Verbs of Falling and Beyond Katia Rakhilina NRU HSE Moscow Verbs verb phrases and verbal categories 2325 March Hebrew University of Jerusalem BEYOND Lexical Typology Main objectives ID: 428566
Download Presentation The PPT/PDF document "Semantic / Lexical Typology:" is the property of its rightful owner. Permission is granted to download and print the materials on this web site for personal, non-commercial use only, and to display it on your personal computer provided you do not modify the materials and that you retain all copyright notices contained in the materials. By downloading content from our website, you accept the terms of this agreement.
Slide1
Semantic / Lexical Typology: Verbs of Falling and BeyondKatia Rakhilina (NRU HSE, Moscow)
“
Verbs, verb phrases and verbal categories”
23-25 March
Hebrew University of JerusalemSlide2
BEYOND:Lexical Typology. Main objectivesA relatively new area of linguistic typologyUntil recently, linguistic typology grammatical or phonological typologyLexical typology deals with cross-linguistic universals and variation in lexical categorization of conceptual domains
2Slide3
Main approaches to lexical typologyNatural Semantic Metalanguage(Anna Wierzbicka and Cliff Goddard) primarily determined via introspectionDenotation-based approach: MPI Nijmegen(Stephen
Levinson,
Asifa
Majid
et al.) < Berlin&Kay 1969 experimental approach to LT: pictures or videoclips as stimuli and lexical reactions of native speakers
3Slide4
(1) NSM: Limitations Which
one is to choose
a primitive among
several
near-synonyms
xotet
’ /zhelat’ in Russian or want / wish in English How to deal with changes in meanings?
4Slide5
(2) Denotation-based approach: limitations+ clear tertium comparationis (= extralinguistic stimuli) non applicable for domains of subjective experience & metaphorical extensions5Slide6
(2) Denotation-based approach: limitations PAIN How to collect language data? Even if one would prick a native speaker for the sake of lexical typology, the result would be poor, because all individuals experience pain differently. Thus , pain terms need another – non-experimental – approach (Reznikova et al. 2012)Pain is not the only case. Subjective experience constitutes a large part of what is expressed in human languages, cf. physical qualities, like soft or heavy.6Slide7
MLexT MethodologyThe general idea is to combine: the Moscow Semantic school tradition (deep semantic analysis of the lexicon with a special focus on synonymy)Tradition of grammatical typology= Lexical typologySo, basically we take into account the “linguistic behavior” of lexical items, i.e. combinability restrictions (dictionaries, corpora, field work with specially developed questionnaires)Slide8
Moscow Lexical Typology Group projects:Typology of activities & states: Verbs of aquamotionPain metaphorsSound metaphorsVerbs of rotationVerbs of oscillation
Cutting & breaking
Sitting & standing
Physical
qualities
(‘sharp’, ‘wet’, ‘soft
’…)FALLINGSlide9
Verbs of aquamotion9Majsak, Rakhilina (eds.)2007Slide10
Pain metaphors10Britsyn, Rakhilina, Reznikova, Yavorska (eds.) 2010Slide11
Sound metaphors11Slide12
Suggested methodology: Main stepsTo collect all lexical items covering the field in your own languagecf. English old To look for occurrences of these items in the corpus and check the initial list of terms: cf. old woman, old horse, old tree, old town (+ancient), old clothes, old director (+ former)….To look for translations for these words in bilingual dictionaries: cf. Georgian : ‘old person’ → moxuci,‘old clothes’ → dzveli,
‘
old
director’ →
qop’ili
‘
old coins’ → adrindeli12Slide13
QuestionnaireObtaining a semantic classification of nouns based on dictionary data and corpus examples.This classification provides the basis for a questionnaire to be completed by native speakers of different languages. We have an ___oak close to our house; my great-grand father planted it many years ago.His ___ wife was kind-hearted and the new one is beautiful but bad-tempered. 13Slide14
Questionnaire and FramesBy comparing questionnaires completed for different languages we extract a set of situations that may be distinguished lexically (= frames)‘having lived for many years’ (old woman)‘object being in use for a long time, has become useless and/or decayed’ (old clothes, old house)‘the object that is no longer in use or the duty that is not performed any more’ (old flat, old director)‘dating from the remote past’ (old coins, old city)14clothesperson
coins
directorSlide15
Visualization of typological data: Semantic maps Dominant system (e.g. English)15Binary system
(e.g. Japanese)
Slide16
Distributed systems16Visualization of typological data: Semantic maps
(e.g.
Ossetian
)
(e.g. Bashkir) Slide17
SHARP domain: Collocating nouns 17
‘arrow’
‘bristle’
‘knife’
‘nose’
‘scissors’
‘(rose) thorns’‘(woolen) blanket’‘boots’‘needle’Slide18
18Slide19
SHARP domain: Frames 19
‘arrow’
‘bristle’
‘knife’
‘nose’
‘scissors’
‘(rose) thorns’‘(woolen) blanket’‘boots’‘needle’
Instrument with a functional edge
Instrument with a functional end-point
Object with a pointed shape
Natural object that pricks
Surface that pricksSlide20
SHARP domain Instrument with a functional edge (knife, saw)Instrument with a functional end-point (arrow, spear)Surface that pricks(blanket, bristle)Natural object that pricks(thorns)Object with a sharp form(
nose
)
20Slide21
SHARP domain: Serbian Instrument with a functional edge (knife, saw)Instrument with a functional end-point (arrow, spear)Surface that pricks(blanket, bristle)Natural object that pricks(thorns)Object with a sharp form(
nose
)
21
o
štar nož
‘sharp knife’,
o
štro
kop
l
je
‘sharp spear’,
o
štar
nos
‘sharp nose’
,
oštar pokrivač
‘prickly b
lanket’
o
štarSlide22
SHARP domain: Japanese22Instrument with a functional edge (knife, saw)Instrument with a functional end-point (arrow, spear)Surface that pricks(blanket, bristle)Natural object that pricks(thorns)
Object with a sharp form
(
nose
)
surudoi
naifu
‘
sharp knife’,
surudoi
yari
‘sharp spear’
vs.
togatta
hana
‘sharp nose’
surudoi
togattaSlide23
SHARP domain: Kabardian23Instrument with a functional edge (knife, saw)Instrument with a functional end-point (arrow, spear)Surface that pricks(blanket, bristle)Natural object that pricks(thorns)
Object with a sharp form
(
nose
)
ŝeẑje
ž’an ‘sharp knife’ vs. ʁʷəčẉ əne pamc̣e ‘sharp nail’ , ʔandeʁʷə pamc̣e
‘sharp elbow’
ž’an
pamc̣eSlide24
Typology of verbs of falling:research program24Slide25
Falling: vertical motion due to gravityDescription of falling has two dimensions:Substructure of the field and oppositions between its main framesOther semantic fields related to falling either directly (1) or through metaphorization procedure (2)25Slide26
A. Substructure of the field Two main topologically opposed clusters of situations:Falling down from an upper surface (NB! Motion of substances)Falling of vertical objects “standing” on the ground Non prototypical:“Reflexive motion”
(
1)
(2) 26Slide27
Falling down from an upper surfaceLocations: Source (initial location) and Goal (final location) Source is normally not marked (except for containers: falling out of smth)Slide28
Falling down from an upper surfaceGoal bias. Types of Goals as final locations: liquids / hard surfaces / soft surfaces …[NB! Onomatopoeia: falling is accompanied by special sounds] ‘Trajector + location’ pair is relevantHard Trajector + hard
surface
[a huge suitcase onto
the
road]
Hard
Trajector + soft surface [stone into the mud]Soft Trajector + hard surface [a piece of mud onto the road]A piece of glass onto the hard surface …Splash – fall with a thud – fall with a bang…Slide29
Substances as special kinds of Trajectors Water can move forward, upward and fall either in a flow or in small quants One general predicate or a system of classifying verbs?Special term for dropping of drops?Sand, sugar, grain as free-flowing substances can only move down in their own manner no special verb for falling of a quant ?RainSnowSlide30
Standing vertical objects:orientation of the falling object Objects with intrinsic orientation (mainly humans): direction of the motion (could be marked with the predicates or adverbs)Falling backwards, on one’s back Falling sideways Falling forwards + metonymy (manner)Stumble
Slip
Tumble
30Slide31
“Reflexive motion” (Susan Lindner 1981)= Motion of the partsSimple motion: John went out <of the house>Reflexive motion: Syrop spread outSlide32
“Reflexive motion”: rotation32Simple rotation: Trajector is moving round the LandmarkReflexive rotation: the fox (Tr) rolled itself into a ballSlide33
“Reflexive motion” & related framesCrash down, collapse: about a building the house fell downTo fall down: about a surface itself e.g. due to the heavy object on it the ice crashed + meton. smb. fell trough the iceSlide34
“Reflexive motion”: related framesBody parts (no motion)Teeth / Hair: come out[+ Tail of a lizard][+ Tongue (a running dog)]Parts of artifacts (the motion is not vertical)May be separated due to the movement High speed, type of initial connection is relevantBreak off, come off, be torn off … Slide35
sand/sugar surfaces (falling and destruction) water snow buildings hair, teeth Falling down vertical objects from an upper surface forwards/backwards sideways Parts of artifacts FLYING JUMPING BREAKING Preliminary semantic maponomatopoeiaSlide36
sand/sugar surfaces (falling and destruction) water snow buildings hair, teeth Falling down vertical objects forwards/backwards sideways Parts of artifacts rich subdomain FLYING JUMPING BREAKING
Preliminary semantic map:
Komi
Data from a field study (
Egor
.
Kashkin)us’nykissylny
v
ö
jny
onomatopoeia
p
ö
rny
?Slide37
Preliminary semantic map: Russianrain sand/sugar surfaces (falling and destruction) water snow buildings hair, teeth out-of-containers Falling down vertical objects backwards sideways Parts of artifacts FLYING JUMPING BREAKING
padat
’
sypat’sja
kapat
’
provalivat’sja
rušit’sja
onomatopoeia
šmjaknut’sja
pl’uxnut’sja
groxnut’sja
šlepnut’sja
brjaknut’sja
high-level fallsSlide38
B 1. Related semantic fields: flying(Plungian, Rakhilina 2007)The lexical domain of ‘flying’ (‘moving through the air’) proves not to be elementary. In the languages of the world it often splits into two zones, or sub-domains. Active sub-domain covers staying in the air of a living creature who abruptly moves its limbs.
Passive
sub-domain
describes an
inanimate object’s
movement through the air caused by an external force applied to it
.Cognitive distinction between them is manifested in different strategies of conceptual assimilation applied in the two cases:Slide39
B 1. Related semantic fields: flyingFlying may be conceptualized either as jumping (active flying) or falling (passive flying).This explains why in various languages the meanings ‘fall’ and ‘fly’ are interchangeable in some contexts, cf. English fall off ~ fly off. There are also cases when the meanings ‘fly’ and ‘fall’ are combined within one predicate (similarly to what happens to ‘fly’ and ‘jump’); native speakers then perceive the two meanings as closely related to each other. The most known case is
Sanskrit
pat-
which had
two meanings ‘fall’ and ‘fly’
; this polysemy is preserved in many modern Indo-Arian languages.39Slide40
B2: Metaphors of falling: two main sources(1) LESS IS DOWN [< G.Lakoff]Decrease: SAE+ Negative evaluationMoral decay: RussianSlide41
B2: Metaphors of falling: two main sources(2) LACK OF CONTROL SUDDENNESS Coming out unexpectedly: KomiAstonishment: Russian Sudden death
(
humans: at the war // cattle: due to disease) SAE
+ Military
defeat
(
Syrian regime will fall …) Birth: Indonesian Unexpected occasion (good / bad luck) < dicing, Russian
Transformation
(ice into water) <
vertical objects only
!
KomiSlide42
Dreams and Plans20-30 languages, including Russian gesture languageDirect meanings & semantic mapsTypes of systemsMetaphorical extensionsCases of intersection with other semantic fieldsStatistical experiments42Slide43
And grammaticalization paths --?Heine, Kuteva 2002: 133Some African Languages:Fall > down (adverb)Korean, TamilFall > passive suffix 43