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    Descriptions of Motion and Travel in Jaminjung and Kriol

    Dorothea Hoffmann

    [Thesis].The University of Manchester ;2012.

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    Abstract

    The thesis entitled “Descriptions of Motion and Travel in Jaminjung and Kriol” handed in by Dorothea Hoffmann at the University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy on November 10th 2011 provides an in-depth analysis of motion event descriptions of two Australian indigenous languages. Jaminjung is a highly endangered non Pama-Nyungan language with approximately 50 remaining speakers. Kriol, an English-lexified Creole, is spoken by about 20.000 people in different varieties across northern Australia. While the languages are typologically very different, occupancy of the same linguistic and cultural area provides an intriguing opportunity to examine the effects of culture and language contact on conceptual components and distribution patterns in discourse. This investigation also applies and tests a number of existing frameworks and typologies regarding the linguistic encoding of motion and space in general. The thesis first provides an overview of the encoding of motion event descriptions in Jaminjung and Kriol. It becomes clear that, concerning overt marking of case, ground-encodings follow a systematic semantic pattern with no or rare case-marking for deictic terms, optional marking for toponyms and mandatory marking for all other types of landmarks. Furthermore, the structure and semantics of the motion verb phrase is investigated. Particularly noteworthy here is a study of asymmetrical serial verb constructions in Kriol which revealed a number of previously undescribed types. Following this, various proposals for a typology of Frames of Reference are applied. The notion of ‘anchor’ is at the centre of the analysis. The investigation shows that contextual restrictions for the use of Jaminjung’s absolute terms can be accounted for by a restriction on egocentric anchoring and ‘Orientation’ settings only. Furthermore, absolute Frame of Reference is realised differently in Roper and Westside Kriol respectively, suggesting an ongoing influence of the traditional languages spoken by the respective communities rather than the lexifier English. Jaminjung and Kriol, additionally, prefer the use of absolute over relative Frame of Reference.The following chapter investigates how lexicalisation patterns influence the distribution of path and manner encodings in discourse. After concluding that Jaminjung might best be described as following an equipollently-framed pattern and Kriol as satellite-framed, path and manner salience is investigated in different types of discourse using a dataset of motion event encodings in a Frog Story collection and a general corpus of various discourse environments. It is concluded that while the two languages behave very differently with regards to frequency patterns of ground- and other path-encodings, they show remarkable similarities in distributing path and manner over larger chunks of discourse. These findings suggest that cultural influences may sometimes override structural typological constraints.Finally, motion event encodings in specific types of discourse are analysed. Regarding route descriptions, speakers show a clear preference for dynamic over static modes of presentation. This includes encoding ‘fictive motion’ events for which a figure- and ground-based distinction is introduced. Additionally, concerning the use of deictics in a comparative analysis of different types of corpora for both languages, it was shown that the distribution of absolute terms remains stable across discourse environments while deictic usage differs drastically. Lastly, the concept of ‘motion’ is abstracted and described as a kind of structuring device in narratives. It is shown that the ‘journey’ within the story world is used by speakers of both languages to bridge episodes sometimes even overriding a temporal in favour of a spatial order of events.

    Bibliographic metadata

    Type of resource:
    Content type:
    Type of thesis:
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    Degree type:
    PhD
    Publication date:
    Total pages:
    331
    Table of contents:
    1 CROSS-LINGUISTIC STUDIES OF MOTION 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Grammatical and lexical resources in motion event encodings 1.2.1 Figure and Ground 1.2.2 Deixis 1.3 Motion Encodings in Specific Types of Discourse 1.3.1 Route Descriptions 1.3.2 The Use of Deictics in Narratives 1.3.3 Motion as a Means of Structuring a Narrative 1.4 Outline 2 LANGUAGE BACKGROUND AND METHODOLOGY 2.1 Jaminjung 2.2 Kriol 2.3 Data and Methods of Collection 2.3.1 Corpus and Dataset 2.3.2 Fieldwork Setting and Elicitation Methods 3 THE STRUCTURE OF MOTION EXPRESSIONS IN JAMINJUNG 3.1 The Figure of a Motion Event 3.2 Strategies of Ground Descriptions 3.2.1 General Explicit and Implicit Ground Encoding Strategies and Types of Grounds 3.2.2 The Marking of a Goal of Motion 3.2.3 The Marking of a Source of Motion 3.2.4 Passed Grounds 3.3 The Verb Phrase in Motion Expressions 3.3.1 Inflecting Verbs of Locomotion and Change of Location 3.3.2 Coverbs of Manner and Path 3.3.3 Summary 3.4 Summary 4 THE STRUCTURE OF MOTION EXPRESSIONS IN KRIOL 4.1 The Figure of a Motion Event 4.2 Strategies of Ground Descriptions 4.2.1 The Marking of a Goal of Motion 4.2.1.1 The Directional Suffix –wei 4.2.2 The Marking of a Source of Motion 4.2.3 Passed Grounds 4.3 The Verb Phrase in Motion Expressions 4.3.1 Adverbial Suffixes 4.3.2 Types of Motion Verbs 4.3.3 Serial verb constructions 4.4 The Structure of Motion Expressions in Jaminjung and Kriol 5 FRAMES OF REFERENCE 5.1 Frames of Reference – Theories and Trends 5.2 Frames of Reference in Jaminjung in Static and Motion Descriptions 5.2.1 Allocentric Anchoring 5.2.2 Egocentric Anchoring 5.2.3 Frames of Reference in Motion Descriptions 1 5.2.4 Summary 1 5.3 Frames of Reference in Kriol in Static and Motion Descriptions 5.3.1 Allocentric Anchoring 5.3.2 Egocentric Anchoring 5.3.3 Frames of Reference in Motion Descriptions 5.3.4 Summary 5.4 Summary of Frames of Reference in Jaminjung and Kriol 6 LEXICALISATION PATTERNS: IMPLICATIONS FOR DISCOURSE 6.1 Lexical Manner and Path Encodings as the Basis for Salience Patterns 6.1.1 Jaminjung 6.1.2 Kriol 6.2 Path Salience 6.2.1 Path Salience in Jaminjung 6.2.1.1 Ground Specifications in Discourse: Minus- and Plus-Ground Constructions 6.2.1.2 Complex Path Expressions 6.2.1.3 Path and Event Granularity 6.2.2 Path Salience in Kriol 6.2.2.1 Ground Specifications in Discourse: Minus and Plus Ground Constructions 6.2.2.2 Complex Path Expressions 6.2.2.3 Path and Event Granularity 6.2.3 A Comparative Perspective on Jaminjung and Kriol 6.2.3.1 Ground Specifications in Discourse 6.2.3.1.1 Minus- and Plus- Ground Constructions 6.2.3.1.2 Gapping and the Goal-Bias 6.2.3.2 Complex Motion Expressions 6.2.3.2.1 Jaminjung and Kriol 6.2.3.2.2 A Cross-linguistic Perspective 6.2.3.3 Path and Event Granularity 6.2.3.4 Factors for Path Salience 6.2.3.4.1 Linguistic Devices for the Encoding of Motion Events 6.2.3.4.2 Light Verbs 6.2.3.4.3 Cultural Systems 6.2.3.5 Implications and Outlook 6.3 Manner Salience 6.3.1 Manner Specifications in a Cross-linguistic Perspective 6.4 The Boundary-Crossing Constraint 6.4.1 Boundary-Crossing in Jaminjung 6.4.2 Boundary-Crossing in Kriol 6.4.3 Jaminjung and Kriol in a Cross-linguistic Perspective 6.5 Summary 7 MOTION ENCODINGS IN SPECIFIC TYPES OF DISCOURSE 7.1 A Closer Look at Route Descriptions 7.1.1 Route Descriptions: Terms and Definitions 7.1.2 General Properties of Route Descriptions in Jaminjung and Kriol 7.1.3 The Encoding of Change of Direction at Decision Points 7.1.4 Static and Dynamic Modes of Presentation 7.1.5 Fictive Motion 7.1.6 Culture-Specific Characteristics of Route Descriptions 7.1.7 Summary of Findings 7.2 The Use of Deictics in Narratives 7.2.1 Traditional and Personal Narratives in Jaminjung 7.2.2 Traditional and Personal Narratives in Kriol 7.2.3 Frog Stories in Jaminjung and Kriol 7.2.4 Conclusions on the Use of Deictics in Narrative 7.3 Motion as a Strategy for Structuring a Narrative 7.3.1 Spatial and Motion Structure in Jaminjung Narratives 7.3.1.1 Stealing, Spearing and Back – Jiniminy, a Jaminjung Narrative 7.3.1.2 Filling Rivers – Murdmurd – a Jaminjung story 7.3.1.3 A Trip to the Sea – a Trip at the Sea – a Jaminjung Personal Narrative 7.3.2 Travel Through Time and Space – Kriol Narratives 7.3.2.1 The Cloud-Story, a Traditional Narrative 7.3.2.2 Journey Features of Personal and Traditional Kriol Narratives 7.3.3 Summary of Kriol and Jaminjung Narrative Structure 7.4 Summary of Motion Encodings in Specific Types of Discours 8 CONCLUSIONS 8.1 Summary of Findings 8.2 Directions for Future Research 9 BIBLIOGRAPHY 10 APPENDIX 10.1 List of Example References and their Corresponding Published or Personal Reference 10.2 Jaminjung Coverbs 10.3 Route Descriptions 10.3.1 Jaminjung Route Descriptions 10.3.1.1 NC Describing the Way from East Katherine to Kalano Age Care Centre 10.3.1.2 MMc Describing the Way from Timber Creek Roadhouse to the Resource Centre 10.3.1.3 Route Description NC after the Route is travelled 10.3.1.4 Route from Myatt to Timber Creek 10.3.2 Kriol Route Descriptions 10.3.3 Fictive Motion Events in Route Descriptions 10.3.3.1 Jaminjung Fictive Motion 10.3.3.2 Kriol Fictive Motion 10.4 Opening Sentences to Narratives: 10.4.1 Opening with Movement 10.4.2 No Motion Openings 10.5 Frog Story Falling Scenes 10.6 Murdmurd Dreaming Photographs
    Abstract:
    The thesis entitled “Descriptions of Motion and Travel in Jaminjung and Kriol” handed in by Dorothea Hoffmann at the University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy on November 10th 2011 provides an in-depth analysis of motion event descriptions of two Australian indigenous languages. Jaminjung is a highly endangered non Pama-Nyungan language with approximately 50 remaining speakers. Kriol, an English-lexified Creole, is spoken by about 20.000 people in different varieties across northern Australia. While the languages are typologically very different, occupancy of the same linguistic and cultural area provides an intriguing opportunity to examine the effects of culture and language contact on conceptual components and distribution patterns in discourse. This investigation also applies and tests a number of existing frameworks and typologies regarding the linguistic encoding of motion and space in general. The thesis first provides an overview of the encoding of motion event descriptions in Jaminjung and Kriol. It becomes clear that, concerning overt marking of case, ground-encodings follow a systematic semantic pattern with no or rare case-marking for deictic terms, optional marking for toponyms and mandatory marking for all other types of landmarks. Furthermore, the structure and semantics of the motion verb phrase is investigated. Particularly noteworthy here is a study of asymmetrical serial verb constructions in Kriol which revealed a number of previously undescribed types. Following this, various proposals for a typology of Frames of Reference are applied. The notion of ‘anchor’ is at the centre of the analysis. The investigation shows that contextual restrictions for the use of Jaminjung’s absolute terms can be accounted for by a restriction on egocentric anchoring and ‘Orientation’ settings only. Furthermore, absolute Frame of Reference is realised differently in Roper and Westside Kriol respectively, suggesting an ongoing influence of the traditional languages spoken by the respective communities rather than the lexifier English. Jaminjung and Kriol, additionally, prefer the use of absolute over relative Frame of Reference.The following chapter investigates how lexicalisation patterns influence the distribution of path and manner encodings in discourse. After concluding that Jaminjung might best be described as following an equipollently-framed pattern and Kriol as satellite-framed, path and manner salience is investigated in different types of discourse using a dataset of motion event encodings in a Frog Story collection and a general corpus of various discourse environments. It is concluded that while the two languages behave very differently with regards to frequency patterns of ground- and other path-encodings, they show remarkable similarities in distributing path and manner over larger chunks of discourse. These findings suggest that cultural influences may sometimes override structural typological constraints.Finally, motion event encodings in specific types of discourse are analysed. Regarding route descriptions, speakers show a clear preference for dynamic over static modes of presentation. This includes encoding ‘fictive motion’ events for which a figure- and ground-based distinction is introduced. Additionally, concerning the use of deictics in a comparative analysis of different types of corpora for both languages, it was shown that the distribution of absolute terms remains stable across discourse environments while deictic usage differs drastically. Lastly, the concept of ‘motion’ is abstracted and described as a kind of structuring device in narratives. It is shown that the ‘journey’ within the story world is used by speakers of both languages to bridge episodes sometimes even overriding a temporal in favour of a spatial order of events.

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    Manchester eScholar ID:
    uk-ac-man-scw:158778
    Created by:
    Hoffmann, Dorothea
    Created:
    11th April, 2012, 08:30:45
    Last modified by:
    Hoffmann, Dorothea
    Last modified:
    11th April, 2012, 08:52:44

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