Time adverbs are represented by words or phrases more than morphemes in Turkish. Many studies in the literature have revealed that the frequency of the usage of adverbs of time is higher than the frequency of the usage of other adverbs by Turkish speakers of all ages. In this study, by using path/connection analysis method, the usage frequency of…

Word problems about motion contain various conjugated verb forms. As students and teachers grapple with such word problems, they jointly operationalize diagrams, gestures, and language. Drawing on findings from a 3-year research project examining the social semiotics of classroom interaction, we show how teachers and students use gesture and…

This article investigates how linguistic expressions of time--in particular, temporal adverbs and verb tense morphemes--are used to establish temporal reference at the level of brain physiology. First, a formal semantic analysis of tense and temporal adverbs is outlined. It is argued that computing temporal reference amounts to solving a…

Examines the way the temporal adverbial factor restricts and clarifies the form and aspectuality of the Russian verb. The morphological aspect is one of a set of factors whose interaction determines the aspectual reading of a sentence. (NCR)

Three experiments investigating the use of temporal information in a reduced relative clause to interpret verb tense of the main clause found that subjects rapidly assessed temporal information to resolve tense ambiguity, demonstrating an incremental approach to comprehension that uses previous discourse to continuously update comprehension and…

This paper is directed toward a traditional problem in the analysis of texts, that of finding meaningful linguistic units that are larger than a sentence and smaller than the text itself. Two principles are given for finding extended temporal structures based on the temporal expressions that occur in sentences: a sentence can be captured to form…

Examines the role of a "local cue"--the grammatical aspect expressed by the verb "ru/-ta"--in Japanese temporal clauses. Ninety-six children were examined. Results show that the success of verb forms as clues requires that temporal relations be clearly expressed. This supports the claim that overt surface clues facilitate…

A study of the acquisition of time-related grammatical forms in Hebrew-speaking children looked at three kinds of information: (1) relative frequency of occurrence of different verb forms at different ages; (2) the relationship between tense-marking on verbs and the semantics of verbs used at different ages, and (3) the use of time adverbs…

Changes in frequency of occurrence of the following linguistic variables in recovery from aphasia due to left temporal lobe lesions are analyzed in text and graphs: (1) quantity of verbalization, (2) syntactic structure: subject-verb-object vs. topic-comment, (3) syntactic complexity, (4) nouns and verbs, (5) morphology, (6) anaphora, and (7)…

Discusses the English grammar rule of backshifting in reported speech, that after a past tense reporting verb the reported verb is backshifted. However, backshifting need not always take place. Examination of numerous examples indicates that the past is the unmarked form; the unbackshifted present is marked, as is the past perfect. (SED)

Examines the temporal reference of Spanish verb forms by using a simple time axis showing five points of temporal reference. (NCR)

Applies Reid's notion of verbal focus to explain the distinction between preterite (high focus) and imperfect (low focus) to determine tense in Spanish. Data from two contemporary short stories document variables affecting focus. Techniques for teaching preterite and imperfect and some class activities are suggested. (LMO)

Analyses of the syntactic development of profoundly deaf children have revealed nonstandard stages in the evolution of verb phrases. A reading task required subjects (ages 12-13) to recognize the time-reference of simple sentences. Results supported the prediction that stage of development in verb-phrase production influenced perception.…

A discussion of the perception and use of tense in Moroccan Arabic proposes that the language expresses verb aspect much more readily than tense. Implications for teaching Moroccan Arabic as a second language are discussed, and an analysis of the system of tense and aspect in the language is presented. (MSE)

In order to gain information on children's understanding of two different language forms (verb tense and adverbials "before" and "after") which can refer to past or future events, sentences containing either past tense, future tense, "before," or "after" were presented with sets of sequential pictures to 150 children from three to seven years old.…