Does dialect matter in the expression of motion? Ways of encoding manner and path in Babao and standard Mandarin

Abstract

The expression of motion events has been examined in standard dialects of typologically distinct languages, but the effect of dialect-based variation remains relatively unexamined. The present study focused on Chinese—a relatively understudied language—asking whether patterns of motion expression differed between its two dialects, Mandarin and Babao. We examined motion descriptions produced by adult native speakers of Mandarin (n = 15; Mage = 20) and Babao (n = 14; Mage = 65), who first watched and then described animated motion events with salient manner and path components (e.g., “crawl across carpet”) in a structured interview format. The results showed differences between the two dialects in patterns of motion expression. Mandarin showed a greater preference for conflated descriptions by synthesizing manner and path components into a single clause typically in a serial verb construction (e.g., “crawl-pass carpet”). Babao speakers, in contrast, showed a greater preference for separated expressions, expressing each component in separate clauses (e.g., “crawl,” “pass carpet”). These patterns were accompanied by greater use other linguistic elements (i.e., deixis) among Babao speakers, thus allowing them to further specify path in their motion descriptions. Overall, our study highlights dialect as an important source of variability in the expression of motion events.