The present progressive tense in the self-commentary. Cognitive analysis.

About the author:

Ekaterina B. Zhulina, Cand. Sci. (Philol.), Associate Professor, Department of English, Faculty of Foreign Languages, St. Petersburg State University; minna80@mail.ru

Abstract:

The Present Progressive Tense is analyzed in the frame of the holistic approach to the language as a cognitive activity of a person orienting to the efficient adaptation to the environment in the communicative time trouble. As a result, the context of the situation is crucial to the understanding of language as a system of symbols. The source of knowledge represented in language is not the speaker but the observer. The choice of a certain word by the observer is determined by their perception, because knowledge is the direct or indirect experience of a person. The reduced Present Progressive form in the self-commentary describes both inner and outer niche of the observer. The inner part because the reduction of the verb be makes it closer to the simple predicate. The outer one because the present participle of the main verb portrays perception of one’s own actions as a process.

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