Posture across cultures

Abstract

Posture verbs describe the position of objects thus revealing the varied conceptualization of entities in space among languages. Despite  these diverse conceptualizations, the verbs sit; stand and lie have been identified as key members of the posture verb class. The  assumption of posture is not restricted to only humans but extends to non-human entities. Posture verbs can also be extended to  conceptualize the existence and location of inanimate objects. In this study, verbs that indicate the positions of entities in space are  compared in German and Igbo languages. The study specifically explores the verbs sit; stand and lie in German and Igbo along the line of  the domains set forth by Newman 2002 as properties that make up the semantic frames of the basic posture verbs. Data for the study  is derived from the Max Plancks questionnaire on positional verbs. The findings of the study demonstrate that basic posture verbs in  German and Igbo converge on Newman's characterizations concerning the spatio-temporal domain, force dynamic domain, and active  zone. In addition, the study observes that in the expression of the position of inanimate entities, German deploys relevant posture verbs  whereas Igbo expresses the same with an auxiliary verb. The study is relevant to cross-linguistic research on the conceptualization of entities in space.