Temporal meanings using cases,

prepositions or postpositions:
a contrastive study
6th International Contrastive Linguistics Conference (Berlin) 30, SEP. 2010

Masahiko, Ch. Nose

nousemasa@gmail.com
Reitaku University, Chiba, Japan
Reitaku University
Non-spatial usage of locative cases, prepositions and
postpositions
• Space and time can be considered together
（Minami 1993：118, Svorou 1993, Heine et al. 1991:48, Dixon 2010:118）

TIME IS SPACE (Lakoff and Johnson 1980)

PERSON> OBJECT> ACTIVITY> SPACE> TIME> QUALITY

SPACE TIME
At house At noon
On the car On Sunday
Tokyo-ni (in Tokyo) Getsuyou-ni (on Monday)
Tokyo-kara (from Tokyo) Asu-kara (from tomorrow)
Egyetem-en (at Univ.) Kedd-en (on Tuesday)

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Major temporal meanings: previous studies
Space and Time can be considered together

• Hengeveld & Mackenzie (2008: 259)

• Essive at at the weekend
• Ablative from from Monday
• Perlative for for six days
• Allative until, till, to until Saturday

• Hage’ge (2010: 297-307)

• Temporal inessive on, in, at
• Temporal preessive and postessive before, after
• Temporal perlative for

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Unusual temporal expressions 1/2
Time-related cases in Hungarian

• Temporal case: -kor

– 3 óra-kor “at 3 o’clock”
– Karácsony-kor “on Christmas”
– > Grammaticalized from Noun form “kor” (ages,
days, time)

• Distributive-temporal:-nta/-nte
– Napo-nta (day-dis.temp) “every day”
– Hete-nte (week-dis.temp) “every week”
– > This usage is rare
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Unusual temporal expressions 2/2

Verb-based temporal forms in the languages

of New Guinea
• ”Yesterday’s past” tense in Amele (Roberts 1987:224-228)
Ija hu-g-an
1sg come-1sg-yesterday’s past “I came yesterday”
• Clause-based temporal in Usan (Reesink 1987:70-71)
Ai gâb-gâb (earth see.SS-REDUP)：”in the afternoon”
Urigerma (it becomes light.DS)：”at dawn”
Worom is-a (sun go.down3s.DS)：”at sunset”

* cf. Foley (1986:158-166)

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Purpose of this contrastive study
Temporal meanings using cases, prepositions, or
postpositions; NP-based temporal forms
• Cross-linguistic: IE, Finno-Ugric, East Asia, New Guinea
• 10 temporal meanings of in-essive, pre-essive, post-
essive, perlative, and allative: Is “Space to Time” change
cross-linguistically usual (or universal)?
• Two kinds of temporal meanings:
– Life-based time (primitive, abstract time): Day,
morning, afternoon, at the same time, etc.
– Watch-based time (including calendar time):Minute,
hour, week, etc: Is there any difference?
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Sample languages: 6 languages including creole

* Generated by WALS, Language Viewer

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Basic information on sample 6 languages
Genera Basic word Number of Prepositional
order cases or
postpositional
English Indo-European SVO Genitive and Prepositions
accusative
Hungarian Finno-Ugric No dominant 18 cases and Postpositions
order additional
cases
Japanese East Asia, SOV 11 cases Postpositions
unknown
Chinese East Asia, Sino- SVO No case Prepositions
Tibetan
Amele Trans-New SOV No case Postpositions
Guinea
Tok Pisin Melanesia, SVO No case Prepositions
Creole

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Method of this study Paulo, Coelho’s
“Alchemist” (A)
“By the River Piedra I sat down and
wept”(P)
Watch- “11 minutes”(E)

based time Parallel texts

based
Collecting
study(Japanese,
10 kinds of
English,
temporal
Hungarian,
meanings
Chinese)

Life-based time Field study in

Papua New
Guinea (Amele,
Tok Pisin)

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10 temporal meanings in this study

Watch-based Life-based time

In-essive 1. At four o’clock 5. At noon
3. On Monday 8. (That morning, In the
summer)
10, (At the same time)
Perlative 2. For 2 minutes For 3 days

Pre-essive 4. A week ago 9. (As a child)

Post-essive 5 minutes later 7. 3 days from now
Allative --- 6. Until dawn

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1. English, Prepositions based on space:
at, on, in, from, until, from
Adpostional adverb: ago (Kurzon2008)

At four (o’clock) (P) Preposition, space

For 2 minutes (A) Preposition, not space
On Monday (E) Preposition, space
A week ago (A) Adpositional adverb
At noon (A) Preposition, space
Until dawn (P) Preposition, space
Three days from now (A) Preposition, space, and adverbial
That morning (A)/ in the summer (P) No marking/ Preposition, space
As a child/ when we were younger (A) Conjunction, or temporal clause
At the same time (P) Preposition, space

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2. Japanese, Cases based on space: ni, made
Space-based adpositional nouns: kan(between), mae (before),
go(after), koro (around) / mae-ni

Yo ji-ni (P) Case “ni”, space

Ni fun kan (A) Adpositional “kan” (between), space
Getsuyoubi-ni (E) Case “ni”, space
Isshuukan mae-ni (A) Case “ni”, space, adpositional noun “mae” (before), space
Shougo-ni (A) Case “ni”, space
Akegata-made (P) Case “made”, space
Mikka go (A) Adpositional noun “go” (after), space
Sono asa (A)/ natsu-ni-wa No marking/ Case “ni”, space
Osanai koro (A) Adpostional noun “koro” (around), space
Douji-ni (P) Case “ni”, space

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3. Hungarian, Cases based on space: Sublative (onto),
Superessive (on), Inessive (in), Terminative (until)
Cases based on time: Temporal (-kor), Distributive-temporal (-nta)
Others: Postposition based on space: Inside (belül), non-grammticalized noun “kor”;
“ages, days, time, years”

Négy-kor (P) Temporal case, not space

2 perc-ra (A)
Hétfő-n (E)
A múlt hét-en (A)
Dél-ben (A)
reggel (P) reggel-ig
Három nap-on belül (A)
Aznap reggel (A) nyara-nta
Kisfiú kor-á-ban (A)
Ugyanak-kor (P)
Sublative case, space
Superessive case, space
Superessive case, space
Inessive case, space
No marking/ Terminative case, space
Suepressive case, space, Postposition “inside”, space
No marking/ Distributive-temporal case
Noun “kor” and inessive
Lexicalized “kor” from noun “kor”

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4. Chinese, Prepositions based on space: Zai
Adpostional noun: zhong (bell), shi (time), shi jian (time)
Adpostional adverb: qian (before), hou (around)
Many temporal meanings are realized in “no marking”

Xia4 wu3 si4 dian3 (P); afternoon 4 clock No marking

Liang3 fen1 zhong1 (A); 2 minutes-bell Time adverb “bell”
Deng3 xing1 qi1 yi1 hui2 dao4 …shi2 (E); Using with verb and noun “time”
temporal clause
Shang4 zhou1 (A); last week No marking
Zhong1 wu3 (A); noon No marking
Zai4 tian1 liang4 zhi qian2 (P); prep.- Preposition, space, and adverb “before”
dawn-before
San1 tian1 shi2 jian1 (A); 3 day time No marking and noun “time”
(there are)
Zai4 qing1 chen2 (A); prep.-morning Preposition, space
Xiao3 shi2 hou4 (A); young-time-around No marking and time adverbial “around”
Tong2 shi2 (P); same time No marking

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5. Amele, Postpositions based on space: na (at, on, in, with, of)
Pre-essive and pos-tessive: both are hedoob; adverbial
Borrowings: kilok, minut, Mande, week

4 kilok-na Postposition, space, and borrowing “clock”

2 minut-na
Mande-na
Week osol hedoob; week one
perfect
Ahinec saab;
Gurric an beya ; until sun rise
Deel ied hedoob; three day behind
Basil-i-na/ (no summer in PNG)
Sain ija haun-na; time I young-
adjective
Sain osol himec; time only one time
Postposition, space, and borrowing “minute”
Postposition, space, and borrowing “Monday”
Adpositional adverb (hedoob) and borrowing
“week”
No marking, loan translation from Tok Pisin
“belo kaikai” ?
No marking, lexical
Adpositional adverb (hedoob)
Postposition, space/ lexical
No marking, lexical (clause-like)
No marking, lexical

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6. Tok Pisin, Prepositions based on space: long (multifunctional)
Adpostional adverbs: bipo, bihain, inap
Borrowings: kilok, minut, Mande, wik, moning, taim
Long 4 kilok Preposition, space and borrowing “clock”
Long 2 minut Preposition, space and borrowing “minute”
Long Mande Preposition, space and borrowing “Monday”
Bipo long wanpela wik Preposition, space, Adpositional adverb (bipo) and
borrowing “week”
Belo kaikai No marking, lexical
Igo inap moning Adpositional adverb (igo, inap) and borrowing “enough,
morning”
Tripela day bihain Adpositional adverb (bihain) and borrowing “day”
Long dispela moning/ Preposition, space and borrowing “morning” / no summer
taim bilong san (dry and wet season)
Taim mi yangpela yet No marking, clause-like, and borrowing “time, young, yet”

Wanpela taim tasol No marking, clause-like, and borrowing “time”

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Examples 1/2: In-essive
• Piedra
– En: It closed at noon
– Jp: Juuniji-ni-wa shimaru karana (twelve o’clock-
case “ni”- case “wa”; topic marker)
– Hu: Dél-ben bezárt (south-inessive case)
– Ch: zhong1 wu3 (noon: lexical)
– Am: ahinec saab (lunch eating: borrowed from
Tok Pisin?)/ 12 kilok-na
– Tp: belo kaikai (lunch eating)/ long 12 kilok

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Examples 2/2: pre-essive
• Alchemist
– En: He had had the same dream that night as a
week ago,
– Jp: Kare-wa isshuukan mae-ni mitayume-to (one
week adpositional noun “before”-ni (inessive))
– Hu: Ugyanazt álmodta, mint a múlt hét-en, (last
week-superessive “on”)
– Ch: shang4 zhou1 (last week; no marking)
– Am: Week osol hedoob (week one “before”:adv.)
– Tp: bipo long wanpela wik (“before” prep one week)

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Grammatical forms with Space and Time meanings
English Japanese Hungarian Chinese Amele Tok Pisin
At four (inessive) S “at” S “ni” Time S “na” S “long”
On Monday (inessive) S S “ni” S (on) S “na” S “long”
At noon (inessive) S “at” S “ni” S (in)
That morning S “zai4” S “na” S “long”
(inessive)
At the same time S “at” S “ni” S (in)
(inessive)
For 2 minutes S (onto) S “na” S “long”
(perlative)
A week ago (Pre- S “ni” S (on) S “long”
essive)
bipo
As a child (Pre-essive) S (in)
5 minutes later Bihain
(Post-essive)
Until dawn (allative) S S S S “zai4”
Numbers 5/10 6/10 7/10 2/10 4/10 5/10
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Observed forms: frequent grams and others
•Every language has at least one grammatical form, mainly for
inessive meaning
•They are cases, prepositions, or postposition, including Space
Frequent grammatical form Other options
English Prepositions on space (at, “for”, adpostional adverb “ago”,
no marking, temporal clause
on, in)
Hungarian Cases (temporal/locative) No marking, postposition, noun
“kor”
Japanese Case (X-ni) Adpositional nouns: kan, mae,
go, adverbial
Chinese One preposition (zai4 X) No marking, adopostional noun
“time”
Amele One postposition (X-na) Adpositional adverb “hedoob”,
no marking
Tok Pisin One preposition (long X) No marking, “bipo, bihain”

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Variations of the related non-grammatical forms

Temporal case > Locative cases, prep. postp.

>> adverbials, nouns, borrowings >> no
marking (Lexical)

Adpositional English “ago, later”, Chinese “qian2” (before),

Amele “hedoob” (before/after), Tok Pisin “bipo,
adverbs inap, bihain”

Adpositional Japanese “kan” (between), Hungarian “kor” (ages,

years), Chinese “shi2 jian1” (time), Amele “sain”
nouns (time), Tok Pisin “taim”

Borrowings Amele “kilok, Mande, minut”, Tok Pisin “kilok,

Mande, minut, day”
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Watch-based temporal expressions
• Locative cases “on” are used in Hungarian
• The same forms are used in Japanese “ni”, Amele “na”
and Tok Pisin “long”
• Many borrowings from English are observed in Amele
and Tok Pisin
English Japanese Hungarian Chinese Amele Tok Pisin
At four (inessive) S “at” S “ni” Time No S “na” S “long”
On Monday (inessive) S S “ni” S (on) T-Clause S “na” S “long”
For 2 minutes For kan S (onto) Adv. S “na” S “long”
(perlative)
A week ago (Pre- Ago S “ni” S (on) No Hedoob S “long”
essive)
bipo
5 minutes later later Go Később Hou4 hedoob Bihain
(Post-essive)
(after) (being (after)
late)
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Life-based temporal expressions
• Locative cases “in” are used in Hungarian
• Many “no marking” and lexical means/ temporal clauses
(Amele and Tok Pisin)
• Allative meaning (until) is mainly based on Space (English,
Japanese, Hungarian and Chinese).
English Japanese Hungarian Chinese Amele Tok Pisin
At noon (inessive) S “at” S “ni” S (in) No No No
That morning No No No S “zai4” S “na” S “long”
(inessive)
At the same time S “at” S “ni” S (in) No No No
(inessive)
As a child (Pre-essive) T-clause Koro S (in) Hou4 T-clause T-clause
(around) (around)
Until dawn (allative) S S S S Lexical Igo inap

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Differences between Watch-based and Primitive time
Watch-based Life-based
Grammatical Yes Yes, but not many in
markers Amele and Tok Pisin
Adpositional Observed in pre-essive, and post-
phrases essive meanings
Hungarian locative Cases with “ON” Cases with “IN”
cases
English, Japanese No significant difference
Chinese Mainly lexical, only one preposition
“zai4”is used for in-essive and allative
Amele, Tok pisin postp, prep+ Lexical or not used
borrowed nouns with postp, prep
from English
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Conclusion： Space and time are not used together so
much (esp. Chinese, Amele).

There are not many forms of “SPACE > TIME” grammaticalization

• The languages with rich case system have many case forms based on space (“ni”
case in Japanese, and “IN” and “ON” cases in Hungarian)

Each language has at least one inessive-based form including

space function.
• Grammatical forms frequently are used in In-essive and allative meanings

Two kinds of Time expressions in New Guinea: “Lexical, adverbial”

Life-based forms, and “Borrowing” Watch-based forms
• There is no significant difference in English, Japanese, Chinese, and Hungarian
• Amele and Tok Pisin uses borrowed words with postposition (“na” in Amele) or
preposition (“long” in Tok Pisin) in Watch-based time.

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 Tenkyu tumas long tok bilong mi!

Acknowledgments:
• Grant-in-aid from Linguistic Research Center, Reitaku University, Japan; Linguistic
Documentation and Analysis of Fieldwork studies: Papua New Guinea and Germany (2010)
with Ken Sasahara
• Grant-in-aid from Linguistic Research Center, Reitaku University, Japan; A study of
locational expressions in the languages of New Guinea island (2009)
• Amele & Tok Pisin: Villagers in Sein, Madang Province, Papua New Guinea
• Chinese: Yanyun Chen
• Hungarian: data gathered at University of Miskolc, Hungary
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References (selected):The slides are available from: http://www.scribd.com/doc/37709708/

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