teniation

Teniation is a hypothetical linguistic process in which a language gradually reduces or loses explicit tense morphology, relying instead on aspect markers, deictic adverbs, and contextual cues to mark time. In this scenario, the verb system becomes less capable of signaling past, present, and future through inflection alone, with time references increasingly supplied by discourse context.

Etymology and scope: The term combines "tense" with the common -ation suffix and is used in theoretical discussions of extreme grammaticalization paths. It is not an established diachronic outcome but a speculative construct in investigations of language contact and morphology.

Proposed mechanisms: Prolonged contact between speakers of languages with different tense systems can foster reanalysis of inflectional endings. Adoption of a stable set of aspectual markers, increased use of temporal adverbs, and analogy across verbs may gradually erode explicit tense markings, leading to greater reliance on context to locate events.

Criticism and status: Many linguists view teniation as a theoretical extreme rather than a distinct, well-attested process. Critics argue that observed historical changes in tense systems are typically gradual and involve multiple interacting forces, making a single label like teniation overly simplistic.

See also: grammaticalization, tense, aspect, evidentiality, language contact.