Abstract Much of how we sequence events in speech mirrors the order of their natural occurrence. While event chains that conform to chronology may be easier to process, languages offer substantial freedom to manipulate temporal order. This article explores to what extent digressions from chronology are attributable to differences in grammatical aspect systems. We compared reverse order reports (RORs) in event descriptions elicited from native speakers of four languages, two with (Spanish, Modern Standard Arabic [MSA]) and two without grammatical aspect (German, Hungarian). In the Arabic group, all participants were highly competent MSA speakers from Palestine and Jordan. Standardized frequency counts showed significantly more RORs expressed by non-aspect groups than by aspect groups. Adherence to chronology changing as a function of contrast in grammatical aspect signal that languages without obligatory marking of ongoingness may provide more flexibility for event reordering. These findings bring novel insights about the dynamic interplay between language structure and temporal sequencing in the discourse stream.

中文翻译：

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违反时间顺序：反向顺序报告中的跨语言变化

摘要我们在语音中对事件进行排序的方式很大程度上反映了事件自然发生的顺序。尽管符合时间顺序的事件链可能更易于处理，但语言提供了极大的自由来操纵时间顺序。本文探讨了在何种程度上与时间顺序背离可归因于语法方面系统的差异。我们比较了由四种语言的母语者引起的事件描述中的逆序报告（ROR），其中两种使用（西班牙语，现代标准阿拉伯语[MSA]）和两种不使用语法方面的内容（德语，匈牙利语）。在阿拉伯语组中，所有参与者都是来自巴勒斯坦和约旦的高素质MSA发言人。标准化频率计数显示，非方面组表达的ROR明显多于方面组。遵循时间顺序变化作为语法方面对比度的函数表明，没有强制性标记持续性的语言可以为事件重新排序提供更大的灵活性。这些发现为话语流中语言结构和时间顺序之间的动态相互作用带来了新颖的见解。