A Formal Represertation of Propositions and T~Poral Adverbials

Abstract

The topic of the paper is the introduction of a formalism that permits a homogeneous representation of definite temporal adverbials, temporal quantifications (as frequency and duration), temporal conJ~ctions and tenses, and of their combinations with propositions. This unified representation renders it possible to show how these components refer to each other and interact in creati~ temporal meanings. The formal representation is 0ased on the notions "phase-set" and "phase-operator", and it involves an interval logic. Furthermore logical coz~uections are used, but the (always troublesome) logical quantifications may be avoided. The expressions are rather near to lingaistic structures, which facilitates the link to text analysis. Some emprical confirmations are outlined.