II. Temporal relations in a pre-present domain 483 For a couple of days it’s been public knowledge that the general manager is going to Peru at the end of the month. The fear has been that the introduction of the passes will further dissuade French film-goers from going to small cinemas. (www) 9.12 Temporal subordination after a continuative perfect It was noted in 9.11.1 that a pre-present domain established by a ‘continuative perfect’ cannot normally be expanded (as if it were a past domain) because the full situation is taken to include t 0 . If a new clause is to be temporally subordi- nated to such a clause, the T-relation expressed by the tense form of the new clause must normally start from t 0 . This is because t 0 is the most basic time in the tense system, and because it is difficult for the speaker to be concerned at the same time with the present part of the full situation and a part of it which is treated as over. (Expanding a pre-present domain as if it were a past one implies that the speaker treats the binding time as completely over.) Still, we have found some examples that form an exception to this rule. It is typical of them that the head clause situation is each time a repetitive hypersituation, consisting of a number of subsituations and gaps between them: I’ve been told from childhood that I was a bastard. (continuative interpretation of the head clause; no instance of telling need include t 0 : what actualizes at t 0 may be a gap) For years now, Tunica County officials have been saying they would provide amenit- ies to make Tunica a destination, rather than just a weekend getaway. (www) They have been saying they would tear all this trash down for almost ten years. [I will be happy when it finally disappears.] (www) In these examples the fact that nearly all the subsituations of the continuative hypersituation precede t 0 apparently renders it possible to treat the hypersitua- tion as if it were a past situation. There are also examples with have known in the head clause, in which case the head clause situation is not a repetitive hypersituation. In that case tempo- ral subordination means that there is a (not necessarily very important) focus on the part of the situation that precedes t 0 . Thus in the first example below, the speaker’s choice of past tense might be influenced by a desire to make it clear that he is not ‘behind the times’, i. e. that not only is he aware that George Michael is gay, but he has been aware of it for as long as most people. 7 7. Another possibility is that in cases like these the choice of the past tense over the present tense might just be random, given how little difference there often seems to be between the two in interpretive effects. 484 9. Temporal subordination in the various time-zones [I watched Oprah today and George Michael was on there and I enjoyed his in- terview.] I have known for some time that he was gay [but you know he is still sexy]. (www) (T-simultaneity) I have known for some time that she was in great pain, [but unfortunately the only thing I could and can do is pray that God reveals his plan for her.] (www) (T- simultaneity) I have known for some time that she would not last long, [but the news that she has died still comes as a shock]. (T-posteriority) [We plan to place a culvert and put dirt and plant grass over it.] We have known from the beginning that we would need to add fill dirt to bring the lot up. (www) (T-posteriority) [The loss has been very depressing.] Though we have known for some time that things had taken a turn for the worse, it is still hard to believe he is gone. (www) (T-anteriority) Williams and BMW have known since the end of July that Montoya had signed to drive for McLaren in 2005. (www) (T-anteriority) 9.13 Pre-present domains and use of tenses: summary The following chart summarizes the main findings of Part II (ϭ sections 9.8Ϫ12): Kind of W-interpretation Temporal subordination Shift of domain (ϭ shift of perspective to past zone) indefinite possible on a non-recency reading possible up-to-now possible possible continuative only very exceptionally possible as a rule obligatory III. Present domains 485 III. Present domains 9.14 Head clauses referring to a nonrepetitive present situation Expressing a temporal relation to the time of a nonrepetitive situation located in the present zone is tantamount to relating a situation time to t 0 . Since expressing a tempo- ral relation to t 0 is done by means of an absolute tense form, this means that a new domain is created, i. e. that there is a shift of domain. In other words, temporal subordi- nation to a present situation time by means of a relative tense form is not possible. 9.14.1 A situation that is to be temporally related to a present situation time is, effectively, temporally related to t 0 . That is, a T-relation to a present orienta- tion time has to start from t 0 . Logically, however, any T-relation that starts from t 0 is an ‘absolute deictic relation’: any tense form relating its situation time to t 0 is an absolute tense form, which creates a temporal domain of its own. This means that it is not possible to express a T-relation with the central orientation time of a present domain by means of a finite verb form: a present domain cannot be expanded by the use of relative tense forms. 8 In each of the following examples, the subclauses use absolute tense forms, thus shifting the domain: I am just explaining that I {did it last night / have already done it / will do it tomorrow}. Why don’t you admit you {will leave / are leaving / are going to leave} the country next week? You know that I have not been able to do it because I have been too busy. (The two present perfect forms establish two separate pre-present domains, which are pragmatically interpreted as W-simultaneous with each other.) It seems that she is working on a project. I am just saying that I believe that John is lying to us about what he intends to do. In the latter two examples, none of the present tense forms is a relative tense form expressing T-simultaneity. All of them are absolute tense forms, represent- ing their situation time as the central orientation time of a present domain. 8. However, things are different when a nonfinite verb form is used, as in He seems to have been ill. As noted in 2.5, a nonfinite verb form cannot establish a domain; it expresses no more than a single temporal relation with a contextually given orientation time (which is usually the situation time of the head clause or t 0 ). In the above example the perfect infinitive thus expresses anteriority in the present domain. 486 9. Temporal subordination in the various time-zones However, this does not mean that the simultaneity relation which we under- stand there to be between the situation of the subclause and the situation time of the head clause is a question of pragmatic W-interpretation, as it is in When they had visited the house they had been accompanied by a real estate agent (ϭ ‘indirect binding’ Ϫ see 9.29). In He says he is ill simultaneity is expressed linguistically, not by the use of a relative tense in the subclause, but by the use of two absolute tenses which both represent their situation time as coinciding with t 0 . As noted in 2.18.2, two intervals are interpreted as W-simultaneous if they have at least one point in common. This means that (except in the ‘Special Present Time-sphere System Ϫ see 3.2Ϫ11) all the situations referred to in the present tense are taken to be W-simultaneous with each other. In I know he is ill we therefore have W-simultaneity rather than T-simultaneity (which is a domain-internal relation), but this W-simultaneity reading is not caused by contextual or pragmatic factors: it follows from the fact that the two situation times are T-located at the same time. 9.14.2 The question whether the present tense can or cannot express T-simul- taneity in a present domain may seem to be an academic question, since T- simultaneity has been defined in terms of coincidence. Whether we consider is lying in I believe he is lying as a relative tense expressing T-simultaneity or as an absolute tense establishing a new present domain, the temporal structure would each time seem to be the same: the situation time of is lying is T- represented as coinciding with t 0 . However, this is not really the case. If the present tense of is lying is a relative tense expressing T-simultaneity, the tempo- ral structure is such that the situation time of is lying is represented as T- simultaneous with that of believe, whereas if the present tense of is lying is an absolute tense, the temporal structure is such that the situation time of is lying is represented as coinciding with t 0 . The fact that in the latter case the situation time of believe also coincides with t 0 does not alter the fact that the latter case is tense-structurally different from the former, and also differs from it in that in the former (hypothetical) case, where the present tense is a relative tense, the temporal structure explicitly privileges the relationship between believe and is lying, conveying, presumably, something about the semantics of the sentence that the accidental Ϫ albeit unavoidable Ϫ W-simultaneity of the two situations (referred to by absolute present tense forms) does not. As far as we can see, there is no such extra semantic element that would lead us to believe th at the present tense can express a T-relation with a situation time which is located at t 0 . III. Present domains 487 9.15 Head clauses referring to a present repetitive hypersituation Consider: [Whenever he comes here] he talks about what he {did the night before / has been doing that day / has already done for me}. [Each time he talks to me] he says I have a lovely face. [Whenever I meet him] he tells me that he {will never forget my mother’s kindness to him / is leaving to join the Foreign Legion any day now}. It appears from these examples that the situation time of every subsituation (forming part of a repetitive habit that is located at t 0 ) is itself also treated as t 0 (see the discussion of ‘basic orientation time’ in 9.9.11), so that the normal absolute tense forms (present, present perfect, past and future tenses, plus fu- turish forms) are used to express temporal relations with this situation time. 488 9. Temporal subordination in the various time-zones IV. T-relations in a post-present domain A. Definition of ‘post-present domain’ 9.16 What counts as a post-present domain? A post-present domain is a temporal domain whose central orientation time lies in the post-present. Such a domain can be established directly by the use of the future tense or by a futurish (see 2.9.1) verb form (e. g. He’s going to leave; I’m leaving tonight). It may also be established indirectly by construc- tions which do not have a future or futurish tense form but which nevertheless imply future time reference (more specifically, future actualization), such as imperatives or certain verbs whose semantics is future-oriented, like expect or intend, or a temporal conjunction like until. This possibility is illustrated by the following examples. (As we will see in 9.20, the relative tense forms ex- pressing T-simultaneity in a post-present domain are present tense forms. In the examples below, the presence of a form with such an interpretation (leaves) proves that the relevant situation time belongs to a post-present domain.) [Tell him] to arrest the man when he leaves his house. [I expect him] to be arrested when he leaves his house. [Promise me] not to try and stop him when he leaves his house. I am waiting until she leaves. (Leaves expresses T-simultaneity with the orientation time that is implicit in the meaning of until (ϭ ‘until the time that’). This implicit time is taken to be a post-present time because until expresses the W-posteriority relation between the implicit time and t 0 .) B. T-relations in a post-present domain 9.17 Expanding a post-present domain T-relations in a post-present domain are expressed by tenses resulting from a shift of perspective. The speaker treats the post-present central orientation time as if it were t 0 and uses a ‘pseudo-absolute’ tense form to T-relate another situation time to this ‘pseudo-t 0 ’, thus locating it in any of the four possible ‘pseudo-absolute zones’ (e. g. the ‘pseudo-past zone’, the ‘pseudo-pre-present zone’, etc.). The pseudo-absolute tenses are the same as are used to express T-anteriority, T-simultaneity or T-posteriority to the real t 0 , namely the absolute past tense or the present perfect, the present tense and the future tense (or a futurish present tense form), respectively. Thus, in Who will look IV. T-relations in a post-present domain 489 after you when Brad and Sybil have left?, the present perfect form have left expresses T-anteriority to the post-present pseudo-t 0 . The ‘pseudo-absolute subdomains’ created by the pseudo-absolute tenses can be further expanded in exactly the same way as genuine absolute domains can be expanded. 9.17.1 When a post-present domain is expanded, there is a shift of temporal perspective: the central orientation time of the post-present domain is treated as if it were t 0 . This creates all sorts of possibilities, for t 0 is the time from which the four absolute zones are defined. Since the central orientation time of a post-present domain is a ‘ pseudo-t 0 ’, it is a point from which four different pseudo-absolute zones are defined Ϫ see Figure 9.8 Ϫ and the systems of expressing domain-internal T-relations in these pseudo-absolute zones are ex- actly the same as those observed above in connection with the (genuine) abso- lute zones. 9 Figure 9.8. The basic tense structure of an expanded post-present domain. 9.17.2 The shift of perspective turning the post-present central orientation time into a pseudo-t 0 applies recursively. This means that it also applies to any orientation time that is T-simultaneous with, or T-posterior to, the central orientation time or another pseudo-t 0 . This is clear from the use of the itali- cized and underlined forms in the following examples. The italicized present tense forms express T-simultaneity, which means that their binding orientation time is treated as a pseudo-t 0 . The underlined future tense forms or futurish 9. Naturally, this does not mean that a pseudo-absolute present domain (i. e. a post-present domain) can be expanded exactly like a true present domain. In 9.14 it was argued that a genuine present domain cannot be expanded by a relative tense form because its central orientation time coincides with t 0 : any relation starting from t 0 is an ‘absolute relation’ resulting in a shift of domain. By contrast, a post-present domain can be expanded by the use of pseudo-absolute tense forms creating pseudo-absolute subdomains Ϫ see 9.17.3. . under- stand there to be between the situation of the subclause and the situation time of the head clause is a question of pragmatic W-interpretation, as it is in When they had visited the house they. because t 0 is the most basic time in the tense system, and because it is difficult for the speaker to be concerned at the same time with the present part of the full situation and a part of it which is. 483 For a couple of days it’s been public knowledge that the general manager is going to Peru at the end of the month. The fear has been that the introduction of the passes will further dissuade