The English Present Perfect Puzzle

This work studies several related phenomena of the English present perfect puzzle via two phases of the proposed mechanism: the temporal meaning of tense and aspect to describe how a situation (eventuality) developes or holds in time and the epistemic meaning that contributes epistemological concerns and conveying strategies to the present perfect, visible as the RTVC (Revised Truth Values Checking) principle in form. I reveal a formal structure for the puzzle represented by a refined abstract time where the RTVC principle offers solutions to the puzzling phenomena.The temporal meaning is calculated in a given temporal model by aspect operator Perf and tense operator Pres, intuitively visible in eventing-in theory of the Davidsonian-Priorian synthesis. Aspect determines the actual eventuality's each interval-axis location by constant assignment function and tense elevates such onto present view by variable assignment functions on abstract time.The epistemic meaning is envisaged by aspect operator Perf in the given intensional model. Because of the aspect-before-tense hypothesis and the rule-to-rule hypothesis, I implement Montague's quantifying-in for the syntactic reflex and semantic interpretation of the present perfect, which is analyzed as Perf(Pres(Perf'(φ))), in case that aspect Perf couldn't be utilized twice. Therefore, the two hypotheses are peaceful to each other; the epistemic meaning is calucated in logic and has its semantic interpretation understandable in eventing-in theory adhering to syntactic reflex and the compositionality principle.The standard temporal model is generally suitable for the temporal meaning when appears in the first place. For the epistemic meaning, it is then revised to incorporate epistemic logic, belief, knowledge, accessibility and possible worlds (based on Kripke Struture). The revised temporal model correlates both semantics and pragmatics, which in return reveals speaker's psychological strategies of utilizing the present perfect. After surveying the generals of tense studies of formal semantics and five kinds of theories for the puzzle, the theoretical framework is given at first where I introduce and refine temporality on purpose, demonstrate properties of abstract time, define the Truth Values Checking principle (TVC) in model for the first time and propound eventing-in comparable to quantifiying-in with aspect working twice. For semantic interpretation, the structure of time axis is further specifized, temporal model and TVC are revised, and typical phenomena are formally analyzed in the intensional model so that the explanatory consequences are computably possible.