Vers une typologie des adjectifs temporels

Abstract

This paper relates to temporal adjectives mainly in French and Hungarian. After a short presentation of the difference between adjectives and nouns, we show that adjectives can express two different types of manifestations of linguistic time : one defines the notion of outside time vs. inside time and interior temporal structure (or aspect which refers to the course of the action) vs. external temporal structure (as defined by the circumstantial complements and verbal tenses). We define then the concept of the temporal adjective and we present a semantic description : these adjectives can refer to a temporal field (past, present, future), to indicate a duration (1) which we can delimit in time or (2) which we cannot delimit in time (cf. french millénaire vs. long). Others refer to a point in time (french pascal). The temporal value of the last two groups is already used in extreme cases of primary temporality : french neuf and valide. The conclusion of a theoretical nature with a few examples is followed by a table which shows the main groups of temporal adjectives.