Absolute/Relative Tense Marking of the Verb in Russian Complement Clauses: Some of the Influencing Factors

The object of this work is Russian complex sentences containing a main clause and a subordinate clause introduced by the conjunction čto. I examine how the tenses of the verbs of the complement clauses are interpreted and what factors might influence their interpretation. Tense is a deictic category which means it requires a reference point to be interpreted. There are two main options what can be a reference point for a verb in the complement clause. It can be the moment of speech or a moment or interval denoted in the main clause. Depending on what was chosen as a reference point the tense might get different interpretations (refer to different moments or intervals of time). If the moment of speech is a reference point, it is an absolute interpretation; if the time of a situation described in the main clause is a reference point, it is a relative interpretation. In my work I examined corresponding sentences based on the data of National Corpus of Russian Language and conducted two online inquiries. Among factors that might potentially influence how a tense of a verb is understood or which tense is chosen the following ones were examined: the semantics of the verb in the main clause (cognitive verbs, verbs of emotions, verbs of perception); aspect and tense of the verb in the main clause; aspect and tense of the verb in the subordinate clause. Several theoretical questions connected to absolute and relative interpretation are discussed in this paper as well. First of all, the terms 'absolute interpretation' and 'relative interpretation' denote slightly different things for different combinations of tenses in main and subordinate clauses. For example, if the tenses in a sentence are the future tense and the present tense, the choice of interpretation defines whether the situations described in the main and the subordinate clauses are understood as simultaneous or as preceding one another. If the tenses in a sentence are, for instance, the future tense and the past tense, the choice of interpretation defines whether the situation described in the subordinate clause precedes or follows the moment of speech. Secondly, at first sight, if the verb of the main clause is a verb of perception (to see, to hear etc.), the situations in the main and the subordinate clause must be simultaneous. Nevertheless, the combinations of tenses that cannot express simultaneity might be used in sentences with such verbs. In this work, I explain why this is possible. I also propose possible explanations for some of the tendencies that were noticed based on corpus data and online inquiries.