Tense/aspect variation and the Present Perfect in Australian English narratives: sociolinguistic constraints and discourse-pragmatic functions

Sophie Lucie Raymonde Richard

doi:10.26182/5bc41b38ccc0e

Tense/aspect variation and the Present Perfect in Australian English narratives: sociolinguistic constraints and discourse-pragmatic functions

Sophie Lucie Raymonde Richard

School of Social Sciences

Research output: Thesis › Doctoral Thesis

126 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This thesis offers the first comprehensive sociolinguistic and discourse-analytic investigation of tense/aspect variation in Australian English narratives, focusing on the Narrative Present Perfect (NPP). Multivariate analyses on a corpus of 331 performed narratives show that the NPP is restricted to the speech of non-professional speakers, favoured by males, and not a change in progress. The incursion of the PP into narrative contexts does not constitute a case of grammaticalisation of the PP into a past/perfective: the phenomenon is pragmatic rather than semantic, with the NPP serving as a stylistic/discourse pragmatic device.

Original language	English
Qualification	Doctor of Philosophy
Awarding Institution	The University of Western Australia
Thesis sponsors	Australian Government Research Training Program
Award date	10 Sep 2018
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.26182/5bc41b38ccc0e
Publication status	Unpublished - 2018

Fingerprint

Cite this

Richard, S. L. R. (2018). Tense/aspect variation and the Present Perfect in Australian English narratives: sociolinguistic constraints and discourse-pragmatic functions. https://doi.org/10.26182/5bc41b38ccc0e

@phdthesis{8a798aedd13647c2a52224b3aa90ee72,

title = "Tense/aspect variation and the Present Perfect in Australian English narratives: sociolinguistic constraints and discourse-pragmatic functions",

abstract = "This thesis offers the first comprehensive sociolinguistic and discourse-analytic investigation of tense/aspect variation in Australian English narratives, focusing on the Narrative Present Perfect (NPP). Multivariate analyses on a corpus of 331 performed narratives show that the NPP is restricted to the speech of non-professional speakers, favoured by males, and not a change in progress. The incursion of the PP into narrative contexts does not constitute a case of grammaticalisation of the PP into a past/perfective: the phenomenon is pragmatic rather than semantic, with the NPP serving as a stylistic/discourse pragmatic device.",

keywords = "Present Perfect, ense/Aspect, Variationist sociolinguistics, Narrative, Australian English",

author = "Richard, {Sophie Lucie Raymonde}",

year = "2018",

doi = "10.26182/5bc41b38ccc0e",

language = "English",

school = "The University of Western Australia",

}

TY - THES

T1 - Tense/aspect variation and the Present Perfect in Australian English narratives: sociolinguistic constraints and discourse-pragmatic functions

AU - Richard, Sophie Lucie Raymonde

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - This thesis offers the first comprehensive sociolinguistic and discourse-analytic investigation of tense/aspect variation in Australian English narratives, focusing on the Narrative Present Perfect (NPP). Multivariate analyses on a corpus of 331 performed narratives show that the NPP is restricted to the speech of non-professional speakers, favoured by males, and not a change in progress. The incursion of the PP into narrative contexts does not constitute a case of grammaticalisation of the PP into a past/perfective: the phenomenon is pragmatic rather than semantic, with the NPP serving as a stylistic/discourse pragmatic device.

AB - This thesis offers the first comprehensive sociolinguistic and discourse-analytic investigation of tense/aspect variation in Australian English narratives, focusing on the Narrative Present Perfect (NPP). Multivariate analyses on a corpus of 331 performed narratives show that the NPP is restricted to the speech of non-professional speakers, favoured by males, and not a change in progress. The incursion of the PP into narrative contexts does not constitute a case of grammaticalisation of the PP into a past/perfective: the phenomenon is pragmatic rather than semantic, with the NPP serving as a stylistic/discourse pragmatic device.

KW - Present Perfect

KW - ense/Aspect

KW - Variationist sociolinguistics

KW - Narrative

KW - Australian English

U2 - 10.26182/5bc41b38ccc0e

DO - 10.26182/5bc41b38ccc0e

M3 - Doctoral Thesis

ER -

Access to Document

10.26182/5bc41b38ccc0e

THESIS - DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY - RICHARD Sophie Lucie Raymonde - 2018
This work is protected by Copyright. You may print or download ONE copy of this document for the purpose of your own non-commercial research or study. Any other use requires permission from the copyright owner. The Copyright Act requires you to attribute any copyright works you quote or paraphrase.