Transitivity, Events, and Gesture: The Case of the Causative-inchoative Alternation

Suwei Wu,Alan Cienki

doi:10.1515/opli-2019-0017

Abstract

AbstractAn increasing number of studies are being devoted to the investigation of what aspects of grammar, and of events, expressed in speech are coordinated with gesture. However, previous studies have focused on gesture use in relation to either transitivity or event properties, without considering how these factors interact. In this study, we consider how gesture use relates to transitivity when the type of event in the causativeinchoative alternation is considered, and also how gesture use relates to properties of the events when the type of transitivity is considered. We found various relations both between gesture use and transitivity on the one hand, and between gesture use and certain properties of events on the other hand. Whereas some of the results contrast with the findings in previous studies about the relation between gesture and transitivity, other results obtained actually reinforce and complement some previous findings. The results concerning event properties and gesture also add to previous studies about which properties of certain motor-spatial events relate to gesture and how they do so. The study thus provides a more nuanced understanding of the relation between gesture and language.

Highlights

When we communicate, we produce speech and spontaneously make so-called co-speech gestures
Parrill (2010), verified McNeill’s claim based on a larger dataset of narrative language in American English (23 narrations of three different stimuli, or 69 narrations). Their findings are supported by Beattie and Shovelton (2002), who found that Character Viewpoint gestures (CVPT) gestures were significantly more likely to be accompanied by transitive descriptions, while Observer Viewpoint gestures (OVPT) gestures were more likely to be accompanied by intransitive ones
This section examines gesture use with respect to constructions of the following types: transitive and intransitive with natural force as external causation/non-human causation, e.g. The wind broke the window and [You know those Chinese paper lanterns that are made of paper, we had one hanging up backstage and it caught fire.] It dropped onto a couch; transitive and intransitive with human causation, e.g. They opened the door and [I knocked on the door and] the door opened

Summary

Introduction

We produce speech and spontaneously make so-called co-speech gestures. Parrill (2010), verified McNeill’s claim based on a larger dataset of narrative language in American English (23 narrations of three different stimuli, or 69 narrations). Their findings are supported by Beattie and Shovelton (2002), who found that CVPT gestures were significantly more likely to be accompanied by transitive descriptions, while OVPT gestures were more likely to be accompanied by intransitive ones. All these studies aimed to indicate a relation between gestural representation and transitivity in speech

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion