A Contrastive Study on the Lexicalization of Korean and Greek Motion Events

Abstract

The following research investigates the lexicalization patterns of motion events in Korean and Greek. Cross-linguistic differences in the encoding of motion events are typically attributed to differences in encoding strategies offered by languages and the limited possibilities for organizing semantic components of movement (i.e., Manner and Course). According to Talmy (1985, 2000), Korean and Modern Greek have been classified as “verb-framed languages,” although there is some disagreement among researchers regarding this classification. Korean language, while debatably not clearly belonging to the verb-framed language or some third category, generally exhibits the characteristics of a V-language. Modern Greek, on the other hand, is a language that demonstrates the coexistence of verb and satellite-framed language, sharing certain properties with satellite language systems, and is situated in an intermediate position on the typological continuum between V and S-languages. Through the research, it is confirmed that the two languages, while initially categorized as V-languages, display unique features in the lexicalization patterns of motion events. Based on the results of this study, further cross-linguistic research can be conducted to explore the individual characteristics of each language in relation to language acquisition.