Encoding and Decoding Motion Events in English and French: Comparative Case-Studies in Agrammatism and Anomia

Languages encode space onto lexical and syntactic structures in strikingly different ways (Talmy, 2000). With respect to the expression of motion, some languages (Satellite-framed) express Manner in verb roots and Path in satellites (English), whereas others (Verb-framed) lexicalize Path in the verb, leaving Manner implicit or peripheral (French). Such typological properties strongly constrain how speakers encode motion in speech, raising questions concerning the relation between language and thought. Linguistic diversity is of great interest for the study of speakers with aphasia who typically present dissociations between lexical/syntactic knowledge. Despite some cross-linguistic studies of aphasia (Menn & Obler, 1990), little is still known about universal vs. language-specific aspects of encoding and decoding processes across aphasic syndromes.