PREDICATE REFERENTIALITY AND NON-REFERENTIALITY IN ENGLISH LINGUISTICS

Authors

  • Žana Gavrilović English Department, University of East Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46827/ejmts.v5i1.658

Keywords:

predicate, referentiality, non-referentiality, meaning

Abstract

This paper examines the predicate referentiality and non-referentiality in English linguistics, and the research is focused entirely on the literary corpora. While previous studies often used constructed or conversational examples, this paper demonstrates how referential and non-referential temporal meanings of finite verb forms operate in canonical English literature. Eighteen examples are excerpted from the literary works of some of the most prominent writers of contemporary literature and analysed in terms of their temporal meaning within wider sentential context. The results of the research confirm that the non-referential use of the tenses is less common in the examined literature, and that it represents a stylistic means of colouring the context so as to make it more vivid, temporally extended and more expressive. The results primarily confirm that the interplay between grammatical tense and discourse context is central to temporal interpretation.

Author Biography

  • Žana Gavrilović, English Department, University of East Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

    Žana Gavrilović, PhD in English Linguistics, is an associate professor in the Department of English at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of East Sarajevo. She lectures on various courses at undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral studies. Her major research interests are the theory of syntax and the semantics of the English verb phrase, the ways it is reflected in her mother tongue, Serbian, and the modes of teaching and acquisition of the language structures in English as a foreign language. Another field that she has been engaged in with her research is intercultural and transcultural communication. Additionally, she is included in the process of internationalisation of the University of East Sarajevo.

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Published

2025-10-25

Issue

Vol. 5 No. 1 (2025)

Section

Articles