Chapter 10. Linguistic and mental representations of caused motion in Chinese and English children
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Yinglin Ji
Abstract
This study examines (non)linguistic representations of caused motion by Chinese and English children in two cartoon-based experiments. Findings of the language production task reveal that typological properties influence the semantic density of children’s utterances. Regardless of age, children express denser semantic information in Chinese than in English. In the non-linguistic match-to-sample task, children of 3 years are found to be predominantly path-oriented, as evidenced by their significantly longer fixation on path-match (rather than manner-match) videos. The analysis of reaction time indicates that children of 8 years and adults show significant variations in spatial cognition that can be related to linguistic differences: English speakers tend to be more manner-oriented while Chinese speakers are equally manner- and path-oriented.
Abstract
This study examines (non)linguistic representations of caused motion by Chinese and English children in two cartoon-based experiments. Findings of the language production task reveal that typological properties influence the semantic density of children’s utterances. Regardless of age, children express denser semantic information in Chinese than in English. In the non-linguistic match-to-sample task, children of 3 years are found to be predominantly path-oriented, as evidenced by their significantly longer fixation on path-match (rather than manner-match) videos. The analysis of reaction time indicates that children of 8 years and adults show significant variations in spatial cognition that can be related to linguistic differences: English speakers tend to be more manner-oriented while Chinese speakers are equally manner- and path-oriented.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Editors and contributors vii
- Series Editors’ Preface ix
- Foreword xiii
- Abbreviations xv
- Introduction to this volume 1
- General introduction 7
-
Part I. Morphological, lexical and syntactic constructions
- Chapter 1. When constructions meet context 47
- Chapter 2. On the partial productivity of constructions 73
- Chapter 3. A corpus-based study of subjectification and the disposal construction in modern Mandarin 95
- Chapter 4. Types of negatives and the noun-verb distinction in English and Chinese 121
- Chapter 5. The conceptual spatialization of actions or activities in Chinese 157
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Part II. Cognitive pragmatics
- Chapter 6. Structural salience and referential accessibility 185
- Chapter 7. Complementing cognitive linguistics with pragmatics and vice versa 207
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Part III. Neurocognition and psycholinguistics
- Chapter 8. A neurocognitive approach to Chinese idiom comprehension 227
- Chapter 9. The role of metaphor in categorization 261
- Chapter 10. Linguistic and mental representations of caused motion in Chinese and English children 285
- Author index 309
- Subject index 311
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Editors and contributors vii
- Series Editors’ Preface ix
- Foreword xiii
- Abbreviations xv
- Introduction to this volume 1
- General introduction 7
-
Part I. Morphological, lexical and syntactic constructions
- Chapter 1. When constructions meet context 47
- Chapter 2. On the partial productivity of constructions 73
- Chapter 3. A corpus-based study of subjectification and the disposal construction in modern Mandarin 95
- Chapter 4. Types of negatives and the noun-verb distinction in English and Chinese 121
- Chapter 5. The conceptual spatialization of actions or activities in Chinese 157
-
Part II. Cognitive pragmatics
- Chapter 6. Structural salience and referential accessibility 185
- Chapter 7. Complementing cognitive linguistics with pragmatics and vice versa 207
-
Part III. Neurocognition and psycholinguistics
- Chapter 8. A neurocognitive approach to Chinese idiom comprehension 227
- Chapter 9. The role of metaphor in categorization 261
- Chapter 10. Linguistic and mental representations of caused motion in Chinese and English children 285
- Author index 309
- Subject index 311
