Contrastive semantics of human locomotion verbs
English walk vs. Czech jít and kráčet
This paper is a contribution to a hitherto unexplored area in English-Czech contrastive semantics. It examines
differences in the construal of walking, the most prototypical type of human locomotion. Based on the data from
InterCorp, a synchronic parallel translation corpus, it presents a cognitive oriented analysis of the
semantics of English
walk and its nearest Czech counterparts, i.e. jít and
kráčet. Despite their apparent commonalities, the verbs in question do not construe walking in the same way.
In contrast to jít, the construal of a motion situation in walk and kráčet
involves focus on leg movements and bodily position, amounting to a marked segmentation of the motion into individual quanta.
Focus on leg movements and verticality of the body is even more pronounced in kráčet, which can then serve an
evaluative function; such a possibility is not open for walk. Walk thus occupies an intermediate position between
the two verbs.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Data, method, and research question
- 3.A brief survey of the descriptions of walk in the literature
- 4.Quantization of motion in walk, jít and kráčet: A preliminary account
- 5.Speed in relation to the character of the quantization of motion
- 6.Bodily posture
- 7.Directionality of path
- 7.1Prepositional path phrases
- 7.1.1Relative suppression of directionality in in- and on-path phrases
- 7.2Prepositionless path phrases
- 8.The human actor’s experiential self in kráčet
- 9.
Kráčet used as an evaluative verb
- 10.Conclusion
-
Notes
-
References
References (48)
References
Boas, H. C. (2008). Towards a frame-constructional approach to verb classification. In E. S. Acevedo & F. J. C. Rodríguez (Eds.), Grammar, constructions, and interfaces. Special issue of Revista Canaria de Estudios Ingleses, 57, 17–47.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Charras, P., & Lupiáñez, J. (2010). Length perception of horizontal and vertical bisected lines. Psychological Research, 74(2), 196–206. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Clausner, T. C., & Croft, W. (1999). Domains and image schemas. Cognitive Linguistics, 10(1), 1–31. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Croft, W., Barðdal, J., Hollmann, W., Sotirova, V., & Taoka, C. (2010). Revising Talmy’s typological classification of complex event constructions. In H. C. Boas (Ed.), Contrastive studies in Construction Grammar (pp. 201–235). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Faber, P. B., & Mairal Usón, R. (1999). Constructing a lexicon of English verbs. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Gibbs, R. W. (2006). Embodiment and cognitive science. New York: Cambridge University Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Goddard, C., & Wierzbicka, A. (2014). Words and meanings: Lexical semantics across domains, languages, and cultures. Oxford: Oxford University Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Horecký, J. (1999). Sémantické a derivačné pole slovies ísť a chodiť
[Semantic and derivative fields of the verbs ísť and chodiť
]. Slovenská reč, 64(4), 202–208.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Jackendoff, R. (1983). Semantics and cognition. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Jackendoff, R. (1991). Parts and boundaries. Cognition, 41(1–3), 9–45. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Jackendoff, R., & Landau, B. (1992). Spatial language and spatial cognition. In R. Jackendoff (Ed.), Languages of the mind: Essays on mental representation (pp. 99–124). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Janda, L. (2006). Totally normal chaos: The aspectual behavior of Russian motion verbs. Harvard Ukrainian Studies, 28(1–4), 183–193.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Johnson, M. (1987). The body in the mind: The bodily basis of meaning, imagination, and reason. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Kudrnáčová, N. (2013). Caused motion: Secondary agent constructions. Brno: Masaryk University.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Langacker, R. W. (1987). Foundations of cognitive grammar. Vol. 1: Theoretical prerequisites. Stanford: Stanford University Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Langacker, R. W. (1991). Foundations of cognitive grammar. Vol. 2: Descriptive application. Stanford: Stanford University Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Machek, V. (2010). Etymologický slovník jazyka českého [An etymological dictionary of the Czech language]. Prague: Nakladatelství Lidové noviny.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Maki, B. E., & McIlroy, W. E. (1997). The role of limb movements in maintaining upright stance: The “change-in-support” strategy. Physical Therapy, 77(5), 488–507. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Malt, B. C., Gennari, S., Imai, M., Ameel, E., Tsuda, N., & Majid, A. (2008). Talking about walking: Biomechanics and the language of locomotion. Psychological Science, 19(3), 232–240. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Malt, B. C., Gennari, S., & Imai, M. (2010). Lexicalization patterns and the world-to-words mapping. In B. C. Malt & P. Wolff (Eds.), Words and the mind: How words capture human experience (pp. 29–57). New York: Oxford University Press. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Malt, B. C., Ameel, E., Imai, M., Gennari, S. P., Saji, N., & Majid, A. (2014). Human locomotion in languages: Constraints on moving and meaning. Journal of Memory and Language, 74, 107–123. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Martinková, M. (2014). K metodologii využití paralelních korpusů v kontrastivní lingvistice [On the methodology of using parallel corpora in contrastive linguistic research]. Naše řeč, 97(4–5), 270–285.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Miller, G., & Johnson-Laird, P. (1976). Language and perception. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Nida, E. A. (1975). A componential analysis of meaning: An introduction to semantic structures. The Hague: Mouton.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Phelps, K., & Duman, S. (2012). Manipulating manner: Semantic representations of human locomotion verbs in English and German. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 34, 857–862.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Piñón, C. J. (1993). Paths and their names. In K. Beals, G. Cooke, D. Kathman, S. Kita, K. McCullough & D. Testen (Eds.), Papers from the 29th Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society (pp. 287–303). Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Rakhilina, E. V. (2004). There and back: the case of Russsian ‘go’. Glossos, 5, 1–33. [[URL]]
Rojo, A., & Ibarretxe-Antuñano, I. (2013). Cognitive linguistics and translation studies: Past, present and future. In A. Rojo & I. Ibarretxe-Antuñano (Eds.), Cognitive linguistics and translation: Advances in some theoretical models and applications (pp. 3–30). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Saicová Římalová, L. (2010). Vybraná slovesa pohybu v češtině: Studie z kognitivní lingvistiky [Selected verbs of motion in Czech: A study in cognitive linguistics]. Prague: Karolinum.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Slobin, D. I. (1997). Mind, code, and text. In J. Bybee, J. Haiman & S. A. Thompson (Eds.), Essays on language function and language type: Dedicated to T. Givón (pp. 437–467). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Slobin, D. I. (2005). Relating narrative events in translation. In D. D. Ravid & H. B. Shyldkrot (Eds.), Perspectives on language and language development: Essays in honor of Ruth A. Berman (pp. 115–129). Dordrecht: Kluwer. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Slobin, D. I., Ibarretxe-Antuñano, I., Kopecka, A., & Majid, A. (2014). Manners of human gait: A cross-linguistic event-naming study. Cognitive Linguistics, 25(4), 701–741. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Slovník spisovné češtiny pro školu a veřejnost [A dictionary of standard Czech for school and home]. (2009). Eds. J. Filipec, F. Daneš, J. Machač & V. Mejstřík. Prague: Academia.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Slovník spisovného jazyka českého [A dictionary of standard Czech]. (1960). Eds. B. Havránek, J. Bělič, M. Helcl, A. Jedlička, V. Křístek & F. Trávníček. Prague: Nakladatelství Československé akademie věd.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Snell-Hornby, M. (1983). Verb-descriptivity in German and English: A contrastive study in semantic fields. Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Talmy, L. (1985). Lexicalization patterns: Semantic structure in lexical forms. In T. Shopen (Ed.), Language typology and syntactic description. Vol. 3: Grammatical categories and the lexicon (pp. 57–149). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Talmy, L. (2000). Towards a cognitive semantics. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Vulchanova, M., & Martinez, L. (2013). A basic level for the encoding of biological motion. In C. Paradis, J. Hudson & U. Magnusson (Eds.), The construal of spatial meaning: Windows into conceptual space (pp. 144–168). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Cited by (1)
Cited by one other publication
Alhammadi, Nada & Sane Yagi
2024.
An NSM-based contrastive semantic analysis of ‘strolling’ and ‘jogging’ in English and Arabic.
Cogent Arts & Humanities 11:1
![DOI logo](//benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 4 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.