A typological approach to the encoding of motion events
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Wojciech Lewandowski
Abstract
This study reports on findings from an elicited narrative task in which native speakers of three genetically different languages, German, Polish, and Spanish, were asked to describe motion scenes from an extract of Chaplin’s City Lights. The results show that linguistic typology has an important predictive power as far as narrative style is concerned; however, since typological generalizations usually refer to tendencies rather than sharp divisions between languages, it is crucial to pay attention to the specific resources of a given language available for describing a particular conceptual domain. Specifically, although German and Polish pertain to the same typological group (satellite-framed), as opposed to Spanish (verb-framed), they exploit their predominant lexicalization pattern in a different way, and this has an enormous impact on the narrative style.
Abstract
This study reports on findings from an elicited narrative task in which native speakers of three genetically different languages, German, Polish, and Spanish, were asked to describe motion scenes from an extract of Chaplin’s City Lights. The results show that linguistic typology has an important predictive power as far as narrative style is concerned; however, since typological generalizations usually refer to tendencies rather than sharp divisions between languages, it is crucial to pay attention to the specific resources of a given language available for describing a particular conceptual domain. Specifically, although German and Polish pertain to the same typological group (satellite-framed), as opposed to Spanish (verb-framed), they exploit their predominant lexicalization pattern in a different way, and this has an enormous impact on the narrative style.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
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Section I. Discourse structure and verbal interaction
- The encoding and signalling of discourse relations in argumentative discourse 13
- A typological approach to the encoding of motion events 45
- Contrastive analysis of interactional discourse markers in English and Spanish newspaper texts 75
- “God that came out quick didn’t it eh” 109
- The use of tag questions in the oral production of L2 English learners 145
- “Okay … so … nice to meet you? {smiles}” 171
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Section II. Evaluation and engagement
- Lexis and grammar as complementary discourse systems for expressing stance and evaluation 201
- Emotion and appraisal processes in language 227
- Empathy versus engagement 251
- Two dimensions of language intensity in evaluative discourse 273
- Name index 297
- Subject Index 301
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
-
Section I. Discourse structure and verbal interaction
- The encoding and signalling of discourse relations in argumentative discourse 13
- A typological approach to the encoding of motion events 45
- Contrastive analysis of interactional discourse markers in English and Spanish newspaper texts 75
- “God that came out quick didn’t it eh” 109
- The use of tag questions in the oral production of L2 English learners 145
- “Okay … so … nice to meet you? {smiles}” 171
-
Section II. Evaluation and engagement
- Lexis and grammar as complementary discourse systems for expressing stance and evaluation 201
- Emotion and appraisal processes in language 227
- Empathy versus engagement 251
- Two dimensions of language intensity in evaluative discourse 273
- Name index 297
- Subject Index 301
