Encoding motion events in Chinese and the “scalar specificity constraint”

Lingua Sinica

Table 2 Examples of Chinese motion morphemes of different scalar types

Types	Nonscalar change motion morpheme	Open scale motion morpheme	Multi-point closed scale motion morpheme	Two-point closed scale motion morpheme
Free motion morphemes	跑 pao ‘run’	升 sheng ‘ascend’	回 hui ‘return’	進 jin ‘enter’
	飛 fei ‘fly’	降 jiang ‘descend’	來 lai ‘come’	出 chu ‘exit’
	走 zou ‘walk’	落 luo ‘fall’	去 qu ‘go’	過 guo ‘cross’
	衝 chong ‘rush’	退 tui ‘recede’	過 guo ‘cross’	到 dao ‘arrive’
	流 liu ‘flow’	上 shang ‘ascend’
	飃 piao ‘float’	下 xia ‘descend’
	etc.	etc.
Bound motion morphemes	翔 xiang ‘fly’	撤 che ‘recede’	越 yue ‘cross’	越 yue ‘cross’
	奔 ben ‘run’	起 qi ‘rise’	歸 gui ‘return’	入 ru ‘enter’
	行 xing ‘walk’	墮 duo ‘fall’	返 fan ‘return’	至 zhi ‘arrive’
	etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.