Mapping Verb Meaning in Space: Spatial Feature Norms for Rioplatense Spanish Verbs
Abstract
Understanding how language recruits spatial cognition to represent events and actions is central to theories of embodied cognition and cognitive linguistics. This study presents a normative dataset of spatial feature ratings for 75 verbs in Rioplatense Spanish, examining the relationship between image-schematic representations and syntactic congruence. A total of 639 native speakers completed an online Spatial Features Questionnaire for Verbal Semantics. Participants judged whether trajectory-based image schemas matched each verb under congruent (subject–verb–object) and incongruent (object–verb–subject) conditions. Chi-square analyses and proportion tests revealed higher acceptance rates for congruent configurations, indicating that syntactic order constrains spatial representations. Item-level analyses showed that a subset of verbs elicited stable spatial trajectory preferences under congruent conditions. These results provide a normative resource that characterizes structured verb–space associations and documents the role of syntactic structure in shaping spatial judgments, offering stimuli for future experimental and cross-linguistic research on embodiment and spatial grounding in Spanish verb processing.