Lexical Expressions of Path Motion in Vietnamese: A Perspective from Cognitive Linguistics

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to study the semantics and syntax of lexical expressions of path motion in Vietnamese. This paper is conducted on theory of lexicalization patterns which is related to the conflation of semantic components into linguistic units. The data are the expressions of motion verbs and spatial prepositions which were taken from 12 Vietnamese stories and three novels in the 20th century onward. The result of this paper presents several lexicalization patterns of semantic components conflated into the path verbs and the spatial prepositions. Moreover, this paper takes into account the construction of the grammar of the lexical expressions of path motion in Vietnamese, which refers to speakers’ knowledge of motion utilized to express motion.