durationlike

Durationlike is a term used in temporal semantics to describe events or states whose core meaning derives from their temporal extension rather than from a specific onset or endpoint. A durationlike predicate encodes or presupposes duration as its central feature, so its interpretation rests on how long the event lasts. This contrasts with punctual or instantaneous predicates, which focus on discrete moments or transitions rather than length.

The word is formed from the English word duration and the suffix -like, indicating resemblance. It has appeared in scholarly discussions as a descriptive label rather than a formal grammatical category, and its precise criteria can vary among researchers. In general, durationlike phenomena are analyzed with attention to how duration interacts with aspect, tempo, and measurement in discourse.

Formal characteristics often cited for durationlike predicates include a sensitivity to specified or implied time spans, compatibility with durative or imperfective readings, and a tendency to pair with temporal modifiers such as for X time or over an extended period. Crosslinguistic work notes that many languages encode durational information through aspect and adverbs, even when the base verb itself does not denote a change of state.

Examples illustrate the distinction. The concert lasted two hours and the journey endured for three days are commonly treated as durationlike, because their core interpretation centers on the length of time. By contrast, a punctual event like the light suddenly turning on centers on a transition rather than duration. The concept is used in theoretical discussions of aspect, telicity, and time in discourse, and also appears in discussions of time perception and annotation in language data. See also aspect, telicity, duration.