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LINGUIST List 20.2050

Wed Jun 03 2009

Qs: Anti-Perfect

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        1.    Guillermo Soto, Anti-Perfect
Message 1: Anti-Perfect
Date: 01-Jun-2009
From: Guillermo Soto <gsotouchile.cl>
Subject: Anti-Perfect
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As it is well known, Perfect aspect typically signals a relationship
between a past situation and the speech situation. According to McCawley
(1971), Comrie (1976), and other authors, there are different types or uses
of Perfect: resultative, continuative, etc. In all these uses, the Perfect
is, in one sense or another, relevant to the speech situation.

Has anybody studied the opposite situation? I mean a grammatical device
that signals that a past situation is not relevant to the speech situation?
I know that simple past in Perfective aspect can be thought to be this
grammatical device, but I'm talking of a grammatical category that not only
presents the past situation ''for its own sake'' (Comrie), but that
positively means that this situation is not relevant to the speech situation.

A grammatical device of this type can be called Anti-Perfect, and can be
categorized as a kind of Perspective Aspect, in the sense of Dik (1997).

I've looked for Anti-Perfect in different data bases, but the results have
been scarce.

I would be very grateful if you could give me some advice on this topic.
I'm looking specially for papers or books on Anti-Perfect or related terms.

I'll post a summary if there are enough responses.

Thank you in advance


Guillermo Soto
Universidad de Chile
gsotouchile.cl

Linguistic Field(s): General Linguistics
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