Yijing (已经)

[Altair]

On a different thread (Tsunami Economic Impact (translation)), akdn posted a link to an article that had at least three different instances of the word 已经 in the last paragraph, which I reproduce here:

　　马尔代夫这个由珊瑚礁组成的岛国绝大部分领土海拔不到一米，此次可谓遭灭顶之灾，首都马累的三分之二面积已经被海水淹没，首都的国际机场已经关闭。而其他的约200个岛屿当中，很多岛已经失去通讯联系。

My dictionaries claim that 已经 means "already," and yet "already" does not seem an appropriate translation for 已经 in any of these occurrences. What exactly does 已经 mean?

In these sentences, 已经 seems to stress that a change has occurred that leaves things in a transformed state. Is this correct? Below is the translation of what I am guessing is meant:

"The Maldives is an island nation composed of coral reefs and has a territory that is mostly less than one meter above sea level. In this case, one can truly say that it has been swamped by the disaster, leaving two thirds of the capital, Malei, inundated by seawater, and leaving the capital's international airport closed. In addition, many of the other approximately 200 islands have lost communication links."

[xiaocai]

我想，“已经”可能类似于英语tense中的“perfect",也就是have done或者had done的意思吧？

[seesaw]

In these sentences, 已经 seems to stress that a change has occurred that leaves things in a transformed state. Is this correct?

我同意。事实上在我看来，在大多数情况下，“已经”所想表达的，都是这种意思。例如：

我已经没什么钱了。（某种程度上暗示“我曾经很有钱”。）

这里已经不再是广场了。（以前这里还是广场。）

[Altair]

Thanks for your replies. They are very helpful.

In trying to explain when to use 了 and when not to, my grammar books sometimes imply that using 了 is the equivalent of the English perfect tense. I have found this not to be the case. Seeing this function in 已经 makes this conclusion even more clear.

I also like the reference to 曾经 . To the extent possible, I try to learn languages by using the most literal equivalents if possible. I find that this helps to think in the language. The character 经 is common to the two expressions and seems to mean something like "undergoing" an experience. In 曾经, the subject has undergoing the experience once. In 已经, the subject either undergoes the experience before something else or in contrast to some previous state.

[seesaw]

关于“了”、“曾经”和“过”，我的一点个人看法

“了”和Perfect Tense/Past Tense

是有很多文章或书籍指出“了”类似于英语中的Perfect Tense. 但是我个人认为单独的使用“了”更多的是表示英语中的Past Tense. 因为，表示Perfect Tense时，我们往往会使用其它一些像“已经”这样更明显的词——代替或者辅助“了”。例如：

我昨天去了那里。

I went there yesterday.

他死了。

He died. (He has died.)

他已经死了。

He has (already) died.

“曾”

不是所有Past Tense都可以用“了”表示。“是”、“有”之类表示状态的动词，不能用“了”来表示Past Tense. 这时候我们用“曾”或者“曾经”。但是它们是放在动词前边的：

我曾是个学生。

I was (once) a student.

我曾经有很多朋友。

I (once) had many friends.

值得注意的是，使用“曾”就不应该再使用一个时间状语。例如：

那时候我（还）是一个学生。

那时候我有很多朋友。

三年前我曾经有很多朋友。{不太正确}

另外，“曾”或者“曾经”暗示了“现在已经不”这个意思。

我曾是个学生。（我现在不再是学生了。）

“过”vs“了”

一般的，用“了”来表示Past Tense的句子，其中的“了”可以替换成“过”。与“了”不同的是，“过”暗示了动词所引发的状态已经不存在了。例如：

我昨天去过那里。

I went there yesterday. But I am not there now.

他死过。

He died. But somebody relived him later.

“有”和“过”/“了”

除了“曾有”，我们还说“有过”、“有了”。“有过”和“曾有”是相同的。

我曾经有三个孩子。 = 我有过三个孩子。

“有过”更口语化一些。

“有了”则用来表示“以前没有，这时候开始有”。例如：

那时候，她有了一个孩子。

我有了一个主意。（我刚刚想起来一个主意。）