194 Jarle Ebeling, Signe Oksefjell Ebeling and Hilde Hasselgård
(26) I stopped asking a long time ago. (EFH1T)
Jeg har sluttet å spørre for lenge siden. (EFH1)
Example (27) shows the use of for the first time with a following reference to a
time span after which something occurs for the first time. The structure is closely
matched by its Norwegian correspondence.
(27) For the first time in several weeks I ’m thinking of my wife. (KF1T)
For første gang på flere uker tenker jeg på min kone. (KF1)
Lit.: ‘for first time in several weeks...’
Almost all the occurrences of the same time (98%) were found in the expression at
the same time. This is the only expression in Table 9 that can assume a non-literal
meaning, viz. as an additive connector (Hasselgård 2010: 210). As Example (28)
shows, the most frequent Norwegian correspondence of at the same time (samti-
dig) has the same potential for non-literal meaning. (Some extra context has been
added to the English example to show the connective meaning more clearly.)
(28) [If I try to see it in the way I imagine altarpieces were perceived more than five
hundred years ago, then the pure figures of Mary and her Child immediately
strike the eye. They glow with a radiant purity.] But at the same time there is
a fateful aura of misfortune around the figure of Mary. (JW1T)
Men samtidig ligger det et skjebnepreget strøk av ulykke over Mariaskikkelsen.
(JW1)
Lit.: ‘but at the same time lies there a fateful streak of misfortune...’
At the same time is most often an independent clause element. However, in one
case it occurs with a modifying clause, which seems to underline the literal mean-
ing of the expression, i.e. “during the same period, at the same moment, not before
or after” (OED). In (29) the time reference is punctual, but the construction can
also be used with reference to a time span.
(29) This happened about the same time Arnold was sent off to a New Norwegian
school. (KFL1T)
Dette er om lag på den tida da Arnold blir send på skulen i lands. (KFL1)
Lit: ‘This is about at the time when Arnold is sent to school on the mainland.’
The first time can also be modified by a clause, which is in fact a rather frequent
colligation of this expression.
(30) That was the first time I realised it was n’t just humans who came to the mar-
ketplaces of the world. (BO1)
Det var første gang jeg skjønte at det ikke bare var mennesker som kom til
verdens markedsplasser. (BO1T)
Lit.: ‘that was first time I realised that it wasn’t just humans...’