Language as a witness: Insights from cognitive linguistics

The paper examines the way in which the latest linguistic typology (Talmy 1985) can be used in the analysis of witness interviews in multilingual environments. Original transcripts of police interviews in which witnesses speak Spanish and their translations in English by certified interpreters have been used in this study. The two languages stand at the respective ends of the typological cline based on the lexicalization of the experiential domain in focus here, which is that Of motion events. The Spanish pattern shows strong preference for directional verbs in motion expressions and scarce reference to the manner of motion, whereas the English pattern favours' detailed reference to the manner Of motion due to the abundance of manner verbs and constructions. Our focus is on the ways in which information content is affected by the relevant typological differences. Descriptions of motion events in Spanish original texts have significantly fewer types and tokens of manner verbs compared to those of directional verbs. Information on manner is typically omitted from an account of a witnessed event in Spanish but added in the English translation in accordance with its pattern. Other issues discussed in this paper include the problem of translating language-specific non-agentive constructions in motion expressions as well as the effects of different lexicalization patterns on narrative styles in Spanish and English respectively. The conclusion is that this kind of applied, interdisciplinary research can raise awareness about the role language plays beyond the text itself, and by doing so, bring about improvements in the process of interviewing witnesses and interpretation of their answers.