 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
93
factual correlation is preserved in reference to the corresponding imaginary situations. This can be shown by a
transformation: > For the civil war in that area not to have resumed anew, the peace-keeping force had to be
on the alert.
Cf. another example:
If two people were found with a great bodily resemblance, the experiment would succeed.>For the
experiment to succeed, it is necessary to find two people with a great bodily resemblance.
In keeping with its functional meaning, this kind of consequence may be named a "consequence of
necessity".
A consequence dependent on a "concessive" condition shown above has another implication. Two semantic
varieties of clauses of consequence should be pointed out as connected with the said concessive condition and
featuring the subjunctive mood. The first variety presents a would-be effected action in consequence of a
would-be overcome unfavourable condition as a sort of challenge. E.g.:
I know Sam. Even if they had tried to cajole him into acceptance, he would have flatly refused to cooperate.
The second variety of concessive-conditional consequence featuring the subjunctive, as different from the
"consequence of challenge", expresses neglect of a hypothetical situation. Cf.:
Even though weather-conditions were altogether forbidding, the reconnaissance flight would start as
scheduled.
Apart from complex sentences, the past posterior form of the subjunctive can be used in independent
sentences. It is easy to see, though, that these sentences are based on the presupposition of some condition, the
consequence of which they express. It means that from the point of view of the analysed functions they
practically do not differ from the. constructions of consequence shown above. Cf:.
He would be here by now: he may have missed his train. > He may have missed his train, otherwise (i.e. if
he hadn't missed it) he would be here by now.
As we see, the subjunctive form-type in question in the bulk of its uses essentially expresses an unreal
consequential action dependent on an unreal stipulating action. In grammars which accept the idea of this form
being a variety of the verbal mood of unreality, it is commonly called "conditional". However, the cited
material tends to show that the term in this use is evidently inadequate and misleading. In keeping with the
demonstrated functional nature of the analysed verbal form it would be appropriate, relying on the Latin
etymology, to name it "consective". "Consective" in function, "past posterior" in structure - the two names will
go together similar to the previously advanced pair "stipulative" - "past unposterior" for the related form of the
subjunctive.
Thus, the functions of the two past form-types of the subjunctive are really different from each other on the
semantic lines. On the other hand, this difference is of such a kind that the forms complement each other within
one embedding syntactic construction, at the same time being manifestations of the basic integral mood of unre-
ality. This allows us to unite both analysed form-types under one heading, opposed not only structurally, but
also functionally to the heading of the speclive mood. And the appropriate term for this united system of the
past-tense subjunctive will be "conditional",
Indeed, the name had to be rejected as the designation of the
consequential (consective) form of the subjunctive taken separately, but it will be very helpful in showing the
actual unity of the forms not only on the ground of their structure (i.e. the past tense order), but also from the
point of view of their semantico-syntactic destination.
The conditional system of the subjunctive having received its characterization in functional terms, the
simplified "numbering" terminology may also be of use for practical teaching purposes. Since the purely formal
name for the stipulative mood-form, now in more or less common use, is "subjunctive two", it would stand to
reason to introduce the term "subjunctive three" for the consective form of the subjunctive. For the sake of
observing consistency and symmetry in terms, "modal subjunctive" will then receive the name "subjunctive
four".
§ 6. We have surveyed the structure of the category of mood, trying to expose the correlation of its formal
and semantic features, and also attempting to choose the appropriate terms of linguistic denotation for this
correlation. The system is not a simple one, though its bask scheme is not so cumbersome as it would appear in
the estimation of certain academic opinion. The dynamic scheme of the category has been much clarified of late
in the diverse researches carried out by modern linguists.
One of the drawbacks of the descriptions of the category of mood in the existing, manuals is the confusion
of the functional (semantic) terms of analysis with the formal (categorial) terms of analysis.