Exploring long-distance temporal reference in Finno-Ugric: Insights from Estonian, Moksha Mordvin, and Komi

Abstract This paper explores temporal relations between clauses in complex sentences. We focus on a specific type of temporal reference, which we call long-distance (relative) temporal reference (LDTR), and which only occurs in deeply embedded clauses. This type of temporal reference is instantiated when the state of affairs expressed in the clause is placed in time relative to the state of affairs of another clause, which is not its immediate matrix clause but appears higher in the embedding structure. Looking for factors that evoke LDTR, we identify some key features of the sentences in which the phenomenon occurs. In the studied sample, the immediate matrix clause of the clause with LDTR has relative temporal reference and is often a complement clause. We also consider the phenomenon of LDTR in a wider context, suggesting that it challenges the idea of recursion as a fundamental property of language.