Chapter 3
Linguistic representations of visual motion
A crosslinguistic experimental study
Linguistic expressions of visual motion (e.g., look into the building) in ten languages are compared, based on a crosslinguistic production experiment. We examine how linguistic representations of visual motion are typologically akin to those of self- and caused motion events. The results suggest that speakers frequently refer to path in describing visual motion events, using the “Implicit-figure construction”, where no overt argument of V moves. Head-external path-coding languages allow path to be expressed similarly to how it is expressed in descriptions of self- and caused motion events, whereas head path-coding languages use different strategies. For visual motion, the use of path verbs and deictic verbs is avoided in most languages. Patterns of the representation of visual motion thus reveal a wider range of crosslinguistic variations in describing motion events than previously thought.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Issues in the representations of visual motion
- 3.Experiment and the languages examined
- 3.1Method
- 3.2Languages examined
- 4.Results and discussion
- 4.1Reference to path
- 4.2Choice of construction
- 4.3Coding position of path
- 4.4The complexity of path expressions
- 4.5Representation of deixis
- 5.Conclusion
-
Acknowledgment
-
Notes
-
Abbreviations
-
References
References (52)
Akita, K., Matsumoto, Y., & Ohara, K. H.
2010 Idōhyōgen no ruikeiron ni okeru tyokuzi-teki-keiro-hyōgen to yōtai-goi-repātorī [Deictic path expressions and manner lexicon in the typology of motion expressions]. In
T. Kageyama (Ed.),
Lexicon forum 5 (1–25). Tokyo: Hituzi Syobo.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Aske, J.
1989 Path predicates in English and Spanish: A closer look. In
K. Hall,
M. Meacham &
R. Shapiro (Eds.),
Proceedings of the Fifteenth Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society (1–14). Berkeley, CA: Berkeley Linguistics Society.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Eguchi, K.
2017 Hangarī-go ni okeru idōhyōgen [Motion expressions in Hungarian]. In
Y. Matsumoto (Ed.),
Idōhyōgen no ruikeiron [
The typology of motion expressions] (39–64). Tokyo: Kurosio Publishers.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Filipović, L.
2010 The importance of being a prefix. In
V. Hasko &
R. Perelmutter (Eds.),
New approaches to Slavic verbs of motion (247–266). Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Gruber, J. S.
1967 Look and see.
Language,
43(4), 937–947.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Hargreaves, D.
2004 Directional prefixes in Kathmandu Newar. In
A. Saxena (Ed.),
Himalayan languages. Past and present (273–284). Berlin & New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Hickmann, M.
2002 Children’s discourse: Person, space and time across languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Iacobini, C., & Fagard, B.
2011 A diachronic approach to variation and change in the typology of motion event expression. A case study: From Latin to Romance.
Cahiers de Faits de Langue,
3, 151–172.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Ibarretxe-Antuñano, I.
2009 Path salience in motion events. In
J. Guo,
E. Lieven,
N. Budwig,
S. Ervin-Tripp,
K. Nakamura &
Ş. Özçalıskan (Eds.),
Crosslinguistic approaches to the psychology of language: Research in the tradition of Dan Isaac Slobin (403–414). New York: Psychology Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Ibarretxe-Antuñano, I., & Hijazo-Gascón, A.
Koga, H.
2017 Niti-ei-doku-ro-go no ziritu-idōhyōgen: Taiyaku-kōpasu o motiita hikaku-kenkyū [Self-motion expressions in Japanese, English, German, and Russian: A comparative study using translation corpora]. In
Y. Matsumoto (Ed.),
Idōhyōgen no ruikeiron [
The typology of motion expressions] (303–336). Tokyo: Kurosio Publishers.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Koga, H.
forthcoming).
Motion event descriptions in Japanese. In
Y. Matsumoto Ed.
Motion event descriptions from a crosslinguistic perspective Berlin & New York Mouton de Gruyter
Kopecka, A.
2004 Étude typologique de l’expression de l’espace: Localisation et déplacement en français et en polonais. Ph. D. dissertation, Université Lumière Lyon 2.
Ma, S.
2016 Fictive motion in Mandarin Chinese: A corpus-based study of coextension paths. Ph. D. dissertation, University of Auckland.
Matsumoto, Y.
1996 Complex predicates in Japanese: A syntactic and semantic study of the notion ‘word’. Stanford: CSLI Publications & Tokyo: Kurosio Publishers.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Matsumoto, Y.
1997 Kūkan-idō no gengo-hyōgen to sono kakutyō [Linguistic expressions of motion in space and their extensions]. In
S. Tanaka &
Y. Matsumoto (Eds.),
Kūkan to idō no hyōgen [
Expressions of space and motion] (125–230). Tokyo: Kenkyusha.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Matsumoto, Y.
2001 Lexicalization patterns and caused and fictive motion: The case of typological split. Handout for a lecture at SUNY Buffalo, NY.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Matsumoto, Y.
2003 Typologies of lexicalization patterns and event integration: Clarifications and reformulations. In
S. Chiba et al. (Eds.),
Empirical and theoretical investigations into language: A festschrift for Masaru Kajita (403–418). Tokyo: Kaitakusha.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Matsumoto, Y.
2004 Nihongo no shikaku-hyōgen ni okeru kyokō idō [Fictive motion in Japanese expressions of vision].
Nihongo bunpō,
4(1), 111–128.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Matsumoto, Y.
2014 Common tendencies in the descriptions of manner, path and cause across languages: A closer look at their subcategories. Paper presented at Langacross 2 (Linguistic diversity and cognition: implications for first and second language acquisition), June 21, 2014, Université Lille 3, France.
Matsumoto, Y.
2017a Nihongo ni okeru idō-zisyō-hyōgen no taipu to keiro no hyōgen [Types of motion-event expressions and expressions of path in Japanese]. In
Y. Matsumoto (Ed.),
Idō-hyōgen no ruikeiron [
The typology of motion expressions] (247–276). Tokyo: Kurosio Publishers.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Matsumoto, Y.
2017b Idō-hyōgen no seishitu to sono ruikeisei [Nature of motion expressions and their typological status]. In
Y. Matsumoto (Ed.),
Idō-hyōgen no ruikeiron [
The typology of motion expressions] (337–354). Tokyo: Kurosio Publishers.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Matsumoto, Y.
2018 Motion event descriptions in Japanese from typological perspectives. In
P. Pardeshi and
T. Kageyama (Eds.),
Handbook of Japanese contrastive linguistics (273–289). Berlin: Mouton.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Matsumoto, Y., Akita, K., & Takahashi, K.
Matsumoto, Y., & Kawachi, K.
Matsuse, I.
2017 Newāru-go no idōhyōgen [Motion expressions in Newar]. In
Y. Matsumoto (Ed.),
Idō-hyōgen no ruikeiron [
The typology of motion expressions] (65–94). Tokyo: Kurosio Publishers.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Morita, T., & Ishibashi, M.
2017 Nihongo to furansugo no idōhyōgen: Hanashikotoba to kakikotoba no tekusuto kara no kōsatsu [Motion expressions in Japanese and French: Discussion based on spoken and written texts]. In
Y. Matsumoto (Ed.),
Idō-hyōgen no ruikeiron [
The typology of motion expressions] (275–302). Tokyo: Kurosio Publishers.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Shibatani, M.
2003 Directional verbs in Japanese. In
E. Shay &
U. Seibert (Eds.),
Motion, direction and location in languages: In honor of Zygmunt Frajzyngier (259–286). Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Slobin, D. I.
1996 Two ways to travel: Verbs of motion in English and Spanish. In
M. Shibatani &
S. A. Thompson (Eds.),
Grammatical constructions: Their form and meaning (195–219). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Slobin, D. I.
2004 The many ways to search for a frog: Linguistic typology and the expression of motion events. In
S. Strömqvist &
L. Verhoeven (Eds.),
Relating events in narrative: Typological and contextual perspectives (219–257). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Slobin, D. I.
2009 Relations between Paths of motion and Paths of vision: A crosslinguistic and developmental exploration. In
V. C. Mueller Gathercole (Ed.),
Routes to Language: Studies in Honor of Melissa Bowerman (197–222). New York & London: Psychology Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Takahashi, K.
2000 Expressions of emanation fictive motion events in Thai. Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand.
Takahashi, K.
2017 Tai-go no idōhyōgen. In
Y. Matsumoto (Ed.),
Idōhyōgen no ruikeiron [
The typology of motion expressions] (129–158). Tokyo: Kurosio Publishers.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Takahashi, K.
2018 Deictic motion constructions in Japanese and Thai. In
P. Prashant &
T. Kageyama (Eds.),
The handbook of Japanese contrastive linguistics (291–312). Berlin & New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Talmy, L.
1991 Path to realization: A typology of event conflation. In
L. A. Sutton,
C. Johnson &
R. Shields (Eds.),
Proceedings of the Seventeenth Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society (480–519). Berkeley, CA: Berkeley Linguistics Society.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Talmy, L.
1996 Fictive motion in language and “ception”. In
P. Bloom,
M. A. Peterson,
L. Nadel &
M. F. Garrett (Eds.),
Language and Space (211–276). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Talmy, L.
2000 Toward a cognitive semantics. Vol. II: Typology and process in concept structuring. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Talmy, L.
2009 Main verb properties and equipollent framing. In
J. Guo,
E. Lieven,
N. Budwig,
S. Ervin-Tripp,
K. Nakamura &
Ş. Özçalıskan (Eds.),
Crosslinguistic approaches to the psychology of language: Research in the tradition of Dan Isaac Slobin (389–402). New York: Psychology Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Thepkanjana, K.
1986 Serial verb construction in Thai. Ph. D. dissertation, University of Michigan.
Wnuk, E.
2021 Ways of looking: Lexicalizing visual paths in verbs.
Journal of Linguistics, 57, 1–14.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Yoshinari, Y.
2017 Itaria-go no idōhyōgen [Motion expressions in Italian]. In
Y. Matsumoto (Ed.),
Idōhyōgen no ruikeiron [
The typology of motion expressions] (189–211). Tokyo: Kurosio Publishers.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Zlatev, J., & Yangklang, P.
2004 A third way to travel: The place of Thai and serial verb languages in motion event typology. In
S. Strömqvist &
L. Verhoeven (Eds.),
Relating events in narrative: Typological and contextual perspectives (159–190). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Cited by (1)
Cited by 1 other publications
Taremaa, Piia, Johanna Kiik, Leena Karin Toots & Ann Veismann
2022.
Speed as a dimension of manner in Estonian frog stories.
Nordic Journal of Linguistics ► pp. 1 ff.
![DOI logo](//benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 4 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.