Grammar remains a constant object of German scholarship [1]. The future tense category also attracts the attention of linguists who deal with the problems of studying this category on the material of the Germanic languages, since the process of formation and development of this category in the Germanic languages was rather complicated and unusual [2]. The analysis of theoretical works devoted to the study of the temporal system of the Germanic verb in synchrony and diachrony will make it possible to trace the specifics of the reflection of this category at the given stages of development and identify its features.
First, we would like to touch upon the theoretical works of those authors in which the category of the future tense is considered in synchrony on the material of one Germanic language.
E.V. Bodnaruk considers possible variants of the future tense representation in modern German. She marks two grammatical units, the main meaning of which is the expression of the future tense:
a) the form of futur I, which can be considered as the form of the future as such;
b) the form of futur II, used to express the pre-future or future action / event preceding another action / event in the future [3: 34].
According to E.V. Bodnaruk, one should take into account the fact that these structures have a modal meaning [4: 66-68].
The researcher includes in the object of his work not only grammatical, but also lexical units capable of conveying the category of the future tense in German. E.V. Bodnarukvery carefully analyzes the semantics of limiting verbs indicating an internal limit, boundary or goal of an action directed towards the future [3: 35]. She refers kommen, bringen, finden, etc. to such verbs. At the same time, the linguist points out the ability of non-limit verbs to display the grammatical category of the future tense when they are used with special lexical indicators (morgen, in der Zukunft). The linguist in his work considers a synonym for futur I – present in a futural meaning, perfect in the meaning of a completed future / future time, emphasizing that it is synonymous with futur II.
E.V. Bodnarukpays attention to the representation of the grammatical category of the future tense in the form of conditionalis I, preterite and pluperfect conjunctiva. At the same time, she emphasizes that the forms of conditionalis and preterite conjunctiva correlate with each other as forms of futur I and presence; and the pluperfect of the conjunctiva is similar to the perfect and futur of the II indicative in terms of the features of the expressed meaning of the future tense [4: 37]. If conditionalis I and preterite conjunctiva have the meaning of potentiality, then futural pluperfect is characterized by the meaning of unreality [3: 38]. In his work, the author also touches upon the possibilities of expressing the future tense in German by means of the imperative.
It is necessary to take into account the modal meaning of the future tense category. The statements about upcoming events can be subjective, because a speaker at the moment of speaking does not have full confidence in their performance. The team of authors (E.V. Gulyga, E.I. Shendels) notes the fact of using modal verbs (wollen, sollen) in a futural meaning in modern German in order to make statements of different shades: desire, obligation, prediction.
Attention should also be paid to the lexical-semantic field of futurality. A number of linguists (E.V. Gulyga, E.I. Shendels) indicate the possibility of expressing the category of the future tense in Germanic languages through the use of special lexical means that have a concretizing function and allow to clarify the meaning of the tense forms of the verb. First, the researchers note the fact that adverbs (bald, nächstens) are used to describe the upcoming actions. Authors highlight a special role of nouns that have greater syntactic freedom and combinational capabilities (nachdemFrühstück, in 10 Minuten, aberstemJanuar) [5: 66]. They also take into account the use of adjectives with the meaning of time (auf baldiges Wiedersehen, die morgige Mode, diezukünftigeLage) [5: 70]. The examples of lexical “switches” provided are widely used in both oral and written speech of the German language.
Research by G. Müller, F.I. Pankov and other linguists is presented in the work of E.V. Bodnaruk. The author gives examples of classifications of lexical time indicators and dwells in more detail on the characteristics of the deictic (the beginning of an event at the moment of speaking or immediately after it: weiterhin, gleich, am nächsten Sonntag) and anaphoric future (the beginning of an event after another one: kurzdanach, anschließend, nachher) [6: 31-32].
Consequently, on the basis of the material of the modern German language in Germanic studies, such aspects of the expression of the future tense category as the grammatical forms of the verb reflecting the future tense category in the indicative, conjunctiva and imperative are considered; the ability of modal verbs of the German language to express actions directed towards the future; lexical-semantic fields of futurality reflecting the examined category.
Let us turn to a similar analysis and systematization of the works affecting representation of the future tense category in modern English.
T.A. Sukhomlina, when considering the ways of forming the future tense in modern English, highlights the existence of two forms of expression of this category: in relation to the present and in relation to the past tense. The first group includes the following means of expression: FutureIndefinite, FutureContinuous, FuturePerfect, PresentIndefinite, PresentContinuous and lexical expressions tobegoingto / tobeto / tobeabout + infinitive [7: 176; 8: 48-55]. At the same time, the author focuses on the frequency of using the forms of the present tense when describing objective events in the future. The second group includes such means as: Future in the Past, Future Continuous in the Past, Future Perfect in the Past, the construction was going to + infinitive [7: 177]. Based on the analysis of literary sources, the linguist shows possible options of expressing modality through the use of combinations of verbs shall / will or should / would with an infinitive. According to the linguist, when determining the degree of confidence of the interlocutor in the performance of a future event, one should take into account experience and the surrounding context [9: 187-188].
The analysis of A.I. Smirnitsky, M.Ya. Blokh, V.N. Yartseva and other scientists allowed to reveal a different point of view. Germanistshighlight the existence of a three-term temporal system of the English language [10: 48], drawing attention to the fact of the presence of modality zero in statements with shall / will verbs [10: 54-55], which indicates the possibility of the category of a neutral future to reflect an objective picture of the world and not depend on the speaker’s judgment. The existing conflicting views indicate the ambiguity of the means of expression of the studied category in English.
The Germanic group of the Indo-European language family includes, in addition to German and English, Dutch and Danish. In his work, O.V. Kuznetsova, while considering the ways of forming the category of future tense in the proposed languages, highlights the existence of two grammatical units expressing the future tensein the Dutch language:
a) future I, used to express a single or multiple (repeated) actions in the future;
b) future II, used to express precedence in the future or future action preceding another action in the future [11: 105]. The author points out a synonym for future II – perfect in the meaning of future tense and focuses on the frequency of its use.
The linguist proves the need to use the future tense category in Danish when describing events that took place in the past. Thus, the future in the past I is used to express an action that was future in relation to another action in the past, and the future in the past II is used to express precedence [11: 107]. Consequently, on the material of the Dutch and Danish languages, such an aspect of the expression of futural meaning as the grammatical forms of the verb in the indicative is considered.
It is necessary to touch upon the analysis of theoretical works, where the category of the future tense is considered diachronically based on the material of one Germanic language. An article written by L.A. Dolgopolova. Based on the analysis of literary sources (including the poem “Muspilli”), the author shows the ways of expressing the category of the future tense at different stages of the development of the German language. The results of the study allow us to bepractically convinced of the existence in the early period of two tense forms of the verb: preterite and present, which, in turn, was widely used to express future events. L.A. Dolgopolovafairly points out the continuation of this trend nowadays.
The research conducted showed the ability to express the future tense through the prefix verb form. According to the linguist, this way of expressing the category of futuralityfunctions until the early New High German period and subsequently goes out of use [12: 85].
The analysis of theoretical works of V.M. Zhirmunsky [13] and N.I. Filicheva [14] allows us to verify the correctness of the presented judgments.
Likewise, there were no special forms of expressing the future tense in Old English. According to a study conducted by Yu.I. Gurova, the use of special lexical means, as well as modal verbs of must and will (sculan and willan) made it possible to refer the action to the sphere of the future, including the future in the past [15: 3494]. The author emphasizes the loss of modal meaning by these verbs at the present stage of development. This point of view can also be found in the works of T.A. Sukhomlina.
The theoretical works of linguists studying the category of the future tense in the Old Norse and Gothic languages are subject to consideration.
According to A.A. Pavlenko, in Icelandic, unlike in English, there were no conditions for grammatization of constructions with modal verbs [16: 165]. Thus, they were able to retain their original modal meaning.
Based on the material of the Gothic language, T.N. Babakina shows the possibilities of forming the category of the future tense by using, along with the indicative, the optative and the imperative, which had the meanings of desirability, possibility. The researcher connects the emergence of the concept of irrealis and the formation of the class of modal verbs (magan, kunnan, muozan) as exponents of internal modality with the Old High German period in the development of the language [17: 40].
Consequently, the category of the future tense in Germanic languages in the diachronic aspect affects such aspects of expression as grammatical forms of the verb (including in Old Icelandic); the ability of modal verbs to express actions directed towards the future (based on the material of Old English and Gothic languages).
Summing up a short review of theoretical works devoted to the representation of the future tense category in Germanic languages, we can emphasize the existenceof the temporal and modal meaning of the futural verb form in linguistics. The use of special lexical “markers” allows you to build statements without using complex analytical verb forms, which leads to a simplification of communication.
As for the question of the degree of study of the grammatical category of the future tense in Germanic languages, its insufficient elaboration should be mentioned, since the verb forms of the future tense themselves appeared in Germanic languages during the period of Middle High German, Middle Icelandic languages, when the tendency in Germanic languages to the emergence of analytical forms was clearly formed language due to the gradual reduction of the verbal inflection. But nevertheless, the question arises about the possibility of clarifying the formation of the future tense already in the ancient period of the development of the Germanic languages, its grammatical basis when comparing such languages-representatives of the Germanic subgroups as Old High German (West Germanic subgroup), Old Icelandic (North Germanic subgroup) and Gothic (East Germanic subgroup) languages. That, without a doubt, is the scientific interest of further studies of the Germanists.
We see a further prospect of the indicated research in the possibility of comparing the languages indicated above, drawing on examples in Old High German, Old Icelandic and Gothic from literary texts in Old High German, Old Icelandic and the text of the Bible in Gothic. This approach will help in finding the grammatical constructions of that time, expressing the future tense. And a comparison of the established structures will allow us to determine the tendency of the formation of the future tense category in the Germanic languages, since the similar in semantics and structure of the verb constructions, the similar use of certain lexical means will manifest this tendency. The proposed approach will ensure the achievement of the set goal and reveal the process of the formation of this category in the Germanic languages of that time.
We consider this approach innovative, since the future tense of Germanic verbs was formed much later, and the very process of its formation and development in the Germanic languages of the period under review has not been sufficiently studied. It was only mentioned incidentally in a number of theoretical works presented above.
The problem proposed by us in this article is still unsolved in modern Germanic studies, since the futural design of the verb in Germanic languages is associated with the formation of its analytical forms, which appeared in the late Middle Ages. And before that, the present tense expressed a certain intention of a person to perform some planned action in the future. In those distant times, a person expressed his idea of the possible performance of an action by combining verbal and other forms of language. And it is precisely this circumstance that represents the prospect of the study of the Germanists. Hence, it seems interesting to find out on the material of representatives of all three Germanic subgroups, using the example of the remaining literary monuments, a set of lexical means. Hypothetically, these can be adverbs, nouns with a temporary meaning indicating the future. This was discussed in the article above.
But there is another aspect, namely the use of modal verbs in Gothic, Old Icelandic and Old High German, which are capable of expressing a person’s desire or need to perform any action in the future. And the set of these modal verbs will show by their frequency the process of their use in the Germanic languages of that time, will show us the tendency of the development of modal verbs. But at the same time there is another goal of such a comparative analysis to clarify the verbs, nouns and adverbs of the tense that existed in the common Germanic basis to reflect the future tense. Such an approach will help complete the process of establishing the process of formation and development of the future tense in Germanic languages, at least partially unfinished in Germanic studies. In this we see the prospect of further development of the proposed study.