Reference to the time of an event can be encoded through various devices in language. While the neural processing of time reference in tense languages has been explored through tense inflection, relatively little is known about such processing through aspect in a tenseless language. The current study investigated how Mandarin speakers process perfective aspect markers -le and -guo, which are usually related to past time. Through the manipulation of the (dis)agreement between time adverbs and perfective markers, the results revealed that when co-occurring with a future/incongruent time adverb, compared with a past/congruent one, -le induced an early anterior negativity, while -guo triggered a P600. These distinct ERP patterns suggest that there is no unitary mechanism underlying perfectives in Mandarin, and that aspect modulates the relation of an event to time reference in a tenseless language, just like what tense inflection does in a tense language.

对事件时间的引用可以通过各种设备以语言进行编码。尽管通过时态变化探索了时态语言中时间参考的神经处理，但对于时态语言中时态方面的这种处理知之甚少。当前的研究调查了讲普通话的人如何处理完美的方面标记-le和-guo，这通常与过去的时间有关。通过操纵时间副词和完成标记之间的（不一致）协议，结果表明，与将来/不一致的时间副词同时出现时，与过去/一致的副词相比，-le引起早期的前否定，而- uo触发了P600。这些截然不同的ERP模式表明，普通话中的完善词没有统一的机制，并且方面以时态语言来调节事件与时态的关系，就像时态语言中的时态变化一样。