и. и. прибыток. М., 2008. с. 86–88.
2004. P. 150–160.
P. 76–85.
52
16. Verb: problem of the perfect
The position of perfect forms in the grammatical system of English
verbs is a problem which has been treated in many different ways.
Among various views on the grammatical essence of the perfect forms
in Modern English, the following four main trends should be considered
in detail.
1) In the first interpretation, the category of perfect is presented
as a peculiar tense category, that is, a category which should be treated
in the same way as the categories of “present” and “past”. This tense
view of the perfect is found in the works of H. Sweet, G. Curme,
O. Jespersen, M. Bryant, N. Irtenyeva. According to them, the
difference between the perfect and non-perfect forms lies in the fact that
the perfect denotes a secondary temporal characteristic of the action.
Namely, it shows that the denoted action precedes some other action
or situation in the present, past, or future. The focus is on the temporal
function of the perfect, its meaning of precedence, but this view fails to
expose its aspective function by which the action is shown as connected
with a certain time limit.
2) The second grammatical interpretation of the perfect is the
“aspect view”. According to this approach the perfect is an aspective
form of the verb which expresses the mode of realization of the
action. The aspect view is presented in the works of M. Deutschbein,
A. S. West, G. N. Vorontsova. The most valuable Vorontsova’s
contribution to the theory of the perfect is her interpretation of its
categorical meaning. Instead of the resultative meaning ascribed to the
perfect by many scholars, she proposed a more general conception of
transmissive functional semantics. G. N. Vorontsova put forward the
idea of successive connection of two events expressed by the perfect,
and the transmission of the accessories of a pre-situation to a post-
situation, e. g. She has never been to Paris.
3) The third grammatical interpretation of the perfect is the “tense-
aspect blend view”. The perfect is considered as a form with both
temporal and aspective meaning similar to the continuous. This view
on the perfect is propounded by I. P. Ivanova. She says that the two
verbal forms (the continuous and the perfect) express temporal and
53
aspective functions in a blend, in contrast to the indefinite forms which
only express tense.
4) And there is also the forth interpretation of the perfect. In this
trend the category of perfect is neither tense nor aspect, but a specific
category different from both. This interpretation was presented
by A. I. Smirnitsky in his article «перфект и категория временной
отнесённости» (иностр. яз. в шк. 1955. № 1–2). His concept of the
perfect is referred to as the “time relation view” or “time correlation
view”. The functional content of the new category was defined as
priority expressed by the perfect forms in the present, past or future,
contrasted with the non-expression of priority by the non-perfect forms.
A. I. Smirnitsky made the analysis of the present continuous form (e. g.
has been doing) in which the perfect, the form of precedence, coexists
with the continuous, the form of simultaneity. His course of reasoning
is quite typical of the oppositional approach: since two expressions
of the same categorical semantics are impossible in one and the same
form, the perfect cannot be either an aspective form, if the marking
“be + Participle I” refers to the continuous aspect, or a temporal form,
if the marking has refers to the present tense. This view on the perfect
as a self-dependent category became rather popular with Russian
scholars of English. M. Y. Blokh proposed his own term “the category
of retrospective coordination” for the perfect as the marked member
of the opposition. This author treats the perfect as a separate verbal
category semantically intermediate between aspect and tense but quite
self-dependent in the general categorical system of the English verb.
The perfect expresses priority and aspective transmission of the action,
while the continuous presents the action as progressive.
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