Verb framing

A manner of motion is, for example, running, tumbling, sliding, walking or crawling. A path of motion refers to the direction of the movement (into, out of, across, etc.). These two concepts can be encoded in the verb (as part of its root meaning), or in a separate particle associated to the verb (a satellite).

According to the place where motion path is encoded we call languages satellite-framed or verb-framed. English verbs use particles to show the path of motion ('run into', 'go out', 'fall down'), and its verbs usually show manner of motion; thus English is a satellite-framed language. English verbs that counter this tendency are almost invariably Latinate, such as "exit", "ascend", or "enter".

Spanish, on the other hand, makes heavy use of verbs of motion like entrar, salir, subir, bajar ('go in, go out, go up, go down'), which directly encode motion path, and may leave out the manner of motion or express it in a complement of manner (typically a gerund): entró corriendo 'he ran in', literally 'he entered running'; salió flotando 'it floated out', literally 'it exited floating'. Thus Spanish (along with all the Romance languages) is a verb-framed language.

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