Satellite-framed Languages Research Articles

Semantics and Syntax of Old English Motion Verbs

This is a study in the syntax and semantics of Old English verbs of motion, including verbs of neutral motion, verbs of manner of motion and verbs of path of motion. Its aim is to identify the morphosyntactic alternations in which these verbs participate. The theoretical basis of the research draws on Goddard’s semantics of motion, Levin’s model of verb classes and alternations and Talmy’s typological distinction between satellite-framed languages and verb-framed languages. The grammatical patterns of the verbs under analysis are discussed, as described in The Dictionary of Old English (Healey), with special emphasis on the study of transitivity, case, prepositional government, and reflexivity. As far as meaning components are concerned, this work concentrates on the study of polysemy. The conclusions of this study refer to the consistency of the syntactic behaviour of the verbs under analysis and the main alternations found within the verbal classes.

Learning novel words for motion by speakers of structurally different languages

Abstract Speakers of different languages follow a three-way split in how they express motion events in speech—with a greater emphasis on manner in satellite-framed languages (English), path in verb-framed languages (Turkish), and comparable expression of manner and path in equipollently-framed languages (Chinese). According to the thinking-for-speaking account, these language-specific patterns can affect speakers’ representation of motion events but only when verbalizing the event. In this study, we asked whether language might influence learning novel words, particularly when the words were accompanied with gestures. We examined effects of language type (equipollent-framed: Chinese, satellite-framed: English, verb-framed: Turkish) and modality (speech-only, gesture+speech) on learning pseudowords for motion (manner, path). Our results showed that speakers of all three languages learned pseudowords for manner and path but with lower accuracy scores and slower rates of learning by Chinese speakers. Regardless of the language they spoke, participants learned manner words more accurately than path words, but with no added benefits of instruction with gesture+speech over speech-only. Taken together, our study extends the lack of language effect on nonverbal representation of events when not speaking to the domain of novel word learning across structurally different languages.

Talmy’s Typology Revisited: A Spanning Approach

Abstract We dispute Folli and Harley’s (2020) account of Talmy’s typology, as it does not derive the unavailability of satellite-framed constructions in verb-framed languages, and it fails to predict the existence of weak satellite-framed languages like Latin and Slavic (Acedo-Matellán 2016). We propose an alternative approach based on Spanning (Svenonius 2016). Variation stems from the distribution of PF-interpretable features on the resultative head Res. Depending on the language, this head may or may not bear features triggering lexical access (w) and linearization (@). Conforming with minimalist desiderata, our account captures a wider range of Talmian patterns and produces some novel successful predictions.

How language influences spatial thinking, categorization of motion events, and gaze behavior: a cross-linguistic comparison

Abstract According to Talmy, in verb-framed languages (e.g., French), the core schema of an event (Path) is lexicalized, leaving the co-event (Manner) in the periphery of the sentence or optional; in satellite-framed languages (e.g., English), the core schema is jointly expressed with the co-event in construals that lexicalize Manner and express Path peripherally. Some studies suggest that such differences are only surface differences that cannot influence the cognitive processing of events, while others support that they can constrain both verbal and non-verbal processing. This study investigates whether such typological differences, together with other factors, influence visual processing and decision-making. English and French participants were tested in three eye-tracking tasks involving varied Manner–Path configurations and language to different degrees. Participants had to process a target motion event and choose the variant that looked most like the target (non-verbal categorization), then describe the events (production), and perform a similarity judgment after hearing a target sentence (verbal categorization). The results show massive cross-linguistic differences in production and additional partial language effects in visualization and similarity judgment patterns – highly dependent on the salience and nature of events and the degree of language involvement. The findings support a non-modular approach to language–thought relations and a fine-grained vision of the classic lexicalization/conflation theory.

Boundary-crossing situations and the use of deictic verbs in Finnish and Estonian expressions of non-actual motion

ABSTRACT This article discusses the specific use of deictic verbs for encoding boundary-crossing situations in descriptions of non-actual motion, i.e. dynamic depictions of static spatial configurations (e.g. The road comes from the tunnel). We analyse data elicited with visual stimuli from speakers of Finnish and Estonian to show that venitive (‘come’) and andative (‘go’) deictic verbs tend to appear in boundary-crossing contexts of entering and exiting. This pattern applies to both actual and non-actual motion descriptions produced by the same speakers, thus showing pervasiveness in the expression of both concrete and abstract meanings. We suggest that this tendency can be interpreted in terms of functional deixis: motion (actual or non-actual) encoded in relation to the speaker’s visual and interactive circle of attention. Considering the relevance of spatial boundaries for event perception, boundary-crossing situations can be expected to show specific encoding patterns not only in the verb-framed languages, in which the expression of these situations typically requires the use of Path verbs, but also in the satellite-framed languages of the Talmian typology. Extensive variation between participants in our study indicates that in Finnish and Estonian, the use of deictic verbs in boundary-crossing situations is an optional strategy instead of a constraint.

Thinking-for-translating: Mannerof- motion in a parallel corpus of Henning Mankell’s crime novels

This paper analyzes the translation of Manner-of-motion in a Swedish>Spanish parallel corpus of crime novels by Henning Mankell (and more specifically, a selection of the Wallander series). Since Swedish is a satellite-framed language, while Spanish is a verb-framed language, the aim of the research is to identify translation techniques adapted to the issue of translating Manner-of-motion in an intertypological translation scenario. The results of this study are compared with previous research on the topic, which has focused mainly on general prose fiction and fiction for children and young adults. Our findings confirm that Manner-of-motion is omitted to a great extent in the Spanish translations, compared with the original texts in Swedish. Moreover, some differences are encountered in the translation of original fragments, including general and specific Manner-of-motion verbs.

On Lexicalization Pattern of Caused Motion Events by Chinese Children

The lexicalization of Chinese motion events has been a controversial topic. Most of previous studies on the lexicalization patterns of Chinese movement events has been conducted with laboratory experiments, leaving the natural Chinese motion events in daily life unstudied. Therefore, this paper investigates the language acquisition process of Chinese children resulting in movement events based on naturalistic data of language development from 13 to 48 months in Mandarin-speaking children SWK, which greatly reduces the influence of human factors on the findings. The results showed that 1) path verbs developed slightly faster than manner verbs at all times. Besides, both kinds of verbs develop fastest at the age of 2-3 years, and peak at the age of 3 years. 2) Modern Chinese exhibits the characteristics of a satellite-framed language in some aspects. 3) Caused motion events develop slower than voluntary motion events.

On Chinese Children’s Acquisition of Motion Events

The motion events expressions in Chinese have been a controversial topic and few research on them from the developmental perspective. Therefore, based on the long-term tracking corpus of two Mandarin children SWK and WMX from their 13 months to 48 months, this paper studies the lexicalization of Chinese children’s motion events in the process of language acquisition to reveal the unique features in Chinese motion event expressions. Research revealed that at age 3, Chinese children began to express motion events primarily using the serial verb structure, that is, a manner verb + path verb pattern and children’s motion event expressions grew progressively more extensive with age. Chinese children follow the satellite-framed language pattern early on. The authentic language use in corpora and the features found based on them prove that Chinese is a satellite-framed language. The present study offers a new type of evidence for the typological properties of the language from the developmental perspective and could shed fresh insight on a thorny issue regarding the classification of Mandarin Chinese in motion events.

Structural complexity reduction in English-French bilingual children's event encoding.

Previous research on the L1 acquisition of motion event expression suggests that mapping multiple semantic components onto syntactic units is associated with greater difficulties in verb-framed than in satellite-framed languages, because the former require more complex structures (using subordination). This study investigated the impact of this language-specific difference in English-French bilingual children's caused motion expressions. 2L1 children (n = 96) between 4 and 10 years and monolingual English and French children (n = 96) described video animations portraying caused motion events involving multiple semantic components. Results revealed reduced rates of subordinate constructions in bilinguals' French descriptions, and more so in older than younger children, while English responses aligned with monolinguals. Semantic density of responses strongly predicted syntactic complexity, but exclusively in French. These asymmetric findings indicate a task-specific syntactic relief strategy and are discussed in the context of theoretical claims about universal biases of event encoding and bilingual-specific optimisation strategies.

The VP in language contact: on creation event lexicalization in Canadian French

Abstract The effects of language contact on semantic and syntactic properties of verbs can be considered as not yet extensively studied. This contribution is concerned with French as a typical verb-framed language that cannot freely combine manner verbs with result-denoting arguments within the VP. Drawing on creation events, the study explores if restrictions can loosen, and lexicalization preferences change when French is in contact to a satellite-framed language like English. Judgment data from bilingual speakers of Canadian French (CaFr) are compared to data from speakers of Hexagonal French (HFr). The analysis addresses how selective copying from English is relevant for the acceptability of different VPs and considers how the factors of individual and social language dominance might influence the judgments within the CaFr group. The results show that French manner verbs and direct objects can be coerced into creation readings in both test groups as long as only the selectional restrictions of a particular verb have to be adapted. When, however, a general constraint of French has to be overridden to arrive at a creation reading, acceptability is higher in the CaFr group, who can resort to combinatorial copying from English. Furthermore, VPs in which manner is not lexicalized in the verb are somewhat more accepted in the HFr group than in the CaFr group. Within the CaFr group, certain cases of satellite framing are judged somewhat better by speakers from an English dominant region, while VPs without a manner verb reach slightly higher scores among speakers from Quebec. It is thus shown how structural and speaker-related factors can affect the acceptability of event descriptions in language contact.

The Verb Phrase in Shupamem

This paper analyses the structure of the verb phrase in Shupamem; a Grassfields Eastern Bantu language spoken in the West region of Cameroon. More importantly, this study identifies the different components of the verb phrase in Shupamem in one hand and the order of these various elements in the other hand. I propose that Shupamem is a satellite-framed language; in this language motion events are described by attaching a particular particle to the verb. Most interestingly, it is shown that in Shupamem, the structure of the VP is not rigid. Hence, in this language, the various components of the VP that is the adjective, the adverb, the preposition and the noun can be freely combined and thus giving us twelve different structures of the VP.

한국어와 그리스어 이동사건의 어휘화 대조 연구

The following research investigates the lexicalization patterns of motion events in Korean and Greek. Cross-linguistic differences in the encoding of motion events are typically attributed to differences in encoding strategies offered by languages and the limited possibilities for organizing semantic components of movement (i.e., Manner and Course). According to Talmy (1985, 2000), Korean and Modern Greek have been classified as “verb-framed languages,” although there is some disagreement among researchers regarding this classification. Korean language, while debatably not clearly belonging to the verb-framed language or some third category, generally exhibits the characteristics of a V-language. Modern Greek, on the other hand, is a language that demonstrates the coexistence of verb and satellite-framed language, sharing certain properties with satellite language systems, and is situated in an intermediate position on the typological continuum between V and S-languages. Through the research, it is confirmed that the two languages, while initially categorized as V-languages, display unique features in the lexicalization patterns of motion events. Based on the results of this study, further cross-linguistic research can be conducted to explore the individual characteristics of each language in relation to language acquisition.

TYPOLOGICAL VARIATION IN ENCODING THE MANNER OF MOTION EVENT IN TRANSLATED VERSIONS OF ENGLISH AND TURKISH SHORT STORIES

The aim of this study is to examine how speakers of typologically different languages, Turkish (a verb-framed language, V-language) and English (a satellite-framed language, S-language) express manner of motion events and how each language adapts itself to the demands of the other in translations with regard to the use of manner-of-motion verbs. In this respect, a total of 20 short stories (10 Turkish and 10 English) were selected to analyze. The effort was made to include the ones that are well suited for eliciting manner of motion verbs. For the identification of the motion verbs, Talmy’s (1985) definition of motion events was taken into consideration. According to the results, English writers were found to express manner of motion in their texts at a higher rate with regard to both token and type frequency of manner-of-motion verbs. As far as the translation strategies were considered, it was found that Turkish and English writers mostly used literal translation. In order to adapt the characteristics of the target language, it was also found that translators used a variety of strategies indicating compensation for language requirements.

Path Under Construction: Challenges Beyond S-Framed Motion Event Construal in L2 German

The encoding of motion events is known to be challenging for second language (L2) users, particularly if the lexicalization patterns of their first language (L1) diverge from those of the L2. This paper analyzes oral and written motion event descriptions produced by advanced L2 users of German, an information-dense satellite-framed language. Based on L2 usage and error patterns, we discuss six major challenges with respect to motion event encoding and, more specifically, path encoding. These challenges clearly go beyond event construal and the acquisition of the basic satellite-framed lexicalization pattern (e.g., verb semantics) as well as beyond expected challenges related to the use of prepositional phrases (e.g., prepositional semantics, case marking). Advanced L2 users actually particularly struggle with “smaller” path encoding devices such as particles, locative and directional adverbs, their formal and functional differentiation, their usage patterns and combinatorial potential. These aspects seem to be challenging for advanced L2 users of German with either verb-framed L1s (French, Spanish) or satellite-framed L1s (Danish, English). We therefore discuss characteristics of the target language input that might explain why L2 users struggle with identifying and differentiating these path encoding devices, their usage, and combinatorial patterns. We sketch potential implications for L2 teaching.

Minding the manner: attention to motion events in Turkish–Dutch early bilinguals

AbstractLanguages differ in the way motion events are encoded. In satellite-framed languages, motion verbs typically encode manner, while in verb-framed languages, path. We investigated the ways in which satellite-framed Dutch and verb-framed Turkish co-determine one’s attention to motion events in early bilinguals. In an EEG oddball paradigm, Turkish–Dutch bilinguals (n = 25) and Dutch controls (n = 27) watched short video clips of motion events, followed by a still picture that matched the preceding video in four ways (oddball design: 10% full match, 10% manner match, 10% endpoint match, and 70% full mismatch). We found that both groups showed similar oddball P300 effects, associated with task-related attention. Group differences were revealed in a late positivity (LP): The endpoint-match elicited a larger LP than the manner-match in the bilinguals, which may reflect language-driven attention. Our results indicate that cross-linguistic manner encoding difference impacts attention at a later stage.

Până-PPs and Complex Event Constructions in Romanian

"Până-PPs and Complex Event Constructions in Romanian. This paper examines the syntactic and semantic status of Romanian PPs headed by the morphologically complex prepositions până în/la ʻuntil/as far as/up to in/at’ in VPs of change of location (a pluti până în peșteră ʻfloat up to the caveʼ) and change of state (a munci până la epuizare ʻwork to the point of exhaustionʼ). Contrary to the claims made in the literature (Barbu 2015), the approach taken here argues that these – and other similar – VPs cannot be considered complex event constructions such as goal-of-motion structures and strong resultative constructions, respectively. The discussion revolves around the interpretation of the entire VP, the lack of any type of restriction on the syntactic and semantic classification of the verb, the violation of the Direct Object Restriction, as well as the borderline between these PPs and temporal adjuncts. These properties highlight the fact that the availability of such VPs does not turn Romanian into a satellite-framed language as they are not real counterexamples to the Talmian generalization according to which verb-framed Romanian disallows these two complex event constructions. Keywords: goal-of-motion structure, resultative construction, VP, până-PP, Romanian "

Manner-of-speaking in a corpus-based translation study of narrative texts

This contribution examines manner-of-speaking (e.g. murmur, mutter) in a German>Spanish parallel corpus of narrative texts. This research was prompted by the fact that this phenomenon had not yet been paid due attention in the “Thinking-for-Translating” framework, in comparison with the phenomenon of manner-of-motion (e.g. limp, run). The starting point of this paper is thus the widely confirmed fact that, in previous works focusing on the translation of manner-of-motion between languages belonging to different typologies, some alterations regarding manner have been identified (e.g. omission, addition), and that this is mainly due to typological differences between source and target language. More precisely, speakers of satellite-framed languages (including German) often encode manner, while users of verb-framed languages (including Spanish) usually devote more attention to the lexicalization of path, sometimes at the expense of manner. Thus the aim of this paper is twofold: first, to examine translators’ behaviour regarding manner-of-speaking in a satellite-framed language>verb-framed language translation scenario (German>Spanish), specifically focusing on the translation of reporting verbs in a corpus of narrative texts; second, to compare the resulting data with findings from previous comparable studies dealing with the communication and motion frames. In the translation scenario studied here, the results suggest that translator behaviour differs when dealing with these two frames: while manner-of-motion is often omitted in translations into Spanish (from German), manner-of-speaking is usually transferred, or even added.

The Typology of Motion Expressions in English, Japanese, and Persian: Reconsidering the Cline versus Typology Debate Based on Heading

Talmy’s cognitive-semantic typology divides languages based on how path and manner of motion are generally encoded, but recently some studies have suggested that the original typology needs re-examining either by adding a new type (e.g., Slobin, 2004) or using a cline rather than a two or three-language division (e.g., Ibarretxe-Antou?ano, 2009). Furthermore, Matsumoto (2003) has suggested that Talmy’s original typology should be founded on the heading of a language, rather than the original terms of satellite and verb. This study observes Persian motion events through this concept to help determine if an intermediate language can neatly fit into a single category when analyzed based on heading, or whether a new cline based on heading should be considered. We compared data from a translation corpus of the short story “A Christmas Carol” using a representative verb-framed and satellite-framed language (i.e., Japanese and English), and found that Persian shares some path encoding tendencies with both English and Japanese, but also has significant differences, which suggest it could perhaps be better described as fitting on a cline of path-salience, rather than simply placed in either category.

ԲԱՅԵՐԻ ԲԱՌԱՅՆԱՑՄԱՆ ԿԱՂԱՊԱՐՆԵՐԻ ԱՌԱՆՁՆԱՀԱՏԿՈՒԹՅՈՒՆՆԵՐՆ ԱՆԳԼԵՐԵՆՈՒՄ ԵՎ ՀԱՅԵՐԵՆՈՒՄ / ON LEXICALIZATION PATTERNS OF ENGLISH AND ARMENAN VERBS

The paper aims at studying lexicalization patterns of English and Armenian verbs and the translation problems that their difference may pose. The analysis is based on the material of 60 sentences selected from R. Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" and its Armenian translation. The predicates of extracted sentences are expressed by "motion", "speech activity" and "visual" verbs having the semantic component of the “manner of the action” encoded in their meanings. The analysis shows that English is a typical satellite-framed language, as proved by L.Talmy and many other scholars, whereas Armenian is a verb framed language as it tends to have a verb that incorporates “path” in its meaning as the predicate of the sentence while “the manner of the action” is either omitted or expressed by an adverb, noun-phrase or participle I form of a verb that denotes manner of moving, saying or looking.

Propuesta de interacción entre el verbo y la preposición en la codificación de los eventos de desplazamiento. Estudio contrastivo entre el español y el chino mandarín

Spanish and Mandarin Chinese have been classified as verb-framed language and satellite-framed language respectively (Talmy: 1991, 2000). However, in Spanish, manner verbs are compatible with hacia and hasta, and a small group of them can do so with a. The typological discussion on Mandarin Chinese focuses on the serial verb construction of “manner verb + path word”, in which the second constituent lacking morphological variation can also function independently as path verb. To try to shed light on these discussions, we propose that the core scheme —the directional path— of the motion event is generated through the interaction between the verb and the preposition, in which the manner verb with external movement implies a non- directional path which plays a primary role, while the preposition and the second constituent of the Chinese serial verb construction are only direction indicators that do not contribute any path. The analysis of the combinatory between manner verbs and hacia, hasta, a, as well as their equivalent Chinese expressions, support our hypothesis and they let conclude that: a is locative; Chinese serial verb construction belongs to the satellite-framed language type; the extensive value of hasta does not favor the generation of the directional path, but that of its Chinese equivalent can do so.