The Temporal Reference of the Verb in Arabic

The objectives of this study are to identify the temporal reference point governing the tense meaning of the verb in Arabic, enumerate the subsidiary temporal meanings conveyed by the verb, determine the contextual indicators that clarify verbal tense, and explain the temporal meanings of the past and imperfect verbs. The problem of the study is represented by the principal question: What is the temporal reference point in the tense meaning of the verb? Further questions ask: How does the verb indicate time? Is the temporal meaning of the verb absolute? How is the temporal meaning of the verb determined? What subsidiary tenses can the verb express? What indicators clarify the tense meaning of the verb in context? The study adopts a descriptive-analytical method. The researcher concludes that the temporal reference point in verbal tense is the moment of speaking; that the verb in Arabic may indicate one of three basic times—past, present, or future—and may also express subsidiary times derived from these three; that the morphological form of the verb is the primary basis for identifying its tense meaning in context, although the form may not reveal that meaning precisely unless it is accompanied by a contextual indicator. Such indicators include particular particles and words, adverbials of time, temporal expressions, and certain verbs. The temporal meaning may also be established by the intended meaning of the verb in context. Since context is the ultimate point of reference for identifying verbal tense, there is no need, in the researcher’s view, to divide verbal tense into “morphological tense” and “syntactic tense”; the tense meaning of the verb is derived from context in the same way that the meaning of an utterance is derived from context.