Lexicalization patterns: semantic structure in lexical forms

1. Lexicalization patterns:semantic structure in lexical forms Leonard Talmy Presented by: Eric Fong

2. Outline • Look at several semantic entities • Motion, Manner, Path, Cause, … • Look at two surface entities: • The Verb • The Satellite • Map semantic entities to surface entities • Compare with many languages

3. Semantic entities • Figure • Ground • Motion • Manner and Cause • Path Ex. The pencil rolled off of the table.

4. The Verb • An “exhaustive” typology • All verbs fit into 3 lexicalization types • Motion + (Manner/Cause) • Motion + Path • Motion + Figure • Conflation • The blending of two semantic entities

5. The VerbMotion + (Manner/Cause) • Motion = moving or stationary • Motion + Manner • The rock bounced/slid down the hill • Motion + Cause • The napkin blew off the table • Spanish • The rock moved down the hill, bouncing

6. The VerbMotion + (Manner/Cause) • Beyond simple Motion • He choked to death on a bone • He ‘moved’ to death, from choking on a bone. • Chinese also conflates Manner or Clause with Motion

7. The VerbMotion + Path • Semitic, Polynesian, Romance • Non-agentive • La botella entró a la cueva • The bottle moved-in to the cave • Salió, pasó, subió, bajó, se fué, etc… • Moved out, past, up, down, away, apart, etc… • Agentive • Saqué el corcho de la botella retorciendolo • I moved out the cork from the bottle, twisting it • Motion=‘moved’, Path=‘out’, Manner=‘twisting’

8. The VerbMotion + Figure • I spat into the cuspidor • spat = moved spit • Atsugewi uses this extensively • -lup- small round object to move • -ť- small planar object to move • -caq- slimy lumpish object to move • -swal- limp linear object suspended by one end to move

9. The Verb • Any other patterns of conflation? • Yes, but not really. • Motion + Ground • Ex. Emplane • Motion + Ground + Path • Ex. Shelve, Box, Query • Multiple component conflations • Improbable. Too many words to remember! • English chooses Motion + Manner/Cause • Spanish chooses Motion + Path

10. The Verb – Aspect • Definition: • The pattern of distribution of action through time • Kinds of Aspect • Resettable and Non-resettable • He fell 3 times. *He died 3 times. • Full-cycle • flash • Multiplex • beat, breathe • Steady State • sleep, hold • Every verb has a little aspect in it

11. The Verb – Causation • 9 types of causitive meaning • autonomous • resulting-event causation • causing-event causation • instrument causation • author causation • agent causation • undergoer situation • self-agentive • inductive causation

12. The Verb – Causation • A Verb might not support all of these types • died, killed, murdered combined make the first 6. • Each language does it differently • But all have ways to form the other types. • Causation can be shifted by grammatical elements • The stone disappeared (non-agentive) • *The witch disappeared the stone (agentive) • Add ‘make’ • The witch made the stone disappear (agentive)

13. Aspect and Causation • 3 main aspect-causitive types • Stative • being in a state • She lay there all during the program • Inchoative • entering into a state • She lay down there when the program began • Agentive • putting into a state • He laid her down there when the program began

14. Aspect and Causation • Consistency (for posture verbs) • English – stative lexicalization • Japanese – inchoative lexicalization • Spanish – agentive lexicalization • But, Latin uses a mix. • Inconsistency • Different verbs (posture vs. condition) • Across languages

15. The Verb – Personization • Monadic = “one person” • I dressed • English – native form implies monadic • French uses a reflexive verb for monadic • Dyadic = “two people” • I dressed Johnny

16. The Verb – Valence • A Perspective • Emphasizing one entity over another. • Emanate vs. Emit • Light emanates from the sun. (figure-centric) • The sun emits light. (ground-centric) • Stimulus vs. Experiencer • It frightens me. (stimulus-centric) • I am frightened by it. (experiencer-centric) • English favors Stimulus, Atsugewi favors Exp.

17. Satellites • Definition • “Satellites are certain immediate constituents of a verb root other than inflections, auxiliaries, or nominal arguments” • Not prepositions • In English, it’s a separate word, usually before the PP • Ex. Come right back down out from up in there! • These satellites represent Path. • Let’s look at what semantic entities are lexicalized by satellites!

18. Satellites – Path • English has many Path satellites • I twisted the cork out of the bottle • The coin melted free from the ice • It went up, down, above, below, through… • Most Indo-European languages and Chinese behave similarly.

19. Satellites – Path + Ground • Rare in English • She drove home. • Common in Atsugewi • -ićt- into a liquid • -cis- into a fire • -mik- into the face/eye of someone • many more…

20. Satellites – Patient • A satellite that indicates the Patient of an event being referred to. • Rare • Found in some Amerindian languages • wá·kas táywacáynikah (Caddo) • Cattle “water-entered”.

21. Satellites – Manner • Nez Perce • hiqqoláhsaya • “He ascended galloping” • Many other manner satellites • walking, running, flying, tracking…

22. Satellites – Cause • Prevalent in Amerindian languages • The sack burst from a long thin object poking endwise into it. • Atsugewi just needs the “cu-” prefix.

23. Satellites – Aspect • Many languages express aspect through satellites • English • The record automatically started over from the beginning (full-cycle aspect) • Russian • Perepada’ut doždi (pere- = every now and then) • “It rains every now and then”

24. Satellites – Valence • Emphasizing Figure or Ground • Can’t swap Figure and Ground without changing the satellite. • I poured water into the tub. • I poured the tub full of water. • Different satellites for different surfaces. • Table vs. Tub • I poured water (onto the table/into the tub)

25. Typology of motion verbsand their satellites

26. Conclusion • A surface-semantic entity mapping can be drawn • But as always, there are exceptions