semi-causal WHEN, AFTER

[nschneid]

Moens & Steedman (1988) discuss WHEN in sentences like:

• WHEN they built the 39th St. Bridge, they solved most of their traffic problems.
  • They argue WHEN marks not only approximate temporal coincidence, but contingency
  • Resolving the precise causality/temporality of WHEN-linked elements is part of sentence construal dependent on world knowledge: did the first part happen right before, during, or right after the building of the bridge?
  • contrast JUST AFTER—purely temporal

Is the phrase order significant? Perhaps

• They solved most of their traffic problems WHEN they built the 39th St. Bridge.

is more flexible in its interpretation?

Consider also:

• I went to ohm AFTER reading the reviews (currently Explanation~Time)

We presume a causal relationship, but is this lexically marked by AFTER, or is it merely a pragmatic inference? Again, JUST AFTER would defuse or at least reduce the likelihood of the causal interpretation. But it can also be viewed as a defeasible pragmatic inference:

• I went to ohm AFTER reading the reviews, but the timing was coincidental.

• ? They solved most of their traffic problems WHEN they built the 39th St. Bridge, but the timing was coincidental.

  • more acceptable with AROUND WHEN

If we are to represent "contingency" as part of the meaning of WHEN, does that correspond to Explanation or Circumstance?

Question tests:

• I went to ohm AFTER reading the reviews. (Why did you go to ohm? #After reading the reviews.)
• They solved most of their traffic problems WHEN they built the bridge. (How did they solve their traffic problems? #When they built the bridge.)

There seems to be a mismatch between the question type (causal) and the adverbial clause marker (temporal).

Coordination test:

• #Did you go to ohm AFTER going to the bakery or BECAUSE you needed a new watch? (zeugma)
• Did you go to ohm AFTER reading the reviews or BECAUSE you know someone who works there? (not terrible)
• Did the traffic problems go away WHEN they built the bridge or BECAUSE gas prices went up? (ehhhh....)

[nschneid]

Resistance to Why? test suggests these are not as simple as typical Explanation.

Possible explanations:

1. In SNACS terms the lexical semantics is better described as purely temporal; causal inferences are pragmatic.
2. Explanation~Time: the function is temporal, so a When? question is preferred, even though the scene role is Explanation.
3. It's not straightforwardly an Explanation relation, but some sort of broader contingency better labeled Circumstance~Time.