Re: `already'

[Ivan A Derzhanski <IAD@BGEARN.BITNET>]

On Sun, 24 Dec 1995 11:53:58 +0000 ucleaar said:
>ivAn:
>> There's a lot of linguistic work on `already' and its cousins `still'
>> and `finally' [...].  I think we
>> should be able to express such things by means of attitudinals.
>
>[We mean "discursive", not "attitudinal" - attitudinals are things
>like "Wow!", while discursives are things like "frankly" and
>"unfortunately" (unless one of those is what indicators are).]

I thought discursives were a kind of attitudinals.  In fact, I'm not sure
which subclass of UI would be best for expressing such things as `longer/
sooner/later than might have been'.  In some cases the English adverbs
seem to have a sense that is more emotional than anything else; but in
general they appear to bear a certain similarity to `only'.  (In a way
I'd say that `already' and chums are to ZAhO as `only' is to PA.)

>Which UIs?

That's a good question.  I hadn't checked the list when I wrote that,
but now I have, and there doesn't seem to be anything appropriate.

--Ivan