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Universal 1273:

Posted in Universals Archive

Universal 1273:

Original
If narrative and non-narrative contexts differ with respect to the marking of temporal distance, it will be the non-narrative contexts that exhibit the largest number of distinctions.
Standardized
IF narrative and non-narrative contexts differ with respect to the marking of temporal distance, THEN it will be the non-narrative contexts that exhibit the largest number of distinctions.
Keywords
tense, aspect, context, narrative, temporal distance
Domain
inflection
Type
no genuine implication; rather: provided that
Status
achronic
Quality
absolute
Basis
sample of 75 languages in Dahl 1984, sample of 64 languages in Dahl 1985
Source
Dahl 1984: 116, Dahl 1985: 127
Counterexamples

One Comment

  1. FP
    FP

    Dahl defines a narrative discourse as one where the speaker relates a series of real or fictive events in the order they took place. According to Dahl, a sentence occurs in a narrative context if the temporal point of reference (in Reichenbach’s sense) is determined by the point in time at which the last event related in the preceding context took place.

    1. May 2020

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