Global Journal of Human Social Science, G: Linguistics and Education, Volume 21 Issue 4

Chrononyms and the Time Identity Dr. Reginaldo Nascimento Neto Abstract- This paper intends to argue that Chrononymy – the denomination of time divisions – have been only descriptive or designative, because time is still far from being understood. So, this study of Chrononymy focuses on the examination of the names of temporal phenomena, and its goal is to discover the initial motivation of a given chrononym as well as the moment and circumstances in which the primitive semantic layer was broken, redirecting a new fluid of meaning through new ramifications of meanings, or its semantic emptying. It is assumed that the Chrononymy, or way of naming the time, used by civilizations, reveals kinetic-astral, space environmental, religious and, metaphorical motivations. In this way, Chrononymy would envelop descriptions of these phenomena from the perspective of the paradigms of each epoch, which, when uncovered, rescues the basic scientific and anthropological reference of temporal identity eclipsed by continuous semantic emptying. It is sought a theoretical anchor in authors as Bakhtin (1990), Dick (1990, 1998), Piettre (1997), among others, and analyze etymology and historical- semantic flow for terms like second, minute, week, month, year, century, age, and its chrononimic subdivisions, with the purpose of identifying the nominee’s motivations. Keywords: time, chrononymy, identity, etymology. Blessed is the one who invented the beautiful trick of the calendar, because the good thing about Monday, the 1st of the month and every new year is that they give us the impression that life does not continue, but just starts over… (Anonymous). I. I ntroduction t can be principle, beginning, arch ē ( ἀρχή ) or r ēʾ šiy ṯ ( תי ִׁ֖שאֵר ), but time is a mystery. To name it has only been to describe or measure it because it is still far from being understood. In proving his theory of relativity, Albert Einstein (14 March 1879 - 18 April 1955) said that time and space are interdependent. For physics, time and place were originated or came into existence (cf. Hawking, 1988). Influenced by these postulates, Bakhtin (1990), when referring to the narrative, says that time materializes and incarnates and becomes artistically visible (BAKHTIN, 1990, p. 84). The universe is fascinating, so is time. When considering that time is a physical phenomenon, which can be measured and named, it is urgent to ask what underlying influences had motivated the nominee in the naming of time manifested in chrononyms? According to Browen Martin and Felizitas Ringham's Semiotics Dictionary (2000), “the term Chrononyms designates a specific length of time such as ‘day’, ‘spring’ or ‘coffee break’, while the Michaellis Online Dictionary defines a Chrononym as the name of the divisions of time: “denomination of time divisions in years, seasons, eras, months, days, morning, afternoon, night, and historical times”. Fiorin (2006) considers that “reality only exists for men when it is named” (FIORIN, 2006, p. 55), therefore agreeing with Dick (1998), when she says that “the act of naming permeates concepts, values and purposes, intentions and codes, not just impertinent arbitrary conventions. Eight years earlier, Dick (1990) already postulated that naming is a very significant activity for man: To become a name, the word goes through a selective and interpretive experiment, which presupposes the articulation by the nominator (or enunciator/emitter) of conventional concepts, values, intentions, codes and uses (DICK, 1998, p. 101). The act of naming as a human activity is inscribed as a very significant activity for man, often complementing the perfect understanding of the surrounding reality. (DICK, 1990, p. 29). On that anchor, taking into account that it is not possible to enter the world of meaning without going through the gates of time and space, it is possible to suppose that chrononymy, or the way of naming time, employed by civilizations, reveals kinetic-astral, space- environmental, religious and, or metaphorical motivations. Thus, the chrononyms envelop descriptions of these astral, sensory, mystical or scientific phenomena, which, when unveiled, rescue scientific and anthropological knowledge and ways of seeing. Among others, a relevance that also can be attributed to chrononymy stems from the fact taken from Michel Holquist’s quotation, apud Bemong (2015) defending the amalgamation between time and events: Chronology cannot be separated from events and vice versa: an event is always a dialogical unit, as much as a correlation: something only happens when something else with which it can be compared reveals a change in time and space (BEMONG, 2015, p. 19). Language is heavily permeated by chrononomical aspects 1 1 Aspect of a verb is linked to the duration of the verbal process. For example, the verbs shake, bounce, spin, rotate and vibrate, among others, are activity verbs, as they have an internal dynamics, describe events that develop over time, without having a certain point of completion, and denote oscillatory, segmented, idiosyncratic actions, alternating, or intermittent. . Although implicit, the statements of time and aspect of verbs in speech acts infer the dimensions of today, yesterday or tomorrow, I Volume XXI Issue IV Version I 23 ( G ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - © 2021 Global Journals Year 2021 Author: e-mail: nadynhu@ifma.edu.br