scholarly journals Do Verbal Meanings Have a Radial Organization?

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 122-146
Author(s):  
Hajnalka Dimény
Keyword(s):  
Functional Analysis ◽  
Semantic Structure ◽  
Conceptual Blending ◽  
Semantic Description ◽  
Source Domain ◽  
Metaphorical Meaning ◽  
Radial Organization ◽  
Common Components

Abstract The paper presents a cognitive-functional analysis of two Hungarian verbs, eszik ‘eat’ and táplál ‘feed’, with the aim of providing a sample for an exhaustive semantic description of verbal polysemy and of relations between verbal meanings. The hypothesis of the study was that a radial category description of the internal semantic structure of both verbs is possible. The assumption, however, was not confirmed by the analysis; not all meanings of the verb eszik ‘eat’ can be described as deriving from the prototypical eating situation. Some show cases of conceptual blending, while others have a source domain other than the prototypical eating situation. Nonetheless, many figurative meanings seem to be the result of metaphorical meaning shift trigged by common components we experience in the prototypical eating situation and other perceptions. These common components show resemblance on a schematic base.

scholarly journals Polysemy and cognitive linguistics. The case of vána

2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-72
Author(s):  
Joanna Jurewicz
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fire ◽  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Cultural Beliefs ◽  
General Concept ◽  
Semantic Structure ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Conceptual Blending ◽  
The World ◽  
Fire Drill ◽  
Central Meaning

Abstract The aim of this paper is to address the problem of the polysemy of Sanskrit words using the example of the meanings of the word vána used in the Ṛgveda (“a tree, wood, forest, fire drill, vessel for Soma, water and material of the world”). I will show that the methodology of cognitive linguistics is very useful to analyse the rational background of polysemy and its conceptual consistency. The basis for my analysis is three assumptions accepted in cognitive linguistics: 1. the meaning of words reflects thinking about the designate; 2. thinking is motivated by experience and cultural beliefs; 3. the associations between semantic aspects of the word can be modelled as conceptual metonymy, conceptual metaphor and conceptual blending. On the basis of these assumptions, I will reconstruct the semantic structure of the word vána. It is a radial category, the centre of which is constituted by its most literal meaning, “tree”, and its metonymic extensions, i.e. wood and forest. The meanings of things made of wood (i.e. fire drill and vessel) are also close to the central meaning and are metonymic extensions. The meanings of water and the material of the world are metaphoric extensions of the central meaning and more peripheral. They are based on cultural beliefs and models shared by the Ṛgvedic poets. I will also argue that the Ṛgvedic poets consciously shaped the semantics of the word vána by using it in contexts which forced the recipient to activate its less literal meanings. Thus they could create a general concept of the hiding place of desirable goods, such as fire, Soma, the sun, and the world.

scholarly journals Conceptual Blending Analysis of Diangu (典故 Classic Allusions) As Metaphor in A Dream of Red Mansions

MANUSYA ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 52-71
Author(s):  
Han Jianghua
Keyword(s):  
Internal Structure ◽  
Chinese Poetry ◽  
Chinese Word ◽  
Conceptual Blending ◽  
Historical Events ◽  
The Past ◽  
Metaphorical Meaning ◽  
Modern Chinese ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Literary Origins

This paper studies the use of Diangu (典故) in Chinese poetry. Diangu (典故) refers to ancient events or stories quoted in poems and words with literary origins (Modern Chinese Dictionary 2012: 290). However, the Western allusion refers to an implicit reference, perhaps to another work of literature or art or to a person or an event; it is often a kind of appeal for a reader to share some experience with the writer; an allusion may enrich the work by association (q.v.) and give it depth (Cuddon 2013: 25). Thus, the concepts of "Diangu (典故)" and "allusion" do not correspond exactly, because the semantic range of the two words are not the same. In order to show the difference, we use the term “Classic Allusion” to refer the Chinese word "Diangu (典故)". From the cognitive linguistic perspective, Diangu (典故) in Chinese poetry is a category of metaphor (Ji Guangmao 1998 & Bai Minjun 2004 & Zhong Lingli 2009 & Li Pengfei 2010 & Zhang Guowei 2011). Its essence is to use the stories or events that have taken place in history to metaphorize events or people in the present. There are similarities or correlations between these historical events or stories and the events or people in present which form crossdomain projections, and form poetic metaphors based on conceptual blending mechanism, expressing the corresponding metaphorical meaning and emotions. The Diangu (典故) involve both the past (historical events or stories) and present (the present events or people). The “historical events or stories” and the “present events or people” have certain similarities or correlations; both of the mental spaces of the past and present share a same organizational framework. Accordingly, the conceptual blending network of Diangu (典故) belongs to mirror networks. Furthermore, using conceptual blending theory to analyze the internal structure of Diangu (典故) can make readers understand the nature of “Diangu (典故)” more clearly.

A cognitive perspective on the semantics of near

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Brenda
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Network ◽  
Semantic Structure ◽  
Conceptual Blending ◽  
Cognitive Perspective ◽  
Spatial Prepositions ◽  
Spatial Sense ◽  
Image Schema ◽  
Schema Transformation ◽  
Metaphor And Metonymy

Abstract The present study investigates the semantic structure of the word near assuming that its distinct senses form a semantic network with a prototypical spatial sense at the center and various extended senses at different distances away from the prototype. In order to explain the extensions of near, the cognitive notions of construal, image schema transformation, metaphor and metonymy are taken into consideration. The conceptual blending theory is used to explain the semantic structure of the complex preposition near to. The research reveals that the word near functions as a preposition (also a part of the complex preposition near to), an adverb, an adjective and a verb, and that its semantic structure is best viewed as a continuum encoding both lexical and grammatical information. At the same time, the analysis shows that the polysemy of near is rather impoverished when compared to the polysemies of other spatial prepositions, such as in, on, at or over.

scholarly journals Brief Overview of Semantic Description of Spatial Elements in Azerbaijani Fairy Tales

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (12) ◽  
pp. 509-519
Author(s):  
T. Khudaverdiyeva
Keyword(s):  
Fairy Tales ◽  
Fairy Tale ◽  
Semantic Structure ◽  
Semantic Description ◽  
Structural Element ◽  
World Model ◽  
The World

In fairy tales, space plays an important role and acts as a structural element of fairy tales, performing a certain function within the fairy tale. Therefore, it is impossible to imagine fairy tales without the elements of space. As it is mentioned in the article, the world of fairy tales consists of numerous transformations and changes of spatial elements. The article gives a brief overview of semantic description of the spatial elements in the Azerbaijan fairy tales on the bases of five volume book of the Azerbaijan fairy tales. The article also identifies the functions of the words describing spatial elements. It investigates the transformations of spatial elements in the fairy tales. It notes that the spatial elements make up the archaic world model and participate in the formation of fairy tales. The article searches the semantic structure of the fairy tales with exact examples from them.

Conceptual Blending and Genre Invention from Chrétien de Troyes to Cervantes and Shakespeare

2019 ◽  
pp. 296-316
Author(s):  
Donald R. Wehrs
Keyword(s):  
Literary History ◽  
Chretien De Troyes ◽  
Conceptual Blending ◽  
Source Domain ◽  
Conceptual Space ◽  
Chrétien De Troyes ◽  
Literary Art ◽  
Everyday Creativity ◽  
Literary Innovation ◽  
And Linguistics

This chapter explores the value of the theory of conceptual blending, originating in cognitive science and linguistics, for understanding the kind of literary creativity involved in major generic inventions, as exemplified by the work of Chrétien de Troyes, Cervantes, and Shakespeare. Conceptual blending describes how, when humans draw upon metaphors, analogues, and paradigms from two or more experiential or cultural domains, they “blend” together aspects of each source domain. They thereby create a newly imagined conceptual space in which new scenarios and mini-narratives test the cogency and elasticity of particular blends and determine whether they may be “run.” Because literary art invites readers to engage not just in simulations of represented content, but also in emulations of the processes by which authors and characters transform content, such art clearly depicts and encourages blending creativity. The chapter suggests that Chrétien draws on Abelard’s theology as well as Latin and Celtic sources as input domains, that Wolfram von Eschenbach’s c. 1210 Parzival does likewise, and that elements of Abelard’s theology congenial to literary innovation are rearticulated by Erasmus, thereby helping to prime the literary creativity of Shakespeare and Cervantes. Cultural memories of diverse established forms and ideas offer possibilities for associative combinations and predictive representations. In the writers most consequential for literary history, these move from “everyday” creativity to daring and innovative blending of genres, styles, and thoughts.

scholarly journals Oceny w opisie znaczenia jednostek leksykalnych – wybrane problemy

2021 ◽  
Vol LXXVII (77) ◽  
pp. 85-99
Author(s):  
MAGDALENA DANIELEWICZOWA
Keyword(s):  
Present Author ◽  
Semantic Structure ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Semantic Description ◽  
Lexical Unit

Autorka artykułu stawia tezę, że po pierwsze, czynności związane z oceną kogoś lub czegoś są prymarnie lingwistyczne. Po drugie, ocena w ściśle aksjologicznym sensie tego słowa powinna być odróżniona od wartościowań i innych oszacowań. Po trzecie, oceny zawartej w znaczeniu jednostki leksykalnej nie należy zrównywać z rozmaitymi cechami, które ta jednostka konotuje pragmatycznie. Po czwarte, błędem jest identyfikowanie komponentów oceniających z efektami emotywnymi lub ekspresywnymi. Cechy semantyczne związane z ocenami mogą być zlokalizowane w różnych miejscach struktury semantycznej: zarówno w jej tematycznej, jak i rematycznej części. W słownikach wygodnie jest opisywać oceny dane rematycznie przy użyciu stosownych kwalifikatorów, np. pejor ‘pejoratywne’ i amelior ‘amelioratywne’. Evaluations in the semantic description of lexical units: selected problems Summary: The present author puts forward the thesis that (1) activities related to the evaluation of someone or something are primarily linguistic, (2) an evaluation in the strictly axiological sense of the word should be distinguished from other estimates, (3) an evaluation embedded in the meaning of a lexical unit should not be equated with the various features that this unit connotes pragmatically and (4) it is wrong to identify evaluation components with emotive or expressive effects. The semantic features related to evaluations can be located in various places within the semantic structure of an expression, i.e. in both its thematic and rhematic parts. In dictionaries, it is convenient to employ rhematic evaluations which make use of appropriate qualifiers, e.g. pejor ‘pejorative’ and amelior ‘ameliorative’.

scholarly journals THE SPECIFICITY OF THE SEMANTICS OF THE FRENCH PREPOSITION EN (SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL MEANINGS)

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 641-646
Author(s):  
A.V. Nikolaenko
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Semantic Structure ◽  
Semantic Description

The article is devoted to the problem of the semantic description of the French preposition en in spatial and temporal meanings. This preposition is one of the most polysemantic. That’s why in scientific literature there is no uniform idea of semantic structure of this preposition. In this article the author tries to analyze all the theoretical ways of describing its specificity and to identify its own meaning distinct from others based on the spatial and temporal constructions constructed with the preposition en.

scholarly journals Are metaphorical paths and roads ever paved?

2010 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlene Johansson Falck
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Qualitative Difference ◽  
Linguistic Analysis ◽  
Close Connection ◽  
Source Domain ◽  
Corpus Linguistic ◽  
Metaphorical Meaning

This paper provides a corpus linguistic analysis of verbs included in English path-, road- and way-sentences. My claim is that many of the differences between metaphorical and non-metaphorical patterns including these terms are related to a qualitative difference between real and imagined journeys. Both non-metaphorical and metaphorical instances go back to our experiences with real-world paths, roads and ways. Path and road-sentences are connected with motion along the specific artifacts that these terms refer to. Way-sentences refer to motion through space. Differences between prototypical and un-prototypical paths, roads and ways, however, and a close connection between prototypical instances and metaphorical meaning, result in differences between non-metaphorical and metaphorical patterns. The findings explain why the source domain verbs in metaphorical path- and road-sentences are more restricted than the verbs in the non-metaphorical sentences. They show why metaphorical ways, but hardly ever metaphorical paths and roads, are paved.

scholarly journals The metaphorical use of "on"

1999 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ignasi Navarro Ferrando
Keyword(s):  
Invariance Principle ◽  
Semantic Structure ◽  
Physical Domain ◽  
Target Domain ◽  
Conceptual Schema ◽  
Source Domain ◽  
Image Schemas ◽  
Abstract Domains ◽  
Basic Image ◽  
Selection Of

An attempt is made at refuting the idea that figurative uses of prepositions are chaotic. Figurative uses of the preposition on are explained as the result of metaphorical mappings from the physical domain onto abstract domains. The semantic structure of this preposition in the source domain is explained as a conceptual schema (support), which is formed as a combination of three more basic image schemas, namely, the contact schema, the control schema, and the force downwards schema. The Invariance Principle guarantees the preservation of the logic of these image schemas in target domains. The selection of a particular target domain is, therefore, motivated.

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