Предметные области и методы исследования лингвистического времени в современной англистике

Abstract

The subject of this study is the methodology, methods and metalanguage of describing linguistic time as a category, which for many years has been at the center of research aimed at revealing the processes of conceptualizing time and analyzing the linguistic means of its expression. A variety of approaches to the study of linguistic time and ways of interpreting this concept, as well as metalinguistic differences indicate that understanding the question of how to interpret linguistic time in the science of language doesn’t lose its relevance. The purpose of study is to summarize the information about the main approaches to the study of the category of time in modern works on English. The result of the analysis of the scientific literature of the last thirty years was the description and systematization of approaches, methods and materials chosen by the authors for the analysis of various aspects of the expression of time. Having singled out the main directions in the study of linguistic time (logical-conceptual, proper linguistic, linguistic and cultural, cognitive), we conclude that the main trends in the study of this category are the widespread use of comparative analysis in relation to different time periods and different languages with attraction of a socially and culturally significant vertical context; selection of lexical level units as the main object and their description by methods of lexico-semantic analysis, field structuring, linguo-stylistic analysis, cultural interpretation; a significant place given to the study of idioms and metaphorical models of the representation of time. The statement about the lack of consistency in the methods and metalanguage of time description from the standpoint of cognitive science is substantiated.