RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 The distinction between absolute and relative tenses with reference to Zulu (and other Bantu languages)
A1 Posthumus, Lionel
A2 Ediciones Universidad de Valladolid
K1 Filología
AB Most prominent linguists who have studied tense accept that a distinction has to be drawn between two tense systems, namely absolute and relative tense. In the case of the absolute tenses the temporal interpretation of events is done from coding time (the deictic centre). The deictic centre serves as origo for the temporal interpretation of the events. However, in the case of relative tenses the temporal interpretation of the events is not done directly from coding time, but from a specific reference point that is situated in a particular relation to the coding time (the deictic centre). In spite of the publication of a number of grammars on the Bantu languages in recent years, Bantu linguists still do not distinguish systematically between absolute and relative tenses. The two aspects of tense that will be investigated in this article are the description of the differences between the absolute and relative tenses and the labelling of the individual tense forms. The focus (as far as the language data is concerned) is on Zulu, a Bantu language in the South-eastern Zone of Bantu speaking Africa. Zulu is the language with the largest number of mother tongue speakers in South Africa (comprising 22,9% of the total population) and is one of the eleven official languages of South Africa together with (in descending order) Xhosa (17,9%), Afrikaans (14.4%), Northern Sotho (9,2%), English (8,6%), Tswana (8,2%), Southern Sotho (7,7%), Tsonga (4,4%), Swazi (2,5%), Venda (2,2%) and Ndebele (1,5%)
SN 1139-7489
YR 2001
FD 2001
LK http://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/9425
UL http://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/9425
LA spa
NO Hermeneus: Revista de la Facultad de Traducción e Interpretación de Soria, 2001, N.3, pags.279-304
DS UVaDOC
RD 06-may-2024