On the iteration of the Compound Perfect Past in European Portuguese

Abstract

The Pretérito Perfeito Composto do Indicativo (present perfect) is a tense that typically exhibits an iterative reading in European Portuguese that does not arise in similar constructions pertaining to other languages. In this paper, we intend to identify the conditions under which this iterative reading arises and to present a formal 88account grounded on its temporal, aspectual and quantificational features. In fact, the rise of the iterative reading depends on the temporal perspective point and on the basic aspectual class of the predication. Furthermore, there are clear restrictions concerning the quantification operators in the direct object and in the temporal adjuncts that occur in the scope of the relevant predication. Thus, taking as starting point the works of Van Geenhoven (2004) and Laca (2006), we propose that there is an operator underlying the Pretérito Perfeito Composto in European Portuguese that projects a basic eventuality into a collective eventuality of the same nature, constituted by the iteration of the basic eventuality. This proposal departs from others concerning the description of the Pretérito Perfeito Composto in that the collective eventuality created by this Portuguese tense is not a mere pluralisation of situations, but an entity ontologically superior, just like in the nominal domain a collective noun denotes an entity that is ontologically superior to the atomic entities that fall in its denotation. In the final part of this paper, we will address some topics concerning the conditions under which the non-iterative reading of the Pretérito Perfeito Composto arises and we will point out some topics for further research.