The semantic value of keep and resume (and repeat) compared

Freed (1979) analyzes the meaning of keep with respect to continue. Working

within the presupposition and consequence theory, Freed attributes a different value to keep from continue: while continue presupposes the prior initiation of the

event in question this is a consequence and not a presupposition for keep. In

keeping with this interpretation, (1) with continue presupposes the prior occurrence

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consequence than a presupposition. Freed also argues that in case keep occurs with

series, the prior occurrence of the event may not even be a consequence for keep.

Sentence (3) does not have either as presupposition or as consequence the prior occurrence of slamming the door.

(1) Carol continued talking even after we asked her to be quiet. (2) Carol kept talking even after we asked her to be quiet.

(3) Someone kept slamming the door all night. (Freed: 90)

Another feature attributed to keep is causality. The construction in which keep

appears shows that keep is marked for causality; sentence (5) with ‘caused to V’ is

a possible paraphrase of (4). Such a structure is not possible for continue since continue is not marked for causality (6):

(4) The performers kept the audience waiting. (Freed: 97) (5) The performers caused the audience to wait.

(6) *The performers continued the audience waiting. (Freed: 98)

Related to the causal nature of keep is the fact that unlike continue, which usually

operates on identical subjects, keep can also appear with non-identical subjects as

(7) also shows:

(7) We kept the conversation going. (Freed: 97)

Duffley (2006) notes that the main use of keep is to express an uninterrupted

activity as in (8); this is related to that of ‘remaining in a particular sense’ meaning of keep (9). Duffley also notes that keep often expresses the idea of doing

something repeatedly (an example of this is (10):

(8) I turned back a while, but he kept walking.

(9) To keep warm they burnt wood in a rusty oil barrel.

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The idea of iteration expressed by keep is often associated with the impression of

inability to get out of a habit which is associated with keep+ ing; sentence (10)

implies the inability to get rid of a habit (that of forgetting that it’s December). In this case keep could not be substituted by continue, since continue does not imply

this sense of the inability on the part of the subject.

Besides the values mentioned so far, Wierzbicka (1988) attributes other additional values to keep. She states that keep often expresses unpredictable behaviour on the

part of the subject. Unlike continue, which refers to reasonable expectations, keep

often expresses the subject’s unpredictable and arbitrary behaviour. According to this interpretation, (11) with continue + to infinitive can be considered to express a

reasonable expectation, (12) by contrast, Mary’s unpredictable activity (that of painting the car).

(11) Mary continued to paint the car.

(12) Mary kept painting her car. (Wierzbicka:82)

Resume is different from keep in that it always presupposes the prior occurrence of

the event, keep, however, doesn’t. Besides presupposing the prior occurrence of the

event, resume also implies the interruption of the event; that is, it presupposes both

the prior initiation and cessation of the event named in its complement (Freed’s 1979). Freed’s interpretation is in accordance with the definitions given in dictionaries (e.g. the Mirriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (1998) defines

resume as ‘to return to or begin again after interruption’).

The fact that resume presupposes both the prior initiation and cessation of an event

makes it also different from continue (continue does not always presuppose the

interruption of the event of the complement).

An interesting characteristic of resume mentioned by Freed is that resume asserts

that the action is begun again and not started again. This means that the action is started again not from the onset but rather from the initial part of the nucleus or from some unspecified part of the nucleus.

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Of all the aspectualizers mentioned, repeat has the most restricted use; it does not

seem to take sentential complements as its argument, but it mostly appears with primitive nouns (13), derived nominals (14) and pronouns (15). In a very few cases, repeat can also allow for non-finite –ing complementation (in instructions,

as e.g. in user’s manuals (16 -17):

(13) Nora repeated her question several times.

(14) My mother is tired of repeating the reasoning behind her decision.

(15) The doctor said that the success of the operation had been a fluke and that he doubted whether he could repeat it. (Freed: 104) (16) Please supply a valid package selection (space fill field if LATEST required). Invalid package selection: string of x's to indicate where message would be. (…) Please supply a valid package selection (…) repeat listing at a lower level

package. (BNC)

(17) You should repeat supplying valid information for all mandatory fields. Duplicate module names are not permitted. (..) Duplicate module names are not permitted and so you should repeat supplying a module name once only.

(BNC)

Freed (1979) notes that unlike resume, which presupposes both the prior initiation

and cessation of the event in question repeat presupposes the prior initiation and

completion of the event. According to this interpretation, (13) presuposes (18) and (14) sentence (19). Resume is different from repeat in that it does not presuppose

the completion of the complement so that only those events can be resumed that are not yet completed. Repeat usually implies a one-time repetition of the

complement verb; in case it is followed by a time adverbial that specifies the number of repetitions (‘four times’ in sentence 20) repeat can also express more

than one time repetition of the event expressed by the complement:

(18) Nora had already asked her question.

(19) My mother had already stated the reasoning behind her decision.

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