Emmanuelle Labeau, Reader in French Language and Linguistics at Aston University (Birmingham, UK), has widely published on French tenses, on which she has directed a dozen of books and journal issues. Her research combines authentic corpora with a systemic approach.

• ContentsForewordPreface: Chronicle of a Death ForetoldList of Figures and TablesAbbreviationsIntroduction1 A Story Needs to Be in the Past Historic. Otherwise, Nobody Knows It’s a Story …2 A Not So Simple Past …3 The Future of This Past …1 Language Evolution1 Introduction2 Stages of Language Evolution3 Innovation4 Propagation5 Mechanisms for Language Evolution6 Results of Language Change7 Evolution in the Domain of the Past8 A ‘Dia-Model’ of Evolution and Change2 Once Upon a Time … There Was the PS1 From Latin to French2 In Old French3 In Middle French4 In Classical French5 In Modern French6 Conclusions on the Diachronic Evolution of the PS3 Favourable Factors for PS Use in Contemporary French1 Age Grading (Personal Diachrony)2 Geographical Variation (Diatopie)3 Social Variation (Diastratie)4 Gender Variation (Diagénie)5 Variation according to the Medium (Diamésie)6 Variation across the Context of Use (Diaphasie)7 Cotextual Variation8 Conclusion on the Diachronic Evolution of PS4 The Not So Simple PS1 Previous Descriptions of the PS2 Defining the Specific Profile of the PS3 Conclusion5 Substitutes for PS in Contemporary French1 The Past Connection2 Going Global3 Looking Forward4 Conclusion6 Methodology for the Corpus Analysis1 Introduction2 Methodology3 Corpus4 Opening7 The PS across Modes in Contemporary French1 Modes of Speech (Conversing)2 Modes of Speech (Monologuing)3 Modes of Speech (Reciting): Néo-contes4 Modes of Speech (Speaking of What Is Written)5 Modes of Writing6 The Actual Use of the PS across Modes8 The PS in Micro-Diachrony1 Presentation of the Corpus2 Corpus Le Monde3 Corpus L’Humanité4 Corpus Le Soir5 Corpus La Libre Belgique6 Conclusions on Sports Reports in Micro-Diachrony9 Conclusions1 Chronicle of a Death Foretold2 Some Hundred Years of Decrepitude?3 Living to Tell the Tale4 On the Day They Were Going to Kill It?References

Emmanuelle Labeau, Reader in French Language and Linguistics at Aston University (Birmingham, UK), has widely published on French tenses, on which she has directed a dozen of books and journal issues. Her research combines authentic corpora with a systemic approach.

• ContentsForewordPreface: Chronicle of a Death ForetoldList of Figures and TablesAbbreviationsIntroduction1 A Story Needs to Be in the Past Historic. Otherwise, Nobody Knows It’s a Story …2 A Not So Simple Past …3 The Future of This Past …1 Language Evolution1 Introduction2 Stages of Language Evolution3 Innovation4 Propagation5 Mechanisms for Language Evolution6 Results of Language Change7 Evolution in the Domain of the Past8 A ‘Dia-Model’ of Evolution and Change2 Once Upon a Time … There Was the PS1 From Latin to French2 In Old French3 In Middle French4 In Classical French5 In Modern French6 Conclusions on the Diachronic Evolution of the PS3 Favourable Factors for PS Use in Contemporary French1 Age Grading (Personal Diachrony)2 Geographical Variation (Diatopie)3 Social Variation (Diastratie)4 Gender Variation (Diagénie)5 Variation according to the Medium (Diamésie)6 Variation across the Context of Use (Diaphasie)7 Cotextual Variation8 Conclusion on the Diachronic Evolution of PS4 The Not So Simple PS1 Previous Descriptions of the PS2 Defining the Specific Profile of the PS3 Conclusion5 Substitutes for PS in Contemporary French1 The Past Connection2 Going Global3 Looking Forward4 Conclusion6 Methodology for the Corpus Analysis1 Introduction2 Methodology3 Corpus4 Opening7 The PS across Modes in Contemporary French1 Modes of Speech (Conversing)2 Modes of Speech (Monologuing)3 Modes of Speech (Reciting): Néo-contes4 Modes of Speech (Speaking of What Is Written)5 Modes of Writing6 The Actual Use of the PS across Modes8 The PS in Micro-Diachrony1 Presentation of the Corpus2 Corpus Le Monde3 Corpus L’Humanité4 Corpus Le Soir5 Corpus La Libre Belgique6 Conclusions on Sports Reports in Micro-Diachrony9 Conclusions1 Chronicle of a Death Foretold2 Some Hundred Years of Decrepitude?3 Living to Tell the Tale4 On the Day They Were Going to Kill It?References

Emmanuelle Labeau, Reader in French Language and Linguistics at Aston University (Birmingham, UK), has widely published on French tenses, on which she has directed a dozen of books and journal issues. Her research combines authentic corpora with a systemic approach.

• ContentsForewordPreface: Chronicle of a Death ForetoldList of Figures and TablesAbbreviationsIntroduction1 A Story Needs to Be in the Past Historic. Otherwise, Nobody Knows It’s a Story …2 A Not So Simple Past …3 The Future of This Past …1 Language Evolution1 Introduction2 Stages of Language Evolution3 Innovation4 Propagation5 Mechanisms for Language Evolution6 Results of Language Change7 Evolution in the Domain of the Past8 A ‘Dia-Model’ of Evolution and Change2 Once Upon a Time … There Was the PS1 From Latin to French2 In Old French3 In Middle French4 In Classical French5 In Modern French6 Conclusions on the Diachronic Evolution of the PS3 Favourable Factors for PS Use in Contemporary French1 Age Grading (Personal Diachrony)2 Geographical Variation (Diatopie)3 Social Variation (Diastratie)4 Gender Variation (Diagénie)5 Variation according to the Medium (Diamésie)6 Variation across the Context of Use (Diaphasie)7 Cotextual Variation8 Conclusion on the Diachronic Evolution of PS4 The Not So Simple PS1 Previous Descriptions of the PS2 Defining the Specific Profile of the PS3 Conclusion5 Substitutes for PS in Contemporary French1 The Past Connection2 Going Global3 Looking Forward4 Conclusion6 Methodology for the Corpus Analysis1 Introduction2 Methodology3 Corpus4 Opening7 The PS across Modes in Contemporary French1 Modes of Speech (Conversing)2 Modes of Speech (Monologuing)3 Modes of Speech (Reciting): Néo-contes4 Modes of Speech (Speaking of What Is Written)5 Modes of Writing6 The Actual Use of the PS across Modes8 The PS in Micro-Diachrony1 Presentation of the Corpus2 Corpus Le Monde3 Corpus L’Humanité4 Corpus Le Soir5 Corpus La Libre Belgique6 Conclusions on Sports Reports in Micro-Diachrony9 Conclusions1 Chronicle of a Death Foretold2 Some Hundred Years of Decrepitude?3 Living to Tell the Tale4 On the Day They Were Going to Kill It?References