On the Discourse Functions of Preposed and Postposed Temporal Adverbial Constructions

This study is intended to characterize, in the context of English narrative texts, the discourse functions of preposed and postposed temporal adverbial constructions (TACs) of various types including adverbs, prepositional phrases, and adverbial clauses. An analysis it carried out of a large group of preposed TACs indicates that the previous characterization of preposed TACs primarily as a discourse organizer may not be adequate. The study attempts to view the use of preposed TACs as an optimal way to provide temporal information in collaboration with the processing strategy adopted by language users in interpreting the temporal relationships between recounted events. The analysis of the data from this perspective proves to be useful because it can not only provide a coherent account of the overall distribution patterns of preposed TACs in the narrative texts, it can also help us to discern how postposed TACs function in a way that complements their preposed counterparts.