Shaping reference through temporality: the case of Italian nominals

This paper investigates how temporality is encoded within the noun phrase in Italian, a language that lacks grammatical nominal TAM (Tense-Aspect-Modality) morphology. Drawing on data from large-scale corpora, we show that Italian speakers can evaluate the temporal status of referents through morphologically and syntactically productive constructions. Prefixes such as ex-, neo-, pre-, and quasi-, as well as ad hoc compound forms (e.g., appena-laureato ‘just graduated’, quasi-marito ‘almost husband’), enable fine-grained temporal, aspectual, and modal distinctions in nominal categorization. We argue that these constructions function as evaluative strategies, mapping referents onto a temporal continuum that includes entry, persistence, and exit from nominal categories. The analysis reveals a typology of nominal temporal and aspectual evaluation encompassing retrospective, inchoative, prospective, iterative, and imperfective readings. The study also highlights correlations between this type of evaluation and semantic noun classes, such as kinship terms, professional roles, and institutional labels, inviting a reconceptualization of temporality as a key dimension of referential categorization.