The semantic map model is relatively new in linguistic research, but it has been intensively used during the past three decades for studying both cross‐linguistic and language‐specific questions. The goal of the present contribution is to give a comprehensive overview of the model. After introducing the different types of semantic maps, we present the steps involved for building the maps and discuss in more detail the different types of maps and their respective advantages and disadvantages, focusing on the kinds of linguistic generalizations captured. Finally, we provide a thorough survey of the literature on the topic, and we sketch future avenues for research in the field.
This paper investigates universal and areal structures in the lexicon as manifested by colexification patterns in the semantic domains of perception and cognition, based on data from both small and large datasets. Using several methods, including weighted semantic maps, formal concept lattices, correlation analysis, and dimensionality reduction, we identify colexification patterns in the domains in question and evaluate the extent to which these patterns are specific to particular areas. This paper contributes to the methodology of investigating areal patterns in the lexicon, and identifies a number of cross-linguistic regularities and of area-specific properties in the structuring of lexicons.
This article focuses on the Greek ALLATIVE preposition eis, and in particular on the semantic extension from the ALLATIVE to the RECIPIENT. Based on diachronic data, it is argued that the emergence of the ALLATIVE-RECIPIENT polysemy is not directly connected to the loss of the dative case, as often implied. Under the theoretical framework provided by cognitive linguistic studies, the mechanism which underlies this polysemy of eis is investigated. Furthermore, it is shown that in the course of time, Greek does not follow one single pattern with regard to the encoding of these two senses. Finally, the article continues the debate about the extension pathways that may give rise to the RECIPIENT.
Nuclear accents have two interesting properties. First, they have a projective property, i.e. they may refer to a focus domain that encompasses a higher syntactic projection. Second, at least for some languages, nuclear accents may have an interpretational property, i.e., they may have alternative realizations that reveal particular interpretations, such as contrast, correction, surprise, etc. The present article examines the interaction between the projective and the interpretational properties of nuclear pitch accents. Based on an experimental study on Greek, we show that the nuclear accent that is interpreted as 'contrastive' refers to a local focus domain, i.e., it is not projected to higher layers of the constituent structure. Furthermore, our experimental findings show that these properties interact with syntactic and prosodic markedness, in a way that the canonical word order and the unmarked accentual structure are felicitous in a larger array of contexts than the marked syntactic and accentual configurations.
A semantic map is a method for visually representing cross-linguistic regularity or universality in semantic structure. This method has proved attractive to typologists because it provides a convenient graphical display of the interrelationships between meanings or functions across languages, while (at the same time) differentiating what is universal from what is language-specific. The semantic map model was initially conceived to describe patterns of polysemy (or, more generally, of co-expression) in grammatical categories. However, several studies have shown that it can be fruitfully extended to lexical items and even constructions, suggesting that any type of meaning can be integrated in a map. The main idea of the method is that the spatial arrangement of the various meanings reflects their degree of (dis)similarity: the more similar the meanings, the closer they are placed—in accordance with the so-called connectivity hypothesis. Within the semantic map tradition, closeness has taken different forms depending on the approach adopted. In classical semantic maps (alternative terms: “first generation,” “implicational,” “connectivity” maps), the relation between meanings is represented as a line. This is the graph-based approach. In proximity maps (alternative terms: “similarity,” “second generation,” “statistical,” “probabilistic” maps), the distance between two meanings in space— represented as points—indicates the degree of their similarity. In this scale- or distance-based approach, the maps are constructed using multivariate statistical techniques, including the family of methods known as multidimensional scaling (MDS). Both classical and proximity maps have been widely used, although the latter have recently gained interest and popularity under the assumption that they can cope with large data more efficiently than classical semantic maps. However, classical semantic maps continue to be useful for studies aiming to discover universal semantic structures. Most importantly, classical maps can integrate information about directionality of change by drawing an arrow on the line connecting two meanings or functions. Beyond the choice between the two types of maps, one of the issues that has sparked debate and critical reflection among researchers is the universal relevance of semantic maps. The main question that these researchers address is whether semantic maps reflect the global geography of the human mind. Another much discussed issue is the identification of the factors that increase the accuracy of semantic maps in a way that allows for valid cross‐linguistic generalizations. Such factors include the choice of a representative language sample, the quality of the collected cross‐linguistic material, and the establishment of valid cross-linguistic comparators. Acknowledgments: The author wishes to thank one anonymous reviewer for their useful comments. For discussion of the material in this article, the author is grateful to Stéphane Polis.
This paper investigates the hypothesis of the preference of Goals overSources in the representation of Change of Possession events. Applying a corpusbased methodology, we analyse two verbs belonging to this event type, namely BUY and SELL, in German and Modern Greek, two languages that differ with respect to the patterns they use to encode motion events (i.e. a Satellite-and a Verb-framed language respectively). We find that both languages conform to the general tendency reported across languages to give prominence to the Goal: SELL is more likely to occur with the optional Goal Prepositional Phrase than BUY is with the optional Source Prepositional Phrase. Additionally, we address the question as to whether languages showing different patterns regarding the encoding of the Path differ with respect to the predominance of the Goal over the Source in events that express non-prototypical dislocation. Our findings indicate that the typological difference of the two languages has an indirect effect on the representation of Path elements for these particular verbs: German expresses the optional Prepositional
This paper extends the scope of application of the semantic map model to diachronic lexical semantics. Combining a quantitative approach to large-scale synchronic polysemy data with a qualitative evaluation of the diachronic material in two text languages, ancient Egyptian and ancient Greek, it shows that weighted diachronic semantic maps can capture informative generalizations about the organization of the lexicon and its reshaping over time. The general methodology developed in the paper is illustrated with a case study of the semantic extension of time-related lexemes. This case study shows that the blend of tools well established in linguistic typology with proven methods of historical linguistics enables a principled approach to long-standing questions in the fields of diachronic semasiology and onomasiology.
This paper investigates the asymmetrical behavior of Sources and Goals of motion in Homeric and Classical Greek within the frame semantics paradigm. In particular, based on a corpus of 26 works covering four text types, it is shown that (a) regardless of their semantic class, motion verbs display preference for Goalpathscompared to Source ones; (b) the frame that a verb belongs to affects the type ofpathchosen only to a certain degree that does not change the Source-Goal imbalance; (c) semantically incongruent motion verb –pathcombinations are naturally less frequent than congruent combinations, but within the category of incongruent combinations the tokens are distributed in a way that reflects the prevalence of Goals; (d) the number of markers for the encoding of Goal is higher than that of Source; and (e) Source and Goal markers interact with Place ones in an asymmetrical way: Goal markers come to encode Place and, similarly, Place markers come to express Goal. Conversely, the interaction of markers exhibiting Source-Place polysemy is unidirectional, in the sense that none of these markers was originally used to encode Place alone. Theoretical implications of the study are discussed and directions for future research are suggested.
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