Self-propelled WALK verbs in Beja (Cushitic)

International audience Beja, the sole Cushitic language of the Northern branch (Afroasiatic) is a verb-frame language, according to the typology of Talmy (1985, 2009, 2016), with an optional encoding of the manner of motion. However, this language shows a very large inventory of motion verbs that lexically encode manner, time, or manner and cause or goal. For instance, the language counts no less than 35 ‘walk’ verbs. The presentation will discuss communicative, sociological, cultural, and environmental issues of motion verbs, with a focus on ‘walk’ verbs, based on naturalistic data (narratives, jokes, interviews) collected in Sudan from a variety of speakers.