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Vol. 1, No. 2, 2018, pp. 97-105 
E-ISSN: 2621-6485   

  
 
 
 

The Dynamicity of the Perceptive Verb Look:  

A Cognitive Linguistics Study 

 
Prayudha, S.Pd., M.A. 

Department of English Education, Universitas Ahmad Dahlan 

prayudha@pbi.uad.ac.id 

 
Abstract 

Perceptive verbs have important function, especially in Cognitive Linguistics perspective, 

because these verbs are directly related to real experience. Cognitive linguistics focuses on 

the study of the relationship between language, mind, and socio-physical experience. Thus, 

this paper discusses how the lexical semantic characteristics particularly the dynamicity or 

aktionsarten of the verb look. The verb look itself consists agentive and perceptive verb class. 

The dynamicity of agentive and the perceptive verb look were analyzed using distributional 

method combined with several techniques. Most of the verb look constructions appear as 

phrasal verbs. At least, there are 17 phrasal verbs with look as the root and the constructions 

consist of at least 20 different meanings. The dynamicity test is also applicated for the phrasal 

verbs. The results of the research show unique lexical characteristics of the perceptive verb 

look and it influence the meaning as well as the construction of the verb. The relationship 

between lexical characteristic with its construction shows the schema of cognition processing 

language.        

 

Keywords: Perceptive verbs; Cognitive linguistics, Dynamicity, Aktionsarten 

  

 

How to Cite: Prayudha, P. (2018). The dynamicity of the perceptive verb look: A Cognitive 

Linguistics Study. English Language Teaching Educational Journal, 1(2), 97-105.  

 

 

INTRODUCTION 

Perceptive verbs are special, especially in cognitive linguistics. It is 

because cognitive linguistics focuses on the study of the relationship between 

language, mind, and socio-physical experience. Perceptive verbs have important 

function because these verbs are directly related to real experience. The verbs are 

the most basic verbs. Related to perceptive verb, Gisborne (2010: 181-182) says, 

“I claim that verbs of perception are special precisely because they are directly 

embodied and experiental… After all, we only become aware of motion and 

causation via perception, so in this sense, perception is even more basic”. That is 

why perceptive is very beneficial to be analyzed. Thus, this paper discusses 

lexical semantic characteristics of verbs, particularly the dynamicity of the verb 

look.  

Semantic features are related to the meaning and semantic properties of 

a verb lexically. The lexical characteristic is related to the dynamicity of a verb. 

Van Vallin (2005) says, "to be able to determine the structure of an argument from 

mailto:prayudha@pbi.uad.ac.id


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a verb, the first thing to do is to ascertain Actionsarten (the level of dynamism) of 

the verb" (p.59). This discussion is important to investigate the verb look. This is 

because the lexical semantic characteristics of the verb look will influence the 

structure of the argument.  

A notable research which inspired the study is a research from Gisborne 

(2010) entitled The Event Structure of Perception Verbs. One of the discussions 

in the research is about dynamicity or Aktionsarten. According to Brinton (1988, 

in Gisborne, 2010), Aktiansarten is referred as actions which consist of: 

dynamism, telicity, and duration. Gisborne (2010) discuses dynamicity of 

perception verb in general. Some of his theories and approaches about perceptive 

verb are used in the research. 

In order to find out how lexical semantic of the verb look, the step that 

must be done fist is to describe the definition of look. This definition will illustrate 

the lexical characteristics of the verb look. The definition is taken from the fourth 

edition of the Oxford Advanced Learner Dictionary. In the dictionary, the verb 

look has two definitions. The first definition is ‘to turn one's eyes in a particular 

direction in order to see somebody or something.' The second definition of the 

verb look is ‘to seem to be; to appear ' or ‘looks like'. The verb look itself is a type 

of regular verb which is affixed {-ed} in the second and third form that is looked. 

From the definition above, look can be classified into several types. Levin (1993) 

classifies verbs which has the same characteristics with look as perceptive verbs: 

a verb related to stimulus. 

 

Cognitive Linguistics 

Cognitive linguistics is a relatively new study. The study that emerged in 

the late 1970s and began to develop in the 1980s tried to get out of the dominance 

of the formal approach in linguistic studies at that time. The birth of cognitive 

linguistics is influenced by the development of cognitive studies - regarding 

memory, perception, attention, and categorization - at that time especially 

cognitive psychology. Cognitive linguistics focuses on the study of the 

relationship between language, mind, and socio-physical experience. The 

relationship between the three according to Geeraerts and Cuyckens (2007) is 

that the formal structure of language is not learned autonomously, but rather a 

reflection on general conceptual organization through the categorization 

principles and processing mechanisms and the influence of experience as well as 

environment.  

By that postulate, the definition of language becomes different in the 

cognitive linguistics perceptive. Lakoff (1990 in Evans, Bergan, & Zinken, 2007) 

explains that cognitive linguistics has a number of key commitments. Evans & 

Green (2006) divides the commitment into General Commitment and Cognitive 

Commitment. Both of them become determinants of theories and models of 

analysis in cognitive linguistic perspectives, including study of lexical semantic. 

Study of dynamicity of a verb becomes important and also reliable to conduct. 

 

 



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Perceptive Verb  

A verb is a class of words which usually functions as a predicate 

(Kridalaksana, 2008). Broadly speaking, Chafe (1970) distinguishes verbs into 

three types namely state verb, process verb, and action verb. State verb is a verb 

that states the condition of the subject. Process verb is a verb that explains a 

process of change experienced by the subject. Action verb is a verb describing 

what the subject does. The kind of verbs are divided to number of other types of 

verbs: action-process verb and experiential verb. Action-process verb is a verb 

that explains what the subject does while desiring the presence of another noun 

as an object. Meanwhile, the experiential verb is a verb that explain the things 

experienced by the nominee. Experimental verb itself is divided into emotional, 

cognitional, and perceptive verb. The perceptive verb is an experiential verb 

which the type of stimulus experienced by the subject is a sensation that can be 

received by the five senses (Jackendoff, 1976). Gisborne (2010) divides 

perceptive verb into three kinds: listen-class, hear-class, and sound-class. 

 

Listen-class 

(agentive) verbs 

Hear-class 

(experiencer) verbs 

Sound-class 

(percept) verbs 

Look/A 

Listen 

Feel/A 

Smell/A 

Taste/A 

See 

Hear 

Feel/E 

Smell/E 

Taste/E 

Look/P 

Sound 

Feel/P 

Smell/P 

Taste/P 

 

 

RESEARCH METHOD 

This descriptive qualitative research takes data from Oxford Dictionary 

and BNC (British National Corpus). At the collecting data process, sentences 

with different structure are selected from Oxford Dictionary. After that, the 

various structures where the verb “look” as head are taken from BNC. The 

organized data then were analyzed using distributional method. Distributional 

method is analytical method in linguistics that uses parts of the language itself as 

the determiner (Sudaryanto, 1993). There are some techniques in distributional 

method and the research used permutation technique, insertion technique, and 

deletion technique. The three different techniques were used because there are 

some steps in revivifying the aktionsarten of a verb. 

 

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 

The Class of Verb Look 

From several types of perceptive verbs, look is divided into two types. 

Gisborne (2010) argues that the verb look consists agentive and perceptive verb 

class (referred as look [A]) and the pure perceptive verb classes (referred as look 

[P]). The following data shows the differences between the two types of the 

perceptive verb look. 



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(1) Elizabeth  looked  at  her sister-in-law. 

 

(2) They look horrible!   

 

Data (1) shows the verb look [A] because it explains what the subject is 

experiencing. In Chafe (1970), the verb look [A] belongs to the experiential verb 

category. The verb look [A] is also referred to perceptual experience verbs that 

are directed at a stimulus or directed perception. The verbs which are classified 

as agentive perceptive verbs are check (on), gape, gawk, gaze, glance, glare, 

goggle, leer, listen (to), ogle, peek, peep, peer, sniff, snoop (on), squint, and stare. 

Data (1) is an agentive perceptive verb because it explains the things experienced 

by the subject, including the stimulus. It can be observed if the verb look at the 

data explains the stimulus her sister-in-law which are experienced by Elizabeth. 

The verb look [A] always requires a preposition when it appears in a construction. 

Both Levin (1993) and Gisborne (2010) concluded that look [A] collocated with 

preposition at.  

Meanwhile, data (2) is a verb look [P] because the subject of the 

composition is equivalent to the object of look [A]. According to Chafe (1970), 

such verb falls into state verbs category because it explains the condition of the 

subject. More specifically, Jackendoff (1976) explains the verb falls into the 

category of static perceptive verbs or static perception verb. This verb type 

explains the condition of the stimulus. The stimulus is real or can be accepted by 

the five senses. Some of the verbs included in this type are feel, smell, sound, and 

taste. It can be observed if the subject they in the data (2) occupies the same role 

or equivalent to the object of her sister-in-law in the data (1) as something 

experienced or stimulus. The verb look in the data explains the condition of the 

stimulus. 

 

The Dynamicity of Agentive Verb look 
As an agentive perceptive verb, look [A] verb have their own semantic 

characteristics. This characteristic is related to the level of dynamics of the look 

verb [A]. Dynamism of a verb is related to dynamism, telicity, and duration. To 

find out the dynamics of look [A] verbs can practice a number of tests. The 

following is data that shows dynamic look verbs [A]. 

 

(3) He looked at her with an icy contempt.  

 

(3a) He {was looking} at her with an icy contempt. 

 

(3b) He {finished} looking at her with an icy contempt. 

 

(3c) He looks at her with an icy contempt {for a minute}. 

 



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The data shows the lexical characteristics of verb look [A]. Data (3) 

shows the verbs look in an agentive perceptive class because the verb can answer 

a question about what is experienced by the subject as well as include the 

stimulus experienced. The verb look at the data explains the stimulus experienced 

by the subject he. Although the verb look [A] is a perceptive verb, this verb is 

dynamic because it is able to be present in a progressive period as indicated by 

data (3a). Regarding dynamism, Van Valin (2005) distinguishes perceptive verbs 

from dynamic verbs (activity verb) and static verbs (state verbs). Verb look [A] 

is a perceptive verb that is classified as an activity verb so that it is dynamic. In 

addition, look [A] verbs are included as telic verbs as shown in data (3b). It is 

because the data can be expanded by finished verbs which means stopping. Telis 

verbs are verbs that describe as completed actions (Kridalaksana, 2008). Data 

(3c) shows the verb look [A] is durative because it can be expanded with a 

description of time ‘for a minute’. It means that the verb look [A] has a period of 

time when the action occurred. Durative verbs are verbs that show time-

consuming activities (Vendler, 1967 in Gisborne, 2010). It can be determined 

that the semantic characteristic of the verb look [A] is DYNAMIC, TELIC, and 

DURATIVE. 

 

The Dynamicity of The Perceptive Verb look 

The definition of the verb look [P] in the Oxford Advanced Learner's 

Dictionary shows that the verb is lexically different from the verb look [A]. Thus, 

the verb also has dynamic properties that are different from verb look [A]. It is 

as shown in the dynamic test of the verb look [P] as follows. 

 

(4) That book looks interesting. 

 

(4a) * That book {is looking} interesting. 

 

(4b) * That book {finished} looking interesting. 

 

(4c) *{For an hour}, that book looks interesting. 

 

The test series in the data above shows the lexical properties of the verb 

look [P]. Data (4) shows the verb look in perceptive class because they cannot 

explain the activities carried out by the subject. The verb look at the data explains 

the state of the subject whose role as the stimulus. Data (4a) shows if the verb 

look [P] cannot appear in progressive times. Therefore, the verb look [P] can be 

said to be stative. Data (4b) cannot be expanded with information when it 

finished. It shows that the verb look [P] is not telic. On the contrary, the verb look 

[P] is atelic. Atelic verbs are verbs that describe actions that are not complete 

(Kridalaksana, 2008: 254). Data (4c) cannot be expanded with a time statement 

that explains the duration ‘for one hour’. It shows if the verb look [P] is not 

durative but punctual. Punctual verbs are verbs that explain the situation right 



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away. From the serial tests, it can be formulated that the semantic characteristic 

of verb look [P] is STATIC, ATELIC, and PANGTUAL. 

 

The Dynamicity of The Verb look in Phrasal Verb Construction  
There are many phrasal verb constructions in English. According to 

Jackendoff (2003), a phrasal verb consists of a verb as root which is paired with 

one or two particles. The term particle is used to make it easier to distinguish 

particles as prepositions in prepositional verbs and particles as adverb in the 

phrasal verb. Phrasal verb is almost exactly the same as the prepositional verb 

but both are different in treating particles. Phrasal verb treats particles as adverb 

while prepositional verb treats particle as preposition (Palmer, 1987). Phrasal 

verb orthographically separates the verb from its particle, but both are one unit 

and behave as a single verb. Biber, Johansson, Leech, Conrad, and Finegan 

(2007) explain that the phrasal verb is a multi-word unit consisting of a verb 

followed by adverb particles which indicate spatial meaning (directive) or aspect. 

The prepositional verb is the verb root look [A] that are collocated with a 

preposition at Levin (1993). In addition to the construction of verb + particle, 

similar construction can be classified as a horizontal verb. This includes the 

construction of look + particle at in its meaning extensions. 

More verb look appears as in phrasal verb construction. According to 

Oxford Dictionary, at least, there are 17 phrasal verbs with look as the root. The 

phrasal verb are look after, look ahead, look at, look away, look back, look down, 

look for, look forward, look in, look into, look on, look out, look over, look 

around, look through, look to, and look up. The phrasal verbs have various 

meaning. There are 20 different meaning from the 17 phrasal verbs. It is because 

some phrasal verbs have more than one meaning. The different phrasal verbs 

meaning of course form differences of verb class. The condition lead to the 

diverse aktionsarten of the phrasal verb with look as the root. By using the same 

type of dynamism analysis for agentive verb look and perceptive verb look, here 

are the result of aktionsarten analysis of phrasal verbs with look as the root. 

 

No. Meaning Phrasal 

Verb 

Verb Class Aktionsarten 

1. to turn away  look away movement 

verb 

DYNAMIC, TELIC, 

DURATIVE 

2. to stare look on aspectual 

verb 

DYNAMIC, TELIC, 

DURATIVE 

3. to think look at cognitive 

verb  

DYNAMIC, TELIC, 

DURATIVE 4. to predict look ahead 

look to 

5. to remember look back 

6. to consider look at emotive verb  STATIC, ATELIC, 

DURATIVE look on 

7. to 

underestimate 

look down 



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No. Meaning Phrasal 

Verb 

Verb Class Aktionsarten 

8. to admire look up 

9. to feel happy look 

forward 

10. to expect look to 

11. to beware look out 

12. to become 

better 

look up 

13. to examine look into action-

process 

verb  

DYNAMIC, TELIC, 

DURATIVE  look at 

14. to delve look 

through 

15. to search look for 

look out 

look up 

16. to share look on 

17. to take care of look after 

look out 

18. to visit look over 

look 

around 

look up 

19. to avoid look out 

20. to read look over 

look 

through  

 

In general, the phrasal verbs with look as root are at- least separated into 

movement verb, aspectual verb, cognitive verb, emotive verb, and action-process 

verb. A movement verb class, phrasal verbs with look as the root are DYNAMIC, 

TELIC, and DURATIVE. As aspectual verb, the phrasal verbs are DYNAMIC, 

TELIC, and DURATIVE. DYNAMIC, TELIC, and DURATIVE are also the 

semantic characteristic of cognitive phrasal verb. As an emotive verb class, 

phrasal verbs with look as the head are STATIC, ATELIC, and DURATIVE. The 

semantic characteristics of the action-process phrasal verbs DYNAMIC, TELIC, 

and DURATIVE. 
 

CONCLUSION 

Perceptive verbs are important to be analyzed because it directly 

embodied and experimental. Cognitively, the verbs are core class which will 

develop into other verb classes. The agentive verb look is dynamic, telic, 

durative. It synthetized that as agentive verbs, agentive verb look can be 



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developed into various constructions. On the contrary, the perceptive verb look 

is static, atelic, and punctual. By the characteristic, the construction from the 

perceptive verb look is limited in intransitive construction. The result of the 

research can be developed into numerous hypotheses. Moreover, there are many 

verbs look in phrasal verb construction. At least, there are 17 phrasal verbs 

construction with look as the root with 20 meaning and 5 verb classes. The 

phrasal verbs consist of different meanings. If all of the constructions are 

analyzed, there will be unique network among them, and it shows how cognitive 

processing language works.     
 

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Biber, Douglas., Johansson, Stig., Leech, Geoffrey., Conard, Susan., Finegan, 

Edward. (2007). Longman grammar of spoken and written English. 

London: Pearson Education Limited. 

 

Chafe, Wallace L. (1970). Meaning and the structure of language. Chicago. 

University of Chicago Press. 

 

Evans, Vyvyan. & Green, Melanie. (2006). Cognitive linguistics: An 

Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. 

 

Evans, Vyvyan., Bergen, K. Benjamin, Zinken, Jörg. (2007). The cognitive 

linguistics reader. London: Equinox Publishing Ltd. 

 

Geeraerts, D. & Cuyckens, H. (2007). Introducing cognitive linguistics. In: 

Geeraerts, D. & Cuyckens, H., The oxford handbook of cognitive 

linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 

 

Gisborne, Nikolas. (2010). The event structure of perception verbs. New York: 

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Jackendoff, Ray. (2003). Foundations of language: Brain, Meaning, Grammar, 

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Kridalaksana, Harimurti. (2008). Kamus linguistik. Jakarta: PT. Gramedia 

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Levin, Beth. (1993). English verb classes and alternations: A Preliminary 

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Palmer, Frank Robert. (1987). The English verb. Singapore: Longman Singapore 

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Sudaryanto, (1993). Metode dan aneka teknik analisis bahasa. Yogyakarta: Duta 

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Online sourches: 

Situs British National Corpus: http://www.natcorp.ox.ac.uk. 

 

Situs etymonline: http://www.etymonline.com 

http://www.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/

