We all know what time is – or at least we think we do. Delays, deadlines, countdown to vacation – our lives are dictated by clocks and calendars. But does time truly flow the way we experience it?

For astrophysics, time is a dimension of space-time that… doesn't pass at all. Philosophy and psychology argue that "flowing time" may be merely an illusion resulting from the limitations of our minds.

Various Languages, Various Times: How We Talk About Transience

During the lecture, Prof. Jaszczołt will look at time from a linguistic perspective. She will demonstrate how the world's various languages reflect the concept of time – and how this influences our perception of transience. She will pay particular attention to languages whose grammar makes no distinction between past, present and future. In such languages, the sentences “I read a book”, "I am reading a book," and "I will read a book" can sound identical.

Does the absence of time in language mean that its users perceive transience differently? How can we imagine a world in which something as fundamental to our culture as time is not built into the linguistic system?

Get to Know the Speaker

Prof. Katarzyna Jaszczołt is a linguist and a philosopher of language, a Professor of Linguistics and Philosophy of Language at the University of Cambridge. She is Professorial Fellow of Newnham College, where she heads the Linguistics Centre. She is the first Polish woman to obtain the title of Professor at Cambridge. She completed her Master's degree in English Philology and Philosophy at the University of Lodz. 
Her research interests include contemporary philosophy of language, semantics and pragmatics, including expressions of personality, self-awareness, and the semantics and metaphysics of time. She has also developed her own concept of Default Semantics.
She is an author of 6 monographs and over 100 scholarly articles, and the managing editor of book series Oxford Studies of Time in Language and Thought (Oxford University Press).
In 2012 she was elected Member of Academia Europaea and in 2015 Alumnus VIP, University of Lodz.

Open Event – Join us!

This meeting is an opportunity to reflect on what concerns each of us – the very nature of life, transience and memory. If you're interested in the world and enjoy asking questions that don't have simple answers, this event is for you.

The lecture will be held on 23 October 2025, at 5:00 p.m. in the MeMo Media Library (Moniuszki 5, Łódż)
Participation in the event is free of charge, but prior registration is required via the REGISTRATION FORM 

The event is made possible thanks to funding obtained by the University of Lodz Foundation through the OPUS Center competition. The public task "Academic Lodz 2025 – Scientific, Creative and Multicultural 2025" is financed from the City of Lodz budget.

Edit: Magdalena Paszko, Centre for External Relations and Social Responsibility of the University, University of Lodz
Graphics: Michał Strzelec, Centre for Brand Communications, University of Lodz