A cross-linguistic overview of 'eat' and 'drink'
-
John Newman
Abstract
This chapter provides an overview of the range of linguistic properties associated with ‘eat’ and ‘drink’ verbs across languages and serves as an introduction to the whole volume. The chapter covers the lexicalization of these concepts and the syntax associated with ‘eat’ and ‘drink’ constructions. Figurative extensions of ‘eat’ and ‘drink’ constructions are common, in some languages even prolific, and have their sources in the simultaneous but distinct aspects of the acts of eating and drinking: the sensation of the consumer while ingesting and the destruction or disappearance of the entity consumed. These dual aspects of ingestion are relevant, too, when it comes to motivating the atypical kinds of transitive constructions found with these verbs in some languages. Grammaticalizations of ‘eat’ and ‘drink’, though not particularly common, do occur and are also reviewed here.
Abstract
This chapter provides an overview of the range of linguistic properties associated with ‘eat’ and ‘drink’ verbs across languages and serves as an introduction to the whole volume. The chapter covers the lexicalization of these concepts and the syntax associated with ‘eat’ and ‘drink’ constructions. Figurative extensions of ‘eat’ and ‘drink’ constructions are common, in some languages even prolific, and have their sources in the simultaneous but distinct aspects of the acts of eating and drinking: the sensation of the consumer while ingesting and the destruction or disappearance of the entity consumed. These dual aspects of ingestion are relevant, too, when it comes to motivating the atypical kinds of transitive constructions found with these verbs in some languages. Grammaticalizations of ‘eat’ and ‘drink’, though not particularly common, do occur and are also reviewed here.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- A cross-linguistic overview of 'eat' and 'drink' 1
- How transitive are 'eat' and 'drink' verbs? 27
- Quirky alternations of transitivity: The case of ingestive predicates 45
- All people eat and drink. Does this mean that 'eat' and 'drink' are universal human concepts? 65
- 'Eating', 'drinking' and 'smoking': A generic verb and its semantics in Manambu 91
- Athapaskan eating and drinking verbs and constructions 109
- The semantic evolution of 'eat'-expressions: Ways and byways 153
- Literal and figurative uses of Japanese 'eat' and 'drink' 173
- What (not) to eat or drink: Metaphor and metonymy of eating and drinking in Korean 195
- Metaphorical extensions of 'eat' --> [OVERCOME] and 'drink' --> [UNDERGO] in Hausa 229
- Amharic 'eat' and 'drink' verbs 253
- Author index 273
- Language index 277
- Subject index 279
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- A cross-linguistic overview of 'eat' and 'drink' 1
- How transitive are 'eat' and 'drink' verbs? 27
- Quirky alternations of transitivity: The case of ingestive predicates 45
- All people eat and drink. Does this mean that 'eat' and 'drink' are universal human concepts? 65
- 'Eating', 'drinking' and 'smoking': A generic verb and its semantics in Manambu 91
- Athapaskan eating and drinking verbs and constructions 109
- The semantic evolution of 'eat'-expressions: Ways and byways 153
- Literal and figurative uses of Japanese 'eat' and 'drink' 173
- What (not) to eat or drink: Metaphor and metonymy of eating and drinking in Korean 195
- Metaphorical extensions of 'eat' --> [OVERCOME] and 'drink' --> [UNDERGO] in Hausa 229
- Amharic 'eat' and 'drink' verbs 253
- Author index 273
- Language index 277
- Subject index 279
