| In light of the lexicalization patterns as proposed by Talmy (1985,1991,2000) and Slobin’s "Thinking for Speaking" hypothesis (1991,1996,2000), this thesis examines the linguistic characteristics of habitual descriptions of motion event in Chinese by the encoding of Talmy’s "Figure-Ground-Motion-Path" formulation of motion, investigates whether the expressions of motion event in Chinese similar to those in satellite-languages or in verb-languages or neither, exploring the status of Chinese in motion event typology.The classification of Chinese in motion event typology has been a highly controversial issue; a constellation of previous studies of linguists home and abroad has delivered different proposals on this concern. Talmy (1985,2000) claims that Chinese is a satellite-framed language, while Tai (2003) argues that Chinese is primarily a verb-framed language; based on whether the path verb or the manner verb is the main verb. Slobin (2004), as well as Chen & Guo (2009) suggests that Chinese should be classified as an equipollently-framed language, as several other serial-verb languages.Consequently, thirty native Mandarin speakers participated in this study. All the participants are monolinguals, coming from middle-class, literate backgrounds. Subjects are college teachers in Hunan, China, ranging from 35 to 55 years of age. The data for the study was collected from elicited narratives based on one of Chinese famous cartoon strips Winter of Three Hairs(Volume I) (Zhang,1982).The research questions of this thesis are presented as follows:1. How do the figure, ground, motion and path encoded in motion events of Chinese? 2. How do the Chinese speakers describe motion events? To what extent do they use manner and path verbs? 3. Is the use of motion verbs, motion constructions, ground information, as well as rhetorical style in Chinese similar to those in S-languages or in V-languages or neither, when the descriptions of picture narration tasks are compared? 4. What is the place of Chinese in motion event typology, i.e. does Chinese belong to the verb-framed or satellite-framed language, or it fits in a third type, equipollently-framed language?The results of the study has demonstrated that the structural and discourse characteristics of Chinese in motion event descriptions did not completely pattern with those of either S-languages or V-languages, but instead showed hybrid patterns that are characteristic of both types. Chinese narrators, on the one hand, pattern with S-language narrators in the tendency to use a great variety of motion verbs, especially manner verbs; and break up a scene into several segments as to trace the trajectory of movement. On the other hand, they pattern with V-language articulators to produce limited picture of ground information, but rich descriptions of the physical settings where motions occur. Therefore, in the present study, the results disclose a mixed pattern of expressing motion events in related spoken discourse in Chinese. Based on the fruits, Chinese is better categorized as an equipollently-framed language, rather than a satellite-framed or verb-framed language.The findings of the empirical study are expected to contribute much to the teaching and learning of Chinese as a second language. That is to say, for one thing, the results may lead people from other countries clarify the problems in the process of learning to express motion events in Chinese. For another, they may help instructors realize the reasons behind the mistakes of their students and advocate certain strategies or activities to solve these problems. Besides, it may also be of help to the translation practice between Chinese and other languages. Moreover, a clear picture about how people in different languages express motion events can lead us to explore how people differ in the use of physical motion to conceptualize such abstract categories as emotion, and eventually how language and thought interact upon each other. |
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