The linguistic encoding of placement and removal events in Jahai
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Niclas Burenhult
Abstract
This paper explores the linguistic encoding of placement and removal events in Jahai (Austroasiatic, Malay Peninsula) on the basis of descriptions from a video elicitation task. It outlines the structural characteristics of the descriptions and isolates semantically a set of situation types that find expression in lexical opposites: (1) putting/taking, (2) inserting/extracting, (3) dressing/undressing, and (4) placing/removing one’s body parts. All involve deliberate and controlled placing/removing of a solid Figure object in relation to a Ground which is not a human recipient. However, they differ as to the identity of and physical relationship between Figure and Ground. The data also provide evidence of variation in how semantic roles are mapped onto syntactic constituents: in most situation types, Agent, Figure and Ground associate with particular constituent NPs, but some placement events are described with semantically specialised verbs encoding the Figure and even the Ground.
Abstract
This paper explores the linguistic encoding of placement and removal events in Jahai (Austroasiatic, Malay Peninsula) on the basis of descriptions from a video elicitation task. It outlines the structural characteristics of the descriptions and isolates semantically a set of situation types that find expression in lexical opposites: (1) putting/taking, (2) inserting/extracting, (3) dressing/undressing, and (4) placing/removing one’s body parts. All involve deliberate and controlled placing/removing of a solid Figure object in relation to a Ground which is not a human recipient. However, they differ as to the identity of and physical relationship between Figure and Ground. The data also provide evidence of variation in how semantic roles are mapped onto syntactic constituents: in most situation types, Agent, Figure and Ground associate with particular constituent NPs, but some placement events are described with semantically specialised verbs encoding the Figure and even the Ground.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Contributors ix
- Preface xi
- Putting and taking events 1
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Part I. Lexical semantics
- The linguistic encoding of placement and removal events in Jahai 21
- “She from bookshelf take-descend-come the box” 37
- To ‘put’ or to ‘take’? 55
- The encoding of placement and removal events in ǂĀkhoe Haiǁom 79
- The semantics of placement and removal predicates in Moroccan Arabic 99
- Placement and removal events in Basque and Spanish 123
- On the use of PUT Verbs by multilingual speakers of Romansh 145
- Probing the linguistic encoding of placement and removal events in Swedish 167
- The semantic role of agentive control in Hungarian placement events 183
- Putting and Taking in Tamil and Hindi 201
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Part II. (A)symmetries in encoding placement vs. removal events
- The Thaayorre lexicon of putting and taking 233
- The expression of ‘putting’ and ‘taking’ events in Japanese 253
- Put and Take in Yélî Dnye, the Papuan language of Rossel Island 273
- Take it up, down, and away 297
- Semantic granularity of placement and removal expressions in Polish 327
- How to put and take in Kalasha 349
- Language index 367
- Subject index 369
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Contributors ix
- Preface xi
- Putting and taking events 1
-
Part I. Lexical semantics
- The linguistic encoding of placement and removal events in Jahai 21
- “She from bookshelf take-descend-come the box” 37
- To ‘put’ or to ‘take’? 55
- The encoding of placement and removal events in ǂĀkhoe Haiǁom 79
- The semantics of placement and removal predicates in Moroccan Arabic 99
- Placement and removal events in Basque and Spanish 123
- On the use of PUT Verbs by multilingual speakers of Romansh 145
- Probing the linguistic encoding of placement and removal events in Swedish 167
- The semantic role of agentive control in Hungarian placement events 183
- Putting and Taking in Tamil and Hindi 201
-
Part II. (A)symmetries in encoding placement vs. removal events
- The Thaayorre lexicon of putting and taking 233
- The expression of ‘putting’ and ‘taking’ events in Japanese 253
- Put and Take in Yélî Dnye, the Papuan language of Rossel Island 273
- Take it up, down, and away 297
- Semantic granularity of placement and removal expressions in Polish 327
- How to put and take in Kalasha 349
- Language index 367
- Subject index 369
