Motion is one of the most basic human experiences, and it provides an important window for looking into human cognition and language. Within the paradigm of cognitive semantics, this book presents a comprehensive study of the conceptualization and linguistic representation of motion in Mandarin Chinese. It focuses on the correlation between the ways in which Mandarin speakers conceptualize motion events and the ways in which they render them and carefully considers the typological properties. In addition to deepening our understanding of motion cognition and expressions, this study also affords insights for L2 learning and teaching of motion in Chinese.

Presents an improved theoretical framework for better characterizing the conceptual structure of motion and its linguistic realization Offers a comprehensive study of the conceptualization and representation of motion in Chinese Provides a detailed account of Figure, Ground, Path, Manner, and Move of motion and their lexicalization patterns Identifies typological features of Chinese motion constructions in comparison to Western languages such as Spanish and English

Autorentext

Dr. Chengzhi Chu teaches Chinese language and linguistics at the University of California, Davis and directs its Chinese Language Program. He also serves on the Graduate Faculty of Linguistics of UC Davis. He is the former President of the Chinese Language Teachers Association, USA, and Guest or Honorary Professor of several other universities. Before joining UC Davis, he taught at Stanford University and the Beijing Language and Culture University for many years. He is a frequent and popular speaker at national and international conferences and workshops. He has published widely on Chinese linguistics, cognitive semantics, corpus linguistics, Chinese L2 pedagogy, application of technology in Chinese teaching, Chinese testing, and intercultural communication.

Inhalt
Acknowledgements.- Abstract.- List of Tables.- List of Figures.- List of Abbreviations.- Chapter 1 Introduction.- Chapter 2 Formulation of Motion: Fillmore, Talmy, Langacker, Jackendoff, and Wierzbicka.- Chapter 3 Figure and Ground.- Chapter 4 Move, Path, and Manner: Patterns of Packaging Meaning in Form.- Chapter 5 Path and Move.- Chapter 6 Manner and Move.- Chapter 7 Motion Expression Pedagogy and Acquisition.- Appendix: The Cognitive Semantics of the Mandarin Preposition XIÀNG.- References.