ISSN: 2306-5737E-ISSN: 2658-4069
Acta Linguistica Petropolitana
Transactions of the Institute for Linguistic Studies
ISSN: 2306-5737E-ISSN: 2658-4069
Acta Linguistica Petropolitana
Transactions of the Institute for Linguistic Studies 

The lexicalization of ‘falling’ and ‘throwing’ semantic fields in Tamil

DOI:10.30842/alp2306573716127
PDF, 634.18 kb
Smirnitskaya A. A. Leksikalizatsiya semanticheskikh poley ‘brosaniye’ i ‘padeniye’ v tamilskom yazyke. Acta Linguistica Petropolitana. 2020. XVI(1): 859–897.

The paper examines the lexicalization of contiguous semantic fields — FALLING and THROWING — in Tamil. The data obtained from native speakers as well as from dictionaries and written sources is considered. Lexical units of FALLING semantic field are investigated with the help of a questionnaire developed within the project and used for all the papers of this volume. The THROWING semantic field is less described. Our research is based on the questionnaire worked out in [Ivtushok 2015] which is adapted to Tamil data.

Related with quasi-causative bond, these fields demonstrate different semantic strategies of their lexification. The FALLING field is organized as a strongly dominant zone, while the THROWING field is covered by three main verbs and several more peripheral ones. The main lexeme describing the semantics of FALLING in Tamil (the dominant verb of the field) is viẓu. It is supported by a number of verbs with considerably restricted meanings: pey (“rainfall” and other natural phenomena), utir (‘falling of leaves and similar objects’), koṭṭu (‘loss of teeth, hair’), citaṟu (‘falling with scattering in different directions’), cintu (‘uncontrolled downward movement of liquids, including liquid drops’), naẓuvu (‘falling with slipping’) and some others. In the THROWING semantic field the main verbs er̠i (‘to throw with an effort to the target’), vīcu (‘to throw with less effort as a wide sweeping movement’) and pōṭu (‘to throw from a short distance with accuracy’) are also accompanied by peripheral ones, like ey (‘to throw a light object’, ‘to launch, as an arrow’), ir̠ai (‘to scatter a multiple object to the sides, as to sow grain’). In addition to THROWING frames suggested in [Ivtushok 2015], such as “throwing at a target”, “throwing up”, “throwing down”, “multiple object throwing”, “throwing inside a container” etc., the paper proposes some new frames describing this semantic field in regards to Tamil data, such as ‘throwing at a target with resistance overcoming’ or ‘throwing with a wide, sweeping movement without overcoming resistance’.

Keywords
semantics, lexical typology, Tamil, movement in the air, falling, throwing
References
Apresyan 2014
V. Yu. Apresyan,Yu. D. Apresyan (ed.), Ye. E. Babaeva, O. Yu. Boguslavskaya, I. V. Galaktionova, M. Ya. Glovinskaya, B. L. Iomdin, T. V. Krylova, I. B. Levontina, A. A. Lopukhina, A. V. Ptentsova, A. V. Sannikov, Ye. V. Uryson. Aktivnyy slovar russkogo yazyka. [Active dictionary of the Russian language]. Vol. 1. Moscow: Yazyki slavyanskoy kultury, 2014.
Dubyanskij et al. 2013
A. M. Dubyanskij, N. V. Gurov, A. A. Kibrik, E. B. Markus (ed.) Yazyki mira: Dravidiyskiye yazyki. [Languages of the world: Dravidian languages]. Moscow: Academia, 2013.
Ivtushok 2015
Ye. I. Ivtushok. Glagoly tipa «brosat» v leksiko-tipologicheskom osveshchenii [Verbs of “Throwing” from the lexico-typological point of view]. Ye. A. Lyutikovа, A. V. Zimmerling, M. B. Konoshenko (eds.). Tipologiya morfosintaksicheskikh parametrov. [Typology of morphosyntactic parameters]. Proceedings of the international conference “Typology of morphosyntactic parameters 2015”. Iss. 2. Moscow: Moscow Pedagogical State University Press, 2015.
Ivtushok 2016
Ye. I. Ivtushok. K tipologii glagolov so znacheniem «brosat» [On the typology of verbs with the meaning “to throw”. A. A. Kretov (ed.). Problemy leksiko-semanticheskoy tipologii [Problems of lexical-semantic typology]. Iss. 3. Voronezh: Voronezhskiy State Pedagogical University Publishing House, 2016. Р. 72–77.
Kashkin et al. 2015
E. V. Kashkin, D. O. Zhornik, A. N. Zakirova, A. D. Kozhemyakina, P. S. Pleshak. K leksicheskoy tipologii glagolov padeniya: dannye uralskikh yazykov [On the lexical typology of the verbs of Falling: the data from the Uralic languages]. Dvenadtsataya konferentsiya po tipologii i grammatike dlya molodykh issledovateley. Tezisy dokladov [12th Conference on Typology and Grammar for Young Researchers. Abstracts of reports]. (Saint Petersburg, 19–21 November 2015). P. 41–44.
Kashkin, Pleshak 2015
E. V. Kashkin, P. S. Pleshak. Ideofonicheskie glagoly padeniya: semanticheskie nablyudeniya i perspektivy tipologii (korpusnoe issledovanie) [Ideophonic verbs of Falling: semantic observations and typology perspectives (case study)]. Vestnik Voronezhskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya «Lingvistika i mezhkulturnaya kommunikatsiya». 2015. No. 3. P. 137–142.
Khokhlova 2018
L. V. Khokhlova. Semanticheskoe pole “padenie” v trekh rodstvennykh novoindiyskikh yazykakh: khindi, pandzhabi i gudzharati [Semantic field “falling” in three related New Indian languages: Hindi, Punjabi and Gujarati]. A. S. Panina (comp.). Vostokovednye chteniya 2018. Leksikologiya i leksikografiya. K 200-letiyu IV RAN. Tezisy dokladov mezhinstitutskoy nauchnoy konferentsii [Oriental readings 2018. Lexicology and lexicography. On the 200th anniversary of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Conference Proceedings]. Moscow: Institute of Oriental Studies, 2018. Р. 55–56.
Kopecka, Narasimhan 2012
A. Kopecka, B. Narasimhan (eds.) Events of Putting and Taking: A Crosslinguistic Perspective. Amsterdam; Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2012.
Kuzmenko, Mustakimova 2015
Ye. A. Kuzmenko, E. G. Mustakimova. Glagoly pa­deniya v leksiko-tipologicheskoy perspective [Falling verbs in the lexico-typological perspective. Ye. A. Lyutikovа, A. V. Zimmerling, M. B. Konoshenko (eds.). Tipologiya morfosintaksicheskikh parametrov. Materialy mezhdunarodnoy konferentsii «Tipologiya morfosintaksicheskikh parametrov 2015» [Typology of morphosyntactic parameters. Materials of the international conference “Typology of morphosyntactic parameters 2015”]. Moscow: Moscow Pedagogical State University Press, 2015. Р. 149–160.
Lehman 1993
T. Lehman. A grammar of Modern Tamil. Pondicherry: Institute of Language and Culture, 1993.
Majid et al. 2007
A. Majid, M. Bowerman, M. van Staden, J. S. Boster. The semantic categories of cutting and breaking events: A crosslinguistic perspective. Cognitive Linguistics. 2007. Vol. 18. Iss. 2. P. 133–152.
Maysak, Rakhilina (eds.) 2007
T. A. Maysak, E. V. Rakhilina (eds.). Glagoly dvizheniya v vode: leksicheskaya tipologiya [Verbs of motion in water: lexical typology]. Moscow: Indrik, 2007.
Mordashova 2017
D. D. Mordashova. Osobennosti leksiko-semanticheskogo polya brosaniya v gornomariyskomyazyke (na materiale govora s. Kuznetsovoy) [Peculiarities of the lexical-semantic field of Throwing in the Hill Mari language (based on the dialect of the village of Kuznetsovoy]. Chteniya pamyati A. I. Kuznetsovoy (elektronnaya prezentatsiya). [Readings in memory of A. I. Kuznetsova] (electronic presentation)], 2017.
Rakhilina, Reznikova 2013
E. V. Rakhilina, T. I. Reznikova. Freymovyy podkhod k leksicheskoy tipologii [Frame approach to lexical typology]. Voprosy yazykoznaniya. 2013. No. 2. P. 3–31.
Reznikova, Vyrenkova 2015
T. I. Reznikova, A. S. Vyrenkova. Semantics of Falling: A Cross-Linguistic Approach. National Research University Higher School of Economics. Working papers by the Basic Research Program: “Linguistics”. Moscow. 2015. No. 40.
Keywords
semantics, lexical typology, Tamil, movement in the air, falling, throwing
E-Library.ruScopusCrossRefCyberLeninkaVAKERIH Plus