7. Koromu temporal expressions
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Carol Priestley
Abstract
This chapter examines different types of time expressed in Koromu (Kesawai), a Papuan language, to show the interaction of time expressions with cultural and environmental contexts and to investigate semantic description. Meanings are explicated in a metalanguage based on semantic primitives (cf. Wierzbicka 1996; Goddard 2008; Gladkova, this volume). The discovery of natural semantic metalanguage (NSM) temporal primes and investigation of semantic molecules, non-primitive meanings that occur within the meaning of other concepts, promotes comparative and contrastive semantic description. The finding of culture-specific concepts referring to ‘time-’ and ‘event-based’ time intervals (cf. da Silva Sinha et al., this volume), linear and cyclical time (cf. Charlier, this volume), suggests that a range of expressions need consideration when cultural perspectives are assessed.
Abstract
This chapter examines different types of time expressed in Koromu (Kesawai), a Papuan language, to show the interaction of time expressions with cultural and environmental contexts and to investigate semantic description. Meanings are explicated in a metalanguage based on semantic primitives (cf. Wierzbicka 1996; Goddard 2008; Gladkova, this volume). The discovery of natural semantic metalanguage (NSM) temporal primes and investigation of semantic molecules, non-primitive meanings that occur within the meaning of other concepts, promotes comparative and contrastive semantic description. The finding of culture-specific concepts referring to ‘time-’ and ‘event-based’ time intervals (cf. da Silva Sinha et al., this volume), linear and cyclical time (cf. Charlier, this volume), suggests that a range of expressions need consideration when cultural perspectives are assessed.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Editors and contributors vii
- Foreword: Space and time in languages, cultures, and cognition xi
- Introduction: Linguistic, cultural, and cognitive approaches to space and time 1
-
Part I. Linguistic and conceptual representation of events
- 1. Event-based time intervals in an Amazonian culture 15
- 2. Vagueness in event times 37
- 3. Aspectual coercions in content composition 55
- 4. Back to the future 83
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Part II. Cultural perspectives on space and time
- 5. The “Russian” attitude to time 103
- 6. Two temporalities of the Mongolian wolf hunter 121
- 7. Koromu temporal expressions 143
- 8. Universals and specifics of ‘time’ in Russian 167
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Part III. Conceptualizing spatio-temporal relations
- 9. Linguistic manifestations of the space-time (dis)analogy 191
- 10. Vectors and frames of reference 217
- 11. Verbal and gestural expression of motion in French and Czech 251
- 12. Language-specific effects on lexicalisation and memory of motion events 269
- 13. Space and time in episodic memory 283
- 14. Conceptualizing the present through construal aspects 305
- 15. From perception of spatial artefacts to metaphorical meaning 329
- Contents of the companion volume 351
- Name index 355
- Subject index 359
- Language index 363
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Editors and contributors vii
- Foreword: Space and time in languages, cultures, and cognition xi
- Introduction: Linguistic, cultural, and cognitive approaches to space and time 1
-
Part I. Linguistic and conceptual representation of events
- 1. Event-based time intervals in an Amazonian culture 15
- 2. Vagueness in event times 37
- 3. Aspectual coercions in content composition 55
- 4. Back to the future 83
-
Part II. Cultural perspectives on space and time
- 5. The “Russian” attitude to time 103
- 6. Two temporalities of the Mongolian wolf hunter 121
- 7. Koromu temporal expressions 143
- 8. Universals and specifics of ‘time’ in Russian 167
-
Part III. Conceptualizing spatio-temporal relations
- 9. Linguistic manifestations of the space-time (dis)analogy 191
- 10. Vectors and frames of reference 217
- 11. Verbal and gestural expression of motion in French and Czech 251
- 12. Language-specific effects on lexicalisation and memory of motion events 269
- 13. Space and time in episodic memory 283
- 14. Conceptualizing the present through construal aspects 305
- 15. From perception of spatial artefacts to metaphorical meaning 329
- Contents of the companion volume 351
- Name index 355
- Subject index 359
- Language index 363
