Glossary of Linguistic Terms

Absolute-Relative Tense

Definition: 

Absolute-relative tense is a tense:

  • that refers to a time in relation to a temporal reference point that, in turn, is referred to in relation to the moment of utterance
  • in which the time and the reference point are not identical, and
  • the reference point and the moment of utterance are not identical.
Kinds: 
See Also: 
Utterance
Source: 
Comrie 1985b
64–65

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library. Version 5.0 published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 2003.

LinguaLinks Ordering Information

Glossary Hierarchy

  • Grammatical Category
  • Tense
  • Absolute-Relative Tense
  • Future Perfect Tense
  • Future-In-Future Tense
  • Future-In-Past Tense
  • Future-Perfect-In-Past Tense
  • Past Perfect Tense