Reconstructing verb meaning in a second language. How English speakers of L2 Dutch talk and gesture about placement
Author
Summary, in English
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 targetlike 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.
Publishing year
2009
Language
English
Pages
222-245
Publication/Series
Annual Review of Cognitive Linguistics
Volume
7
Full text
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Document type
Journal article
Publisher
John Benjamins Publishing Company
Topic
- General Language Studies and Linguistics
Keywords
- Dutch
- English
- verb semantics
- placement
- second language acquisition
- gesture
- event representation
- caused motion
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1572-0276