scholarly journals A typological study on the path expression in English and Chinese - focusing on the manner-of-motion verb constructions expressing motion events

2018 ◽  
Vol null (46) ◽  
pp. 157-182
Author(s):  
Sunhee Kim ◽  
Lin, Wenyan
Keyword(s):  
Motion Events ◽  
Verb Constructions ◽  
Path Expression ◽  
Motion Verb

Does Physical Motion Matter? The Encoding Differences between Fictive and Physical Motion Events

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-157
Author(s):  
Sai Ma
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Content ◽  
Motion Events ◽  
Linguistic Differences ◽  
Physical Motion ◽  
Motion Event ◽  
Verb Constructions ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Motion Verb ◽  
Fictive Motion ◽  
Authentic Data

This study aims to explore linguistic differences between fictive motion expressions and physical motion event expressions in Chinese. Although both types of expressions are associated with dynamic linguistic forms, they describe different types of semantic content. Using authentic data, this study examines motion verbs, motion verb constructions, the complexity of ground elements, and alternative manner expressions for Chinese fictive motion events, the results of which are compared with those of previous studies on physical motion events. It is found that Chinese fictive motion expressions are very different from Chinese physical motion event expressions in terms of the above four aspects. The results lend support to the hypothesis that fictive motion occurs more in verb-framed languages.

Typological shift in lexicalizing motion events: The case of Wenzhou

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingxia Lin
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Head Motion ◽  
Motion Events ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Chinese Dialect ◽  
Chinese Dialects ◽  
Motion Verb ◽  
The One ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Modern Standard

AbstractTypological shift in lexicalizing motion events has hitherto been observed cross-linguistically. While over time, Chinese has shown a shift from a dominantly verb-framed language in Old Chinese to a strongly satellite-framed language in Modern Standard Mandarin, this study presents the Chinese dialect Wenzhou, which has taken a step further than Standard Mandarin and other Chinese dialects in becoming a thoroughly satellite-framed language. On the one hand, Wenzhou strongly disfavors the verb-framed pattern. Wenzhou not only has no prototypical path verbs, but also its path satellites are highly deverbalized. On the other hand, Wenzhou strongly prefers the satellite-framed pattern, to the extent that it very frequently adopts a neutral motion verb to head motion expressions so that path can be expressed via satellites and the satellite-framed pattern can be syntactically maintained. The findings of this study are of interest to intra-linguistic, diachronic and cross-linguistic studies of the variation in encoding motion events.

Moving along paths in space and time

2017 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 721-751
Author(s):  
TUOMAS HUUMO
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Extended Period ◽  
Cognitive Grammar ◽  
Grammatical Function ◽  
Daylight Saving ◽  
Time Path ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Individual Entity ◽  
Path Expression ◽  
Motion Verb

In cognitive linguistics, motion metaphors of time (e.g.Christmas is approaching, We left the crisis behind) have been actively studied during the last decades. In addition to motion verbs, prepositional expressions are an important element in such metaphors. This work combines insights from Cognitive Grammar and Conceptual Metaphor Theory to account for uses of English path prepositions in motion metaphors of time. It is argued that such expressions conceptualize time as a path where amoveris advancing. The nature of themovervaries: it can be an individual entity metaphorically in motion (e.g.We wentTHROUGHa hard winter), an extended period of time (e.g.The period of Daylight Saving Time goes onPASTSeptember), or the temporal profile of a process (e.g.I sleptTHROUGHthe afternoon). The nature of themovercorrelates with the grammatical function of the path expression, which alternates between a complement of a motion verb and a free modifier. Accordingly, the time path can relate with figurative (motion-related) or veridical (duration-related) conceptualizations of time. While a spatial path is direction-neutral, a time path can, with few exceptions, only be scrutinized in the earlier$\rightarrow$later direction.

Asymmetries in Path expression in Ye’kwana

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Cáceres Arandia
Keyword(s):  
Motion Events ◽  
Path Expression ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Spontaneous Motion

Abstract Ye’kwana is an Amazonian language of the Cariban family spoken by a group of about 8,700 people in Venezuela and Brazil. This paper explores the expression of Path in spontaneous motion events based on spoken data collected for the documentation and description of the language including data collected with the Trajectoire elicitation material (Ishibashi et al. 2006). In Ye’kwana, Path is mainly expressed by postpositional and adverbial stems: there is a rich inventory of 80 postpositions all compatible with locative and either allative or perlative uses and 29 spatial adverbs, most of deictic nature. Source is expressed with a dedicated suffix (-nno) which combines with almost all the spatial postpositions and adverbs. The data show that the asymmetries in the expression of Path are not only found between Source and Goal but also need to include the expression of Medium for which the language has dedicated forms.

scholarly journals The influence of language-specific and universal factors on acquisition of motion verbs

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 927
Author(s):  
Rebecca Smyder ◽  
Kaitlyn Harrigan
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Motion Verbs ◽  
Motion Events ◽  
Universal Distribution ◽  
Specific Factors ◽  
Motion Verb ◽  
Verb Acquisition ◽  
Manner Verbs

This study explores children’s encoding of novel verbs referring to motion events, and finds influence of both language-specific and universal constraints on meaning. Motion verbs fall into two categories—manner verbs encode how a movement happens (run, swim), and path verbs encode the starting and ending point of a motion (enter, fall). Some languages express path more frequently in the verb (Spanish, Hebrew), and others manner more frequently (English, German). Our study expands on this previous work demonstrating sensitivity to these language-specific distributions, as well as expanding to test environmental factors representing a predictable universal distribution. We find that children are sensitive to both the language-specific factors as well as the universal factors in motion verb acquisition.

Actions

2019 ◽  
pp. 115-178
Author(s):  
David Kemmerer
Keyword(s):  
Classification Systems ◽  
Cultural Variation ◽  
Motion Events ◽  
Serial Verb Constructions ◽  
Fundamental Properties ◽  
Verb Constructions ◽  
Serial Verb ◽  
The Cross ◽  
The Brain

This chapter explores how typological findings about action concepts can inform neuroscientific work on their cortical implementation. Because common representational patterns in the cross-linguistic treatment of actions are likely to reflect fundamental properties of this intricate semantic sphere, they provide neuroscientists with important “targets” to search for in the brain. And because less frequent and downright rare patterns reveal the scope of cultural variation, they show neuroscientists how much conceptual diversity must ultimately be accommodated by any comprehensive brain-based theory. The first section concentrates on motion events. Then the next section discusses events of cutting, breaking, and opening. After that, the chapter turns to events of putting and taking. Finally, the last two sections deal with serial verb constructions and verbal classification systems.

Motion-Verb Generalizations in English and Spanish: Influences of Language and Syntax

1998 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 363-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Letitia R. Naigles ◽  
Paula Terrazas
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Linguistic Relativity ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Motion Verbs ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Motion Events ◽  
Spanish Speaking ◽  
Motion Verb

English and Spanish speakers differ in the ways they talk about motion events, but how have these different modes of expression become instantiated as differing generalizations—as syntactic rules, lexical patterns, or both? In two studies, we asked English- and Spanish-speaking adults to interpret novel motion verbs presented in three types of sentence frames. Overall, English speakers expected novel verbs to encode the manner of motion, whereas Spanish speakers expected the verbs to encode the path of motion. The sentence frames also significantly affected how the speakers interpreted the novel verbs. We conclude that speakers of different languages represent their different generalizations about the composition of motion verbs both lexically and syntactically, and discuss how these generalizations might be important for issues of language acquisition and linguistic relativity.

scholarly journals Semantic Categories in the Domain of Motion Verbs by Adult Speakers of Danish, German, and Turkish

2014 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Moiken Jessen
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Space ◽  
Motion Verbs ◽  
Motion Events ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Semantic Categories ◽  
Video Clips ◽  
The World ◽  
Motion Verb ◽  
Vector Orientation ◽  
Verb Lexicon

Languages differ in the ways they divide the world. This study applies cluster analysis to understand how and why languages differ in the way they express motion events. It further lays out what the parameters of the structure of the semantic space of motion are, based on data collected from participants who were adult speakers of Danish, German, and Turkish. The participants described 37 video clips depicting a large variety of motion events. The results of the study show that the segmentation of the semantic space displays a great deal of variation across all three groups. Turkish differs from German and Danish with respect to the features used to segment the semantic space – namely by using vector orientation. German and Danish differ greatly with respect to (a) how fine-grained the distinctions made are, and (b) how motion verbs with a common Germanic root are distributed across the semantic space. Consequently, this study illustrates that the parameters applied for categorization by speakers are, to some degree, related to typological membership, in relation to Talmy's typological framework for the expression of motion events. Finally, the study shows that the features applied for categorization differ across languages and that typological membership is not necessarily a predictor of elaboration of the motion verb lexicon.

Complex predicates and space in Dâw (Naduhup language, AM)

2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-55
Author(s):  
Karolin Obert
Keyword(s):  
Frequent Patterns ◽  
Motion Events ◽  
Complex Motion ◽  
Complex Predicates ◽  
Serial Verb Constructions ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Verb Constructions ◽  
Information Packaging ◽  
Productive Process ◽  
Serial Verb

AbstractComplex predication is understood to be a highly productive process in Northwestern Amazonian languages in which complex predicates may be realized as compounds, verb-auxiliary constructions or serial verb constructions depending on language-internal criteria. These constructions play an important role in the organization of discourse and information packaging and can also carry out grammatical functions such as increasing or decreasing valency. In Dâw, a language from the Naduhup family, complex predicates are used to express spatial notions such as directionality and manner in complex motion events or to provide detailed of how complex predicates in Dâw function as semantic and syntactic resources used to express space in discourse in comparison to their expression in simple predicates. I provide a typology of the most frequent patterns and their respective ordering principles found in our corpus in order to understand how fine-grained spatial notions are expressed in Dâw.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document