{"title":"Towards a domain-neutral prepositional semantics","authors":"Andreas Widoff","doi":"10.1016/j.lingua.2023.103624","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Prepositions with a range over several conceptual domains are often described as polysemous between these domains. Typically, spatial senses are seen as basic, while temporal and abstract senses are assumed to be derived from space. The present article argues in favour of an alternative analysis in which domain-neutral properties of prepositions are used to account for similarities between instances in different domains. Methodological considerations with respect to the analytical depth, generality and simplicity of semantic accounts speak in favour of such a domain-neutral approach. The approach is illustrated with two Swedish prepositions, <em>från</em> ‘from’ and <em>till</em> ‘to’, both of which span numerous domains. To facilitate semantic descriptions of the relation between domain-neutral and domain-specific content, a semantic notation in the form of feature structures is introduced</p></div>","PeriodicalId":47955,"journal":{"name":"Lingua","volume":"298 ","pages":"Article 103624"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1000,"publicationDate":"2023-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0024384123001481/pdfft?md5=ef21f5b0b0d7741c33038c17814dc031&pid=1-s2.0-S0024384123001481-main.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Lingua","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0024384123001481","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Prepositions with a range over several conceptual domains are often described as polysemous between these domains. Typically, spatial senses are seen as basic, while temporal and abstract senses are assumed to be derived from space. The present article argues in favour of an alternative analysis in which domain-neutral properties of prepositions are used to account for similarities between instances in different domains. Methodological considerations with respect to the analytical depth, generality and simplicity of semantic accounts speak in favour of such a domain-neutral approach. The approach is illustrated with two Swedish prepositions, från ‘from’ and till ‘to’, both of which span numerous domains. To facilitate semantic descriptions of the relation between domain-neutral and domain-specific content, a semantic notation in the form of feature structures is introduced
介词的范围涉及多个概念域,通常被描述为这些概念域之间的多义词。通常情况下,空间意义被视为基本意义,而时间意义和抽象意义则被认为是从空间派生出来的。本文主张采用另一种分析方法,即利用介词的领域中立属性来解释不同领域实例之间的相似性。从方法论的角度考虑,语义说明的分析深度、普遍性和简洁性都有利于采用这种领域中立的方法。我们用两个瑞典介词 från 'from' 和 till 'to'来说明这种方法,这两个介词都跨越了许多领域。为了便于对领域中性内容和特定领域内容之间的关系进行语义描述,我们引入了一种特征结构形式的语义符号
期刊介绍:
Lingua publishes papers of any length, if justified, as well as review articles surveying developments in the various fields of linguistics, and occasional discussions. A considerable number of pages in each issue are devoted to critical book reviews. Lingua also publishes Lingua Franca articles consisting of provocative exchanges expressing strong opinions on central topics in linguistics; The Decade In articles which are educational articles offering the nonspecialist linguist an overview of a given area of study; and Taking up the Gauntlet special issues composed of a set number of papers examining one set of data and exploring whose theory offers the most insight with a minimal set of assumptions and a maximum of arguments.