German 'her, hin, hin- und her', and 'herum': Meaning and Justification of Direction and Change of Direction in Perceptual Space

Abstract

The paper presents a case study in the compositionality of particle-motion-verbs. Part of the investigation is the interaction between indexical elements contributed by hin- (there, thither) vs. her- (here, hither) and the deictic motion verbs kommen (come) vs. gehen (go). The investigation will lead to a distinction between the notion indexical in the sense of ’direct reference to the utterance situation’ on the one hand and ’perspectival’ as an attitudinal notion on the other. Both dimensions of context dependency are formalised in DRT-based lexical entries applied in a construction algorithm for multiple presupposition construction along syntactically driven principles. These principles are also shown operative in hin- und her-? and herum-?–descriptions of motion, both lacking reference to the utterance situation. The latter phenomenon is due to a general principle of self-location.