A Cognitive Study Of Temporal Coordinate Systems In Language

The cognition of TIME has aroused much attention in modern linguistics. Most of the literature on temporal cognition is predominantly based on the theory of conceptual metaphor, proposed by Lakoff and his colleagues. However, the validity of cross-domain mapping of conceptual metaphor has been challenged, and its effectiveness questioned.With a cognitive approach from the perspective of structure, the present paper is a qualitative study of the cognition of TIME in language with an aim to provide tentative coordinate systems for TIME. The questions under investigation include: 1) whether the spatial coordinate systems can, in principle, be applied to conceptualize the structure of TIME; and 2) whether the proposed coordinate systems of TIME have any practical values.For this purpose, the present paper has employed the spatial coordinate systems developed by Levinson and the cognitive analyzing framework initiated by Langacker. By focusing on the specific area of the coordinate systems of TIME, it is assumed that a study of the cognition of TIME is, in essence, a study of the temporal coordinate systems, i.e. the choice of reference point between time and the experiencer.The analysis illustrates that, the three spatial frames of reference can also be found in the cognition of TIME. They are the absolute frame, the intrinsic frame and the relative frame. In the absolute frame, the point of time to be identified (TR) is determined with respect to a fixed temporal reference point (LM). In the intrinsic frame, TR is located with respect to a temporary and flexible LM. In addition, TIME passing is assigned a front/back orientation. Therefore, different points of time or periods of time can be compared in terms of earliness and lateness. With the relative frame, there are three elements, static or dynamic: TR, LM and V,the last referring to the viewpoint of the observer. In the relative frame, TR is determined with...