Linguistic typology meets register variation: Manner salience in English, French and Mandarin children’s storybooks and adult novels

Linguistic typology meets register variation: Manner salience in English, French and Mandarin children’s storybooks and adult novels | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Linguistic typology meets register variation: Manner salience in English, French and Mandarin children’s storybooks and adult novels Shuzhen Jiang, Mengling Zou, Wenlei Shi This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6409909/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 6 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study investigates how linguistic typology and register variation jointly shape the expression of manner in motion events across English (satellite-framed), French (verb-framed), and Mandarin (hybrid). By analyzing children’s storybooks and adult novels, we examine the lexicalization patterns of manner verbs and alternative expressions of manner (AEMs) within Talmy’s (2000) typological framework and Slobin’s (2006) gradient model. Results reveal that register shifts amplify preexisting typological tendencies, yet the degree of amplification varies significantly. English, structurally flexible, demonstrates consistent richness in manner verb diversity and specificity across registers, with adult novels doubling verb types compared to children’s texts. French, constrained by verb-framed architecture, relies heavily on AEMs to compensate for limited path-verb flexibility, showing minimal lexical expansion. Mandarin exhibits hybrid adaptability: children’s texts favor basic verbs, while adult novels activate satellite-framed strategies, doubling manner verb types and increasing AEM usage. These findings challenge Talmy’s binary typology, advocating for a dynamic model that integrates structural constraints and register-specific adaptations. The study underscores the necessity of incorporating sociolinguistic variables into typological research. Humanities/Language and linguistics Social science/Education Social science/Language and linguistics Social science/Psychology Motion event encoding Manner salience Linguistic typology Register variation Addressee effect Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers agreed at journal 12 May, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 27 Jan, 2026 Editor invited by journal 07 Jun, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 07 Jun, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 25 Apr, 2025 First submitted to journal 09 Apr, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6409909","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":581730634,"identity":"816ef220-71c8-4b61-93c5-80af83e10486","order_by":0,"name":"Shuzhen Jiang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Hangzhou City University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shuzhen","middleName":"","lastName":"Jiang","suffix":""},{"id":581730636,"identity":"b73320a2-bd7c-4c6d-ac0f-4bc643956e27","order_by":1,"name":"Mengling Zou","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mengling","middleName":"","lastName":"Zou","suffix":""},{"id":581730637,"identity":"6d24d522-3f70-47ce-9115-048dec11b5ce","order_by":2,"name":"Wenlei Shi","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA3klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYHACxgMMBgwJbOwNQLaBBXF6IFp4DoC0SBCrhYEhgUEiAcQmQovB8d4DBz4U1OXxST6/uuFHgQQDf3t3An4tZ84lHJxhcLiYTTqn7GYP0GESZ85uwKvF7EaOwWEegwOJbdI5aTd4gFoMJHIJaLn/xuDwH4O6xDbJM2k3/xClBWjyYQYD5sQ2CfZjt4myxf5MjsHBHoPDiW08OWy3ZQwkeAj6RbL9jOGDH3/qEue3H392880fGzn+9l78WpAAjwGYJFY5CLA/IEX1KBgFo2AUjCAAANlzSzcGKpqNAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Zhejiang University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Wenlei","middleName":"","lastName":"Shi","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-04-09 08:53:18","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6409909/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6409909/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":101428754,"identity":"28ad89ff-991a-4066-bc2e-a3c26a230669","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-29 15:29:22","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":625338,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Linguistictypologymeetsregistervariation0409.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6409909/v1_covered_19bc6c10-f44f-4731-8e79-5e7019fd8344.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Linguistic typology meets register variation: Manner salience in English, French and Mandarin children’s storybooks and adult novels","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"humanities-and-social-sciences-communications","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"palcomms","sideBox":"Learn more about [Humanities \u0026 Social Sciences Communications](http://www.nature.com/palcomms/)","snPcode":"41599","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/41599/3","title":"Humanities and Social Sciences Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Nature AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Motion event encoding, Manner salience, Linguistic typology, Register variation, Addressee effect","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6409909/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6409909/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"This study investigates how linguistic typology and register variation jointly shape the expression of manner in motion events across English (satellite-framed), French (verb-framed), and Mandarin (hybrid). 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