Hello!
I am writing my master's thesis on spatial expressions in different languages – that is, the kind of words and affixes that express where one thing is situated with respect to another one, for example in English "the bed is in the room", "the cat is on the roof" etc.
On the following pages you will find videos of simple spatial relations. Please describe them in your native language in simple sentences. There are two kinds of situations: static ones, where an object or a person is just in one place, and dynamic ones, where something or someone is moving or being moved to or from a place. If you can think of several ways to describe a video, please write all of them and, if possible, add a short explanation about how their meaning differs. This applies to the choice of verbs, cases and prepositions, but you do not need to bother too much about the choice of nouns (i.e. whether "cup" or "mug" is more appropriate), unless it has some bearing on the way the spatial relation is expressed.
You will notice that there are groups of videos that involve the same persons or things. Just focus on the spatial relations between them, you don't need to pay attention to details such as what a person is looking at.
Please use the standard variety of your language and the official writing system and orthography.
There are altogether 77 very short videos and you should complete everything in one go, because your answers won't be saved if you close this webpage before finishing. Please remember to press "Finish (Send all Data)" when you are done!
I will use the collected data for research purposes only. Your name and email are strictly confidential. Please feel free to send me questions or feedback at andrei.dumitrescu@helsinki.fi.
If you want to read this introduction again later, you can click the button "EN" under the title at the top of the page.
Thank you very much for participating!
Andrei Călin Dumitrescu
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