The challenge was originally to provide examples of the past perfect progressive and even to make some up. This has been done ad nauseam (e.g., had been thinking). Mine even added a passive voice to it (had been being used). Now the challenge is to define the past perfect aspect. It is probably not possible to meet this challenge without defining aspect first. I believe that these attempts would have to take semantics into consideration. Many uses of the perfect aspect may be paraphrased, i.e., re-worded, so as to appear without it. The style produced often seems more lively but also seems to require the use of certain verbs (that contain aspect) or additional adverbs of time to set the times of the situations depicted relative to each other. Is it possible to find a definition of aspect that includes such constructions? For me the progressive aspect makes reference to a time period, whereas the perfect aspect makes reference to time before, which may be a point or a period. The verbs that get along without marking aspect would imply a period (progressive) or a previous time (perfect). It seems that predicates whose verb phrase can be temporally limited or relativized by adverbs would not need to be explicitly marked on the auxiliary for aspect. (Each time I replied to Brad before, it seems the number of subscribers to the listserve had been growing smaller, but this time it was the same. It may be that more interesting material has kept activity up.)
Eduard is peevish because I asked him, after a number of pleasant and interesting exchanges, to define the past perfect. He can't do it. He doesn't know what it is. That makes him cross. (If you can do it, Eduard, do it. Don't rant at me. Just do it.)
I then asked him to ask each person in one of his classes to send me a definition, without him explaining what it is. I don't want to read 30 variations on what he tells them. Make it open book. Let them look it up if they want.
He won't do that either, so he sends out a spleen-gram, and he drops Quirk's name as a smoke screen but Quirk won't help him. How's that for a definitive statement? Quirk won't help.
Please prove me wrong, Eduard. Maybe the others will help you. Who has Quirk handy?
.brad.23dec10.
From: Eduard Hanganu <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Wed, December 22, 2010 7:41:35 AM
Subject: Re: Bruce Despain, Mastering the Challenge
Brad,
This is my example:
"I HAD BEEN READING [ Past Perfect Tense Progressive Aspect] your rumblings for too long before I DECIDED [ Absolute Simple Past Tense ] that they were not worth my time."
This is a proper use of the Progressive Past Perfect Tense (Aspect) and of the (Absolute) Simple Past Tense on the time axis. See Quirk et al. in "A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language," and Comrie in "Aspect."
Eduard
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/