Frogging from L1 Catalan to L2 English: A study of

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V CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE AELCO La Lingüística Cognitiva como parte de las ciencias cognitivas Murcia, 19-21 de Octubre de 2006

Frogging from L1 Catalan to L2 English: A study of event conflation in SLA Jaume Mateu*, Hortènsia Curell**, and Montserrat Capdevila** *Departament de Filologia Catalana (UAB) **Departament de Filologia Anglesa i Germanística (UAB) [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

1. GOALS We present the basic hypotheses and first findings of our current research project on how semantic components like path and manner of motion are dealt with by native speakers of Catalan and by Catalan speakers of L2 English of different levels.

2. BACKGROUND Talmy (1991, 2000): verb-framed and satellite-framed languages • In verb-framed languages, path is expressed by the main verb in a clause (cf. Cat. entrar ‘enter’, sortir ‘exit’, pujar ‘ascend’, baixar ‘descend’, etc). • In satellite-framed languages, path is expressed by an element associated with the verb (cf. go in, go out, go up, go down, etc). The manner component can typically be conflated with the motion verb in satellite-framed languages: cf. jump in, jump out, jump down, etc. Slobin (1996a/b, 1997, 2004, 2006): ‘thinking for speaking’ • We adopt the main points and achievements of Slobin’s work on the process of “thinking for speaking”, which involves picking those characteristics that fit some conceptualization of the event and are readily encodable in the language. • Talmy’s typology plays an important role in narrative construction, but other factors (i.e., morphosyntactic, psycholinguistic, pragmatic, and cultural) are also relevant.

3. DATA Our analysis was also carried out from elicited narratives (“frog stories”). Specifically, we video and tape-recorded: • 12 native speakers of Catalan • 12 Catalan speakers of English (with a level equivalent to the First Certificate in English, FCE) • 12 Catalan speakers of English (with a level equivalent to the Proficiency in English, PRO) • 12 Catalan professors of English at Catalan universities, with a near-native command of the language (NearN)

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4. L1 CATALAN SPEAKERS Very few differences were found from what has already been pointed out for L1 Spanish speakers (Slobin 1996b, 1997); as Romance languages, both Catalan and Spanish are of the verb-framed type (Talmy 1991, 2000).

4.1. An example: the owl scene (pictures 11 & 12)

“In Spanish, the boy ‘ascends’ (subir) the tree; the owl ‘appears’ (aparecer, asomarse) or ‘exits’ (salir), and the boy ‘falls’ (caerse). There is no climbing, clambering, popping out, flying out, tumbling, crashing to the ground, or the like. That is, the languages differ in their attention to manner of movement.” Slobin (2004: 222)

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Similarly, • In Catalan, manner of motion is absent, while descriptions of locations of protagonists are typical: notice the frequent use of relative clauses in the Catalan descriptions below. • Catalan narrators describe the appearance of the owl with a single path verb (sortir), meaning ‘exit’. Cf. Satellite-language narrators use a deictic verb plus a directional satellite (An owl came out) or some kind of manner verb together with a path satellite (e.g., An owl popped out) (Slobin 2004). (1) Es va enfilar a dalt d’un roure gran (…) Va trobar un mussol que va sortir del forat de l’arbre i el va fer caure. ‘he climbed up a big oak (…) he found an owl which came out of the tree hole and made him fall’

(2) Se’n va cap al forat del tronc d’un arbre on es pensa que potser s’ha amagat la granota (…) En lloc de la granota li surt un mussol que l’espanta i el fa caure de l’arbre. ‘he goes toward a hole in a tree trunk where he thinks that the frog might be hidden (…) Instead of the frog an owl comes out and frightens him and makes him fall from the tree’

(3) El nen segueix buscant i fica el cap a dins d’un forat d’un arbre. Es troba que surt una òliba, s’espanta i cau a terra. ‘the boy keeps searching and puts his head inside a tree hole. And then an owl comes out, he gets scared and falls on the floor’

(4) En Jan puja dalt de la branca d’un arbre i comença a buscar la granota, però tot d’una resulta que del tronc de l’arbre en surt una mena de mussol. [no falling event] ‘Jan climbs onto a tree branch and starts looking for the frog, but all of a sudden from the tree trunk out comes a kind of owl’

(5) Es va pujar a l’arbre i a dintre del forat hi havia un mussol i el mussol es va enfadar molt i el va tirar de dalt a baix de l’arbre. [no coming out event] ‘he climbed up the tree and inside the hole there was an owl, and the owl got very angry and made him fall off the tree’

(6) El nen continuava buscant per dintre dels forats que hi havia al bosc. El nen va caure de l’arbre que s’havia enfilat d’un ensurt que li va donar el mussol. [no coming out event] ‘the boy kept looking inside the holes in the forest. The boy fell from the tree he had climbed because the owl had frightened him’

4.2. Enfilar-se: a hybrid verb Enfilar-se (DIEC): (…) pron. Pujar en un lloc alt i dificultós valent-se alhora dels peus i de les mans. S'ha enfilat en un pi. S'enfilaven penya amunt. | PER EXT. Pujar peniblement. | Una planta, pujar arrapant-se o entortolligant-se al tronc d'un arbre, a un aspre, etc. El lligabosc s'enfilava pels troncs de les alzines Climb up a high and difficult place using both feet and hands. He has climbed up a pine tree. They climbed up the cliff. | PER EXT. Climb with great difficulty | A plant, climb, gripping or twisting a tree trunk, a stake, etc. The honeysuckle climbed up the trunks of the evergreen oaks.

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(7) Es va enfilar a dalt d’un roure gran. ‘he climbed up a big oak’

(8) El nen va caure de l’arbre que s’havia enfilat. The boy fell from the tree he had climbed’

Some examples from other contexts are the following: (9) Es dirigí cap a una muntanyeta de pedres on al darrere hi havia tot de branques; ell s’hi va enfilar. ‘he went towards a pile of stones behind which there were a lot of branches; he climbed it’

(10) Es va enfilar damunt del cap d’un bambi. ‘he climbed up a deer’s head’

(11) Els dos es van enfilar damunt del tronc. ‘the two of them climbed the tree trunk’

(12) El nen es va enfilar a sobre una roca. ‘the boy climbed up a rock’

Enfilar-se is similar to the Turkish verb tirmanmak ‘climb’ (Özçaliskan & Slobin 2000). The same description given by Slobin (2004: 230) for turmanmak holds for Catalan enfilar-se: “Unlike English climb, which is neutral with regard to Path (one can ‘climb down from a tree’ or ‘climb out on a branch’), the Turkish verb is used only for upward motion in a grasping manner”. Slobin (2004: 230) Catalan speakers do not use the complex subordinated form ‘ascend by climbing’, i.e., pujar enfilant-se. In our Catalan data we found 10 instances of enfilar-se and 11 tokens of pujar. 4.3. Alternative ways to express manner of motion As in other verb-framed languages, manner is not found to be expressed in subordinate constructions like sortir volant (‘exit flying’). Other strategies are chosen instead. 1) Adverbial expressions are used in Catalan in order to compensate for the absence of manner in path constructions. (13) El cèrvol anava amb tanta embranzida que va frenar en sec. ‘the deer was running so quickly that he stopped dead’

(14) El Dick anava tan ràpid per intentar agafar el cèrvol. ‘Dick was running so quickly to try to match the deer’

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(15) S’amaguen cautelosament darrere d’un tronc d’un arbre que està buit al terra. ‘they hide cautiously behind a tree trunk which is empty on the floor

(16) I la gosseta fuig ràpidament (bees’ scene). ‘and the little dog runs away quickly’

(17) I la que saltava corrent cap a ell era la seva granoteta. ‘and the frog that jumped quickly towards him was his very own’

2) Concerning gestural depictions of manner, we found a subject making frequent use of this compensatory strategy. (18) El Pol va saltar (the narrator imitates the movement with her hands) i va caure sobre un toll que hi havia darrera del precipici. I el Dick anava tan rapid per intentar agafar el cèrvol (the narrator imitates Dick’s quick movement with her hands); també de la mateixa inèrcia no va poder frenar (the narrator imitates Dick’s quick movement with her hands) i l’impuls el va portar dins l’aigua (the narrator imitates Dick’s jump into the water with her hands). ‘Pol jumped (the narrator imitates the movement with her hands) and fell on a pool that was behind the cliff. And Dick was running so quickly to try to catch the deer (the narrator imitates Dick’s quick movement with her hands); and also from the inertia he couldn’t stop (the narrator imitates Dick’s quick movement with her hands) and the impulse made him fall into the water (the narrator imitates Dick’s jump into the water with her hands)’

3) Unlike in Basque descriptions analyzed by Ibarretxe-Antuñano (2004), Catalan speakers do not appear to make use of ideophones expressing manner despite their availability.

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4.4. Path segments: the cliff scene

Slobin has shown that speakers of satellite-framed languages tend to mention more path segments than speakers of verb-framed languages. The cliff scene is typical when exemplifying this: as pointed out by Slobin, the potential path components associated to this scene are: i) moving to the cliff, ii) stopping at the cliff, iii) throwing the boy and dog down, iv) falling of the boy and dog into the water (cf. pictures 16-18).

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(19) I es troba amb un cèrvol que 1) moving: se l’emporta fins a una llaguna i 2) falling cau el noi i el gos a dintre aquesta llaguna o llac. ‘and he runs into a deer which takes him away to a pool and the boy and the dog fall into this pool or lake’

(20) 1) moving: El cèrvol va anar corrent amb el nen dalt del seu cap enredat amb les banyes. 2) throwing: amb una frenada en sec va llençar el nen i el gos cap al riu. ‘the deer ran with the boy on its head caught by the horns. And, with a sudden stop,it threw the boy and the dog towards the river’

(21) El pobre queda ben penjat sobre o entre les banyes d’un cèrvol (…) 1) stopping: i resulta que el cèrvol s’atura al capdavall d’un precipici i 2) falling: els dos cauen. Cau en Jan i també cau la gosseta. Tenen la sort de caure dins un estany. ‘the poor boy is hanging on or within a deer’s horns (…) and the deer stops at the end of a cliff and they both fall. Jan falls and the little dog also falls. They’re lucky to fall into a pool’

But there are also many descriptions containing more than two path segments. (22) Un cèrvol que l’agafa i 1) moving: se l’emporta corrents i, a més, 2) throwing: el tira cap per avall d’un precipici. 3) falling: El nen i el gos cauen cap avall amb la mala sort que van a parar a un estanc ple d’aigua. ‘a deer takes him, runs with him, and, resides, throws him down a cliff. The boy and the dog fall down so unluckily that they end up in a pool full of water’

(23) 1) moving: El bambi se’l va endur bosc enllà bosc enllà 2) throwing: fins fer-lo caure a dins del riu i, evidentment, 3) falling: el gos va anar a parar dins del riu també. ‘the deer took him inside the forest inside the forest until he made him fall into the river and, obviously, the dog fell into the river as well’

(24) 1) moving: El cèrvol espantat es va posar a córrer. Prou que la Bruna volia aturar el cèrvol, però era impossible. 2) throwing: Al final el cèrvol va llançar en Cesc daltabaix d’un penya-segat. Però no us amoïneu, no va passar res: 3) falling: només que van caure dins una bassa la Bruna i en Cesc és clar. ‘the frightened deer started running. Bruna tried to stop the deer, but it was impossible. Finally the deer threw Cesc down a cliff. But don’t worry, nothing happened: they simply fell into a pool, Bruna and Cesc, of course’

4.5. Distribution of path expressions in clauses In Catalan one path phrase (if any) is typically used per path verb: e.g. El gos va caure de la finestra: ‘The dog fell from the window’. But some examples of more elaborate Path constructions are also found in our corpus on L1 Catalan. (25) El mussol el va tirar de dalt a baix de l’arbre. ‘the owl made him fall from up down the tree’

(26) Va caure de dalt a baix de la finestra. ‘he fell from up down the window’

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(27) Cau de la finestra cap avall. ‘he falls from the window down’

Path expressions can be used with manner verbs but they never imply crossing a boundary (Aske 1989; Slobin 1996b). (28) I ja els tenim tots dos corrent cap a dintre el bosc. ‘and there they go the two of them running towards the forest’

(29) I les abelles rondaven per allà. ‘and the bees were flying around there’

(30) I el gos va corrent amb el pot amunt i avall. ‘and the dog runs with the jar up and down’

(31) I la que saltava corrent cap a ell era la seva granoteta. ‘and the frog that jumped quickly towards him was his very own’

4.6. Summary The rhetorical style of Catalan speakers resembles that of speakers of other verbframed languages (e.g. Spanish): • •

Catalan speakers’ discourse differs from that of English speakers in lacking a rich characterization of dynamic path and manner description. In contrast, their description of locations of protagonists and objects is typically richer.

5. L2 ENGLISH SPEAKERS The main initial hypothesis was that the switch from a source verb-framed language (Catalan) to a target satellite-framed one (English) could be expected to be made gradually, the English pattern not being completely acquired until a very advanced level. 5.1. Manner of motion verbs Even advanced L2 English speakers can be shown to lack the productive use of the manner verbal lexicon exhibited by native speakers of English: (32)

Do not tread, mosey, hop, trample, step, plot, tiptoe, trot, traipse, meander, creep, prance, amble, job, trudge, march, stomp, toddle, jump, stumble, trod, spring, or walk on the plants (Slobin 2006)

Manner of motion in cross-boundary path of motion constructions is expressed in the Romance way if informationally necessary, i.e., via adjuncts:

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(33)

The frog sneakily gets out of the jar. (PRO) (cf. The frog left the jar very silently (NearN))

Cf. also: (34) He goes out screaming. (NearN) (35) The bees go out very angrily. (NearN) Manner in telic path of motion constructions like those reported for L1 English speakers (e.g., cf. The boy tumbles down from the branch; the owl popped out from the hole; Slobin 2004: 222) are not often found in our corpus. L2 English speakers from all levels (FCE-PRO-NearN) produced complex constructions involving conflation of motion with manner plus a boundary-crossing path (Aske 1989; Slobin and Hoiting 1994), but they typically did it when the manner+{particle/PP} combination has a lexicalized flavour (e.g., He ran away from home; He jumped out of the window; The boy climbs onto the top of the rock). However, interesting exceptions to this tendency are found: (36) They swam out of the water. (FCE) (37) He bumped into a deer. (NearN) (38) The little frog pushed its way out of the jar. (PRO) (39) All of a sudden the frog stepped out of the pot quietly. (PRO) (40) [The deer] pushes the boy and the dog down into a creek. (NearN) Nota bene: Typically, the frog’s escape from the boy’s room is construed with a light verb plus a directional particle: e.g., The frog got out of the jar. Recall that the owl’s scene is construed in English in two ways: a) via a deictic verb plus directional particle (come out) or b) via a manner of motion verb plus particle (fly out). However, this second alternative is consistently absent from our L2 English corpus: i.e., only the first one is used by speakers from all levels: i.e., an owl came out. Examples like The owl popped out from the hole or The owl flew out from the hole are not typically found in our L2 English corpus (with only one exception: Instead of the frog an owl came flying out of the hole from the tree (NearN)).

5.2. Locative inversion constructions Locative inversion constructions are also found in our corpus, and their acquisition can be shown to be carried out gradually. (41) Suddenly out of the blue an owl appeared inside of a big hole. (FCE)

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(42) In the rock appeared a deer. (FCE) (43) From the hole it came out an animal. (FCE); cf. From it came out an owl (FCE) (44) Out of the hole came a kiddie pig. (PRO) (45) And behind the plants there came a group of frogs. (PRO) (46) From the hole a rabbit comes out from it. (PRO) (47) From the tree an owl appeared; an owl came out from the tree. (PRO) (48) Out of the hideout came a baby fox. (NearN) (49) Out of the hideout came an owl, not a frog. (NearN) 5.3. Metaphorical mapping of motion onto aspect The metaphorical mapping of motion onto aspect, where manner is coded as main verb, can be said to be productive in English (e.g. John talked on; see McIntyre (2004) for a recent analysis of so-called “Event paths”) but is not found in our L2 English corpus, where manner is typically coded as an adjunct. (50) Tim went on shouting. (NearN) (51) Both the boy and the dog kept walking and walking till they got into the woods (NearN) 5.4. Path segments: the cliff scene Few speakers used the typical satellite-framed strategy of accumulating and/or elaborating path expressions (e.g., cf. the following example from chap. 6 from The Hobbit: He wandered on, out of the little valley, over its edge, and down the slopes beyond). As noted above, Slobin has shown that speakers of satellite-framed languages tend to mention more path segments than speakers of verb-framed languages. For example, the potential path components associated to the ‘cliff scene’ are: i) moving to the cliff, ii) stopping at the cliff, iii) throwing the boy and dog down, iv) falling of the boy and dog into the water (cf. pictures 16-18). Typically, L2 English descriptions do not contain more than two path segments in first stages:

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5.4.1. FCE examples (52) And then they find a deer which leads him to another place where they fall into the water. 2 segments (53) The deer begin to run with the boy in his head (…) There was the end of the way and the boy and his dog fall down into a river or lake. 2 segments (54) A deer was following them and they fell out into a lake. 1 segment (55) He finds a deer and it throws the child and the dog into a lake. 1 segment

5.4.2. PRO examples (56) They go to a hill and the boy and the dog fall down from it. They fall into the water. 2 segments (57) He fell on the horns of the stag and the stag threw him to the water and in the water. 1 segment (58) He took the boy and threw it over an edge. The boy and the dog fell into a river. 2 segments (59) A deer appeared and caught the child and make him fall inside the water. 1 segment 5.4.3. NearN examples (60) And he got Peep in his antlers and he just took him away after he dropped him in a lake. 2 segments (61) He bumped into a deer without noticing it so he was thrown down a rock and he fell down the poor kid. He fell in a pond. 2 segments (62) The deer for some reason rescues the boy and the dog but is half a rescue because the deer leaves them fall from the hill and they fall into the water. 2 segments 5.4.4. Further findings More than two path segments can often be found in advanced L2 speakers, but some intermediate level speakers were also found to produce them, which shows that we can only speak of a slight tendency of advanced L2 speakers to mention more path components than intermediate ones .

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(63) The deer started running and the boy just happened to be up on its head and then the dog followed too. And the deer threw them down the cliff and they fell in a river. (FCE) 3 segments (64) The deer started running with the dog chasing it. And he got into a steep valley and the boy and the dog fell down; and they got themselves deep into the forest and the boy fell into the water. (FCE) 3 segments (65) And they all ran towards a cliff. While the deer got to the cliff, it suddenly stopped and Tommy and Toby fell down to the water. (FCE) 3 segments (66) The stag began running and the dog was running with them and barking at the stag. The stag stopped suddenly and the boy fell to the water from the horns of the animal and the dog fell as well. They were in the water. (FCE) 3/4 segments (67) began to run until it threw the boy away and he and the dog fell down into a little lake, well into water. (PRO) 3 segments (68) The reindeer started to run and he stopped just at the very edge of a cliff and the little boy and the dog fell off the cliff in a little lake. (PRO) 3/4 segments (69) It was a deer who started to run and run and run (…) and all of the sudden the deer stopped and (…) Niki fell down and the doggy too (…) He fell into the lake. (PRO) 3 segments (70) They came to an edge and then the deer stopped. And because of the moving of stopping, the boy fell off the edge and they fell into a stream and so they were into the water. (NearN) 4 segments (71) The reindeer gets up to the end of the cliff and drops the boy, who falls down the hill (…) He falls into a river. (NearN) 3 segments (72) The deer started running (…) and the dog was also chasing the deer because he wanted Tim to be free. (…) The deer just decided to drop Tim down a little hill or a little mountain. An so the little dog and Tim fell down. (NearN) 3 segments (73) The reindeer stops just at the end of a cliff, and the poor little boy just falls down the cliff and so does the dog (…) There is a lake just below the cliff, and they both fall on the water. (NearN) 3 segments

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6. CONCLUSIONS Overall, no matter how advanced the level of L2 English speakers was, they were found to devote much less attention to path and manner of motion than native speakers, which leads us to conclude that for speakers of a verb-framed language like Catalan it is almost impossible to attain a productive use of the satellite-framed strategy. The following “negative” remarks can be taken as significant examples of it: (i) (ii)

no productive elaboration of path is found (cf. English L1: e.g.The deer threw them off over a cliff into the water). no use of highly specified manner of motion verbs is found (cf. English L1: e.g., hop, dive, spring, leap). Moreover, the scarce use of manner of motion verbs in cross-boundary path constructions is limited to general/low manner of motion verbs (e.g., jump).

On the other hand, our data point to a somewhat unexpected conclusion concerning how the expression/number of path segments is related to Talmy’s linguistic typology: in particular, many L1 Catalan speakers were found to mention more than two path segments in the cliff scene; similarly, many L2 English narrators did the same. We regard it as a significant example of Slobin’s (2004, 2006) claim that in explaining rhetorical style we must take into account not only linguistic (typological) factors but also cultural ones, among others. SELECTED REFERENCES Slobin, D.I. (1996b). "Two Ways to Travel: Verbs of Motion in English and Spanish." In M. Shibatani & S.A. Thompson (Eds.), Grammatical constructions: Their form and meaning, 195-220. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Slobin, D. I. (2004). “The many ways to search for a frog: Linguistic typology and the expression of motion events." In S. Strömqvist & L. Verhoeven (Eds.), Relating events in narrative: Vol. 2: Typological and contextual perspectives, 219-257. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Slobin, D. I. (2006). “What makes manner of motion salient. Explorations in linguistic typology, discourse, and cognition”. In M. Hickmann & S. Robert (Eds.), Space in Languages: Linguistic systems and cognitive categories. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Talmy, L. (2000). Toward a Cognitive Semantics. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

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