Time Deixis

Time deixis is also called as temporal deixis. Renkema (1993, p.79) stated that time deixis is a reference to time relative to a temporal reference point and it is typically the moment of utterance. These language resources are the adjectives of time in the line….yesterday….now….tomorrow, and the verb tenses. The verb sometimes also has another function besides referring to a specific time.

Furthermore, Levinson (1993, p.73) said that the basis for systems of reckoning and measuring time in most languages seem to be the natural and prominent cycles of day and night, lunar months, season and years.

While, Grundy (2000, p.31-32) states another important time deixis is tense system. In fact, almost every sentence makes reference to an event time. Often this event time can only be determined in relation to the time of the utterance. Moreover, Yule (1996, 14-15) says that the basic type of temporal deixis in English is in the choice of verb tense. English only has two basic forms, the present and the past. For example:
a. I live here now.
b. I live there then.
The present tense is the proximal form as in (a) and the past tense is distal form as in (b).

The deictic items use reference can only be determined in relation to the time of the utterance in which they occur. Such as:
• This / last / next Monday / week / month / year.
• Now, then, ago, later, soon, before.
• Yesterday, today, tomorrow.
In other words, time deixis is an expression in relation to point to certain period when the utterances produced by the speaker.

 A. Person Deixis

B. Place Deixis

C. Time Deixis

D. Discourse Deixis

E. Social Deixis
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See also:
Deixis