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In:Thinking and Speaking About Time: A cognitive linguistic approach
Edited by Rita Brdar-Szabó and Mario Brdar
[Human Cognitive Processing 81] 2026
► pp. 421–441

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Chapter 16
Time reference, deixis, contextualization

The case of most ‘now’ in Hungarian

 | Eötvös Loránd UniversityBudapest
 | Eötvös Loránd UniversityBudapest
 | Eötvös Loránd UniversityBudapest
Published online: 27 January 2026
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https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.81.16imr
Abstract
The chapter explores the semantic variability of the deictic temporal adverb most ‘now’ in Hungarian, also describing the time reference of some frequent most + particle combinations and the participation of most in clausal constructions. The analyses are based on data from the Hungarian National Corpus but remain strictly qualitative in nature. The proposed semantic account relies on such cognitive factors as grouping, contrast, and direction of mental scanning, with non-primary meanings motivated by metonymy and deictic projection. In the analysis of most in clausal constructions, a key concern is to describe its role as a contextualizer, both in a broader sense of linking the onstage process to an offstage, context-dependent reference point and in the narrower sense of functioning as an anchor for information processing.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The meanings of most ‘now’: Deixis, metonymy, and deictic projection
  • 3.The meaning of most + particle combinations
    • 3.1Most már and most még
    • 3.2Már most
    • 3.3Most éppen
  • 4.Most in the Hungarian clause
    • 4.1A three-dimensional model of Hungarian
    • 4.2Most and its deictic role in providing access
      to the onstage grounded process (D1)
    • 4.3Most as an extender or overrider (D2)
    • 4.4Most as an anchoring contextualizer (D3)
  • 5.Summary and conclusions
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • References
References (24)
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