John Benjamins Publishing Company
Form and meaning in the development of verbal polysemy
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Chantal Melis
Abstract
The question of how form and meaning interact in processes of change is of particular significance to historical linguists. Most commonly, innovations in meaning are assumed to lead the way, with changes at the formal level following as a consequence. By contrast, the possibility of a formal change being responsible for the emergence of a new meaning is seldom envisaged. The present paper explores these issues in relation to the polysemous Spanish motion verb alcanzar ‘to reach’, which in the course of time developed the new senses ‘to understand’ and ‘to be sufficient’. The diachronic analysis of the two developments brings into view a meaning-to-form change in the first case but suggests a form-to-meaning path in the second case.
Abstract
The question of how form and meaning interact in processes of change is of particular significance to historical linguists. Most commonly, innovations in meaning are assumed to lead the way, with changes at the formal level following as a consequence. By contrast, the possibility of a formal change being responsible for the emergence of a new meaning is seldom envisaged. The present paper explores these issues in relation to the polysemous Spanish motion verb alcanzar ‘to reach’, which in the course of time developed the new senses ‘to understand’ and ‘to be sufficient’. The diachronic analysis of the two developments brings into view a meaning-to-form change in the first case but suggests a form-to-meaning path in the second case.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Nouns and labelling 1
- Causative and inchoative constructions with poner and meter (‘to put’) in Spanish 21
- Auditory verbs in the Spanish language 47
- From semantics to grammar 77
- A note on the relative diachronic productivity of metaphor and metonymy 109
- A cognitive approach to the grammaticalization of the epistemic marker fijo 117
- The future tense in Spanish 159
- Form and meaning in the development of verbal polysemy 173
- Something seems to have changed 195
- In substance , they came from above 221
- Grammaticalization of en vías de 237
- On the importance of a diachronic approach to phraseology 299
- Index 331
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Nouns and labelling 1
- Causative and inchoative constructions with poner and meter (‘to put’) in Spanish 21
- Auditory verbs in the Spanish language 47
- From semantics to grammar 77
- A note on the relative diachronic productivity of metaphor and metonymy 109
- A cognitive approach to the grammaticalization of the epistemic marker fijo 117
- The future tense in Spanish 159
- Form and meaning in the development of verbal polysemy 173
- Something seems to have changed 195
- In substance , they came from above 221
- Grammaticalization of en vías de 237
- On the importance of a diachronic approach to phraseology 299
- Index 331
