Effect Before Cause

What is it about?

The paper looks at how grammar can structure the way we describe sequences of events. I explore the priority of effects over causes first observed by Len Talmy. I show that this apparently counterintuitive tendency is reflected not only in the ordering of how events are recounted (effects tend to precede causes despite a chronological conflict) but also in the structure of grammatical constructions. Specifically, it turns out that all complex constructions are based on the syntactic frame of the effect event, and never the cause event. If the latter is incorporated at all, it serves as a secondary element, not a template for construction form.

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Why is it important?

I look at a number of constructions other than typical physical motion constructions that provided support for Talmy's observation. I show that the obsrevation is corroborated by other (perhaps all) complex constructions -- those combining manner and result elements.

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