scholarly journals On the path of time: temporal motion in typological perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 444-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
MICHELE I. FEIST ◽  
SARAH E. DUFFY
Keyword(s):  
Relative Frequency ◽  
Space Time ◽  
Motion Verbs ◽  
Spatial Motion ◽  
Psychological Reality ◽  
Patterns Of Use ◽  
Linguistic Patterns ◽  
Temporal Expressions ◽  
Corpus Data ◽  
Carry Over

ABSTRACTThe Moving Ego and Moving Time metaphors have provided a fertile testing ground for the psychological reality of space–time metaphors. Despite this, little research has targeted the linguistic patterns used in these two mappings. To fill that gap, the current study uses corpus data to examine the use of motion verbs in two typologically different languages, English and Spanish. We first investigated the relative frequency of the two metaphors. Whereas we observed no difference in frequency in the Spanish data, our findings indicated that in English, Moving Time expressions are more prevalent than are Moving Ego expressions. Second, we focused on the patterns of use of the verbs themselves, asking whether well-known typological patterns in the expression of spatial motion would carry over to temporal motion. Specifically, we examined the frequencies of temporal uses of path and manner verbs in English and in Spanish. Contra the patterns observed in space, we observed a preference for path verbs in both languages, with this preference more strongly evident in English than in Spanish. In addition, our findings revealed greater use of motion verbs in temporal expressions in Spanish compared to English. These findings begin to outline constraints on the aspects of spatial conceptualization that are likely to be reused in the conceptualization of time.

Verb Class-Specific Caused-Motion Constructions

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaorong Xia
Keyword(s):  
Motion Verbs ◽  
Conceptual Representation ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Corpus Data ◽  
The Senses ◽  
Motion Constructions

AbstractIn a constructional approach, the caused-motion construction is productive enough to attract verbs of different types into the construction; however, the distinct senses derived from actual instances indicate it is necessary to posit the caused-motion construction at lower levels because more novel uses present meanings closer to those lower constructions. The present analysis of the corpus data of English motion verbs shows that the senses of manner of caused-motion, manner of causing motion, and accompanied motion arise from their occurrences in the caused-motion construction. From a usage-based perspective, the entrenched use would yield verb class-specific constructions that are productive as well. The lower level of construction, together with the most schematic one, is stored in our memory as part of conceptual representation. The research indicates that creative use of motion verbs in the caused-motion construction is better interpreted with verb class-specific constructions.

scholarly journals Secondary meanings of the Verb chyk= ~ sykh= ‘to go out, to leave’ in Southern Siberian Turkic languages and Kipchak languages

2020 ◽  
pp. 85-99
Author(s):  
O. Yu. Shagdurova ◽  
E. V. Tyuntesheva
Keyword(s):  
World View ◽  
Space Time ◽  
Semantic Structure ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Motion Verbs ◽  
Temporal Intervals ◽  
Turkic Languages ◽  
Temporal Aspect ◽  
Linguistic Groups ◽  
To Come

The article describes the semantic structure of one of the most polysemantic motion verbs in Turkic languages, namely the verb čïq= ~ sïx= and the correlating Tuvan verb ün=. The secondary meanings of these verbs in South- ern Siberian Turkic languages (Altai, Khakas, Tuvan) are analyzed in comparison with Kipchak languages. The verb čïq= ~ sïx= has been actively developing its meaning since it was fixed in the ancient Turkic monuments. This verb was found to possess similar meanings in various Turkic languages. At the same time, čïq= ~ sïx= is combined with different words in these languages. Regional values or values specific to specific languages are also detected. The languages under consideration are divided according to the action values expressed by constructions with the verb čïq= and its analogs: the beginning in the Turkic languages of Siberia and the completion, exhaustion of action in non-Siberian languages. It may be a manifestation of Mongolian influence on the Siberian languages, since the semantics of initialization is characteristic of the Mongolian gar=, the semantic structure of which is almost similar to the Turkic čïq= and ün=. The secondary meanings of the verb considered reflect the representations of linguistic groups associated with such concepts as top / bottom, previous / subsequent (in time). The semantics of čïq= ~ sïx= and ün= reflects the spatial-temporal aspect of the Turkic world view. These verbs combine the meanings of various vectors of direction (horizontally and vertically), as well as motions taking place on various spatial-temporal intervals, including the opposite ones: the manifestation of an object / the beginning of an action (to appear / to begin; to begin, to start some activity); the action during some space-time interval (to overcome any space / to overcome any period; to happen, to occur); the disappearance of an object / the completion of an action (to disappear / to come to an end; to finish, to complete some activity).

Pragmatic motivations for the development of evidential and modal meaning in the construction “be supposed to X”

2006 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catie Berkenfield
Keyword(s):  
Relative Frequency ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
General Category ◽  
Discourse Function ◽  
Frequency Effects ◽  
Passive Construction ◽  
Linguistic Patterns ◽  
Semantic Development ◽  
Semantic Properties

The English construction “be supposed to X” is used in a variety of functions in Present-day English, including evidential, epistemic, and deontic functions. This research offers description and explanations for the development of the evidential, epistemic, and deontic functions from an earlier passive construction, through distinct processes of reanalysis (Hopper and Traugott 1993). I argue that the motivations for these semantic and syntactic shifts are motivated by pragmatic inferences based on: discourse function, discourse expectations about human subjects, frequency effects related to semantic properties of the construction in discourse, and reader-writer expectations about genre type. The results indicate that the evidential function is not part of the general category of epistemicity for this construction, following de Haan (1999, 2001b); that this construction does not exhibit the predicted pathway of semantic development from deontic to epistemic functions (Traugott 1989) due to constraints imposed by the source construction; and that genre plays an important role not only in the relative frequency of the construction (Biber et al. 1999), but also in the emergence of the deontic function diachronically. Finally, I situate the construction in relation to cross-linguistic patterns (Bybee et al. 1994), noting how it parallels broader patterns in the development of the deontic function.

Perspectives in motion: the case of metaphorical temporal statements in Spanish

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 172-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
FLORENCIA REALI ◽  
MARTIN LLERAS
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Spatial Reasoning ◽  
Corpus Analysis ◽  
Frames Of Reference ◽  
Spatial Motion ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
Corpus Data ◽  
Metaphorical Expression

abstractInterpreting temporal statements involves adopting alternative frames of reference. Previous work has shown that people draw on time-moving or ego-moving perspectives to interpret statements such as Next Wednesday´s meeting has been moved forward two days. The expression move forward in English can be translated into Spanish as mover hacia adelante or adelantar. Corpus data show that when these expressions are used metaphorically to describe time, the former is typically used to describe events parting from the ego (ego-moving perspective) while the latter is typically used to describe events moving towards the ego (time-moving perspective). We provide empirical evidence that different frames of reference are elicited depending on the specific metaphorical expression in Spanish (Corpus Analysis, Experiments 1 and 2), to the extent that the use of these linguistic forms in temporal sentences affects subsequent spatial reasoning (Experiment 3). We conclude that Spanish has some metaphorical expressions that are not neutral regarding the ego-/time-moving perspectives, and that their use affects how people draw on spatial motion schemas when thinking about time and space.

Factors reflecting children’s use of temporal terms as a function of social group

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Celia Renata Rosemberg ◽  
Florencia Alam ◽  
Alejandra Stein
Keyword(s):  
Social Group ◽  
Urban Neighborhoods ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Patterns Of Use ◽  
Temporal Expressions ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Discursive Patterns ◽  
Community Contexts

The study analyzes the relationship between the temporal terms used by four-year-old children from different socio-economic backgrounds — marginalized urban neighborhoods and middle-income families — and the use of these terms in the spontaneous situations in which they participate in family and community contexts. The analysis assumes that the child develops knowledge about temporal expressions as they are used by others and as the child uses them herself (Nelson 2007; Tomasello 2003). Findings show that children from marginalized urban neighborhoods use fewer temporal terms than children from middle-income backgrounds. These differences correlate with differences in the input of both groups. The analysis shows differences in the interactional and discursive patterns of use of the terms in the homes of both groups of children.

Potentials for grammaticalization

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 363-402
Author(s):  
Fuyin Thomas Li ◽  
Na Liu
Keyword(s):  
Motion Verbs ◽  
Event Type ◽  
Semantic Account ◽  
Syntactic Position ◽  
Event Theory ◽  
Cognitive Semantic ◽  
Corpus Data ◽  
Directional Complements ◽  
New Hypothesis

Abstract This paper discusses the grammaticalization of motion verbs in Mandarin. A class of motion verbs in Mandarin that regularly appears at either V1 or V2 position in the V1+V2 construction is only grammaticalized at the V2 position, where the verb becomes a directional complement. We provide a cognitive semantic account and propose a new hypothesis that we call the syntactic position and event type sensitivity hypothesis in grammaticalization. We analyze corpus data across five historical stages for 11 simplex directional complements. The analysis draws on Talmy’s macro-event theory and Lehmann’s grammaticalization parameters. It is concluded that motion verbs at the V1 position are most likely to have agentive subjects, which foregrounds the idea of motion in V1, while V2 focuses on the Agent’s purpose. Motion verbs at V2 are relatively more likely to have non-agentive subjects, which foregrounds the Path element in V2 and complements the action of V1, rather than the purpose of the Agent. What triggers the grammaticalization of the V2 is the foregrounding of the Path element in V2, which complements the action of V1, and its non-agentive subject.

DISFLUENCIES IN RUSSIAN SPOKEN MONOLOGUES: A DISTRIBUTIONAL ANALYSIS

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. A. Korotaev ◽  
◽  
V. I. Podlesskaya ◽  
K. V. Smirnova ◽  
O. V. Fedorova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Relative Frequency ◽  
Structural Approach ◽  
Distributional Analysis ◽  
Fluent Speech ◽  
Filled Pauses ◽  
Distributional Patterns ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Corpus Data

The paper addresses the overall distribution of speech disfluencies in Russian spoken monologic discourse: basing on corpus data, we investigate qualitatively and quantitatively how disfluencies of different types group (or do not group) with each other and how isolated disfluencies and their sequences are sandwiched with periods of fluent speech in the course of speech production. Self-repairs, filled and silent pauses, and instances of hesitation lengthening were annotated in a subcorpus of the “Russian Pears Chats and Stories” (RUPEX). A distribution-oriented typology of disfluencies was proposed that distinguishes between isolated disfluencies, disfluency clusters, and quasiclusters. We claim that disfluency tokens tend to cluster, as isolated occurrences are significantly less frequent in our data than it could have been expected basing on the relative frequency of tokens. This finding contradicts previous studies that treated disfluency clusters as a more marginal phenomenon, and emphasizes the importance of a distributional, rather than merely structural, approach to annotating disfluencies. Furthermore, individual types of disfluency tokens demonstrate significantly different distributional patterns. Compared to other types, self-repairs occur more often in isolation, while words with hesitation lengthening appear predominantly in clusters, and filled pauses most often group with silent pauses to form quasi-clusters.

Russian Written Speech of Kazakh Students in the Reflection of Russian Learner Corpus: Verbal Prefixation

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 389-398
Author(s):  
Aimgul Kozkenova ◽  
Ekaterina Rakhilina
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Learner Corpus ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Written Texts ◽  
Linguistic Patterns ◽  
Turkic Languages ◽  
Corpus Data ◽  
Linguistic Behavior ◽  
Written Speech

The article describes Russian Learner Corpus as a tool for the study of Russian of bilingual Kazakh students through the example of their written texts. The article is focused on the markers of inceptivity and verbal prefixation patterns in these texts. It examines the deviations from Standard Russian, caused by the influence of Kazakh, as well as by some other strategies of linguistic behavior of Kazakh-Russian bilinguals. The main mismatch between Russian and Kazakh is due to the fact that Kazakh (like other Turkic languages) lacks prefixal verbs, so that the semantic impact of the Russian prefixes is transferred to other means and is expressed with the help of different strategies – mainly, by periphrastic biverbal constructions. On another level, corpus data analysis can specify the semantic differences between similar aspectual units in Russian viewed through linguistic patterns used by Kazakh bilingual speakers.

scholarly journals When time is not space: The social and linguistic construction of time intervals and temporal event relations in an Amazonian culture

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Sinha ◽  
Vera Da Silva Sinha ◽  
Jörg Zinken ◽  
Wany Sampaio
Keyword(s):  
Space Time ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Spatial Motion ◽  
Time Intervals ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Universal Space ◽  
The Social ◽  
Mapping Hypothesis ◽  
Event Based ◽  
Interval Systems

AbstractIt is widely assumed that there is a natural, prelinguistic conceptual domain of time whose linguistic organization is universally structured via metaphoric mapping from the lexicon and grammar of space and motion. We challenge this assumption on the basis of our research on the Amondawa (Tupi Kawahib) language and culture of Amazonia. Using both observational data and structured field linguistic tasks, we show that linguistic space-time mapping at the constructional level is not a feature of the Amondawa language, and is not employed by Amondawa speakers (when speaking Amondawa). Amondawa does not recruit its extensive inventory of terms and constructions for spatial motion and location to express temporal relations. Amondawa also lacks a numerically based calendric system. To account for these data, and in opposition to a Universal Space-Time Mapping Hypothesis, we propose a Mediated Mapping Hypothesis, which accords causal importance to the numerical and artefact-based construction of time-based (as opposed to event-based) time interval systems.

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