I am interested in this reference to _English Syntax_ by Kathleen Ward a
couple days ago. I wonder to what extent Berk's discussion of the range
of meanings for the perfect aspect are informed by corpus studies. A few
years ago, I heard a wonderful presentation by Marianne Celce-Murcia in
which she used the perfect aspect as an example and talked about how her
own advice to teachers had changed based on actual usages of this form
that corpus studies had revealed.
I use Graeme Kennedy's _Structure and Meaning in English_ in my
college-level grammar course. Surprisingly, Kennedy, whose consistently
provides information derived from corpus studies, has a table on "most
frequent uses of perfect aspect forms" (5.16 on p. 217) based on a work by
H.V. George published in 1963!! In that study, the two usages that make
up the majority of occurances are "past narrative" ["Before I could move,
he had reached the door."] (28%) and "present result" ["She has bought a
new car."] (23%). Who knows, however, what kind of a database George was
using, how large it was, etc.
Interestingly, two of the perfect usages most emphasized in ESL grammar
textbooks are for "continuity" ["I have lived her since 1970."] and
"experience" ["I have never tasted caviar."]--and these make up only 6%
each of the the occurances in George's data. I suppose we find them easier
to teach because of the particular grammatical structures involved--e.g.
the clause with "since...."
Is anyone aware of more recent corpus studies relating to the use of
perfect aspect?
Kathleen M. Ward wrote:
> I have always liked Lynn Berk's "take" on the present perfect, as put
forth in _English Syntax_. I have used it shamelessly when I teach the
grammar course. She describes the various uses of the perfect:
>
> 1. An action or series of action began in the past and continues to (or
through) the present moment.
>
> Horatia has developed many new uses for parsnips. (she's done it in
> the past and may continue to do so.)
>
> 2. An event is technically over but has "current relevance."
>
> Horatia has dropped the pan of parsnips. (and they are all over the
> floor)
>
> I think this would cover the "Sir, I've finished" usage
>
> 3. The "experiential perfect" in which the subject has had (or has
not had) an experience in the past that leads up to the present,
especially in questions in negatives.
>
> I haven't tried Horatia's parsnip preserves.
>
> 4. The "hot news" perfect, often with an exclamation mark, or in
headlines. This has to be something in the very recent past.
>
> Horatia has been fired!
>
> This might also apply to the "Sir, I've finished" usage--I suppose
> depending on the tone of voice.
>
> I have always found _English Syntax_ very good as a reference for uses
of various forms; as a textbook it's more problematic.
>
> Kathleen Ward
> UC Davis
>
>
>
> On Sep 18, 2007, at 6:10 AM, Ronald Sheen wrote:
>
>> Scott writes:
>>
>> Unless the linguist's assumption is that the speaker are not using
these past /perfect tense
>> expressions consciously. I would teach present perfect as indicating
continuing or repeated or incomplete action..
>>
>> But how about 'Sir, I've finished.'?
>>
>> and
>>
>> how about the essential semantic feature of 'relevance to the
>> present moment' as in the above and which explains the difference
between the simple past in 'When I was a boy, I visited.France, Germany
and Spain.' and the present perfect in 'So far, I have
>> visited France, Germany and Spain.'
>>
>> I'll explore this issue more when I give a summary of the responses to
my 20 sentences.
>>
>> Ron Sheen
>>
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R. Michael Medley, Ph.D.
Director Intensive English Program
Eastern Mennonite University
1200 Park Road Harrisonburg, VA 22802
Ph: 540-432-4051 Fax: 540-432-4444
************************************
"Understanding and shared meaning, when it occurs, is a small miracle,
brought about by the leap of faith that we call 'communication across
cultures.'" --Claire Kramsch
R. Michael Medley, Ph.D.
Director Intensive English Program
Eastern Mennonite University
1200 Park Road Harrisonburg, VA 22802
Ph: 540-432-4051 Fax: 540-432-4444
************************************
"Understanding and shared meaning, when it occurs, is a small miracle,
brought about by the leap of faith that we call 'communication across
cultures.'" --Claire Kramsch
To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"
Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
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