present tense (Q14734)

A value of Tense Property assigned to the designated element in the clause when the meaning selected for the clause is that intended to locate the event spoken about as simultaneous with the deictic centre of the utterance. Most commonly, this tense meaning is referred to as 'present', because in absolute tense systems the deictic centre is the moment of speech. However, in relative tense systems, where the deictic centre can be moved to any point on the time line, it is more appropriate to refer to this temporal relation as 'simultaneous'. It is important to note --- for all tense values, but in particular for the Present Tense --- that the 'times' which are used to locate the event, the deictic centre, and the reference point, may or may not be 'points' on the time line. Conventionally, these concepts are considered neutral with regard to whether they are points or intervals of time longer than a point. In a formal model of tense meanings they could, for example, be represented as