THE COGNITIVE SYSTEM OF THE FRENCH VERB -- Editorial page -- Title page -- Copyright page -- Dedication -- PREFACE -- Table of contents -- CHAPTER ONE. THE NATURE OF CONTENT SYSTEMS -- 1. Introduction -- 1.1 Origin of the idea -- 1.2 System in phonology -- 1.3 System and grammatical structure -- 1.4 System in language -- 1.5 Tongue and discourse -- 1.6 Systems and rules -- 1.7 Content systems and referential meaning -- 1.8 Prior studies with Guillaumian influence -- 1.9 Conclusion -- CHAPTER TWO. VERBAL PARADIGMS AND THEIR CONTENT -- 2. Introduction -- 2.1 The paradigm of tense -- 2.1.1 Incidence and decadence -- 2.1.2 Time spheres -- 2.1.3 The problem of the threshold -- 2.2 Mood -- 2.2.1 The subjunctive -- 2.2.2 Infinitive and participles -- 2.3 Aspect -- 2.3.1 The modal auxiliaries -- 2.3.2 The grammatical auxiliaries -- 2.4 Voice -- 2.5 The verbal paradigms of French -- CHAPTER THREE. CHRONOGENESIS -- 3. Introduction -- 3.1 Three morphosyntactic types -- 3.1.1 Three chronogenetic stages -- 3.2 Stage I: the quasi-nominal mood -- 3.2.1 A simpler view of the quasi-nominal forms -- 3.2.2 Functions of the quasi-nominal forms -- 3.3 Stage II: the subjunctive mood -- 3.4 Stage III: the indicative mood -- 3.5 Conclusion -- CHAPTER FOUR. ASPECT -- 4. Introduction -- 4.1 Distinguishing tense from aspect -- 4.1.1 The surcomposé in student grammars -- 4.1.2 The mechanism underlying the French aspectual contrast -- 4.1.3 Simple forms -- 4.1.4 Compound forms -- 4.1.5 Double compound forms -- 4.1.6 Usage of French aspectual forms -- 4.1.7 Modern use of the composé as a preterit -- 4.1.8 Expressing anteriority -- 4.2 Sequence of tenses in English -- 4.3 Use of the surcomposé in main clauses -- 4.4 Conclusion -- CHAPTER FIVE. VOICE -- 5. Introduction -- 5.1 The grammatical representation of agent and patient -- 5.2 Passive voice in French.

5.2.1 The role of the subject -- 5.3 The pronominal verbs -- 5.4 The verbs of resultant state -- 5.4.1 Resultative verbs as a morphosyntactic category -- 5.4.2 Change of auxiliary with transitive verbs -- 5.5 Middle voice -- 5.5.1 Morphosyntax of middle voice -- 5.5.2 Agentive and patientive senses of middle voice -- 5.5.3 Reflexive and reciprocal senses of middle voice -- 5.5.4 Middle voice with pure intransitives -- 5.6 The contrast of active and middle with inanimate subjects -- 5.7 Conclusion -- CHAPTER SIX. TENSE -- 6. Introduction: tense and aspect -- 6.1 Defining tense and aspect in cognitive terms -- 6.2 Tense in cognitive terms -- 6.3 Tense and the experience of time -- 6.4 The parameters of tense in French -- 6.4.1 The verticality of the present in French -- 6.4.2 The breadth of the French present -- 6.5 Past tenses -- 6.5.1 Imperfect and passé simple: tenses or aspects? -- 6.5.2 The imperfect -- 6.5.2.1 Imperfects of Type 1 -- 6.5.2.2 Imperfects of Type 2 -- 6.5.2.3 Imperfects of Type 3 -- 6.6 Future and conditional -- 6.6.1 The future in the past -- 6.6.2 Conditional clauses -- 6.6.3 The conditional of probability -- 6.7 Conclusion -- CHAPTER SEVEN. MOOD -- 7. Introduction -- 7.1 A simple cognitive contrast -- 7.2 The subjunctive as a position in a system -- 7.2.1 Quasi-nominal mood -- 7.2.2 Subjunctive mood -- 7.2.3 Indicative mood -- 7.3 The indicative/subjunctive contrast -- 7.3.1 Possible vs. probable -- 7.3.2 Affirmative vs. negative -- 7.3.3 Relative clauses -- 7.3.4 Conjunctions -- 7.3.4.1 The subjunctive with après que -- 7.3.5 Value judgements -- 7.3.6 Variable usage -- 7.4 Facing the problems of subjunctive usage -- 7.5 Conclusion -- CHAPTER EIGHT. PRESENT AND PRESENT PERFECT -- 8. Introduction -- 8.1 Concrete cognitive activity -- 8.2 The nature of a threshold -- 8.3 Cognitive contrasts, lexical and grammatical.

8.3.1 Contrastive usage: past versus present -- 8.3.2 Contrastive usage: present perfect versus present -- 8.3.3 Contrastive usage: the first time -- 8.3.4 Contrastive usage: immediate physical realizations -- 8.3.5 Contrastive usage: passé composé versus preterit -- 8.4 Conclusion -- PART TWO. THE EXPRESSION SYSTEM -- CHAPTER NINE. SEMIOLOGY, THE SYSTEM OF SIGNS -- 9. Introduction -- 9.1 The arbitrary nature of the sign -- 9.2 Arbitrariness and the law of coherence -- 9.3 Allomorphs of aller -- 9.4 The 'Verbes de puissance' -- 9.5 The morphology of the imperative -- 9.6 Conclusion -- CHAPTER TEN. VERBAL PARADIGMS -- 10. Introduction: Regular and irregular verbs -- 10.1 Verbal paradigms of French -- 10.2 Derivational verb suffixes of Latin -- 10.3 The French suffix/-i(s)-/ -- 10.4 The axial consonant -- 10.5 Other correspondences in the paradigms -- 10.6 The forms of the Latin perfect -- 10.7 The past participle -- 10.8 Conclusion -- BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS REFERRED TO OR CONSULTED -- GENERAL iNDEX -- LIST OF FRENCH VERB FORMS.