Skip to main content

Sitting, Standing, and Lying in Frames: A Frame-Based Approach to Posture Verbs

  • Conference paper

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNTCS,volume 7758))

Abstract

Posture verbs which allow for an extended locative use, such as sit, stand and lie, make reference to specific parts of the localized object, to the orientation of prominent object axes and to positional information, which are perceived by means of cognitive modules such as gestalt recognition and spatial perception. These properties render posture verbs an excellent object for the investigation of cognition and language. This paper analyzes the three basic posture verbs of German (sitzen ‘sit’, stehen ‘stand’ and liegen ‘lie’) in terms of frame representations. It turns out that frames can serve as a highly flexible device for decompositional analyses that is at the same time a cognitively plausible knowledge representation format.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   49.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Ameka, F.K., Levinson, S.C.: The typology and semantics of locative predicates: posturals, positionals, and other beasts. Linguistics 45(5/6), 847–871 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Asbury, A., Dotlačil, J., Gehrke, B., Nouwen, R.: Syntax and semantics of spatial P. John Benjamins, Amsterdam (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Barsalou, L.W.: Frames, concepts, and conceptual fields. In: Lehrer, A., Kittay, E.F. (eds.) Frames, Fields, and Contrasts, pp. 21–74. Erlbaum, Hillsday (1992)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Berthele, R.: The typology of motion and posture verbs: a variationist account. In: Kortmann, B. (ed.) Dialectology Meets Typology, pp. 93–126. Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Bierwisch, M.: Semantik der Graduierung. In: Bierwisch, M., Lang, E. (eds.) Grammatische und Konzeptuelle Aspekte von Dimensionsadjektiven, pp. 91–286. Akademieverlag, Berlin (1987)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Bierwisch, M., Lang, E.: Grammatische und Konzeptuelle Aspekte von Dimensionsadjektiven. Akademieverlag, Berlin (1987)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Bloom, P., Peterson, M.A., Nadel, L., Garrett, M.F.: Language and Space. MIT Press, Cambridge (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Chomsky, N., Halle, M.: The sound pattern of English. Harper and Row, New York (1968)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Ebert, K.: Progressive markers in Germanic languages. In: Dahl, Ö. (ed.) Tense and Aspect in the Languages of Europe, pp. 605–653. Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Evans, V., Chilton, P.: Language, cognition and space: the state of the art and new directions. Equinox Publishing, London (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Fahlmann, S.E.: A system for representing and using real-world knowledge. PhD thesis. MIT (1977)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Gamerschlag, T., Petersen, W.: An analysis of the evidential use of perception verbs. In: Hart, C. (ed.) Selected Papers from UK-CLA Meetings, vol. 1, pp. 1–18 (2012), http://uk-cla.org.uk/proceedings

  13. Hickmann, M., Robert, S.: Space in Language: linguistic systems and cognitive categories. John Benjamins, Amsterdam (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Kaufmann, I.: Konzeptuelle Grundlagen semantischer Dekompositionsstrukturen: Die Kombinatorik lokaler Verben und prädikativer Komplemente. Niemeyer, Tübingen (1995)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  15. Kuteva, T.: Auxiliation: an enquiry into the nature of grammaticalization. Oxford University Press, Oxford (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Kutscher, S., Schultze-Berndt, E.: Why a folder lies in the basket although it is not lying: the semantics and use of German positional verbs with inanimate figures. Linguistics 45(5/6), 983–1028 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Landau, B., Jackendoff, R.: ‘What’ and ‘where’ in spatial language and spatial cognition. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 16(2), 217–238 (1993)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Lang, E.: Semantik der Dimensionsauszeichnung räumlicher Objekte. In: Bierwisch, M., Lang, E. (eds.) Grammatische und Konzeptuelle Aspekte von Dimensionsadjektiven, pp. 287–458. Akademieverlag, Berlin (1987)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Lang, E.: Spatial dimension terms. In: Haspelmath, M., König, E., Oesterreicher, W., Raible, W. (eds.) Language Typology and Language Universals. An International Handbook. HSK, vol. 20.2, pp. 1251–1275. Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Lang, E., Carstensen, K.-U., Simmons, G.: Modelling Spatial Knowledge on a Linguistic Basis. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 481. Springer, Heidelberg (1991)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  21. Lemmens, M.: Aspectual posture verb constructions in Dutch. Journal of Germanic Linguistics 17(3), 183–217 (2005)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  22. Levinson, S.C.: Space in language and cognition: explorations in cognitive diversity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2003)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  23. Levinson, S.C., Wilkins, D.P.: Grammars of space. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2006)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  24. Löbner, S.: Evidence for frames from human language. In: Gamerschlag, T., Gerland, D., Osswald, R., Petersen, W. (eds.) Concept Types and Frames in Language, Cognition and Science (to appear)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Minsky, M.: A framework for representing knowledge. In: Winston, P.H. (ed.) The Psychology of Computer Vision, pp. 211–277. McGraw-Hill, New York (1975)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Newman, J.: The linguistics of sitting, standing and lying. Benjamins, Amsterdam (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  27. O’Keefe, J.: The spatial prepositions in English, vector grammar, and the Cognitive Map Theory. In: Bloom, P., Peterson, M.A., Nadel, L., Garrett, M.F. (eds.) Language and Space, pp. 277–316. MIT Press, Cambridge (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Petersen, W.: Decomposing concepts with frames. In: Baltic International Yearbook of Cognition, Logic and Communication, vol. 2, pp. 151–170 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  29. Petersen, W., Gamerschlag, T.: Why chocolate eggs can taste old but not oval: a frame-theoretic analysis of inferential evidentials. In: Gamerschlag, T., Gerland, D., Osswald, R., Petersen, W. (eds.) Concept Types and Frames in Language, Cognition and Science (to appear)

    Google Scholar 

  30. Petersen, W., Osswald, T.: A formal interpretation of concept types and type shifts. In: Kosecki, K., Badio, J. (eds.) Cognitive Processes in Language. Lodz Studies in Language, vol. 25, pp. 183–191. Peter Lang, Frankfurt (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  31. Petersen, W., Werning, M.: Conceptual Fingerprints: Lexical Decomposition by Means of Frames – a Neuro-cognitive Model. In: Priss, U., Polovina, S., Hill, R. (eds.) ICCS 2007. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 4604, pp. 415–428. Springer, Heidelberg (2007)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  32. Serra Borneto, C.: ‘Liegen’ and ‘stehen’ in German: a study in horizontality and verticality. In: Casad, E.H. (ed.) Cognitive Linguistics in the Redwoods: the Expansion of a New Paradigm, CLR 6, pp. 459–505. Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  33. Song, J.J.: The posture verbs in Korean. In: Newman, J. (ed.) The Linguistics of Sitting, Standing and Lying, pp. 359–385. Benjamins, Amsterdam (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  34. Talmy, L.: Toward a cognitive semantics, vol. 2. MIT Press, Cambridge (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  35. Vosgerau, G., Seuchter, T., Petersen, W.: Analyzing concepts in action frames. University of Düsseldorf (2012) (manuscript)

    Google Scholar 

  36. Wunderlich, D.: How do prepositional phrases fit into compositional syntax and semantics? Linguistics 29, 591–621 (1991)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Wunderlich, D., Herweg, M.: Lokale und Direktionale. In: von Stechow, A., Wunderlich, D. (eds.) Semantik. Ein Internationales Handbuch der zeitgenössischen Forschung. HSK, vol. 6, pp. 758–785. de Gruyter, Berlin (1991)

    Google Scholar 

  38. Zwarts, J.: Vectors as relative positions: a compositional semantics of modified PPs. Journal of Semantics 14, 57–86 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Zwarts, J., Winter, Y.: Vector space semantics: a model-theoretic analysis of locative prepositions. Journal of Logic, Language and Information 9, 169–211 (2000)

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Gamerschlag, T., Petersen, W., Ströbel, L. (2013). Sitting, Standing, and Lying in Frames: A Frame-Based Approach to Posture Verbs. In: Bezhanishvili, G., Löbner, S., Marra, V., Richter, F. (eds) Logic, Language, and Computation. TbiLLC 2011. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 7758. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36976-6_7

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36976-6_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-36975-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-36976-6

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics