On tense and aktionsart The two track theory of time

Abstract

On Tense and Aktionsart is part of a linguistic and logical inquiry into temporal phenomena in language. The aim of this research, which was financed by the Dutch Organization for the Advancement of Pure Scientific Research (ZWO, 22–111), is twofold. Firstly, an attempt is made to describe the interaction between the various kinds of temporal information which sentences carry: tense, Aktionsart, temporal adverbvial modifiers, temporal conjunctions and aspect. Secondly, this temporal information and these interactions are represented by means of ‘Two Track Structures’. The conviction which is central to the theory of time presented here is that time has two distinct facets, and that both are essential in explaining temporal phenomena in language. Temporal meaning can be deictic, subjective and dynamic, like the A-series known from philosophy. But it can also be non-deictic, objective and static, like the B-series. These different facets are reflected in the two time axes of the Two Track Structures. Two Track Structures are briefly described here, and then put to work in representing and explaining various aspects of the interaction between the past tenses and Aktionsart. The Two Track theory of time generates a large range of empirical predictions, some of which are shown to be correct.