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J ARI SIVONEN
268
one productive type of subjective motion. In examples of this sort, a static
but non-concrete appearance of an entity is conceived as subjective motion.
Example (1) illustrates this kind of usage.
(1) Tarina-ssa kiertele-e mielenkiintoinen juoni.
story-INE circle-3SG interesting[NOM] plot[NOM]
’There is an interesting plot meandering in the story.’
Example (1) differs from the commonly analyzed instances of subjective
motion (The road goes from San Diego to Mexico) because the Trajector’s
(plot) referent is not a visible entity as such (compared with, for example, a
road). Thus, it can only be imagined as existing in an abstract Landmark (the
story) and, in addition, having a “shape” characterized by the verb of motion.
Thereby the example represents an abstract kind subjective motion, where
the shape of an entity is seen through motion, but moreover, the whole do-
main of the referred state of affairs is non-concrete. The postulate of abstract
type of subjective motion contributes to the classification of motion ex-
pressions in general. This paper demonstrates that the traditional dichotomy
of motion verbs can be further elaborated if we acknowledge that both do-
mains (concrete and abstract) include objective (dynamic) and subjective
(static) motion expressions. Consequently, a verb of motion can be used to
express four basic meaning types: i) objective motion in concrete domain; ii)
subjective motion in concrete domain; iii) objective motion in abstract do-
main; and iv) subjective motion in abstract domain.
JARI S IVONEN