DER GEBRAUCH DER TEMPORA IM JAPANISCHEN IM VERGLEICH MIT DEM TEMPUSGEBRAUCH IM DEUTSCHEN
A COMPARISON OF THE USE OF VERBAL TENSES IN JAPANESE AND GERMAN

Summary/Abstract: A Comparison of the Use of Verbal Tenses in Japanese and German. In this paper I shall discuss the different temporal expressions of verbs in Japanese and compare them to the temporal expressions of verbs in German. The analysis will show their use in representing the temporal relationship between the speaker and the action, event or state which he or she is referring to, and besides, will focus on the way how verbs represent the speaker’s perspective or point of view regarding the action or event. Although the Japanese language has only two grammatical tenses, the subtle temporal differences between actions or events can be expressed as well as in German or English. Moreover, Japanese is a language in which these two grammatical tenses have the function to show how the speaker views an action or event, rather than expressing when it occurred in relation to the time of the utterance. Both languages provide evidence that the temporal expressions of verbs have a dual function: they can show both temporal and psychological distances between the speaker and the action or event he/she is speaking of or the addressee he/she is speaking to.

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