Verb Framing

In linguistics, verb-framing and satellite-framing are typological descriptions of how verb phrases in different languages describe the path of motion or the manner of motion, respectively.

Manner of motion refers to a type of distinct motion described by a particular verb, e.g., running, tumbling, sliding, walking, crawling, etc. Path of motion refers to the direction of the movement, e.g., movement into, out of, across, etc. These two concepts can be encoded in the verb as part of its root meaning, or in a separate particle associated to the verb (a satellite).

Languages are considered verb-framed or satellite-framed based on how the motion path is encoded. English verbs use particles to show the path of motion ('run into', 'go out', 'fall down'), and its verbs usually show manner of motion; thus English is a satellite-framed language. English verbs that counter this tendency are mostly Latinate, such as "exit", "ascend", or "enter".

All Germanic languages are satellite-framed languages. Accordingly, 'to go out' is hinausgehen in German, uitgaan in Dutch and gå ut in Swedish, wherein gehen / gaan / gå are equivalents of 'to go', and hinaus / uit / ut are equivalents of 'out'. In this manner, Germanic languages can form all kinds of compounds, even less manifest ones like (German) hinaustanzen 'to dance out' and so on.

On the other hand, all Romance languages are verb-framed. Spanish, for example, makes heavy use of verbs of motion like entrar, salir, subir, bajar ('go in, go out, go up, go down'), which directly encode motion path, and may leave out the manner of motion or express it in a complement of manner (typically a participle): entró corriendo 'he ran in', literally 'he entered running'; salió flotando 'it floated out', literally 'it exited floating'.

The same can be said of some non-European languages like Arabic, which uses the same participle construction as Spanish: dakhala rākiḍan, literally: 'he entered running', with dakhala meaning 'to enter', and rakaḍa meaning 'to run'.