The cognition of caused-motion events in Spanish and German: An Agentive Cognitive Construction Grammar analysis

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this paper, I present a comparative analysis of caused-motion events (involving placement, removal, causation and transfer) in Spanish and German within an emerging Cognitive Construction Grammar theory of mind and language. The aim of this article is to offer a syntactic account by which argument structure information is required to understand the encoding of transferred object/target path in these languages. The core theoretical observation is that the spatial representation of events of transfer and placement is reliant on embodied patterns of constructional attachment (constructional attachment patterns) that are not attributable to typological differences such as particle or monomorphemic verbal encoding of target path. This insight can be summarized as follows: typologically different languages encode caused-motion information in an argument structure construction, while the specific semantics of verbs encode stance, object, shape, weight and target path structure. In Spanish, verbal object–path encoding does not require the use of specific placement markers, since speakers identify the form and shape of objects encoded by specific verbs. In German, object shape and form, as well as path, are encoded by specific particles, prefixes and base verbs. The conclusion is that both argument structure and verbal meaning are required to understand the way speakers perceive and further conceptualize reality through language.