Б. А. Ильиш строй современного английского языка Учебник

826 Asyndetic Composite Sentences. Inserted Clauses

read the announcement for the evening. (GALSWORTHY) The inserted clause he had a distrust of other papers explains why he (old Jolyon Forsyte) took up the "Times", and at the same time it adds a certain characteristic feature to the portrait of the man. If the clause were introduced by the conjunction for, which would not involve any essential change of meaning but would only make it somewhat more explicit, the clause would still be an inserted clause.

Our next example is somewhat different: There was a great deal more pleasure than formerly, pleasure was practically continuous — dancing at the Country Club every Saturday night in summer and quite often in winter, lunch with cards or golf and dinner parties — Wilson and she had at least four or five invitations every week — and short and long trips by automobile. (HERGESHEIMER) The inserted clause Wilson and she had at least four or five invitations every week comes in and interrupts a sequence of appositions to the subject pleasure, namely, dancing... lunch... parties.. . trips. It comes after parties and makes it clear how frequent the parties were. It would hardly be possible here to add the conjunction for in front of the inserted clause: that would make the statement too exact and introduce an element of superfluous accuracy which is out of place here.

It must be owned, however, that the boundary line between inserted clauses remaining, as it were, outside the structure of the sentence proper, and clauses making part of that structure, is not always easy to draw; in certain cases it may depend on the grammarian's view, that is, it may be to some extent arbitrary. We may, then, either leave the question open, or decide in advance that doubtful cases of this kind will be judged in a definite way, for instance, that we will consider such doubtful sentences to be inserted.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF MIXED SENTENCES

It would be vain to expect that every sentence we can meet with in a text is bound to be either syndetic or asyndetic, either compound or complex, etc. Several or indeed all of these characteristics may be found in a sentence at the same time. It may, for instance, consist of several clauses, some of them connected with each other syndetically, i. e. by conjunctions or connective words, while others are connected asyndetically, i. e. without any such words; it is also possible that some of the clauses are co-ordinated with each other, so that a certain part of the whole sentence is compound, while others are subordinate, so that another part of the whole sentence is complex, etc. The amount of variations is here probably bound-

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less, though to assert this with any degree of certainty a detailed study of a great number of texts would have to be made.

It would serve no useful purpose to invent special terms for every possible variety of sentence that might be found. It will perhaps be best to term them "mixed sentences". Here is an example of a mixed sentence showing simultaneously several of the syntactical peculiarities which we have so far studied separately: Barbary did not tell Mavis where she had stored the things; the sly secrecy of the maquis rose in her; she said she had hidden them somewhere safe. (R. MACAULAY)

Chapter XLI

SEQUENCE OF TENSES

The term "sequence of tenses", though widely used both in practical language teaching and in theoretical investigation, has still not received a clear and commonly accepted interpretation which might be used as a firm basis for further research in this field.

The different interpretations of this term are first of all distinguished by the scope of its application. In the widest possible sense the term "sequence of tenses" might include practically all cases of the use of two or more finite verb forms within a sentence. Taken in this widest sense, "sequence of tenses" would include such phenomena as the use of tenses of two homogeneous predicates in a sentence, or that of the predicate verbs in two clauses within a compound sentence.

Starting from this widest application of the term we might then gradually narrow it down, until we arrived at the narrowest possible interpretation, which would run something like this: "By sequence of tenses we mean the use of a tense form in a subordinate clause which is not in accordance with the meaning of the tense form itself but is conditioned by the tense form of the predicate verb in the head clause." Sequence of tenses in this narrowest meaning is found, for example, in the sentence What did you say your name was? The past tense was in the subordinate clause is not used because of its own meaning: the question is not about what the person's name was in the past, but about what it is now. So the use of the past tense in the subordinate clause is due to the fact that there is a past tense in the head clause, and to this fact alone: it cannot be accounted for in any other way. Such cases, then, fit into the narrowest definition of sequence of tenses.

Halfway between the extreme cases we have considered so far are a number of other sentences which admit of a double interpretation: it may be possible to argue that the use of a past tense in the subordinate clause is due to the influence of the tense in the head clause, but it is also possible to argue that the use of the tense is due to its own structural meaning. This may be seen, for instance, in the following sentence: Sir Angus realised that his description of Helen was largely responsible for the sharpness of the last word, and for the execution of the rose in bloom. (R. MACAULAY)

A twofold interpretation is possible here. On the one hand, we can assert that the past form was of the link verb in the subordinate clause is used because the predicate verb of the head clause is in the past tense and does not admit of a present form in the subordinate clause. If we take that view, the sentence will appear as an example of sequence of tenses. But on the other hand, it may be

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argued that the past tense in the subordinate clause is used owing to the form's own meaning: the action of the subordinate clause is simultaneous with that of the head clause and is accordingly expressed by the same tense form.

A similar reasoning applies to our next example: The lines on his face reminded her that he had known long and atrocious sufferings from wounds in the war. (R. WEST) It may be argued either that the past perfect in the subordinate clause is due to the principle of sequence, or that it is used in its own right.

The choice between the two alternatives is entirely dependent on a scholar's viewpoint and it is not possible to prove that either of the two is the only correct one. If we prefer the former view, the notion of sequence of tenses will be taken in a wider sense, so as to include those types of sentences which admit of a different explanation. If we adhere to the second, the notion of sequence will be narrower, and will include only the sentences which do not admit of any other explanation. According as the one or the other view is endorsed, both the definition and the treatment of the sequence of tenses will have to be adjusted to it. ¹

Let us consider one more example before we proceed to final conclusions on sequence of tenses. Let us compare the two sentences: He sits near the window so that he may have a wider view of the landscape, and He sat near the window, so that he might have a wider view of the landscape. The question is, why is the verb may, which is part of a compound modal predicate in the subordinate clause, used in the past tense form might in the second sentence? Is this use due to the sequence of tenses, i. e. does the tense of the predicate verb in the head clause (sat) influence the tense in the subordinate clause, so that the present tense may is inadmissible after it? Or is the use of the past tense might in the subordinate clause to be explained by the meaning of the form might? The answer seems to be this. As the action denoted by the predicate of the subordinate clause is not necessarily limited to the past tense (his wider view of the landscape might well last into the present), there would appear to be no need for using the past tense form on account of its own meaning. The conclusion seems therefore to follow, that the use of the form might is indeed due to the influence of the predicate verb form in the head clause. However, that view may perhaps be disputed, namely if we think that the action of the subordinate clause is limited to the past.

Having to make up our mind in favour of either one or the other alternative, we will decide to choose the narrower view, that is, to

¹ The whole problem has been treated at some length by Prof. I. Ivanova (see И. П. Иванова, Последовательность времен английского языка. Исследования по английской филологии, ЛГУ, 1958).

330 Sequence of Tenses

define sequence of tenses as a use of a tense entirely and unequivocally due to the tense form of the predicate verb in the head clause.

Taken that way, the rule of sequence applies to a limited number of syntactic situations only. It will not do to assert that sequence of tenses is a general law applying to all kinds of subordinate clauses and then to class all cases where this does not hold good as exceptions. Sequence of tenses applies to certain types of subordinate clauses only, and these are, object clauses and adverbial clauses of purpose. We need not give examples here, as the sentences we have so far considered in this chapter all belong either to the one or to the other variety. And even with object clauses sequence of tenses is not always found to be operating. Sometimes an object clause has its predicate verb in the present tense, though the predicate verb of the head clause is in one of the past tenses. This may be due either to the contents of the subordinate clause, or to the stylistic colouring of the sentence. The contents of the subordinate clause may tell on the tense of its predicate verb if the statement contained in it is to be presented as something objectively true, rather than as somebody's utterance. This may be seen, for example, in the following passage, where the speaker, reporting another speaker's words, does not mean merely to report them as the other man's utterance but presents them as intrinsically true, no matter who the speaker may have been. Sentences like the following, with no sequence of tenses after a main clause with its predicate verb in one of the past tenses, are by no means rare: She had made me understand that not only her mother and brother, but you also, are well acquainted with the story of my acquaintance with Mrs Hurtle. (TROLLOPE) It is but natural that as the degree of objective value of somebody else's words may vary, so may the use of either the one or the other tense in indirect speech.

As for stylistic peculiarities connected with the use of tenses in an object clause, it may be noted that absence of sequence, that is, the use of a present tense in a subordinate clause with a head clause having its predicate verb in a past tense, seems to characterise informal speech.

The general conclusion on sequence of tenses would then appear to be this, that it is the rule in Modern English, but not a rule that holds good in all cases equally. Under certain conditions, partly semantic and partly stylistic, a use of tenses is also possible which runs counter to the rule of sequence.

Chapter XLII

INDIRECT AND REPRESENTED SPEECH

INDIRECT SPEECH

In characterising indirect speech as compared with direct, we must dwell on two special cases in which a distinction found in direct speech gets lost in a change into indirect speech.

The first of these is the distinction between the past indefinite and the present perfect tense (and also the past perfect). Both of these, when changed into forms appropriate to indirect speech, are replaced by the past perfect. In a similar way, both the past continuous and the present perfect continuous (and, for that matter, the past perfect continuous) of direct speech will be replaced by the past perfect continuous in indirect speech. This is too well known to need illustration.

In terms of modern linguistic science, we may say that the distinction between the past indefinite and the present perfect (and the past perfect) is neutralised in indirect speech. This, in its turn, sheds some new light on the categories of tense and correlation which we discussed above (Chapters IX and X). The question is this: if the past tense (as distinct from the present) has a tense characteristic, and the present perfect (again, as distinct from the present) has a correlation characteristic, what should we think of the past perfect, which corresponds to the one as well as to the other? We have not the slightest reason to give preference to. tense and to declare that tense is the more essential category, or to correlation, and say that correlation is more essential: each of these statements would be quite arbitrary. If we are to stick to an objective and unprejudiced view of facts, the only reasonable and justified conclusion would appear to be this: in the past perfect the two categories of tense and correlation are merged into one, that is, the difference between them is neutralised. This would also seem to show that the past perfect is not entirely parallel to the present perfect, since in the present perfect no such merger is either real or imaginable.

We may also observe that in the opposite operation, that is, in changing indirect speech into direct, we do not know whether the past perfect of indirect speech should be changed into a past indefinite or into a present perfect (or, indeed, left as it is, namely, as a past perfect), unless we take into account the context of the speech (or perhaps even the situation in which it is being pronounced). We have, in making this change into direct speech, to differentiate between two verbal categories which are not distinguished in the indirect speech text. This may be illustrated by the following extract from a modern novel: She remembered that she had come to his house that night only because at a certain time at Madame Guillaume's party, when the Princesse de Cortignac and Monsieur de

332 Indirect and Represented Speech

Gazière were coming toward the alcove where they sat, he had gripped her wrist. (R. WEST) In changing this passage into direct speech, should we change the past perfect forms had come and had gripped into a past tense or into a present perfect, or should we, perhaps, leave them as they are? To decide on this, we must look at the context, and in this particular case it is the words that night and at a certain time that are decisive: the tense to be used in direct speech is the past indefinite.

Another case of two different verbal forms of direct speech being replaced by one and the same form in indirect speech is seen in sentences with their "predicate verb in the future tense and those with their predicate verb in the form "should + infinitive" to express a conditional action. Let us first consider a self-made example: He said, "1 shall come if I have time" and He said, "1 should come if I had time." In converting each of these sentences into indirect speech, we arrive at the same result in both cases, namely, He said that he would come if he had time. Thus the distinction between futurity and conditionally, which is clearly expressed in direct speech, is neutralised in the indirect. We may as well recollect here what we said above (p. 137 ff.) about the grammatical interpretation of forms like I should come in their different applications. We can add now that that analysis is confirmed and reinforced by considerations proceeding from indirect speech. If we accept the view that there are two homonymous forms, the future and the conditional present (I should come, he would come, etc.), we shall have to say that in the sentence He said that he would come if he had time we cannot, without a context or some other additional information, tell whether he would come is a future-in-the-past or a conditional present. If, on the other hand, we prefer the view that I should come, he would come, etc., is always one and the same form (whatever name we may give to it), we shall say that in the sentence He said that he would come if he had time, he would come is that form and the context or some other additional information will only be necessary to find out what exact meaning (or application) the form has in the given case. This may perhaps be taken to be an argument in favour of the unity of the form and against the homonymity theory.

The same of course applies, to the forms I should be coming, I should have come, I should have been coming, and to the corresponding forms in the passive voice of verbs which admit of a passive, e. g. I should be invited, I should have been invited.

In all of these cases, then, the change of direct into indirect speech implies the neutralisation of an opposition existing in direct speech, and the opposite change from indirect to direct speech implies the introduction (or restoration) of an opposition which was not to be seen in the indirect speech.

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R EPRESENTED SPEECH

There is another way of reporting a character's speech, or, still more commonly, his thoughts, which is especially common in 20th century authors, but which may occasionally be found in much earlier writers. This is neither direct speech, which reproduces the speaker's exact words, as they were uttered, in quotation marks; nor is it indirect speech, which retells the character's words from the author's point of view, and is characterised by such formulas as, He said that... The third way of reporting a character's speech or his thoughts stands apart from those two. It is not direct speech, as it does not reproduce the speaker's words in their original form, and it is not indirect speech, as it does not introduce them by formulas like He said that..., though the changes in the personal pronouns, etc. are made.

A typical specimen of this third way, which is sometimes referred to as "represented speech", may be seen in the following extract from "Swan Song" by Galsworthy: Jon Forsyte's sensations on landing at Newhaven, by the last possible boat, after five and a half years' absence, had been most peculiar. All the way by car to Wansdon under the Sussex Downs he was in a sort of excited dream. England! What wonderful chalk, what wonderful green! What an air of having been there for ever! The sudden dips into villages, the old bridges, the sheep, the beech clumps! And the cuckoo — not heard for six years! A poet, somewhat dormant of late, stirred within this young man. Delicious old country! Anne would be crazy about this countryside — it was so beautifully finished. When the general strike was over she could come along, and he would show her everything. In the meantime she would be all right with his mother in Paris, and he would be free for any job he could get. The beginning of this passage, up to the words excited dream, belongs to the author. With the word England begins a passage which expresses Jon's feelings, and this goes on up to the word six years. Then comes the sentence A poet . . . young man, which clearly belongs to the author. The last part of the extract, from the words delicious old country to the words he could get again expresses Jon's feelings. If we try to state exactly what signs there are to show that one part of the passage belongs to the author and another expresses Jon's feelings, we will find the following. The points of exclamation clearly show that the sentences thus marked express the character's feelings. So do the one-member sentences England! and Delicious old country! That the sentence A poet . .. young man does not express Jon's feelings is obvious, among other things, from the words young man, which Jon would not use to refer to himself. A characteristic feature is the forms would be, would show, would be, would be. Jon's thoughts would run like this: "When the general strike is over she

884 Indirect and Represented Speech

can come along, and I will show her everything. In the meantime she will be all right with my mother in Paris, and I shall be free for any job I can get." The difference between this reconstruction and the actual text lies in the tenses of the verbs and in the use of personal pronouns (third person in the text and first person in our reconstruction). These latter traits make us think of indirect speech, yet what we find in the text is not pure indirect speech: there is no introductory sentence like he said to himself or he thought and the future-in-the-past forms would be, etc. do not appear as a result of sequence of tenses in subordinate clauses. The units in which the future-in-the-past forms are used are not subordinate clauses but independent sentences. These, then, are characteristic features of represented speech, distinct from direct as well as from, indirect speech.

An essentially similar use is also found in the following passage from a modern novel: Stella was gone. She didn't count with Stella, never had, and never would. (WOODHILL) These are the thoughts of a young girl who has seen her best friend go away in an angry state of mind. The tenses in her own thoughts, as they ran, were, of course, the present, past, and future respectively (do not count, never have, and never shall). In represented speech the tenses are the same as they would have been in indirect speech.

We will not" discuss here those problems of represented speech which are of a stylistic or literary, rather than of a grammatical character. What matters from the grammatical point of view is the use of exclamatory one-member sentences (as distinct from indirect speech) and the use of the future-in-the-past in independent sentences, which is distinct from direct speech.

It may also be noted that represented speech differs from both direct and indirect speech in that it is a mainly literary phenomenon.

In the overwhelming majority of cases, as in the above extract from Galsworthy, what is rendered in this way is not actual speech, that is, words pronounced by a character and heard by another, but thoughts which were not uttered aloud. In a few cases, however, actual loud speech or dialogue can also be rendered in this way. To illustrate this, here is an extract from a novel by Jane Austen, in which indirect speech changes into represented speech: . .. the General, coming forwards, called her hastily, and, as Catherine thought, rather angrily back, demanding whither she were going? And what was there more to be seen? Had not Miss Morland already seen all that could be worth her notice? And did she not suppose her friend might be glad of some refreshment after so much exercise? The transition is gradual, and it is achieved in the following way. The first question to come after the verb demanding is indirect. Only the question mark at its end, which may to some

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extent indicate intonation, is something that does not fit into the pattern of indirect speech. The second question is formulated in a way pointing to represented rather than to indirect speech, as is seen from the word order. In an indirect question the order would have been: ... what more there was to be seen, with there and was in the same order as in a declarative sentence. The last two sentences are quite clearly represented speech.

Thus represented speech, alongside of direct and indirect speech, is a very effective means of rendering the thoughts, and sometimes the uttered words, of characters in a novel or short story.