English and Tuvinian tense systems: similiarities and differences

This research is in line with such modern and fast developing branches of linguistics like studies of aspect and typology of grammar. The paper proposes a comprehensive consideration of the semantics of the analyzed linguistic units from the point of view of various aspects that are part of the TAM (or TAME) semantic domain that is being actively studied. All this ensures the relevance of this work. The abbreviation TAM (E) - Tense, Aspect, Mood / Modality (Evidentiality) - denotes a complex of grammatical categories of the verb, including temporal, aspectual, modal and evidential grammes. The operation of this concept is convenient from the point of view that the meanings of the listed categories in the languages of the world are often difficult to separate from each other. There is such a notion as "temporal deixis" in the languages of the world. This is the orientation of the time of the situation relative to the time of the moment of speech. Due to the fact that time in natural languages is usually thought of linearly, i.e. as a vector (directed from the past to the future), the temporal orientation of the situation is reduced to indicating the relative chronology of two situations on the time axis: the described situation and the situation of the speech act (that is, the moment when the speaker reports the situation). This is the simplest "egocentric" way of localizing a situation over time, and all natural languages apply it quite similarly, regardless of cultural differences in time perception as such (these differences are considered to be very significant). Thus, the category of temporal deixis (in grammars, it is usually referred to simply as "time") may include no more than three grammes: "the situation coincides with the moment of speech", "the situation precedes the moment of speech" and "the situation follows the moment of speech". Their common names are present, past and future, respectively. It should be noted that the temporal deixis does not say anything about how the situation developed (whether it was instantaneous or long-term, completed or not, etc.): all this information (which, perhaps, is even more related to physical time than temporal deixis) are transmitted by a variety of aspect grammes (or a verb). In the present study, the performance of past, present, and future tenses is discussed in terms of their place in the grammatical systems of the respective languages in terms of their relationship with the category of time, as well as the categories of modality, aspectuality, and evidentiality.

Keywords

Authors

References