영어 과거시제의 담화적 기능 고찰

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the connection between the past tense and some crucial discourse factors such as the speaker's point of view or the purpose in performing a speech act. This paper attempts to show that the past tense may be widely associated with the present event, depending on the speaker's perspective and intention. On the basis of the discussion of various discourse factors affecting the temporal perspectives on tense, this paper examines various sources that support Riddle (1986)'s assumption that discourse factors are pivotal in determining the uses of the past tense. Following Riddle(1986), who claims that the major reasons why the speakers have the past point of view fall into past association and background information in the direct speech clauses, this paper examines analytic and authentic examples, both of which demonstrate that the claim is empirically right. An extensive analysis of authentic data where past tenses interact with various discourse factors has substantiated the assumption.