英语新闻语篇间接引语时态非连续性现象刍议

Discontinuity of Tense in Indirect Speech in English News Discourse

间接引语使过去被述说的现实与当下现实处于同一个话语建构层面,从而引起事件结构的时间参数关系的调整;在英语新闻语篇中,出于建构真实性、实效性的需要,参数分析显示其间接引语时态在时间直指中心的调整下出现非连续性现象。间接引语时态的非连续性并未影响新闻语篇的语义连贯性,表明时态作为衔接手段的实际作用应受制于特定的语篇类型。

Indirect speech enables the fusion of the voices of the reporter and the reported, and places the reported past event and the present reality on the same level of discursive construction, therefore triggers shifts in the relations between temporal parameters in event structure. As in news discourse, out of the pursuit of trueness and timeliness, a parametric analysis reveals discontinuity in the use of indirect speech, i.e. , the temporal deictic center is shifted and anomalies in tense sequence occur. Such discontinuity does not affect the semantic coherence of news discourse, which testifies that the application of tense as a cohesive means is subject to specific discourse types.