A Systemic Functional Study of Chinese Tense

摘要

Temporal meaning is an indispensable part of the language meaning. Researches on different components of modern Chinese temporal system, especially tense, have been carried out. However, an agreed picture is hardly constructed. In view of the present situation, this paper is meant to be a tentative study of the Chinese tense through a detailed analysis of the relevant elements in the light of Systemic Functional Grammar. It is held that tense in Chinese as a grammatical category can be classified into primary tense, secondary tense, primary-secondary tense and secondary-secondary tense. It follows the basic principles of three divisions and recursion and can be realized through either zero-form or tense auxiliaries which serve the temporal deictic function.