20. Path salience in motion descriptions in Jaminjung

This paper aims to position Jaminjung, a non-Pama-Nyungan language of northern Australia within a typology of Path salience, building on Ibarretxe-Antuñano (2009). Path is an obligatory conceptual part of any motion event description; however, regardless of their lexicalisation patterns, languages differ concerning the degree of Path detail in discourse (Slobin 1996). My analysis is concerned with narrative preferences in spoken communication using two different motion datasets of Frog Stories as well as natural discourse and narratives. Ultimately, it describes the effects of language-specific structural and granular prerequisites on discourse strategies within motion event descriptions. Jaminjung occupies a place towards the middle-section of the proposed Path salience cline. Additionally, cultural conditions suggest that event granularity might best be viewed separately from structural features.