「～を最後に」: Instance and Continuous State?

[Glenn]

This sentence threw me at first:

今月１日を最後に消息が伝えられていない中国の習近平国家副主席について、「小さな肝臓がんが見つかり、手 術を受けた」と香港の人権団体が伝えました。

Particularly the first part. It seems like 今月１日を最後に消息が伝えられ would be followed by た, not ていない. My way of thinking is that it makes more sense (and is more in line with the grammar of ～を最後に) that the next thing would come would be that the first of this month that was the last time news about him was heard, not that it's been since then that no news has been heard. I'm not sure if it's that flexible and I was thinking it was more limited than it is or what. I feel like something as instance-specific as ～を最後に would require an instantaneous tense, and not a continuous state. Am I just wrong? Or is this at least a newer usage?

 

[Toritoribe]

～を最後に･･･していない means ～に･･･したのを最後に･･･していない.

今月１日に消息が伝えられたのを最後に（その後）消息 が伝えられていない中国の習近平国家副主席

 

[Glenn]

Hmm... OK, but that still feels weird to me. At any rate, I apparently was outright wrong about it. At least I could understand the meaning despite that.

 

[Toritoribe]

Oh, I might misread your initial post. Do you mean that it should be 今月１日を最後に消息が伝えられていなかった? If so, probably the reason is that the source of the news is not so reliable and the state that the news about him is not heard has been still continuing. If it's offcially announced by the Chinese government, it would be written 消息が伝えられていなかった.

 

[LouisvG]

I suppose I would read it in my mind as "Mr. Something-something, of whom there's been no word, with the last [such word] having been on the first of this month."

 

[Glenn]

Oh, I might misread your initial post. Do you mean that it should be 今月１日を最後に消息が伝えられていなかった? If so, probably the reason is that the source of the news is not so reliable and the state that the news about him is not heard has been still continuing. If it's offcially announced by the Chinese government, it would be written 消息が伝えられていなかった.

No, I meant 伝えられた. You understood correctly. That's why it feels so strange to me, because it was fairly far from what I was expecting.

I suppose I would read it in my mind as "Mr. Something-something, of whom there's been no word, with the last [such word] having been on the first of this month."

I ended up with, "Regarding Vice Chairman Xi Jinping, from whom there's been no information reported since the first of this month..." which I feel is a fairly strong translation. But the problem was what I was expecting when I saw 今月１日を最後に消息が伝えられ was about as far from ていない as you can get.

 

[Toritoribe]

"Regarding Vice Chairman Xi Jinping, from whom there's been no information reported since the first of this month..." which I feel is a fairly strong translation.

Yeah, that's perfect!