[Lingtyp] Sequence of tenses and triclausal structures

[Alexander Letuchiy]

Dear Johanna,
Isn't there misunderstanding concerning the place of Clause 3 in the structure? Where does the third clause attach in your example?
Is it:John told me [to be here [when he carried out his new project]] (what I meant)
or rather:
John told me [to be here] [when he carried out a new project]?
Thanks a lot,
Sasha
Date: Fri, 1 May 2015 12:44:25 +0200
Subject: Re: [Lingtyp] Sequence of tenses and triclausal structures
From: johanna at berkeley.edu
To: alexander_letuchiy at hotmail.com

Dear Alexander,

Actually in English it's:

John told me to be here when he carried out his new project

or    ... when he was going to carry out...     or  ... was going to be carrying out ...

Best wishes,

Johanna Nichols

On Fri, May 1, 2015 at 11:08 AM, Alexander Letuchiy <alexander_letuchiy at hotmail.com> wrote:






Dear colleagues,
There are many languages manifesting 'sequence of tenses' system (e.g., English, Latin and so on). This means that the tense-marking of the matrix verb influences the tense-marking of the embedded verb:
"John TELLS me that he WILL carry out a new project"."John TOLD me that he WOULD carry out a new project". (the tense marking in the embedded clause changes to future in the past, because the verb in the matrix clause is marked for one of the past tenses).
What I am interested in, are triclausal structures, where the sequence of tense acts from Clause 1 to Clause 3, missing Clause 2, where the verb is marked for a non-alternating form, e.g., infinitive:
MY QUESTION: Is it true that in languages with sequence of tenses, in structures like:
"John TOLD me (Clause 1) to be here (Clause 2) when he WOULD (Clause 3) carry out a new project"
sequence of tenses always acts from Clause 1 to Clause 3, just as in biclausal structures like "John told me that he 
would carry out a new project"? Or are structures like "John told me to be here when he WILL carry out / CARRIES OUT a new project" also possible?
Any comments and / or examples from people speaking any languages with SoT (including English) are 
welcome.
Best regards and thanks in advance,
Alexander Letuchiy, Moscow
 		 	   		  

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