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9. Linguistic manifestations of the space-time (dis)analogy

Abstract

As facets of interpreted experience, space and time are highly variable in their linguistic manifestation. Universal aspects of language structure reflect a more basic level of apprehension. Space and time have a foundational role in grammar. Objects and events, the prototypes for nouns and verbs, are primarily conceived, respectively, as spatial and temporal entities. The extensive noun-verb parallelism suggests that space and time merit unified treatment. However, certain asymmetries suggest that time has a special status. Time has multiple roles in language. It is always the medium of conceptualising activity and serves in various capacities as an object of conception. The dynamic conception of space, through time, makes possible the metaphorical conception of time itself, in terms of space.

Abstract

As facets of interpreted experience, space and time are highly variable in their linguistic manifestation. Universal aspects of language structure reflect a more basic level of apprehension. Space and time have a foundational role in grammar. Objects and events, the prototypes for nouns and verbs, are primarily conceived, respectively, as spatial and temporal entities. The extensive noun-verb parallelism suggests that space and time merit unified treatment. However, certain asymmetries suggest that time has a special status. Time has multiple roles in language. It is always the medium of conceptualising activity and serves in various capacities as an object of conception. The dynamic conception of space, through time, makes possible the metaphorical conception of time itself, in terms of space.

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.37.15lan

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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