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What Informs Event Descriptions: Language, Salience, and Discourse in English and Japanese

Brawley, Hartman
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1338275303

Abstract Details

2012, Master of Arts, Ohio State University, Linguistics.
The aim of this study was to investigate what informs event descriptions. It has been shown that what language one speaks, properties of the event, and properties of discourse all contribute to decisions about what to include in event descriptions. However, little work has been done about the comparative weight of these effects, and how they interact to create trends in the length or the content of descriptions. Previous work has focused on Directed Motion (DM) events, which consist of a moving Figure passing between Grounds. The motion of these events is defined along two dimensions: the Manner, the characteristic movement of the Figure, and the Path, the trajectory along which the movement is carried out. Talmy (1985) proposed a typological dichotomy distinguishing languages which describe Path in the main verb (Verb-Framed languages) and those that describe it outside of the main verb, and Manner in the main verb (Satellite-Framed languages). The typology predicts that information encoded in the main verb will be expressed more, and Whorfian linguistic determinism predicts that these preferences will always be brought to bear. However, subsequent work has suggested that these preferences can be changed if typically dispreferred event components are more highly salient than preferred components. Discourse factors such as addressee identity and visual co-presence may also have an influence. For example, adult speakers should share more knowledge with adult addressees vs. children, and with those that can see the event they are describing vs. those that did not see the event. We presented speakers of English and Japanese with 14 video clips of Directed Motion events online and asked them to type descriptions of them. The events presented Manner, Path, and Goal elements in either low or high salience, and participants were asked to describe either to an adult or a child, either who viewed the events with them or did not witness the events. The results for description length found effects of discourse, suggesting that discourse factors but not language or salience. The results for inclusion of event components found effects of language, discourse, and salience, suggesting that these influences work cooperatively to inform the content of event descriptions based on the situation.
Laura Wagner (Committee Chair)
Shari Speer (Committee Member)
Kiwako Ito (Committee Member)
Linguistics

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Citations

  • Brawley, H. (2012). What Informs Event Descriptions: Language, Salience, and Discourse in English and Japanese [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1338275303

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Brawley, Hartman. What Informs Event Descriptions: Language, Salience, and Discourse in English and Japanese. 2012. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1338275303.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Brawley, Hartman. "What Informs Event Descriptions: Language, Salience, and Discourse in English and Japanese." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1338275303

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2012, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.