Universals and specifics of 'time' in Russian

Abstract

This chapter addresses the question of universal and language- and culture-­ specific traits in conceptualisation of 'time'. It tests the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) hypothesis that semantic universals time and now should be found in Russian. It demonstrates that vremja and sejčas are Russian exponents of these primes, while the close-in-meaning terms pora, teper', and nynče are semantically complex. The chapter formulates culturally salient attitudes to time in Russian, such as 'change', 'persistence', 'things being outside people's control', on the basis of the analysed words. It argues that NSM can be regarded as an effective tool in the 'time'-related linguistic research due to its universal character.