Topic time : the syntax and semantics of SqwXwu7mish temporal adverbials

The goal of this thesis is to explain the syntax and semantics of phrasal temporal adverbials in SqwXwu7mish, a Coast Salish language. This thesis proposes that SqwXwu7mish temporal adverbials function either as a main predicate or as a temporal argument corresponding to Reichenbach1s (1947) reference point. When these adverbials are the main predicate, they get an event time reading; when they are at the right edge of the sentence, they get a reference time reading. Thus, SqwXwu7mish adverbials support the claim by de Swart (to appear) that adverbials in focus structure get an event time reading, while adverbials in topic structure get a reference time reading. Furthermore, this thesis argues that adverbs in SqwXwu7mish are not adjuncts but arguments, based on their restricted distribution. Therefore, SqwXwu7mish adverbs do not simply modify the reference time, they denote is as a temporal argument, Topic Time (Klein 1994). This argument is located in the specifier of the spatiotemporal predicate Aspect within the framework proposed by Demirdache and Uribe- Etxebarria (to appear, a,b).