Time-Expression in German and Russian. Right-Hand Half of the Clock Qvadrant with its Expression Particularities, Common to Both Languages
Time-Expression in German and Russian. Right-Hand Half of the Clock Qvadrant with its Expression Particularities, Common to Both Languages

Summary/Abstract: One of the most frequently used approaches in common languages allover is asking and answering about the time (hour and moment of the day). In popular culture of every language there are several, well established, manners of expressing the reality of the fourth dimension, by making use of the linguistic law of minimal effort. Generally, in most languages, there are two consecrated ways of giving/receiving information about time: the official and the unofficial way, the main conceptual differences between the two being the context, the purpose and the percent of accuracy. Nevertheless, German and Russian share a common particularity concerning the expression of first half of an hour in unofficial speech. Since this is the most relevant aspect in analyzing the stream and evolution of a language in its mobility and constant interaction with archetypal mentality of the people, we decided to take a short view into the conceptual thinking mechanisms behind time expression in current informal language of the two languages, from a philosophical point of view. The paper is divided in three main sections: the first is strictly theoretical and describes the modalities of interacting about time in the languages of reference. This section makes use of grammar concepts and focuses on main differences and structural details, but also on implied lexicology. The second part discusses the common particularity in both languages, also from a descriptive point of view, while the third treats the subject from the perspective of linear-time-philosophy in the European area, the perfect space for allowing this 'off the usual' particularity to happen, unlike the Asian space, characterized by the concept of time-cyclicity.

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