Without an Antecedent RP

In this part we analyze the remaining examples of bare-form zhīqián, which do not have an antecedent RP that can be traced from the preceding context. When the context does not suggest any RP, the speech time is often the default orientation point and serves as the reference time with respect to which a thing or a situation is located.

In such absolute time reference, the TG being located by zhīqián is a thing or a situation that lies in the recent past. Put differently, zhīqián profiles a temporal point (or a stretch, if the TG is durative) that is prior to yet still close to the speech time.

Substituting yǐqián for zhīqián would impose a different construal on the real world situation/content by locating the situation in the distant past.

The first example is from a dialogue between two roommates talking about accommodation fee for the summer vacation. From the previous context we know that this dialogue happens at the beginning of the summer vacation.

(5-4) (DORM)

43 B: .. eh 我們 到底 要不要 交 那個..

wǒmen dàodǐ yàobùyào jiāo nàge 1PL after.all want.NEG.want pay that

暑期 住宿費 啊.\

shǔqí zhùsù-fèi a summer.vacation accommodation.fee PT

44 A: TSK

45 ..他 有 扣 啊,_

tā yǒu kòu ā 3SG have subtract PT

46 你 在 學費裡 不 是 有 扣掉.\

nǐ zài xuéfèi-lǐ bù shì yǒu kòu-diào 2SG at tuition-in NEG C/F have subtract-fall 47 B: …學費 有 是不是.\

xuéfèi yǒu shìbùshì tuition have C/F.NEG.C/F

48 ..因為 我 一直 很- 很 害怕,_

yīnwèi wǒ yīzhí hěn hěn hàipà

summer.vacation accommodation.fee 58 ..<F 兩千 塊F>.\

right PT

→62 …(1.8)害 我 之前.. 驚疑 不定

hài wǒ zhīqián jīngyí bùdìng make 1SG ZHIQIAN suspicious unsettled

B: “Eh, do we have to pay the accommodation fee for the summer vacation or not?”

A: “It is subtracted, it is subtracted from (i.e., included in) the tuition, isn’t it?”

B: “It is included in the tuition? Because I have been afraid that I would be kicked out if I did not pay by the time (of summer vacation).”

A: “You won’t. They are those, you know, that are graduating.”

B: “Hmm. Oh. Eh I have accommodation fee worth NT$ 2000 [possibly referring to the receipt of the tuition]. So expensive!”

A: “Now you can relax.”

B: “Yeah. This uncertainty made me suspicious and unsettled earlier.”

The TG is speaker B’s state of being suspicious and unsettled that she might be kicked out without paying for the accommodation fee. Since the TG is a durative state, it occupies some stretch of time. According to the linguistic expressions in IU 62, the whole state lies in the recent past, although in reality speaker B does not stop being suspicious and unsettled until speaker A confirms about the accommodation fee. The starting point of this state is presumably located at some time closely before the summer vacation begins. That is, the temporal distance between the starting point of this state and the speech time is short. It only makes sense if B started being suspicious and unsettled as the summer vacation was approaching, and as we know the dialogue took place at the beginning of the summer vacation, the starting point cannot be far away from the speech time. If we substituted yǐqián for zhīqián in IU 62, it would give the impression that B had been worried since a long time ago (e.g., years ago), which contradicts the real situation.

In the attached form use, the starting point of a durative TG for the before-pair is not important. The importance is that the endpoint of the durative TG coincides with the RP. In the bare form use with the speech time as the reference time, the temporal

location of the starting point becomes crucial. In this example, the endpoint of the state is close to (or almost overlapped) with the speech time. The temporal distance distinction thus resides in the distance between the location of the starting point and the location of the speech time. Also, in this example, it is our world knowledge that supports the short temporal distance reading, as we know it is impossible that speaker B started being suspicious and unsettled about the accommodation fee for the summer since a long time ago. Although it is not clear when speaker B started being suspicious and unsettled about the accommodation fee, we know it could not be some time earlier than she paid the tuition at the beginning of the semester.

In the next example the TG is a durative situation that can be conceived as a whole. In this dialogue, speaker A tells her boyfriend how a friend got a job. After a long pause preceding IU 232, she switches to talk about another friend who has been looking for a job recently.

(5-5) (CO5APPLI)

232 A: (2.6)我 最近 一直 聽到 我 同學

wǒ zuìjìn yīzhí tīngdào wǒ tóngxué 1SG recently all.the.time hear 1SG classmate

在 應徵 工作.\

zài yìngzhēng gōngzuò

DUR apply.for job

233 ..像 另外 一 個 系上 的 同學 啊,_

xiàng lìngwài yī ge xì-shàng de tóngxué a like another one CL department-on NOM classmate PT 234 ...那 她 應徵,_

nà tā yìngzhēng , then 3SG apply.for

→235 ..她 之前 是 在 一 家,_

tā zhīqián shì zài yī jiā 3SG ZHIQIAN C/F at one CL

236 TSK

237 (1.1) 一 家--

yī jiā

one CL

238 ..瑞典 還是 瑞士 的 公司.\

ruìdiǎn háishì ruìshì de gōngsī Sweden or Switzerland NOM company

A: “Recently I have been hearing that my classmates are applying for jobs, like a classmate from another department. She applies for … She was at a, a, Swedish or Swiss company before.”

The use of zhīqián in IU 235 suggests that this friend, who has been looking for a job recently, had this former job at a Swedish or Swiss company not long ago, namely, at a time close to the speech time. The having worked at a Swedish or Swiss company is the TG, which can be conceived as either punctual or durative. The plausible scenario is that this friend just stopped working for this company recently. The temporal distance between (the end of) being at the former company and the speech time is short. Substituting yǐqián for zhīqián here would indicate that this friend had this former job a long time ago and not anymore, or that she had worked at this company for a long time until recently.

In the previous two examples, it can only be inferred that the TG lies in the recent past, despite that this inference makes more sense than the other way around. In some cases, the context provides linguistic evidence for the recent past interpretation, as in the next example. In this radio interview, speaker D (the male host) and speaker H (the female host) introduce speaker Y (a listener to this ratio program), especially his hobbies, to the audience.

(5-6) (SEATING)

93 D: [楊] 先生,- yang xiānshēng

PN Mr.

94 平常 喜歡 游泳.\

píngcháng xǐhuān yóuyǒng

usual like swim

Y: “Um, the one that you two mentioned before, Ransom.”

(IUs 101-112 omitted)

H: “Right. I just watched it last week.”

In this example zhīqián occurs in a nominalized clause “the one that you mentioned before.” Within this clause zhīqián locates the punctual target event of the two hosts’

52 Ransom (1996).

53 Xiao-Tong (小彤) is speaker H’s nickname.

mentioning the movie Ransom to the audience at a time prior to the speech time. The use of zhīqián in IU 99 suggests that the temporal distance between the speech time and the time when the two hosts mentioned this movie on radio is short. The fact that speaker H just watched it last week provides evidence for this interpretation: At the time of this radio conversation, Ransom is a recently-released movie, which the two hosts have recommended to their audience not long ago. Substituting yǐqián for zhīqián here would sound like the hosts recommended this movie a long time ago (e.g., a couple of years ago).

In sum, the examples in this section demonstrate that when there is no antecedent RP and the speech time serves as the reference time, zhīqián locates a TG in the recent past and thus profiles a short temporal distance between the speech time and situation time associated with the TG. Using yǐqián would otherwise suggest a longer distance, which often results in a construal not compatible with the real world situation, especially when there is contextual evidence for a short temporal distance. In chapter 3.3 and 4.5.2 we have said that to determine a temporal distance as long or short is a complicated issue involving an actual distance (content), the type of situation that is being discusses, and a subjective evaluation of this distance (construal). In the three examples given in 5.1.1.2 here, we describe the temporal distance between the speech time and the TG as short in the sense of content and construal both.