DOI

The article examines constructions denoting clock time in a sample of 38 European languages (half past two, twenty forty-five, etc.). These constructions are analyzed based on several parameters: methods to express time in the first and second halves of the hour, time indication in the 24-hour format, and ways to show temporal localization. Most of the languages sampled denote temporal localization by employing the same mechanisms they use for indicating spatial relations. In many languages, time expressions are structured similarly to essive and lative constructions. The two most common instruments to express time in the first half of the hour are the additive and spatial strategies observed in 27 languages of the sample. These strategies correlate with the hours and minutes ordering in time constructions; with the additive strategy, hours come first (e.g., X hours and Y minutes), while the spatial strategy puts minutes in the first position (e.g., Y minutes past X hours). The primary devices for the second half of the hour found in 32 languages are subtractive and spatial strategies. With the subtractive strategy, hours typically precede minutes (e.g., X hours minus Y minutes), while with the spatial strategy, minutes tend to come first (e.g., Y minutes to X hours). To indicate half-hour times, the strategies used for the first half of the hour may apply, though a distinct strategy may be employed as well. The most frequent approach is juxtaposition where the pattern a half + the following hour is typically used. Only two strategies — addition and juxtaposition — are observed in time indication in the 24-hour format across the sample. The findings also reveal a number of differences in clock-time expression strategies that clearly set languages of the northern and southern Europe apart.
Переведенное названиеClock time expression in languages of Europe
Язык оригиналарусский
Страницы (с-по)109-162
Число страниц54
ЖурналActa Linguistica Petropolitana
Том21
Номер выпуска1
DOI
СостояниеОпубликовано - 2025

ID: 142796899