A Unified Formal Architecture of Temporal Semantics Bridging Category Theory, Cognitive Primitives, and Universal Grammar in High-Impact Linguistic Research

Temporal semantics remains theoretically fragmented due to a persistent conflation between internal event structure and external reference time. This paper proposes a τ-first architecture in which internal time (τ)—the event-internal dynamics of unfolding, culmination, persistence, and accumulation—constitutes the primary semantic primitive, while external time (t) is treated as a derived anchoring layer shaped by discourse, pragmatic inference, and sociocultural convention. Tense–aspect systems are reconceptualized as τ→t projection systems, where τ provides the compositional semantic substrate and t emerges through structure-preserving anchoring operations. Formally, the framework is specified using a category-theoretic architecture that models events as τ-structured objects and anchoring as functorial projection into morphosyntactic realization spaces. Cognitively, the proposal aligns with evidence from event segmentation and situation-model updating, according to which temporal interpretation tracks internal event dynamics rather than mere timeline indexing. Pragmatically and sociopragmatically, implicature, presupposition, and social norms are treated as interface mechanisms governing how τ is externalized into communicable t-anchors. The paper further provides an operational annotation protocol for τ and a minimal pilot design that renders the framework empirically testable without collapsing the contribution into a full quantitative report. The result is a unified, formally explicit, cognitively grounded architecture intended to meet Q1 standards and to reorganize debates in temporal semantics around a principled τ-first explanatory axis.