Abstract Ordem & Akyol

Two Lexemes Denoting Time In Turkish: A Cognitive Linguistic View

This study aims to examine the lexeme ‘time’ from a cross linguistic perspective. In our data we have found that Turkish and English languages, although they come from different language families, use almost the same metaphors while constructing ‘time’ linguistically. However, In Turkish there are two lexemes denoting time, which are ‘zaman’ and ‘vakit’ borrowed from Arabic language and used interchangeably in daily life in Turkish. Differences between these two lexemes have not been called into question so far. In this study, we aim to show to what extent two lexemes overlap with each other and differ in everyday usage because although they are used interchangeably, there are contexts where their usages differ in terms of senses. The salient difference between two lexemes is that the latter, ‘vakit’, is used in a sense that indicates both indefinite present time and definite future time while the former, zaman, is not used in this sense. Another grammatical difference between two lexemes is that ‘vakit’ can be modified by ordinal numbers while ‘zaman’ cannot. It is worth showing how Turkish speakers sense two lexemes by evidencing their usages in terms of their metaphorical senses as well. This study will be presented comparing the lexeme ‘time’ in English and Turkish. There are already ready data regarding the lexeme ‘time’ in English. The examples already given in English will be compared to those in Turkish. New data collected from Turkish newspapers and some novels will also be introduced in order to show the overlapping degree of two lexemes in Turkish.