[Lingtyp] Lingtyp Digest, Vol 64, Issue 28

Sun Jan 26 21:36:52 UTC 2020

Dear Leonid,
In Chini (a Papuan language) there is in fact no single noun for 'time'.
Yet the closest would be the use of the word for water, anmV (V = barred i)
which is used to refer to long temporal intervals, eg a year or so. This is
not terribly surprising since people there are quite dependent on the
Sogeram River, which changes dramatically across the four Chini seasons
(which basically correspond to dry vs wet). This word then gets used in
various temporal expressions, eg 'to age/get older', anmV mbVnVmbVnV (sry
for the pesky Vs). Lit. 'to gain/increase water'.

I do not know much more about this but it could be interesting to consult
the grammars or dictionaries of languages used in highly riverine
societies, as with Chini.

Cheers
Joseph

On Sun, Jan 26, 2020 at 1:00 PM <lingtyp-request at listserv.linguistlist.org>
wrote:

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>    1. Re: Query: Metaphors of Time and etymology (Kulikov, L.)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2020 01:12:38 +0000
> From: "Kulikov, L." <L.Kulikov at hum.leidenuniv.nl>
> To: Bernhard Wälchli <bernhard at ling.su.se>
> Cc: "lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org"
>         <lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org>,
>         "LINGTYP at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG"
>         <LINGTYP at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG>
> Subject: Re: [Lingtyp] Query: Metaphors of Time and etymology
> Message-ID:
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> 2AC2ED821568F34E88CEDE5B1445BA9A5C2EBFB8 at SPMXM05.VUW.leidenuniv.nl>
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>
> Dear Bernhard,
>
> Thank you for your response.
> I am NOT claiming of course that ALL words for time (in ALL languages) can
> be etymologized on the basis of two metaphors for Time mentioned in my
> query (rotation and flow(ing)). What I AM interested in is a (preliminary)
> typology of semantic shifts that may eventually result in the meaning
> ‘time’; or, put differently, in a typology of possible (etymological)
> sources of the words for ‘time’. These sources are of course not limited to
> ‘rotation’ and ‘flow(ing)’ words. For instance, Germanic words for ‘time’
> (time, Zeit, tijd etc.), are traceable to the derivatives of the
> Proto-Germanic (and Proto-Indo-European) verbal root meaning ‘to divide’
> (PIE *deh2(i)-), thus originally meaning ‘division, section, piece; period,
> quantum of time’ or the like. Your Baltic example instantiates yet another
> possible etymological source of the word for ‘time’.
> I am NOT claiming that the etymology necessarily reflects the difference
> in the way the Time is conceptualized by the speakers of a proto-language
> (Proto-Slavic, Proto-Germanic, Proto-Baltic etc.). My query is, I repeat,
> about a “typology of etymologies” of the words for Time. And, as I said,
> even a preliminary research demonstrates that, among several (quite many!)
> etymologies, we find one which can only be explained as based on one of the
> two archaic metaphors for Time (Time as rotation) – I think you won’t deny
> that this is the only way to explain the origin of the words for Time in
> Slavic and Indic (in the same way as words for, say, ‘horse’ originate in
> some languages from the adjective ‘quick’; words for ‘father’ – from
> ‘protector’; etc. etc.).
> My question is thus: do we find languages, where the words for Time can be
> explained (etymologized) in terms of another metaphor for Time – Time as
> flow(ing)?
> Best,
> Leonid
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Bernhard Wälchli [bernhard at ling.su.se]
> Sent: 25 January 2020 20:26
> To: Kulikov, L.
> Subject: Re: Query: Metaphors of Time and etymology
>
>
> Dear Leonid,
>
> I am not sure whether one can simply take for granted that the word for
> "time" in a language reflects an idea about the concept time. In the (East)
> Baltic languages, "time" is etymologically what is left: _laik(a)s_ and
> this obviously comes from uses in a particular construction: "I have (no)
> time" = "I have (no[thing]) left" (probably with the partitive genitive as
> the basic form rather than the nominative originally). I think it would be
> wrong to conclude that the ancestors of Latvians and Lithuanian conceived
> of time in an abstract sense of something that is left, the abstract notion
> of time is not the issue, the issue is concrete language use in a concrete
> construction, which, as a byproduct, gave rise to a particular noun with
> the meaning "time" in a sort of "deconstructionalization".
>
> Put differently, metonymy rather than metaphor in this case.
>
> This is about as if the Russian word for "time" would be **когда from мне
> некогда.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Bernhard
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Lingtyp <lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org> on behalf of
> Kulikov, L. <L.Kulikov at hum.leidenuniv.nl>
> Sent: Saturday, January 25, 2020 2:16 PM
> To: lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org
> Cc: lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org; kulikovli at googlemail.com
> Subject: [Lingtyp] Query: Metaphors of Time and etymology
>
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: Kulikov, L.
> Sent: 24 January 2020 22:54
> To: lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org
> Cc: kulikovli at googlemail.com
> Subject: Query: Metaphors of Time and etymology
>
> Dear colleagues,
>
> It is well-known that the concept of Time is linguistically connected with
> a plethora of metaphors that help to accommodate the notions related to
> Time within the human mind. In particular, there are two well-known
> universal metaphors for Time: Time as rotation (wheel, revolving etc.) and
> Time as flow(ing) (river etc.).
>
> The former metaphor underlies the etymology of the words for Time in many
> languages, including Indo-European. Cf., for instance:
> 1) Slavic (Old Church Slavonic) vrěmę (with cognates), going back to
> *vert-men- ‘turning, rotation’; and
> 2) (Vedic) Sanskrit kāla- ‘time’ derived from the Indic reflex of the
> Proto-Indo-European root *kwel- ‘move (around), revolve, rotate’ (cf. words
> for ‘wheel’ in several Indo-European languages, such as Greek kyklos,
> Slavic kolo- etc., Germanic (Eng.) wheel etc., all derived from the
> reflexes of the same root).
>
> However, I was unable to find similar examples for the latter metaphor –
> that of river/flow. Can anyone provide examples from any language,
> illustrating this metaphor, i.e. word for Time etymologizable as ‘river’,
> ‘flow’, ‘stream’ etc.?
> Many thanks,
>
> Leonid Kulikov
>
> Ghent University, Linguistics Dept.
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