In this paper, we show that variation in motion event encoding displayed by languages with respect to the two general typological frames (VF and SF) is expected as soon as we go from a broad typological scale to finer-grained analyses of individual languages. Indeed, variation results from the matching of different kinds of events and the patterns of motion encoding speakers preferentially use depending on the linguistic resources available at a given point in time, communicative needs, and rhetorical habits. We argue that there are many instances of variation, which appear in different contexts, and are not equally significant. The presence (and frequency of use) of constructions which are more or less ‘deviant’ with respect to typological expectations, if considered from a diachronic perspective, may allow us to identify possible stages in paths of change and implicational scales of linguistic phenomena driving languages from one prevalent type to the other. We believe that changes can be explained by step-by-step micro-variations better than by cataclysmic (external or linguistically internal) events. Microvariation is not linked to any teleological goal, but may give rise to systematic shifts. For instance, lexical and morphosyntactic changes (even independent from motion expression) can have consequences on the linguistic resources employed in the encoding of specific motion events, and may thus induce language users to gradually relinquish the usual constructions. This may lead to the emergence of structures characterizing a different typology of motion event descriptions, which can then be extended to other contexts and other event types. The examples of variation we describe in Section 4 are not so much clues of the development of SF strategies in Romance as an example of a new methodological framework, which aims to individuate on-going changes in the preferred ways of expressing motion, and their distribution in ordered sequences, taking into consideration not only linguistic paradigms but also language use.
Iacobini, C., Benjamin, F. (2011). A diachronic approach to variation and change in the typology of motion event expression. A case study: From Latin to Romance. FAITS DE LANGUES. LES CAHIERS, 3, 152-171.
A diachronic approach to variation and change in the typology of motion event expression. A case study: From Latin to Romance
IACOBINI, CLAUDIO;
2011-01-01
Abstract
In this paper, we show that variation in motion event encoding displayed by languages with respect to the two general typological frames (VF and SF) is expected as soon as we go from a broad typological scale to finer-grained analyses of individual languages. Indeed, variation results from the matching of different kinds of events and the patterns of motion encoding speakers preferentially use depending on the linguistic resources available at a given point in time, communicative needs, and rhetorical habits. We argue that there are many instances of variation, which appear in different contexts, and are not equally significant. The presence (and frequency of use) of constructions which are more or less ‘deviant’ with respect to typological expectations, if considered from a diachronic perspective, may allow us to identify possible stages in paths of change and implicational scales of linguistic phenomena driving languages from one prevalent type to the other. We believe that changes can be explained by step-by-step micro-variations better than by cataclysmic (external or linguistically internal) events. Microvariation is not linked to any teleological goal, but may give rise to systematic shifts. For instance, lexical and morphosyntactic changes (even independent from motion expression) can have consequences on the linguistic resources employed in the encoding of specific motion events, and may thus induce language users to gradually relinquish the usual constructions. This may lead to the emergence of structures characterizing a different typology of motion event descriptions, which can then be extended to other contexts and other event types. The examples of variation we describe in Section 4 are not so much clues of the development of SF strategies in Romance as an example of a new methodological framework, which aims to individuate on-going changes in the preferred ways of expressing motion, and their distribution in ordered sequences, taking into consideration not only linguistic paradigms but also language use.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
