Dutch manner of motion verbs: Disentangling auxiliary choice, telicity and syntactic function

2012 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maaike Beliën,
Keyword(s):  
Local Analysis ◽  
Cognitive Grammar ◽  
Motion Verbs ◽  
Prepositional Phrases ◽  
General Consensus ◽  
Motion Event ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
Syntactic Function ◽  
Syntactic Status

AbstractDutch manner of motion verbs play a prominent role in the literature on unaccusativity. As these verbs can take both hebben ‘have’ and zijn ‘be’ as their perfective auxiliaries, they are considered to show both unergative and unaccusative behavior. The general consensus is that these verbs normally take hebben, yet occur with zijn if they are ‘telicized’ by an endpoint, and that the auxiliaries are diagnostics for the syntactic status of prepositional phrases (PPs). The paper presents attested data that reveal that this generalization is untenable: there are examples that take the opposite auxiliary from what the generalization predicts. To account for the full set of data, the paper takes a cognitive-grammar perspective, arguing that auxiliary choice, telicity and syntactic status of PPs are independent issues requiring their own explanations. Auxiliary choice is analyzed in terms of alternate construals of a motion event: with hebben as a type of act and with zijn as a change of location. In this manner, the paper adds to a growing body of literature that questions the usefulness of the coarse unergative–unaccusative distinction, advocating a ‘local analysis’ instead.

Theoretical framework

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Huber
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Construction Grammar ◽  
Motion Verbs ◽  
Motion Event ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Constructionist Approach ◽  
Manner Verbs

Chapter 2 provides an introduction to the motion encoding typology as proposed by Talmy, Slobin, and others (manner- and path-conflating languages, different types of framing and their concomitant characteristics). It argues that this typology is highly compatible with a construction grammar framework, points out the differences, and shows that particularly from the diachronic perspective taken in this study, the constructionist approach has advantages over the originally lexicalist approach of the motion typology. The chapter also provides a discussion of the different categories of motion verbs used in this study (manner verbs, path verbs, neutral motion verbs, and verbs that do not evoke a motion event on their own, but can receive a contextual motion reading).

The grammar of temporal motion: A Cognitive Grammar account of motion metaphors of time

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuomas Huumo
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Cognitive Grammar ◽  
Grammatical Structure ◽  
Tense And Aspect ◽  
Metaphorical Meaning ◽  
Motion Event ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Temporal Function ◽  
Motion Verb ◽  
Metaphorical Expression

AbstractRecent groundbreaking work in cognitive linguistics has revealed the semantic complexity of motion metaphors of time and of temporal frames of reference. In most approaches the focus has been on the clause-level metaphorical meaning of expressions, such as Moving Ego (We are approaching the end of the year) and Moving Time (both Ego-centered, as in The end of the year is approaching and field-based, as in Boxing Day follows Christmas Day). The detailed grammatical structure of these metaphorical expressions, on the other hand, has received less attention. Such details include both elements that contribute to the metaphorical meaning and those that have a non-metaphorical temporal function, e. g., tense and (central features of) aspect. I propose a model for the analysis of metaphorical expressions, building on earlier work in Conceptual Metaphor Theory and the framework of Cognitive Grammar (CG). I approach the grammatical structure of metaphorical expressions by analyzing the interplay between veridical and metaphorical systems of expressing temporal relations. I argue that these systems relate to two relevant conceptualizations of time. Veridical time (VT) is the non-metaphorical conceptualization of time, where the processual profile of the clause-level metaphorical expression resides. A metaphorical path (MP) is the metaphorical conceptualization of time as a path occupied by the metaphorical motion. A motion metaphor of time tracks the mover’s changing position on the MP against VT. I show how metaphorical expressions based on a motion verb differ from those based on a prepositional construction in grammatical and semantic terms, and how tense and aspect contribute to the conceptualization of the motion scenario. I argue that tense grounds the metaphorical motion event with respect to the speech event. All the participants in the motion event, as well as the metaphorical path itself, are present in each subsequent configuration tracked against VT by the conceptualizer. Thus tense has a wide scope over the motion scenario with Ego’s ‘now’ as a reference point, while Ego’s ‘now’ cannot serve for grounding of tense. This is why expressions such as *The meeting is difficult ahead of us are not acceptable.

Going beyond motion events typology: The case of Basque as a verb-framed language

2015 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Iraide Ibarretxe-Antuñano
Keyword(s):  
Motion Verbs ◽  
High Tolerance ◽  
Motion Events ◽  
Lexical Resources ◽  
Language Typology ◽  
Written Narratives ◽  
Motion Event ◽  
New Information ◽  
Different Types

AbstractThe concept of motion is present in all the world’s languages. However, the ways in which speakers of different languages codify motion do not seem to be so universal. Languages offer different types of structures to express motion, and speakers pay attention to different elements within the motion event. The goal of this paper is to examine in great detail how motion events are described and expressed in Basque oral and written narratives. This study focuses on three main areas: motion verbs, elaboration of Manner and elaboration of Path. Although Basque can be classified in Talmy’s terms as a verb-framed language, it is argued that it is not a prototypical example of this group with respect to the lexicalisation of Path. Unlike other verb-framed languages, the description of Path in Basque motion events is very frequent and detailed, not only in situations when it adds new information, but also in pleonastic cases. This characteristic seems to be related to Basque’s rich lexical resources for motion and space, as well as to its high tolerance for verb omission. On the basis of these data, the scope of Talmy’s binary typology is questioned. It is suggested that the verb- and satellite-framed language typology should be revised in order to account for these intra-typological differences.

scholarly journals A cognitive approach to teaching deictic motion verbs to German and Italian students of Spanish

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-95
Author(s):  
Marina Anna Colasacco
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Cognitive Grammar ◽  
Motion Verbs ◽  
Processing Instruction ◽  
Cognitive Approach ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
The Third ◽  
Students First ◽  
Approach To Teaching ◽  
Method Of Instruction

AbstractIn this study we compare two instruction approaches (cognitive and traditional) to the teaching of Spanish deictic motion verbs –ir, venir, llevarandtraer– to German and Italian learners. We also analyse whether the students’ first language (Italian or German) influences the results of the cognitive methodology we applied. The Cognitive Instruction combined the basic principles of Cognitive Grammar with those of Processing Instruction for activities in which students practice both comprehension and production. We carried out a survey of 274 university students who were learning Spanish (Level B1) at universities in Italy and Germany. Students carried out a test prior to receiving the instruction and three tests subsequently, one immediately afterwards, the second a week later and the third, a month later. The cognitive methodology proved to be beneficial and positive. The students who received cognitive instruction made better form-meaning connections and showed higher performances in the use of deictic motion verbs than those who received traditional instruction. The learners’ L1 did not appear to influence the results of the groups that received the cognitive method of instruction.

scholarly journals Verbos de movimento do português brasileiro: evidências contra uma tipologia binária / Brazilian Portuguese motion verbs: evidence against a two-way typology

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 1101
Author(s):  
Letícia Lucinda Meirelles
Keyword(s):  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Motion Verbs ◽  
Linguistic Typology ◽  
Prepositional Phrases ◽  
Subordinate Clauses ◽  
Path Direction ◽  
Syntactic Constraints ◽  
Syntactic Behavior ◽  
Semantic Properties

Resumo: Neste artigo, analisamos os verbos de movimento do português brasileiro em relação à tipologia linguística binária proposta por Talmy (1985, 2000). Focamos no comportamento sintático dos verbos com o intuito de mostrar que o português brasileiro não se caracteriza como uma língua emoldurada nos verbos (verb-framed language), como proposto pelo autor. Isso ocorre, pois, nessa língua, o sentido de trajetória é representado através de satélites, mesmo em verbos que lexicalizam o sentido de direção em sua raiz. Nós mostramos que o português brasileiro não apresenta um padrão tipológico definido, como tem sido proposto por diferentes autores para várias outras línguas. Concluímos que restrições sintáticas amplas, como a presença de sintagmas preposicionados, de adjuntos adverbiais e de orações subordinadas, determinam como nossa língua expressa as propriedades semânticas trajetória, direção e maneira em sentenças com verbos de movimento.Palavras-chave: português brasileiro; verbos de movimento; tipologia linguística.Abstract: This paper brings an analysis about Brazilian Portuguese motion verbs in relation to the binary linguistic typology proposed by Talmy (1985, 2000). It focuses on the syntactic behavior of those verbs in order to show that Brazilian Portuguese is not a verb-framed language, as proposed by the author. That occurs because in Brazilian Portuguese the meaning of path is expressed by satellites, even in verbs that lexicalize the meaning of direction in their roots. We show that Brazilian Portuguese does not present a definite typological pattern, as has been shown by different authors for several other languages. The conclusion is that broad syntactic constraints, such as the presence of prepositional phrases, adverbial adjuncts and subordinate clauses, determine how Brazilian Portuguese expresses the semantic properties path, direction and manner in sentences with motion verbs.Keywords: Brazilian Portuguese; motion verbs; linguistic typology.

scholarly journals Motion event and deictic motion verbs as path-conflating verbs

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tsuneko Nakazawa
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Semantics ◽  
Formal Analysis ◽  
Motion Verbs ◽  
Verb Phrase ◽  
Motion Event ◽  
The Difference

This paper attempts to decompose the Motion event into such elements as Figure, Path, Vector, and Ground based upon Talmy's framework, which makes it possible to formally analyze and compare the lexical semantics of the deictic motion verbs within and across languages. It is shown that the difference in interpretations of the Path is attributable to the lexical specifications of both deictic motion verbs and locative phrases. It is argued that deictic motion verbs can be lexically specified for the entailment of arrival only if they express the Path eventually directed to the deictic center. A formal analysis is given based upon the HPSG framework in order to identify the elements of a Motion event contributed by each element of a verb phrase, and to determine the compositional fashion in which they are combined to give the interpretation of the verb phrase as a whole.

scholarly journals The roles of language mode and dominance in French–German bilinguals’ motion event descriptions

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 519-531 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ladina Stocker ◽  
Raphael Berthele
Keyword(s):  
Motion Verbs ◽  
Motion Events ◽  
Language Dominance ◽  
Null Results ◽  
Motion Event ◽  
Quantitative Analyses ◽  
Language Activation ◽  
Motion Event Descriptions ◽  
Manner Verbs

AbstractJuggling with structurally and semantically different language systems leads to constructions that differ from the typical patterns in a language. Typical patterns in the domain of motion are characterized by more verbs encoding path in French; and more verbs encoding the manner of motion in German. An increase of manner verbs in French, for instance, can be ascribed to an influence from German. The extent of typical or reversed patterns depends on interrelated factors such as speaker-related idiosyncrasies, language dominance configurations, and – arguably – the degree of language activation. Drawing on data from 154 French–German bilinguals who described motion events in different language modes, this paper combines interrelated questions on the role of language dominance, language mode manipulation and how these factors interact. Quantitative analyses on the use of motion verbs do not show the expected effects. The null results are discussed by comparing preceding studies showing contradictory findings.

Beyond conflation patterns: The encoding of motion events in Kiezdeutsch

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliana Goschler ◽  
Till Woerfel ◽  
Anatol Stefanowitsch ◽  
Heike Wiese ◽  
Christoph Schroeder
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Motion Verbs ◽  
Language Usage ◽  
Corpus Study ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Motion Event ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
Turkish German ◽  
Manner Verbs

AbstractIn the domain of motion event encoding, many of the world’s languages fall into one of two types: verb-framed (the path is encoded in the verb) or satellite-framed (the path is encoded outside the verb in a prefix, particle or adverbial while the verb contains information about the manner of movement). A number of studies have investigated the language usage of bilingual speakers or language learners to find evidence of a transfer of the typological pattern of the dominant/native language to the non-dominant/foreign language. These studies have largely failed to show evidence of a straightforward transfer, although more subtle effects on usage have occasionally been observed. In this paper, we report the results of a corpus study comparing two groups of speakers of the urban German ethnolect “Kiezdeutsch”: one with a monolingual German background and one with a bilingual Turkish-German background. We find no significant differences in their preference for path or manner verbs, which is consistent with other studies. However, in comparison with the monolingual German group, the Turkish-German group prefer semantically light motion verbs and they avoid the combination of manner verbs with path satellites. This is consistent with the fact that the analogous construction is ungrammatical in verb-framed languages like Turkish. In other words, we find variation within “Kiezdeutsch” that can be explained by a transfer of usage preferences from the background language.

Talking about MOTION in Old English

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Huber
Keyword(s):  
Old English ◽  
Minor Role ◽  
Motion Verbs ◽  
English Version ◽  
Prepositional Phrases ◽  
Text Type ◽  
History Of ◽  
A Minor ◽  
Analysis Of Motion ◽  
Manner Verbs

The analysis of the 189 Old English motion verbs shows that Old English has a large manner vocabulary and various non-motion verbs attested in motion readings, which are discussed in this chapter. It is argued that although there are Old English path verbs, hardly any of them can be considered as pure path verbs (except nēahlǣcan, genēahian ‘to approach’), a diagnosis which is supported by an investigation of how Latin path verbs are translated in the Old English version of the gospels. The analysis of motion expression in different texts reveals that Old English can be seen as strongly satellite-framing, with the proportion of manner verbs as opposed to neutral verbs depending on text type. The chapter also addresses the changing realization of satellites in the history of English: In the Old English texts analysed, satellites are typically realized by prepositional phrases and adverbs, while true prefixes only play a minor role.

Determinate and Indeterminate Motion Verbs in Polish Expressions Contrasted to Translatable English Versions

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-1
Author(s):  
Dorota Chłopek
Keyword(s):  
Motion Verbs ◽  
Motion Event ◽  
Potential Problems

The main objective of this paper is to juxtapose selected Polish motion verbs, which are either used as Determinate or as Indeterminate forms, and signal contrasts between Polish and English in terms of the type of presented Motion Event, i.e. the schematic Manner, and the schematic Path. The paper has a descriptive character, aiming to signal potential problems in translating into English Polish discourse with the same verb occurring in its Determinate and Indeterminate forms. It attempts to demonstrate possible alterations in the English versions regarding grammatical aspects, lexical aspects, and also the semantics of the Indeterminate verbs which are sometimes perfective, and the Determinate verbs which are sometimes imperfective, despite the satellite elements.

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