The Syntactic Expression of Tense Tim Stowell

2 Abstract In this article I defend the view that many central aspects of the semantics of tense are determined by independently-motivated principles of syntactic theory. I begin by decomposing tenses syntactically into a temporal ordering predicate (the true tense, on this approach) and two time-denoting arguments corresponding to covert a reference time (RT) argument and an eventuality time (ET) argument containing the verb phrase. Control theory accounts for the denotation of the RT argument, deriving the distinction between main clause and subordinate clause tenses. The theory of covert movement is used to account for the independent/indexical interpretation of relative clause tenses, and for the correlation between independent tense interpretation and a de re construal of the relative clause. A theory of " past polarity " , based on traditional negative polarity theory, accounts both for the simultaneous " sequence of tense " construal of past tenses in subordinate clauses embedded within past tense contexts, and for the obligatory indexical/independent interpretation of present tense in a relative clause embedded within a past tense context. Combined with the copy theory of movement, the polarity theory also provides an account of the semantics of double access sentences, treating them as involving a special kind of reconstruction effect. 3 1. Tense and syntactic theory In this article I defend the view that many central aspects of the semantics of tense are determined by independently motivated principles of syntactic theory. In this respect, the following components of syntactic theory play a key role: (1) (a) The theory of argument structure, which provides a template for the basic semantics of tense. Individual tenses are analyzed as two-place predicates of temporal ordering, taking time-denoting expressions as their arguments. The internal argument of a tense is a time-denoting expression containing the verb phrase (VP); it denotes what is traditionally called the event time (ET) of the tense. The external argument of the tense is covert; it denotes a time that functions as the reference point of the tense (its reference time, RT); in a simple mono-clausal sentence, this generally corresponds to the actual utterance time (UT). The tense itself imposes a relative temporal ordering on the RT and the ET; for example, a past tense orders the RT after the ET. (b) The theory of phrase structure, which provides a syntactic encoding of this argument structure in terms of the structure of TP, the phrase headed by …