Describing motion events in Old and Modern French
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Anetta Kopecka
Abstract
French, 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.
Abstract
French, 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.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Editors and contributors vii
- Preface ix
- Introduction: Beyond typology 1
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Part I. Variation
- Typology as a continuum 17
- Same family, different paths 39
- Disentangling manner and path 55
- The encoding of motion events 77
- Motion events in Turkish-German contact varieties 115
- Variation in the categorization of motion events by Danish, German, Turkish, and L2 Danish speakers 133
-
Part II. Change
- Describing motion events in Old and Modern French 163
- Lexical splits in the encoding of motion events from Archaic to Classical Greek 185
- Caused-motion verbs in the Middle English intransitive motion construction 203
- Variation and change in English path verbs and constructions: Usage patterns and conceptual structure 223
- Author index 245
- Language index 247
- Subject index 249
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Editors and contributors vii
- Preface ix
- Introduction: Beyond typology 1
-
Part I. Variation
- Typology as a continuum 17
- Same family, different paths 39
- Disentangling manner and path 55
- The encoding of motion events 77
- Motion events in Turkish-German contact varieties 115
- Variation in the categorization of motion events by Danish, German, Turkish, and L2 Danish speakers 133
-
Part II. Change
- Describing motion events in Old and Modern French 163
- Lexical splits in the encoding of motion events from Archaic to Classical Greek 185
- Caused-motion verbs in the Middle English intransitive motion construction 203
- Variation and change in English path verbs and constructions: Usage patterns and conceptual structure 223
- Author index 245
- Language index 247
- Subject index 249
