Showing versus telling: Representing speech events in English and Spanish
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Rosario Caballero
Abstract
In this chapter, I provide a qualitative description of the verbs used to introduce Direct Speech (DS) in fictional narratives written in English and their Spanish translations in order to compare the way these two languages reconstruct speech events in texts by means of both speech verbs (e.g., say/decir, counter/argumentar, declare/manifestar) and non-speech verbs (e.g., grin/sonreír,scowl/fruncir el ceño). Using a corpus of popular fictional narrative genres and drawing upon typological research on motion after the work by Talmy (1985, 1988, 1991) and Slobin (1996a, 1996b, 2004, 2005, 2006), I look into the strategies used in English and Spanish for recreating speech events in order to explore whether the typological differences between these languages are replicated in the case of speech. The hypothesis is that, contrary to what happens with motion events, the differences between English and Spanish do not rest upon lexical availability but, rather, on the weight placed in different speech elements in agreement with two different agendas regarding speech events. While congruent with typological studies, this piece of research attempts to broaden their scope and explore a topic still underexplored.
Abstract
In this chapter, I provide a qualitative description of the verbs used to introduce Direct Speech (DS) in fictional narratives written in English and their Spanish translations in order to compare the way these two languages reconstruct speech events in texts by means of both speech verbs (e.g., say/decir, counter/argumentar, declare/manifestar) and non-speech verbs (e.g., grin/sonreír,scowl/fruncir el ceño). Using a corpus of popular fictional narrative genres and drawing upon typological research on motion after the work by Talmy (1985, 1988, 1991) and Slobin (1996a, 1996b, 2004, 2005, 2006), I look into the strategies used in English and Spanish for recreating speech events in order to explore whether the typological differences between these languages are replicated in the case of speech. The hypothesis is that, contrary to what happens with motion events, the differences between English and Spanish do not rest upon lexical availability but, rather, on the weight placed in different speech elements in agreement with two different agendas regarding speech events. While congruent with typological studies, this piece of research attempts to broaden their scope and explore a topic still underexplored.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Applying Cognitive Linguistics: Identifying some current research foci (figurative language in use, constructions and typology) 1
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I. Figurative language in use
- Overt and covert uses of metaphor in the academic mentoring in English of Spanish undergraduate students at five European universities 23
- The interpretation of metonymy by Japanese learners of English 51
- Methodological triangulation in the study of emotion: The case of 'anger' in three language groups 73
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II. Constructing meaning in language (L1 and L2 acquisition)
- On-line processing of verb-argument constructions: Visual recognition threshold and naming latency 103
- The role of force dynamics and intentionality in the reconstruction of L2 verb meanings: A Danish-Spanish bidirectional study 133
- Cross-linguistic influence in the interpretation of boundary-crossing events in L2 acquisition 157
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III Typology
- Thinking for translating and intra-typological variation in satellite-framed languages 181
- Showing versus telling: Representing speech events in English and Spanish 205
- Subject index 229
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Applying Cognitive Linguistics: Identifying some current research foci (figurative language in use, constructions and typology) 1
-
I. Figurative language in use
- Overt and covert uses of metaphor in the academic mentoring in English of Spanish undergraduate students at five European universities 23
- The interpretation of metonymy by Japanese learners of English 51
- Methodological triangulation in the study of emotion: The case of 'anger' in three language groups 73
-
II. Constructing meaning in language (L1 and L2 acquisition)
- On-line processing of verb-argument constructions: Visual recognition threshold and naming latency 103
- The role of force dynamics and intentionality in the reconstruction of L2 verb meanings: A Danish-Spanish bidirectional study 133
- Cross-linguistic influence in the interpretation of boundary-crossing events in L2 acquisition 157
-
III Typology
- Thinking for translating and intra-typological variation in satellite-framed languages 181
- Showing versus telling: Representing speech events in English and Spanish 205
- Subject index 229
