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International
Journal of
Humanities &
Social Sciences
Vol. 9 , No. 4
IJHSS.NET
e-ISSN: 1694-2639
p-ISSN: 1694-2620
August 2017

Vol 9, No 4 - August 2017
Table of Contents
A Review of Gratitude Research 1
Shueh-Chin Ting
Motion Event Constructions in Oromo: Semantic and Morpho-Syntactic
Properties*
16
Wakweya Olani† and Elizabet Minase
Knowledge Management: Tool for Enhancing HRM Practices and
Organizational Innovation
31
Mueen Uddin
AAJHSS.ORG

1
http://ijhss.net/index.php/ijhss
International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
p-ISSN: 1694-2620
e-ISSN: 1694-2639
Vol. 9, No. 4, 2017, pp. 1-15, ©IJHSS
A Review of Gratitude Research
Shueh-Chin Ting
Department of Education, National University of Tainan, Taiwan
Abstract
Gratitude is a very special emotion. Our society and organizations should pay attention to
gratitude, and furthermore, should understand how to manage gratitude. Up to now, gratitude
research lacks a systematic arrangement. Thus, this study first reviews the near gratitude research
and preliminarily finds that gratitude research could be divided into three categories: clarify the
concept of gratitude; the consequences of gratitude; the causes of producing gratitude.
Keywords: benefactor, beneficiary, emotion, favor, gratitude, guilt.
Research Background, Motives and Purposes
In contemporary society, gratitude plays a vital role, and many often express gratitude while
talking (McCullough, Emmons, & Tsang, 2002). However, there are few academic researches on
gratitude, till recently, when psychological studies began to systematically study gratitude
(McCullough, Kilpatrick, Emmons, & Larson, 2001). Gratitude has been neglected by academic
research, probably because gratitude is a psychological and positive emotion, which is likely to be
overlooked (Linley, Joseph, Harrington, & Wood, 2006). Theories in many fields hold that
gratitude is a significant variable regarding the establishment and maintenance of social relations
(Bartlett & DeSteno, 2006). Some studies have demonstrated that gratitude has a positive
influence on individuals, others, and organizations; for example, in terms of individuals, gratitude
could enhance an individual's well-being (Toussaint & Friedman, 2009; Wood, Joseph, & Maltby,
2009); while for others, gratitude increases the occurrence of altruistic behavior (Bartlett &
DeSteno, 2006; Tsang, 2006a). In regard to organizations, gratitude contributes to generate
repurchase intention, positive word of mouth (Soscia, 2007), and long-term performance
benefits (Palmatier, Jarvis, Bechkoff, & Kardes, 2009).
Based on the foregoing, it can be determined that gratitude is worthy of advocacy. It will
contribute to social harmony and organizational performance if we effectively utilize gratitude in

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our social and management systems. However, according to this study, currently, there is a lack
of integrated research on gratitude. This study reviews, analyzes, and classifies gratitude research,
in order to learn the previous research categories of gratitude, help future researchers quickly
grasp the entire picture of gratitude research, and serve as a reference for practitioners to make
strategies based on gratitude.
According to this study, there have been few studies (approximately 20) on gratitude in academic
journals in recent years, most of which focused on clarifying the concept and consequences of
gratitude, while few discussed the causes of gratitude. This study summarizes gratitude research
published in academic journals in recent years, as shown in Table 1, having four aspects,
including author and publication year, method, theme, and findings. The preliminary findings of
this study indicate that gratitude research can be classified into three categories: the concept of
gratitude, the result of gratitude, and the cause of gratitude.
Clarifying the Concept of Gratitude
McCullough et al. (2001) proposed that gratitude is an affective readout that alerts people that
they have benefited from another person’s prosocial behavior. Gratitude has been
conceptualized as a moral virtue, an attitude, a trait, or a coping response as well as a state of
thankfulness or appreciation (Pelser et al., 2015).
The first category of gratitude research clarifies the concept of gratitude. Some studies have
explored the differences between gratitude and other similar concepts, including indebtedness
(Algoe, Gable, & Maisel, 2010; Tsang, 2006b), happiness (Soscia, 2007), and appreciation (Wood,
Maltby, Stewart, & Joseph, 2008c). Some studies pointed out that the characteristics of gratitude
and the state of gratitude were two different concepts, and proved the relationship between them
(Wood, Maltby, Stewart, Linley, & Joseph, 2008d), while some verified the measurement of the
characteristics of gratitude (Chen, Chen, Kee, & Tsai, 2009). Through the efforts of such
research, this study clarifies the basic concept of gratitude, and gains a clearer understanding of
it. The following paragraphs further explain the research regarding the basic concept of gratitude
in recent years.
(1) The characteristics of gratitude and the state of gratitude are two different concepts
Wood, Maltby, Stewart, Linley, and Joseph (2008d) clarified the concept of gratitude by
comparing the characteristics and state of gratitude, and believed that people with the
characteristics of gratitude were more likely to produce the state of gratitude. The characteristics
of gratitude indicate personal differences; in other words, it refers to the frequency of the
emotion and mood of gratitude in daily life. In contrast, the state of gratitude refers to the
current thinking of emotion, mood, and action tendencies of gratitude. The most commonly
used scale to measure gratitude characteristics is the gratitude questionnaire (GQ), which
includes six questions, "I am grateful for many aspects of my life", "If I am asked to list the

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things that I want to appreciate, that will be a long list", "When I face the world, I don't think
there is anything that is worthy of my appreciation", "I want to appreciate many people", "As I
grow older, I find that I am more and more grateful to people, things, and environments in my
life", and "It takes a long time for me to be grateful to a matter or person." Based on these
questions, we can understand the meanings of the characteristics of gratitude. Chen, Chen, Kee,
and Tsai (2009) further simplified the six GQ questions into five.
(2) Gratitude and indebtedness are two different concepts
Tsang (2006b) verified the different influences of the motivations of people extending help to
others on gratitude and indebtedness, in order to prove that gratitude and indebtedness were two
different emotions. When comparing benevolence and unknown motivations, Tsang found that,
if a helper extended help with the motivation of benevolence, the one being helped was more
likely to feel gratified; nevertheless, there were no differences between the influences of
benevolence and the unknown motivations of the helper on indebtedness. When comparing
selfishness and unselfishness, Tsang found that, if a helper extended help with unselfish
motivation, the one being helped was more likely to feel gratified; nevertheless, there were no
differences between the influences of the selfishness and unselfishness of the helper on
indebtedness. The findings also indicated that gratitude and indebtedness were two different
emotions. Algoe, Gable, and Maisel (2010) pointed out that gratitude was a positive emotion,
while indebtedness was a negative emotion. Gratitude inspired people to thank the benefactor in
a creative way; however, when one had the sense of indebtedness, he/she would only focus on
returning the favor. They assumed that indebtedness could maintain a relationship, while
gratitude could enhance it, implying that gratitude and indebtedness were different.
(3) Gratitude and happiness are different concepts
Soscia (2007) found that gratitude could predict re-purchase intention and positive word of
mouth, while happiness could not, which demonstrated that gratitude and happiness are
different concepts.
(4) Gratitude and appreciation are the same concept
Wood, Maltby, Stewart, and Joseph (2008c) by exploratory factor analysis concluded that
gratitude and appreciation were the same factor.
Studies on the Consequences of Gratitude
The second category of studies on gratitude explored the consequences of gratitude, which has
had rich achievements in recent years. With respective to positive consequences, it has been
found that gratitude could strengthen relationships and increase satisfaction with future life
(Algoe, Gable, & Maisel, 2010; Howells, 2014; Wood, Joseph, & Maltby, 2008a), raise the

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awareness of employees to common social responsibilities (Andersson, Giacalone, Jurkiewicz,
2007), inspire prosocial behaviors of the benefactor (Bartlett & DeSteno, 2006; Tsang, 2006a),
produce long-term performance benefits (Palmatier, Jarvis, Bechkoff, & Kardes, 2009), generate
re-purchase intention and positive word of mouth (Soscia, 2007), create well-being (Lin, 2016;
Toussaint & Friedman, 2009; Wood, Joseph, & Maltby, 2009), intimacy with the helper
(Weinstein, DeHaan, & Ryan, 2010), gain higher social support, and reduce stress and depression
(Lin, 2015; Wood, Maltby, Gillett, Linley, & Joseph, 2008b). The above researches explain that
gratitude had favorable influence on individuals, others, and organizations from the point of
view of individuals. In addition, some studies have probed into the influence of gratitude from
the viewpoint of groups, and found that gratitude activities in a disaster area held by
governments also had a good effect on non-disaster areas (Raggio & Folse, 2011a, 2011b). While
almost all the results of gratitude were positive, there were still negative findings. Some asserted
that when gratitude could not be returned, one might have the sense of guilt (Cohen, 2006).
Some studies probed into the causes and consequences of the sense of guilt (Dahl, Honea, &
Manchanda, 2003; Dahl, Honea, & Manchanda, 2005). However, when gratitude could be
returned, the result was positive. Just as Palmatier, Jarvis, Bechkoff, and Kardes (2009) pointed
out; the beneficiary would have behaviors with long-term interests to an organization due to
their intention to return gratitude.
The results of gratitude are further explained below according to recent academic research.
(1) Increasing well-being
Toussaint and Friedman (2009) found that gratitude and well-being had positive and strong
correlation, which could be explained with affect and belief as mediators. Weinstein, DeHaan,
and Ryan (2010) discovered that gratitude could affect the beneficiary’s positive attitude and
well-being, and intimacy to the benefactor. Wood, Joseph, and Maltby (2009) found that the
predictive ability of gratitude to psychological well-being was stronger than the 30 facets of the
five major personality. Lin (2016) found gratitude could directly increase well-being and also
indirectly increase well-being through social support and coping style.
(2) Reducing stress and depression
Wood, Maltby, Gillett, Linley, and Joseph (2008b) deemed that gratitude could reduce stress and
depression. Lin (2015) revealed a significant path from gratitude through self-esteem and
psychological well-being to depression.
(3) Enhancing relationships
Algoe, Gable, and Maisel (2010) assumed that gratitude could enhance relationships. Wood,
Maltby, Gillett, Linley, and Joseph (2008b) held that gratitude could obtain higher social support.
Howells (2014) had shown that from the perspective of senior high school teachers, gratitude

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could impact positively on building teacher-student relationships.
(4) Increasing satisfaction with life
Algoe, Gable, and Maisel (2010) pointed out that gratitude could increase satisfaction with future
life. Wood, Joseph, and Maltby (2008a) thought that gratitude could predict life satisfaction.
(5) Raising the awareness of social responsibility
Andersson, Giacalone, and Jurkiewicz (2007) found that gratitude could raise the awareness of
social responsibility of employees.
(6) Increasing prosocial behavior
Bartlett and DeSteno (2006) found that gratitude contributed to the occurrence of prosocial
behavior. Tsang (2006a) assumed that gratitude could inspire the beneficiary to have prosocial
behavior to the benefactor. Palmatier, Jarvis, Bechkoff, and Kardes (2009) deemed that gratitude
could stimulate relevant return behavior, and for a company, it could produce long-term
performance benefits.
(7) Being helpful to an organization
Soscia (2007) found that gratitude could predict re-purchase intention and positive word of
mouth. Raggio and Folse (2011a, 2011b) discovered that gratitude activities held in disaster areas
by governments had good effects, including enhancing the willingness of consumers to purchase
products made by the disaster area, and have prosocial behaviors, such as volunteering and
donations, purchasing the products and services of the disaster area at a higher price, visiting the
disaster area, and spreading positive word of mouth.
(8) Generation of the sense of guilt when gratitude could not be returned
Cohen (2006) argued that gratitude was not necessarily a positive emotion; when gratitude could
not be returned, a sense of guilt would be generated. Dahl, Honea, and Manchanda (2003)
pointed out that there were three kinds of guilt, as based on different reasons, including: negative
influence on others (other type), violation of social morality (social type), and failure to achieve
self-standard (self-type); and they found that different types of the sense of guilt would lead to
different consumption responses. Dahl, Honea, and Manchanda (2005) studied the generation
and influence of the sense of guilt of consumers, and found that if consumers had a sense of
guilt toward salesmen, they wanted to make up for the latter.
Studies on the Causes of Gratitude
The third category of studies on gratitude explores the influencing factors of gratitude, meaning
the causes of gratitude. While there are few studies on this aspect, based on such studies, we can

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still identify some important causes of gratitude. Palmatier, Jarvis, Bechkoff, and Kardes (2009)
studied the relations between sellers and buyers, and found that the investment in relationship
marketing by the seller could lead to the gratitude of short-term customers, thus, gratitude of
customers was related to two factors. The first factor was the seller or the benefactor. The
second was the investment in relationship marketing, meaning the favor given from the
benefactor to the beneficiary, or the factor of a favor. Wood, Maltby, Stewart, Linley, and Joseph
(2008d) discovered that a favor with different degree of interest would influence the state of
gratitude through beneficial appraisal. This study holds that a favor with different degree of
interest belongs to the factor of favor itself. Tsang (2006a) deemed that one was more likely to
have gratitude when receiving favor from others, rather than from accident; this is a comparative
study of benefactor and accident. Tsang (2006b) found that if the helper extended help with the
motivation of benevolence and unselfishness, the one being helped was more likely to feel
gratified; thus, it was a study on the motivation of the benefactor. Unsworth, Turner, Williams,
and Piccin-Houle (2010) pointed out that gratitude was less likely to be generated in a
relationship with high trust. This study considers that a relationship with trust belongs to
environmental factors. Weinstein, DeHaan, and Ryan (2010) observed that the one being helped
receiving the help extended with spontaneous motivation was more likely to feel gratitude than
with a controlled motivation. This study believes that the motivation of the benefactor belongs
to the factors of the benefactor. Wood, Maltby, Stewart, Linley, and Joseph (2008d) held that the
characteristics of gratitude would influence the state of gratitude through beneficial appraisal.
This study holds that the characteristics of gratitude belong to the factors of the beneficiary.
Based on the abovementioned research, this study classifies the influencing factors of gratitude
into four categories: factors related to favor itself, the factors of the benefactor, the factors of the
beneficiary, and environmental factors.
(1) Favor
In the context of exchange, if customers received some relationship benefits (e.g. additional
efforts, care, or gifts from the service providers), they would be grateful. These relationship
benefits belong to favors to customers; for the seller, it is an investment in relationship
marketing. Palmatier, Jarvis, Bechkoff, and Kardes (2009) argued that an investment in
relationship marketing by the seller could generate the gratitude of short-term customers.
Regarding the value of favor, Wood, Maltby, Stewart, Linley, and Joseph (2008d) pointed out
that those who considered help from others as more valuable would have a higher state of
gratitude. In addition, the degree of interest would influence the state of gratitude through
beneficial appraisal, implying that the value of favor would influence gratitude. Unsworth,
Turner, Williams, and Piccin-Houle (2010) explored the relationship between postgraduates and
their professors, and found that there was positive correlation between the altruistic behavior
and value of the behavior of professors and the gratitude of postgraduates.

7
(2) The benefactor
The efforts and motivations of the benefactor would influence gratitude. Wood, Maltby, Stewart,
Linley, and Joseph (2008d) assumed that, when the one being helped believed that the helper
spent high costs to help him/her with altruistic intentions, the former would have a higher state
of gratitude. Tsang (2006b) found that if the helper extended help with the motivation of
benevolence and unselfishness, the one being helped was more likely to feel gratified. Weinstein,
DeHaan, and Ryan (2010) thought that the one being helped was more likely to feel gratitude for
the helper with spontaneous motivation than that with controlled motivation. In addition, unlike
the aforementioned study categories, Tsang (2006a) deemed that favor given by others resulted
in higher gratitude than gained by accident, implying that gratitude had a strong relationship with
the benefactor, meaning the benefactor was a vital factor generating gratitude.
(3) The beneficiary
When the personality traits of an individual had the characteristics of gratitude, it had key
influence on the presence of gratitude. Wood, Maltby, Stewart, Linley, and Joseph (2008d)
believed that those with characteristics of high gratitude had more positive beneficial appraisals
regarding help from others, resulting in a higher state of gratitude. More positive beneficial
appraisal included that the help from others was more valuable, and was given with higher costs
and stronger altruistic intentions.
(4) Environment
The relationship environment in which the benefactor and the beneficiary interact influences
gratitude. Unsworth, Turner, Williams, and Piccin-Houle (2010) discovered that, in a relationship
with high trust, gratitude was less likely to be generated, because, in such relationship, the parties
had had the expectation to obtain interest, thus, less attention was paid to the favor extended by
the benefactor. So, there was less gratitude. Moreover, Cohen (2006) found that gratitude varied
according to individuals, culture, and religions. Culture and religion belonged to environmental
factors, while individual was the beneficiary previously mentioned.

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Table 1. Gratitude Studies Published in Academic Journals in Recent Years.
Author and
Publication Year
Method Theme Findings
Algoe, Gable and
Maisel (2010)
Questionnaire Roles of gratitude and
indebtedness in
maintaining a romantic
relationship between
cohabiting lovers
For men and women, the gratitude
generated from interactions could
enhance the relationship and increase
satisfaction with future life.
Indebtedness could maintain a
relationship, while gratitude could
improve a relationship.
Andersson,
Giacalone and
Jurkiewicz (2007)
A longitudinal
study on 308
American white-
collars
Influences on social
responsibility of hope and
gratitude
Hope and gratitude could raise the
awareness of social responsibility of
employees. Employees with stronger
hope and gratitude had a stronger
sense of responsibility over other
employees and social events, but did
not influence the sense of
responsibility over
economic/security/quality events.
Bartlett and
DeSteno (2006)
Experiment with
student samples
Correlation between
gratitude and prosocial
behaviors
The beneficiary would exert efforts to
help the benefactor, even if the former
had to pay the costs. The effects of
gratitude were different from general
positive emotions. Gratitude could
drive helping behaviors.
Chen, Chen, Kee
and Tsai (2009)
Questionnaire
with student
samples
Verification of the validity
of the GQ6 questionnaire
Confirmatory factor analysis showed
that five items model was superior to
GQ6.
Cohen (2006) Retrospective and
qualitative study
Cohen reviewed the key
points of Emmons and
McCullough (2003) and
discussed four questions,
including: Is gratitude an
emotion? What are the
cognitive components of
gratitude? Is gratitude
positive or negative? Is
gratitude moral?
Gratitude was not necessarily a
positive emotion. When gratitude
could not be returned, a sense of guilt
would be generated. It was not
necessary for gratitude to have a
reason and assessment structure.
Gratitude varied due to individuals,
culture, and religions.
Dahl, Honea and
Manchanda (2003)
Critical incidents
and questionnaire
In the context of a
consumption, the
categories of the sense of
guilt related to a
consumption, and
consumer reactions which
resulted from different
senses of guilt.
There were three kinds of guilt based
on different reasons, including:
negative influence on others (other
type), violation of social morality
(social type), and failure to achieve a
self-standard (self-type). Consumers
with the social type of guilt were more
likely to adopt corrective measures
than those with the self-type of guilt.
Consumers with the self-type of guilt
were more likely to adopt admitting
measures than those with the social
type of guilt.

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Author and
Publication Year
Dahl, Honea and
Manchanda (2005)
Experimental
study
Cause and influence of
the sense of guilt of
consumers
When consumers and salesmen had
social connections, and consumers had
the right to control their purchase
decisions, if consumers did not
purchase, a sense of guilt would be
generated. When consumers had the
sense of guilt, in their future
interaction with the salesmen, they
wanted to make up for the latter,
rather than for the company.
Howells (2014) Questionnaire
and focus group
Investigate the role that
gratitude may have in
enhancing teacher-student
relationships.
Gratitude impacted positively on the
teachers, classroom and school
environment.
Lin (2015) Questionnaire Explore the relationship
between gratitude and
depression in young
adults
Self-esteem and psychological well-
being acted as full mediators of the
association between gratitude and
depression
Lin (2016) Questionnaire Explore the relationship
between gratitude and
well-being
Structural equation modeling showed
partial mediation effects of social
support and coping style between
gratitude and well-being
Palmatier, Jarvis,
Bechkoff and
Kardes (2009)
Experimental
study and
longitudinal field
study
Explore the mediating
role of gratitude in the
correlation between the
investment in relationship
marketing by the seller
and performance results
The investment in relationship
marketing by the seller generated the
gratitude of short-term consumers.
Based on return behaviors related with
gratitude, consumers generated the
long-term performance interests of the
seller.
Raggio and Folse
(2011a)
Online survey Effects of gratitude
activities held by
governments in disaster
areas
Governments held gratitude activities
to respond to the help from the
outside, which was appropriate and
beneficial. After receiving the
expression of gratitude, consumers
were more likely to purchase the
products made by the disaster area,
and continue to have prosocial
behaviors, such as volunteering and
donations. The gratitude activities
would also encourage those who had
not participated in the help and
recovery activities to join future similar
activities. This policy had economic
and social feedback to disaster areas.
Raggio and Folse
(2011b)
Online survey Effect of the gratitude
activities held by the
government after the
Louisiana hurricane
Those who had heard or saw the ads
of "gratitude" had more positive
attitude toward Louisiana and the local
residents. They were more willing to
purchase the products and services of

10
Author and
Publication Year
Louisiana at a higher price, visit the
state, and spread positive word of
mouth, indicating that it was
appropriate for the government to
hold gratitude activities. The
expression of gratitude generated
affective commitment, followed by
positive outcomes.
Soscia (2007) Experimental
study
The relationships among
assessment (goal
consistency/inconsistency
), consumer emotion
(gratitude, happiness,
guilt, anger, pride, and
sadness), and post-
consumption behavior
(positive and negative
word of mouth,
repurchase intention, and
complaint)
Assessment results generated
emotions, which affected the post-
consumption behavior. Especially
gratitude could predict re-purchase
intention and positive word of mouth,
while happiness could not. In addition,
the sense of guilt could prevent
complaints and negative word of
mouth.
Toussaint and
Friedman (2009)
Questionnaire
survey of the
patients in
Psychotherapy
Outpatient
The effect of forgiveness
and gratitude on well-
being, and whether the
relationship was
mediated by affect and
belief
Both forgiveness and gratitude had
strong and positive relationship with
well-being, and was mostly mediated
by affect and belief.
Tsang (2006a) Experimental
study
Adopting the method
different from the past
which was often used like
script of and self-
reporting. Tsang triggered
gratitude in the lab and
measured the influence of
gratitude on prosocial
behaviors. In addition,
Knowing whether
gratitude was equivalent
to positive emotion.
One was more likely to have gratitude
when receiving a favor from others,
rather than receiving a favor by
accident. The favor from others could
inspire the motivation of prosocial
behavior to the benefactor.
Tsang (2006b) Experimental
study
The influence of intention
of the helper on gratitude
and indebtedness
When comparing benevolence and
unknown motivations, Tsang found
that, if the helper extended help with
the motivation of benevolence, the
one being helped was more likely to
feel gratified. Nevertheless, there were
no difference between the influences
of benevolence and unknown
motivations of the helper on
indebtedness. When comparing
selfishness and unselfishness
motivation, Tsang found that, if the
helper extended help with unselfish
motivation, the one being helped was

11
Author and
Publication Year
more likely to feel gratified.
Nevertheless, there were no difference
between the influences of selfishness
and unselfishness of the helper on
indebtedness. The findings indicated
that gratitude and indebtedness were
two different emotions.
Unsworth,
Turner, Williams
and Piccin-Houle
(2010)
Interview and
online
questionnaire
Study on the emotion and
expression of gratitude,
and the relationship
between postgraduates
and their professors in the
context of relationship.
There was positive correlation between
the altruistic behavior and value of
behavior of professors and gratitude of
their postgraduates. Such a conclusion
was true in the context of work
relationships with low trust rather than
with high trust.
Weinstein,
DeHaan and Ryan
(2010)
Reading a script
and answering
open-ended
questions
Influence of the
spontaneous motivation
of the helper and the
controlled motivation on
the one being helped
The one being helped received the
extended help with spontaneous
motivation was more likely to feel
gratitude than that with controlled
motivation. Help with spontaneous
motivation could predict positive
attitude and affect, as well as intimate
feeling of the one being helped.
Gratitude played a mediating role in
the influence of spontaneous help on
the positive attitude, well-being, and
intimate feeling of the one being
helped.
Wood, Joseph and
Maltby (2008a)
Questionnaire of
389 adults
Predictive ability of
gratitude to life
satisfaction
After controlling the Big Five domains
of personality, gratitude could explain
9% more variance of life satisfaction.
After controlling the Big Five all facets
of personality, gratitude could explain
8% more variance of life satisfaction.
Wood, Maltby,
Gillett, Linley and
Joseph (2008b)
Longitudinal field
study and
questionnaire
Correlation among
gratitude, social support,
stress, and frustration
The direct model obtained support.
Gratitude could gain higher social
support, and reduce stress and
frustration.
Wood, Maltby,
Stewart and
Joseph (2008c)
Questionnaire Structure of gratitude and
appreciation
Analysis of the exploratory factors
indicated that gratitude and
appreciation were the same factor.
Multi-group confirmatory factor
analysis also indicated that gratitude
and appreciation were a single-factor
structure, and for respondents of
different genders, such structure did
not change. The author suggested that
literature on gratitude and appreciation
could be integrated.
Wood, Maltby,
Stewart, Linley
Experiment of
reading essays
Establishing the
mechanism to connect the
Those with high characteristics of
gratitude had more positive beneficial

12
Author and
Publication Year
and Joseph
(2008d)
characteristics of
gratitude, objective
context, and state of
gratitude
appraisal on the help from others,
resulting in a higher state of gratitude.
More positive beneficial appraisal
included the consideration that the
help from others was more valuable,
and was given with more costs and
stronger altruistic intention. Such
positive beneficial appraisal fully
mediated the relationship between the
characteristics and state of gratitude.
Moreover, objective contexts with high
and low benefits would influence the
state of gratitude through beneficial
appraisal.
Wood, Joseph and
Maltby (2009)
Questionnaire Predictive ability of
gratitude to psychological
well-being
The predictive ability of gratitude to
psychological well-being was stronger
than that of the 30 facets of Big Five
of personality.

13
Conclusion
Gratitude is often used in everyday life; however, the users of gratitude lack correct concepts
because very few studies on gratitude, and insufficient attention was paid to such significant
emotion. Certainly, it is a pity that gratitude is not properly utilized in life and organization
management. Through examining past studies on gratitude, this study obtains a clearer concept
of gratitude. Additionally, we know the favorable results of gratitude which should be well
utilized; surely, the findings also could prevent the occurrence of negative results of gratitude.
Moreover, fully understanding the influencing factors of gratitude is beneficial to managers to
propose strategies that can inspire gratitude. To sum up, this study is helpful to effectively
interpret and manage the attitudes and behaviors of gratitude.
Acknowledgements
The author is grateful to Ministry of Science and Technology in Taiwan for the financial support
(MOST 104-2410-H-024-018-MY2).
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p-ISSN: 1694-2620
e-ISSN: 1694-2639
Vol. 9, No. 4, 2017, pp. 16-30, ©IJHSS
Motion Event Constructions in Oromo: Semantic and
Morpho-Syntactic Properties*
Wakweya Olani†
and Elizabet Minase
PhD Candidates of Descriptive and Theoretical Linguistics at Addis Ababa University
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Abstract
Framing of motion events involves realization of the component schema encoded in verb roots
or in other elements out of the verb root which identifies a certain language into its category of
the motion event pattern. The present paper tries to outline major points about motion event
systems in Oromo in terms of semantic and morpho-syntactic characteristics in which some
syntactic and pragmatic patterns are also slightly treated. The semantic core schemas are mainly
considered, and the component elements of the framing verb —figure, motion, path, ground and
co-events (manner and cause) are distinctly addressed as they are realized in Oromo. Three
forms of lexicalizing core schemas have been identified as figure conflating, path conflating and
co-event conflating types in the language. The ground in motion events is marked by using case
patterns, and the verb argument mainly occurs in monovalent structure though few motion verbs
seem to be bivalent by assigning accusative case to their direct objects.
Key words: motion, encoding, framing, event.
Introduction
Background
The mode of encoding motion events is a language specific preference in terms of semantic
component elements in an event. Oromo, a member of the lowland East branch of Cushitic
family in the Afro-Asiatic phylum, is named as Afaan Oromo in the language community, which
literally means ‗language of Oromo. In Oromo, motion events are systematized semantically and
morpho-syntactically; the cognitively conceptualized metaphoric expressions as in Samuel‘s,
(2007) and some pragmatic constraints are also important in motion systems of the language.
The aim of the present paper is to revisit the description of occurrence patterns of motion
events in Oromo mainly in terms of their conflation systems along with some morpho-syntactic
properties. It focuses on semantic values with some innovations as additional points to what has
already been described so far in few relevant studies.
* We are grateful to Dr. Meyer, Ronny and Dr. Endalew Asefa for their constructive comments in the
preparation of this paper. There’s much to say about their generous support in directing and
advising us towards quality of our work.
†
Corresponding Author, E-mail: wakwoyaolani@yahoo.com

17
In the typological sense as Talmy, (2000) states, an event mainly conflates motion with semantic
elements like figure, path and manner in which motion is the basic component that yields the
other information pieces in appropriate morpho-syntactic and semantic fashion. Motion event
which represents any movement encoded by verb is systematized in its semantic components,
and hence the verb is considered as macro-event, in Talmy‘s terms, for the analyzable elements
in it. The semantic components of motion events are considered as the core schemas based on
which typological categorizing of languages may happen because motion events encode notions
of figure, path and co-events in different systems either in the verb root, or in separate elements
out of the verb. Talmy, (2000) identifies a two way distinction of verbs in the languages‘
typological system of encoding motion as verb-framed and satellite-framed types; the earlier one
represents the conflation of motion with the semantic element, path in the verb root whereas the
latter one refers to using of separate patterns (satellites) for expressing path.
In addition to Talmy‘s typological two-way verb forms of motion in languages, other scholars
like Ameka and Essegbey, (2013) suggest the third type as equipollently-framed languages
involving both features of verb-framed and satellite-framed motion event patterns in almost
equal realizations related with path encoding. Languages may normally exert both verb-framed
and satellite-framed patterns of encoding motion events, mostly not in equal status, so that one is
dominant over the other; for example, English is basically a satellite-framed language that
involves few verb-framed patterns as in the verbs enter and exit —motion+ path conflation. It is
pretty rare to find languages that equally employ both features so that we just consider the
dominant one for determining motion event system typology of a certain language. Verkerk,
(2014: 308) states that languages are labeled as verb-framed or satellite-framed on the basis of
frequency of the unmarked system to encode path because languages usually employ both
framing types not in equal status.
Some studies treated motion events in Cushitic languages few of which are parts of the
Grammar related studies or under other broader topics. Occurrence pattern of motion events in
Cushitic languages may behave the same in some ways especially for the genetic relation; Hence,
Kambaata —Tries (2007) and Sidaama —Kawachi (2007) are taken into account as additional
references especially for some comparative sense in case the explanatory context demands some
relational point. Oromo motion systems are revisited in this paper based on Talmy‘s typological
theory and the most relevant studies conducted so far. The purpose is to substantiate what is
already done through additional data explanations, and to fill some overlooked issues in Oromo
motion events. The specific objectives to be met are as follows:
- Identifying and classifying encoding of the motion.
- Characterizing the occurrence patterns of motion events in terms of semantic and morpho-
syntactic properties.
Methods
After identifying the related studies on the concept of motion events and data systems, semantic
and morpho-syntactic properties of Oromo motion events are treated based on the research
outputs and empirical evidences, but the semantic aspect is given due attention as the meaning-
wise component elements of motion events are important issues in such studies. The paper work
follows appropriate procedure of surveying the relevant studies and reviewing them thoroughly
with involvement of some data presentations where necessary; primary and secondary data items
were employed. For the new data items, the tool is introspection since one of the investigators is
native of Oromo. Relevant points of the previous studies and the new data were systematically
organized based on the language specific motion encoding patterns; these points were presented
in light with Leonard Talmy‘s typological theories of languages in their motion event systems.
Using the compiled research outputs and data presentations, some inferred discussions in the
Oromo motion systems were provided with appropriate conclusions afterwards.

18
The literature: Overview
Oromo is basically an SOV language whose case system is nominative marked; the accusative
case is morphologically unmarked while subject of transitive and intransitive verbs are marked
for nominative case (Debela and Meyer, 2008; Konig, 2008). Besides the semantic phenomenon
of expressing motion events, morpho-syntactic and syntactic constraints also play significant
roles in determining the typological category of a language so that involvement of morphology
and syntax happens according to the language‘s preference (Walchli and Solling, 2013:87). The
communicative value of motion verbs may sometimes depend on even pragmatic sense; a certain
syntactically acceptable motion expression can be semantically senseless due to using of less
appropriate patterning with the involvement of shared knowledge (Meyer, 2007). Oromo is
identified as a verb-framed language in Talmy‘s typology in which the core schema (path) is
mapped into the verb with rich path conflation in motion events (Debela, 2007; Samuel, 2007).
The verb-framed system of encoding motion is hypothetically considered to be the basic feature
of the general African languages (Schaefer and Graines, 1997: 197), and Oromo probably
confirms this tendency. However, some features of satellite-framed languages like manner
conflation in verb root are also observed in the language since there is no language with rigid
boundary referring to one typological framing of core schema in motion verbs.
Previous studies on motion event constructions in Oromo (Debela, 2006 & 2007; Samuel, 2007;
Debela and Meyer, 2008) and Highland East Cushitic languages like Sidaama (Kawachi, 2007),
and Kambaata (Tries, 2007) can be cited as the related ones. However, the studies on Oromo are
obviously the most relevant descriptive works with considerable points taken into account in the
present paper. Debela, (2006) classifies motion events in Oromo according to their integrated
semantic components according to Talmy‘s typological elements in motion verbs —motion,
path, co-event, figure, and ground. Debela, (2007) treats path conflating motion verbs re-
considering the sub-categories within path-oriented motion verbs stated in his broader work
about one year back; both papers focus on semantic phenomenon of the motion events in
Oromo with slight consideration of the syntactic and/or morpho-syntactic properties of motion
verbs, but Debela and Meyer, (2008) focuses on marking of grounds as syntactic phenomenon of
motion events with some morpho-syntactic patterns in the language. The basically motion verb
baɁuu ‗to go out‘ in Oromo as described by Samuel, (2007) focuses on semantic representational
variations and schematic analysis with a detailed explanations. On the way of describing semantic
properties of the verb, it treats the motion related features in the language indicating that motion
verbs on one hand may convey semantic elements like path in the root and on the other hand
such semantic features are expressed by separate words (like adpositions or nouns), not in the
verb root. For example, the verb sussukuu ‗to trot‘ which conflates motion with manner and
seenuu ‗to enter‘ which conflates motion with path dominantly convey semantic elements (path
and manner) in semantics of their root so does the motion verb baɁuu ‗to go out‘ in Samuel‘s
paper which conflates path.
Tries (2007) describes Kambaata as verb-framed motion encoding system; it demonstrates the
occurrence of path, manner, figure and ground of motion in terms of morpho-syntactic and
semantic characteristics along with case systems on ground NP‘s for encoding path. Considering
Sidaama as a verb-framed language, Kawachi (2007) describes the motion event with specific
semantic category, manner as conflated notion; it examines manner verbs in connection with
boundary crossing and ground positioning (goal and source NP‘s). The paper focuses on
morpho-syntactic phenomenon with some semantic considerations in manner verb
constructions of the language.

19
Results and Discussion
Oromo motion event systems
The core semantic components of motion events figure, motion itself, path, ground and co-
event (manner/cause) from which path is the predominantly lexicalized entity in the verb root
are systematized in Oromo. The conflation types are motion with figure, motion with path, and
motion with co-event (manner/cause) though Debela, (2006) adds the fourth conflation motion
with neutral semantic category, motion only. Even though encoding these semantic elements in
the verb root is mainly observed, path and manner can also be expressed by preverbs or other
forms out of the motion verb; these happens through separate markers in satellite forms through
different systems. The co-events, manner and cause happen in locomotive and non-locomotive
motion events respectively. The ground NP is structured either in unmarked form or through
case marking that grammaticalizes other functions like object or adjunct in motion event
construction of the language. The core schemas of framing verbs in Oromo are as follows:
Figure
A certain kind of figure (the moving entity) is inevitably involved in motion events, and the
motion verbs that relatively specify the figure are considered as figure conflating verbs. As one
type of motion events, such verbs as in Debela, (2006: 62) are described figure-oriented because
they convey figure specification within the verb root. This might be conceptually similar with
Kersten‘s (2003: 919) point of the figure‘s involvement in motion encoding; it states that the
information of motion is not only conveyed by verbs but also by nouns in some appropriate
contexts whereby the noun is considered to play a determining share of a motion type. The two
approaches towards motion and figure integration seems to be conversely proportional that the
earlier one focuses on the motion verb identifying the figure type whereas the latter prefers the
figure type to be determining factor for the motion type; however, the general point is that figure
and motion are semantically intertwisted in some verbs like ɗanɡalaɁuu ‗to be spilt‘, jaaɁuu ‗flow‘,
ʧ’op’uu ‗drop‘, bubbisuu ‗blow‘, lolaɁuu ‗to flood‘ in Oromo.
Most of the ―figure-oriented‖ motion verbs are derived from nouns whose meanings are related
with the noun (i.e. figure) they are derived from. These verbs include: lolaɁuu ‗to flood‘, bubbisuu
‗to blow‘, roobuu ‗to rain‘, and their bases (noun forms) are lolaa ‗flood‘, bubbee ‗sandstorm‘, rooba
‗rain‘ respectively. Hence, the semantic connections between the motion of the verb and nature
of the figure are intuitive because they are basically from the same notional roots. However,
there are motion and figure combinations in verbs that are not derivational like ɗanɡalaɁuu ‗to be
spilt‘. Consider the examples in 1 below:
1 (a) aannan ɗanɡalaɁ-e (b) muʧ’aa-n kurkur-t-e
milk:Nom spill-3sm:Pfv child-Nom toddle-3sf-Pfv
‗The milk spilt‘ ‗The child toddled‘
(c) lolaa-n lolaɁ-e (d) bubbee-n bubbis-e
Flood-Nom flood-3sm:Pfv sandstorm-Nom blow-3sm:Pfv
‗The flood flooded‘ ‗The sandstorm blew‘
The motion verbs in (a) and (b) above identify that the subjects are liquid and child respectively
as their semantic content; these verbs are semantically figure-oriented. The verb ɗanɡalaɁe ‗spilt‘
takes as liquid subject, and the verb kurkurte ‗toddled‘ refers to a child subject with the
diminutive marker -t- as in the verb. Unlike the first two sentences in example 1 above, the latter
two (c) and (d) contain verbalized forms of the nouns (their subjects) so that they are inherently

20
related because their verbal sense emanates from the nominal sense itself, but semantics as
conflation of motion and figure is involved in all framing verbs above.
Since, the figure-oriented motion verbs seem to be embraced under the co-event, manner, they
can be considered as sub-categories of manner conflating verbs. Such verbs lexicalize figure
besides the co-event but a large number of other verbs happen as manner-oriented ones without
encoding figure in the verb root. This may make us categorize manner verbs as motion + manner +
figure and motion + manner types in their sub-division in Oromo. In such analysis, we find a two
way distinction of motion encoding in Oromo regarding conflation of semantic components in
the motion event as path-oriented and manner-oriented which can ultimately be considered as
Ameka and Essegbey‘s (2013) motion typology, equipollently-framed language. However, this
hypothetical tendency needs to be confirmed by other research with more empirical evidences in
motion related features of the language. Such complexity of verb components in languages is a
token for high integration of events as typological theories indicate. According to Wakasa (2016:
146), the semantic components motion and manner conveyed in one clause makes it complex
event in the integration pattern; taking event other semantic component like figure, as in Oromo,
would make it more complex event.
Motion
The major and typical semantic component, motion is considered for determining the verb type
in event description, and the event involves some kind of movement. Basically, motion event can
be neutral or without conflating of other semantic schemas like path and figure in the verb root
as a categorical possibility in languages Talmy, (2007: 101). However, occurrence of a sole
motion conflation in Oromo can be controversial.
According to Debela, (2006), the Oromo verb deemuu ‗to go‘ is considered to convey motion only
without specifying the figure, path, manner, etc of its own. The unmarked NP seeming the verb
object happens in adjunctive function though it appears in the same form in paradigmatic
position and morphological similarity with the syntactic object. The movement (translocation)
conveyed in the verb deemuu ‗to go‘ is not known what the figure takes for the motion; maybe by
car or on horseback or on foot etc. Neither does it show what course of motion the figure
follows for moving from one location to the other as claimed in Debela‘s paper, so that the verb
deemuu ‗to go‘ is considered as just motion-oriented.
However, it seems empirically pretty ungrounded to determine the verb deemuu ‗to go‘ neutrally
motion-oriented because it can have a notion of path when it is used alone in a sentence
(without a verb external path encoding element) in Oromo (Debela and Meyer 2008). Separate
path encoding preverbs may actually change path of the motion by changing the deictic center.
2 (a) muʧ’-iʧʧ-I deem-e (b) muʧ’-iʧʧ-i as- deem-e
boy-Def-Nom go-3sm:Pfv boy-Def-Nom Path-go-3sm:Pfv
‗The boy went away‘ The boy walked towards here‘
The route taken is away from a deictic center that deeme ‗went away‘ seems to conflate motion
and path behaving like the verb sokke ‗went away‘ in (a) above. Actually, varied path can be
expressed with this verb, when it is used with path encoding preverbs like as- ‗here‘, aʧʧi ‗there‘
as opposite direction. The preverb as- ‗here‘, in (b), is an adverbial proclitic which indicates the
path of the motion by specifying the way to be taken by the figure.
Path
Indicating the granular nature of events in motion construction, Antunano, (2008: 409) states
that path is the core semantic element in motion events whose elaboration and way of encoding

21
may differ in languages. Path (the way taken) can either be lexicalized in verb root or expressed
in separate elements using adpositions or some relevant case markings especially for source
indicating NP‘s and destination indicating NP‘s; these markers refer to ground marking in order
to encode path element. This supports, Tries‘ (2007: 199) and Kawachi‘s (2007:5) point that path
can be conveyed through case marking on ground nouns and lexicalizing motion with path in
verb root as well, but it is pervasively lexicalized in the framing verb.
The path-oriented verbs make an important type of motion verbs because there are many verbs
of this kind in Oromo; they happen conflating motion and path together. Examples of these
motion verbs are ɗufuu ‗to come‘, ɡaluu ‗go home‘, k’ak’k’abuu ‗reach‘, lit’uu ‗to enter‘, ɗak’uu ‗to
go‘, baɁuu ‗to exit‘, deebiɁuu ‗to return‘, etc that are classified into other sub-categories whereby
the path element is common feature to all of them. The verbs are sub-categorized on the criteria
of deictic space and base object that are somehow involved in the motion event of path. The
motion may happen towards or from the deictic center; or it may be towards, away, across,
beside or around the base. Debela‘s, (2006) is a relatively broader description of motion verbs in
terms of semantic properties in Oromo besides which he treats again a more specific part of
motion verbs in the language focusing on path-conflating verbs. Hence, Debela (2007) explains
that path can either be lexicalized in the verb root or encoded by separate elements (adpositions
or preverbs) in Oromo. The motion event also considers deictic position, reference point and
ground in systematizing path in motion events of the language.
The speaker or the addressee is the deictic center for the path conflating motion events in some
verbs like ɗufuu ‗to come‘, koott-u/-aa ‗come-sg/-pl‘ (suppletive imperative form of the verb ɗufuu
‗to come‘) and sokkuu ‗to go‘ in which the meaning is based on where the speaker or the
addressee is in the given discourse. Have a look at examples 3 below:
3 (a) inni ɗuf-e (b) (ati) koott-u
he:Nom come-3sm:Pfv (you:Nom) come-2s:Imp
‗He came‘ ‗(you) come‘
These sentences are conceptualized in relation to the deictic position of the speaker or the
addressee; for instance, sentence (a) may have two meanings in terms of the speaker and the
addressee related deictic centers although it is basically related with the speaker‘s deictic center.
The motion verb koott- ‗come‘ is just referring to the speaker related deictic center which the
figure moves as in (b) without an overt goal NP because the discourse connected deictic location
is not necessarily stated. A motion event can have relevant goal NP (the addressee related deictic
center) as in example 4 below whereby the destination needs stated overtly as the goal NP
because the word ɗufuu ‗to come‘ is mainly considered as the speaker related deictic center.
4 inni gara-koo/kee ɗuf-e
he:Nom vicinity-Poss:1s/2s come-3sm:Pfv
‗He came to where I am/where you are‘
The speaker/addressee related deictic center is distinguished by the given goal NP in the
sentences above, and the word gara can be categorized as a noun class in such genitive
construction [noun + genitive] combination in 4 confirming Debela and Meyers‘s (2008) claim
that gara basically means ‗vicinity‘ being, and it is a noun. The Oromo verb sokkuu ‗to go‘ which
conflates motion and path can happen in speaker or addressee based deictic center when the
overt source of motion is not stated. Especially, in interrogative construction the deictic center
from which the figure moves is addressee related.

22
5 (a) inni harɁa sokk-e
he:Nom today leave-3sm:Pfv
‗He left today‘
(b) inni yoom sokk-e
he:Nom when leave-3sm:Pfv
‗When did he leave?‘
The source information intuitive to both the speaker and the addressee is the speaker related
deictic location in sentence 5 (a) because the path conflating motion verb sokkuu ‗to go‘
represents that the figure departing from some defined location away in the discourse. In the
second example, sentence (b), the source information is sought from the addressee which implies
that the figure departs from the addressee related deictic center away. Therefore, the verb sokkuu
‗to go‘ is understood for its source in the discourse though the path is already there.
Other groups of Oromo verbs that conflate motion and path can also be described in relation
with static or moving base so that the motion happens towards, across, through or away from
the base in the language. These information pieces may happen to be conveyed in the motion
verb along with the component element path. Particular verbs of this kind in Oromo include:
ɗak’uu ‗to go‘, ɡaɁuu ‗to reach‘, k’ak’k’abuu ‗to arrive‘, ɡaluu ‗to go home‘, lit’uu ‗to enter‘, deebiɁuu
‗to return‘, faʧ’aɁuu ‗to disperse‘, naannaɁuu ‗to circle‘, ʧ’eɁuu ‗to cross‘, and so on. Here are some
examples of path conflating motion verbs with base related information:
6 (a) inni bijja-tti ɡal-e. (b) muʧ’aa-n na k’ak’k’ab-e.
he:Nom country-to go-
3sm:Pfv
child-Nom me reach-3sm:Pfv
‗He went back to his country.‘ ‗The child catches up with me.‘
(c) muʧ’aa-n muka jaab-e (d) nam-ich-i darb-e.
child-Nom tree climb-3sm:Pfv man-Def-
Nom
pass-3sm:Pfv
‗The child climbed a tree.‘ ‗The man passed by.‘
Debela, (2006)
The verb ɡale ‗went home (country)‘ in 6 (a) encodes the information that the figure just went to
his homeland (towards a base), and the destination marked by -tti probably adds some meaning
of staying there for long time as place of residence. The opposite expression, the figure goes
somewhere for short time is conveyed by the verb ɗak’e ‗went‘ which indicates that someone
moved away from a certain base with the intention of getting back after some time. The sentence
in (b) contains the verb k’ak’k’abe ‗arrived‘ which means got closer to the moving base (a)na ‗me‘
so that the motion is considered in terms of the non-static base unlike the verb ɡale ‗went home
(land)‘ of sentence (a) whose destination is the static base ‗home country‘. The unmarked goal
NP‘s in (b) and (c) seem to be syntactically and semantically direct objects because they are
somehow affected by action of the verb; the goal NP‘s especially the animate bases are assigned
for accusative case in Oromo motion event as bivalent structure. The verb jaabe ‗climbed‘ in (c) is

23
a movement upward from the earth, and the opposite is buɁe ‗climb down‘ which is a motion to
the reverse whereby the point of departure is somewhere in the upper position of maybe a tree
or a mountain or a building. The motion verb darbe ‗passed by‘ in (d) is better considered as
basically bivalent verb, and it expresses that a side of something (i.e. base) is taken for the motion
to happen; the verb can also be used along with adpositions like keessa ‗through‘, irra ‗above‘ or
ʤala ‗under‘ as preverbs for further specified path (Debela, 2006: 61).
A motion verb with a physically realized basic meaning can have several metaphorical meanings
on the basis of sociolinguistic —language use and morpho-syntactic properties in which goal and
source alternation makes semantic distinction along with morphological patterns. A case in
point, the meaning of the word ɡaluu ‗to enter‘ happens to encode different meanings in varieties
of structures as in 7 below:
7 (a) inni mana-tti ol-ɡal-e (b) inni mana-tti ɡal-e
he:Nom house-to up-enter-3sm:Pfv he:Nom house-to go-3sm:Pfv
‗He entered into the house‘ ‗He went to home‘
(c) inni waadaa naaf ɡal-e (d) aariin isa irra-a ɡal-e
he:Nom promise me:Appl
enter-3sm:Pfv
he:Nom anger:Nom him Loc:Abl go-3sm:Pfv
‗He gave me his word‘
(Lit: He entered into a promise for me)
‗He settled his anger‘
(Sorrow went away from him)
The pre-verb ol- ‗up‘ in (a) adds a sense of immediacy to meaning of the verb ɡale ‗entered‘, and
the encoded meaning with the pre-verb is to enter into a house which is the basic meaning of the
word itself. The pre-verb ol- ‗up‘ and the goal NP marker -tti both are obligatory for conveying
such meaning provided that the goal NP exists because the verb ɡale in (b) without the pre-verb
mostly expresses different meaning that it just indicates the figure went home; no information
about arriving at the destination or entering his house. Pre-verbs like ol- ‗up‘, ɡad- ‗down‘, ɡarɡar-
‗apart‘ can be integrated with path conflating motion verbs as adverbial functions (Debela, 2007:
80). The goal NP‘s in both (a) and (b) can be left out based on the awareness of the speaker and
the addressee about the destination of the figure in such motion. The meanings of the verb ɡale
in (c) and (d) are both metaphorically different. The action in (c) is not physical motion; it is
rather cognitive that the verb ɡale represents action in communication. The applicative object
like addressee (a)naaf ‗for me‘ is an optional participant that grammaticality of the sentence can
be okay without it, but its presence specifies the benefactive object. The verb ɡale with source
NP marked by vowel -a as in (d) encodes disappearance of some condition; it‘s a non-agentive
form which metaphorically conveys stative meaning rather than physical motion.
In addition to preverbs, path can be encoded by adpositions and case markings in Oromo which
are structural forms apart from the conflation system. Even the considerably path-oriented verbs
can take the adpositions and/or case marker for more specifying the goal or source NP of the
motion event. Debela and Meyer, (2008) demonstrates that adpositions like ɡara ‗vicinity‘, bira
‗near‘, and irra ‗top‘ are common nouns functioning as locational notions; case markers -ii and
ɗa+vowel length on source NP (ablative case), and -tti on the goal NP are with similar functions in
motion construction; they encode path.
According to Debela and Meyer (2008), adpositions and case markings may happen to change
meaning of the motion event; their occurrence may add some new information whereby their

24
absence makes a grammatical structure. Example 8 below provides slight difference between the
sentences with postposition keessa ‗inside‘ and without:
8 (a) Tolaa-n mana lit’-e Debela and Meyer,
(2008: 36, 40)
Tola-Nom house:Acc enter-
3sm:Pfv
‗Tola entered (his) house.‘
(b) Tolaa-n mana keessa lit’-e
Tola-Nom house:Acc inside:Acc enter-
3sm:Pfv
‗Tola entered into (his) house.
‘
The postposition keessa ‗inside‘ in (b) above adds emphasis only; no other significant meaning
change happens because its occurrence. Basically, the two sentences (a) and (b) are similar with
the unmarked object like goal NP in Oromo motion verb structure. The goal NP, mana ‗house‘
seems to be a direct object immediately following the verb in syntactic structure, but its semantic
aspect categorizes the goal NP as an adjunct for locational meaning.
Meaning change may, actually, happen for using adpositions in many situations of the language;
for instance, when the prepositional notion gara ‗vicinity‘ is used, the goal NP functions as the
location around which the motion is supposed to end whereas absence of the preposition makes
the goal NP the exact destination of the move (in the motion).
9 (a) inni Adaamaa deem-e
he:Nom Adama:Acc go-3sm:Pfv
‗He went to Adama‘
(b) inni gara Adaamaa deem-e
he:Nom vicinity:Acc Adama:Gen go-3sm:Pfv
‗He went towards Adama‘
(Lit: He went to the vicinity around Adama)
Absence of the preposition gara ‗vicinity‘ in 9 (a) indicates the exact destination of the motion
unlike the sentence (b) which conveys the notion of nearby the destination, not the exact
destination. This meaning difference lies in using of adpositions along with the goal or source
NP‘s as syntactic phenomenon; it works with several adpositions like bira ‗near‘ and irra ‗top‘ in
respective meanings. Occurrence of some adpositions and morphological markers in ground
NP‘s (goal and source) is mostly for adding emphasis to the ground.
Ground
The stationary reference point of motion is semantically connected with motion event as the
locational object encoded by morpho-syntactic pattern. Languages do not conflate motion and
ground in verbs; they rather use case marking to express the ground of motion. Talmy (2007: 99)
states that motion and ground are not considered together in conflation that the typological
theory recognizes the two entities as separate elements separately indicated in motion event
construction in languages. In Oromo motion verbs, three forms of conflation are observed: path,

25
figure and co-event are lexicalized in verb roots (cf. section 2.1), but ground NP‘s are marked by
case systems especially ablative for source NP and locative for goal NP (Debela 2006, 2007;
Debela and Meyer 2008). This common ground marking system seems to be for most Cushitic
languages as Kambaata and Sidaama behave similarly as described by Treis (2007) and Kawachi
(2007) respectively.
Many goal NP‘s are in the unmarked (citation) forms whereas some others can be marked in
Oromo motion construction; the marked goals may happen to be emphasized in the discourse
with a meaning diverted towards locative concept. Debela and Meyer, (2008) explains that the
locative marker -tti happens on the goal NP with a bit different meaning indicating the location
at which some action happened rather than a goal notion depending on the verb type that the
marked goal NP is used with.
10 (a) mana-a ala baɁ-e (b) Fufaa-n mana-tti deem-e
he:Nom country-
to
go-
3sm:Pfv
house-
Nom
house-Loc fall-3sm:Pfv
‗He went out of house‘ ‗Fufa went inside house‘
(c) mana lit’-e (d) mana-tti interneetii lit’-e
house:ACC enter-
3sm:Pfv
house-Loc internet:Acc enter-
3sm:Pfv
‗He entered into house‘ ‗He entered into house‘
Debela and Meyer, (2008: 8)
The morpheme -tti on the goal NP‘s of example 10 (b) and (d) indicate the locational notion of
the motion (where the action happened) with a sense of emphasis in the discourse whereas the
ground NP‘s in (a) and (c) mark source and goal respectively though the goal NP in (c) happen
in the base (citation) form. The source NP‘s are usually marked by the ablative morpheme -a in
Oromo, but the source NP in (c) is understood from the motion verb lit’uu ‗enter‘ which conveys
that the exterior part of a certain bounded area would be the source; the goal NP is relatively
more necessary for the completeness of the sentence.
Some path verbs are structured involving shared knowledge of the speakers and the addressee in
discourse about the ground; thus, the failure to recognize the shared knowledge makes the
motion to be conveyed in different verb choice. For example, topography of the destination
(place), if known or not, determines the verb type to be used in conflation related variation
(Meyer 2007: 6). In Oromo the words bu’uu ‗to descend‘ and ba’uu ‗to ascend‘ need such shared
knowledge so that the communication system goes well in pragmatic sense as in 11 below:
11 (a) inni Wallaga buɁ-e (b) inni Finfinnee baɁ-e
he:Nom Wallaga descend-
3sm:Pfv
he:Nom Finfinne:Acc ascend-
3sm:pfv
‗He went (down) to Wallaga‘ ‗He went (up) to Finfinne‘
These syntactically acceptable sentences in (a) and (b) happen to be pragmatically senseless if the
topographic knowledge of the destinations is a gap —not commonly known by the speaker and
the addressee. The verb in (a) indicates the slope goes downwards as one moves from the source
center to Wallaga, and (b) conveys the reverse meaning.

26
Co-events: manner and cause
The semantic component elements of motion verbs include co-events (mainly manner and
cause) in framing events besides figure, motion, path and ground. These co-events can occur
within the motion events as complex motion construction. The semantic component elements
manner, cause, concomitance*
and purpose are described as co-events in motion verb structuring
of which manner and cause are the most commonly lexicalized ones in the framing verb as the
literature indicates (Talmy, 2000: 220). Co-events can be expressed in different ways on the basis
of the typological identity of the language in event integration. They are expressed by elements
other than the motion verb especially in the verb-framed languages; they are lexicalized into the
verb roots so that the co-events are considered in conflation with motion especially as features
of satellite-framed languages. The other way to convey co-events is using subordination in the
complex sentence constructions which happens in most cases regardless of the language‘s
motion system typology (Ameka and Essegbey (2013: 23).
In Oromo motion events, manner is a co-event that can either be lexicalized in the verb root in
which motion and co-event (manner) are conflated or it can be expressed by elements other than
the motion verb especially as complex predication in converbal system, the predicate containing
gerundive form as manner encoding word in Debela (2007: 84) seems untenable as the gerundive
form is basically a nominal domain that is not analyzed as event expression, and the verbs with
final vowel length like fiigaa ‗running‘ are progressive event describers whose vowel lengths are
probably converb markers in progressive action. Manner is the common co-event in the motion
events in Oromo, and the other co-event, cause is mainly encoded by the morphological and
subordinating systems. The other co-events like concomitance and purpose, even cause are yet to
be treated in the language‘s motion event construction (seeking further study).
Manner conflating motion verbs are enormous in Oromo; manner is considered as the main
semantic element, but not necessarily exclusive of other semantic components like path, figure
and ground that may co-occur with in motion verbs. Verbs of such type include: fiiɡuu ‗to run‘,
tiraʧʧuu ‗to trudge‘, ʃekkeluu ‗to move with one leg‘, lowuu ‗to creep‘, tarkaanfaʧʧuu ‗to stride‘,
ɡanɡalaʧʧuu ‗to roll‘, siɡiɡaaʧʧuu ‗to slither‘, so and so forth. These verbs mainly encode manner
along with motion though some involve path too; for instance, the verb siɡiɡaaʧʧuu ‗to slither‘
conveys the meaning that the figure slithers downward on a certain slope course as the natural
gravity behaves this way. Look at the examples in 12 below:
12 (a) nam-iʧʧ-i tarkaanfat-e
man-Def-Nom stride-3sm:Pfv
‗The man strode‘
(b) ɗaɡ-iʧʧ-i siɡiɡaat-e
stone-Def-Nom slither-3sm:Pfv
‗The stone slithered down‘
Debela, (2006: 54f)
*
Represents events occurring at the same time because they are somehow related or maybe one
causes the other in a language. Such feature is probably encoded by the morpheme –(i)s as a suffix
appended to the co-event subject in Oromo.

27
The sentences indicate manner conflating motion verbs that (a) shows the way one takes foot
that is a relatively longer stepping distance walk whereas in (b) the figure gets dragged towards a
lower space of a slope on the earth surface. These and the related verbs are clearly manner-
oriented ones that they most importantly convey manner of the movement, how of the motion is
communicated within the motion verb.
When motion verbs happen in a complex way of structuring, the core schema contained in the
verb may determine the way the verbs co-occur in the sentence. The verbs put one after the
other in converbal sense can have two separate forms which is semantically constrained as
manner co-event system. Given that two main verbs involving motion, the one needs to precede
the other so that the sentence becomes grammatical and acceptable. Belkadi (2015: 58) indicates
that the main verbs precedence structure in motion systems depends on the inherent semantic
value and pragmatic consideration within the respective language. The precedence basis in
Oromo seems to be more prominently semantic because it, as in example 13 below, identifies the
meaning whereby two path verbs exert a certain meaning and manner verb co-occurring with
path verb shows another meaning.
13 (a) inni ɗuf-e-e sokk-e
he:Nom come-Pfv-Cnv go-3sm:Pfv
‗He came and then went‘
(b) inni fiig-e-e ɗuf-e
he:Nom run-3sm:Pfv-Cnv come-3sm:Pfv
‗He came running‘
The two path conflating verbs ɗufe ‗came‘ and sokke ‗went‘ in 13 (a) are just sequenced events
that happen one after the other, and the two verbs can structurally be exchanged with the
reversed acceptable meaning. Hence, the events are separate although the first is converb and the
next one is main verb in the complex predication. On the other hand, relation between the two
verbs fiige ‗ran‘ and ɗufe ‗came‘ in (b) is semantically different from that of (a), but their syntactic
structure is similarly okay. The meaning difference lies in the core schema that the sequenced
verbs express as their distinctive feature that is the co-event (manner) conflating motion verb
preceding the path conflating motion verb makes the manner verb an adverbial modifier instead
of separate motion event, and reversing the position of these verbs brings senseless construction
(Meyer, 2007: 8).
The other co-event, cause seems to happen in an action that conveys motion, and the motion in
such complex predication is the embedded semantic entity whereby the matrix verb is not a
trans-locational motion by itself but causes such motion. Hence, the co-event (cause) can be
considered as the conflated entity because the motion is caused by other verb. Such motion
expression happens as the second hidden motion event of an overt verb (Talmy 2007: 75). In
Oromo, the verbs like ɗiituu ‗to kick‘ and darbaʧʧuu ‗to throw‘ in 14 below may happen to be of
this kind because they are motion causing actions through body movement.
14 (a) inni kubbaa ol-ɗiit-e (b) inni ɗakaa aʧʧi-darbat-e
he:Nom ball:Acc Path-
kick-
3sm:Pfv
he:Nom stone:Acc Path-throw-
3sm:Pfv
‗He kicked a ball up‘ ‗He threw a stone away‘

28
Within the simple like sentence in (a), the verb ɗiite ‗kicked‘ is construed to embed the motion
event [cause move] of the object kubbaa ‗ball‘, and the other sentence (b) contains the verb
darbate ‗threw‘ with the same hidden meaning [cause move] of the object ɗakaa ‗stone‘. The
matrix verbs are just the causers of the motions as co-event system, and the motion is a kind of
locomotive motion through non-locomotive movement because the agent causes the motion
through axial body movement. If the cause event ɗiite ‗kicked‘ should be structured with overt
framing verb as complex clause, the cause indicating event precedes, and the sentence follows
temporal structuring in separate clauses. However, such meaning is usually the understood one
from the embedded meaning within the matrix verb (Kawachi, 2016: 20).
Valence of motion verbs
Most of the motion verbs are like monovalent verbs in their syntactic structure that they happen
with adpositional or suffixal case of their bases which are clearly adjuncts from the surface forms
in the structure as well; however, some path-oriented verbs take a syntactically direct object like
NP right after the verb in the unmarked goal object in the accusative case. The unmarked forms
of direct objects look like the objects of transitive verbs in their morphological surface though
the functional information is an issue of argument.
The path conflating motion verbs especially that are referenced to moving or static base take a
direct object like NP in the syntactic relation likewise the mono-transitive verbs (in bivalent
system), and the passivisability may be okay; however, the NP that directly follows the motion
verb play different semantic role as an object motion verb because it doesn‘t receive action of the
verb unlike in non-motion verbs (Debela 2007). The object element in the motion verb
functions as specifying the base with reference to which the motion happens; therefore, it can be
considered as an adjunct on the basis of semantic constraint.
15 (a) muʧ’aa-n mana lit’-e. (b) man-ni lit’-am-e.
child-Nom house enter-
3sm:Pfv
he:Nom stone:Acc
‗The child entered the house.‘ ‗The house was entered.‘
Debela (2007:85)
The morphologically unmarked goad NP mana in (a) above seems to fulfill the syntactic and
morphological criteria with passivisability structure in (b); however, Debela (2007) considers the
accusative markedness possibility of this goal object and realizes it as false direct object; it hence
states that the verb lit’uu ‗to enter‘ is a monovalent verb. The role of the object is claimed to be
an adjunct appearing as a direct object of motion verbs especially with the path conflating ones
so that all motion verbs are treated as monovalent verbs.
According to Debela and Meyer (2008), motion verbs in Oromo are categorized into three based
on their valence in the goal marking system as morpho-syntactically marked (for verbs like
bakaʧʧuu ‗to run away‘, ʧ’eɁuu ‗to cross‘ and ɡodaanuu ‗to move‘), postpositionally modified (for
verbs like ɗak’uu ‗to go‘, ɗufuu ‗to come‘ and buɁuu ‗to descend‘) and the verb-externally
unmarked types (for verbs like darbuu ‗to pass‘, k’ak’k’abuu ‗to reach‘ and lit’uu ‗to enter‘.
Interestingly, the verb-externally unmarked goals of motion verbs are considered similarly with
the direct objects of bivalent (transitive) verbs in Oromo. The third type of motion verbs are just
like bivalent verbs with a sense of affectedness on the direct object, and this description seems to
be satisfying the criteria for the bivalent nature of some motion events.

29
Conclusion
As a dominantly verb-framed language, Oromo lexicalizes three core semantic entities figure,
path and co-event (basically manner) in the verb root as three forms of conflation. Path and co-
event (manner) are the most common semantic elements to be in the verb root; path as the most
widely lexicalized element in the verb root is encoded with reference to deictic center or a base
(stationary or moving). Besides, the conflation systems, these semantic entities are encoded by
preverbs, case markings and adpositions too; the affixes are on the ground NP‘s for case
markings in motion constructions. Case morphology is a considerable phenomenon in specifying
relational information between the motion verb and the ground NP (or the base). Even though
the overwhelming majority of path-oriented motion verbs are just considered as monovalent
types regardless of some direct object like goal NP‘s after them, there are some path-oriented
motion verbs constructed in bivalent argument system for their morpho-syntactic and semantic
applicability likewise the mono-transitive verbs.
Abbreviation
1,2,3 person
Abl ablative
Acc accusative
Appl applicative
Cnv converb
Def definite
article
f feminine
Gen possessor
Imp imperative
Loc locative
m masculine
Nom nominative
NP‘s noun
phrases
Pl plural
Pfv perfective
s singular
References
Antunano, I. I. (2008). Path Salience in Motion Events. J. Guo, E. Lieven, N. Budwig, S. Ervin-
Tripp, K. Nakamura, S. Őzçalişkan (eds.) Cross-linguistic Approaches to the Psychology of
Language. New York: Psychology Press, 403-414.
Belkadi, A. (2015). Associated motion with deictic directionals: A comparative eoverview. SOAS
Working Papers in Linguistics, 17: 49-76.
Debela G. (2007). Path in Oromo motion constructions. APAL – Annual Publications in African
Linguistics 5: 73-88.
Debela G. (2006). Manner, path and figure in Oromo verbs of motion. Lissan 20, 1/2: 51-66.
Debela G. and Meyer, R. (2008). Marking of grounds with path-oriented motion verbs in
Oromo. Unpublished manuscript.
Kawachi, K. (2016). Introduction: An Overview of Event Integration Patterns in African
Languages. Asian and African Languages and Linguistics, 10: 1-36.
Kawachi, K. (2007). Manner of motion verbs in Sidaama and boundary crossing. In: Elliot, M.,
Kirby, J., Sawada, O., Staraki, E. and Yoon, S. (eds.), Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Meeting
of the Chicago Linguistic Society, 2: pp. 1 – 15.
Kersten, A. W. (2003). Verbs and nouns convey different types of motion in event descriptions.
In Linguistics: 41(5), pp. 917 – 945.
König. Ch. (2008). The marked-nominative languages of eastern Africa. In: Heine, B. and Nurse,
D. (eds.), A linguistic geography of Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 251-271.
Meyer, R. (2007). Self-agentive motion verbs in Muher. APAL – Annual Publications in African
Linguistics 5: 1 – 18.

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Samuel A. (2007). Moving Metaphorically: the Semantics of the Oromo Motion Verb ba’uu ‗to go
out‘. Unpublished MA Thesis: Addis Ababa University.
Schaefer, R. P. and R. Gaines. (1997). Toward a typology of directional motion for African
languages. Studies in African Linguistics 26, 2: 195-220.
Talmy, L. (2000). Towards a Cognitive Semantics, Vol. 2. Cambridge: The MIT Press.
Talmy, L. (2007). Lexical Typologies. In: Shopen, T. (ed.), Language Typology and Syntactic
Description, Vol. 3. Grammatical Categories and the Lexicon. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press. Pp. 66 – 168.
Treis, Y. (2007). Motion Events in Kambaata. APAL–Annual Publications in African Linguistics 5,
197 – 226.
Verkerk, A. (2014). The correlation between motion event encoding and path verb lexicon size
in the Indo-European language family. Folia Linguistica Historica, 35: pp. 307-358
Wakasa, M. (2016). An Analysis of Complex Event Representation in Amharic Texts. Asian and
African Languages and Linguistics, 10: 139-155.
Walchli, B. and Solling, A. (2013). The encoding of motion events: Building typology bottom-up
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31
p-ISSN: 1694-2620
e-ISSN: 1694-2639
Vol. 9, No. 4, 2017, pp. 31-40, ©IJHSS
Knowledge Management: Tool for Enhancing HRM
Practices and Organizational Innovation
Mueen Uddin
Department of Information Systems, Faculty of Computing
Effat University Jeddah Saudi Arabia
Abstract
Knowledge management (KM) is the process of creating, utilizing, sharing, storing and reuse of
knowledge for making better organizational decisions due to the availability of relevant
knowledge. The proper management of knowledge and proper utilization of human capital helps
in creating innovation for running any successful business. Well-structured and well-managed
knowledge and knowledge-based human capital leads to innovation that is more constructive.
The research proposed in this paper signifies the effects of knowledge management on HRM
practices and organizational innovations in different multinationals. To perform this research, a
Questionnaire was prepared to collect primary data from 200 employees working at different
public and private banks. Different analysis were performed like: The Co-relation was applied to
find the effects of how much knowledge management enhances HRM practices and helps in
bringing organizational innovation in public and private banks in Pakistan. T-test using two
variables i.e. (1) Categorical, which was „Organization‟ and (2) Continuous variable, „Knowledge‟
were also used to find the same impact, and it was found that, there is not much significant
difference of knowledge management in public and private organizations. The correlation
analysis was also performed, and results clearly suggest that a positive relationship exists between
knowledge management and HRM practices, which directly enhances HRM practices and
organizational innovations.
Keywords: Knowledge Management, Human Resource Management, Organizational
Innovation.
Introduction
Knowledge Management (KM) is an umbrella term with the diversity of mutually supporting
functions that includes knowledge creation, knowledge mapping, knowledge transport, and
knowledge sharing and knowledge storage. KM has the capacity to focus on people and
technology to bring advancement and improvement in the business‟s structure and its functions
(Sveiby, 1997). According to Tan & Nasurdin (2011), knowledge management is an important
approach in maintaining organization culture, its structure and effectiveness. In organizations,
people possess the knowledge, skills and abilities but lacks tools and apparatuses to use that
knowledge properly by applying different knowledge management tools for effectively using the
effective human capital that will ultimately lead to innovative performance and create
competitive advantage in multinational organizations. According to (Ruggles, 1998), knowledge
management is an effective process of creating, leveraging and sharing the desired knowledge

32
and capabilities present in human minds. For any successful organization or business, innovation
is considered as an essential element that involves new inventions and discoveries to get new
products, systems and procedures (Gloet & Terziovski, 2004).
Types of knowledge
There are two types of knowledge found in organizations:
1. Tacit knowledge
2. Explicit knowledge
Tacit knowledge
This type of knowledge is actually personal, situational and eventually linked with the person
who holds the knowledge. Therefore this type of knowledge is complicated to transfer, formalize
and manuscript to the others (Edvardson, 2003). According to the serban and laun (2002), tacit
knowledge is created with the personal experience and past history. One can share the tacit
knowledge only with the help of good communication and interpersonal skills (Muhammad et.
al, 2015).
Explicit knowledge
In contradictory to the tacit knowledge, explicit knowledge is considered to be ceremonial and
objective and cab be expressed in words, figures and measurement. This type of knowledge is
easy to transfer from the person who holds the knowledge to the person who demands it with
formal and informal techniques and sources and therefore can easily store and saved in
documents and files (Edvardson, 2003). According to the Serban and Laun (2002), sources of
explicit knowledge can be manuals, policies, procedures, reports, databases etc. Further
classification of knowledge management activities and their measures as suggested by (Allee,
1997) are:
 Knowledge creation
 Knowledge retention
 Knowledge sharing
 Knowledge innovation
The research proposed in this paper assesses the level of Knowledge management in public and
private banks in Pakistan including public banks like (NBP, Sindh Bank, First Women Bank
Limited etc.) and private banks (Habib Bank, Sonehri Bank, UBL) were selected as the sample
for this research. Employees of both genders-officers and non-officers- were selected for
assessing the effect of knowledge management on HRM practices and organizational innovation.
The purpose and significance of knowledge management
The basic purpose of knowledge management is to transfer and deliver the knowledge from
those who have to those who need it in order to increase the organizational performance. In
today‟s information based economy, knowledge is an essential source for competitiveness rather
than physical assets and financial resources. If multinationals effectively use and transfer the
knowledge across their organizations it would be source of competitive advantage for the
organization, as people and their knowledge can be helpful in creating value of their business
firms rather its position in the market (Armstrong, 2006).
Human Resource Management Goals
HRM systems are helpful in producing organizational capabilities to attain new challenges and
provide solutions to achieve those challenges and objectives. HRM processes helps to

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