On Placement and Removal Events in Ilami Kurdish: A Cognitive-Typological Approach

Abstract

This paper explores the linguistic characteristics of placement and removal events in Ilami

Kurdish and investigates the Goal-over-Source predominance hypothesis in such events. By

testing the asymmetry hypothesis in placement vs. removal events, we determined that various

predicates are used to encode these events in Ilami Kurdish. Data were collected using

a set of video clips including the ‘put and take’ stimuli (Bowerman et al., 2004) with ten Ilami

Kurdish speakers, who described the occasions when placement and removal events were

required. The results of this first experiment show that there are asymmetric correlations

between placement and removal events in terms of verbal predicates. In fact, proportionally

more fine-grained types of placement predicates are observed in the descriptions of the

Kurdish consultants. Accordingly, it can be concluded that placement events, in comparison

with removal events, are cognitively more salient and intricate in the mind of Kurdish speakers,

which is directly connected with such linguistic distinctions as properties of the figure,

force-dynamic notions, and manner of motion, which are more determinant in placement

events than removal events. In the next part of this study, the Goal-over-Source predominance

hypothesis was explored in placement and removal events. This hypothesis was tested

on the basis of linguistic descriptions as well as a memory task. In the descriptive task, a set of

video clips of placement and removal events, including different source and goal paths, was

used. Respondents participating in this experiment described each scene after they watched

it. In the memory task, participants were asked to watch the scenes of placement and removal

events as well as matched events and then judge whether source or goal components can be

matched or not. It was found that in these tasks, the goal component was mentioned more often

and more accurately matched, respectively. These findings support the Goal-over-Source

predominance hypothesis and highlight the cognitive importance of the goal component in

placement events compared to the source component in removal events.