Modern Social Science Research

As a crucial component of the verb system, motion verbs exhibit unique lexicalization patterns when expressing spatial concepts. Motion verbs in different languages reflect the distinct cognitive approaches and expression methods of each language toward the fundamental concept of spatial motion. Given the diverse correspondences between Chinese and Japanese in areas such as conceptual coding and lexicalization patterns, this paper, based on Talmy’s (2000) theory, conducts a contrastive analysis of the lexicalization patterns of motion verbs in the two languages. The study concludes that the lexicalization pattern of Chinese motion verbs prioritizes "manner": the cognition of motion events tends to focus on dynamic descriptions of the action process. In contrast, the lexicalization pattern of Japanese motion verbs prioritizes "path": the cognition of motion events tends to describe from the speaker’s subjective perspective.

Chinese-Japanese contrast; Cognitive approach; Lexicalization pattern; Motion verb