Simulated Motion: Verbs Communicating Change

This chapter addresses the role of verbs in “revisiting” the past. Building mainly on Langacker’s account of the dynamicity of construal and the notion of simulation in activating memory traces, the chapter discusses the mechanisms through which verbal representations of events depend on memories of movement. In particular, the linguistic phenomenon of fictive change and its subtype fictive motion are considered in analysing how remembered scenes may be mapped in an evocative way. The findings show the versatility of verbs in communicating change, affected prominently by the type of verb but also accompanying directional language.