Beyond aspect:will be -ingandshall be -ing

Abstract

7This article discusses the synchronic status and diachronic development of will be -ing and shall be -ing (as in I'll be leaving at noon).2 Although available since at least Middle English, the constructions did not establish a significant foothold in standard English until the twentieth century. Both types are also more prevalent in British English (BrE) than American English (AmE).We argue that in present-day usage will/shall be -ing are aspectually underspecified: instances that clearly construe a situation as future-in-progress are in the minority. Similarly, although volition-neutrality has been identified as a key feature of will/shall be -ing, it is important to take account of other, generally richer meanings and associations, notably 'future-as-matter-of-course' (Leech 2004), 'already-decided future' (Huddleston & Pullum et al. 2002) and non-agentivity. Like volition-neutrality, these characteristics appear to be relevant not only in contemporary use, but also in their historical expansion. We show that the construction has evolved from progressive aspect towards more subjectivised evidential meaning. A G NÈ S C E L L E A N D N I C H O L A S S M I T HWe suggest that will be -ing and shall be -ing merit closer scrutiny. Firstly, the variant 32 with will is in fact encountered in a variety of discourse types in Present-Day English. 33Following are some typical examples found in contemporary usage: 34(1) This store will be closing in 5 minutes. 35(A standard announcement in UK stores at around 5.25 pm). 36(2) This train will be calling at Preston, Chorley, . . (1972) and Gachelin (1997) deem it 'pure' or 'colourless' future (see also Declerck, 68 this issue). These accounts share a common thread: the idea that the future situation 69 3 We borrow this term from Comrie (1976), to distinguish the meaning of the construction from its form. 4 For some commentators (e.g. Adamczewski & Delmas 1982) cases such as this provide compelling evidence that 'progressive' is a misnomer for the be + -ing construction. It is because of this controversy, and potential confusability of form and function, that we refer to the constructions as shall be -ing and will be -ing rather than will/shall + the progressive. B E YO N D A S P E C T : WILL BE -ING A N D SHALL BE -ING 241'will come to pass without the interference or the volition of anyone concerned' (Leech 70 2004: 67). However, the characterisations involve subtle differences, which need to be 71 elucidated and assessed against a body of authentic data.

Aspect beyond time: Introduction

“…Still within the context of the verb phrase, aspectual meaning is furthermore determined by tense. For instance, the English progressive might have a prototypical meaning of ongoingness in presentor past-time contexts, but when it is used in combination with will (as in Your train will be stopping in Manchester), it typically gets a non-aspectual, matterof-course meaning (Celle & Smith 2010). More generally, interactions of certain aspectual constructions with present-(but less with other) tense marking often leads to the kinds of phenomena noted above with respect to epistemic status (the use of progressives to mark incongruity) or tense-like behavior (the use of perfects as preterites).…”

On the so-called future-progressive construction

“…/www.makereadingfirst.com/ Parts.html/ (13) In this way, through Christ and his work in us, we will be living in God's presence now and eternally. 6 Celle & Smith (2010), in another detailed study, argue that use B is underspecified for aspect, which means that it can express any type of aspect depending on the context. This use suggests that future will and epistemic will with present time reference cannot be different in semantic terms because a single form cannot signify two different meanings at a time (cf.…”

“…., but it has not been decided at which stations it will make a stop. (Adapted from Celle & Smith 2010: 240)…”

“…Celle & Smith (2010), in another detailed study, argue that use B is underspecified for aspect, which means that it can express any type of aspect depending on the context. Therefore, they are not motivated to allow use A (future progressive) as an independent category because the future progressive can be expressed by use B in their system.…”

“…As we observed in section 4, volition includes the decision to pursue something, and the ongoingness of the preliminary stage at speech time presupposes that such a decision has already been made before that time. In this connection, Celle & Smith (2010: 251) convincingly state that with the WBI construction, ‘the relation between the speaker and the predication as a whole takes precedence over the relation between the grammatical subject and the verb’. The former relationship is concerned with the speaker's attitude towards the situation (i.e.…”