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From usage clusters to concepts : How COMPLETION IS UP in Mandarin

From usage clusters to concepts : How COMPLETION IS UP in Mandarin. Wei- lun Lu 呂維倫 Masaryk University, Czech Republic. Metaphor in language. Metaphor as ubiquitous figure of lg reflecting modes of thought I n what specific ways does language reflect thought?. M etaphor and polysemy.

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From usage clusters to concepts : How COMPLETION IS UP in Mandarin

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  1. From usage clusters to concepts:HowCOMPLETION IS UP in Mandarin Wei-lun Lu 呂維倫 Masaryk University, Czech Republic weilunlu@gmail.com

  2. Metaphor in language • Metaphor as ubiquitous figure of lgreflecting modes of thought • In what specific ways does language reflect thought? weilunlu@gmail.com

  3. Metaphor and polysemy • Metaphor as a source for polysemy (Sweetser 1990) • Up: • The price went up. • MORE IS UP (QUANTITY) • Enjoy the ups and downs of life. • GOOD IS UP (QUALITY) weilunlu@gmail.com

  4. COMPLETION IS UP • Argued to account for ‘completive’ for up(Hampe 2000; Kovecses 2001) • This presenter is so boring that we wish he could just shut up now! • Come on! Your time is up! • +VERTICAL --C--I--U---> COMPLETION (SPACE) (TIME)

  5. The experiential basis of CIU • CONTAINER and vertical elevation (Tyler and Evans 2003:139ff) • Association of the upper limit and the completion of activity • Empirically tested (for validity and universality)? weilunlu@gmail.com

  6. Shang in Mandarin • Shang denoting +VERTICAL • tafei-shangtiankong‘he fly-SHANG sky’ (Vertical sense) • ta guan-shang men ‘he close-SHANG door • ta guan men ‘he close door (Highlighting endof closing process) weilunlu@gmail.com

  7. CIU and shang • +VERTICAL --C--I--U--> COMPLETION (SPACE) (TIME) weilunlu@gmail.com

  8. Research questions • Given its similarity with up, what drives the sem extension of shang ‘completive’ from the physical meaning? • What can a corpus-based analysis of polysemy tell us about COMPLETION IS UP? weilunlu@gmail.com

  9. Analytical framework • Principled Polysemy (Evans 2004) • Methodological rigor in: • Sense description • Construction of semantic network • Criterion for sense description: • Grammatical Criterion (structure) • Concept Elaboration Criterion (collocation) weilunlu@gmail.com

  10. Data • Academia Sinica Balanced Corpus of Modern Chinese • Manual examination of 200+ tokens weilunlu@gmail.com

  11. Results • ‘Completive’: [V] – [shang] – [N] only • Derivation of ‘completive’ in [V] – [shang] – [N] • Imagistic structure of relevant senses in network (SOURCE-PATH-GOAL) weilunlu@gmail.com

  12. ‘Completive’ • V of contact or connection (e.g. guan ‘close,’ he ‘bring together,’ peng ‘touch,’ zhuang ‘bump,’ lian ‘link,’ jie ‘connect,’ etc.) weilunlu@gmail.com

  13. ‘Attached’ • V of applying substance (e.g. pen ‘spray,’ shua ‘brush,’ tu ‘spread,’ sa ‘scatter,’ hua ‘draw,’ xie ‘write,’ etc.) • N in the co-text prompting SURFACE, on which the substance is applied

  14. ‘Vertically attained’ • V of vertical elevation, usu. involving effort (e.g. deng ‘mount,’ pa ‘climb,’ tiao/yue ‘jump,’ etc.) • N involving SURFACE, on top of which the moving figure can rest weilunlu@gmail.com

  15. Results • ‘Completive’: [V] – [shang] – [N] only • Derivation of ‘completive’ in [V] – [shang] – [N] • Imagistic structure of the relevant senses in the sem network (S-P-G) weilunlu@gmail.com

  16. Image-schema (‘vertically attained’) • S-P-G: PATH and GOAL highlighted • Conceptual contents elaborated: • VERTICAL ELEVATION (by V) • SURFACE (by N) weilunlu@gmail.com

  17. Image-schema (‘attached’) • S-P-G: GOAL highlighted • Only SURFACE elaborated (by N) • VER not present weilunlu@gmail.com

  18. Image-schema (‘completive’) • S-P-G: GOAL highlighted (contact) • SURFACE much less obvious weilunlu@gmail.com

  19. Path of semantic extension • Derivation of ‘completive’: Gradual attenuation of conceptual content • Specific to [V] – [shang] – [N] Reduction of SURFACE ‘Completive’ Reduction of VERTICALITY ‘Attached’ ‘Vertically attained’ weilunlu@gmail.com

  20. Making sense of shang ‘completive’ • Construction-specific • Prototypical gestalt prompted by shang: • VERTICAL ELEVATION • REST ON A SURFACE • Result of gradual reduction of the various facets of the conceptual scene prompted by cx weilunlu@gmail.com

  21. COMPLETION IS UP • At work on lexical meaning in a construction-specific way • Conceptually complex • VERTICALITY • SURFACE • A result of semantic attenuation (Langacker 1999) weilunlu@gmail.com

  22. Implications • Promise of construction grammar in the investigation of CM • Corpus evidence (usage-clusters)as an empirical alternative approach to CM • Different take from a pure conceptualist/experientialist explanation weilunlu@gmail.com

  23. Future research • The derivation of English up ‘completive’? • COMPLETION IS UP in English? • COMPLETION IS UP as a universal CM? weilunlu@gmail.com

  24. Acknowledgements • ArieVerhagen, I-wen Su, MA students in CL class • “Employment of Best Young Scientists for International Cooperation Empowerment” (CZ.1.07/2.3.00/30.0037) co-financed from European Social Fund and the state budget of the Czech Republic weilunlu@gmail.com

  25. THANK YOU! weilunlu@gmail.com

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