scholarly journals Motion event cognition and grammatical aspect: Evidence from Afrikaans

Linguistics ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emanuel Bylund ◽  
Panos Athanasopoulos ◽  
Marcelyn Oostendorp
Keyword(s):  
Event Cognition ◽  
Grammatical Aspect ◽  
Motion Event

Language and thought in a multilingual context: The case of isiXhosa

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 431-441 ◽  
Author(s):  
EMANUEL BYLUND ◽  
PANOS ATHANASOPOULOS
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Primary Education ◽  
Matching Task ◽  
Motion Events ◽  
Event Cognition ◽  
Grammatical Aspect ◽  
Language And Thought ◽  
Motion Event

Situated within the grammatical aspect approach to motion event cognition, this study takes a first step in investigating language and thought in functional multilinguals by studying L1 isiXhosa speakers living in South Africa. IsiXhosa being a non-aspect language, the study investigates how the knowledge and use of additional languages with grammatical aspect influence cognition of endpoint-oriented motion events among L1 isiXhosa speakers. Results from a triads-matching task show that participants who often used aspect languages and had greater exposure to English in primary education were less prone to rely on endpoints when categorising motion events.

scholarly journals MINDING YOUR MANNERS: LINGUISTIC RELATIVITY IN MOTION

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 591-602 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele I. Feist ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Linguistic Analysis ◽  
Linguistic Relativity ◽  
Cognitive Sciences ◽  
Event Cognition ◽  
Linguistic Differences ◽  
Motion Event ◽  
The World ◽  
Substantial Interest

Abstract Do speakers think about the world differently depending on the language they speak? In recent years, this question has generated substantial interest in the cognitive sciences, driven in part by Talmy's (1985; 2000) observations regarding the typology of motion descriptions. However, a flurry of research (CIFUENTES-FEREZ; GENTNER, 2006; GENNARI et al., 2002; NAIGLES; TERRAZAS, 1998; PAPAFRAGOU; HULBERT; TRUESWELL, 2008; among others) has produced mixed results, leaving us no closer to understanding the role of language in motion event cognition. In this paper, I revisit the linguistic analysis, combining Talmy's observations with those of Slobin (2004) to refocus the question on the differential salience of Manner across languages. I then present results from three studies that suggest that cross-linguistic differences in the salience of Manner are connected to speakers' likelihood of encoding Manner information, in line with the Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis.

Associated motion, direction and (exchoative) aspect in Ethiopian Komo

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 737-787
Author(s):  
Manuel A. Otero
Keyword(s):  
Reference Point ◽  
Grammatical Category ◽  
Motion Direction ◽  
Verb Morphology ◽  
Grammatical Aspect ◽  
Semantic Classes ◽  
Motion Function ◽  
Motion Event

Abstract Komo (Koman) of Ethiopia has an obligatory paradigm of deictic directional (dd) verb morphology that, among its functions, indicates direction of motion relative to a deictic reference point, associated motion and grammatical aspect when collocated with verb roots of different semantic classes. The semantic components of a motion event underlie the Komo dd system and the grammatical aspect of a predicate can be directly mapped to the bounded/unbounded path profile. The Associated Motion function contains a bounded path which entails arrival at or departure from a reference point and, as a result, imparts aspectual telicity to the predicate. The Direction function by contrast, contains an unbounded path that expresses motion towards a reference point and does not impart aspectual telicity. Further, some morphemes express exchoativity, or the ‘exiting’ of a state, a rare if unattested grammatical category.

Grammatical and cognitive factors shaping the conceptualization of motion events

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharina Zaychenko
Keyword(s):  
Memory Performance ◽  
Cognitive Factors ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Performance Tests ◽  
Grammatical Aspect ◽  
Motion Event ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
Event Construal ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract Motion event construal gives insight into the nature of the linguistic and conceptual representations underlying the encoding of events. Studies show that event descriptions differ cross-linguistically due to, amongst other factors, the absence or presence of grammatical aspect. While speakers of aspect languages generally focus on the process, speakers of non-aspect languages tend to perceive the event holistically and focus on endpoints. This investigation examines visual endpoint salience as a further factor that shapes event encoding. Thus, in this model, grammatical aspect is seen as a part of a more complex system of factors that determine event construal. The analyses, which cover German speakers, English speakers, and German-speaking learners of English, involve linguistic production data and results from memory performance tests. The findings show that the focus on endpoints increases for salient stimuli. While German speakers and learners of English show a tendency to focus on endpoints, a clear preference for focusing on the process can be observed in English speakers. Verbalizing endpoints correlates with the ability to remember them in a memorization task. The implications of these outcomes are discussed in the context of two factors which shape event encoding: grammatical aspect and endpoint salience.

Knowing Your World: Event Cognition

1988 ◽  
Vol 33 (8) ◽  
pp. 690-691
Author(s):  
Betty Tuller
Keyword(s):  
Event Cognition

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).

Conclusion

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuhui Hu
Keyword(s):  
Historical Development ◽  
The Other ◽  
Linguistic Variation ◽  
Diachronic Change ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Motion Event ◽  
Applicative Constructions ◽  
The One ◽  
Chinese And English

This chapter summarizes the major points developed throughout the book. The theoretical points of the syntax of events proposed in Chapter 2 are listed. The conclusions on the syntax of English and Chinese resultatives, applicative constructions in various languages, and Chinese non-canonical object and motion event constructions are presented, together with the implications for the verb/satellite-framed typology. The explanation of diachronic change and cross-linguistic variation is summarized, including both the historical development of Chinese resultatives, the variation of resultatives between Chinese and English on the one hand, and English and Romance on the other hand. The Synchronic Grammaticalisation Hypothesis is also summarized.

Introduction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuhui Hu
Keyword(s):  
Generative Grammar ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
Constructivist Approach ◽  
Diachronic Change ◽  
Motion Event ◽  
Applicative Constructions ◽  
Chinese And English

This chapter firstly introduces the broad theoretical background within which the research carried out in this book is situated. The theoretical aim of this book is to develop a theory of the syntax of events, which is based on the constructivist approach, in particular Borer’s (2005a,b, 2013) Exo-Skeletal (XS) model—part of the broader framework of generative grammar. The empirical scope of this book includes Chinese and English resultatives, applicative constructions, non-canonical object constructions and motion event constructions in Chinese, and the satellite/verb-framed typology. Both synchronic variation and diachronic change are studied. The organization of this book is also outlined.

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