Author: Gullberg, Marianne

Source: Annual Review of Cognitive Linguistics, Volume 7, Number 1, 2009 , pp. 221-244(24)

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company

Abstract:

This study examines to what extent English speakers of L2 Dutch reconstruct the meanings of placement verbs when moving from a general L1 verb of caused motion (put) to two specific caused posture verbs (zetten/leggen 'set/lay') in the L2 and whether the existence of low-frequency cognate forms in the L1 (set/lay) alleviates the reconstruction problem. Evidence from speech and gesture indicates that English speakers have difficulties with the specific verbs in L2 Dutch, initially looking for means to express general caused motion in L1-like fashion through over-generalisation. The gesture data further show that target-like forms are often used to convey L1-like meaning. However, the differentiated use of zetten for vertical placement and dummy verbs (gaan 'go' and doen 'do') and intransitive posture verbs (zitten/staan/liggen 'sit, stand, lie') for horizontal placement, and a positive correlation between appropriate verb use and target-like gesturing suggest a beginning sensitivity to the semantic parameters of the L2 verbs and possible reconstruction.

Keywords: SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION; PLACEMENT VERBS; CAUSED MOTION; SEMANTICS; EVENT REPRESENTATION; GESTURE

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/arcl.7.09gul

Publication date: 2009-11-01

More about this publication?

• Published under the auspices of the Spanish Cognitive Linguistics Association

Related content

• In this: publication
• By this: publisher
• In this Subject: Language & Linguistics
• By this author: Gullberg, Marianne

Website © Publishing Technology. Article copyright remains with the publisher, society or author(s) as specified within the article.

• Terms and conditions
• Privacy policy
• Information for advertisers