REPRESENTATION OF TIME IN TYPOLOGICALLY DIFFERENT LANGUAGES: A FUNCTIONAL APPROACH (BASED ON TURKISH, ARABIC AND CHINESE)

This research paper deals with the realization of time in three languages which belong to different linguistic types: inflected Arabic, agglutinative Turkish and isolated Chinese. The methodological framework of this research is the functional analysis method, the basic notions of which are the conceptual category and typical communicative situation. The paper aims to describe the principles of conveying temporal meaning by linguistic means and consequently the development of an “active” (or communicative) grammar of a certain language which is a grammar for the speaker. In the course of the research an inventory of linguistic means for the realization of time was made, the typology of communicative situations within the conceptual category of time was outlined, differences and similarities in conveying time in the three investigated languages were summarized and prospects for future functional research in Turkish, Arabic and Chinese were defined.