Moscow Lexical Typology group
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Lexical systems with systematic gaps: verbs of falling
The paper contributes to the typology of encoding motion events by highlighting the role of the verbal root meaning in lexicalization of motion. We focus on lexical semantics of the verbs of falling, which we study on a sample of 42 languages using the frame-based approach to lexical typology. We show that, along with downward motion, the verbs of falling regularly denote adjacent situations; and vice versa, the idea of downward motion is systematically conveyed by verbs from adjacent semantic fields. These findings challenge the application of the classical parameters of motion events (e.g. Path) to any given motion event description and offer new insights into the understanding of lexicalization patterns in general.
Поле искать : шугнанские данные в свете лексической типологии (Semantic field seek : Shughni data in the light of lexical typology)
The paper deals with verbs and verbal constructions with the meaning ‘to seek, to search, to look for’ (the semantic field SEEK) in the Shughni language against a typological background. On the basis of dictionary data and the results of elicitation sessions with native speakers, the peculiarities of the lexicalization of the SEEK field in modern Shughni are revealed, and assumptions are made regarding the dynamics of the development of this system from the middle of the twentieth century to the present day.
The Typology of Physical Qualities
Lexical typology and semantic maps: Perspectives and challenges
The paper outlines the basics of data collection, analysis and visualization under the frame-based approach to lexical typology and illustrates its methodology using the data of cross-linguistic research on verbs of falling. The framework reveals several challenges to semantic map modelling that usually escape researchers’ attention. These are: (1) principles of establishing lexical comparative concepts; (2) the effective ways of visualization for the opposition between direct and figurative meanings of lexical items; (3) the problem of the borderlines between semantic fields, which seem to be very subtle. These problems are discussed in detail in the paper, as well as possible theoretical decisions and semantic modelling techniques that could overcome these bottlenecks.
The frame-based approach to the typology of qualities
The chapter outlines the goals of our project, points out the aspects that distinguish the vocabulary of qualities from other lexical domains, when viewed from a typological perspective, and introduces the methods of data collection and analysis we use in this project and in other related studies. It goes on to discuss the semantic parameters that motivate the lexical oppositions in various qualitative domains.
Глаголы падения в языках мира: фреймы, параметры и типы систем (Verbs of falling in the languages of the world: frames, parameters, and types of the systems)
The article presents the results of a typological analysis of FALLING verbs performed on a sample of 42 languages.
Типология метафор падения (The metaphors of falling)
The paper discusses the metaphorical extensions of FALLING verbs, identified on a sample of 20 languages, including, besides several Standard Average European languages, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Aghul, Adyghe, Basque, and some other languages from different language families. The verbs under study are characterized by a wide range of figurative meanings, which are shown to be recurrent across languages, cf. the well-known pattern LESS IS DOWN, as well as the semantics of the onset of a season, transformation, surrender, lagging behind a group, and many others.
Система глаголов движения вниз в шугнанском языке (Falling verbs in Shughni)
The article deals with the system of falling verbs in Shughni, which is one of the Pamir languages of the Southeastern Iranian group. It presents the original data collected from native speakers and the data from Karamshoev’s dictionary [1988], checked during our field work.
Time and speed: Where do speed adjectives come from?
The article examines the relationship between time and space in language on the basis of adjectives denoting high or low speed in Russian and other (mostly Slavic) languages. In physics, the notion of speed is defined in terms of time and space (distance per time unit). It is argued, however, that speed in natural language is a primarily temporal concept involving the comparison of the temporal properties of a ‘target situation’ with those of a ‘norm’. Speed terms are shown to develop their own metaphors and metonymies, subsequently becoming connectors and intensifying markers. This argument has important theoretical implications insofar as it demonstrates that the domain of time is less dependent on space than the traditional view might indicate.
Conceptualization of Pain: a Database for Lexical Typology
Typology of PAIN: the case of related languages (Russian and Bulgarian)
CONCEPTUALIZATION OF PAIN IN RUSSIAN: A TYPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
Semantic-derivational models of polysemous adjectives: metaphor, metonymy and their interaction
Verbs of rotation in Russian and Рolish
The semantics of Lexical typology
Approaching perceptual qualities: the case of heavy
The paper examines the properties of heavy as a perceptual concept, based on evidence from 11 languages. We demonstrate that the semantics of this concept is heterogeneous; lexemes of this field can be used in situations of at least three types: Lifting, Shifting and Weighing. These situations are either lexicalised as separate words or they converge in a single lexeme in various combinations following certain strategies. We also argue that different metaphorical extensions correspond to different situation types; this allows us to use analysis of metaphoric shifts as an additional instrument to establish the semantic structure of direct meanings.