Abstract
This article presents an account of temporal understanding in Mandarin Chinese. Aspectual, lexical, and adverbial information and pragmatic principles all contribute to the interpretation of temporal location. Aspectual viewpoint and situation type give information in the absence of explicit temporal forms. The main, default pattern of interpretation is deictic. The pragmatic principles are the bounded event constraint, the simplicity principle of interpretation, and the temporal schema principle. Lexical and adverbial information can lead to non-default interpretations. Two other temporal patterns — narrative dynamism and anaphora — appear in text passages that realize the “discourse modes” of narrative and description.
We state the semantic meaning of grammatical forms and explain the deictic pattern. Three times are needed to explain temporal interpretation, following Reichenbach (1947). Mandarin forms code the relation between a designated perspective time, or reference time, and situation time. These are typically marked redundantly in written texts. Relation to speech time is not coded linguistically, but conveyed by context.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
Deictic terms such as ‘later’ or ‘here’ can only be interpreted with reference to a specified time or place.
- 3.
The simple verb form conveys the perfective viewpoint in English. For statives, the perfective viewpoint focuses the entire temporal schema of the state, which does not include endpoints; see Smith (1997 [1991]) for discussion. Thus the interpretation of sentences like Tom feeds the cat is consistent with other statives in English. The shift to a stative situation type arises by coercion, triggered by the bounded event constraint.
There are exceptions, for example, sports-announcer reports and stage directions (Now Jones throws to third base), literary commentary (Here the author creates an interesting metaphor). In these cases, time is telescoped. Note that performatives (I pronounce you husband and wife) are not exceptions: a performative is just that, a performance rather than a report (Austin 1961).
Present tense narratives have another interpretation: they express events that are related to each other, rather than to the moment of speech. See Section 4 for discussion of the temporal pattern of narrative.
- 4.
The present tense doesn’t always express a time in the present, nor does the past tense always express past time. This well-known fact is not relevant to the discussion here.
- 5.
We assume five main situation types (Smith 1997 [1991]). The classification is based on Vendler (1957) with one addition, the semelfactive. States: know the answer, love Jean, be expensive; events: activity—atelic, durative: sing, walk; semelfactive—atelie, instantaneous: cough, flap a wing; accomplishment—telic, durative: build a house, walk to school; achievement—telic, instantaneous: win the race, reach the top.
- 6.
The neutral viewpoint is a default with a positive semantic value. It arises in aspectual systems which allow sentences without an overt viewpoint morpheme. Empirically, the interpretation of zero-marked, aspectually vague sentences can be shown to be neither perfective nor imperfective. Such sentences are more flexible than sentences of either viewpoint, in that they allow both open and closed readings. See Smith (1997 [1991]) for discussion. The range of meanings that is found for zero-marked sentences, and the theory-internal requirement of visibility, suggest that they have a viewpoint that is open but not unlimited.
- 7.
In Reichenbach’s (1947) system, tense conveys information about three times, speech time (SpT), reference time (RT), and event time (our “situation time”); and the relations between them. The semantic meaning of a tense gives the relations between the times. The approach has been modified and formalized for English in the framework of discourse representation theory, or DR theory (Smith 1997 [1991], 2003; Kamp and Reyle 1993).
- 8.
For Klein and his colleagues (1994, 2000), every sentence introduces a topic time, the time about which the assertion of a sentence is made. The notions of topic time and reference time as adduced here, and in Smith (1997 [1991]) are quite similar. The theory of Kamp and Reyle (1993), although based on Reichenbach (1947), takes a slightly different approach.
- 9.
The two have the same truth conditions, yet they differ in conceptual meaning. The notion of reference time explains the difference. Sentences with the past tense are set squarely in the past, for example, Leigh arrived. Reference time and situation time are both past. But present perfect sentences take the perspective of the present: for example, in Leigh has arrived, reference time is present and situation time is past. In some sentences three times are needed to state truth-conditional meaning, for example, the past perfect Leigh had already arrived. The perfect construction has both temporal and aspectual meanings; aspectually perfects are stative.
- 10.
For simplicity, we present constructed examples without temporal adverbs. Under certain circumstances, sentences with -guo may have temporal adverbs, as noted in Smith (1997 [1991]). In the sentence below, mentioned by a reviewer, the past adverb zuotian (‘yesterday’) specifies SitT; here prior to RT = SpT.
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(i)
Zhangsan zuotian daguo majiang.
Zhangsan yesterday da GUO mahjong.
The interpretation is similar to that of a present perfect sentence in English, although English does not allow a past adverb in such contexts.
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(i)
- 11.
We have checked these examples with several other native speakers and find considerable variation. Some speakers accept the three-time reading, especially in the presence of jiu (‘just then, already’); others do not.
- 12.
The editorials we used average about 700 characters each, the articles about 2,000 characters each. The six articles have a total of 7,640 characters, 176 sentences, in 699 clauses.
We coded every clause for situation type (event, state, generalizing-habitual), explicit aspectual viewpoint or RVC, temporal adverbial or other temporal form, modal, and special lexical verb factors, whether within the scope of a preceding temporal adverbial.
We also looked at other sources less intensively. For narrative, we examined five short stories and one novel. For nonfiction, we examined two additional editorials from the Ming Bao Daily News, museum catalogs and travel guides, a book on Hakka culture, and a book of essays on Shanghai life. See sources of text examples above for more precise information.
- 13.
Standard orthography for Hanyu Pinyin romanization prints le as a suffix immediately following the verb, without a hyphen. The exception is when le appears sentence-final, where it is printed as a separate morpheme, after a space (as the homophonous le mood particle also is).
We do not consider prepositional uses of -zhe to be aspect markers (e.g. yanzhe ‘following along,’ bianzhe ‘edging’).
- 14.
There are many studies of verbal le and -guo, too many to cite here. In addition to the traditional accounts, recent work includes Huang (1987), Shi (1990), Mangione and Li (1993), Yeh (1996), Klein et al. (2000). Lin (2003) gives a more complete list, though still partial. Wu (2003) discusses many traditional and current accounts of the aspectual morphemes.
- 15.
Perfective le appears with state verb constellations in ingressives and inchoative clauses. Ingressives focus on the initial endpoint of an event; inchoatives focus on the coming about of a state. They are derived events, arising through a regular process of coercion. There are examples with le in which a situation can be taken as continuing, as Lin (2003) points out. The following is one of Lin’s examples:
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(i)
Ta yang le yi zhi tuji.
He raise LE one CL wild chicken.
He is raising a wild chicken.
We analyze the continuing reading as the result of the ingressive: bounded le focuses the beginning of the activity event. After the beginning, the event continues indefinitely. Note that our account differs from Lin (2003), in that we allow le clauses to express telic events that are not necessarily complete. That is, the bounds need not coincide with the natural final endpoint.
Our account is similar to the characterization of Klein et al. (2000), and of Mangione and Li (1993): “… le marks a specific event time, which is ordered before and closely related to the sentence’s reference time, while -guo provides an existential quantification over times earlier than the clause’s reference time” (Mangione and Li 1993; 68). Thus, events occur just before the topic time indicated by le. This is directly relevant to narrative: as narrative time advances, RT advances to “just after” a bounded event (see Section 4).
Lin (2003), considering le clauses in both dependent and independent contexts, proposes a relative anteriority parameter for le. In addition, le may express assertion, as Klein et al. (2000) argue.
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(i)
- 16.
This is only a partial characterization of -guo: there is a great deal more to say. For instance, Klein et al. (2000) argue that the time distinguished by -guo is a time at which the “result” of a situation is already past, whereas the English perfect distinguishes a time at which the result may still be obtained.
- 17.
We thank Bernhard Schwarz for useful discussion of the ideas formalized here and for his help with the actual formalization.
- 18.
There are several contexts in which le is obligatory if one wishes to convey the meaning of boundedness. For instance, a single syllable verb without a resultative complement conveys an ongoing situation without le.
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(i)
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a.
Wo chi vs. wo chi le.
I eat vs. I eat LE.
I’m eating vs. I’ve eaten.
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b.
Wo pao vs. Wo pao le.
I run vs. I run LE.
I’m running vs. I’ve run.
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a.
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(i)
- 19.
Yang (2002) finds that a resultative complement strongly favors inclusion of le in foregrounded clauses, while a directional complement strongly favors omitting it. Single syllable verbs and main verbs without a verb complement are much more likely to include a le. In sequences of events, le is often omitted in the first clause, but included in the last. Telic verbs strongly favor inclusion, atelic verbs typically omit le. Non-native speakers, in contrast, are often insensitive to the importance of RVCs and overly attentive to adverbs and le (Yang 2002: 247).
- 20.
- 21.
There are various studies of the incidence of aspect morphemes in texts. In a recent study of the corpus of Mandarin texts of the Academia Sinica, Wu (2003) found more aspect morphemes in report and fiction texts than in texts of commentary and other genres. A rhetorical comparison of Chinese and English newspapers in Beijing and Hong Kong also finds extensive variation (Scollon et al. 1994).
Christensen (1994) found aspect morphemes in 36% of the intonation units, which generally correspond to clauses, in written Chinese narrations of Chafe’s ‘Pear Stories’ experimental film. Erbaugh (1990) examined spoken Mandarin narratives based on the ‘Pear Stories’; in the most representative spoken narrative, 26% of intonation units contain aspect morphemes.
- 22.
The discourse modes are proposed for written texts. They do not include conversation, procedural texts, and some other types.
- 23.
In addition to bounded events in sequence—the default interpretation for narrative—there are other possibilities that are not considered here. Events may be overlapping or simultaneous, there may be a change in level of detail, situations may be notionally rather than temporally related. Recognition of these different temporal and atemporal relations is pragmatically based.
- 24.
Occasionally, telic verb constellations appear in a descriptive passage. These have an atelic value, due to a regular process of coercion. Durative adverbials trigger a shift to an atelic situation, for example, She wrote a letter for an hour. The durative adverbial may be tacit. See Smith (2003) for discussion.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Dr. Qing Wu and Ms. Hsi-Yao Su for assistance in preparing the texts that were used in this study. We also wish to thank the audiences who have heard one or both of us talk about the material, including the annual meeting of the Society for Text and Discourse, Lyons, France, in July 2000; the conference Linguistics in the Next Decade, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, in August 2000; the Third Texas Workshop on Text Structure in October 2000; and the First International Conference on Modern Chinese Grammar for the New Millenium, Hong Kong, in March 2001. We also thank two anonymous reviewers for their comments. [Editors’ note: We thank Mary Erbaugh for proofreading this chapter. She has made a few corrections to the glosses and references that appeared in the original publication. Lastly, we thank Barbara Partee for noticing an error in the formalism in example (11e) and for suggesting a correction. That correction has been made.]
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Appendix: Sources of Text Examples
Appendix: Sources of Text Examples
Examples published in bilingual English-Chinese editions list the English title after a slash instead of in parentheses. The Ming Bao publishes an English translation of each day’s Chinese editorial on the following day.
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(9), (26) From a novel: Zhou Tianlai (1997). Tingzi Jian Saosao (Sister Next Door). Hefei: Anhui wenyi chuban she. 50, 13.
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(14), (16), (24) Magazine article: Chen Lirong (2000). “Feng bao chuixi Zhongguan Cun (Stormy personnel conflicts rock Beijing’s Silicon Valley)”. Qianshao Yuekan (Frontline Monthly). February. 48–49.
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(15i), (22i) Editorial: Anonymous (2000). “Gang fu minjian yao zai ding gong’an qiyue / The Hong Kong government must renegotiate its regulations for public order”. Ming Bao (Ming Pao Daily News). 9, 10 October.
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(15ii) Editorial: Anonymous (2001). “Guotai jishi weixie bagong bu de ren xin / Cathay Pacific pilots have alienated the public”. Ming Bao (Ming Pao Daily News). 29, 30 June.
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(15iii), (20), (28) Editorial: Anonymous (1999a). “Gang fu xuanjin qu Xiyatu baoluan jiaoxun / Government should learn lesson from Seattle”. Ming Bao (Ming Pao Daily News). 12, 13 December.
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(18i), (22iii), (23ii) Magazine article: Li Oufan [Leo Lee] (2000). “Xianggang weihe zai chu bu liao da xuewen zhe? (Why can’t Hong Kong produce great scholars again?)”. Ming Bao Yuekan (Ming Pao Monthly). August. 21–22.
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(18ii) Book: Lin Jiashu (1995). Tulou yu Zhongguo chuantong wenhua (Hakka houses and Traditional Chinese Culture). Shanghai: Shanghai renmin chuban she. 92.
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(19ii) Essay: Wang Weiming (1996). 1990 zoujin xin kongjian (Entering a new space in 1990). In Yuwang de Chengshi (City of Longing). Shanghai: Wenhui chuban she. 33.
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(21i), (21ii), (25) Magazine article: Wang Ruizhi (2000). “Shenzhen er nai cun qing se youhuo (Love and sex temptations of Shenzhen’s ‘Village of Concubines’)”. Yazhou Zhoukan (Asiaweek). 28 August–3 September. 24–25.
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(21iii), (22ii), (27) Editorial: Anonymous (1999b). “Xianggang huan bao zheng ce ying da che da wu / Hong Kong must revise its environmental policy”. Ming Bao (Ming Pao Daily News). 28 December.
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(31) Short story: Lu Xun (1990 [1924]). Feizao (Soap). [http://www.yifan.com.] English version in Lu Xun (1990). Soap. In Diary of a Madman and Other Stories, Translated by William A. Lyell, 264. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
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(32) Essay: Wang Weiming (1996). Shanghai Da Fandian (The Shanghai Hotel). In Yuwang de Chengshi (City of Longing). Shanghai: Wenhui chuban she. 60–61.
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(33), (35) Travel guide: Gong Dazhong (1986). Longmen Shiku / The Longmen Grottos, translated by Zhang Linjia. 42. Beijing: Zhongguo lyuyou chuban she.
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(34) Story: Lu Xun (1973 [1926]). Zhu Fu / The New Year’s Sacrifice. Hong Kong: Chao Yang Publishing Company. 20–23.
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Smith, C.S., Erbaugh, M.S. (2009). Temporal Interpretation in Mandarin Chinese. In: Meier, R., Aristar-Dry, H., Destruel, E. (eds) Text, Time, and Context. Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy, vol 87. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2617-0_13
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