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4. Back to the future

Just where are forthcoming events located?

Abstract

This chapter addresses the question posed in these volumes of the interrelationship of time and space. It contrasts the view that the concept of space structures that of time with the alternative that there is a close relationship between time and epistemic modality. Focusing on metaphors, the chapter argues that casting events as physical objects located in positions around Ego, i.e. an individual at the deictic centre, allows the degree to which Ego can physically interact with the event-objects to be inferred. It is argued that mental interaction can be metaphorically cast as physical interaction and consequently the location of an event allows the degree of epistemic detachment from the event (a modal concept) to be determined.

Abstract

This chapter addresses the question posed in these volumes of the interrelationship of time and space. It contrasts the view that the concept of space structures that of time with the alternative that there is a close relationship between time and epistemic modality. Focusing on metaphors, the chapter argues that casting events as physical objects located in positions around Ego, i.e. an individual at the deictic centre, allows the degree to which Ego can physically interact with the event-objects to be inferred. It is argued that mental interaction can be metaphorically cast as physical interaction and consequently the location of an event allows the degree of epistemic detachment from the event (a modal concept) to be determined.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Editors and contributors vii
  4. Foreword: Space and time in languages, cultures, and cognition xi
  5. Introduction: Linguistic, cultural, and cognitive approaches to space and time 1
  6. Part I. Linguistic and conceptual representation of events
  7. 1. Event-based time intervals in an Amazonian culture 15
  8. 2. Vagueness in event times 37
  9. 3. Aspectual coercions in content composition 55
  10. 4. Back to the future 83
  11. Part II. Cultural perspectives on space and time
  12. 5. The “Russian” attitude to time 103
  13. 6. Two temporalities of the Mongolian wolf hunter 121
  14. 7. Koromu temporal expressions 143
  15. 8. Universals and specifics of ‘time’ in Russian 167
  16. Part III. Conceptualizing spatio-temporal relations
  17. 9. Linguistic manifestations of the space-time (dis)analogy 191
  18. 10. Vectors and frames of reference 217
  19. 11. Verbal and gestural expression of motion in French and Czech 251
  20. 12. Language-specific effects on lexicalisation and memory of motion events 269
  21. 13. Space and time in episodic memory 283
  22. 14. Conceptualizing the present through construal aspects 305
  23. 15. From perception of spatial artefacts to metaphorical meaning 329
  24. Contents of the companion volume 351
  25. Name index 355
  26. Subject index 359
  27. Language index 363
Space and Time in Languages and Cultures
This chapter is in the book Space and Time in Languages and Cultures
https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.37.08wal

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Editors and contributors vii
  4. Foreword: Space and time in languages, cultures, and cognition xi
  5. Introduction: Linguistic, cultural, and cognitive approaches to space and time 1
  6. Part I. Linguistic and conceptual representation of events
  7. 1. Event-based time intervals in an Amazonian culture 15
  8. 2. Vagueness in event times 37
  9. 3. Aspectual coercions in content composition 55
  10. 4. Back to the future 83
  11. Part II. Cultural perspectives on space and time
  12. 5. The “Russian” attitude to time 103
  13. 6. Two temporalities of the Mongolian wolf hunter 121
  14. 7. Koromu temporal expressions 143
  15. 8. Universals and specifics of ‘time’ in Russian 167
  16. Part III. Conceptualizing spatio-temporal relations
  17. 9. Linguistic manifestations of the space-time (dis)analogy 191
  18. 10. Vectors and frames of reference 217
  19. 11. Verbal and gestural expression of motion in French and Czech 251
  20. 12. Language-specific effects on lexicalisation and memory of motion events 269
  21. 13. Space and time in episodic memory 283
  22. 14. Conceptualizing the present through construal aspects 305
  23. 15. From perception of spatial artefacts to metaphorical meaning 329
  24. Contents of the companion volume 351
  25. Name index 355
  26. Subject index 359
  27. Language index 363
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