The Present Progressive Passive Tense. Cognitive Examination

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:

In the article the verbal form Present Progressive Passive is examined within the new, holistic interpretation of language as a cognitive activity of a person aiming at the efficient adjustment to the environment in the time of the communicative time trouble. Understanding of language as the means of the adaptation at the moment of speech leads to focusing of attention on the context of the situation, the speech context, and perception of the reality of the person. It is suggested that the verbal form describes the comparison of the visible part of the situation, i. e. the event being experienced at the moment of speech, with the other part of the same situation that the observer does not see any more. It is shown that this form depicts two parts of the same situation. The part that is being watched and the result of the previous event that as the event itself is only the part of the larger situation. It is sufficient that the part that is being observed goes first and the result follows it, not vice versa. The result can be applied in cognitive linguistics, cognitive analysis of discourse, literary criticism, etc.

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