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Motion Events in English Novels: Evidence for a Satellite-framed Language

Language and Cognitive Science / 2021,6(1): 1−28 / 2022-04-21 638 682

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• Authors: Huili      Wang*      and      Yifan      Yan     
• Information:

   Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China

• Keywords: language typology; manner verbs; motion event; path of motion; The Call of the Wild
• Abstract: This paper discusses language typological characteristics and motion events. As Talmy proposed, languages can be divided into two types: satelliteframed languages and verb-framed languages. The construction of satelliteframed languages is [Motion + Manner + Path + Ground]. In satellite-framed languages, the motion information is conveyed by the main verbs ([Motion + Manner]), and the path of motion is expressed by a subordinate element ([Path]). The subordinate element is called a satellite, which is similar to the particles in English. The construction of verb-framed languages is [Motion + Path + Ground + Manner]. In verb-framed languages, the main verbs ([Motion + Path]) convey the core information of the path of movement, and the manner of motion is described in a subordinate place ([Manner]). The present study focuses on the typological characteristics and lexicalization patterns in English by analyzing the expression of motion events in literary works. This paper chooses an English novel written by Jack London, The Call of the Wild, which has fruitful descriptions of motion events, to analyze the habitual language pattern of English native writers. The results show that English writers tend to use the language pattern of satellite-framed language, which provides evidence to testify and strengthen the fact that English is a typical satellite-framed language.
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.35534/lcs.0601001
• Cite:

  Huili Wang，Yifan Yan．Motion Events in English Novels：Evidence for a Satellite-framed Language［J］．Language and Cognitive Science，2021，6（1）：1−28．