The Expression of Motion Events: A Quantitative Study of Six Typologically Varied Languages

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt:More than two decades of intense research on motion event typology, emanating from the influential proposal of Talmy (1991, 2000) of a universal binary classification of languages into verb-framed (VF), such as French, and satellite-framed (SF), such as English, still leaves many questions unresolved. One such question is whether serial-verb languages such as Thai should be considered a third type (Zlatev and David 2003; Zlatev and Yangklang 2004), generalized by Slobin (2004) as equipollently-framed (EF). A second question is whether these two or three types should be regarded as in some sense 'distinct' (even if they have minor expression patterns conflicting the dominant, type-characteristic ones), or rather as forming continua with respect to certain dimensions, such as the propensity to express MANNER (Slobin 2004) or PATH (Ibarretxe-Antuñano 2009). A third and related question is whether the notion of language types (with respect to motion typology or in general) should not be abandoned, and languages rather be described as conglomerates of constructions and strategies, with complex overlaps (Kopecka 2006; Beavers, Levin & Tham 2010; Croft et al. 2010). In the research reported here, we address these questions, using an empirical approach based on elicited data from six carefully chosen languages. Two of these are the Romance languages French and Piedmontese, which can both reasonably be expected to be of the VF type. We also analyzed the Germanic languages Swedish and German and the Slavic language Polish, all three typically considered as SF. Finally, we included Thai (Tai-Kadai), classified as EF by Slobin (2004)

The Expression of Motion Events: A Quantitative Study of Six Typologically Varied Languages

BLS 39: General Session and Special Session on Space and Directionalit

Satellite- vs. verb-framing underpredicts nonverbal motion categorization: Insights from a large language sample and simulations

Is motion cognition influenced by the large-scale typological patterns proposed in Talmy’s (2000) two-way distinction between verb-framed (V) and satellite-framed (S) languages? Previous studies investigating this question have been limited to comparing two or three languages at a time and have come to conflicting results. We present the largest cross-linguistic study on this question to date, drawing on data from nineteen genealogically diverse languages, all investigated in the same behavioral paradigm and using the same stimuli. After controlling for the different dependencies in the data by means of multilevel regression models, we find no evidence that S- vs. V-framing affects nonverbal categorization of motion events. At the same time, statistical simulations suggest that our study and previous work within the same behavioral paradigm suffer from insufficient statistical power. We discuss these findings in the light of the great variability between participants, which suggests flexibility in motion representation. Furthermore, we discuss the importance of accounting for language variability, something which can only be achieved with large cross-linguistic sample

Trajectoire: a methodological tool for eliciting Path of motion

This paper presents a methodological tool called Trajectoire that was created to elicit the expression of Path of motion in typologically and genetically varied languages. Designed within the research program TRAJECTOIRE ‘Path (of motion)’, supported by the Fédération de Typologie et Universaux Linguistiques, the Trajectoire elicitation tool aims to systematically explore the morpho-syntactic resources used for the expression of Path and the distribution of spatial information across the sentence, with a specific focus on the (a)symmetry in the expression of Source (the initial point) and Goal (the final point). Its main aim is to facilitate typologically-informed language descriptions, which in their turn can contribute new data to typologically-oriented research. Inspired by the research methods developed at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics (Nijmegen, NL), the Trajectoire material comprises 76 video-clips consisting of 2 training clips, 55 target clips and 19 fillers, and it includes 3 distinct versions ordering the clips differently to minimize possible routine effects. The 55 target clips vary for several parameters, namely Figure, Ground, the different portions of Path, Deixis, and less systematically, Manner. The scenes filmed in an outdoor natural environment ensure accessibility to non-Western populations. The paper first presents the structure and the use of the elicitation material. On the basis of the data obtained in about 20 different languages and reports by users, both researchers and speakers, it then discusses the advantages and some drawbacks of the Trajectoire elicitation tool, and considers the issue of the tool's dissemination and online open access.National Foreign Language Resource Cente

Describing Motion events in Old and Modern French: discourse effects of a typological change.

International audienceFrench, like the other Romance languages, has evolved from a satelliteframed type wherein Path of motion is preferentially expressed in a verb satellite (either a prefix or a particle) to a verb-framed type wherein Path is preferentially expressed in the verb. Based on translations from Old to Modern French, this chapter investigates the effects of this structural reorganization on the expression of Path in narrative pointing to differences in the types of strategies storytellers employ and the types of information they attend to when they describe Path. It shows that the typological change that French has undergone has crucial consequences not only for the organization of Path information in clauses, but also for the granularity of Path and the attention given to its components (i.e. initial and final). In contrast to Old French where Path tends to be depicted in detailed fashion, Modern French gives less emphasis to Path and appears to be more selective as to the types of Path components that are expressed in narrative

Data and R code for "Manner of motion in Estonian: A descriptive account of speed"

Data and statistical code used in the paper "Manner of motion in Estonian: A descriptive account of speed" (accepted by the Studies in Language in 2021). Authors of the paper: Piia Taremaa and Anetta Kopecka

Etude typologique de l'expression de l'espace (localisation et déplacement en français et en polonais)

LYON2/BRON-BU (690292101) / SudocSudocFranceF

Source/Goal (a)symmetry: A comparative study of German and Polish

International audienceThis paper compares the expression of Source and Goal in German and Polish, on the basis of descriptions elicited with a series of video clips. As satellite-framed languages (Talmy 1985, 2000), both German and Polish mainly rely on grammatical morphemes to encode Path of motion with respect to Source and Goal. Nevertheless, despite this shared typological feature, these languages also display fine morphosyntactic and semantic differences. Our study reveals that the expression of Source and Goal is more asymmetrical in German as compared to Polish, in both the types of linguistic resources and the semantic distinctions. We show that German speakers tend to combine Path satellites with Path verbsincluding both deictic satellites and deictic verbsmore frequently in Source-oriented events, depicting them with finer semantic distinctions than Goal-oriented events. In the expression of the Ground, however, they tend to make more distinctions in the expression of Goals as 2 Benjamin Fagard & Anetta Kopecka compared to Sources, by using a greater variety of prepositions. Polish speakers, by contrast, tend to express Source and Goal in a more symmetrical fashion. These cross-linguistic differences are discussed in the light of language-specific characteristics and their role in the expressionsymmetrical or asymmetricalof Source and Goal