Embodied Grammaticalizations of Time in Hakha Chin

Abstract

In languages around the world, many of the words used to talk about time originate in the domain of space (e.g. ‘a long meeting’ vs. ‘a long table’). This leads us to ask: Does Hakha Chin conform to the documented pattern of using spatial terms to talk about time? In answering this question, we also learn what components are necessary to form temporal adverbial phrases. The data presented here suggest that in the context of temporal adverbial phrases, Hakha Chin does employ spatial terms to talk about time. Specifically, the body terms hnu (literally ‘back) and hmai (literally ‘face’) are used to mean ‘last’ (as in ‘last week’) and ‘next’ (as in ‘next week’), respectively. Formation of a temporal adverbial phrase requires such a body term (hnu or hmai), which orients to either the future or past, and a term to indicate the temporal period (e.g. week, year).