Yihou

In our corpus there are 44 uses of yǐhòu in the bare form (41.5% of the total 106 uses of yǐhòu). As in the case of bare-form yǐqián, it is rarely the case that there is an antecedent RP in previous context in the uses of bare-form yǐhòu. Even when there is one, the speech time can almost always serve as the alternative reference time, suggesting that absolute time reference is the predominant use of bare-form yǐhòu. In only five examples of bare-form yǐhòu in the corpus can we find an RP mentioned in previous context (11.4 % of the 44 bare-form tokens), while in the majority of bare-form yǐhòu uses the speech time serves as the reference time with respect to which the TG is located. In this section we will first examine the examples that involve an RP mentioned prior to the use of bare-form yǐhòu, and then proceed to the examples in which only the speech time can be viewed as the reference time in the temporal relation profiled by yǐhòu.

5.2.2.1 With an Antecedent RP

In the NTU Corpus, when there is an antecedent RP in the use of yǐhòu in the bare form, both the RP and the TG lie in the future, as in the following example. Here speaker B (male) is advising that his addressee (i.e., speaker A, female) create a BBS account so that she can send and receive messages with her own account instead using speaker B’s.

(5-20) (CO2BBS)

113 B: ..你 可以 開 一 個 站,\

nǐ kěyǐ kāi yī ge zhàn 2SG can open one CL account

→114 ..以後 你 就 可以 都,\

yǐhòu nǐ jiù kěyǐ dōu

YIHOU 2SG JIU can all

115 ..自己 寄.\

zìjǐ jì

self send

116 ..然後 她--

ránhòu tā and.then 3SG

117 ..你 也 可以 收 她 的 信.\

nǐ yě kěyǐ shōu tā de xìn . 2SG also can receive 3SG GEN letter

B: “You can create an account of your own, so that you can send messages yourself, and you can also receive hers.”

The RP in this temporal relationship is speaker A’s creating an account, and following this advice is the TG, the outcome state of speaker A’s being able to send and receive messages with her own account. Both the RP and the TG lie in the future, as advice can only be given on future affairs. In this example using zhīhòu is fine, because zhīhòu can sequence two situations, whether in the future or in the past, via linking backward to the first situation and introducing the second.

This type of example has a conditional reading that goes beyond a neutral sequence of two situations. As Gu (2010) points out, bare-form yǐhòu tends to collocate with conditional markers such as rúguǒ ‘if’ and yàoshì ‘if’ in the first clause;

even without the collocation, yǐhòu alone is often sufficient to denote a conditional meaning. We agree with Gu and argue that the futurity and the temporal sequence invite the inference of the conditional reading (cf. the Invited Inferencing Theory in Traugott and Dasher 2002). When both the RP and the TG lie in the future, the second situation can only take place after the first situation is carried out or fulfilled. The first situation then is inferred as the condition, and the second situation occurs as the outcome of this condition.

We have discussed earlier that even when there is something in the context that can be viewed as an antecedent RP, the speech time can still be viewed as the

reference time. One way to arrive at this viewing is to locate the TG in the future, without relating it to the RP, as in most uses of yǐhòu in the bare form (see 5.2.2.2).

Alternatively, the conditional reading provides the possibility of viewing the speech time as the reference time. We may paraphrase speaker B’s words in (5-20) as “if you create an account now, you can send messages yourself in future.”⁵⁶ The RP’s temporal location is then aligned with the present moment, i.e., the speech time.

Note that in this type of example, the TG is not a punctual but a durative and repetitive situation that displays the extension sense. Speaker B does not mean that after speaker A creates an account she can send a message only once. Rather, speaker B means that as long as speaker A creates an account, she will be able to send messages whenever she wants to. The extension sense is strengthened by the adverb dōu ‘all’ in IU 114, meaning that speaker A can send messages on all occasions.

Without dōu, the extension sense still holds. On the other hand, using zhīhòu but without dōu somehow shifts the profile from a repetitive TG as a whole into the inchoative part of the TG; that is, the very first time of speaker A’s sending a message is profiled in focus.

As we have pointed out, in the majority uses of yǐhòu in the bare form, there is no antecedent RP and the speech time is the reference time. In the NTU Corpus, the examples of yǐhòu in the bare form with an antecedent RP all pertain to future situations, and in these cases the speech time can still provide an alternative reference time. No example of yǐhòu in the bare form is found which sequences two past situations. Also, recall that in the use of zhīhòu in the bare form which sequences two past situations, it is always weird to substitute yǐhòu for zhīhòu (cf. Example (5-16) in 5.2.1.1). At this point, we may argue that the primary function of bare-form yǐhòu is to

56 British English distinguishes between in the future and in future in that the first refers to ‘after the present’ , whereas the latter means ‘from now on’ .

locate a TG after the speech time. The few relative time reference uses with a conditional reading, as in (5-20), is just a variant scenario, because in those cases the speech time can still be viewed as the reference time.

We have found examples outside the NTU Corpus in which yǐhòu in the bare form sequences an RP and a TG that both lie in the past in the relative time reference use. One such example is the Double Ninth Festival example cited in chapter 2.

Therefore, it is not what Yang (2009) claims that yǐhòu in the bare form must locate a situation in the future. However, it is not as simple as what Zhao and Li (2009) claim that yǐhòu in the bare form can freely locate a TG in the past, at present, or in the future without any restriction. Here we propose that if yǐhòu in the bare form is used to sequence a past TG situation relative to another past situation, the TG situation tends to involve the extension sense ‘since’, meaning that the TG is a repetitive or even a permanent situation, as in the Double Ninth Festival example. If the past TG is a punctual or temporary situation, then yǐhòu in the bare form fails to sequence the past TG with respect to a past RP, as in the case of (5-16), in which zhīhòu is preferred.

Zhīhòu in the bare form can sequence two situations regardless of the punctual-durative or temporary-repetitive distinction, or the temporal location of the two situations.

Below we give a spoken example in which a past TG is sequenced by yǐhòu in the bare form after a past RP. Here speaker Y, an adult, is sharing that in her childhood her father once beat her up after she told him the truth.⁵⁷

(5-21) (personal data) Y: ..我 就 被

wǒ jiù bèi

1SG JIU BEI

57 From the TV program Ba Ma Jong Hen Da (爸媽囧很大), originally broadcast in Taiwan on Taiwan Public Television on May 7, 2013.

..狠打了 一下

L: “So after that/since then you started lying to your father all the time?”

Y: “After that I would just dodge the important and dwell on the trivial when talking to my father.”

L: “After that/since then you never told the truth again to your father in your life?”

The antecedent RP is the beating event, which lies in the past. The TG is speaker Y’s never telling her father the (important) truth anymore whenever she has to talk to him, which is a repetitive situation starting in the past following the beating event and continuing up to the speech time. In this example, yǐhòu can be translated as ‘from then on’ or ‘since then’, both denoting the extension of the TG from a starting point (i.e., the RP) towards the speech time or the future. Note that speaker L uses yǐhòu to

sequence the TG after the RP, whereas speaker Y uses zhīhòu. In this example, either term can be used. Yǐhòu is used because of the extension sense of the repetitive TG, and zhīhòu is used because it serves the function to link anaphorically to the antecedent RP, regardless of the TG’s property. To some speakers, though, zhīhòu is still preferred here, because anaphoricity is compatible with relative time reference use.

How about using yǐhòu in the bare form when both the RP and the TG lie in the future? Examples like (5-20) are such cases where the RP and the TG lie in the future.

However, this type of use is special in that first, the TG is a repetitive situation displaying the extension sense, and second, there is a conditional relation between the RP and the TG. Can yǐhòu in the bare form be used to sequence a non-repetitive future TG with respect to a future RP? It seems doubtful. Below we show an example of yǐhòu in the bare form made by a German learner of Mandarin Chinese as a second language. In this example, both the RP and the TG lie in the future, namely, after the speech time, and the TG is a punctual situation.

(5-22) (personal data)

D: 我們 去 吃飯 wǒmen qù chīfàn

1PL go have.a.meal

→ 以後 去 看 電影 yǐhòu qù kàn diànyǐng

YIHOU go see movie

Literal: ‘We go have a meal first, and go to see the movie in the future/next time.’

Intended: ‘We go have a meal first, and go to see the movie afterwards/later.’

The RP is the first event of going to have a meal, and the TG is the second event of going to see the movie. There is no conditional reading, because going to see a movie is not dependent on going to have a meal. The TG is a punctual event, not a repetitive

situation. The intended meaning of the utterance is simply to profile the sequence between two events that the speaker and the addressee will do in the rest of the day.

The literal meaning, however, is that they will have a meal first on the day including the speech time, and then go to see a movie in the future (e.g., on another occasion, another day, another time, etc.), rather than directly following the eating event. In other words, even though there seems to be an antecedent RP in the preceding context, the event of going to see a movie is still located by yǐhòu in the far future in the absolute time reference sense. With yǐqián, the temporal distance between the speech time and the second event seems so long that the two events will not occur on the same day, which is not the intended meaning. To express the intended sequential meaning between the two events, zhīhòu is one possible term to use.⁵⁸ If we must view this example from the perspective of relative time reference, then the TG must be a repetitive or durative situation starting at the time point of the RP and extending into the future.

In this sub-section the three examples of yǐhòu in the bare form with an antecedent RP illustrate three points. First, when the antecedent RP and the TG both lie in the future, the speech time can still be or must be analyzed as the reference time ((5-20) and (5-22)). Second, if the TG must be sequenced with respect to the antecedent RP, not with the speech time, the TG tends to be a repetitive situation displaying the extension sense, especially when the RP and the TG are past situations ((5-20) and (5-21)). Third, combining the first two points, a punctual/non-repetitive future TG is located by yǐhòu in the (far) future, with or without an antecedent RP (like in (5-22)).

58 Alternatively, it could also be ranhou (然後) ‘and then’or děngyīxià (等一下) ‘later’, but the main point is that yǐhòu is not the proper expression to use in this particular situation.

5.2.2.2 Without an Antecedent RP

In this part we will analyze the examples of yǐhòu in the bare form that does not have an antecedent RP in the preceding context, and the speech time serves as the reference time. There are two groups of data, though not necessarily mutually exclusive. In the first group of data, the TG is a punctual or non-repetitive situation.

There is an apparent interval of time between the speech time and the situation time of the TG. The punctual/non-repetitive TG is located by yǐhòu in the far, distant, or remote future, or at least not following the speech time very soon. In these cases, substituting zhīhòu for yǐhòu will move the TG to a future time closer to the speech time at the level of construal. In the second group of data, the TG is a durative situation that has not ended yet, or a repetitive situation that happens whenever a relevant condition comes into play. The TG starts at or right after the speech time and extends for an indefinite span of time into the direction of future. In these cases, yǐhòu means something more like ‘from now on’ or ‘henceforth’. The extension sense is contributed both by the property of the TG and by yǐhòu. Using zhīhòu instead will not lead to any oddity, but the consequence will be that the sense of extension will be lost. Because of the scarcity of zhīhòu in the NTU Corpus, we have to rely on substitution as a test to see how using zhīhòu is different from using yǐhòu in terms of temporal distance distinction.

We will see the first group of examples in which a situation is located at a much later time than the speech time. As in the case of the before-pair, the temporal distance between the speech time and the situation time of the target can be described as long or short only when we know how long it exactly is. When the linguistic context does not provide such information, only speakers know the distance themselves. Here we just give examples in which there are some contextual clues indicating a long temporal distance. In the following example, speaker A recalls what her father told her

when she had to decide between two universities.

A: “I asked my dad. I said, ‘SCU and MCU, which one would you prefer?’ He said,

‘MCU, of course, because in the future when you go to work, you will discover that there are many people who can help you.’”⁵⁹

59 There are two senses of the concept of “future.” In the broad sense, any time later than the speech time is included in the scope of “future,” including three minutes from now and ten years from now. In the narrow sense, only a time that is far enough away from the speech time is. The expression “in the future” sometimes indicates the narrow sense “in the far future.”

The TG situation being located is speaker A’s going to work after graduating from university. At the time when the father said so, speaker A had not entered any university yet, so the time of going to work lies in the far future (at least four years away) with respect to the speech time. Using zhīhòu at the clausal level is appropriate, only it would sound like speaker A is graduating soon, which is not the case.

Here we would like to point out that there are two senses of the concept of

“future.” In the broad sense, any time later than the speech time is included in the scope of “future,” including three minutes from now and ten years from now. A time that is far enough away from the speech time is the narrow sense of future. The expression in the future sometimes already indicates the narrow sense ‘in the far future’ when the situation being discussed is punctual or conceived as a whole. In the broad sense, the expression in the future covers all the time points later than the speech time, and is similar to the meaning of ‘from now on’.

In the next example, yǐhòu also locates a target situation in the far future. Here speaker B says that a friend wants to have a job related to what she is studying now.

(5-24) (11SOPHIA)

310 B: 她 是 說 她 希望 說 自己 以後 也

tā shì shuō tā xīwàng shuō zìjǐ yǐhòu yě 3SG C/F say 3SG hope COM self YIHOU also 做 那 一 行,_

zuò nà yī háng do that one CL

B: “She says that she hopes to do something in that field (that she is studying) in the future.”

The TG situation is doing something in that field, which is located in the far future.

From the preceding context we know that this friend just entered the graduate school, so indeed there will be a considerable period of time (e.g., two years) before she

graduates and does any job. Using zhīhòu here may imply that this temporal distance is shorter between the speech time and the TG (e.g., this girl is graduating soon in one month), or that the speaker conceives this distance as short enough. The TG in (5-23) is a punctual situation located in the far future. In (5-24) the TG is a durative situation, and this durative situation as a whole is located in the far future.⁶⁰

The next example of the ‘in the far future’ sense of yǐhòu in the bare form can illustrate the long temporal distance more vividly. This use is made by another German learner of Mandarin Chinese, which we have seen in chapter 1.

(5-25) (personal data)

E: 不 要 關 門 bùyào guān mén

NEG.want close gate

→ 我 先生 以後 會 進來

wǒ xiānshēng yǐhòu huì jìnlái 1SG husband YIHOU will come.in

Literal: “Don’t close the gate. My husband will come inside in the future.”

Intended: “Don’t close the gate. My husband will come inside later.”

The TG is the husband’s coming inside, which is a punctual situation. One possible temporal term for conveying the intended meaning is zhīhòu, but definitely not yǐhòu.⁶¹ The choice of yǐhòu here gives the impression that the husband will come at a much later time (e.g., in several months or years). In reality, though, this speaker intends to say that her husband, who is parking the car in the yard, will enter the building soon (e.g., in five minutes). The temporal distance between the speech time and the estimated temporal location of the husband’s coming inside is close enough that the use of yǐhòu here sounds quite strange. Suppose that this German lady

The TG is the husband’s coming inside, which is a punctual situation. One possible temporal term for conveying the intended meaning is zhīhòu, but definitely not yǐhòu.⁶¹ The choice of yǐhòu here gives the impression that the husband will come at a much later time (e.g., in several months or years). In reality, though, this speaker intends to say that her husband, who is parking the car in the yard, will enter the building soon (e.g., in five minutes). The temporal distance between the speech time and the estimated temporal location of the husband’s coming inside is close enough that the use of yǐhòu here sounds quite strange. Suppose that this German lady