[en] Speed and space : semantic asymmetries in motion descriptions in Estonian

Type de document

Est une partie de

Mots clés en

Humanities and Social Sciences/Linguistics
corpus study
Estonian
motion verbs
multivariate analysis
space
speed

Date de publication

Langue du document

Anglais

Editeur

De Gruyter

Résumé

[en] Abstract In this study, we investigate the expression of speed—one of the principal dimensions of manner—in relation to the expression of space in Estonian, a satellite-framed and morphology-rich language. Our multivariate and extensive corpus analysis is informed by asymmetries attested in languages with regard to expressing space (the goal-over-source bias) and speed (the fast-over-slow bias) where we attempt to explicitly link the two. We demonstrate moderate speed effects in the data in that fast motion verbs tend to combine with Goal, and slow motion verbs with Location and Trajectory expressions, making verbs of fast motion similar to goal verbs in their clausal behaviour. We also show that semantic congruency (i.e., expressing semantic information repeatedly in motion clauses) overrides the goal-over-source bias. That is, although verbs also occur in diverse patterns, they often combine with semantic units that mirror their meaning : goal verbs tend to combine with Goal, source verbs with Source, and manner verbs with Manner expressions. Such semantic congruency might serve as a tool for construal and, thus, is an important issue for future research.

Nom de la revue

Cognitive Linguistics

Collection

Source

HAL

Type de ressource

Texte intégral

Licence

Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Citation bibliographique

Piia Taremaa, Anetta Kopecka. Speed and space : semantic asymmetries in motion descriptions in Estonian. Cognitive Linguistics, 2023, 34 (1), pp.35-66. [10.1515/cog-2021-0132]. [hal-04653674]

Citer cette ressource

[en] Speed and space : semantic asymmetries in motion descriptions in Estonian, dans Études nordiques, consulté le 15 Mars 2025, https://etudes-nordiques.cnrs.fr/s/numenord/item/18218