Time, space, and events in language and cognition:A comparative view

Sinha, Chris and Gärdenfors, Peter (2014) Time, space, and events in language and cognition:A comparative view. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1326 (1). pp. 72-81. ISSN 0077-8923

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Abstract

We propose an event-based account of the cognitive and linguistic representation of time and temporal relations. Human beings differ from nonhuman animals in entertaining and communicating elaborate detached (as opposed to cued) event representations and temporal relational schemas. We distinguish deictically based (D-time) from sequentially based (S-time) representations, identifying these with the philosophical categories of A-series and B-series time. On the basis of cross-linguistic data, we claim that all cultures employ both D-time and S-time representations. We outline a cognitive model of event structure, emphasizing that this does not entail an explicit, separate representation of a time dimension. We propose that the notion of an event-independent, metric "time as such" is not universal, but a cultural and historical construction based on cognitive technologies for measuring time intervals. We critically examine claims that time is universally conceptualized in terms of spatial metaphors, and hypothesize that systematic space-time metaphor is only found in languages and cultures that have constructed the notion of time as a separate dimension. We emphasize the importance of distinguishing what is universal from what is variable in cultural and linguistic representations of time, and speculate on the general implications of an event-based understanding of time.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Publisher Copyright: © 2014 New York Academy of Sciences.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	cognition,culture,event,language,space,time,neuroscience(all),biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology(all),history and philosophy of science ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2800
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication Studies (former - to 2024)
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > UEA Experimental Philosophy Group
Related URLs:	http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?...
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	12 Dec 2023 01:21
Last Modified:	25 Sep 2024 17:36
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/93958
DOI:	10.1111/nyas.12491

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