Coextension Paths and Access Paths: A Comparative Study of Abstract Motion in English and Arabic

This paper examines the elements of abstract motion as represented by coextension path expressions and access path expressions. The elements include Path, Manner, Duration, and Mover. It does so by comparing English and Arabic languages with the purpose of building a model for abstract motion in Arabic and of performing a comparative analysis of the linguistic representation of abstract motion in the two languages under consideration. The study found that the two types of abstract motion under consideration differ in how they express the four components of motion, namely, path, manner, duration, and mover. They also differ in the degree of specificity of each component and in perspective. Moreover, this paper attempted to draw a comparison between English and Arabic expression of abstract motion and found out that abstract motion represented by access and coextension path expressions exist in both languages in parallel ways except for some slight differences on the grammatical and semantic levels. It is discovered that abstract motion in both languages has a cognitive bias towards path and distance. This applies to both English and Arabic. There are differences between English and Arabic in the type of verbs used to realize abstract motion. Arabic uses a limited number of verbs in realizing abstract motion, which is different from verbs used for actual motion. Finally, the study is hoped to be useful in the characterization of abstract motion in Arabic and in understanding the difference between access paths and extension paths.