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Motion events in Takituduh Bunun and Holistic Spatial Semantics

Bogren Svensson, Victor LU and Blomberg, Johan LU (2026) In Studies in Language
Abstract
This paper examines how Takituduh Bunun (Austronesian: Taiwan) encodes translocative motion, using the framework of Holistic Spatial Semantics. Based on elicited field data, we identify key lexical and grammatical resources, including motion verbs, a productive motion prefix (u-), and the locative voice. These interact flexibly to express basic semantic categories such as Path, Direction, Manner, and Region. We show that Takituduh Bunun challenges the traditional binary motion typology by relying extensively on morphological strategies rather than verb roots and their satellites. The ability to combine multiple form-meaning mappings in serial verb constructions and through voice morphology suggests a need to move beyond binary typologies... (More)
This paper examines how Takituduh Bunun (Austronesian: Taiwan) encodes translocative motion, using the framework of Holistic Spatial Semantics. Based on elicited field data, we identify key lexical and grammatical resources, including motion verbs, a productive motion prefix (u-), and the locative voice. These interact flexibly to express basic semantic categories such as Path, Direction, Manner, and Region. We show that Takituduh Bunun challenges the traditional binary motion typology by relying extensively on morphological strategies rather than verb roots and their satellites. The ability to combine multiple form-meaning mappings in serial verb constructions and through voice morphology suggests a need to move beyond binary typologies and focus on the distributional properties of semantic categories across grammatical resources. Our findings highlight the importance of Formosan languages for a more inclusive typology of motion events and call for further attention to the role of morphology in spatial semantics. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
spatial semantics, semantic typology, Austronesian languages, serial verb constructions, verbal morphology, Austronesian voice system
in
Studies in Language
pages
34 pages
publisher
John Benjamins Publishing Company
external identifiers
  • scopus:105048441250
ISSN
0378-4177
DOI
10.1075/sl.25050.bog
project
Reducerade fokussystem i Bunun
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
fda98d25-aad1-49bb-bd2c-9d9be6d5a722
date added to LUP
2026-07-24 07:12:03
date last changed
2026-09-16 04:00:44
@article{fda98d25-aad1-49bb-bd2c-9d9be6d5a722,
  abstract     = {{This paper examines how Takituduh Bunun (Austronesian: Taiwan) encodes translocative motion, using the framework of Holistic Spatial Semantics. Based on elicited field data, we identify key lexical and grammatical resources, including motion verbs, a productive motion prefix (u-), and the locative voice. These interact flexibly to express basic semantic categories such as Path, Direction, Manner, and Region. We show that Takituduh Bunun challenges the traditional binary motion typology by relying extensively on morphological strategies rather than verb roots and their satellites. The ability to combine multiple form-meaning mappings in serial verb constructions and through voice morphology suggests a need to move beyond binary typologies and focus on the distributional properties of semantic categories across grammatical resources. Our findings highlight the importance of Formosan languages for a more inclusive typology of motion events and call for further attention to the role of morphology in spatial semantics.}},
  author       = {{Bogren Svensson, Victor and Blomberg, Johan}},
  issn         = {{0378-4177}},
  keywords     = {{spatial semantics; semantic typology; Austronesian languages; serial verb constructions; verbal morphology; Austronesian voice system}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{John Benjamins Publishing Company}},
  series       = {{Studies in Language}},
  title        = {{Motion events in Takituduh Bunun and Holistic Spatial Semantics}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/sl.25050.bog}},
  doi          = {{10.1075/sl.25050.bog}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}