Inlinguistics,verb-framing andsatellite-framing are typological descriptions of a way that verb phrases in alanguage can describe thepath of motion or themanner of motion, respectively. Some languages make this distinction and others do not.
Themanner of motion refers to a type of distinct motion described by a particular verb, such as running, tumbling, sliding, walking, crawling, etc. Thepath of motion refers to the direction of the movement, such as movement into, out of, across, etc. The two concepts can be encoded in the verb as part of its root meaning, or encoded in a separateparticle associated with the verb (a "satellite"). Manner or path may also not be expressed at all.
Languages are consideredverb-framed orsatellite-framed based on how the motion path is typically encoded.English verbs use particles to show the path of motion ("run into", "go out", "fall down"[1]), and its verbs usually show manner of motion; thus, English is a satellite-framed language. English verbs that are exceptions are mostly derived fromLatin, such as "exit", "ascend", or "enter".
AllGermanic languages are satellite-framed languages. Accordingly, "to go out" ishinausgehen inGerman,uitgaan inDutch andgå ut inSwedish, whereingehen /gaan /gå are equivalents of "to go", andhinaus /uit /ut are equivalents of "out". In this manner, Germanic languages can form all kinds of compounds, even less manifest ones like (German)hinaustanzen "to dance out" and so on.
On the other hand, allRomance languages are verb-framed.Spanish, for example, makes heavy use of verbs of motion likeentrar,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 aparticiple):entró corriendo "he ran in", literally "he entered running";salió flotando "it floated out", literally "it exited floating".
The terms verb framing and satellite framing are not restricted to Romance and Germanic languages, respectively. Many languages can be assigned to one of the two systems. For example, verb framing is used inTurkish,Hebrew andArabic. (In the last,dakhala rākiḍan means "he entered running", with the perfect formdakhala meaning "he entered" and the participlerākiḍan meaning "running".) Satellite framing is common inGreek. Some languages use both strategies. For example,Persian is chiefly verb-framed, but also has such compounds asdar-āmadan (درآمدن, "to come in") fromdar ("in") andāmadan ("to come").
Romance languages, such as French, are normally verb-framed, and Germanic languages, such as English, are satellite-framed. This means that when expressing motion events, English speakers typically express manner in the verb, and French speakers (like Italian, Portuguese and Spanish speakers) typically express path in the verb, and either leave out the manner of motion completely or express it in a complement of manner. Thus for example, "He ran into the room" is routinely translated asIl est entré dans la pièce; only sometimes will it beIl est entré dans la pièce en courant ("he entered the room running").[2] This means, first, that the verb itself normally does not express manner in French, as opposed to what is generally the case in English; and if manner is expressed, it is expressed in a complement (or, more precisely, an adjunct) of manner:en courant ("running").
The question, then, remains of whether to express manner or not. It is not always easy to know, but manner is generally left unexpressed when it can be considered to be self-evident and can be inferred from the context; expressing the manner then tends to sound unnatural.[3] Thus, "He ran into the room" can be translated asIl est entré dans la pièce en courant because it is slightly unusual to run into a room and so manner should be mentioned, but translating "He walked into the room" asIl est entré dans la pièce à pied ("on foot") oren marchant ("walking") is distinctly odd because it calls unintended attention to the usual way in which one enters a room. It is akin to saying in English "he entered the room walking". Only in a case where walking would be considered unusual or notable – for example, when talking about a crippled person – can the fact that he "walked" into the room be considered to be relevant. Likewise, saying "I'm flying to London" when on a plane is normal in English, but sayingJe vole ("I'm flying") in French for the same situation is odd: first, because the verb is not where one should normally express manner in the first place, and also because flying is a common way of travelling to London from France.
This means that the choice ofcomplement and in particular the choice of thepreposition can also be affected: in English, theparticle or theprepositional phrase (the "satellite") is where the path is expressed, with the use of a dynamic preposition: "(walk) into (the room)", "(fly) to (London)", whereas in French, it is theverb that normally expresses the path. A preposition likeà ("to, at, in") is ambiguous between a static reading (Je suis à Paris/"I'm in Paris") and a dynamic reading (Je vais à Paris/"I'm going to Paris"). If the verb is dynamic and expresses directed motion (motion with an intrinsic direction),à can express movement (Je vais à Paris). If not, as is the case for instance withvoler ("to fly"), which expresses manner of motion but not directed motion,à tends to receive a static and not a dynamic, interpretation:je vole à Paris would mean something like "I'm flying IN Paris", and not "I'm flying TO Paris". Using the same structure in French as directly translated from English can be doubly misleading, as the verb and the preposition are both unusual;Je vais à ("I'm going to") orJe suis en route ("I am on my way")vers/pour Paris ("towards/for Paris") are much clearer in meaning.
Although languages can generally be classified as "verb-framed"/"satellite-framed", this is not a mutually exclusive classification. Languages can use both strategies, as is the case in English with the Latinate verbs such as "enter", "ascend" and "exit". The existence ofequipollently-framed languages in whichboth manner and path are expressed in verbs has been pointed out (Slobin 2004). It could be true ofChinese,[4] for instance.
Many Amerindian languages, such as the extinctAtsugewi, do not select verbs of motion based on path or manner. Instead, verbs of motion are specific to thekind of object that is moving or being moved.[5]