The semantic evolution of 'eat'-expressions: Ways and byways
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Peter Edwin Hook
Abstract
The act of consuming food occupies a central place in our day-to-day lives and the experiential reality associated with it serves as a rich source for a variety of metaphorical extensions across languages. In this paper we focus on two Indo-Aryan languages (Hindi-Urdu and Marathi) and demonstrate how various subcomponents of the basic action of eating may be extended to express relatively abstract events, states, and experiences. We approach the explication of the polysemy network of EAT in Hindi-Urdu and Marathi from two complementary perspectives: (1) a cognitive perspective and (2) a lexical perspective. This bilateral approach allows us to explore both the general (aka “universal”) and the particular (historical, language-specific) factors underlying the extended uses of the verb EAT.
Abstract
The act of consuming food occupies a central place in our day-to-day lives and the experiential reality associated with it serves as a rich source for a variety of metaphorical extensions across languages. In this paper we focus on two Indo-Aryan languages (Hindi-Urdu and Marathi) and demonstrate how various subcomponents of the basic action of eating may be extended to express relatively abstract events, states, and experiences. We approach the explication of the polysemy network of EAT in Hindi-Urdu and Marathi from two complementary perspectives: (1) a cognitive perspective and (2) a lexical perspective. This bilateral approach allows us to explore both the general (aka “universal”) and the particular (historical, language-specific) factors underlying the extended uses of the verb EAT.
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
