Volker gast: extracted from a term paper by Nadin Wiegandt

2009-10-21T18:15:41Z

extracted from a term paper by Nadin Wiegandt

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Klein (1994) uses three time spans for the analysis of tense: TU (time of utterance), T<sub>Sit</sub> (the time of situation) and TT (the [[topic time]]). The Topic Time "IS THE TIME SPAN TO WHICH THE SPEAKER’S CLAIM ON THIS OCCASION IS CONFINED" (Klein 1994: 4). For example, if a judge asksa witness: "What did you notice when you looked into the room?" and the witness answers: "There was a book on the table. It was in Russian", the Topic Time is the point in time at which the witnessed looked into the room.

Klein furthermore distinguishes three situation types:
* [[0-state predicate]]s include states that cannot be changed, e.g. "2+2=4"
* [[1-state predicate]]s include states that can change, e.g. "The light was on."
* [[2-state predicate]]s are [[dynamic]], e.g. "John opend the door".

In Klein's theory tense expresses a relation between TT and TU; possible relations are INCL(uded in), AFTER, BEFORE. The major tense relations can thus be defined as follows:

{| border="1"
|-
! !! Schema !!Tense !! Example
|-
|1. ||TU INCL TT || present tense || There was a book on the table.
|-
|2. ||TU AFTER TT|| past tense|| John was in the garden.
|-
|3. ||TU BEFORE TT ||future tense ||I will see John tomorrow.
|}

==Literature==
* Klein, Wolfgang (1994). ''Time in Language.'' London: Routledge.

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[[Category:Tense]]

Klein's (1994) theory of tense - Revision history

Volker gast: extracted from a term paper by Nadin Wiegandt