| Grammatical features |
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Associated motion is a grammatical category whose main function is to associate a motion component to the event expressed by the verbal root.
This category is attested in Pama–Nyungan languages, where it was first discovered (Koch 1984, Wilkins 1991), in Tacanan,[1] in rGyalrong languages,[2] and in Panoan languages.[3]
Languages with associated motion present a contrast between association motion and purposive motion verb constructions, as in the following examples from Japhug Rgyalrong.[4]
laχtɕʰa
thing
ɯ-kɯ-χtɯ
3SG-NMLZ-buy
jɤ-ari-a
AOR-go-1SG
'I went to buy things'
To change any of the following default expansions, see the template's documentation:
assuming AOR means "aorist";
assuming 3SG means "third person, singular";
assuming NMLZ means "nominalizer/nominalization";
assuming 1SG means "first person, singular";
laχtɕʰa
thing
ɕ-tɤ-χtɯ-t-a
TRANSLOC-AOR-buy-PST-1SG
'I went to buy things'
To change any of the following default expansions, see the template's documentation:
assuming AOR means "aorist";
assuming PST means "past tense";
assuming 1SG means "first person, singular";
Although both examples have the same English translation, they differ in that (2) with the translocative associated motion prefix ɕ- implies that the buying did take place, while (1) with the motion verb does not imply the buying took place, even though the going did. The distinction made by the translocative is similar to the distinction made in "I went and bought things".
In addition to parameters such as relative time of occurrence (prior, concurrent, subsequent motion), argument of motion, deixis (motion towards or from the deictic center), associated motion systems can also encode speed, and these markers can then evolve into celerative markers exclusively encoding speed.[5]