Granularity in the Cross-linguistic Encoding of Motion and Location {*} Miriam van Staden University of Amsterdam & MPI, Nijmegen Bhuvana Narasimhan MPI, Nijmegen Abstract In this study, we explore three ways in which the notion of "granularity" emerges from the study of cross-linguistic event semantics. The first interpretation of granularity has to do with event segmentation for linguistic expressions. Where humans place event boundaries varies depending on the language and cultural setting in which the event is encoded. Second, within the set boundaries of a ‘single event’ in time there are many elements that could all receive expression, and again languages show variation, both with respect to which elements are mentioned at all, our second interpretation of granularity, and the specificity with which these elements are characterized, our third interpretation. It remains a matter for empirical research to discover whether these differences in linguistic expression reflect or inform different representations of event boundaries and event classification for non- linguistic purposes as well. 1. Introduction In this paper we look at similarities and differences in how people linguistically encode events of motion and location. In particular, we examine habitual, colloquial descriptions of caused motion into containment (as in sentences such as he put the book into the bag), to explore how languages differ with respect to the segmentation and classification of events. We suggest that, while the ability to segment the continuum of experience and perception into event units and talk about them in more or less fine-grained ways is universal, there are differences between speakers of different languages in the level of granularity at which events are typically referred to in linguistic descriptions. Three interpretations of granularity appear particularly relevant. First, there are cross-linguistic differences