The Language of Time

“Time” is the most frequently used noun in the English language. But what are we actually talking about when we talk about time? This episode looks at time representations and referencing systems used by different cultures, to explore how far language can shape how we think about time.

This episode in brief:

1.The spatial language of time | 03:45

Many cultures use the graphical model of space to understand time, but there are some pretty interesting differences in how the world’s languages conceptualize time. This section explores examples from Western European and Scandinavian languages to Mandarin Chinese, Aymara, and the aboriginal language of the Pormpuraaw community in Australia.

2. Event-based time | 13:10

While countable “clock time” seems like second-nature for the West, in some cultures it doesn’t exist. Starting with the Amazonian Amondawa community, this section considers languages who use events to index and talk about time. Anthropologist Vera da Silva Sinha draws insights from her latest research on three Brazilian tribes — the Huni Kuĩ, Awetý and Kamaiurá — who don’t count age, celebrate birthdays or use spatial metaphors to speak about time.

3. Languages without tense | 21:55

English – like most European languages – is a tensed language. But many languages do not use tense at all. This section explores how “tenseless” languages like Mandarin Chinese use aspect to indicate time, as well as the conceptual limitations our own three-tensed grammar imposes on how we communicate time.