The communicative effects of the interaction between the verbal aspectual
categories and the Russian adverbial DAVNO `long ago'
The problem of the communicative idiosyncrasies of lexical items is widely
addressed in linguistic literature devoted to the so called focus particles,
cf. Ducrot 1973; Koenig 1991, and references cited therein; Wilkinson 1993;
Partee 1994; Hajicova & Sgall 1996; Dryer 1996. Here, I will concentrate
on the communicative idiosyncrasies of the Russian temporal adverbial DAVNO
'long ago' in its semantic interaction with the verbal categories of tense and
aspect. I argue that whether an adverbial belongs to the theme of a sentence
or it can solely be the rheme may depend on the aspectual properties of the
verb. The words, which in the majority of contexts are the rhemes, will be called
below the words with rhematic polarity.
In discussing the meanings of verbal categories I use the following terms. The
term `AORIST' refers to past situations viewed in their entirety and without
any obvious result at the moment of speaking (The conference took place in Paris
in 1997). The term `IMPERFECT' refers to situations which lasted during some
period in the past and came to an end before the moment of speaking (The conference
was being held in Paris from the 20th to the 25th of July). The term `GENERAL
FACTUAL' refers to situations viewed as facts, i.e. as events already occurred
and mirrored by the mind of the speaker (<What luck that> I travelled
to Paris!). The term `PRESENT PROGRESSIVE' refers to the situations, which are
in progress at the moment of speaking (The conference is taking place at the
Palace of congresses). The term `PERFECT' refers to past situations, which have
an obvious result at the moment of speaking (The conference has terminated,
<and there is nobody at the Palace of congresses>). For definitions of
aspectual meanings cf. Maslov 1962; 1984, Comrie 1976.
E.V.Paducheva (1997) noted that in the context of the general factual meaning
of the Russian imperfective aspect the adverbial DAVNO is always the rheme of
a sentence (I mark the accented word of the rheme with capital letters; an asterisk
indicates ungrammaticality):
(1) Vas'-a prinimal svoj-o lekarstv-o DAVNO
Vas'-NOM take.IPFV-PAST his.ACC medicine-ACC long ago
'The fact of Vas'a's having taken his medicine was long ago' (general factual;
DAVNO is a rheme)
(1a) Vas'-a DAVNO prinimal svoj-o lekarstv-o
Vas'a-NOM long ago take.IPFV-PAST his.ACC medicine-ACC
'The fact of Vas'a's having taken his medicine was long ago'
(1b) *Vas'a davno prinimal svoj-o LEKARSTV-O
Vas'a long ago take.IPFV-PAST his.ACC medicine-ACC
(1c) *Davno Vas'a prinimal svoj-o LEKARSTV-O
long ago Vas'a take.IPFV-PAST his.ACC medicine-ACC
The adverbial NEDAVNO `recently', in contrast, is not obligatorily the rheme
in a similar context:
(2) Vas'a nedavno prinimal svojo LEKARSTVO; Nedavno Vas'a prinimal svoj-o
LEKARSTV-O
Vas'a recently took his medicine. Recently Vas'a took his medicine
'Not long ago the fact of Vas'a's having taken his medicine took place'.
The contrast between DAVNO and NEDAVNO leads to an assumption that the rhematic
polarity of DAVNO in the context of the general factual stems from semantic
coordination between DAVNO and the general factual: both denote a situation
remote in time from the moment of speaking. The adverbial DAVNO denotes a past
situation by definition, while a verb in the general factual meaning also refers
to a past situation because this situation has proved to be a fact. It expresses
an image of an event which has terminated and of which nothing remains, except
for memory and experience. Hence, we may hypothesize that the general factual
meaning is not the only context in which DAVNO is obligatorily the rheme. Some
other temporal and aspectual verb forms referring to the past and not related
to the moment of speaking can provide a similar context for DAVNO. We can verify
this hypothesis by analyzing sentences with DAVNO in a variety of aspectual
contexts. Consider sentences (3)-(6).
(3) Et-o sluchi-l-o-s' s Vas-ey DAVNO
this-NOM happen.PFV-PAST-NEUTR-REFL with Vas'a-INST long ago
`It happened to Vas'a long ago' (aorist; DAVNO is a rheme)
(4) Et-o proisxodi-l-o v nash-em gorod-e DAVNO
this-NOM hold.IPFV-PAST-NEUTR in our-LOC town-LOC long ago
`It was happening in our town long ago' (imperfect; DAVNO is a rheme)
(5) On davno SP-IT
He-NOM long ago sleep-IPFV-PRES
'He has been sleeping for a long time' (present progressive; DAVNO is not obligatorily
a rheme)
(6) On davno ZASNU-L
He-NOM long ago sleep.PFV-PAST
'He has been asleep since a long time ago and is asleep at the moment of speaking,
i.e. he has been sleeping for a long time' (perfect; DAVNO is not obligatorily
a rheme)
Sentence (3) displays the aorist meaning of the verb, while sentence (4)
the imperfect meaning. Consequently, sentences (3),(4) and sentence (1), which,
as we have noted above, displays the general factual meaning of the imperfective
aspect, denote situations PRIOR TO THE MOMENT OF SPEAKING. However, sentence
(5) displays the present progressive meaning, while sentence (6) - the perfect
meaning of the Perfective aspect. These two sentences denote situations that
PERSIST UP TO AND INCLUDING THE MOMENT OF SPEAKING. Thus, the analysis of sentences
(1) and (3)-(6) demonstrates that if some situation HELD LONG AGO AND CAME TO
AN END, as in examples (1), (3) and (4), the adverbial DAVNO can SOLELY BE THE
RHEME of the sentence. However, if a situation began before the moment of speaking
and is CONTINUING at the moment of speaking, as in examples (5) and (6), the
word DAVNO can be not solely the
rheme, but a COMPONENT OF A THEME as well.
To give an example of another pair of adverbials that have a similar semantic
opposition and the same communicative distinction as DAVNO and NEDAVNO, namely
the Russian antonymous adverbials DALEKO `far' and NEDALEKO `close':
(7) Nedaleko ots'uda raspolozhe-n-0 AEROPORT-0
Close from here locate-PTCP.PASS airport-NOM
`Close to this place, an airport is located'
(8) *Daleko ots'uda raspolozhe-n-0 AEROPORT-0
Far from here locate-PTCP.PASS airport-NOM
(9) Aeroport raspolozhen DALEKO ots'uda
airport is located far from here
`The airport is located far from here'
It should be noted that the opposition between DALEKO `far' and NEDALEKO `close',
in contrast to DAVNO `long ago' vs. NEDAVNO `recently', does not require that
we take into account the aspectual form because DALEKO and NEDALEKO concern
the spatial distance and not the temporal one.
To conclude, the lexical items which denote a considerable DISTANCE BETWEEN
THE NARRATED EVENT AND THE SPEAKER tend to be embodied in the RHEMES.
* * *
This work was supported by INTAS, grant INTAS-96-0085