Liane Ströbel


In this article we outline a theory of action verbs that combines a modality-independent (or abstract) conceptual component with a modality-specific one. Verbs as concepts are interpreted as ranked sets of nuclei structures in the sense of Moens and Steedman (1988). This information is stored in the middle temporal gyrus (Bedny and Caramazza 2011). Besides being amodal, this information is underspecified w.r.t. a particular way in which the action is executed (grasp a needle vs. grasp a barbell), i. e. it is not grounded in a particular situation. This underspecification can in general only be resolved if the type of object undergoing the change (needle vs. barbell) is known. Following Willems et al. (2009), this grounding is explained as an implicit simulation in premotor cortex, that is a preenactment of the action which makes it possible to predict the way in which the action evolves and which is distinct from explicit (motor) imagery.


  1. Michiel van Elk: Preface
  3. Liane Ströbel: Sensory-Motor Concepts and Language
  5. Liane Ströbel: Sensory-Motor Concepts and Perception
  7. Valentina Cuccio: Inferential Communication in the Embodied Language Paradigm
  17. Olaf Hauk: Postface