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Be going to: an exercise in grounding

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 October 2001

FRANK BRISARD
FRANK BRISARD
Affiliation:
University of Antwerp, U.F.S.I.A.
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Abstract

This paper investigates the semantics of be going to, starting from a schematic definition which interprets temporal meanings in terms of referential and epistemological attributes. The analysis is framed within the model of cognitive grammar, taking deictic syntactical constructions as instances of grounding predications and differences between them as triggered by aspects of construal and profiling. On the basis of corpus material from American and British English texts, it is concluded that be going to features a paradoxical but pragmatically plausible interpretation of the future as non-given yet present, with a pending event's being signaled or announced at the time of speaking.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Linguistics , Volume 37 , Issue 2 , July 2001 , pp. 251 - 285
Copyright
© 2001 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

The research for this paper was carried out in the context of a research program supported by the Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, contract number G.0246·97. Thanks are due to Michael Meeuwis for commenting on earlier versions of the paper, as well as to two JL referees.