An Empirical Study of Motion Expressions in Mandarin Chinese

Zhang, Xu

doi:10.5539/ells.v3n4p53

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…A central question in the abundant discussions concerning Chinese in this typology is the status of the second element in a serial verb construction, i.e. it is debated whether it is the main verb or just a verb complement (Chen & Guo, 2009;Kan, 2010;Lamarre, 2005;Liu, 2014;Shen, 2003;Slobin, 2004;Tai, 2003;Tai & Su, 2013;Talmy, 2000;Xu, 2013). Talmy considered the second element to be a verb complement and classified Chinese as a typical satellite-framed language (see similar opinion in Lamarre, 2005;Liu, 2014;Shen, 2003).…”

Section: Verb Lexicalisation Patternsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Tai (2003) and Tai and Su (2013), on the other hand, considered the second element, that often represents the "result" of an action, as the main verb and claimed that Chinese is a verb-framed language. Slobin (2004), however, proposed that in serial verb languages, the manner verb is on a par with the (second) directional verb in semantic and syntactic prominence, and therefore Chinese should belong to a third language type: an equipollently-framed language (hence an E-language) (see similar opinion in Chen & Guo, 2009;Kan, 2010;Xu, 2013). According to Slobin (2004), E-languages express both manner and path in "equipollent" elements that are equal in formal linguistic terms and significance.…”

Section: Verb Lexicalisation Patternsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, it also uses single path verbs to express direction of motion (e.g. shang "ascend", xia "descend", qian-jin "approach") and the number of path verbs in Chinese is larger than in a typical satelliteframed language, such as English (Xu, 2013). Ji et al (2011) compared English and Chinese speakers in a caused motion event description task (e.g.…”

Section: Verb Lexicalisation Patternsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Going places in Dutch and mandarin Chinese: conceptualising the path of motion cross-linguistically

Liao

Flecken

Dijkstra

et al. 2019

Language, Cognition and Neuroscience

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We study to what extent linguistic differences in grammatical aspect systems and verb lexicalisation patterns of Dutch and mandarin Chinese affect how speakers conceptualise the path of motion in motion events, using description and memory tasks. We hypothesised that speakers of the two languages would show different preferences towards the selection of endpoint-, trajectory-or location-information in Endpoint-oriented (not reached) events, whilst showing a similar bias towards encoding endpoints in Endpoint-reached events. Our findings show that (1) groups did not differ in endpoint encoding and memory for both event types; (2) Dutch speakers conceptualised Endpoint-oriented motion focusing on the trajectory, whereas Chinese speakers focused on the location of the moving entity. In addition, we report detailed linguistic patterns of how grammatical aspect, verb semantics and adjuncts containing path-information are combined in the two languages. Results are discussed in relation to typologies of motion expression and event cognition theory. ARTICLE HISTORY

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Section: Verb Lexicalisation Patternsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Verb Lexicalisation Patternsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Verb Lexicalisation Patternsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Going places in Dutch and mandarin Chinese: conceptualising the path of motion cross-linguistically

Liao

Flecken

Dijkstra

et al. 2019

Language, Cognition and Neuroscience

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“…Unlike S‐languages, Chinese allocates comparable weight on both the manner and path components of motion with the use of serial‐verb constructions, in which manner and path are frequently expressed in a compound verb (“pǎojìn” = run‐enter), thus designating Chinese as a good fit for the category of E‐languages (Brown & Chen, 2013; Chen & Guo, 2009; Xu, 2013). This strategy differs from both English and Turkish, in which speakers can express only one type of motion in the verb (typically manner for English and path for Turkish).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

When Gestures Do or Do Not Follow Language‐Specific Patterns of Motion Expression in Speech: Evidence from Chinese, English and Turkish

et al. 2023

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Speakers of different languages (e.g., English vs. Turkish) show a binary split in how they package and order components of a motion event in speech and co‐speech gesture but not in silent gesture. In this study, we focused on Mandarin Chinese, a language that does not follow the binary split in its expression of motion in speech, and asked whether adult Chinese speakers would follow the language‐specific speech patterns in co‐speech but not silent gesture, thus showing a pattern akin to Turkish and English adult speakers in their description of animated motion events. Our results provided evidence for this pattern, with Chinese—as well as English and Turkish—speakers following language‐specific patterns in speech and co‐speech gesture but not in silent gesture. Our results provide support for the “thinking‐for‐speaking” account, namely that language influences thought only during online, but not offline, production of speech.

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“…Mandarin is considered by some as a typical instance for this type of framing language, although this is still contested (cf. Slobin, 2004;Xu, 2013 as extensive and frequently used as those of English, which lowers the salience of manner in these languages (Slobin, 1996a(Slobin, , 1996b).…”

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confidence: 99%

The preservation of path verb meanings in prepositional extensions in Vietnamese

Nguyen¹

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Prepositions are 'small words' used to describe the relationship between other entities indicated by other words in a sentence. Well-known by their linking functions, prepositions are regarded as rather meaningless unless in context. Generally, prepositions often denote spatial or temporal relations between their complement and the element they modify, although they can also denote relations regarding means, manner, instrument, cause, purpose, and so on. In theory of semantic change, prepositions are often considered as the results of the grammaticalisation from nouns or verbs. After grammaticalisation, prepositions are often considered as having grammatical meanings rather than the lexical meanings of their nominal or verbal origins.

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An Empirical Study of Motion Expressions in Mandarin Chinese

Abstract: There are different views concerning the typology of Chinese. Based on the study of Motion events, Talmy (1985, 1991, 2000) categorises Chinese as a satellite-framed language, but Slobin (2004, p. 228)

Cited by 6 publications

References 17 publications

Going places in Dutch and mandarin Chinese: conceptualising the path of motion cross-linguistically

Going places in Dutch and mandarin Chinese: conceptualising the path of motion cross-linguistically

When Gestures Do or Do Not Follow Language‐Specific Patterns of Motion Expression in Speech: Evidence from Chinese, English and Turkish

The preservation of path verb meanings in prepositional extensions in Vietnamese

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