Verb of movement
Verbs of movement are a meaning class of verbs that has been studied extensively in the linguistic literature. They are related to general questions of the expression of spatial relations and are one of the prime examples for the investigation of the question of how perceptual categories and concepts are mapped in language. The use of verbs of motion also interacts closely with the grammar of spatial prepositions and adverbs . In some languages, movement verbs also have other grammatical features.
Verbs of movement in the narrower sense are verbs that designate a change of location, i.e. a change in the localization of an object in space. A change in location must be distinguished from an internal movement in a person or an object (e.g. trembling, waving or bending over ). However, some movements have both components at the same time (e.g. roll ), or verbs with both of these meanings can be used:
- The earth rotates (on its own axis) - internal movement
- The earth rotates around the sun - change of location in space
Further examples of movement verb constructions in German are:
- jump out of the shower ,
- rush to work ,
- stroll home .
Movement events are to be understood from the interaction of various factors: Individuals such as the movement bearer himself or any additional means of transport used are involved; Furthermore, the localization in space takes place on the basis of objects whose position is used as a reference point. For this purpose, components such as the path and direction of the movement as well as the type of movement (including speed, method of movement, etc.) must be described. Movement verbs can therefore be divided into subclasses, depending on which of these factors they express or leave implicitly.
Classes of meaning of verbs of motion
overview
There are various attempts to define subclasses of verbs of motion. In a classic work, Levin (1993) essentially distinguishes between the following:
- Verbs of directed movement
- Verbs of the manner of movement
- Subclass: Movement does not have to be controlled by the subject (Levin: " rollverbs ").
- Lower class: necessary with control by the subject (Levin: “ runverbs ”).
- Verbs of the means of transport: z. B. tobogganing, cycling, rowing .
- as well as other smaller special groups, v. a. pursue and accompany ; dance u. a.
Verbs of the manner of movement
A distinction can be made between verbs that describe active, independent locomotion or, in contrast, verbs that express non-active locomotion. Examples in German are:
- Verbs of active proper movement: rennen; dash, hurry, hop, crawl, stroll, walk ;
- Verbs of non-active locomotion: to fall, to drift (on water).
This results in a correlation that verbs with active proper movement often have animate subjects, but this relationship is not strict. Verbs of non-active movement form unaccusative verbs .
Verbs of the direction of movement
Localization of a path
Another type of movement verbs are those that describe the location of the movement path. This is mostly done on the basis of the position taken by a reference object. One can then differentiate between path information in which the localization relates to the beginning, the middle or the end of the path:
- The boss has left the office.
- The path of the motion event (taken by the boss) begins and leads away from a location inside the office.
- The probe passed Jupiter.
- The place occupied by the planet Jupiter is near the center of the path of movement, both the beginning and the end point of the movement are not near Jupiter.
- We reached the top.
- The path of movement ends in the place occupied by the summit.
The verbs listed do not give any indication of the type of movement.
There are also verbs that do not localize a movement based on a reference object, but denote movement in the absolute spatial direction up or down, usually without a fixed end point: z. B. rise, fall .
Deictic and non-deictic verbs of motion
Some directed motion verbs can have a deictic component. With Deixis is in linguistics referring to people, places, objects and times in the context referred to the communicative partners. The use of deictic verbs of motion depends on the relationship between the path of motion and the position of an actual or imagined observer (who may be a speaker, listener, or a third party). For example, the following sentence describes movement from the point of view of an observer who is in the room that is the target region of Mari's movement:
- Maria came into the room. / Maria came in.
Other verbs, such as leave , enter, etc., determine the path of movement exclusively in relation to the named object, without also reacting to the position of an observer:
- Maria left the library.
This sentence can be uttered by both a speaker inside and outside the library.
Lexicalization pattern
Leonard Talmy and Dan Slobin pointed out in the 1970s and 1980s that when considering movement verbs, two different types of languages can be compared: In the constructions of the verb-framed languages , information about a movement is expressed in the verb itself (e.g. E.g. in Spanish salir , entrar , pasar ) in other words, the main verb usually promises the direction of a movement. Where the speaker deems it necessary, he adds additional information about the mode of movement using adjuncts.
It is different in the constructions of satellite-framed-languages : Here the information is determined via a path outside the verb, by a satellite, by a verb particle or by an adverbial, e.g. B. in German out , a , over .
Grammatical peculiarities of verbs of movement
Perfect shapes
In the perfect tense, many European languages have the choice between having - and being - auxiliary verb. With verbs of movement, this construction often shows peculiarities, which, however, turn out differently in different languages.
German
In German , the perfect tense of a movement verb is formed with the auxiliary verb sein if the verb is intransitive, even if the verb has an active, acting subject (an agent ), e.g. B. I flew / ran / swam . However, if the verb of movement is used transitive , the auxiliary verb haben is used:
- I am driven home
- I 've driven a car
French
In French, the following applies: If a verb describes a direction of movement, the Passé composé is usually formed with être (to be) and not with avoir (to have). French knows the following thirteen “primary” verbs of movement: aller - arriver - descendre - entrer - monter - mourir - naître - partir - rentrer - retourner - sortir - tomber - venir . Verbs derived from this, such as devenir , also require the auxiliary verb être .
All other verbs in the movement do not belong to this group. For example, the verbs nager (swim) and courir (run, run) form the passé composé with avoir .
Italian
In Italian the Perfect is (passato prossimo) of the verbs the direction of movement as in German with the Being auxiliary, ital. Essere formed. However, if the destination or starting point of the movement is not given, or if the verb is used transitive, the auxiliary verb avere (to have) is used. Example:
- sono corso a casa - I ran home
- ho corso due ore - I ran for two hours
- sono saltata dal tavolo - I 'm off the table
- ho saltato il pranzo - I have the food skipped
Two Italian verbs - venire (to come) and andare (to go) - can also be used like auxiliary verbs with the passive participle . Venire replaces the auxiliary verb essere in the formation of the passive voice, andare gives the passive voice an expression of necessity. Examples:
- l'importo viene rimborsato - the amount is ("comes") refunded
- l'importo va rimborsato - the amount must be refunded ( heard ("goes") refunded)
Movement verbs as auxiliary verbs
Often verbs of movement such as come and go are used as auxiliary verbs to denote a future tense.
The English verb to go (to go) is used in the so-called going-to future to express the near future:
- I was going to meet him - I was going to meet him - I was going to meet him
The corresponding construction exists for the formation of the future tense in the Celtic languages .
In Swedish there is a future tense with the verb for to come:
- jag kommer att ... - I'm coming to ... - I'm about to ...
In French, an auxiliary verb aller (to go) (followed by the infinitive) is used to designate an imminent future:
- je vais te voir ce soir - I “go” to see you tonight - I see you tonight.
What is unusual, however, is the use of the auxiliary verb anar "to go" in Catalan to denote a past (see also under Catalan language # Morphology and Syntax ):
- Catalan ell va venir = 'He came' (!)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Brief overview on this: Ladina B. Tschander: Movement and verbs of movement. DFG project 'Axiomatics of Spatial Concepts' (Ha 1237-7) and the Graduate School in Cognitive Science at the University of Hamburg, pp. 25–30.
- ↑ The examples to turn from: Christopher Habel: Drehsinn und Reorientierung. Rotate mode and direction of motion verb. In: G. Rickheit (Ed.): Directions in space . DUV, Wiesbaden 1999, pp. 101-128.
- ↑ Leonard Talmy: Lexicalization Patterns: Semantic Structure in Lexical Forms. University of California, Berkeley 1987. (For the original publication location of this text, see information there)
- ^ Beth Levin: Verb Classes and Alternations. University of Chicago Press, 1993; in the following examples translated into German
- ↑ For this characterization: Beth Levin: Verb Classes and Alternations. 1993, p. 265.
- ^ Beth Levin: Verb Classes and Alternations. 1993, p. 265ff.
- ^ Beth Levin: Verb Classes and Alternations. 1993, p. 265ff.
- ↑ Helga Diersch: Verbs of locomotion in the German language of the present: An investigation into syntagmatic and paradigmatic relationships of the word content. Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1972, p. 31 f.
- ↑ Carola Eschenbach, Ladina Tschander, Christopher Habel, Lars Kulik: Lexical Specifications of Paths. In: C. Freksa et al. (Ed.): Spatial Cognition II . Springer, Berlin 2000, pp. 127-144.
- ^ Claus Ehrhardt, Hans Jürgen Heringer: Pragmatics. (= UTB. 3480). Fink, Paderborn 2011, ISBN 978-3-8252-3480-5 , p. 147.