Nastoyashchee issledovanie posvyashcheno vyyasneniyu istochnika formirovaniya kategorii vremeni v yazyke s pomoshch'yu tipologicheskikh dannykh yazykov raznykh sistem, a imenno: indoevropeyskikh, altayskikh, ural'skikh, dravidiyskikh, semito-khamitskikh i paleoaziatskikh. V rabote vyyavlyayutsya obshchie yazykovye zakonomernosti i tendentsii razvitiya ukazannoy kategorii; opredelyayutsya vremennye formanty tipologicheski obshchie dlya vsekh grupp rassmotrennykh yazykov; proslezhivaetsya put' stanovleniya kategorii vremeni ot deyksisa cherez sposob deystviya i vid.