Jennifer Herriman Språkworkshop II 5 November 2010 Time

Jennifer Herriman Språkworkshop II, 5 November 2010 Time and Tense In English and Swedish Social Interaction 1

TIME IS A COMMODITY Do you have time? Har du tid? time consuming tidskrävande Don’t waste time! Slösa inte tid! Save time Spara tid Buy time Köpa tid 2

TIME MOVES THROUGH SPACE • Time flies, • The flow of time • Time is drawing near • • Tiden går fort Tidens gång. Tiden närmar sig Tiden löper ut 3

TIME IS SPACE For any length of time Time is short We are running out of time To the end of time IN THE PAST En längre tid Tiden är kort IN THE PRESENT IN THE FUTURE 4

AT THE CENTRE OF TIMESPACE PAST PRESENT FUTURE 5

Vi går mot framtiden/ Heading for the future PRESENT FUTURE 6

PRESENT PAST PRESENT FUTURE 7

THE PRESENT TENSE You don't look back Man ser inte tillbaka along time but down längsmed tiden utan through it, like water. ner genom den, som Sometimes this vatten. Ibland är det comes to the surface, ett som kommer upp sometimes that, till ytan, ibland något sometimes nothing. annat, ibland Nothing goes away. ingenting. Ingenting försvinner. (Margaret Atwood. Cat’s Eye) 8

PAST PRESENT FUTURE 9

THE PAST TENSE Den natten då Ronja On the night that Ronia föddes gick åskan was born a över bergen, ja, det thunderstorm was var en åsknatt så att raging over the allt oknytt som höll till mountains, such a i Mattisskogen storm that all the förskrämt kröp undan goblinfolk in Matt's i sina hålor och Forest crept back in gömslen. terror to their holes and hiding places. (Astrid Lindgren Ronja Rövardotter) 10

ANTICIPATING THE FUTURE • will, shall, going to, etc. • ska, komma att, osv. PAST PRESENT FUTURE 11

INTENTION "Ja", sa Lovis, "det • "Yes, " said Lovis, stämmer på lite av "that's true of all sorts varje. Därför är det of things. So the säkrast att inte vara safest thing is not to rädd i be frightened in Matt's Mattisskogen. ""Det Forest. ""I'll remember ska jag komma ihåg", that, " Ronia said. sa Ronja. (Astrid Lindgren Ronja Rövardotter) 12

PREDICTION "Ge er iväg, vildvittror", "Be off with you, skrek han. "Jag ska ju harpies!" he shouted. ha barn nu i natt, "I'm going to have a begriper ni det, era baby tonight‑‑get that maror!” into your heads, you hags!" (Astrid Lindgren Ronja Rövardotter) 13

Lack of correspondence time and tense PRESENT TIME - PAST TENSE Did you want to speak Ville du tala med mig to me now? nu? PAST TIME –PRESENT TENSE And before we could do anything, in comes Peter and punches Simon on the nose. Och innan vi kunde göra något, in kommer Peter och slår Simon på käften. 14

Social Interaction Language is used to relate to others. • Exchanging information (telling, asking, etc) • Exchanging goods and services (offering, commanding, etc. ) 15

INTERPERSONAL SPACE AND TENSE PAST REMOTE PRESENT CLOSE FUTURE REMOTE 16

Exchanging Information • Involvement, commitment = close • Lack of Commitment = remote 17

Exchanging Information about future time certainty = present tense The train leaves at nine Tåget går klockan nio tonight ikväll 18

Exchanging information about past time involvement = present tense Han svarade ”Vi får träffa He answered “Here we get människor av alla slag to meet all kinds of och från alla världsdelar. ” people and from all parts Det är toppen! Just när of the world and everyone han säger så, passerar is so nice. This is great!" Larsson bärande på Just as he is saying this, en plastback med Larsson passes by lunchmat till uppvärmning. carrying a plastic box filled with food to be heated up for lunch 19

Exchanging information about present time ’unreal’ = past tense 'I wish life was like banking, ' I said. 'I don't mean it's straightforward. Some of it's incredibly complicated. But you can understand it in the end, if you try hard enough. (Julian Barnes Talking it over) Jag önskar livet var som bankjobbet", sa jag. "Jag menar inte att jobbet är enkelt. En del av det är otroligt komplicerat. Men man begriper i alla fall till sist om man lägger manken till. 20

Exchanging information about present time ’unreal’ = past tense • He talks as if he owned the place. • If only we had more time! • If he was here, I would ask him • Han pratar som om han ägde stället. • Om vi bara hade mera tid på oss! • Om han var här, då skulle jag fråga honom 21

Exchanging Goods and Services • Pass me the sugar, please • Ge mig sockret, är du snäl • Do you need any help • Behöver du hjälp? 22

Politeness • Positive face: close, intimacy, involvement, sharedness • Negative face: distance, deference, respect 23

Negative face • Did you want to speak • Ville du tala med mig to me now? nu? • I was wondering if you would water the flowers. • Jag tänkte be dig vattna blommarna 24

• Speaker is in the centre • Present = close, real, positive face • Past = remote, unreal, negative face • Are there differences between English and Swedish? 25

Exchanging information about future time certainty = present tense "Akta dej för vildvittror och grådvärgar och Borkarövare", sa han. "Hur vet jag vilka som är vildvittror och grådvärgar och Borkarövare", frågade Ronja. "Det märker du", sa Mattis. ” (Astrid Lindgren Ronja "Watch out for wild harpies and gray dwarfs and Borka robbers, " he said. "How will I know which are wild harpies and gray dwarfs and Borka robbers? " asked Ronia. "You'll find out, " Matt said Rövardotter) 26

Exchanging information about past time involvement = present tense Vad som sedan hände I can’t remember clearly minns jag otydligt. Mor what happened next. satt på soffan I sitt rum Mother was sitting on the och blödde näsblod. Hon sofa in her room, her försökte lugna min syster. nose bleeding. She was Jag står i barnkammaren trying to calm my sister. I och betraktar min was in the nursery kinematograf, faller looking at my patetiskt på knä och lovar cinematograph. I fell gud både film och apparat pathetically to my knees om mor och far blir and promised God he vänner. could have my films and all my apparatus a long (Ingmar Bergman Laterna as Mother and Father Magica) became friends again. 27

Exchanging information about past time involvement = present tense Jag satt i någons knä och blev I am sitting on someone's knee being fed with gruel. The plate matad med välling. Tallriken is on grey oilcloth with a red stod på en grå vaxduk med röd border, the enamel white, with bård. Emaljen var vit med blå blue flowers on it, and blommor, den speglade det reflecting the sparse light from sparsamma ljuset från fönstren. the window. By bending my Genom att böja mig åt sidorna head sideways and forwards, I och framåt, prövade jag olika try out various viewpoints. As I blickpunkter. Allteftersom jag move my head, the reflections rörde huvudet förändrades in the gruel plate change and reflexerna I vällingtallriken och form new patterns. Suddenly I formade nya mönster. Plötsligt vomit over everything. kräktes jag över alltsammans. (Ingmar Berman: Laterna Magica) 28

Exchanging information about present time opinions = past tense Det var ju konstigt så mycket skog som här växer Va gott det var! Det var så sant! Det var en fin jacka du har. That's odd, there is so much forest here. This is delicious! That is really true! That’s a nice jacket you’ve got there 29

Exchanging information about present time opinions = past tense Det var bra, Mattis, att du kom så övermåttan hastigt", sa Borka (Astrid Lindgren Ronja Rövardotter) "It's a good thing you came so uncommonly fast, " said Borka. 30

Exchanging information about present time opinions = past tense Den spiken satt This nail is really väldigt hårt, kom och stuck. Come and help hjälp mig dra! me pull it out! (SAG) 31

Exchanging Goods and Services past tense for present time negative face Förlåt att jag stör men det gällde ett fornminne som ska finnas här. (Stig Claesson Vem älskar Yngve Frej) I'm sorry to disturb you, but it's about an ancient monument there's supposed to be somewhere. 32

Exchanging Goods and Services past tense for present time negative face • Hur var namnet? • Då var det dags för middag • Här var biljetterna, varsågod. • What is your name? • It’s dinner time! • Here are the tickets 33

Exchanging Goods and Services past tense for present time negative face • Fanns det växel? • Så var vi framme. • Hade du min kofta? • Do you have any change? • Here we are! • Have you got my cardigan? 34

Exchanging Goods and Services present tense for future time positive face Vi tar den andra We’ll take the other one Jag följer dig hem I’ll walk you home. 35

Time – is conceptualised as space – experienced from the speaker’s point of view. – is expressed by tense Events – Close in time = present tense – Remote in time = past and future tenses 36

Social Interaction • Distance vs. proximity in the time space = distance vs. proximity in human relations • Distance to others expressed by tense • Present = close, real, familiar • Past = remote, unreal, deference 37

Tense in Social Interaction Swedish uses past tense more often to create a deferential distance, e. g. when expressing opinions and making requests (in many set expressions) 38

Nu var det äntligen dags att sluta! TACK! Now, it is time to finish at last! THANK YOU! 39