Time noun

Also known as: 时间名词 (shíjiān míngcí), 时间词 (shíjiāncí), time nominal and temporal noun.

Notes

时间词

• Should be arranged in descending order of size: 年 月 日 小时
• Time nouns can also be adverbs (adverbial adjuncts to be precise - can have more than one in a phrase). Other types of nouns can't be adverbs.
• 然后 vs 以后 vs 后来

Sources

• 外国人实用汉语语法(中英文对照) (p. 20)
• 实用汉语语法 (p. 49)
• http://baike.baidu.com/view/1026652.html