On the representations of motion events: Perspectives from L2 research

Abstract

Talmy’s (1985, 2000) influential typology of motion event constructions divides languages into categories based on typical lexicalization patterns of motion within the sentence. In the literature, priority is given to satellite-framed (S-languages) and verb-framed languages (V-languages), which encompass the majority of languages spoken in the industrialized world. This paper sets out to discuss the rationale behind Talmy’s classification, and to present evidence that calls into question the legitimacy of his claims. This encompasses data showing behavior that diverges from the category norm, as well as an analysis of the linguistic salience of Manner and Path in two typologically related languages: Polish and English. Although both are classified as satellite-languages, they show marked differences in the way they encode Path. Polish prioritizes Path by encoding it throughout the predicate, while English confines Path information to post-verbal satellite constructions. The paper closes with an overview of research into the acquisition of motion patterns by speakers of typologically contrasting languages, and makes a number of predictions about how Polish-English bilinguals may lexicalize motion events in L2 English. Overall, the paper accentuates the need to reevaluate the typology, which is especially important in view of the fact that, despite its inaccuracies, it inspired a spate of studies in the area of linguistic relativity, speech production and second language acquisition.