different to them. 9.2

General characteristics of perfect wedi and progressive yn

Categorization, complement selection, and semantics provide criteria which allow comparisons of the canonical aspect markers and the putative aspect markers. We have discussed the semantics of perfect wedi and progressive yn in chapters 7 and 8, and in this section we shall present a description of

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their general characteristics in terms of the category to which they belong and the complements which they can select. 9.2.1

Categorization

There is a common contemporary view that wedi and yn are aspectual categories (as seen in Ouhalla 1991; Hendrick 1991, 1994, 1996; Borsley ms; and Borsley, Tallerman, and Willis 2007: 39–41, 56–58). We shall adopt the view that wedi and yn are two separate categories, perfect marker and progressive marker, respectively. However, we shall also consider whether there are grounds for an alternative view which categorizes wedi and yn as prepositions. If prepositional status can be established, then we have prepositions and prepositional phrases, and not aspect markers and aspect phrases in Welsh. There is evidence that, in other contexts, wedi is a preposition, especially in formal Welsh: 1a. mae hi wedi chwech. be.PRES.3SG she after six ‘it’s after six.’ b. mae hi ’n ddeg munud wedi chwech. be.PRES.3SG she PRED ten minute after six ‘it’s ten minutes past six.’ c. wedi ’r cyngerdd, a’th hi i ’r dafarn. after the concert go.PERV.3SG she to the pub ‘after the concert, she went to the pub.’ d. wedi golchi ’r car, steddish i yn yr ardd. after wash the car sit.PERV.1SG I in the garden ‘after washing the car, I sat in the garden.’ e. wedi i Sioned fynd, edrychodd Mair ar y teledu. after to Sioned go look.PERV.3SG Mair on the television ‘After Sioned went, Mair looked at the television.’ f. mae hi ’n mynd wedi ’r cyfarfod. be.PRES.3SG she PROG go after the meeting ‘she’s going after the meeting.’ Significantly, too, prepositional wedi has a temporal meaning which relates two times. The question is whether wedi in (1) is the same wedi which we have in the aspectual context, or whether there is more than one wedi. A

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significant observation is that, in informal Welsh, wedi is mainly used as an aspect marker. In the prepositional contexts given in (1), the common prepositional choice in informal Welsh is ar ôl ‘after’ rather than wedi, with the exception of clock time, especially detailed clock time as in (2b): 89 2a. ma’ hi wedi / (?ar ôl) chwech. be.PRES.3SG she after on track six ‘it’s after six.’ b. ma’ hi ’n bum munud wedi / (*ar ôl) chwech. be.PRES.3SG she PRED five minute after on track six ‘it’s five past six.’ c. ar ôl y cyngerdd, a’th hi i ’r dafarn. on track the concert go.PERV.3SG she to the pub ‘after the concert, she went to the pub.’ d. ar ôl golchi ’r car, steddish i yn yr ardd. on track wash the car sit.PERV.1SG I in the garden ‘after washing the car, I sat in the garden.’ e. ar ôl i Sioned fynd, edrychodd Mair ar y teledu. on track to Sioned go look.PERV.3SG Mair on the television ‘After Sioned went, Mair looked at the television.’ f. ma’ hi ’n mynd ar ôl y cyfarfod. be.PRES.3SG she PROG go on track the meeting ‘she’s going after the meeting.’ g. ma’ Sioned wedi / (*ar ôl) mynd. be.PRES.3SG Sioned PERF on track go ‘Sioned has gone’. In informal Welsh, wedi occurs mainly in aspectual contexts and ar ôl occurs in other contexts. The latter does not occur in place of wedi in aspectual contexts, as (2g) shows. All this suggests that wedi in informal Welsh has acquired a specialist function as a perfect aspect marker. Of course, we could claim that wedi is a preposition in the aspectual context, but one which is mainly restricted to this context. But we would then have a specialist preposition; that is, one which has an aspectual function. There would not then be a great deal of difference between an analysis which says that wedi in informal Welsh is a perfect aspect marker and an analysis which says that wedi is a preposition which has the specialist function of conveying perfect aspect. We shall maintain the view that wedi is a perfect aspect marker in informal Welsh.

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Turning now to yn, there are instances of a form which has identical phonetics but which occurs as a preposition:90 3a. mae o yn y dre. be.PRES.3SG he in the town ‘he is in the town.’ b. mae o yn y tîm. be.PRES.3SG he in the team ‘he’s in the team.’ c. dda’th Siôn yn y bore. come.PERV.3SG Siôn in the morning ‘Siôn came in the morning.’ We can compare prepositional yn and aspectual yn in terms of semantics, mutations, and encliticization. In the examples in (3) yn has a locative meaning either spatially in the case of (3a) or more figuratively as in the case of (3b) or in terms of time in (3c). We have seen that aspectual yn conveys a durative view of a situation. In these terms, there is a semantic difference between prepositional yn and aspectual yn. But Fife (1990: 368–377) adopts a more abstract approach, and holds that the prepositional meanings and the aspectual meaning all involve internality, that is, in a place, in a time, and in the duration of a situation. However, if a less abstract view of meanings is adopted, then temporal and spatial location are quite distinct from the durative meaning of the progressive. This study adopts a less abstract view and maintains a semantic distinction between aspectual yn and prepositional yn. Prepositional yn can cause the nasal mutation, at least in the formal style of Welsh, but aspectual yn does not cause any mutation in any style. It can also be noted that the final consonant of prepositional yn, in formal Welsh at least, assimilates to an initial labial consonant of the following word – in (4a), ym occurs before a bilabial nasal (it does this whether the initial consonant is mutated as in 4a or whether it is a radical consonant as in ym maes Chomsky ‘in the field of Chomsky’). In the following examples the radical forms are in square brackets: 4a.

mae o ym Mangor. be.PRES.3SG he in Bangor ‘he is in Bangor.’

[Bangor]

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b. * mae o ym mwrw y wal. be.PRES.3SG he PROG hit the wall ‘he’s hitting the wall.’

[bwrw]

Thus, in terms of mutation and assimilation, aspectual yn and prepositional yn are different in formal Welsh. However, in informal Welsh, the use of prepositional yn as a trigger for the nasal mutation is restricted: it mainly triggers no mutation or, less commonly, the soft mutation (Ball 1988: 78, Hatton 1988: 251–254, Ball and Müller 1992: 252–253). The mutational and assimilational differences between aspectual yn and prepositional yn is thus stronger in formal Welsh than in informal Welsh Aspectual yn productively, but not obligatorily, reduces to ’n [n] in a post-vocalic context. The full form can occur in informal spoken Welsh, especially but not exclusively if stronger stress is needed for emphasis: 5a. dw i {’n / yn} mynd. be.PRES.1SG I PROG go ‘I’m going.’ b. oedd y cwrw {’n / yn} rhedeg allan o ’r gasgen. be.IMPF.3SG the beer PROG run out of the barrel ‘the beer was running out of the barrel.’ c. mae o {’n / yn} gweithio. be.PRES.3SG he PROG work ‘he’s working.’ The enclicitization of prepositional yn is much less clear-cut. Comrie (1976: 100) holds that the initial vowel of prepositional yn is not normally elided. The example which he gives, *y mae hi’ng Nghaerdydd ‘she is in Cardiff’ compared with y mae hi yng Nghaerdydd ‘she is in Cardiff’, is a formal example which involves the assimilated form yng, and this form cannot be elided. But matters are different with the unassimilated form, yn. In the case of prepositional yn, Fife (1990: 427) has the following examples: 6a. cafodd y mwnci a ’r crocodeil sy ’n have.PERV.3SG the monkey and the crocodile be.PRES.3SG in ei rewgist … 3SG.M freezer ‘he got the monkey and the crocodile which are in his freezer …’

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b. fedrwch chi ddim ’i ollwng o ’n ôl i ’r gwyllt. can.PRES.2PL you.PL NEG 3SG.M release he in track to the wild ‘you can’t release him back to the wild.’ c. mwya ’n byd o lythyrau yr ydach yn ’i trin … most in world of letters PT be.PRES.2PL PROG 3PL treat ‘the more letters that you treat …’ But in (6b), the preposition can be said to be part of a complex pattern yn ôl ‘back’, which very commonly reduces to ’n ôl. In (6c), the expression mwyaf yn y byd ‘most in the world’ is a set expression, which in spoken Welsh is commonly reduced to mwya ’m byd (in which ’n also assimilates to the following bilabial consonant). The example in (6a), however, is a straightforward example of the contracted preposition, and other examples which speakers of Welsh find acceptable are the following: 7a. dw i {yn / ’n} yr ardd. be.PRES.1SG I in the garden ‘I’m in the garden.’ b. oedd y cwrw {yn / ’n} y cwpwrdd. be.IMPF.3SG the beer in the cupboard ‘ the beer is in the cupboard.’ c. mae o {yn / ’n} y gwaith. be.PRES.3SG he in the work ‘he’s in work.’ There are also examples of the sequence ’n in place or house names, such as Ty’n y Ddôl. But Owen and Morgan (2007: 482) give examples which show that ’n in place names can be derived from tyddyn which is reduced to ty’n and not from the encliticization of yn (for example, Tyddyn y Ffridd becoming Ty’n y Ffridd).91 There is, then, evidence to show that aspectual yn and prepositional yn share the same characteristics of encliticization but encliticization is much more common with aspectual yn. But several lexemes in Welsh can also encliticize in post-vocalic contexts, although full forms can also be retained (especially if greater stress is required).92 These include the form yn in predicatival and adverbial contexts as in (8); the vernacular forms yn ‘my’, yn ‘our’, and ych ‘your’ (fy, ein, and eich respectively in formal Welsh) as in (9); the definite article and the negative adverbial ddim as in (10); and the perfect aspect marker wedi as in (11) can also shorten to ’di (as can be seen from (11b), the shortened form is not limited to a post-vocalic context):

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8a. ma’ hi {’n / yn} ddeallus. be.PRES.3SG she PRED intelligent ‘she’s intelligent.’ b. oedd o ’n nofio {’n / yn} osgeiddig. be.IMPF.3SG he PROG swim ADV graceful ‘he was swimming gracefully.’ 9a. ma’ {’n / yn} afal i ar y bwrdd. be.PRES.3SG 1SG apple I on the table ‘my apple is on the table.’ b. oedd o ’n licio {’n / yn} tŷ ni. be.IMPF.3SG he PROG like 1PL house we ‘he liked our house.’ c. lle ma’ {’ch / ych} car? where be.IMPF.3SG 2PL car ‘where’s your car?’ 10a. ma’ {’r / yr} afal ar y bwrdd. be.PRES.3SG the apple on the table ‘the apple is on the table.’ b. oedd o {’m / ddim} yn licio ’n tŷ ni. be.IMPF.3SG he NEG PROG like 1PL house we ‘he liked our house.’ 11a. dw i {’di / wedi} deall. be.PRES.1SG I PERF understand ‘I’ve understood.’ b. ma’ Siôn {’di / wedi} deall hefyd. be.PRES.3SG Siôn PERF understand also ‘Siôn has understood also.’ There is much more to be said about encliticization in Welsh than is given here. But encliticization is fairly extensive, and the fact that both aspectual yn and prepositional yn can encliticize does not necessarily mean that they are the same lexeme. It can simply mean that they are different lexemes which, like other lexemes, can encliticize. Fife (1990: 311–312) also considers inflection as a possible reason for prepositional status. Some Welsh prepositions can inflect to agree with their complements, and yn ‘in’ is an inflecting preposition. But there are points which limit the effectiveness of inflection as a criterion for the prepositional status of aspectual yn. Inflecting prepositions only inflect before pronominal complements and not nominal complements, and we have ynddo fo ‘in it’ but yn y cwpwrdd ‘in the cupboard’. However, there are no

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examples of inflected forms of aspectual yn. Fife (1990: 311–312) attributes this to the fact that aspectual yn always occurs in a non-inflecting context. He claims that non-finite verbs are nominal (Fife prefers the term verbal noun). As prepositions do not inflect before nominals, the uninflected form of yn in an aspectual context is consistent with prepositional behaviour in general. Fife’s argument depends on accepting a nominal analysis of non-finite verbs in the aspectual context, and this is contentious (see Borsley 1993 and Willis 1988 for discussion). Further, if inflection is to be used as a criterion for prepositional status, positive evidence of inflected forms would be better than the less convincing example of an uninflected form in a non-inflecting context. It can just as readily be claimed that yn does not inflect in this context because it is an aspect marker and not a preposition. Fife (1990: 368–386, 422–442), using expansive and abstract interpretations based on cognitive grammar, argues in detail for a generalization which unifies prepositional and aspectual yn with shared semantics. Historically, it may be the case that the two have a common origin, and Gensler (2002) provides a detailed study of such a view. But this current study will adopt the view that the evidence for unifying aspectual yn and prepositional yn is tenuous, and that in contemporary Welsh we have two homonymous forms: aspectual yn and prepositional yn. 9.2.2

Complement selection

An aspect marker can have a verb phrase as its complement. There are many illustrations in 1.3.1 which demonstrate verb phrase complement selection, but examples can be given here for convenience (they occur in different syntactic contexts and the aspect marker and its verb phrase complement are enclosed in square brackets for clarity): 12a. alle Mair fod [yn gorffen y gwaith]. can.CNTF.3SG Mair be PROG finish the work ‘Mair could be finishing the work.’ b. fydda’ i [wedi gorffen y gwaith]. be.FUT.1SG I PERF finish the work ‘I shall have finished the work.’ c. dw i ’n disgwyl bod [yn gweithio]. be.PRES.1SG I PROG expect be PROG work ‘I expect to be working.’

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d. dw i ’n cofio Mair [wedi colli i phres]. be.PRES.1SG I PROG remember Mair PERF lose 3SG.F money ‘I remember Mair having lost her money.’ e. a finnau [’n gweithio] trwy ’r nos. and I.CONJ PROG work through the night ‘and me working all night.’ f. ma’ ’r bwriad i fod [yn gweithio] yn be.PRES.3SG the aim to be PROG working PRED gymeradwy. commendable ‘the aim to be working is commendable.’ As mentioned in 1.3.3, Welsh does not have present and past participles like other languages, such as English and the Romance languages. The nonfinite verb which follows the aspect marker is always an invariant form. 93 Complement selection does not uniquely characterize aspect markers, as they are not the only categories which can select verb phrase complements. They can also be selected by verbs, adjectives, and prepositions (lexemes from these categories and their verb phrase complements are enclosed in square brackets in the following illustrations): 13a. ma’ Mair yn [gobeithio gweithio heno]. be.PRES.3SG Mair PROG hope work tonight ‘Mair hopes to work tonight.’ b. ma’ Mair yn [fodlon gweithio heno]. be.PRES.3SG Mair PRED willing work tonight ‘Mair is willing to work tonight.’ c. [cyn gweithio] yn y banc … before work in the bank ‘before working in the bank …’ However, a verb phrase is the sole complement selection of an aspect marker. Aspect markers cannot precede other phrases, as the following examples show: 14a. ma’ Gwen (*wedi) yn yr ardd. be.PRES.3SG Gwen PERF in the garden no appropriate translation

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b. ma’ Gwen wedi bod yn yr ardd. be.PRES.3SG Gwen PERF be in the garden ‘Gwen has been in the garden.’ 15a. ma’ Gwen (*yn) yn anodd heddiw. be.PRES.3SG Gwen PROG PRED difficult today no appropriate translation b. ma’ Gwen yn bod yn anodd heddiw. be.PRES.3SG Gwen PROG be PRED difficult today ‘Gwen is being difficult today.’ 16a. ma’ Gwen (*wedi) isio aros. be.PRES.3SG Gwen PERF want stay no appropriate translation b. ma’ Gwen wedi bod isio aros. be.PRES.3SG Gwen PERF be want stay ‘Gwen has wanted to say.’ Where the aspect marker is starred, it immediately precedes a prepositional phrase in (14a), a predicatival phrase (headed by the predicatival particle yn) in (15a), and a phrase headed by the lexeme eisiau ‘want, need’ in (16a). These ungrammatical examples are made grammatical when these items occur in a verb phrase which is headed by bod ‘be’, as in examples (14b), (15b), and (16b). We shall claim that this limitation on the complement selection of aspect markers makes them distinctive, although we shall refine this claim in the discussion of infinitival i ‘to’ in 9.4.4. 9.2.3

Summary

We have argued that wedi in informal Welsh is a perfect aspect marker. We have also argued that aspectual yn can be distinguished from prepositional yn. Both wedi and yn select verb phrase complements. Although other categories can also have verb phrase complements, a verb phrase complement is the only possibility in the case of wedi and yn. 9.3

Similarities

In this section, we shall look at those characteristics which establish similarities between the putative aspect markers and the Welsh canonical aspect markers, namely, complementation and semantics.

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9.3.1

Complement selection

We have seen that the perfect aspect marker wedi and the progressive aspect marker yn can select verb phrase complements. We also find that the putative aspect markers can all occur before a verb phrase. Further, the resulting phrase can occur in a typical aspectual context, namely, in postsubject position in a clause whose finite verb is bod ‘be’: 17a. mae o am fynd. be.PRES.3SG he for go ‘he’s for going / wants to go.’ b. mae o ar (fin) gorffen. be.PRES.3SG he on (edge) finish ‘he’s about to finish.’ c. mae o ar { ganol / hanner} dweud y stori. be.PRES.3SG he on middle half tell the story ‘he’s in the middle of telling the story.’ d. mae o bron â gorffen. be.PRES.3SG he almost with finish ‘he’s nearly finished.’ e. mae o heb fynd. be.PRES.3SG he without go ‘he’s not gone.’ f. mae o newydd orffen. be.PRES.3SG he new finish ‘he’s just finished.’ g. ma’ hi ymhell o ddeall. be.PRES.3SG she far of understand ‘she’s far from understanding.’ A crucial question is whether these forms, like perfect wedi and progressive yn, are confined to a verb phrase complement. We shall address this question in 9.4 and 9.5. 9.3.2

Semantics

The perfect and progressive markers have non-deictic temporal semantics, namely, anterior temporal location of a situation (or a retrospective view) and a durative view of a situation, respectively. Their meanings have been

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extensively covered in chapters 7 and 8, and no more will be added here. We can show that the other forms and expressions can also be said to have non-deictic temporal meanings. We shall distinguish three groups. First, some of these words and expressions are variously associated with a situation which is yet to happen in relation to some point of time. This is clearly the case with am ‘for, about’, ar ‘on’, and ar fin ‘on edge’ in examples (1a– b). The word ar ‘on’ and the expression ar fin ‘on edge’ (in the sense of ‘on margin’) are synonymous in this context: they indicate the imminence of the occurrence of a situation (a near-future). We can also explain bron ‘almost, just, nearly’ in example (1d) in terms of imminence. But it is necessary to distinguish between the termination of a telic situation and the inception of a telic or atelic situation. These distinctions can be made clearer if gorffen ‘finish’ and dechrau ‘begin’ are used. Bron indicates the proximity of both inception and termination (note that without dechrau in 2b â aspirate mutates crio to chrio): 18a. dw i bron â (gorffen) darllen y llyfr. be.PRES.1SG I almost with finish read the book ‘I’ve nearly read (finished reading) the book.’ b. mae o bron â (dechrau) crio. be.PRES.3SG he almost with begin cry ‘he’s nearly crying (starting to cry).’ We comment on â in these examples in 9.4.3. In (18a), a situation is underway at the time of utterance, and bron tells us that its termination is very near. But in the case of (18b), the situation which is described is not underway, and bron tells us its inception is imminent. If the distinction between termination and inception is not made, then we have to distinguish two separate uses of bron: one for situations underway at some time and another for situations which are not underway. But with this distinction in mind, we can make a more general statement that bron conveys imminence (of inception or termination). Ymhell o ‘far from’ indicates that a situation is yet to happen and also tells us that the situation is thought to be far away, as in example (17g). Second, the following expressions can be said to indicate that a situation is currently in mid-course: ar ganol ‘on middle’, ar hanner ‘on half’. This can be seen in example (17c). These two expressions are synonymous. Their meaning is similar to that of progressive yn which can also indicate that a situation is on-going. But, unlike yn, they cannot occur in descriptions which indicate habitual meaning nor can they be used to describe a future situation:

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19a. * ma’ Sioned ar {ganol / hanner} gweithio yn y banc. be.PRES.3SG Sioned on middle half work in the bank ‘Sioned is in the middle of working in the bank.’ b. * ma’ Sioned ar {ganol / hanner} gweld ’i mam be.PRES.3SG Sioned on middle half see 3SG.F mother fory. tomorrow ‘Sioned is in the middle of seeing her mother tomorrow.’ Third, the remaining two words, heb ‘without’ and newydd ‘new’, indicate that a situation is viewed retrospectively or, alternatively, is located in anterior time, as in examples (17e–f). We have then semantic systems like the following, which also include the widely recognized progressive yn and perfect wedi. – Subsequent situation: – am ‘for, about’ – ar ‘on’, ar fin ‘on edge’ – bron ‘almost’ – ymhell o ‘far from’ – On-going situation: – ar ganol ‘on middle’, ar hanner ‘on half’ – yn – Previous situation: – newydd ‘new’ – heb ‘without’ – wedi

imminent imminent proximate distant mid activity durative view retrospective, anterior retrospective, anterior retrospective, anterior

In these terms, the additional words and expressions are semantically similar in general terms to perfect wedi and progressive yn: they all have temporal but non-deictic meanings. However, some of these forms have additional non-temporal meanings which occur with their temporal meanings. The word am also indicates the ‘desire’ or ‘want’ of the subject for the situation to occur. Its additional meaning is similar to eisiau ‘want, need’: 20 mae o isio mynd. be.PRES.3SG he want go ‘he wants to go.’

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The form heb ‘without’ also indicates negation, that is, that the situation has not happened. Heb can be paraphrased by using the negative adverb ddim ‘not’ and the perfect aspect: 21a. mae o heb gyrraedd. be.PRES.3SG he without arrive ‘he hasn’t arrived.’ b. dydy o ddim wedi cyrraedd. NEG.be.PRES.3SG he NEG PERF arrive ‘he hasn’t arrived.’ It can also be argued that bron ‘almost, just, nearly’ also has negative implication. This is most obviously the case in examples like the following, which describe the near inception of a situation: 22 bron i mi syrthio. almost to I fall ‘I nearly fell.’ Examples like this are discussed in 9.4.3. It is not the case that the speaker fell but only that he or she nearly did so. In this type of construction, it is reasonable to claim that bron has a negative implication. It can also be claimed that a negative implication also arises in examples like (18a–b). In the case of the telic situation in (18a), the negative implication relates to the culmination of the situation: the situation is underway but is not finished. In the case of (18b), it is the inception of a process that is negated through implication. These additional meanings are only problematic if it is insisted that aspect markers must be solely temporal. But if it is accepted that aspect markers can convey other non-temporal meanings, then there is no inconsistency. 9.3.3

Summary

Some words and expressions share characteristics with canonical aspect markers: they can select a verb phrase complement, they can occur in postsubject position (a canonical aspectual context), and they can be assigned non-deictic temporal semantics. But neither a verb phrase complement nor the post-subject context are unique to canonical aspect markers in Welsh, and some of these words and expressions have non-temporal semantics. We

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shall now discuss other matters which show that the majority of the putative aspect markers are different to the canonical aspect markers. 9.4

Differences

In this section, we shall show that some of the putative aspect markers can be assigned to a category other than an aspect marker. We shall show that they can select or occur with phrases other than a verb phrase. And we shall also show that they maintain the same meanings in these contexts. We shall conclude that the majority of these words and expressions are not aspect matters. 9.4.1

Ar fin ‘on edge’, ar ganol / hanner ‘on middle / half’, and ymhell o ‘far from’

In this section, we shall argue that ar fin ‘on edge’, ar ganol / hanner ‘on middle / half’, and ymhell o ‘far from’ are prepositional expressions and not aspect markers. This is a different approach to that found in Fife (1990: 307–452) who, using cognitive grammar, applies quite abstract interpretations to establish generalizations about these, and other, expressions. In the following discussion, we shall not attempt to describe the internal syntax of ar fin, ar ganol / hanner, and ymhell o but simply refer to them as expressions. There are several other prepositional complexes in Welsh, such as ar draws ‘across’, i lawr ‘down’, i ffwrdd ‘away’, and uwch ben ‘above’. A significant observation is that these expressions can occur before a determiner phrase as well as a verb phrase, and can convey the same meaning. Determiner phrase complements can be illustrated with the following: 23a. mae o ar fin y dre. be.PRES.3SG he on edge the town ‘he’s near the town.’ b. mae o ar {ganol / hanner} ’i swper. be.PRES.3SG he on middle half 3SG.M supper ‘he’s in the middle of his supper.’ c. mae o ymhell o ’r dre. be.PRES.3SG he far of the town ‘he’s far from the town.’

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We can note that there is a common alternative to ymhell o in spoken Welsh, namely, yn bell o. Examples are as follows: 24a. mae o yn bell o gyrraedd. be.PRES.3SG he PRED far from arrive ‘he is far from arriving.’ b. mae o yn bell o fod wedi gorffen. be.PRES.3SG he PRED far from be PERF finish ‘he is far from having finished.’ c. mae o yn bell o fod yn deall. be.PRES.3SG he PRED far from be PROG understand ‘he is far from understanding.’ The phrase yn bell is a predicatival phrase and not an aspect phrase. These phrases are like other prepositions or prepositional phrases which can occur before a non-finite verb. In the following illustrations, the relevant phrases are enclosed in square brackets (examples 25c–e are based on Thomas 1996: 91): 25a. ma’n nhw [yn y broses o] brynu tŷ. be.PRES.3PL they in the process of buy house ‘they are in the process of buying a house.’ b. mae o [hanner ffordd trwy] baentio ’r tŷ. be.PRES.3SG he half way through paint the house ‘he’s half way through painting the house.’ c. mae o [dros ofyn] i Mair. be.PRES.3SG he over ask to Mair ‘he is for (in favour of) asking Mair.’ d. dw i [o blaid] mynd yn ôl. be.PRES.1SG I of party go in track ‘I’m in favour of going back.’ e. ma’ hi [yn erbyn] gwario ’r arian. be.pres.3sg she in against spend the money ‘she is against spending the money.’ This comparison strengthens the view that ar fin, ar ganol / hanner, and ymhell o are prepositional complexes. Finally, for completeness, we can note that some of these expressions can precede the perfect aspect marker wedi with an intervening form of bod ‘be’, and also vice versa again with an intervening form of bod ‘be’. The

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clearest examples of items preceding wedi are found with ymhell o; ar fin is semantically and / or pragmatically more marginal: 26a. mae o ymhell o fod wedi be.PRES.3SG he far of be PERF ‘he’s far from having finished.’ b. ? mae o ar (fin) bod wedi be.PRES.3SG he on (edge) be PERF ‘he’s about to have finished.’

gorffen. finish gorffen. finish

Ar ganol / hanner does not precede wedi: 27 * mae o ar {ganol / hanner} bod wedi darllen y llyfr. be.PRES.3SG he on middle half be PERF read the book ‘he is in the middle of having read the book.’ It makes little sense to say that you are in the middle of having done something. Examples of putative aspect markers following the perfect aspect marker occur with ymhell o, ar fin, and ar ganol / hanner: 28a. mae o wedi bod ar (fin) gorffen sawl gwaith. be.PRES.3SG he PERF be on (edge) finish several time ‘he’s been about to finish several times.’ b. mae o wedi bod ar {ganol / hanner} paentio ’r tŷ ers be.PRES.3SG he PERF be on middle half paint the house since misoedd. months ‘he’s been in the middle of painting the house for months’ c. mae o wedi bod ymhell o orffen trwy ’r bore. be.PRES.3SG he PERF be far of finish through the morning ‘he’s been far from finishing all morning.’ In conclusion, we can say that ar fin, ar ganol / hanner, and ymhell o are prepositional expressions and not aspect markers. 9.4.2

Am ‘for, about’

Am ‘for, about’ is also a preposition. It can be used with the meaning ‘for, about’ in prepositional phrases like the following:

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29a. dw i ’n chwilio am y llyfr. be.PRES.1SG I PROG search for the book ‘I’m looking for the book.’ b. ma’ hi ’n sôn am y gwylie. be.PRES.3SG she PROG mention about the holidays ‘she’s talking about the holidays.’ c. oedd o wedi talu am y tocynne. be.IMPF.3SG he PERF pay for the tickets ‘he had paid for the tickets.’ d. ma’n nhw ’n aros am y trên. be.PRES.3PL they PROG wait for the train ‘they’re waiting for the train.’ In these contexts, am does not convey the meaning of ‘want’, ‘be in favour of’ which it has in the aspectual-like context. But when am conveys this meaning, it is not restricted to the aspectual-like context with a verb phrase as its complement but can also select a determiner phrase and a verb phrase with a subject (an i-clause). All three distributional contexts can be illustrated as follows: 30a. mae o am baned o de. be.PRES.3SG he for cup of tea ‘he’s for a cup of tea / wants a cup of tea.’ b. ma’ o am fynd. be.PRES.3SG he for go ‘he’s for going / wants to go.’ c. ma’ o am i ti fynd. be.PRES.3SG he for to you.SG go ‘he’s for you going / wants you to go.’ As such, am is similar to other lexemes such as disgwyl ‘expect’ and, especially, eisiau ‘want, need’: 31a. mae o ’n disgwyl be.PRES.3SG he PROG expect ‘he’s expecting a cup of tea.’ b. mae o ’n disgwyl be.PRES.3SG he PROG expect ‘he’s expecting to go.’

panaid o de. cupful of tea mynd. go

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c . mae o ’n disgwyl i ti fynd. be.PRES.3SG he PROG expect to you.SG go ‘he’s expecting you to go.’ 32a. mae o isio panaid o de. be.PRES.3SG he want cupful of tea ‘he wants a cup of tea.’ b. mae o isio mynd. be.PRES.3SG he want go ‘he wants to go.’ c. mae o isio i ti fynd. be.PRES.3SG he want to you.SG go ‘he wants you to go.’ Another significant point is that am, like disgwyl ‘expect’ and eisiau ‘want, need’, can also precede the negative verb peidio ‘NEGATIVE’: 33a mae o ’n disgwyl peidio mynd. be.PRES.3SG he PROG expect NEG go ‘he’s expecting not to go.’ b. mae o isio peidio mynd. be.PRES.3SG he want NEG go ‘he wants not to go.’ c. mae o am beidio mynd. be.PRES.3SG he for NEG go ‘he’s for not going.’ In the light of all these data, am in the aspect context as in (30b) is best analysed not as an aspect marker but as a lexeme which indicates ‘need, want, disposition’, and which can select a variety of complements as seen in (30). 9.4.3

Bron ‘almost’

There are a number of points which show that bron ‘almost’ has a complex distribution which is very different to that of canonical aspect markers. First, it is not restricted to occurring with non-finite verbs. It can also occur before other categories and phrases, and it has the same meaning of imminence or nearness with negative implication. The following examples illustrate bron before a predicatival phrase as in (34a–b), a prepositional phrase

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as in (34c), and some words and phrases which can indicate quantity as in (34d–f): 34a. oedd y cyfarfod bron yn drychineb. be.IMPF.3SG the meeting almost PRED disaster ‘the meeting was nearly a disaster.’ b. ma’ hi bron yn ddig. be.PRES.3SG she almost PRED angry ‘she’s nearly angry.’ c. oedd y dŵr bron yn y tŷ. be.IMPF.3SG the water almost in the house ‘the water was nearly in the house.’ d. ma’ bron y cyfan yn wastraff be.PRES.3SG almost the whole PRED waste ‘nearly the whole (lot) is a waste.’ e. ma’ bron pawb yna. be.PRES.3SG almost every-one there ‘nearly every one is there.’ f. ma’ ’r dynion bron i gyd yn anghytuno. be.PRES.3SG the men almost to joint PROG disagree ‘nearly all the men disagree.’ Second, a very distinctive characteristic of bron is that it can occur in final position in the clause: 35a. ma’ hi wedi gorffen bron. be.PRES.3SG she PERF finish almost ‘she’s finished nearly.’ b. mae o ’n crio bron. be.PRES.3SG he PROG cry almost ‘he’s crying nearly.’ c. ma’ hi yn ddig bron. be.PRES.3SG she PRED angry almost ‘she’s angry nearly.’ d. oedd y dŵr yn y tŷ bron. be.IMPF.3SG the water in the house almost ‘the water was nearly in the house.’ Third, bron can be intensified with iawn ‘right, very’ in all the distributional contexts we have listed, including the aspectual-like context:

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36a. ma’ hi bron iawn â gorffen. be.PRES.3SG she almost right with finish ‘she’s very nearly finished.’ b. ma’ hi wedi gorffen bron iawn. be.PRES.3SG she PERF finish almost right ‘she’s finished very nearly.’ 37a. oedd y cyfarfod bron iawn yn drychineb. be.IMPF.3SG the meeting almost right PRED disaster ‘the meeting was very nearly a disaster.’ b. oedd y cyfarfod yn drychineb bron iawn. be.IMPF.3SG the meeting PRED disaster almost right ‘the meeting was a disaster very nearly.’ 38a. ma’ hi bron iawn yn ddig. be.PRES.3SG she almost right PRED angry ‘she’s very nearly angry.’ b. ma’ hi yn ddig bron iawn. be.PRES.3SG she PRED angry almost very ‘she’s angry very nearly.’ 39a. oedd y dŵr bron iawn yn y tŷ. be.IMPF.3SG the water almost very in the house ‘the water was nearly in the house.’ b. oedd y dŵr yn y tŷ bron iawn. be.IMPF.3SG the water in the house almost very ‘the water was in the house very nearly.’ 40a. ma’ bron iawn y cyfan wedi mynd. be.PRES.3SG almost right the whole PERF go ‘very nearly all of it has gone.’ b. ma’ ’r arian bron iawn i gyd wedi mynd. be.PRES.3SG the money almost right to joint PERF go ‘the money has very nearly all gone.’ Fourth, bron ‘almost’ can occur immediately before the perfect aspect wedi but marginally, if at all, before the progressive aspect marker yn: 41a. dw i bron ’di gorffen. be.PRES.1SG I almost PERF finish ‘I’ve nearly finished.’ b. ? ma’ hi bron yn crio. be.PRES.3SG she almost PROG cry ‘she is almost crying.’

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Fynes-Clinton (1913: 57) has the example torth bron wedi darfod ‘a loaf almost finished’. Bron yn in (41b) is less acceptable than bron wedi. All these distributional points show that bron ‘almost’ is very different to the canonical aspect markers. We can account for bron in all the above contexts by claiming that it is an adverb. As an adverb, we can also say that it can be modified by iawn ‘very’. Fifth, unlike other putative aspect markers, bron ‘almost’ cannot occur by itself in canonical aspect position, that is, after the subject and before a verb phrase complement. It must be followed by the form â ‘with’, as (17d) and (18) show. Thus, we have the following possibilities: 42a. mae o bron *(â) chrio. be.PRES.3SG he almost with cry ‘he’s nearly crying.’ b. mae o (*bron) â chrio. be.PRES.3SG he almost with cry ‘he’s nearly crying.’ Examples (42a–b) show that, in the context of a verb phrase complement, there is a mutual dependency between bron and â.94 But â ‘with’ only occurs before a verb phrase. The form â does not occur before the other categories: 43a. ma’ hi bron (*â) yn ddig. be.PRES.3SG she almost with PRED angry ‘she’s nearly angry.’ b. oedd y dŵr bron (*â) yn y tŷ. be.IMPF.3SG the water almost with in the house ‘the water was nearly in the house.’ c. ma’ bron (*â) y cyfan yn wastraff be.PRES.3SG almost with the whole PRED waste ‘nearly the whole (lot) is a waste.’ d. ma’ bron (*â) pawb yna. be.PRES.3SG almost with every-one there ‘nearly every one is there.’ e. ma’ ’r dynion bron (*â) i gyd yn anghytuno. be.PRES.3SG the men almost with to joint PROG disagree ‘nearly all the men disagree.’

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Speakers can variously use â after some negative words and before a verb phrase: 44a. paid â d’eud rhagor. neg.IMPV.2sg with say more ‘don’t say more.’ b. dw i ’n methu â symud. be.PRES.1SG I PROG fail with move ‘I can’t move.’ c. waeth i ti heb â mynd. worse to you .2 SG without with go ‘you’d better not go.’ d. alla’ i ddim â symud. can.PRES.1SG I NEG with move ‘I can’t move.’ The negative words in these sentences are finite form paid of peidio in (44a), whose meaning can be said to be NEGATIVE (see Borsley and Jones 2005), methu ‘fail’ in (44b), heb ‘without’ in (44c), and the negative adverb ddim in (44d). Not all speakers use â after peidio and especially after methu and ddim. It is interesting to recall that bron ‘almost’ has negative implications. Sixth, and last, another distributional context is one in which bron precedes a verb phrase which has a subject (an i-clause). We shall not attempt to categorize bron ‘almost’ in this context in this study. But there are two points which should be noted. One is that the overall construction can occur as an independent clause which describes a past punctual event: 45a. bron iddi hi syrthio. almost to.3SG.F she fall ‘she nearly fell.’ b. bron i mi golli ’r bws. almost to I lose the bus ‘I nearly missed the bus.’ c. bron i Sioned brynu car Mair. almost to Sioned buy car Mair ‘Sioned nearly bought Mair’s car.’ The other is that a finite copula has been omitted, namely, FECTIVE bu, and can be restored (soft mutated to fu):

PAST

tense

PER-

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46a. fu bron iddi hi syrthio. be.PERV.3SG almost to.3SG.F she fall ‘she nearly fell.’ b. fu bron i mi golli ’r bws. be.PERV.3SG almost to I lose the bus ‘I nearly missed the bus.’ c. fu bron i Sioned brynu car Mair. be.PERV.3SG almost to Sioned buy car Mair ‘Sioned nearly bought Mair’s car.’ This construction is the equivalent of a sentence which contains a simple finite verb which is inflected for the PAST tense PERFECTIVE but is otherwise non-progressive and non-perfect. But it is unclear to me to what extent speakers can produce these equivalents, such as examples like the following: 47a. ? syrthiodd hi bron. fall.PERV.3SG she almost ‘she nearly fell.’ b. ? gollish i ’r bws bron. lose.PERV.1SG I the bus almost ‘I nearly missed the bus.’ c. ? brynodd Sioned gar Mair bron. buy.PERV.3SG Sioned car Mair almost ‘Sioned nearly bought Mair’s car.’ The varieties of Welsh with which I am familiar use verb phrase examples like those in (45–46) and not those in (47). As mentioned in 9.1, bron can convey the imminent inception or termination of a situation. Thus, examples (45c) and (46c) can mean either that Sioned nearly took the decision to buy (inception), or that Sioned was in the process of buying the car and nearly did so (termination).95 Some speakers can use the expression bron â bod (literally, ‘almost with be’) in place of bron ‘almost’: 48a. ma’ hi bron â bod yn ddig. be.PRES.3SG she almost with be PRED angry ‘she’s nearly angry.’

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b. oedd y dŵr bron â bod yn y tŷ. be.IMPF.3SG the water almost with be in the house ‘the water was nearly in the house.’ c. ma’ hi bron â bod wedi gorffen. be.PRES.3SG she almost with be PERF finish ‘she’s nearly finished.’ The occurrence of bod ‘be’ creates a verb phrase, and consequently â must occur between bron ‘almost’ and bod ‘be’ (as illustrated in 42a). Predictably, then, bron â bod does not occur before non-finite verbs, which themselves can be selected by â: 49a. * ma’ hi bron â bod gorffen. be.PRES.3SG she almost with be finish ‘she’s nearly finished.’ b. * mae o bron â bod crio. be.PRES.3SG he almost with be cry ‘he’s nearly crying.’ Bron â bod can also occur in final position: 50a. ma’ hi wedi gorffen bron â bod. be.PRES.3SG she PERF finish almost with be ‘she’s finished nearly.’ b. mae o ’n crio bron â bod. be.PRES.3SG he PROG cry almost with be ‘he’s crying nearly.’ 51a. ma’ hi yn ddig bron â bod. be.PRES.3SG she PRED angry almost with be ‘she’s angry nearly.’ b. oedd y dŵr yn y tŷ bron â bod. be.IMPF.3SG the water in the house almost with be ‘the water was in the house nearly.’ There is also the possibility that bron â bod can also occur before phrases where it is not predicted, that is, before quantifying determiner phrases and the quantifying expression i gyd ‘all’ (I am not sure about these data):

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52a. ? ma’ bron â bod y cyfan yn wastraff. be.PRES.3SG almost with be the whole PRED waste ‘nearly the whole (lot) is a waste.’ b. ? ma’ ’r dynion bron â bod i gyd yn anghytuno. be.PRES.3SG the men almost with be to joint PROG disagree ‘nearly all the men disagree.’ In conclusion, bron ‘almost’ is not analysed as an aspect marker. It has a very complex distribution, and is not confined to a verb phrase complement like an aspect marker. It can be accounted for as an adverb which (i) can occur before a variety of phrases, including [â verb phrase], (ii) can occur in clause-final position, and (iii) can be intensified by iawn ‘very, right’ in all positions. Some speakers use bron â bod in place of bron. 9.4.4

I ‘to’ and i fod i ‘supposed to’

Fife (1990: 355–362, 394–398), Thomas (1996: 90, 96), and Thorne (1993: 267–270) include i ‘to’ and i fod i ‘supposed to’ in a discussion of aspect markers (or ategion berfol [verbal adjuncts] in the case of Thomas and Thorne). Introductory examples are as follows: 53a. ma’ Gwyn i aros yma. be.PRES.3SG Gwyn to stay here ‘Gwyn is to stay here.’ b. ma’ Gwyn i fod i aros yma. be.PRES.3SG Gwyn to be to stay here ‘Gwyn is supposed to stay here.’ These examples have the linear configuration [finite bod + subject + i + verb phrase], as in (53a) or [finite bod + subject + i + fod + i + verb phrase], as in (53b). In the remainder of this section we shall simply use the labels i and i fod i. Unlike the other putative aspect markers, their meanings do not involve non-deictic temporal semantics. Both patterns can lay an obligation on the subject to perform the act which is indicated in the infinitival phrase – in the case of i, this obligation is relatively binding, but i fod i allows an escape from the obligation.96 Despite this semantic difference, a pattern like (53b) which contains i fod i is more common in informal Welsh than a pattern like (53a) which contains i. But we shall see in examples

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(56–57) that i is preferred when the verb phrase contains a form of bod ‘be’. Borsley, Tallerman, and Willis (2007: 100) analyse i fod as a raising predicate, and the i which follows as the complementizer to an infinitival phrase. Borsley, Tallerman, and Willis do not consider i examples like (53a), and neither do they comment on the initial i in i fod. But we shall extend the raising account to i, and we shall assume that each i in i fod i is a complementizer to an infinitival phrase. The relevant point for this study is that i can be analysed as a complementizer and not as an aspect marker. Amongst the characteristics of raising predicates are (i) that the subject in the root clause gets its thematic role from the verb in the verb phrase; and (ii) that an expletive subject can occur in the root clause. We can argue that the first characteristic applies to the examples in (53a–b). Examples with an expletive subject are problematic in the case of i but not in the case of i fod i. Consider the following 54a. ? ma’ hi i lawio heddiw. be.PRES.3SG she to rain today ‘it is to rain today.’ b. ma’ hi i fod i lawio heddiw. be.PRES.3SG she to be to rain today ‘it is supposed to rain today.’ The example in (54a) is at least marginal if not unacceptable, but the example in (54b) is acceptable. But i becomes acceptable when there is a form of bod ‘be’ in the verb phrase, either in a progressive pattern or in a copular pattern: 55a. ma’ hi i fod yn glawio heddiw. be.PRES.3SG she to be PROG rain today ‘it is supposed to be raining today.’ b. oedd hi i fod yn braf ddoe. be.IMPF.3SG she to be PRED fine yesterday ‘it was supposed to be fine yesterday.’ These contrasts raise interesting issues but we shall not pursue them in this study. We shall add other observations for the sake of completeness. First, aspectual contrasts are possible in the verb phrase. Such contrasts are acceptable in the case of i as in (56) but less so in the case of i fod i as in (57):

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56a. ma’ Gwyn i [fod wedi mynd â ’r llyfr yn ôl]. be.PRES.3SG Gwyn to be PERF go with the book in track ‘Gwyn is supposed to have taken the book back.’ b. ma’ Mair i [fod yn gweithio]. be.PRES.3SG Mair to be PROG work ‘Mair is supposed to be working.’ c. ma’n nhw i [fod wedi bod yn adolygu ar gyfer yr arholiad]. be.PRES.3PL they to be PERF be PROG revise on direction the examination ‘they are supposed to have been revising for the examination.’ 57a. ? ma’ Gwyn i fod i [fod wedi mynd â ’r llyfr yn ôl]. be.PRES.3SG Gwyn to be to be PERF go with the book in track ‘Gwyn is supposed to have taken the book back.’ b. ? ma’ Mair i fod i [fod yn gweithio]. be.PRES.3SG Mair to be to be PROG work ‘Mair is supposed to be working.’ c. ? ma’n nhw i fod i [fod wedi bod yn adolygu ar gyfer yr be.PRES.3PL they to be to be PERF be PROG revise on direction the arholiad]. examination ‘they are supposed to have been revising for the examination.’ Also, copular patterns are more acceptable in the verb phrase in the case of i as in (58) than in the case of i fod i as in (59): 58a. ma’ Siôn i [fod yn yr ardd]. be.PRES.3SG Siôn to be in the garden ‘Siôn is supposed to be in the garden.’ b. ma’ Siôn i [fod yn hapus]. be.PRES.3SG Siôn to be PRED happy ‘Siôn is supposed to be happy.’ 59a. ? ma’ Siôn i fod i [fod yn yr ardd]. be.PRES.3SG Siôn to be to be in the garden ‘Siôn is supposed to be in the garden.’ b. ? ma’ Siôn i fod i [fod yn hapus]. be.PRES.3SG Siôn to be to be PRED happy ‘Siôn is supposed to be happy.’ The marginality of the patterns involving i fod i may be due, in some way, to multiple occurrences of forms of bod ‘be’. Second, the expression i fod can occur in clause-final position:

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60a. ma’ Gwyn wedi mynd â ’r llyfr yn ôl i fod. be.PRES.3SG Gwyn PERF go with the book in track to be ‘Gwyn has taken the book back, supposed to.’ b. ma’ Mair yn gweithio i fod. be.PRES.3SG Mair PROG work to be ‘Mair is working, supposed to.’ c. ma’n nhw wedi bod yn adolygu ar gyfer yr arholiad be.PRES.3PL they PERF be PROG revise on direction the examination i fod. to be ‘they have been revising for the examination, supposed to.’ d. ma’ Siôn yn yr ardd i fod. be.PRES.3SG Siôn in the garden to be ‘Siôn is in the garden, supposed to.’ But neither i fod i and nor i can occur finally: 61a. * ma’ Gwyn yn aros yma {i / i fod i}. be.PRES.3SG Gwyn PROG stay here to to be to ‘Gwyn is (supposed) stay here.’ b. * ma’ Mair yn gweithio heno {i / i fod i}. be.PRES.3SG Mair PROG work tonight to to be to ‘Mair is (supposed) to work tonight.’ c. * ma’ Siôn yn yr ardd {i / i fod i}. be.PRES.3SG Siôn in the garden to to be to ‘Siôn is (supposed) in the garden.’ Third, and finally, in informal Welsh, the realization of i can vary when a form of bod also occurs. This applies to i fod i, as in the examples in (62), and also i as in the examples in (63): 62a. ma’ Gwyn i fod i aros ’ma. be.PRES.3SG Gwyn to be to stay here ‘Gwyn is supposed to stay here.’ b. ma’ Gwyn i fod aros ’ma. be.PRES.3SG Gwyn to be stay here ‘Gwyn is supposed to stay here.’ c. ma’ Gwyn fod i aros ’ma. be.PRES.3SG Gwyn be to stay here ‘Gwyn is supposed to stay here.’

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d. ma’ Gwyn fod aros yma. be.PRES.3SG Gwyn be stay here ‘Gwyn is supposed to stay here.’ 63a. ma’ Gwyn i fod yn aros ’ma. be.PRES.3SG Gwyn to be PROG stay here ‘Gwyn is supposed to be staying here.’ b. ma’ Gwyn fod yn aros ’ma. be.PRES.3SG Gwyn be PROG stay here ‘Gwyn is supposed to be staying here.’ In the case of i fod i either or both occurrences of i can be omitted. In conclusion, we have argued that i and i fod i are not aspect markers but are involved in raising predicates, and that i is a complementizer, including the two in i fod i. 9.5

Possible aspect markers

In this section we shall show that heb ‘without’, newydd ‘new’, and ar ‘on’ can be assigned to other categories but that there are grounds for also considering them to be aspect markers. 9.5.1

Heb ‘without’ and newydd ‘new’

We discuss together heb ‘without’ and newydd ‘new’ as they can both be associated with the meaning of the perfect aspect, namely, to convey the anterior temporal location or a retrospective view of a situation. We shall look closely at the descriptive facts for each in turn, and then consider a general explanation for both. Like the perfect aspect marker wedi, heb ‘without’ and newydd ‘new’ can readily occur with the progressive aspect marker yn (with an intervening form of bod ‘be’): 64a. ma’ Sioned heb fod yn gweithio. be.PRES.3SG Sioned without be PROG work ‘Sioned has not been working.’ b. dw i newydd fod yn siarad efo Gwilym. be.PRES.1SG I new be PROG talk with Gwilym ‘I’ve just been talking with Gwilym.’

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This similarity with wedi strengthens the claim that heb and newydd are aspect markers. But there are other points to note. Heb ‘without’ can occur as a preposition with determiner phrase or verb phrase complements. But in these contexts, unlike the aspectual context, only negation is conveyed and not anterior time or retrospection: 65a. mae o heb arian. be.PRES.3SG he without money ‘he’s without money.’ b. heb weld neb yna, nesh i ddim aros. without see no-one there do.PERV.1SG I NEG stay ‘without seeing anyone there, I didn’t stay.’ c heb i Sioned wbod, edrychodd Mair ar y llunie. without to Sioned know look.PERV.3SG Mair on the pictures ‘without Sioned knowing, Mair looked at the photographs.’ In other contexts, newydd ‘new’ is an adjective. But it is different in two respects in these contexts – it can be intensified by iawn ‘very’, and the temporal meanings of anterior time or retrospection are absent: 66a. ma’ ’r syniadau newydd (iawn) yn boblogaidd. be.PRES.3SG the ideas new very PRED popular ‘the (very) new ideas are popular.’ b. ma’ ’r syniadau ’n newydd (iawn). be.PRES.3SG the ideas PRED new very ‘the ideas are (very) new.’ Intensification does not occur in an aspectual-like context: 67a. ma’ ’r trên newydd (*iawn) adael. be.PRES.3SG the train new very leave ‘the train has just left.’ b. ma’ ’r post newydd (*iawn) gyrr’edd. be.PRES.3SG the post new very arrive ‘the post has just arrived.’ c. ma’ ’r llyfre diweddaraf newydd (*iawn) ddod i fewn i be.PRES.3SG the books latest new very come to in to ’r siop. the shop ‘the latest books have just come into the shop.’

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There is another general point which characterizes these two forms. They can both occur adjacent to the perfect aspect marker wedi. Neither the productiveness nor the sociolinguistics of these adjacent occurrences over all speakers are clear to me. I have encountered some speakers who can use heb ‘without’ immediately before the perfect wedi, as in examples such as: 68a. ma’ hi heb ’di dod. be.PRES.3SG she without PERF come ‘she hasn’t come.’ b. dw i heb ’di bod ’na. be.PRES.1SG I without PERF be there ‘I haven’t been there.’ There are references in the literature to occurrences of newydd adjacent to the perfect aspect marker wedi. Thomas (1996: 93) states that newydd can either precede or follow wedi in some dialects: 69a. ma’ hi newydd wedi ffonio. be.PRES.3SG she new PERF phone ‘she has just phoned.’ b. ma’ hi wedi newydd ffonio. be.PRES.3SG she PERF new phone ‘she has just phoned.’ Fynes-Clinton (1913: 394) gives the following example of the two cooccurring in a postmodifying phrase: 70 dw i ’n cal coffi wedi newydd ’i falu. be.PRES.1SG I PROG have coffee PERF new 3SG.M grind ‘I get freshly ground coffee’ I have not experienced patterns like those in (69) and (70) in the northern and mid-Wales dialects with which I am familiar. It is interesting to compare newydd ‘new’ with hen ‘old’ which can occur between the perfect aspect marker and the verb phrase: 71 ma’ Mared *(wedi) hen arfer codi ’n fore. be.PRES.3SG Mared PERF old used-to rise ADV morning ‘Mared is well-used to getting up early.’

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Hen ‘old’ makes the extent of the temporal location more distant compared with the recentness conveyed by newydd. But unlike the latter, hen cannot occur without wedi. In summary, heb ‘without’ and newydd ‘new’ can occur as a preposition and as an adjective, respectively, with their individual lexical meanings. They can also occur in an aspectual-like context with the meanings of the perfect aspect as well as their individual lexical meanings. And, for some speakers, they can occur adjacent to the perfect aspect marker wedi. We could argue that they belong to more than one category. Newydd can be an adjective with the meaning of ‘new’, and heb can be a preposition with the meaning of ‘without’. But both can be perfect aspect markers conveying not only anterior time or a retrospective view but also their individual meanings: newydd ‘new’ adds recentness and heb ‘without’ adds negation. An alternative approach is to assume that heb and newydd are always a preposition and an adjective respectively, conveying the meanings of ‘without’ and ‘new’. The meaning of the perfect aspect could be attributed to the head of a perfect phrase. We could say that heb and newydd have special properties which allow them to occur in the head position of the perfect phrase with their individual meanings, adding to the meaning of the head. This approach simplifies the description of the categorization and the semantics of heb and newydd. However, echoing comments made about interpretations of the categorization of wedi in 9.2.1, there is not much difference between saying that heb and newydd are perfect aspect markers (as well as preposition and adjective), and saying that they are respectively only a preposition and adjective which have special properties which allow them to occur in the head of a perfect aspect phrase. 9.5.2

Ar ‘on’

Ar ‘on’ can occur as a preposition in non-aspectual contexts. But its meaning is different – it conveys spatial and temporal location and not imminence: 72a. mae o ar y llwyfan. be.PRES.3SG he on the stage ‘he’s on the stage.’ b. mae o ar y pwyllgor. be.PRES.3SG he on the committee ‘he’s on the committee.’

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c. mae o ar y llinelle iawn. be.PRES.3SG he on the lines right he’s on the right lines.’ d. wela’ i di ar y diwrnod. see. FUT.1SG I you.SG on the day ‘I’ll see you on the day.’ Unlike the other prepositions and prepositional expressions, the spatial and temporal locational meanings of ar in the prepositional contexts in (72) are not the same as the meaning of imminence which is conveyed by ar in the aspectual-like context as in: 73 mae o ar orffen. be.PRES.3SG he on finish ‘he’s about to finish.’ We cannot convincingly claim, then, that prepositional ar in (72) also occurs in the aspectual-like context as in (73). We should then consider whether there is an aspectual ar which conveys imminence. An alternative explanation is that ar in examples like (73) is derived from ar fin ‘on edge’ through the omission of min ‘edge’. We have already noted that ar and ar fin are synonymous when they select a verb phrase complement, and this would provide a simple explanation. But this explanation is speculative and tentative. Perfect wedi and progressive yn can co-occur with an intervening form of bod. But the co-occurrence relationships of ar with the perfect aspect and the progressive aspect are far from clear. It is difficult to determine whether we have syntactic, semantic, or pragmatic constraints: 74a. mae o ar fod yn gweithio. be.PRES.3SG he on be PROG work ‘he’s about to be working.’ b. * mae o yn bod ar orffen. be.PRES.3SG he PROG be on finish ‘he’s being about to finish.’ c. ? mae o wedi bod ar orffen sawl gwaith. be.PRES.3SG he PERF be on finish several time ‘he’s been about to finish several times.’

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d. ? mae o ar fod wedi gorffen. be.PRES.3SG he on be PERF finish ‘he’s about to have finished.’ It seems reasonable to be able to say that a durative situation is about to happen, as in (74a). But it is unusual to think of imminence as being continuous, as in (74b). In the case of co-occurrences of wedi and ar, it is not unreasonable to have a retrospective view of an imminent situation as in (74c), although this combination may be uncommon pragmatically. It is also possible to envisage a scenario where it is possible to say that a situation which is located previous to a reference time was also imminent as in (74d), but this may be pragmatically very rare. In terms of common usage, ar ‘on’ does not co-occur with either perfect wedi or progressive yn with the degree of productiveness that the latter two can occur with each other. We can note that there is another use of ar which is different to its locational use and also its use as a possible aspect marker: 75a. ma’ ’r siop ar agor / gau. be.PRES.3SG the shop on open close. ‘the shop is open / closed.’ b. ma’ ’na ddigon o fwyd ar gal. be.PRES.3SG there enough of food on have ‘there’s enough food available.’ c. ma’ ’r tŷ ar werth. be.PRES.3SG the house on sale. ‘the house is for sale.’ d. ma’ ’r gwair ar dân. be.PRES.3SG the grass on fire. ‘the grass is on fire.’ e. ma’ ’r meddyg ar frys. be.PRES.3SG the doctor on rush. ‘the doctor is in a hurry.’ f. ma’ ’ r arian ar goll. be.PRES.3SG the money on lost. ‘the money is lost.’ g. ma’ ’r fflat ar rent. be.PRES.3SG the flat on rent ‘the flat is for rent.’

Summary

339

These ar ‘on’ phrases describe the current state of the subject, and not the imminence of a situation. The state of the subject is indicated by the phrases which are complements to ar. In this use, it can select a verb phrase such as agor ‘open’ and cau ‘close’ as in (75a–b), and a noun phrase such as gwerth ‘worth’, tân ‘fire’, brys ‘rush, hurry’, coll ‘loss’, and rhent ‘rent’ in (75c–g). The nouns are not preceded by a determiner, as can happen in the locational prepositional phrases. When a non-finite verb occurs as in (75a), it is possible to have an ambiguous reading – either that the shop is in the state of being closed / open or that the shop is about to close / open. We shall therefore say that in addition to prepositional ar ‘on’, which is locational (spatial or temporal), and putative aspectual ar, we also have another ar, which we shall refer to as stative ar. Prepositional ar selects a determiner phrase complement, aspectual ar selects a verb phrase complement, and stative ar can select a verb phrase and noun phrase complement, subject to them being able to establish a state. There are lexical constraints on the occurrences of noun phrases and verb phrases as complements to stative ar. The following cannot be given stative readings: 76a. *ma’ ’r dŵr ar rewi. be.PRES.3SG the water on freeze. ‘the water is frozen.’ b. *ma’ ’r tŷ ar brynu. be.PRES.3SG the house on buy. ‘the house is bought.’ c. *ma’ ’r gwair ar wastraff. be.PRES.3SG the grass on waste. ‘the grass is wasted.’ d. *ma’ ’r meddyg ar bryder. be.PRES.3SG the doctor on anxiety ‘the doctor is anxious.’ In conclusion, there is the possibility of deriving ar from ar fin ‘on edge’, which is the simplest approach, but speculative and tentative. But there are also grounds for considering it to be an extra aspect marker of imminence. 9.6

Summary

On the basis of distributional matters and semantic uniformity in all contexts, we have argued that ar fin ‘on edge’, ar ganol / hanner ‘on middle /

340

More about aspect

half’, and ymhell o ‘far from’ are prepositional expressions. We have also argued that bron ‘near’ is an adverb which can occur in a wide variety of contexts, including preceding [â verb phrase]. Am ‘about, for’ is a preposition which has the meanings ‘want, be in favour of’ and can occur with a determiner phrase, a verb phrase and an i-clause. We have also argued that i and i fod i occur in raising predicates and are not aspect markers. However, ar ‘on’, heb ‘without’ and newydd ‘new’ are not clear-cut. Heb and newydd are respectively a preposition and adjective which can occur in the typical contexts of these categories. But when they occur before a verb phrase in the typical aspectual context, they can also be given the meaning of the perfect aspect as well as their individual meanings. As such, they could also be aspect markers. We have speculatively considered an alternative explanation, namely, whether they are always a preposition or an adjective with constant individual meanings and whether the meaning of the perfect aspect can be attributed to the configuration in which they occur. We have speculatively observed that ar might be derived from ar fin ‘on edge’, but we have also considered ar as an additional aspect marker which conveys imminence. We also noted that ar has a different stative use when its complement is provided by certain verbs and nouns. In answer to the question ‘how many aspects are there in Welsh?’, we shall adopt the view that Welsh has two main aspectual systems, perfect and progressive. But there is the possibility that there are two other perfect aspect markers, heb ‘without’ and newydd ‘new’, and one marker of imminence, ar ‘on’. Of these, only ar introduces a new aspectual meaning. Heb ‘without’ and newydd ‘new’ add extra meanings to an existing perfect aspect. Thus, assuming that they are aspect markers, we have a plain perfect marker wedi, a negative perfect marker heb, and a recent perfect marker newydd.

Chapter 10 Closing remarks In this final chapter, we shall summarize the main features of the descriptions and analyses in preceding chapters and also identify some areas where further research would be profitable. 10.1

An overall view

This study has investigated the semantics of three grammatical areas in informal Welsh: the inflections of finite verbs, perfect aspect, and progressive aspect. We have also analysed mynd i ‘go to’ in descriptions of subsequent situations, and various words and expressions as putative aspect markers. In the discussion of semantics, the analyses have sought to maintain a distinction between basic or primary meanings and other meanings which are extensions from the basic meanings or are due to contextual effects. The primary meanings of the inflections involve factuality, tense, aspect, and habituality. Factuality and tense go together. They both convey information about the evaluation of the truth of a proposition which is associated with an utterance. Factuality indicates whether the evaluation is true (FACTUAL) or false (COUNTERFACTUAL). Tense has a temporal meaning which indicates the time of evaluation of the proposition which is associated with an utterance. But the temporal properties of tense are complex. Tense is made up of a reference time, which is relative to the time of speaking and is either in the past time or at the present moment, and the time of evaluation, which is relative to the reference time and is either concurrent or subsequent. The combinations of the reference time and the evaluation time account for the four tenses in Welsh: PAST (PERFECTIVE and IMPERFECTIVE), FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST , PRESENT, and FUTURE. FACTUAL has all four tense contrasts, but COUNTERFACTUAL is limited to PRESENT and FUTURE. This approach to tense is different to the conventional analysis which is defined solely in relation to the time of speaking, and which says that tense locates the situation in deictic periods of time. In the analysis in this work, the details of time of the situation are supplied either explicitly by adverbs or implicitly by pragmatics, and can be different to the time of evaluation. On this basis, we were able to account for the use of tense in descriptions of concurrent and non-concurrent situations, for example, the use of the PRESENT tense in

342

Closing remarks

descriptions of present-time situations and also future-time situations, and the use of the FUTURE tense in descriptions of future-time situations and present-time situations. Habituality involves the use of certain finite forms of bod ‘be’, namely the Future-Forms, the bydd paradigm, and the Imperfect-ConsuetudinalForms, the byddai paradigm, to describe habitual situations in present time and past time respectively. Not all speakers use these forms but use instead the Present-Forms, the mae ‘is’ paradigm, and the Imperfect-Forms, the oedd ‘was’ paradigm, to describe both habitual and non-habitual situations. The bydd paradigm and the byddai paradigm are not confined to conveying habituality. The bydd paradigm can separately be used to convey the FUTURE tense, and the byddai paradigm can separately convey the FUTURE-INTHE-PAST tense and COUNTERFACTUAL meaning. Inflectional aspect involves the contrast of PERFECTIVE and IMPERFECTIVE, and is realized by finite verb inflections. We have based our explanations of the IMPERFECTIVE and PERFECTIVE on analyses in Comrie (1976) and Smith (1997): the PERFECTIVE establishes a view of the situation which is holistic, bounded, and external; the IMPERFECTIVE gives a view of the situation which is partitive, unbounded, and internal. The perfect aspect also has a temporal meaning: it locates a situation in anterior time from the standpoint of a reference time or, in terms of a related explanation, it provides a retrospective view of a situation from the standpoint of a reference time. Perfect aspect occurs in compound tense patterns and other patterns – periphrastic patterns, non-finite clauses, absolute clauses, and small clauses. But it has the same anterior or retrospective meaning in all contexts. We thus explain perfect aspect in temporal terms and not in terms of results or current relevance. Although the perfect aspect has a temporal function, it is different to tense: it locates situations and not the time of evaluation; and it locates them in relative periods of time and not deictic periods of time. The reference time which is a standpoint for the perfect is different to the reference time which is used in the explanation of tense. In finite clauses, the perfect reference time is anchored around the evaluation time of the tense, and can thus be in past time, at the present moment, or in future time, A detailed specification of the perfect reference time can be supplied by adverbs or pragmatics. The situation also has its own temporal location which is prior to that of the reference time, and is specified by different adverbs. The progressive aspect provides a durative view of a situation while the non-progressive aspect provides a non-durative view. It is possible to combine both the PERFECTIVE or the IMPERFECTIVE with the progressive, giving a

An overall view

343

perfective or imperfective view and a durative or non-durative view. However, there are constraints and trends which disturb this general picture, which we outline in the following paragraphs, along with other constraints. The general outline of tense and syntactic aspect which we have given above does not always apply, and we have established various constraints. There are constraints on the combinations of the semantic features which can be attributed to the inflections of finite verbs. The COUNTERFACTUAL does not have a PAST tense (the past tense constraint). The PERFECTIVE and the IMPERFECTIVE only occur with the PAST tense (the perfectiveimperfective constraint). They PERFECTIVE does not typically occur with the perfect aspect (the perfective-perfect constraint). The specialized habitual forms are only used in descriptions of factual situations and they can only be PRESENT tense or PAST tense (the habitual forms constraint). We have also seen that there are constraints on tense in complement clauses, and we have established the present and imperfective constraint, the perfectivecomplement-clause constraint, and the adverb clause constraint. There are exceptions to the complement clause constraints involving negation, word order, mood, and types of verbs. The progressive is also subject to a number of constraints and trends, which we have expressed in terms of combinations of situation types and syntactic contexts. The progressive trend promotes the progressive in nonperfect compound tense patterns in descriptions of situations which are stative and / or habitual. This trend makes Welsh typologically distinct. The non-progressive trend promotes the non-progressive in all copular predicates and in other patterns which describe stative situations. Other contexts allow a choice of either progressive or non-progressive, subject to situational type: a durative dynamic situation allows either a durative view (progressive) or a non-durative view (non-progressive), a truly punctual situation allows only a non-durative view (non-progressive). There are also three more specific constraints which involve the progressive, namely, the non-progressive gap constraint, the perfective-progressive constraint, and the copular-perfective-progressive constraint. The non-progressive gap constraint applies where the lack of a non-progressive pattern forces the use of a progressive pattern in descriptions of punctual or punctual-like situations, and suspends the usual progressive meaning. Five of the constraints cover the PAST tense PERFECTIVE, and it emerges as a very restricted. It is more restricted than the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE: the PERFECTIVE, unlike the IMPERFECTIVE, is limited to descriptions of concurrent situations and cannot occur in descriptions of anterior ones (with

344

Closing remarks

the perfect aspect) or subsequent ones; it cannot occur in an encompassing relationship; and neither can it occur with mynd i ‘go to’. We have argued that tense is independent of the perfect and progressive aspects. Thus, although we have co-occurrences of tense and perfect and progressive aspects, we do not have complex tenses such as present perfect tense or present progressive tense. In addition to basic or primary meanings, which are context independent, we also considered other meanings which are context dependent or which can be directly implied or inferred from their basic meanings (extensions of meanings). In the case of the tenses, we have looked at epistemic meanings, subject-oriented meanings, speech act meanings, and tentativity and politeness. In the case of inflectional aspect, we have discussed completion and incompletion, change and continuation, narration and scene setting, and remoteness and accessibility. We also considered the pretend present, although it is more problematic whether this is a basic meaning for children or an implicature. In the case of the perfect aspect we have considered current relevance. And in the case of the progressive aspect, we have looked at an encompassing relationship and a simultaneous or succeeding relationship. We did all this to identify primary meanings more precisely. But we have emphasized that the context dependent meanings are not inconsequential. 10.2

Future research

The study has touched on syntax in various places but has not provided a detailed study, either descriptively or formally. An analysis is needed as to how the semantic analyses of the inflections of finite verbs which have been developed in this study can be mapped on to a syntactic configuration. Analyses are also needed of the syntax of the perfect aspect and the progressive aspect. This can include how their semantics relate to syntactic configurations, and also the relationship of forms of bod ‘be’ and aspect markers which is first noted in 1.3.1. The constraints and trends which we have presented in descriptive terms also need more detailed consideration within a syntactic analysis. At various places in this work, passing references have been made to dialectological and sociolinguistic variation. The sociolinguistic and dialectal variables which can be associated with the inflected forms of gwybod ‘know (a fact)’ and adnabod ‘know, recognize’ are unclear (3.5). It was also speculated in 4.1.1 whether all speakers use the PAST tense PERFECTIVE

Future research

345

of bod ‘be’. Some of the putative aspect markers which are discussed in chapter 9 could also be fruitfully investigated sociolinguistically and dialectologically, for instance, heb ‘without’ and newydd ‘new’, and bron ‘almost’, jyst ‘just’ and boiti ‘almost’. Future research could also profitably look at the history of finite verb inflections and syntactic aspect (see Borsley, Tallerman, and Willis 2007: 303–305, 326–333 for discussion). The facts about the formal and informal styles of Welsh raise interesting questions about the historical development of the tenses of inflected verbs and the compound tense patterns. Hans Henrich Hock has pointed out to me – personal communication and also Hock (ms) – that there are instances in several languages of the progressive spreading to new contexts to replace existing forms, which develop new functions. In Hindi, the progressive has replaced a simple present, which has become modal. In English, the progressive is now used in contexts in which, in Shakespeare’s time, the simple verb was used, with the latter now confined to non-progressive contexts. Comrie (1976: 11, 39) suggests that the Welsh progressive originally occurred in sentences which described non-habitual and non-stative situations, but in its historical development it has ousted simple finite verbs to describe habitual situations and stative situations, with a few exceptions. There are grounds for this view in respect of the PRESENT tense and the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE in the case of lexical verbs. But we can note that the compound tense patterns have not ousted the PAST tense PERFECTIVE and FUTURE tense of lexical verbs. Only a thorough historical study can hope to determine the details of the development of the tenses and the compound tense patterns. Another matter is the development of simple tenses. In this study I say that lexical verbs have FutureForms to convey the FUTURE tense but that some can use their Future-Forms to convey the PRESENT tense. However, early reference grammars which describe the formal style of Welsh, adopt the opposite view: they say that lexical verbs basically convey the PRESENT tense but that they can also convey the FUTURE tense. This present study is based on contemporary usage in informal Welsh, and there are grounds in that style for adopting the view which is taken in this work. But the properties of modals and a handful of lexical verbs may indicate that an earlier usage has survived. Only a thorough historical study could determine the development of the formal realization of PRESENT and FUTURE tenses in Welsh, and that is outside the aims of this volume. Historically, too, it makes sense to think that gwneud ‘do’ has originated as an auxiliary in sentences where an agentive subject is clearly apparent, and its use as an auxiliary has then spread to non-agentive sentences. By today, for some speakers at least, the distinction between

346

Closing remarks

agentive and non-agentive is only available in copular sentences. Again, only a detailed historical study could confirm or otherwise this view of the auxiliary gwneud ‘do’. This work has offered a comprehensive analysis of the semantics of finite verb inflections and aspect which is as precise as possible in descriptive terms. It does not claim to offer a definitive and exhaustive account, and more descriptive work is possible. To close, it is hoped that this work has been able to build on existing work in Welsh, to provide a basis for future work on the language, and to provide data and analyses which can contribute to typological studies of finite verbs and aspect.

Appendices Appendix 1. The forms and meanings of finite verbs in informal Welsh, and their labels. Note that all forms are Indicative unless labelled as Subjunctive. Forms

Meanings

Present-Forms Future-Forms

PRES

Imperfect-Forms

IMPF FUTP CNTF

Pluperfect-Forms

IMPF FUTP

a

FUT PRES PRES-HAB

CNTF

Imperfect-ConsuetudinalForms

FUTP CNTF PAST -HAB

Imperfect-SubjunctiveForms

FUTP CNTF

Preterite-Forms

PERV

Bod ‘be’ mae bydd — bydd oedd — — — buasai buasai byddai byddai byddai — — bai c bu

Lexical Verb — canith — — — canai canai — canasai canasai — — — gwnelai b gwnelai

Modal Verb

canodd

gallodd

— — gallith — gallai — gallai gallasai — gallasai — — — — —

a

For ease of presentation, the semantic labels are given in their abbreviated forms. These are explained in the list of conventions, but for convenience their full forms are given here: tense tense HABITUAL FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense PAST tense HABITUAL

tense tense IMPERFECTIVE

PRES

PRESENT

FUT

FUTURE

PRES-HAB

PRESENT

IMPF

PAST

CNTF

COUNTERFACTUAL

PERV

PAST

FUTP PAST -HAB

tense PERFECTIVE

Imperfect/Pluperfect-Form(s) is a general label for the forms of lexical verbs and modal verbs which are Imperfect-Forms, Pluperfect-Forms, and ImperfectSubjunctive-Forms, and also the Imperfective-Consuetudinal-Forms of bod ‘be’. b These forms only occur with verbs like gwneud ‘do, make’ (see 1.2.2). c This form of bod ‘be’ only occurs in conditional clauses in counterfactual sentences in informal Welsh (see 2.3.3).

348

Appendices

Appendix 2.

The spoken forms of bod ‘be’ (spelled in traditional orthography; the forms of bydd, byddai, buasai, and bu are soft-mutated, b to f, in contexts which trigger the mutation.)

Present-Forms Mae (glossed as PRES) (y)dw wyt mae, ma’, oes, o’s, ’s, sydd, sy’ (y)dyn, (y)dan, (y)den, y’n (y)dych, (y)dach, (y)dech, y’ch maen, ma’n, (y)dyn, (y)dan, (y)dech, y’n

Imperfect-Forms Oedd (glossed as IMPF) oeddwn, o’ddwn, o’n oeddet, oeddat, o’ddet, o’ddat, o’t oedd, o’dd, o’ oedden, oeddan, o’dden, o’ddan, o’n oeddech, oeddach, o’ddech, o’ddach, o’ch oedden, oeddan, o’dden, o’ddan, o’n

Future-Forms Bydd (glossed as PRES-HAB) bydda’ byddi bydd byddwn byddwch byddan

Imperfect-Consuetudinal-Forms Byddai (glossed as FUTP, CNTF, PAST-HAB) byddwn byddet bydde bydden byddech bydden

FUT,

Pluperfect-Forms Buasai (glossed as FUTP, CNTF) baswn, ’swn baset, basat, ’set, ’sat base, basa, ’se, ’se basen, basan, ’sen, ’san basech, basach, ’sech, ’sach basen, basan, ’sen, ’san

Preterite-Forms Bu (glossed as PERV) bush, bues buost, buest bu, buodd, buo’ buon buoch buon

Notes 1. 2.

Borsley, Tallerman, and Willis (2007) provide a contemporary study of Welsh syntax. Some speakers may omit the particles mi or fe but use the radical, giving for instance: i

3.

pesychodd Sioned. coughed Sioned ‘Sioned coughed.’

I am not certain of the dialectal or sociolinguistic properties of this usage. But examples like (i) are the expected norm in formal written Welsh. Details can be found in Willis, D. (2000). We can also note that a constituent in a complement clause can occur before the matrix sentence, for example: i a. ddydodd Sioned byddai ’r dynion yn paentio ’r ffenestri. PROG paint the windows said Sioned would-be the men ‘Sioned said the men would paint the windows.’ b. y dynion ddydodd Sioned fyddai – ’n paentio ’r ffenestri. the men said Sioned would-be – PROG paint the windows ‘It was the men Sioned said who would paint the windows.’

4.

5. 6. 7.

We shall say no more about such constructions. Given that all non-finite verbs are infinitival, we could use the label infinitival clause rather than non-finite clause. But the latter is adopted in this study. Further, throughout this work, the label non-finite verb is preferred to verbnoun, which is the traditional label in Welsh reference grammars. There are conflicting views as to whether the verbnoun is a non-finite verb or a noun or either in different contexts. See Borsley (1993), Fife (1990: 398–417), Gensler (2002: 713), Kathman (1991), Willis, P. (1988), Borsley, Tallerman, and Willis (2007: 68–75) for discussion. See Jones and Thomas (1977: 249–252) and Borsley, Tallerman, and Willis (2007: 81–103) for details of the distribution of zero, i ‘to’, and o ‘of’. Early analyses of small clauses are given in Stowell (1981) and Chomsky (1981). Their status as clauses is contentious. Radford (1988:324-331, 358– 360, 515–520, 599–600) provides useful discussion. There is no firm distinction between compound and periphrastic in reference grammars of Welsh or generally. The latter can be widely used to include the former. But it is useful for our purposes to maintain a specialized use of these two terms as labels for different patterns of data, as explained in the text.

350

Notes

8.

Cael occurs as (i) a lexical verb meaning ‘get, have, receive’ (but not ‘have got’); (ii) to form the periphrastic passive (see 1.2.1) ; and (iii) to convey permission ‘may, can, be allowed’. It is in this latter use that it is considered to be a modal verb. When it is a modal verb, it is variously glossed as ‘may, can, be allowed’, with ‘may’ only in interlinear glosses for ease of presentation. This may look odd, especially when cael permission occurs as a non-finite but it preserves the distinction between modal cael on the one hand, and lexical cael and passive cael on the other. 9. Morris-Jones (1913: 315-397), Williams (1959: 94-143; 1980: 72–109), Thomas (1996: 25-78), and Thorne (1993: 224-314). 10. We shall point out three interesting features of Welsh agreement. First, agreement occurs with pronominal subjects only. All nominal phrases, singular and plural, occur with the third singular forms: i a. welodd y dyn / dynion y seren wib. saw the man men the star sprint ‘the man / men saw the shooting star.’ b. welodd o ’r seren wib. saw he the star sprint ‘he saw the shooting star.’ c. welon nhw y seren wib. saw they the star sprint ‘they saw the shooting star.’ Second, agreement with pronouns only occurs when they are in canonical subject position. The third singular occurs with all pronouns when they are fronted: ii fi / ti / chi / ni / nhw welodd y seren wib. you.PL we they saw the star sprint I you.SG ‘it was me / you / you / us / them who saw the shooting star.’

Third, agreement also occurs between some prepositions and their complements, and the facts just sketched here also apply to them. We shall not provide details here, but they are available in standard reference grammars of Welsh. 11. Several points can be made about the spellings of formal and informal Welsh. In informal Welsh, there are changes to the final consonants of the formal affixes. Some are dropped: final f [v] of the first singular of the future / present, and final t [t] of all third person plurals. The final f is restored in responsives: fyddi di yna? ‘will you be there?’ – byddaf ‘yes’, literally ‘(I) will be’. The final m [m] of all first person plurals becomes n [n]. The initial vowel of the disyllabic affixes of the perfect and pluperfect is dropped. We can also note some other points. The ending a [] of the future / present coalesces with its

Notes

351

pronominal subject i ‘I’ to form a diphthongal element. For example, agora’ i is pronounced [agŢrai]. It is only when emphasis is needed on the subject pronoun that a sequence of two simple vowels is discernible [agŢra i:]. The e [ũ] in the informal affixes of the imperfect and pluperfect is realized as a [] by some speakers (this part of a wider e / a contrast in the final syllable of polysyllabic words). 12. Interested readers might like to consult Awbery (1976), Fife (1990: 453–512), Jones and Thomas (1977: 267–279), King (2003: 216–224), and Sadler (1988: 208–237). 13. In the informal Welsh of some southern dialects, the gwnel- stem can be used with the preterite endings. 14. The finite verb paradigms of gwybod ‘know’ and adnabod ‘know, recognize’ are as follows (represented by the third person singular):

Present Future Perfect Imperfect Pluperfect Subjunctive

Gwybod ‘know’ gwyr gwybydd gwybu gwyddai gwybyddai gwybuasai gwybyddo

Adnabod ‘know, recognize’ adwaen adnebydd adnabu adwaenai adnabyddai adnabuasai adnabyddo

15. Details can be found in standard reference grammars such as Morris-Jones (1922: 152–157) and Thomas (1996: 68–70). 16. Descriptive accounts of formal Welsh are available in Williams (1959: 119– 132; 1980: 92–101), Thomas (1996: 595–604), Thorne (1993: 248–270). King (1993: 144–151) describes the informal spoken style. An overall outline is available in Borsley, Tallerman, and Willis (2007: 255–262). Theoretical accounts based mainly on the formal style are given by Rouveret (1996) and Hendrick (1996); a formal account is also available in Zaring (1996). 17. In the text, the non-finite clauses are complements to other non-finite verbs which occur in a compound tense pattern. But it is interesting to consider subjectless non-finite clauses which are complements to a simple finite verb, as in: i a. dria’ i orffen y gwaith. will-try I finish the work ‘I’ll try to finish the work.’ b. dria’ i fod yn gorffen y gwaith. will-try I be PROG finish the work ‘I will try to be finishing the work.’

352

Notes c.

dria’ i fod wedi gorffen y gwaith. will-try I be PERF finish the work ‘I will try to have finished the work.’ d. dria’ i fod wedi bod yn gorffen y gwaith. will-try I be PERF be PROG finish the work ‘I will try to have been finishing the work.’

18. 19. 20.

21.

22.

23. 24.

25.

The syntactic configurations in these examples are superficially, at least, the same as the syntactic configurations which involve modal verbs in the periphrastic patterns in (17) in the text. This comparison raises interesting syntactic issues, and not least amongst them is the status of modal verbs, but we shall not pursue them here. Thieroff (1994) surveys combinations of tense and aspect in accounts of a variety of languages, mainly European. Binnick (1991: 257–263, 268–278) provides an outline of compositional and non-compositional approaches to the semantics of tense and aspect. Readers who are interested in discussions of time might like to consult Evans (2004), Jokić and Smith (2003), le Poidevin (2002) , and Ludlow (1999). Lambalgen and Hamm (2005: 3–31) also offer a discussion from the standpoint of cognitive science. Lambalgen and Hamm (2005) reject an analysis of tense which discusses it independently of situation types (Aktionsart, in their terms), mentioning in particular Comrie (1985) as a proponent of this latter approach. Their analysis of tense involves temporal location, but their explanations are based on concepts from cognitive science and types of situations. In this current study, we adopt the approach of Comrie and others in concentrating on temporal location, but situation types are considered in chapter 6, and in the discussion of perfect aspect in chapter 7 and progressive aspect in chapter 8. Situation is perhaps an unfortunate term, as it can also be used to refer to extralinguistic context. Eventualities is an alternative label, as in Bach (1981), Kearns (2000: 150, 201), and Lambalgen and Hamm (2005: 84). Unfortunately, too, there seems to be no cover-term for a verb, and in this study we shall mainly say that situations occur or exist. Thompson (2005) provides a discussion of the semantics and syntax of temporal adverbs. Copley (2001: 23) suggests that this use of the PRESENT tense is a widespread phenomenon and is found in English (the object of her study), Basque, Finnish, Greek, Mandarin Chinese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, Vietnamese, and Yoruba. English, unlike Welsh, has a progressive and a non-progressive futurate as follows: i

a. Sioned is leaving at 10 am tomorrow. b. Sioned leaves at 10 am tomorrow.

Notes

353

There is much discussion in English about the difference between the two (Dowty 1979: 154–163 outlines the main suggestions and provides references). Syntactic equivalents of (ib) do not occur in Welsh, and the discussion of the difference between (ia) and (ib) is not relevant to the Welsh data. But general points about the English futurates are relevant. 26. I am grateful to Winifred Davies for discussing the German data and to Esther Santamaría Iglesias for discussing the Spanish data. I am entirely responsible for the interpretation and presentation of the data here. 27. There are forms in Welsh which are similar to French voici ‘here is’ and voila ‘there is’, namely dyma ‘here is’ and dyna ‘there is’. There is also a third form in Welsh, dacw ‘there (yonder) is’. The standard explanation (Richards 1938: 25–26, Morris-Jones 1922: 191) is that these forms are derived from the following expressions: i. weli di yma / yna / acw … see.PRES.2SG you.SG here there yonder ‘you see here / there / yonder …’ Phonological processes of elision produce dyma from weli di yma, dyna from weli di yna, and dacw from weli di acw. Dacw (and acw) is used for spatial (exophoric) reference but not textual (anaphoric) reference. Dyna (and yna) can be used for textual reference, but some speakers also use it (and yna) for spatial reference in place of dacw. These forms have interesting syntactic distribution in Welsh, but we shall not pursue the details here. Jones B. M. (2007) provides a preliminary study. 28. Ippolito (2004), in discussing modal uses of the Italian imperfect which include planning for the future, also identifies an element of circumspection: “the uses of the imperfect [in modal examples] convey the information that at the time of the utterance, the speaker is not endorsing the proposition p expressed by her utterance because she at most has indirect (unreliable) evidence.” (Ippolito 2004: 361). 29. Perfect aspect, especially if co-occurring with the progressive, can also involve situations which endure throughout the period: i a. dw i wedi bod yma ers dwy awr. be.PRES.1SG I PERF be here since two hour ‘I’ve been here two hours.’ b. dan ni wedi bod yn byw yn Aberystwyth ers ugien be.PRES.1PL we PERF be PROG live in Aberystwyth since twenty mlynedd. years ‘We’ve been living in Aberystwyth for twenty years.’

354

Notes c. ma’ Mair wedi bod yn sefyll ’ma ers meitin. be.PRES.3SG Mair PERF be PROG stand here since while ‘Mair has been standing here for a good while.’

Such examples are preferred by some speakers to the equivalent non-perfect ones in the text. We can also note here that the temporal phrase is preceded by ers ‘since’, which is very common in informal Welsh. But there is a prescriptive rule (which may possibly be a spontaneous rule for some speakers) which says that er is used where the time of the inception of the period is definite, such as er naw o’r gloch neithiwr ‘since nine o’clock last night’, and ers is used for an indefinite period, such as ers blynyddoedd ‘for years’. In the examples in this study, the more common ers is used. See also 7.2.1 and 7.2.2 for ers phrases. 30. We can consider here an approach to futurates by Copley (2001). She only considers those situations which are predetermined on the basis of a plan and not calculations (although it is likely that the latter could be brought into Copley’s analysis). Copley explains a futurate meaning by setting up a covert (unpronounced) operator, PLAN. If PLAN is not present, then a futurate meaning does not arise. Copley also provides evidence from the occurrence of adverbials to claim that PLAN is between progressive phrase and verb phrase: [ProgP [PlanP [VP]]]. Copley’s approach is specific to futurate and non-futurate readings of the PRESENT tense. This current study has the wider aim of achieving a unified analysis of all descriptions of non-concurrent situations, including the FUTURE tense and the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense. Consequently, while it is acknowledged that Copley makes an insightful study of the syntax of futurates, her approach will not be incorporated into the analysis which is being developed here. We can note here that Lambalgen and Hamm (2005: 27–31), drawing upon cognitive science, use plan in a different sense. In their sense, planning is not a firm arrangement like a schedule but involves “setting a goal and devising a linear sequence of actions that will achieve that goal, taking into account events in, and properties of the world; …” (Lambalgen and Hamm 2005: 27). As such, the FUTURE tense is more appropriate than the PRESENT tense when planning in this sense is involved (Lambalgen and Hamm 2005: 114–117). 31. Some languages use a distinctive form when a proposition is based on linguistic input, the so-called inferential tense. Binnick (1991: 34, 58, 127) refers to the evidential and inferential tenses in Turkish, the former making statements on the basis of what the speaker knows (mainly on the basis of first-hand perception) and the latter on the basis of hearsay or what is surmised. Binnick (1991: 377, 387) also refers to the use of the PAST tense in German, Swedish, and Norwegian as an evidential tense and the present perfect as a reportative tense. 32. Smith (1991: 41) labels sentences like these as dispositional.

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33. In this discussion, we have contrasted FACTUAL with COUNTERFACTUAL. But a wider semantic analysis might want to introduce three distinctions. A FACTUAL statement is a true statement. A COUNTERFACTUAL statement is a false statement. But it is also possible to have statements which are neither true nor false, especially those introduced by verbs like believe and think, as in I think he’s arriving tomorrow. These are non-factive statements. However, for the purposes of explaining the meanings of finite verb forms, the distinction between FACTUAL and COUNTERFACTUAL will suffice (or factive and contrafactive). Some discussion on these distinctions is available in Kiparsky and Kiparsky (1970) and Lyons (1977: 599, 794–796). 34. The COUNTERFACTUAL use of byddai/buasai is sometimes characterized as being conditional. But tenses in clauses which describe a factual situation can also be conditional, so this is not an adequate explanation of their meaning. 35. I have no firm knowledge of the sociolinguistics of the use of mae and oedd or bydd and byddai to describe habitual situations. But it is my impression on the basis of my experience of informal Welsh that most speakers use mae and oedd for non-habitual and habitual situations, and that fewer speakers use bydd and byddai as specialized habitual forms. Comrie (1976: 25) says that in south Wales the IMPERFECTIVE oedd in a progressive compound tense pattern as in yr oeddwn i yn darllen Y Faner can describe both non-habitual and habitual situations (‘I was reading The Banner’ and ‘I used to read the Banner’). Comrie also says that in north Wales it is used to describe non-habitual situations, and the traditionally-labelled Imperfect is a separate habitual form as in darllenwn i Y Faner ‘I used to read The Banner’. This is not typical of the informal spoken Welsh in north Wales with which I am familiar. Speakers in all dialects can use oedd in a progressive compound tense pattern to describe both habitual and non-habitual situations; and the use of the traditionally labelled Imperfect as a distinct habitual tense is not generally typical of informal spoken Welsh. 36. Some discussion in respect of English going to is available in Bybee, Perkins, and Pagliuca (1994: 268), cited in Lambalgen and Hamm (2005: 118). 37. We can also note that mynd ‘go’ can occur in inchoative sentences like: i ma’ ’r awyr yn mynd yn goch. PRED red be.PRES.3SG the sky PROG go ‘the sky is going red.’ Such examples describe not the physical movement of the subject but a change of state. Any generalization about the meaning of mynd ‘go’ would also have to take inchoatives into account. 38. Bybee, Perkins, and Pagliuca (1994: 268), cited in Lambalgen and Hamm (2005: 118), likewise use intention to explain English going to. 39. Lambalgen and Hamm (2005: 118–121) offer a generalization, which is based on concepts from cognitive science and types of events (situations).

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40. Lambalgen and Hamm (2005: 116) also hold that examples which contain the PRESENT tense like I am going to fly to Chicago tomorrow also allow for uncertainty – “the possibility of an obstacle arising is deliberately left open”. 41. Gwneud can occur as an auxiliary, glossed as ‘do’, and as a lexical verb, glossed as ‘do, make’: i a. na’ i baentio ’r drws. do.FUT.1SG I paint the door ‘I’ll paint the door.’ b. na’ i ddrws. make.FUT.1SG I door ‘I’ll make a door.’ c. na’ i ’r trydydd cwestiwn. question do.FUT.1SG I the third ‘I’ll do the third question.’ And both can occur in a periphrastic pattern, as an auxiliary and so-called main verb respectively: ii a. na’ i neud drws. do.FUT.1SG I make door ‘I’ll make a door.’ b. na’ i neud y trydydd cwestiwn. the third question do.FUT.1SG I do ‘I’ll do the third question.’ 42. We are here deliberately concentrating on the inflected forms of modal verbs. But a more common way of conveying logical possibility in Welsh is to use either hwyrach ‘perhaps’ (often realized as hw’rach in speech) or efallai ‘perhaps’ (often variously realized as efalle, falle or ella in speech). Examples are as follows: i a. hw’rach bod John yn Llundain. perhaps be.PRES John in London ‘perhaps John is in London.’ b. falle (’i) bod hi ’n cal cinio yn y llyfrgell. perhaps 3SG.F be.PRES she PROG have lunch in the library ‘perhaps she’s having lunch in the library.’ As well as logical possibility, the example in the text could also be given a reading of physical possibility – that is, what physical circumstances allow. Hwyrach and efallai do not convey physical possibility. 43. The examples of the second persons in the text are based on typical sentences in discourse. But they can also commonly occur in northern dialects in very

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contracted forms as discourse fillers, that is sti ‘you know’ and (y)chi ‘you know’: i a. mae hi ’n hapus iawn, (wyddo)st ti. know.PRES.2SG you.SG be.PRES.3SG she PROG happy very ‘she’s very happy, you know.’ b. dw i ’m yn mynd eto, (wyddo)ch chi. again know.PRES.2PL you.PL be.PRES.1SG I NEG PROG go ‘I’m not going again, you know.’ We can also mention here the use of sgwn i ‘I wonder’, as in the following: ii a. ydy Mair yn aros, sgwn i. be.PRES.3SG Mair PROG stay, if.know.PRES.1SG I ‘is Mair staying, I wonder.’ b. sgwn i os oedd Sioned yna neithiwr. if.know.PRES.1SG I if be.IMPF.3SG Sioned there last-night ‘I wonder if Sioned was there last night.’ Historically, sgwn i comes from os gwn i ‘if I know’. It can also be found written as ys gwn i. The conditional conjunction has become part of the verb. Although it is glossed as ‘if’ in the examples, it is unlikely that contemporary speakers are aware of its original source. Only instances of the first person singular occur, in my experience. I am not familiar with sgwyddon ni ‘we wonder’, for instance. Sgwn can be regarded as partly formulaic, at least. 44. We can also add some fairly common examples of gweld ‘see’: i a. hyd y gwela’ i… length PT see.PRES.1SG I ‘as far as I (can) see …’ b. A: ma’ hyn yn mynd fama. here be.PRES.3SG this PROG go ‘this goes here.’ B: wela’ i. see.PRES.1SG I ‘I see.’ In the first example, this use of gweld ‘see’ occurs in a subordinate clause headed by hyd ‘length’, and in the second example we have a discourse function whereby a speaker acknowledges what has been said. In both cases, a compound tense equivalent is possible. 45. There are other examples of credu ‘believe’ and coelio ‘believe’ in compound tense patterns which convey ordinary or unmarked belief, as in the following examples:

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Notes i a. A: ydy Mair yma? be.PRES.3SG Mair here ‘is Mair here?’ B: dw i ’n credu (taw) / coelio. believe be.PRES.1SG I PROG believe FOC ‘I believe so.’ b. A: ma’ Mair yn dalach na Sioned. be.PRES.3SG Mair PRED taller than Sioned ‘Mair is taller than Sioned.’ B: dw i ’n credu (taw) / coelio. be.PRES.3SG I PROG believe FOC believe ‘I believe so.’

In southern dialects, the focussing particle taw is often used in such sentences, similar to so in English. Northern dialects do not use a focussing particle in this way, either na (which is unique to northern dialects) or the more general ma’ (spelled in the formal style as mai). 46. In the informal speech of north-west Wales at least, the expression medde fo can be heard in narratives of the past which recount what people have said. The spoken form looks like the PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE (formally spelled as meddai). In rapid speech, medde fo is shortened to m’ fo. I am not familiar, in similar narratives, with the use of other person forms of this verb. 47. This is part of a general phonological rule in informal Welsh which applies to many words of more than two syllables. Typically, in words which have an initial vowel, only the vowel is dropped (ystafell ‘room’ becomes stafell, ymolchi ‘wash oneself’ becomes molchi). But in the case of adnabod, the vowel and following consonant are dropped. This can be attributed to the fact that if the vowel alone were dropped, the resulting consonant cluster would not be typical of the phonotactics of Welsh in initial position, *dnabod. 48. In the formal style of Welsh, this form can occur in patterns like the following: i a. darfu i mi fynd. PERV to I go ‘I went.’ b. darfu iddynt gyrraedd. PERV to.3PL arrive ‘they arrived.’ This configuration is [darfu +[i + determiner phrase + verb phrase]], in which we have a non-finite clause with subject, and darfu can be viewed as the inflected form of the 3rd singular PAST tense PERFECTIVE of darfod (it can be noted that darfod is a bod-compound as listed in 1.2.2). It is likely that the pattern in (ii) is the historical source for the use of ddaru as an auxiliary in in-

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formal Welsh. This will explain why the form is always invariant with all pronominal subjects. A form haru is also found in northern dialects, as in: ii be haru ti? what PERV you.SG ‘what did you do?’ This is not an enquiry about a situation but is more similar to ‘what’s the matter?’ or ‘what happened?’. There are other points in Fynes-Clinton (1913: 74– 75). 49. Klein (1994: 27–30) characterizes explanations of the PERFECTIVE and the IMPERFECTIVE in terms of views, internal and external, as metaphorical, although indicative of the uses of these aspectual contrasts. Klein (1994: 108–109) proposes that such explanations are derivable from explanations which are based on the temporal relationships between the time of the situation (TSit) and topic time (TT). As explained in 2.2.2 TSit refers to the wider situation which exceeds the actual descriptions in particular utterances and TT refers to assertions at a particular time. He holds that the IMPERFECTIVE fully includes TT within TSit while the PERFECTIVE partly includes TT in TSit (that is, that TT and TSit overlap or TSit is included in TT). We have not adopted the notion of TSit in this work, and Klein’s approach in respect of the IMPERFECTIVE and the PERFECTIVE will not be followed. 50. I am grateful to Agustin De Burgos Lopez for discussing these examples with me, but I am entirely responsible for the presentation and explanation here. 51. Some speakers may prefer other expressions to the PERFECTIVE of modal verbs: i nesh i lwyddo / fanejio pasio ’r lori. do.PERV.1SG I succeed manage pass the lorry ‘I succeeded in passing the lorry / I managed to pass the lorry.’ And some speakers may prefer the equivalent compound tense pattern in place of the simple finite verb: ii o’n i ’n gallu agor y botel. be.IMPF.1SG I PROG can open the bottle ‘I could open the bottle.’ 52. Some speakers may prefer the equivalent compound tense patterns, as in the example below. This preference for a compound tense pattern makes modal verbs similar to lexical verbs, except that the compound tense pattern is a requirement in the case of the latter rather than a preference in informal Welsh.

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Notes i o’n i ’n medru nofio ’n dda pan oeddwn i swim ADV good when be.IMPF.1SG I be.IMPF.1SG I PROG can ’n ifanc. PRED young ‘I could swim well when I was young.’

53. Traditional reference grammars list Preterite-Forms of gwybod which are based on the Preterite-Forms of bod ‘be’, thus: gwybûm gwybuost gwybu gwybuom gwybuoch gwybuont These forms are not productive in informal Welsh. 54. In colloquial Welsh, the verb marw ‘die’ can inflect for the PAST tense PERFECTIVE, as in (ia) below. But in formal Welsh a very distinctive syntactic configuration occurs, as in (ib) below: i a. farwodd John yn sydyn. die.PERV.3SG John ADV sudden ‘John died suddenly.’ b. fu farw John yn sydyn. be.PERV.3SG die John ADV sudden ‘John dies suddenly.’ As can be seen from (ib), the copula inflects for the PAST tense PERFECTIVE and not the verb marw. Strikingly, the finite verb is not followed by the subject as normally happens in Welsh but by the expression farw John in which marw has been soft-mutated. This is clearly an interesting construction in formal Welsh, but no more will be said about it in this study. 55. In Spanish, the perfect aspect can occur with the PERFECTIVE. But it also occurs with the IMPERFECTIVE. Both are illustrated in the following examples: i a. él había he have.IMPF.3SG ‘he had worked.’ b. él hubo he have.PERV.3SG ‘he had worked.’

trabajado. work.PASTP trabajado. work.PASTP

Notes

56. 57. 58. 59.

60.

61.

62. 63. 64.

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I shall not attempt to explain the difference between these two, but settle for indicating that the perfect aspect can occur with the IMPERFECTIVE in Spanish and that it is a more typical choice than the PERFECTIVE. I am grateful to Agustin De Burgos Lopez for discussing these examples with me, but I am entirely responsible for the presentation and explanation here. Not all speakers follow these conventions. Some speakers can use byth in perfect and PERFECTIVE contexts. I am not certain of the dialectal and sociolinguistic variables which can be associated with these conventions. Jones B. M. (1999) provides a comprehensive account of the Welsh answering system. Diagrams like this are extensively used in this chapter. They serve only to provide summaries in graphic form, and are not intended to have any purpose other than this basic presentational device. Some accounts conflate temporal meanings, modal meanings, and COUNTERFACTUAL meaning in one system. This can be typically done on the basis of a cline of epistemic distance. An example is found in the analysis of Welsh by Fife (1990: 81–214), who uses cognitive grammar. The appeal of this approach is that it sets up a general system which accounts for both forms which convey FACTUAL and forms which convey COUNTERFACTUAL. However, the distinctions which are made are quite abstract and, in this volume, a less abstract approach is adopted. In this diagram and following diagrams, I have omitted the general label for the binary choices, for the sake of simplicity and economy of presentation. Apart from the very top of the diagram, where Factuality occurs, no mention is made of the Tense, Habituality and (inflectional) Aspect. Comrie (1985: 74) says that a future-in-the-future is possible in Latin by combining the future participle of a lexical verb and the future tense of the copula. e.g. daturus erit ‘about-to-give he-will-be’. But here we have a periphrastic construction and not a simple finite verb. A possible periphrastic construction in Welsh is fydd o ar roi ‘he will be about to give’, which is discussed in chapter 9. But Welsh cannot achieve a future-in-the-future with a simple finite verb. Comrie (1976: 71) and Dahl (1985: 79–80) note that the PERFECTIVE is typically confined to the PAST tense. The aspect system of the Slavic languages is an exception. The preverbal particle y does not trigger a mutation. When omitted the initial consonant of the finite verb can remain unmutated for some speakers, but other speakers soft mutate finite verbs in complement clauses. I shows limited agreement features: i rwy ’n siwr iddo (fe) ddod ddoe. be.PRES.1SG PRED sure to.3SG.M he come yesterday ‘I’m sure that he came yesterday.’

362

65.

66. 67.

68.

69. 70. 71.

Notes The overt agreement forms of i are limited to the third person singular and plural – iddo fo ‘to him’, iddi hi ‘to her’, and iddyn nhw ‘to them’. In the formal style of Welsh, there is an orthographic convention of closing up the written forms of i ‘to, for’ and the other pronouns – i mi ‘to / for me’, i ti ‘to / for you (singular), i ni ‘to / for us’, and i ch(w)i ‘to / for you (plural) becoming imi, iti, inni, and ich(w)i. These are not inflected agreement forms. The term implicature comes from Grice (1975), whose detailed account explains implicatures in terms of conversational maxims, and distinguishes different sorts of implicatures. Comrie also adds that context-independent meanings can be basic or secondary. He suggests that establishing basic, secondary, and context-dependent meanings (implicatures) provides the flexibility which is necessary to characterize the meanings of finite verbs. In this chapter, the distinction between context-independent and context-dependent is sufficient. A similar aim, but using a different explanation of the FUTURE tense as a proximal modal, is found in Fife (1990: 104). Dahl (1985: 9–11) also discusses basic meanings and secondary meanings. The Welsh analyses compare with modal analyses of English will, or at least non-temporal uses, which can variously be found, for example, in Allan (2001: 358–59), Coates (1983), Comrie (1985: 71), Dahl (1985: 103–108), Hornstein (1990: 20–22, 33–34), Lyons (1977: 819–820; 1995: 332), and Palmer (1990: 133–163). Several of these accounts present a very general approach which accounts for both a temporal function and a modal function. There is an interesting comparison here between the FUTURE tense and the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense in sentences which can be associated with willingness or power, on the one hand, and mynd i ‘going to’ in sentences which involve intention or current signs. Willingness and intention involve animate subjects while power and current signs involve inanimate subjects (although animate subjects can also be involved in the case of the latter). The syntax of both pairings is similar, but the animate:inanimate contrast produces different semantics. We have not investigated in detail in this study whether there is a generalization which could provide a single explanation for willingness and power, and a generalization which could provide a single explanation for intention and current signs. See Jones (1999) for an analysis of responsives in Welsh. An A-event is possible in a scenario where a future situation has been planned by B, and the speaker, A, enquires about his or her role in that scenario. Smith justifies the participant property on the grounds that the subject must be able to receive such a property. Thus, Smith’s example, Einstein has lived in Princeton, which is uttered after Einstein’s death, is ungrammatical because the subject cannot now be ascribed the participant property. However, we can have sentences like Shakespeare has written great works, even though this can be uttered after Shakespeare’s death.

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72. This view of the perfect focuses on locating or viewing the situation in an anterior relationship with the reference time. A posterior relationship is found in the approach of Klein (1994: 103–104, 118–113), who focuses on the time after the situation. He does this by arguing that the function of the perfect is to convey the temporal relationship of the time of the situation (TSit) and the topic time (TT). The latter is the time at which an assertion is made, and Klein argues that TT is located in the post-time of TSit. However, as explained in 2.2.2, we are not adopting Klein’s notions of TSit and TT, and we shall not follow Klein’s approach to explaining the perfect. 73. Dahl (1985: 137) suggests that this restriction in Swedish is “much less watertight than one might think at first blush”, and definite past-time adverbs can occur. 74. Vendler (1967) has been a great influence on linguistic semantics, as is seen in Binnick (1991: 140–208), Comrie (1976: 13, 35–51), Dahl (1985: 26–29), Giorgi and Pianesi (1997: 151–178), Huddleston and Pullum (2002: 118– 125), Jaszczolt (2002: 253–55), Kearns (2000: 201–18), Lyons (1977: 483– 484, 703–718), Saeed (2003: 117–124), Smith (1997: 2–3, 17–37), and Thompson (2005). Types of situations can commonly be represented by types of verbs, and Lyons (1977: 705–707) also refers to these distinctions as the aspectual character (or just character) of a lexeme, which he explains as being “that part of its meaning whereby it (normally) denotes one kind of situation rather than another”. Smith (1997: 39–59) and Thompson (2005: 7–10, 157–204) say that situation types are compositional, and depend not on a single lexeme, in particular a verb, but also on complements, subjects and adjuncts. These matters are also discussed under Aktionsart, as in Lambalgen and Hamm (2005: 83–96). 75. Accounts of the semantics of the modals can be found in Jones and Thomas (1977: 95–112) and Fife (1990: 274–290). 76. Smith (1997: 3, 29–30) has a more specific use of the term semelfactive for instantaneous atelic situations. 77. Sports commentaries are one of a number of uses which are associated with the punctual non-progressive in English. Others are performatives, perception verbs, and stage commentaries which can be respectively illustrated as follows: i a. I name this ship Matilda. b. I (can) see something over there. c. Llewellyn enters left. In informal Welsh, the progressive would also be used for these sentences. 78. Dahl (1985: 87–89) cites a study by Hoffman (1963) which may indicate that Margi (a Chad language) uses the progressive marker to describe habitual situations in the past period, as well as the more typical use of describing nonhabitual situations in progress.

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79. The selection of the progressive in the verb phrase of a periphrastic pattern only occurs when the modals have certain more typical use of describing nonhabitual situations in progress. 80. A difference may emerge when the sub-situations of the whole unitary situation are adverbially specified: i a. alle hi weithio bob nos. can.CNTF.3SG she work every night ‘she could work every night.’ b. alle hi fod yn gweithio bob nos. every night can.CNTF.3SG she be PROG work ‘she could be working every night.’ ii a. ddyle Mair olchi ’r car bob wythnos. should.CNTF.3SG Mair wash the car every week ‘Mair should wash the car every week.’ b. ddyle Mair fod yn golchi ’r car bob wythnos. should.CNTF.3SG Mair be PROG wash the car every week ‘Mair should be washing the car every week.’ iii a. dw i ’n disgwyl i Mair weld Siôn bob nos. be.PRES.1SG I PROG expect to Mair see Siôn every night ‘I expect Mair to see John every night.’ b. dw i ’n disgwyl i Mair fod yn gweld Siôn bob nos. be.PRES.1SG I PROG expect to Mair be PROG see Siôn every night ‘I expect Mair to be seeing John every night.’ iv a. dw i ’n bwriadu cerdded i ’r gwaith bob dydd. to the work every day be.PRES.1SG I PROG intend walk ‘I intend to walk to work every day.’ b. dw i ’n bwriadu bod yn cerdded i ’r gwaith bob to the work every be.PRES.1SG I PROG intend be PROG walk dydd. day ‘I intend to be walking to work every day.’ There is a possible reading by which the effect of the progressive in these examples is to emphasize the duration of an individual sub-situation rather than the duration of the unitary habitual pattern. 81. The judgements given in this study are based on my experience of varieties of Welsh with which I am familiar and also discussions with informants. It may be that there are speakers of Welsh who can more readily use the nonprogressive in descriptions of non-habitual statives. But I am not familiar with any sociolinguistic or dialectological studies which would allow more extensive observations. 82. As in the case of non-habitual statives, some speakers of Welsh may more readily use the non-progressive in descriptions of habitual statives. But I am

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not familiar with any sociolinguistic or dialectological studies which would allow more confident observations. 83. As pointed out by Smith (1991: 43), we can note that states as described by copular sentences, in particular ascriptive ones, can also be momentary, as in: i a. oedd hi ’n flin am eiliad. be.IMPF.3SG she PRED angry for second ‘she was angry for a second.’ b. oedd hi ’n hapus am foment. be.IMPF.3SG she PRED happy for second ‘she was happy for a moment.’ These states can suddenly come about and suddenly cease to exist, perhaps because of sudden loss of self-composure in the case of anger or sudden realization that the reason for happiness is a delusion. 84. In this respect, it is significant to note that those adjectives which allow the progressive are also those adjectives which allow the auxiliary verb gwneud ‘do’, as mentioned in 3.2.1 and 6.3. Compare the following: i a. fydd Mair yn gas. be.FUT.3SG Mair PRED nasty ‘Mair will be nasty.’ b. fydd Mair yn bod yn gas. be.FUT.3SG Mair PROG be PRED nasty ‘Mair will be being nasty.’ c. neith Mair fod yn gas. do.FUT.3SG Mair be PRED nasty ‘Mair will be nasty.’ ii a. fydd Mair yn oer. be.FUT.3SG Mair PRED cold ‘Mair will be cold.’ b. * fydd Mair yn bod yn oer. be.FUT.3SG Mair PROG be PRED cold ‘Mair will be being cold.’ c. * eith Mair fod yn oer. do.FUT.3SG Mair be PRED cold ‘Mair will be cold.’ 85. Lyons (1977: 485) and Smith (1997: 33–35) draw attention to the similarity of statives and habitual dynamic sentences, on the grounds of a shared durative property. For the Welsh data, we can extend this similarity to the relationship of non-habitual statives and non-habitual processes. 86. For example, Downing and Locke (2002: 369–370), Palmer (1987: 70–76), Huddleston and Pullum (2002: 168–171), and Quirk et al. (1985: 198–200).

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87. Dahl (1985: 91–94) also indicates that the progressive does not typically describe statives, but adds that the Quecha progressive combines progressive and stative uses. 88. Alternatives to bron are jyst ‘just’, which is generally available in the dialects, and a form which we shall spell as boiti, which is used in southern dialects. In the text, we shall use bron, but I am not certain whether bron, jyst, and boiti are entirely the same in all contexts. 89. The expressions which describe clock time are set expressions, and it could be that it is formulaic usage which preserves this use of wedi in informal Welsh. It is also the case that clock time preserves the traditional method of counting, such as pum munud ar hugain ‘twenty five minutes’ (literally, five minutes on twenty), rather than the contemporary decimal method, such as dau ddeg pump munud (literally, two tens five minutes) – although young children may use the decimal method in telling clock time. 90. In addition to a preposition, a form yn also occurs as follows. It heads a predicatival phrase and triggers the soft mutation: i a. ma’ ’r bwyd yn oer. be.PRES.3SG the food PRED cold ‘the food is cold.’ b. oedd Mair yn gantores. be.IMPF.3SG Mair PRED singer.F ‘Mair was a singer.’ It also precedes adjectives, and triggers the soft mutation, in phrases which create manner adverbs: ii a. ma’ ’r dynion yn gweithio ’n galed. PROG work ADV hard be.PRES.3SG the men ‘the men are working hard.’ b. oedd Mair yn rhedeg yn gyflym. ADV quick be.IMPF.3SG Mair PROG run ‘Mair was running quickly.’ Fife (1990: 368–386) considers a uniform account of prepositional yn ‘in’, aspectual yn, predicatival yn, and adverbial yn. In this present study, we are only concerned with comparing aspectual yn and prepositional yn ‘in’. We can also note that, in informal spoken Welsh, there are also two other forms which are spelled yn and are pronounced [ŧn] but which have different spellings and pronunciations in formal Welsh. These are yn for formal fy and yn for formal ein. They can be respectively translated as ‘my’ and ‘our’ but they can also be regarded as clitics in agreement contexts. These forms are quite different to aspectual, propositional, and predicatival yn.

Notes

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91. I am grateful to Meinir McDonald for drawing my attention to this explanation of Ty’n in place names. 92. A wider consideration of yn in aspectual and predicatival contexts is available in Fife (1990: 368–386, 422–442). 93. We can note that verbs in Welsh can be given adjectival forms by adding the ending –edig. These forms are equivalent to the past participles in English, but they are confined to typical adjective contexts, especially attributive and predicatival. Thus, berwi ‘boil’ can occur as berwedig ‘boiled / boiling’, blino ‘tire’ can occur as blinedig ‘tired’, gorffen ‘finish’ can occur as gorffenedig ‘finished’, and siomi ‘disappoint’ can occur as siomedig ‘disappointed’. There are questions as to which types of verbs can become adjectival, and how the adjectival form compares with a perfect aspect equivalent (for example, dŵr berwedig ‘boiled / boiling water’ versus dwr wedi berwi ‘boiled water’). But we shall not pursue these issues here. 94. Thorne (1996: 274) gives examples from the informal style of Welsh which show examples of bron, and its alternatives jyst and boiti without â: i a. o’dd e bron marw. be.IMPF.3SG he almost die ‘he almost died / was almost dying.’ b. o’dd e jyst marw. be.IMPF.3SG he almost die ‘he almost died / was almost dying.’ c. o’dd e boiti marw. be.IMPF.3SG he almost die ‘he almost died / was almost dying.’ Clearly, there are speakers for whom the conventions which are described in the text do not apply. There is more to bron, jyst, and boiti than is in the account which is presented in this current work, which can be investigated in future research. 95. Smith (1997: 28, 43–44), addressing English almost, argues that ambiguity occurs with situations which are accomplishments (John almost closed the door), and explains the ambiguity in terms of the scope of almost. When its scope is over the whole event, the inception of the event is conveyed. When its scope is on the culmination of the event, termination is conveyed. 96. Jones B. M. (1997, 1998) provides a study of the semantics of i fod i ‘supposed to’, in particular. As well as obligation, it should also be considered whether i fod i has an epistemic meaning as some of the examples in the text may suggest. Discussion of the semantics of i and i fod i is available in Fife (1990: 355–362, 394–398).

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Index ability 142–143, 246 absolute clauses 8, 20, 23, 212, 242– 243, 248, 252–253, 263, 267, 298, 342 accessible past 181, 209–210, 211, 344 accomplishments 203, 206 actions 29 acts 188–190, 265–266 adjunct clauses 177–179, 242–243 adverbs 4, 7, 33, 34, 217, 223–227, 229–230, 237–239, 243, 245, 246, 247, 341, 342, 363, 364 adnabod 10, 13, 15, 91, 93, 99–100, 109–117, 114, 144–146, 272, 344, 351 A-event 196, 362 agency 188, 191–192, 259, 290, 297, 345–346 agreement 10, 11, 350, 361–362 agreement clitics 5 Aktionsart (see also aspect, situational) 352, 363 Allan 29, 36, 64, 362 Allwood 64 am 304, 314, 316–317, 320–322, 340 Anderson 65, 64 answer words 149, 150–151, 154– 155, 195–196 antecedent 62 anterior time xi, 213, 216–217, 218, 225, 226, 227, 228, 230, 236, 237, 240, 245, 246, 314, 316, 333, 342, 363 anticipated verification 47 future-time 43–44 past-time 45 anticipation 52

Antinucci 201 aorist 10, 121 apodosis 62 approval of addressee (see also sanction) 195–196 ar 304, 314, 315, 336–339, 340 ar fin 304, 314, 315, 318–320, 337, 339 ar ganol 304, 314, 315, 318–320, 339 ar hanner 304, 314, 315, 318–320, 339 ar ôl 178, 306 Aristotle 35, 56 aspect x, 1, 20, 77, 304–340 analytic (see aspect, syntactic) inflectional (see also IMPERFECTIVE and PERFECTIVE) xi 1, 20, 120, 181, 202–210, 341, 342, 344 markers 20–24, 212, 248 (see also wedi and yn) periphrastic (see aspect, syntactic) prospective 55 situational (see also Aktionsart) 20, 363 syntactic xi, 1, 20–24, 122 synthetic (see aspect, inflectional) assimilation 307–308 atelic 203, 205, 206, 315, 363 Austin 195 Awbery xvi, 351 ba- 70–71 Bach 352 Ball 1, 308 basic meanings 362

Index Basque 352 Bennet 257, 50 B-event 196 binary choices 158–159, 161, 165, 166, 167, 168 Binnick ix, 20, 35, 56, 88, 352, 354, 363 Blakemore 52 blasu 272 blino 149 bod x, 10, 13, 14, 16–17, 18, 19, 23– 24, 26–88, 92, 93, 97, 100, 118–119, 121, 128, 134–141, 152–153, 155, 156, 161, 168– 170, 176, 189–190, 198–200, 217, 218, 240, 246, 248–249, 329–333, 341, 344, 345, 347, 348, 360 bod compounds 15, 18 bod-clause 152, 160–161, 171–179, 239 bodlon 190–191 boiti 345, 366, 367 Borsley 5–7, 23, 171, 172, 173, 174, 305, 311, 326, 330, 345, 349, 351 bounded 126–146, 155, 208, 209, 276 bron 304, 314, 315, 317, 322–329, 340, 345, 366, 367 bron â 325–326 bron â bod 327–329 bwriadu 40–41 Bybee 355 byth 149–150, 361 byw 272 cael 9, 12, 13, 92, 100, 112–114, 244, 272, 350 calculations 36, 40, 84 canfod 15 Cann 29, 50, 52, 61 Carnie 23 categorization 305–311, 336

379

cerdded 15, 19 change 181, 206–208, 211, 344 characteristic activity 187, 191–192, 211 Chierchia 51 Chomsky 349 circumspection 40, 85, 353 clywed 111, 114 Coates 362 cocsio 200–201 coelio 112–113, 272, 357 Collins 62 command 194–195, 211 competence 59, 142–143 complement clauses 2–3, 6–7, 170– 177, 240–242, 343 complementation 311–313, 314, 318–319, 321 completion 181, 202–206, 211, 344 complex tense 212, 344 compound tense patterns (see also progressive and perfect) 20– 21, 23, 27, 90, 92, 93–94, 97, 102, 112, 116–117, 118, 134– 141, 142, 168, 212, 217–240, 244, 248, 342, 345, 349, 359– 360 perfect 248, 262–263, 264–265, 271, 280–284, 289, 294, 299– 300 non-perfect 248, 261–262, 264, 268–280, 288–289, 292–293, 295, 298–299, 301–302, 343 Comrie ix, xi, 20, 28, 30, 36, 37, 61, 62, 88, 121, 125–130, 132, 133, 135, 143, 148, 181, 184, 192, 197, 199, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 237, 238, 258, 259, 270, 290, 295, 302, 308, 342, 345, 352, 355, 361, 362, 363 concurrent situation x, 29–35, 47– 52, 93, 131, 228, 341, 343 conditional 355 conditional clauses 19, 62, 70–72, 73

380

Index

confirmations 204–205, 206–207 conjugations (see paradigms) conjunctions in conditional clauses 70 conjunctive pronoun 8 consequent 62 constraints 343 adjunct clause 178, 343 combinatorial on inflectional meanings 161–168 copular-perfective-progressive 291, 301, 343 habitual forms 343 in complement clauses 170–177 lexical 13–17, 168–169 morphological 168, 169–170 non-progressive gap 298, 301, 343 on inflections x on tense xi on the progressive xi past tense 162–164, 343 perfective-complement-clause 171, 173, 343 perfective-imperfective 166, 343 perfective-perfect 148, 155, 218, 244 perfective-progressive 138, 155, 275–276, 277, 291, 301, 343 present and imperfective 171, 173, 343 stylistic 1, 17–19 context-dependent meanings 124, 130, 181, 265, 362 context-independent meanings xi, 124, 181, 344, 362 contextual effects xi, 40, 124, 184, 215, 341 contingency 297 contingent situation 270–271 contingent states 290, 291 continuation 126, 181, 206–208, 211, 344 continuative situations 232–234, 237

continuousness 126, 131, 257, 315– 316 contraction 72, 84–85, 107, 203–207 contrafactive 355 control 36, 66 control predicate 6 Copley 36, 352, 354 copular predicates and sentences 27, 134–141, 152–153, 189–190, 192, 272, 285–292, 294, 295, 297, 299, 331, 343, 345, 365 COUNTERFACTUAL x, 18, 19, 62–73, 86–87, 91, 103, 161–165, 168, 169–170, 186, 196–202, 221, 232, 239, 244–245, 246, 249– 250, 253–256, 341, 342, 343, 347, 355, 361 counterfactual conditionals 63–65 credu 112–113, 272, 357 current relevance 213–215, 217, 236, 342, 344 current signs 81–82, 362 cydnabod 15 cyfarfod 15 cyn 178, 225–226 cynnwys 272 D’hulst 72 dacw 353 Dahl ix, 20, 64, 88, 184, 238, 258, 361, 362, 363, 363, 366 Danish 238 darfod 9, 15, 358 ddaru 123, 176, 248, 358 de la Touche 35 deall 272 Declerck 28, 67 deduction 53 definite past tense 10, 121 deictic periods of time 28, 47, 217, 342 deixis, temporal 27–29 dialectology 344 disgwyl 40–41

Index dispositional 354 distant 315–316 dod 10, 13, 15, 92 Downing 365 Dowty 20, 36, 37, 353 duration 126 limited 269 durative 154, 257–303, 343 durative view 126, 134, 314, 343 Dutch 38, 201, 237 dychmygu 272 dylai 9, 100, 106–107, 183, 244, 272 dyma 39, 353 dyna 353 dynamic 128–129, 134–135, 138– 139, 141, 142–143, 155, 188, 205–206, 258, 260–271, 288– 290, 292, 294, 295, 296, 301– 302, 343 edrych 272 efallai 183, 356 eisiau 313, 316–317, 321–322 eisoes 227 elision 72 Ellis ix, 181 encliticization 308–310 encompassing 152–154, 209, 225, 298–299, 344 English 20, 70, 72, 77, 99–100, 102, 121, 123, 125, 201, 230, 238, 266, 267, 268, 269, 296–297, 301, 302, 312, 352, 353, 355, 362, 363, 367 er 178, 179, 354 erbyn 226 ergative 149, 188 erioed 149–150, 154–155 ers 226–227, 354 esgus 200–201 evaluation time xi, 50–52, 79, 88, 158–161, 162, 188, 219–223, 341, 342 Evans 352

381

events 29, 188–190 eventualities 352 evidential tense 354 existential meaning 113–114 extensions of basic meanings xi, 181, 341, 344, 362 external view 126–146, 155, 210 factive 355 FACTUAL x, 62, 68, 161–165, 341, 355 factual assumptions 52, 53, 184–185 factuality x, 26, 62–73, 103–107, 161–165, 341 false statements 63–68 fe 349 Fife ix, 9, 18, 69, 92, 102, 130, 181, 182, 184, 295–296, 298, 304, 307, 310, 311, 318, 349, 351, 361, 362, 363, 366, 367 Fillmore 28 finite clauses 2–5 finite verb forms in conditional clauses 70 Finnish 37, 352 focussing particles 5, 358 formal Welsh ix, 10, 17–19, 103, 110–111, 115, 118, 128, 131– 132, 170, 172, 178, 202, 227, 305, 307–308, 345, 358 forms and meanings 10–13 French 20, 70, 72, 77, 125, 201, 237, 302, 353 fronting 4–5, 174–175 futurate 35–39, 53, 184, 222–223, 315, 352, 354 past 41–42 FUTURE tense 26–62, 66–67, 68, 75, 77–79, 91, 94–96, 98–100, 103, 157–161, 168, 169–170, 182–187, 219–220, 227, 229– 231, 239, 247, 249–250, 298, 341, 342, 345, 347, 354, 362 future time 28, 32–33

382

Index

Future-Form(s) 10–13, 26, 88, 30, 74–77, 90–91, 94, 101, 103, 110–114, 169–170, 181, 183– 196, 345, 347, 348 future-in-the-future 361 future-in-the-past situation 31–32 FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST tense 18, 29–62, 72–73, 77–79, 91, 97–99, 100, 102–103, 120, 157–161, 168, 169–170, 186, 219–220, 227, 231–232, 249–250, 253–254, 257, 298, 341, 342, 347, 362 future-time situations 39–42, 182– 187 future-time situations, spontaneous 38 Fynes-Clinton ix, 109, 114, 325, 335, 359 gallu 9, 60, 100, 183, 244, 272 gan 178 gaps 168 non-progressive 249–253, 266– 268, 297–298 general truths 187, 192–193 Gensler 311, 349 German 37, 38–39, 237, 354 Giorgi ix, 51, 58, 64, 66, 68, 237, 238, 363 gnomic 57 gobeithio 272 Goodman 37 gorfod 15 Greek 148, 352 Greenbaum (see Quirk et al.) Grice 362 guarantee 194–195, 211 Guéron ix gweld 92, 111, 114, 357 gwneud 9, 10, 13, 15, 18, 19, 91–92, 111–112, 121–124, 145–146, 151, 176, 187–192, 197, 248, 345–346, 347, 356, 365

gwybod 10, 13, 14, 15, 18, 91, 93, 99–100, 109–117, 138, 144– 146, 155, 175–176, 250–251, 272, 344, 351, 360 habitual x, xi, 26, 54, 56, 57–58, 60– 61, 74–77, 107–108, 131–132, 138–141, 142, 143–144, 149– 150, 155, 165–166, 191–192, 258, 259, 260, 268–271, 276, 277–288, 291, 294, 295–296, 297, 301–302, 315, 341, 342, 343, 345, 355, 363, 365 Hall 62 Hamm 183, 257, 352, 364, 355, 356, 363 hanfod 15 haru 359 Hatton 308 heb 304, 314, 316, 317, 326, 333, 340, 345 hen 335–336 Hendrick 305, 351 historic present 29, 39 history of aspect 345 history of finite verb inflections 345 hoffi 198, 272 Hoffman 363 holistic view 125–146, 155 homophonous forms 163 hopes 199 Hornstein ix, 37, 230, 362 Huddleston 64, 130, 363, 365 hwyrach 185, 356 i 7, 329–333, 340, 361–362, 367 i fod i 40–41, 329–333, 340, 367 Icelandic 237 i-clause 5–7, 23, 171–179, 321, 326, 340 ie 196 imminence 315–316, 337 Imperfect/Pluperfect-Form(s) 18, 27, 31, 42, 44, 45, 62, 70, 71, 72,

Index 88, 90–91, 97, 102–107, 120, 161, 169–170, 181, 187–193, 196–198, 221, 245–246, 347 Imperfect-Consuetudinal-Form(s) 13-14, 16, 18, 26, 31, 62, 88, 74–77, 120, 165–166, 169– 170, 342, 347, 348 Imperfect-Form(s) 10–14, 18, 20, 26, 27, 30, 71, 88, 90–91, 96– 97, 114, 116, 120–156, 169– 170, 190–191, 198–200, 201– 202, 342, 347, 348 IMPERFECTIVE (see also PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE) x, 91, 120-156, 166–167, 199, 202–210, 258, 297, 302, 342, 355, 359, 360– 361 Imperfect-Subjunctive-Form(s) 1314, 16, 18–19, 70, 90–91, 347 impersonal 11–12, 17, 18 implications 40, 130, 215, 317, 181, 362 in progress 126, 257 inception 206, 315 inchoatives 355 incomplete (see completion) inference 130, 215 inferential tense 354 infinitival clause 349 infinitive 5 inflectional system 157–180 inflections, finite verbs ix, x, xi, 1, 10–19, 26–77, 341 prepositions 310–311 informal Welsh ix, x, 1, 10, 17–19 instantiation 256, 277 instructions 61–62 intention 37, 80–81, 356, 362 interchangeability (see also preferences) 253–257 internal temporal constituency 126– 129 internal view 126–146, 155, 209, 210

383

Ippolito 353 irrealis 69 Italian 20, 70, 125, 201, 258, 297, 302, 353 iterative 149–150 Jaszczolt 363 Jespersen 188 jocan 200–201 Jocić 352 Jones, B. M. 18, 174, 201, 326, 353, 361, 362, 367 Jones, G. E. xvi, 109, 114 Jones, M. ix, 9, 18, 102, 150, 181, 182, 238, 349, 351, 363 Jones, R. M. ix judgements x jyst 345, 366, 367 Kaper 201 Kathman 349 Kearns 36, 352, 363 King 203, 351 Kiparsky, C. 355 Kiparsky, P. 355 Klein ix, 30, 37, 54–56, 212, 239, 359, 363 Labov 196 Lakoff 36 Lambalgen 183, 257, 352, 354, 355, 356, 363 Latin 361 le Poidevin 352 Lecarme ix Leech (see also Quirk et al.) 37 Lewis 64 licio 198, 272 likelihood 106, 183 linguistic input 53 llifo 272 Locke 365 Lodge 201 Ludlow 352

384

Index

Lyons 27, 28, 29, 30, 58, 60, 64, 68, 88, 130, 184, 258, 259, 263, 295, 302, 355, 362, 363, 365 main clause 62 Mandarin 352 Margi 363 marw 360 matrix clauses 62, 70–72 McCawley 214, 215 McConnell-Ginet 51 medde 358 meddwl 40–41, 272 medru 9, 60, 100, 244, 272 memory 52 methu 326 mi 349 Miege 35 Miller 201 modal meanings 361 modality 182–187 deontic 192, 185 epistemic 43, 105–106, 181, 182–187, 246, 344, 367 root 102–106, 182, 246 mood 17, 170–177, 343 Morgan 309 Morris-Jones ix, 36, 131, 350, 351, 353 Müller 1, 308 multi-functional analysis 47, 67 multiple stems 13–14 mutations 1–2, 3–4, 307–308 mynd x, 10, 13, 15, 92, 355 mynd i 26, 40–41, 77–87, 147, 341, 344 nacau 190–191 nage 196 narration 181, 208–209, 211, 344 narrative tense 131 necessity 183 negation 3–4, 170–177, 343

neutral view 295–296, 298, 304, 314, 316 newydd 333, 340, 345 non-concurrent situation x, 35–51, 93, 98–100, 131, 146–147, 222–223, 228, 247, 341, 354 non-continuative situation 233, 234– 239 non-durative view 126, 134, 257– 303, 343 non-factive 355 non-finite clauses 5–7, 20, 21–22, 23, 25, 212, 240–243, 245, 248, 264–265, 271, 280–284, 289, 290, 294, 299–300, 342, 349 non-habitual 134–136, 142–143, 155, 258, 259, 260–268, 273– 277, 280–288, 294, 295, 301– 302, 345 non-modal 183 non-past tense 162, 183 non-perfect 20–24, 222–227, 233, 235, 237, 240–243 non-progressive 20–24, 87, 121– 122, 132–134, 137–138, 197, 225, 248–303, 343 non-progressive trend 294, 297, 301, 343 non-stative (see also dynamic) 258, 345 non-subsequent situations 44–45 Norwegian 238, 354 object 2 objectivity 52, 263 obligation 106, 185, 263, 329 observation 52 offer 194–195, 211 ofni 272 oglau 272 oherwydd 178 omnitemporal 57 order-of-mention 33–34

Index orthography (see also spellings) xv os 71–72, 73, 175 Ouhalla 305 Owen 309 Pagliuca 355 pallu 190–191 Palmer 39, 187, 188, 215–216, 217, 238, 362, 365 pan clauses 95–96, 149, 152–154, 177, 209, 224–225, 298–299 paradigms of finite verbs 10–19 parod 191, 227 Partee 33, 34, 50, 257 participant property 61–62, 215, 362 participles 5, 20, 367 partitive view 125–146, 155 passive 11–12, 350 PAST tense 29–62, 68, 120, 157–161, 199, 247, 354 PAST tense HABITUAL 74–77, 120, 169–170, 347 PAST tense IMPERFECTIVE 19, 30–47, 73, 76, 77–79, 96–97, 101, 102–103, 114, 121, 160, 168, 169–170, 171, 172, 173–174, 182, 199, 201, 220–221, 222, 227, 228–229, 239, 244–246, 249–252, 253, 254–256, 257, 298, 341, 343, 345, 347 PAST tense PERFECTIVE 86, 91, 121, 171, 172, 173–174, 218, 228, 235, 244, 249–252, 257, 273, 275–276, 298, 326–327, 341, 343–345, 347, 360–361 past time 28, 32–33 past-time situations 45–47 Paul 62 pe 71–72, 73 peidio 322, 326 perception 52–53 perfect aspect (see also compound tense patterns) ix, xi, 10, 20– 24, 46–47, 55, 69, 73, 97,

385

105–106, 121, 148–149, 154– 155, 158, 162, 173, 186, 212– 247, 252–253, 302–303, 304– 306, 311–313, 341, 342, 344, 353, 360–361 existential 214, 236 experiential 213–214, 236 hot news 214, 236 persistent situation 213–214, 232 recent past 213–214, 236 result 213–214 stative 214 universal 214 perfect past 10 perfect period of time 215–216, 217 PERFECTIVE (see also PAST tense PERFECTIVE) x, 120–156, 166–167, 202–210, 291, 342, 343, 359 performance 59, 142–143 performatives 195 periphrastic patterns 9, 20–21, 23, 91–92, 101–102, 116, 123– 124, 145–146, 212, 244–246, 248, 263, 264–265, 271, 284– 285, 289, 294, 299–300, 342, 349, 352, 356, 364 Perkins 355 permission 246, 350 persistent-past situation 46 personal 17 perthyn 272 peta- 13, 70–71 physical possibility 263, 356 Pianesi ix, 51, 58, 64, 66, 68, 237, 238, 363 plans 36, 40, 354 PLUPERFECT tense 96–97 Pluperfect-Form(s) 10–13, 18, 26, 31, 62, 71, 72, 76–77, 88, 90– 91, 96–97, 347, 348 poeni 272 politeness (see also tentativity) 181, 196–200, 211, 344 Portuguese 72, 126

386

Index

possibility 183, 185, 246, 356 possible worlds 63–68 posterior time 363 potentially real situations 65–68, 197–198 power 187–191, 211, 265, 362 pragmatics x, 33, 34, 217, 243, 246, 341, 342 predetermination 47, 53, 80 future situations 36–37 past situations 54 predicate 8 prediction 183 preferences (see also interchangeability) 253–257 prepositional expressions 318–319, 340 PRESENT tense 26–62, 68, 74–75, 77– 79, 91, 93, 94, 95–96, 101– 102, 103, 110–114, 151–152, 157–161, 168, 169–170, 171, 173, 182, 184, 199, 200–201, 220–221, 222, 227–218, 232– 239, 244–245, 247, 249–250, 253, 254–256, 266, 298, 341, 345, 345, 347, 352, 354, 356 PRESENT tense HABITUAL 74–77, 169– 170, 347 present time 28 extended 56–62 Present-Form(s) 10–13, 18, 26, 30, 35–36, 88, 90–91, 93, 109– 110, 169–170, 183, 190–191, 342, 347, 348, 10–13, 18 present-time situations 39–44, 57– 62, 182–187, 266–268 pretence 181 pretend present 200–202, 211, 344 Preterite-Form(s) 10–13, 20, 26, 27, 88, 90–91, 120–156, 347, 348, 360 preverbal particles 2, 3–5, 170–171, 174, 175, 349 principal clause 62

Prior 50 probability 183, 211 processes 29, 259, 263, 268, 294, 365 progressive aspect (see also compound tense patterns) ix, xi, 20–24, 87, 121–122, 126–129, 132–135, 136–137, 138–139, 140–141, 153, 189, 197, 225, 248–303, 304, 307–313, 341, 342–343, 344, 345, 363, 364, 366 progressive trend 294, 295, 297, 301, 343 promise 194–195, 211 protasis 62 Provençal 72 proximate 315–316, 64, 130, 363, 366 Pullum 64, 130, 363, 365 punctual 154, 209, 258, 260, 264– 268, 277, 294, 298, 326, 343 Quecha 366 Quirk et al. 216, 218, 219, 365 Radford 23, 349 raising predicates 6, 330, 340 real situations 68 realis 69 reference time 157 for perfect xi, 213, 217–228, 246, 342 for tense xi, 31, 35, 158–161, 162, 219–223, 341 regulations 61–62 Reichenbach 27, 29, 157–158, 216, 217, 246–247 relative periods of time 29, 217, 342 remote past 181, 209–210, 211 remoteness 344 reported speech 149, 151–152, 160 request 194–195, 211

Index responsives (see also answer words) 362 results 237, 342 retrospective view xi, 213, 216–217, 218, 225, 226, 227, 228, 230, 236, 237, 240, 245, 246, 314, 316, 333, 342 rhaid 183 rhedeg 272 rhewi 149 Richards 353 Roberts 171 Romance languages 72, 312 Rouveret 351 Rowland 25, 30 Rowlands ix, 148, 154 rules 61–62 Russian 121, 125, 302, 352 Sadler 351 Saeed 363 sanction of addressee (see also approval) 195–196, 211 scene-setting 181, 208–209, 211, 344 schedules 36, 40 Searle 195 secondary meanings 362 sefyll 272 semelfactive 264, 363 sentential syntax x, 1–9 sequence of events 33–34 sgwn i 357 simultaneous 153–154, 209, 225, 298–299, 344 situation 30 situation time 54–56, 88, 157, 228– 240, 359, 363 situations, types xi, 188, 257, 258– 260, 343 small clauses 8, 20, 22–23, 212, 240–242, 248, 252–253, 263, 267, 298, 342, 349

387

Smith, C. S. ix, xi, 20, 61, 125–130, 132, 133, 135, 143, 203–204, 214–215, 218, 258, 263, 290, 302, 342, 362, 363, 365, 367 Smith, Q. 352 sociolinguistics 344 sources of information 52–54 Spanish 20, 38–39, 70, 72, 78, 121, 125, 126–127, 237, 258, 297, 302, 352, 360 specialized habitual forms 268, 342, 343, 355 speech acts 181, 193–196, 344 spelling xv, 350 Sperber 52 Stalnaker 64 stative xi, 57, 60, 128–129, 135–137, 139–141, 142, 143–144, 155, 156, 205–206, 258, 260, 272– 293, 285–288, 290, 292, 294, 295–296, 297, 301–302, 343, 345, 365, 366 stem change 10, 11 Stowell 102, 105, 186, 240, 349 subject 2, 8, 9 animate 362 expletive 330 inanimate 362 subjectivity 52, 53, 68, 129, 263 subject-oriented meanings 181, 187– 193, 344 subjunctive conditionals 65–68 subsequence 315–316 subsequent situations 77–87 succeeding 153–154, 209, 225, 298– 299, 344 suffixes finite verbs 10–19 infinitival 5 suppletion 10 Svartvik (see Quirk et al.) Swedish 238, 354, 363 Sweet ix swnio 272

388

Index

syntactic contexts 212, 248, 343 syntax of inflections 344 syntax of perfect 344 syntax of progressive 344 Tallerman 5–7, 23, 171, 172, 173, 305, 330, 345, 349, 351 taw 358 teimlo 272 telic 203–204, 205, 315, 317 tense x, xi, 17, 26, 27–62, 77, 85–86, 155, 157–161, 162–165, 212, 217–223, 228–240, 302–303, 341, 342, 343, 344, 345 and aspect 24–25,121 and IMPERFECTIVE 129 and perfect 164–165, 212 and PERFECTIVE 129 and time 27–29 as a logical operator 50 compositional analysis 157–161 compound 24–25 temporal features 158–159, 219– 223 standard theory of tense 30, 54, 29, 149, 256, 365 system xi, 158–159, 162–164 traditional system 157–158 tentativity (see also politeness) 181, 196–200, 211, 344 termination 126, 315 Thieroff 352 Thomas, A. R. ix, 9, 102, 182, 238, 349, 351, 363 Thomas, Beth 19 Thomas, P. W. ix, xvi, 19, 25, 30, 39, 41, 181, 198, 213, 304, 319, 335, 350, 351 Thompson ix, 20, 29, 219, 224, 352, 363 Thorne ix, 25, 304, 350, 351, 367 threat 194–195, 211 time of speaking 27–29, 54–55, 157 timeless 57

time-of-evaluation analysis x, 47–56, 58–62, 182, 186, 228–240, 247 time-of-situation analysis x, 29–35, 52, 58–62, 182, 228–240 topic time 54–56, 359, 363 traditional taxonomy 17 Turkish 352, 354 unbounded 126–146, 155, 205, 208, 276 unfulfilment 84–85 unitary situations 60–61, 258, 268, 364 unreal situations 63–65, 197 utterance time (see time of speaking) Vendler 20, 363 verb classes 121, 168, 173, 175–177, 343 morphological 19 semantic 19 verbnoun 349 verbs auxiliary (see also gwneud, ddaru, bod, and modal verbs) 9, 20 defective 15 finite 2 irregular 15 lexical x, 18, 19, 93–100, 103– 108, 110–114, 121–123, 128, 131–134, 144–146, 153–154, 155, 161, 168–170, 176, 187– 193, 249–257, 266, 272–285, 293, 294, 298, 345, 347 modal x, 9, 19, 90–91, 100–108, 121–123, 142–144, 155, 156, 161, 168–170, 175–176, 205, 244–246, 249–257, 263, 272, 276–277, 279–285, 293, 294, 298, 345, 347, 350, 352, 359– 360, 363 regular 15

Index simple finite 9, 91–92, 168, 248– 303, 298, 345 Vetter 36 Vietnamese 352 voice (see also passive) 17 VSO 2–4 wants 199 Warnant 201 warning 194–195, 211 Watkins 115, 202 wedi 20–24, 212–247, 304–306, 311–313, 319–320, 324–325, 331, 335, 337–338, 340, 366 preposition 305 Williams ix, 131, 350, 351 willingness 187–191, 211, 265, 362 Willis, D. 5–7, 23, 171, 172, 173,

389

305, 330, 345, 349, 351 Willis, P. 311, 349 Wilson 52 word order 170–177, 343 wrth 178 ymhell o 304, 314, 315, 318–320, 340 yn 20–24, 248–303, 304, 307–313, 331, 333, 337–338, 366 adverbial 366 predicatival 366 prepositional 307, 366 yn ôl 309 Yoruba 352 ysmalio 200–201 Zaring 351