Monday 27 August 2018

Parallels Between Temporal & Spatial Expressions

Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 316-7):
There are close parallels between temporal and spatial expressions, the most significant ones being the following.
(i) … both incorporate the notions of extent and location … 
(ii) In both time and space, extent is measurable in standard units … 
(iii) In both time and space, both extent and location may be either definite or indefinite … 
(iv) In both temporal and spatial location, the location may be either absolute, or relative to the ‘here–and–now’; and if relative, may be either near or remote … 
(v) In both spatial and temporal location there is a distinction between rest and motion; and within motion, between motion towards and motion away from
However, this spatio-temporal parallelism is far from complete; and in recent centuries the language seems to have been moving away from it.