Semantic profile as a source of polysemy: Insight from the spatial-configuration verb fàng in mandarin

Mei-Chun Liu*, Jui-Ching Chang

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapters, Conference Papers, Creative and Literary WorksRGC 32 - Refereed conference paper (with host publication)peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This study provides a linguistic insight to the issue of polysemy. It shows that semantic profile, an important cognitive mechanism, may be the source of verbal polysemy. With a close examination of corpus distribution of the high-frequency verb [fàng], we find that the diverse range of semantically and constructionally distinct uses of fàng can be viewed as profiling different stages of a motion-initiated event chain. We therefore propose that a multifaceted verb such as fàng may involve a cognitively salient sequence of events as its conceptual basis and the various senses of the verb may highlight various portions of the lexical base as a result of semantic profile.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationChinese Lexical Semantics
Subtitle of host publication16th Workshop, CLSW 2015, Revised Selected Papers
EditorsQin Lu, Helena Hong Gao
PublisherSpringer Verlag
Pages24-32
Volume9332
ISBN (Print)9783319271934
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2015
Externally publishedYes
Event16th Workshop on Chinese Lexical Semantics Workshop, CLSW 2015 - Beijing, China
Duration: 9 May 201511 May 2015

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume9332
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference16th Workshop on Chinese Lexical Semantics Workshop, CLSW 2015
PlaceChina
CityBeijing
Period9/05/1511/05/15

Research Keywords

  • Lexical semantics
  • Mandarin fang
  • Polysemy
  • Semantic profile

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Semantic profile as a source of polysemy: Insight from the spatial-configuration verb fàng in mandarin'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this