On the syntax of the Russian motion-verb system

Abstract

This study focuses on the motion-verb system in a Slavic language, namely Russian. It discusses the lexical elements that combine to express motion events. Talmy (1985, 2000) introduces a two-class typology based on how a language encodes Path of motion: Satellite-framed languages (Path conveyed by a satellite: a preposition, a particle, a prefix) and Verb-framed languages (the verb itself encodes Path). In this typology, Russian is a Satellite-framed language. The paper aims to analyze the various syntactic patterns that emerge from the combination of the lexical tools available in the language. By isolating and analyzing the syntactic patterns, the paper arrives at a comprehensive view of development regarding the expression of motion.