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Future time vs. future tense: An introduction

par De Brabanter, Philippe ;Kissine, Mikhail ;Sharifzadeh, Saghie
Editeur scientifique De Brabanter, Philippe ;Kissine, Mikhail ;Sharifzadeh, Saghie
Référence Future Times, Future Tenses, Oxford University Press, Oxford, page (1-25)
Publication Publié, 2014

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Résumé :

In this paper, we lay bare some of the difficulties and intricacies that often remain implicit in the literature on future tense(s). After outlining some foundational issues concerning the definition of ‘tense’ as distinct from ‘aspect’ and ‘modality’, we examine criteria for deciding if a given language has a future tense. More fundamentally, we consider whether there is justification for the very category of ‘future tense’ as part of the linguist’s descriptive repertoire. To achieve these goals, we review some of the relevant literature from such fields as traditional linguistics, formal semantics and the philosophy of language. We also assess to what extent work in cognitive psychology confirms that referring to future time is in essence different from referring to the past. We conclude by explaining why a book such as Future Times, Future Tenses is timely, and by sketching all the contributions to the volume.