timedenoting

Timedenoting is a term used in linguistics and philosophy of language to refer to expressions whose primary function is to denote temporal entities or relations, rather than objects, properties, or habitual events. Timedenoting items include temporal adverbs such as yesterday, today, tomorrow; temporal nouns such as morning, afternoon, era; and definite or indeterminate temporal phrases like in 1999, during the first half of the 20th century, two hours. The category is intended to cover elements that anchor discourse to time rather than to a particular location or object.

Etymology and scope: The term timedenoting is a descriptive label used in theoretical discussions of temporal semantics and deictic expressions. It emphasizes the denotation of temporal coordinates over other referential domains.

Semantic profile: Timedenoting expressions are typically anchored to a speech time or discourse time. They may denote a time point (e.g., yesterday denotes the day immediately preceding the utterance time) or a time interval (e.g., two hours). They interact with tense and aspect; their truth-conditions are defined relative to a temporal index within a model of time. Cross-linguistic variation exists in how languages encode time-denoting material, from adpositions and clitics to dedicated temporal nouns.

Usage and interpretation: In analysis, timedenoting expressions help distinguish temporal reference from event or object reference. They can be deictic (today, tomorrow) or non-deictic (in 1999, during spring 1980). Some expressions serve multiple functions depending on context, such as expressing habitual time or narrative anchoring.

Related terms: temporal adverb, tense, aspect, deictic expression, temporal logic.