Semantic Motivation Research Articles

Grammatical gender universalities underlying uniform mental representations of the world: Myth or reality?

The subject of grammatical gender and cognition has been continuously examined in psycholinguistics, wherein findings show essential support for gender congruency effects, suggesting that grammar lends matrices for speakers’ mental representations. Based on these psycholinguistic data, this study offers an innovative vista of investigation that combines typological and cognitive linguistic approaches. Its purpose lies in determining whether grammatical gender patterns sanction cross-linguistic universality in conceptualising entities as male or female, and whether grammatical gender universalities have semantic motivation. This research reveals universal tendencies in grammatical gender affiliation of the analysed nouns in 32 two and three gender languages belonging to different groups of the Indo-European, Indo-Iranian and Afro-Asiatic language families. From a cognitive perspective, these findings testify to the identical mental images of the entities denoting artefacts, natural phenomena and abstract concepts in speakers of the languages under consideration. Furthermore, grammatical gender universalities manifest certain semantic dimensions involving the motives associated with masculine or feminine and symbolic suggestions of the Woman archetype. As per the data from cognitive poetics, grammatical gender universalities become objects of special stylistic choices emerging as personified images of symbolic relevance in gender and non-gender languages.

Ile ojca, ile matki jest w polskiej ojczyźnie?

HOW MUCH OF A FATHER, HOW MUCH OF A MOTHER IS THERE IN THE POLISH OJCZYZNA [FATHERLAND]? ONCE AGAIN ABOUT THE ROLE OF ETYMOLOGICAL DATA IN THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE LINGUISTIC WORLDVIEW The author assumes that (1) etymological data are ethnolinguistically relevant, (2) the task of etymological research is to detect the original meaning of a word (to find the original semantic motivation) and to reach a world that disappeared, but, at the same time, remained a part of the present, (3) the focus of the research should shift from formal interests to broadly understood semantics (reconstruction of the conceptualization processes that accompany the nominations and of the linguistic image of the words hiding behind words). Based on this, the author undertakes the analysis of the names for the fatherland in the Polish language. To do this, she compares the Polish lexis and its onomasiological basis with the corresponding vocabulary of other Slavic languages. According to the author, studying the semantics of a whole group of words allows us to discover the basic cognitive situation, i.e. the generalized experience of a specific linguistic and cultural community. Using dictionary data and studies of the concept of the “fatherland” in Slavic languages, the author analyses the names related to the Polish concept of OJCZYZNA: lexical and semantic nests such as “ojczyzna i patria” [homeland and patria], “macierz [“motherland”], “państwo” [“state”] and “kraj” [country], and she extracts the underlying cultural “codes”: (1) kin and family, (2) home, (3) power and dominion, and (4) land. The author also shows the coherence of these codes and the image of the fatherland that emerges from them.

The grammaticalization of the existential sign var in Turkish Sign Language: a Construction Grammar approach

Abstract This paper describes the development of the existential sign var ‘there’ in Turkish Sign Language from a synchronic point of view. The sign has been previously described as being restricted to clause-final predicate position and typically used for two main linguistic functions: (i) existential and (ii) possessive. However, abundant corpus evidence indicates that var can also be used for other linguistic functions in post-verbal position, which have not been reported in the literature before. Following Construction Grammar, this study presents a theoretical framework to investigate how the construction [verb + var] arose and what its semantic motivation is, paying particular attention to the notion of possession. It is argued that this construction has three different functions: (i) habitual, (ii) evidential, and (iii) assumptive. According to this account, var originated as an existential marker and subsequently developed into a marker of possession, before evolving to encompass its other linguistic functions in three stages. Using Labov’s Apparent Time Hypothesis (Labov, William. 1963. The social motivation of a sound change. Word 19(3). 273–309), closer examination also revealed that a progressive difference exists between age groups. Younger TİD signers use the construction [verb + var] more frequently, and as the age of the TİD signer decreases, the usage of this construction in the assumptive function increases considerably.

Semantic motivation of Sanskrit names of Indian medicinal plants

The present paper deals with semantic study of Sanskrit names of Indian medicinal plants. These names are selected with the focus on motivation feature based on functional property of a plant. The motivational characteristics are primarily attributed to healing properties of certain species. The analysis reveals the relation between the folk name and human cognitive activities. The medicinal properties of the plants have been verified by the reports of botanical and pharmacological scholars.

In alternations, not all semantic motivation comes from semantic contrast

Abstract Functional explanations of alternations often invoke semantic contrast between alternates. In some cases, however, new alternations may arise not to code contrast but simply because the grammar supports multiple roughly equivalent solutions to the same coding problem. Our study illustrates this by exploring the history of English prepositional phrase complements (PPCs) to mental predicates, with a special focus on about and at (as in everyone was enthusiastic about the project). It is shown that about saw a dramatic extension in its use as a PPC marker, resulting in various new alternation contexts. These developments are concomitant to changes in the general semantic structure of about that resulted in stronger grammatical sanction to its use as a PPC marker. Compared to about, at has a far more stable semantic profile overall, contributing to greater stability in its use as a PPC marker as well. In other words, distributional changes in the system of PPCs, and the new alternations that arise as a result, are a side effect of changes in the overall semantic profiles of the prepositions used to mark PPCs.

Specyficzne słownictwo kulinarne. „Diabelskie” nazwy ciast, ciastek i deserów

The object of description in this paper are names of cakes, cookies and desserts, excerpted from culinary recipes published in Internet sources (Internet cookery books, web portals and blogs, Youtube channel), which are motivated by a semantic reference to the demon of evil – devil. Apart from the semantic motivation of terms (which is more complex than the motivation of other “devilish” names of dishes), their form and status in the Polish language have been analysed.

Old Norse Heimr ʻWorldʼ and its Toponymic Derivatives in the Poetic Edda

The article examines the mythopoetic concept of the ‘world’ (Old Norse heimr) and its derivatives — toponyms with the suffix -heimr in the Poetic Edda. It involves a thorough analysis of their meanings and their significance in the Eddic mythopoetic framework. The methodology for studying this lexical unit and its derivatives is based on a thesaurus description of folk terminology, alongside an exploration of polysemy within epic texts and lexicological investigations of key concepts in the Rigveda. Employing an integrated approach, the analysis considers various factors such as statistical distribution, grammatical case paradigms, syntactical functions of predicates, etymology to understand semantic motivations, mythology to reveal connections to mythological elements, poetic devices like alliteration and repetitions, and the relationship between linguistic signs and referents in the extralinguistic world. The predominance of singular forms (28) over plural forms (8) suggests two significant points: the existence of multiple worlds in the Eddic mythopoetic model initially, and an evolutionary progression from a collection of similar objects towards a unified whole. This semantic evolution is exemplified by the transition from ‘dwellings of giants’ (plural iǫtna heimar) to ‘Dwelling of giants’ = ‘World of Giants’ (singular Iǫtun-heimr). The Old Norse term heimr is associated with the universal world model depicted as a world tree (nine worlds = nine roots of Iggdrasill in Völuspá). It contributes to the construction of the Eddic chronotope in which the world tree, along with its roots (representing worlds), is described as located “under the earth,” signifying its origin. It also demonstrates temporalization, being linked with the temporal concept of age (Old Norse ƍld) and exhibits anthropocentric orientation.

The Lithuanian Origin of One of the Polish Dialectal Names of Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare L.)

This article attempts to establish the etymology of the Polish dialectal name czyżma, which refers to common tansy, Tanacetum vulgare L. This name occurs in the Suwałki region. The analysis conducted shows that the Polish dial. czyżma ‘tansy’ and Polish ciżma ‘type of shoe used in the old days’ have nothing to do with each other. The Suwałki dialectal name of tansy is a loanword from Lithuanian. It comes from the Lithuanian čižmà ‘common tansy, Tanacetum vulgare L.’. The Lithuanian form is most likely a derivative of the verb čìžti, and its semantic motivation is the density (compactness) of the plant’s inflorescences or stiffness of its stems.

The relationship between place of articulation and semantic features in a corpus of astronomical neologisms in Quebec Sign Language

While the presence of a phonological level is not modality-dependent, modality doeshave an impact on the phonological structure of languages, as illustrated by the significantincorporation of simultaneity into the organization of sign languages compared towhat is found in spoken languages (e.g. Fenlon, Cormier, and Brentari 2017). Modalityalso allows for greater representation of iconicity in sign form(e.g. Östling, Börstell, andCourtaux 2018; Taub 2012). Considering the iconic potential offered by the visuo-spatialmodality of sign languages, this paper aims to answer the following research question:Does semantic motivation, and more precisely iconic motivation, influence the formationof structural components of signs, and specifically, the place of articulation (POA)for the lexical creation of astronomical signs in Quebec Sign Language (LSQ)? We hypothesizedthat, given the semantic domain for which the neologisms were created (i.e.,one that denotes physical/concrete objects, located far from humans), the POA wouldbe distal. Based on a descriptive analysis of the POA sublexical features of 99 neologismsof astronomy in LSQ, we found very little involvements of the POA in the representationof the referent. Although we can explain these results by articulatory-perceptual considerations,we suggest that the semantic domain could also interfere in the creation ofthose neologisms.

Gwarowe nazwy roślin derywowane semantycznie od nazw chorób

DIALECT PLANT NAMES SEMANTICALLY DERIVED FROM NAMES OF DISEASES It is possible to distinguish three groups among dialect phytonyms derived from names of diseases:1) names which originated from names of diseases due to the process of neosemantisation, 2) names morphologically derived from names of diseases, 3) collocations a) with the name of the disease, b) with an adjective derived from the name of the disease. In the article phytonyms from the first group have been analyzed and the focus is on determining their semantic motivations and thusdepicting the factors which underlie the nomination processes that led to their appearance. In the most typical situation neosemantisation is motivated by the purpose i.e. for the treatment of which disease or ailment the plant was used for. Other motivational hypotheses are primarily connected with the look of the plant or its specific part which may resemble a disease symptom (as it is in the case of kołtun and similar names) or trigger more indirect associations with diseases (like in the case of names of the kind ślepota and kurza ślepota).

Bound productivity in stem-formation and categorial separation

This study argues that individually unproductive processes of morphology can be highly productive for certain other tasks in sequential productions when they occur in combination with certain other processes. Unlike the relevant literature, which generally treats -(y)I as a phonological piece of the agentive suffixation in Modern Turkish, -(y)ICI, the study argues that -(y)I in instances like kır-ı-cı (break-nominalizer-agentive) ‘breaker/offending, hurtful’, is a stem-formative, creating novel stems required for further operation, -CI. Importantly, the -(y)I nominalization, with no semantic motivation, provides numerous (bound) V-(y)I- forms which are unattested in isolation without further derivation. Thus, the recognition of such a stem-formative is crucial. It shows that (i) form, meaning, and categorial separateness is necessary, and (ii) bound derivations and bound productivity can constitute a good part of the grammar. The study supports the formal analyses via the experimental findings of a recent survey of the productivity of a group of paradigmatic nominalizations including -(y)I in Turkish, and concludes that stem-formative operations may output “preforms”, which are bound but productive derivatives fulfilling the formal conditions of forthcoming operations, and that semantics-free stem-formations may involve categorial modifications. This leads us to categorial separation and its possible autonomy in grammar.

Presència lèxica del <i>Monachus monachus</i> en català i altres llengües romàniques


 
 
 Monachus monachus is the only member of the Phocidae family native to the Mediterranean. Its presence has been established from the first written texts having to do with navigation, such as the Odyssey, to the latest publications on marine fauna. As to the denomination of the animal in Catalan, the term vell marí (‘old mariner’) has been documented from the 13th century until now. However, from the 15th century onwards we find other concurrent denominations that have restricted the territorial extension of the original form. Through time, forms such as bellmarí, llop de mar (‘sea wolf’), llop marí (‘marine wolf’), foca (‘seal’), bou marí (‘sea oxen’), lleona marina (‘sea lioness’), porc marí (‘sea pig’), ca marí (‘sea dog’) and vaca marina (‘sea cow’) have appeared. The study of these forms, of their semantic motivation and the contrast with the denominations in other Romance languages offer valuable information on the vision that coast dwellers had of this marine mammal and on the contributions to the Mediterranean lexical flow of each human community.
 
 

A Semantic Analysis of Blends in Promotional Advertisements During the 2021 Chinese New Year in Malaysia

This paper presents the word-formation of blending in promotional advertisements, specifically for Chinese New Year celebrations in Malaysia. Blending is a process that combines two or three parts of source words (SWs) which either one has shortened infuse and/or where there is a phonological or graphic overlap of source words (e.g., moo-tastic  moo + fantastic, and Ox-picious  Ox + auspicious). These kinds of words describe a new invention or phenomenon that combines the definitions of the attribute of the two existing things. This study, which applied qualitative methods, examines the meaning of blends and the blending creativity in coining new words in promotional advertisements during the 2021 Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year which is also the Year of Golden Ox. In other words, the Lunar New Year which falls on February 12 in 2021 says hello to the Year of the Golden Ox and bids farewell to the Year of the Golden Rat in the previous year. Hence, this paper analyses 70 blends from promotional ads to measure the semantic, phonological, graphemic, and/or formal motivation of blending and investigate the meaning of blends. Researchers conclude the distinguishing features of blends in promotional ads overlap full words and wordplay, examining the graphological, phonological, stylistic, and semantic motivations. This study highlights that a set of words are chosen as the theme to coin new words each year, especially during the festival season (e.g., ox, moo). Blends are believed to effectively spread a message and attract attention to an idea or a product.

Considerations on Arbitrariness vs Non-arbitrarinessof Linguistic Sign

This article focuses on issues related to the arbitrary and non-arbitrary nature of the linguistic signs (monolexical and polylexical), the types and cases of linguistic motivation and the criteria of lexical denomination. Several issues regarding to stable polylexical units have been analysed from the motivational perspective: the genesis, existence and use of linguistic signs, whose signifiers are expressed by stable polylexical units, two types of semantic motivation (metaphorical motivation and symbol-based motivation) and intertextuality as a specific type of motivation. In the course of its history, each figurative expression has undergone its own evolution. In this context, the task of linguistic research is not only to identify the productive motivational links that affect the functioning of figurative expressions in actual discourse, but also to describe their true etymology.

Aspects of lexical nomination and a theory of lexical motivation

The paper analyses the means of lexical enrichment from the viewpoint of a theory of lexical motivation (TLM). After introductory notes, the methodological background (basic principles of TLM) is explained (section 2). Consequently, in section 3, a hierarchy of related concepts is introduced, namely, a three-tiered set of oppositions: (1) imitation nomination - lexical nomination, (2) intralinguistic nomination - cross- -linguistic nomination, (3) intralexemic nomination - interlexemic nomination. In accordance with that, the following types of lexical motivation are described: phonological motivation, word-formation motivation, morphological motivation, syntactic motivation, abbreviation motivation, semantic motivation, cross-linguistic (contact) motivation. These types represent particular means of lexical enrichment traditionally referred to as word formation, conversion, borrowing, clipping, etc. Moreover, in section 4 it is pointed out that these types of motivation are interrelated. This fact is reflected in the concept of motivational relatedness, which also applies to nomination processes. Nomination relatedness can be characterized as cooperation or determination. This is closely related to the concept of polymotivation, i.e., an alternative interpretation of nomination processes.

Plants and Religion

Ethnobiologists have emphasized the importance of plant local names as repositories of traditional knowledge to understand how communities recognize and use plants known to them, while linguists and anthropologists have illustrated them with examples of the semantic motivation of plant names in the language of these communities. The paper aims to analyse the naming patterns of some Albanian plants as a reflection of the religion in the language image of the world. Analysing some components of the culture and traditional knowledge used in relation to plant naming, perceptions and categorization of the religious world in plant names were investigated. In order to categorize their meaning in the relevant lexical field, a vast corpus of plants with religious attributes in their names were selected from several thematic and explanatory dictionaries. Based on the concept that the image of the world is a picture of everything that exists as an integral and multifaceted structure, reflected in the language in names that come from centuries of experience, the names of plants give us a view into community's way of life. Religion has always been an important part of people identity within a certain culture and it is expressed or mirrored in the names of plants due to similarities or usage.

Introducing Construction Semantics (CxS): a frame-semantic extension of Construction Grammar and constructicography

Abstract Construction Semantics (CxS) uses FrameNet frames to capture the semantic properties of grammatical constructions. It closes a gap between Frame Semantics and usage-based Construction Grammar as well as providing a uniform format to implement frames into constructicographic work. This article provides an overview of three core features of CxS. Starting point is (i) the modeling of semantic properties associated with constructions in terms of three types of frames. This makes possible (ii) the analysis of structural parallels between constructions and frames, in particular the semantic motivation of elements of a construct by frame elements. Lastly, (iii) an inventory of semantic parameters of constructions serves as a toolkit for generalizing over semantic properties of single constructs. A driving force behind CxS is the concept of frame proximity: a network of frames which allows one to distinguish lexically evoked frames that are related or unrelated to a frame associated with a construction.

Nieoficjalne nazwy sklepów w środowisku wiejskim (na przykładzie gminy Wręczyca Wielka w powiecie kłobuckim)

The main purpose of the article is the attempt of description of the informal names of shops in oral Polish of contemporary village inhabitants (on the example of Wręczyca Wielka community near Klobuck). The first part of the text is devoted to the basic methodological solutions and previous researches. The second part of this article contains the characteristic of the onimic material – e.g. description of semantic motivations and data concerning specific of mentioned group of names.

SUGGESTIVE-MANIPULATIVE SPECIFICITY OF ERGONYMAL VOCABULARY IN ADVERTISING DISCOURSE

The article is devoted to important elements of advertising discourse ‒ ergonyms, trademarks and trademarks, in particular, their suggestive-manipulative potential. The purpose of our research is to outline the suggestive-manipulative possibilities of ergonomic vocabulary in advertising discourse. To realize the goal, you need to perform a number of tasks: consider the concepts of ergonim, trademark, trademark, brand, advertising sign, outlining common and distinctive features; to single out influential actualizers of ergonomic vocabulary in advertising discourse. The object of research was the phenomenon of the influence of advertising discourse, and the subject was ergonomic vocabulary as a specific condensate of the suggestive and manipulative potentials of advertising discourse. To achieve the goal, the following methods were used: descriptive to highlight the peculiarities of the nature of ergonomic vocabulary, its functional characteristics; the method of analysis and synthesis for the identification of the components of ergonims/trademarks and their combination into a single complex; modeling method for highlighting influential actualizers of ergonomic vocabulary in advertising discourse; the method of induction served to specify the general conclusions. Attention is focused on a thorough consideration of the definitions of E/R/ TM, their common and distinctive features. The leading components of advertising discourses are E/R/TM, which concentrate the information of the entire advertising campaign. E have many features in common with verbal R/TM: nomination processes, semantic motivation, lack of direct connection with the concept, suggestibility, functioning in the sphere of production and trade and emergence due to economic necessity under the influence of extralingual factors ‒ these are features also present in E, and in R. The main distinguishing feature is that R designates serial products, and not a single object, like E, where the most popular ones turn into a brand, becoming advertising themselves. E/R/TM are active components of various suggestive technologies of advertising discourse.A classification of acting actualizers, which can provide suggestive-manipulative possibilities for ergonyms, trademarks and trademarks, is proposed: structural features; semantic specificity; functional characteristics; the potency of perception, including “anchoring”; perseverativeness. We see the prospects of the research in the further in-depth study of the role of these names in creating the suggestive and manipulative influence of advertising discourses in various types of advertising.

Метонимия как семантическая база образования конверсивов в татарском языке

The paper presents an analysis of converted vocabulary in the Tatar language from the standpoint of cognitive linguistics. The semantic dimension is recognised as decisive in the transition from one part of speech to another, which determines the comparison of the semantic mechanism of metonymic transfer and conversion. The acts of transposition (conversion) linking two mental spaces, “the source” and “the target”, are described using the material of the Tatar language. The study of the transposition procedure from the standpoint of cognitive analysis makes it possible to identify the semantic motivation for combining source and target images and to discover a blended mental space, which is a new conceptual structure. It is ascertained that with such a blending, the borrowing of relevant meanings occurs, which is accompanied by a certain degree of reduction of the original image. A number of models of metonymic transfer during conversion in the Tatar language are considered. The aim of the study is to describe the conceptual foundations of semantic transfer in transposition. The study is novel in that it is the first to consider regular transposition of the Tatar language from the standpoint of cognitive analysis; the description of regular conversion models taking into account the metonymic logic of changing the semantics of the derived word in comparison with the original stem is also novel. As a result, the metonymic mechanism of semantic transfer in the formation of Tatar converted words has been substantiated.