Abstract
This study presents a cross-linguistic investigation of attributive temporal clauses encoded by a Generic Head Noun meaning ‘time’. While most studies have concentrated on the diachronic origin of this construction, no typological study has explored the synchronic properties of constructions encoded by a GHN of time (e.g. At the time I went there, I felt sick) that are used to express temporal adverbial semantic relations. The research reports on 45 languages in which attributive temporal clauses are the primary conventionalized way of expressing temporal adverbial relations. This construction is found in almost every macro-area, but especially in Africa, Papunesia, and Eurasia (particularly in Sino-Tibetan languages and Caucasian languages). In exploring the construction, the study takes into account three parameters, viz. the linear position of the Generic Head Noun of time, the encoding of Generic Head Nouns of time in comparison to other relativized temporal nouns (e.g. ʽdayʼ, ʽyearʼ), and whether languages tend to have specialized or unspecialized Generic Head Nouns of time to encode this construction.