Temporal monoreferentials in French (hier, aujourd'hui, demain, the names of the days and the names of the months), although used frequently, were never the subject of a comprehensive study before Curat (1999), resulting in imprecision and inconsistency in their classification. Defining their status is thus at the centre of this study, which shows that hier, aujourd'hui, demain and the names of the days are substantives, but unlike other substantives, they can, in themselves, refer to a «sole individual* and play the role of noun phrases without a determiner. Their usage without a determiner depends on their link to the nexus ego-hic-nunc (they are defined by the time of their enunciation) and the unicity of their referent. They do, however, require the presence of a determiner once detached from that nexus or when they refer to several referents (real or not). A more or less strong lexical predisposition for «nynegocentric» (i.e speaker referential) deicticity allows their lexeme to have a special link with the nexus ego-hic-nunc, and the nexus thus imposes the monoreferential constraint - hence the use without a determiner. In first place on the scale of nynegocentric deicticity are the terms which make up the enunciative framework (je, tu, ici, etc.). Hier, aujourd'hui and demain are placed second: they but rarely accept the presence of a determiner. Next are the names of the days, which may be used with or without a determiner, followed by the other substantives which require the presence of a determiner for reference purposes. One can thus conclude that hier, aujourd'hui, demain and the names of the days make up a subcategory of common nouns. The operation of the names of the months differs from that of the names of the days in terms of both syntax and reference (they seldom vary in number, refer to one individual, and function without a determiner most of the time, independently of any link with the nexus ego-hic-nunc); it more closely reflects that of proper nouns. They form a subcategory of proper nouns. The approach used, based primarily on the work of Kleiber and Curat, was grammatical, semantic and deictic.

Temporal monoreferentials in French (hier, aujourd'hui, demain, the names of the days and the names of the months), although used frequently, were never the subject of a comprehensive study before Curat (1999), resulting in imprecision and inconsistency in their classification. Defining their status is thus at the centre of this study, which shows that hier, aujourd'hui, demain and the names of the days are substantives, but unlike other substantives, they can, in themselves, refer to a «sole individual* and play the role of noun phrases without a determiner. Their usage without a determiner depends on their link to the nexus ego-hic-nunc (they are defined by the time of their enunciation) and the unicity of their referent. They do, however, require the presence of a determiner once detached from that nexus or when they refer to several referents (real or not). A more or less strong lexical predisposition for «nynegocentric» (i.e speaker referential) deicticity allows their lexeme to have a special link with the nexus ego-hic-nunc, and the nexus thus imposes the monoreferential constraint - hence the use without a determiner. In first place on the scale of nynegocentric deicticity are the terms which make up the enunciative framework (je, tu, ici, etc.). Hier, aujourd'hui and demain are placed second: they but rarely accept the presence of a determiner. Next are the names of the days, which may be used with or without a determiner, followed by the other substantives which require the presence of a determiner for reference purposes. One can thus conclude that hier, aujourd'hui, demain and the names of the days make up a subcategory of common nouns. The operation of the names of the months differs from that of the names of the days in terms of both syntax and reference (they seldom vary in number, refer to one individual, and function without a determiner most of the time, independently of any link with the nexus ego-hic-nunc); it more closely reflects that of proper nouns. They form a subcategory of proper nouns. The approach used, based primarily on the work of Kleiber and Curat, was grammatical, semantic and deictic. / Arts, Faculty of / French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies, Department of / Graduate

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In orthodox linguistics, the relations between time and language are recognized only to a limited extent. Although there have been abundant and substantial investigations into the two topics of temporal deixis and linguistic change (Harris, 2006, pp. 28-29), questions concerning what integrational linguists call “cotemporality” remain largely unexplored. The principle of cotemporality, in integrational linguistic terms, states that “[t]he chronological integration of language with events in our daily lives requires us to suppose that what is said is immediately relevant to the current situation, unless there is reason to suppose otherwise.”(Harris, 1996, p. 81) The time-bounded nature of language, as spelled out in this principle, is not only of theoretical weight to linguistics, but also valuable to the understanding of time, and it is in this sense that the lack of relevant researches in orthodox linguistics signals the failure to realize the mutual dependence of a proper linguistic theory and a proper temporal theory. The general interest of this thesis is to explore the interrelationship between time and language from an integrational linguistic perspective. To do this, the Saussurean anachronic linguistic model (1983) is called under scrutiny with the conclusion that it is beset by an inadequate notion of time and an inadequate view of history, induced largely by western literacy. Second, the theories against the reality of time put forward by philosopher McTaggart (1908) and physicist Greene (2004, 2011) are examined and I argue that they are built upon the psychocentric and reocentric (Harris, 2005, p. 3) versions of the fixed-code model of language respectively. Lastly, I deal with the very concept of time and take an integrational approach towards its reality, signhood, and in turn the principle of cotemporality. It is by this reflexive analysis that we can finally come to a clearer vision and a deeper understanding of time, language as well as integrational linguistics itself. / published_or_final_version / English / Master / Master of Philosophy

This thesis introduces of a system of tense logic called nominal tense logic (NTL), and several extensions. Its primary aim is to establish that these systems are logically interesting, and can provide useful models of natural language tense, temporal reference, and their interaction. Languages of nominal tense logic are a simple augmentation of Priorean tense logic. They add to the familiar Priorean languages a new sort of atomic symbol, nominals. Like propositional variables, nominals are atomic sentences and may be freely combined with other wffs using the usual connectives. When interpreting these languages we handle the Priorean components standardly, but insist that nominals must be true at one and only one time. We can think of nominals as naming this time. Logically, the change increases the expressive power of tensed languages. There are certain intuitions about the flow of time, such as irreflexivity, that cannot be expressed in Priorean languages; with nominals they can. The effects of this increase in expressive power on the usual model theoretic results for tensed languages discussed, and completeness and decidability results for several temporally interesting classes of frames are given. Various extensions of the basic system are also investigated and similar results are proved. In the final chapter a brief treatment of similarly referential interval based logics is presented. As far as natural language semantics is concerned, the change is an important one. A familiar criticism of Priorean tense logic is that as it lacks any mechanism for temporal reference, it cannot provide realistic models of natural language temporal usage. Natural language tense is at least partly about referring to times, and nowadays the deictic and anaphoric properties of tense are a focus of research. The thesis presents a uniform treatment of certain temporally referring expressions such as indexicals, and simple discourse phenomena.

published_or_final_version / Linguistics / Master / Master of Philosophy

This study sought to investigate how temporal relations are expressed in Mandarin and isiXhosa. The objective was to compare how two typologically distinct languages, one isolating and the other agglutinating, cope with the encoding of situations that occur at different positions on the time line. Data was drawn from questionnaire responses from, and interviews with, isiXhosa speakers who provided translations of a wide range of sentences from English into isiXhosa. The study revealed that isiXhosa relies on the grammatical category – tense – to encode temporal relations, while Mandarin relies more on lexical and pragmatic devices – the use of temporal adverbials and the implication of aspectual markings – to locate a situation on the time line. Typically, each sentence in isiXhosa must be marked for tense: temporal adverbials are optional elements and used to more precisely locate the situation on the time line. By contrast, in Mandarin, temporal adverbials have a more central function in that they independently express different positions on the time line: without temporal adverbials, it is extremely difficult to locate a situation on the time line in some sentences. Another important difference between the two languages was revealed in this study: isiXhosa grammar allows speakers to talk about situations in terms of their distance (past or future) from the speech time whereas Mandarin grammar allows its speakers to talk about situations in terms of the internal properties (e.g. completed, ongoing, etc.) of those situations. The study revealed that isiXhosa and Mandarin are similar in one important respect: both languages have no formal properties, i.e. overt tense markers (isiXhosa) and compulsory temporal adverbials or other temporal devices (Mandarin) for marking the temporal location of present situations. The study also revealed that both languages encode ‘pastness’ in terms of whether or not the effects of the situation in question still remain at speech time.

This dissertation is concerned with the relationship between morphological tense forms of Japanese, such as (r)u ("non-past") and ta ("past"), and their temporal interpretation. The goal of the research reported here is to establish a simple overall theory. The analysis focuses on the following sentence types: simple sentences, complex sentences (without conditional sentences), conditional complex sentences and sentences with an embedded clause. We will show here a few examples of problems as to temporal interpretations. In simple sentences, there are cases such as (1), which deviate from the norm of "normal" interpretation. Sentence (1) (with the “past” form of ta) can be uttered felicitously even in a situation where the bus in question has not yet arrived. (1)Busu ga ki-ta! Bus nom come-ta ‘The bus is coming.’ Or ‘The bus has come.’ In complex sentences, the antecedent clause in sentences with toki 'when', can take either (r)u or ta forms in sentence (2), while it cannot take the ta form in sentence 93), although the antecedent clauses in both sentences are interpreted as non-past. (2) Kondo a-u/at-ta toki, hanashi-ma-su. Next-time see-(r)u/see-ta toki talk-polite-(r)u ‘Next time when (I) see (you), (I) will tell (it to you).’ (3)Yuushoku o su-ru/*shi-ta toki, biiru o nom-u. supper acc do-(r)u/do-ta toki beer acc drink-(r)u ‘When (I) take supper, (I) will drink beer.’ In regard to conditional complex sentences, there can be a problem interpreting ta, as in hypothetical sentence (4) below. The ta of the consequent clause in example (4) cannot be evaluated (interpreted) as being the same as the ta in example (5) where we have an indicative sentence. (4) Taroo wa benkyoo shi-ta ra, shaken ni pasu shi-ta (no ni). Taro top study do-ta ra exam in pass do-ta (SFP-‘wishing’) ‘Had Taro studied, he should/would have passed the exam.’ (5) Taroo wa shiken ni pasu shi-ta. ‘Taro passed the exam.’ In this account the morphemes (r)u and ta will be associated with a single interpretation. Therefore, the difference between (2) and (3) will be attributed to two distinct modes of composition. In order to solve the problem of simple sentences wuch as (1) (which deviate from the norm of "normal interpretations"), a pragmatic (contextual) approach will be introduced. In regard to conditional sentences, interpretations will be classified on the basis of truth relations and temporal interpretations of antecedent and consequent. In order to treat the range of observed truth relations, a model of time and worlds will be introduced. In summary, in order to solve the problematic phenomena of relationships between the tense forms and their interpretations, the following approaches will be taken: (i) Use of a time model; (ii) Analysis of lexical properties; (iii) Sentence composition; (iv) Contextual analysis for pragmatic aspects.

Dissertation (PhD)--University of Stellenbosch, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study deals with three interrelated types of information about sentences in Zulu, i.e. situation aspect or events, viewpoint aspect which includes i.a. the perfective and imperfective aspect and the contribution of the temporal location of a sentence focusing on the basic tenses. The semantic feature of temporal location has been integrated with the view of the two components in sentences i.e. aspectual situation type and viewpoint. Vendier's classification of aspectual classes formed a base from which the Zulu event structure has been discussed. The contribution of the two theories, i.e. the Two Component theory of Smith (1997) and the Event Structure of Pustejovsky (1995) which is situated within the Generative Lexicon theory of lexical semantics featured prominently in the analysis of events and states in Zulu. A conclusion has been reached that there are four situation types relevant to Zulu and distinguished from each other by different temporal features. These situation types feature basic-level and derived-level types (according to Smith (1997)). Three event types have been identified for Zulu, i.e. state, process and transition (according to Pustejovsky (1995)). Events are complex semantic objects resulting in an extended event structure. Event structure classification for Zulu is established with structured sub-event. These event structures are defined with respect to three different types of ordering relation between sub-event, i.e. temporally ordered subevents, simultaneous sub-event and temporal overlap. The event structure has been distinguished through event headedness which give rise to twelve possible constructions. The basic principles and the temporal structures underlying the Zulu tenses are viewed in relation to the moment of speech, time of the situation and the reference time in the structure of tenses as shown in the viewpoint of Reichenbach developed by Hornstein (1990). The role played by adverbs as modifiers of tense is highlighted. The behavior of bounded and unbounded sentences in relation to tense is mentioned. Regarding the expression of aspect in Zulu, a clear distinction has been established between perfective and imperfective in Zulu. The aspect appears as an inflectional category within syntax. These categories may have a maximal projection according to the X-bar theory. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie gee aandag aan drie onderling verbonde tipes inligting oor sinne in. Zulu, d.i. die situasie-aspek of die gebeure, gesigspunt-aspek wat, onder andere, die perfektiewe en imperfektiewe aspek insluit en die bydrae van die temporele lokasie van 'n sin, met die fokus op die basiese tye. Die semantiese verskynsel van temporele lokasie is geintegreer met die aanname van die twee komponente in sinne, d.i. aspektueie situasie tipe, en die gesigspunt. Vendier se klassifikasie van aspektueie klasse het die basis gevorm waarvan daan die Zulu gebeure struktuur bespreek is. Die bydrae van die twee teorië, d.i. die Twee Komponent teorie van Smith (1997) en die gebeurde struktuur van Pustejovsky (1995) wat binne die Generatiewe Leksikon teorie van leksikale semantiek geleis, is in die analise van gebeure en toestand gebruik. Daar is tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat daar vier situasietipes relevant tot Zulu is, en daar word tussen hulle deur middel van temporele verskynsels onderskei. Hierdie situasietipes beeld die basiese-vlak en die afgeleide-vlak tipes uit (volgens Smith (1997)) Drie tipes gebeure is vir Zulu geidentifiseer, d.i. toestand, proses, en oorgang (volgens Pustejovsky (1995)). Gebeure is kompleks semantiese voorwerpe wat tot uitgebreide gebeurde struktuur lei. Die gebeurde-struktuur se klassifikasie in Zulu is met gestruktureerde sub-gebeure gevestig. Hierdie gebeure-strukture is met betrekking tot drie verskillende tipes van verhouding ordening tusen sub-gebeure omskryf, d.i. temporeel geordende sub-gebeure, gelyktydige sub-gebeure en temporele oorslag. Die gebeure-struktuur is deur kemgebeure onderskei, wat aanleiding tot twaalf moontlike konstruksies gee. Die basiese beginsels en die temporele strukture onderliggend aan die Zulu tye word met betrekking tot die spraakmoment, tyd van die situasie, en die verwysingstyd in die struktuur van tye soos in Reichenbach se gesigspunt wat deur Hornstein (1990) ontwikkel, is, beskou. Die rol wat bywoorde as modifiseerders van tye speel, word na vore gebring. Die gedrag van gebonde en ongebonde sinne in verband met tyd word genoem. Betreffende die uitdrukking van aspek in Zulu is 'n besondere onderskeiding tussen die perfektief en imperfektief in Zulu gevestig. Die aspek kom as 'n infleksionêre kategorie binne sintaksis voor. Hierdie kategorie mag 'n maksimale projeksie volgens die x-bar teorie hê.

This dissertation explores a family of temporal meanings pertaining to when, as it appears in When the results were negligible, Galdwin asked why; when she was 50, she left him; and Lowe took a 3-1 lead into the 5th when he finally surrendered his first home run of the season. A widely-accepted view is that when used this way functions as a generalpurpose temporal connective, with underspecified semantics reminiscent to after, during or before, which vary depending on the surrounding context. I propose a heavy revision of this particular claim; surrounding contexts do not by themselves determine the temporal interpretation of when, but they function to strengthen the basic meaning already imposed by grammatical features and lexical constraints. The present system provides accounts for several empirical problems related to corpus-based examples which are inconsistent with previous approaches to the semantics of when. A further characteristic of the present study is its cross-linguistic nature. I extend the analysis of when to toki(-ni), the Japanese counterpart to when. Comparing English and Japanese, I argue that the two languages share the fundamental semantic system but employ different sets of triggering factors for the strengthening process. Supporting evidence for my arguments comes from two manuallyculled newstext corpora prepared for this study. Chapter 1 gives an introduction to the phenomena and issues of interest. I address three distinct temporal relations holding between the when- and main clause events. Forward-sequence entails that the when- clause event occurs earlier than the main, as in when the results were negligible, Galdwin asked why. Overlap consists of two clauses that denote overlapping events, as in when she was 50, she left him. Backward-sequence entails that the when- clause event takes place after the main clause event, as in Lowe took a 3-1 lead into the fifth when he finally surrendered his first home run of the season. Discussions in later chapters assume some familiarity to temporal and discourse semantics literature. Chapter 2 has been devoted to providing such background information, including an introduction to Discourse Representation Theory (Kamp and Reyle (1993)) and Two-Component Aspect Theory (Smith (1993, 1997)). For visual presentation of my ideas, I adopt Blackburn & Bos’ (2000) DRS-building scheme. In Chapter 3 I sketch previous analyses on when- sentences and address their empirical problems. I discuss two streams of approaches. Under one view, when commits to placing two eventualities temporally close to each other, without fixing their relative order (Heinëmäki (1978), Ritchie (1979) and Hinrichs (1986)). An implication of this type of proposal is that whenever a when appears, there is little restriction as to which one of the temporal meanings is chosen. Thus, for these authors when is a general-purpose temporal adverbial used without a specific temporal meaning built into it. Alternatively, scholars such as Moens and Steedman (1989) and Sändström (1993) argue that when does not order events temporally; it only adds an implication concerning event consequentiality, namely that the main clause event is a consequence of the when clause event. A major problem common to both approaches is empirical. The former entails that when is vague as to its temporal implications, when in actuality a given when sentence is usually associated with only one of the temporal meanings. The latter approach, on the other hand, is misleading in giving the impression that all when sentences bear a consequential relation: corpus examples in the present study reveal that it is not true. Chapter 4 presents English corpus data collected for this study and an analysis of when- sentences that avoids the problems surrounding the previous approaches, with emphasis on the claim that pragmatic information is fully responsible for rendering the temporal meanings associated with when. I examine this proposal critically and arrive at a hybrid system where grammatical and pragmatic or extra-linguistic informational contents work in tandem. I also discuss DRT construction rules for when and demonstrate my system for some key examples drawn from the corpus. Chapter 5 turns to a cross-linguistic consideration, focusing on Japanese. After reviewing the literature on Japanese toki-ni (“when” lit. time-at) sentences, such as that authored by Yoshimoto and Mori (2003), I discuss Japanese corpus data and argue for one salient difference between the systems in the two languages: the strengthening processes in English tend to allude to pragmatic and extra-linguistic information while those in Japanese are more directly affected by grammatical factors such as tense marking variations and particle-drop. Chapter 6 concludes the study. I mention some remaining issues, for the purpose of suggesting some future avenues of research which the achievement of this study opens up. Two appendices are included at the end of this dissertation. One explains technical details regarding the corpora used in this study. The other is a summary of miscellaneous numerical results I have obtained while I worked on the project. / text