Verbs of falling in Japanese. Physical senses and semantic shifts
The paper describes the verbs of falling in Japanese (not compound, and only of native origin): ochiru ‘fall from above’, taoreru ‘fall over’, korobu ‘fall over while moving’ и furu ‘fall from the sky’, as well as the periphery of the domain: korogaru ‘(fall and) roll’, chiru ‘scatter; fall (leaves and flowers)’ and tareru ‘hang down; drip, fall’.
The domain has a well-defined dominant, ochiru ‘fall from above’. This term is the most frequently used, and covers falling as destruction and non-prototypical trajectors such as liquids. It also has the largest number of semantic shifts, including movement down metaphoric scales (such as ‘MORE IS UP’ and ‘GOOD IS UP’), parts missing from an information object, capitulation and others.
The other verb at the core of the domain, taoreru ‘fall over’, takes both animate and inanimate trajectors, but is used metaphorically to mean illness and death, motivated by the body’s inability to stay upright.
Korobu ‘fall over while moving’ historically used to be a verb of rolling. Its trajectors are mostly animate because they need to be self-propelling.
Furu is primarily used for rain and snow, but examples suggest that it can be interpreted more broadly as ‘fall from above the viewpoint’.
The three verbs on the periphery of the domain have primary meanings other than falling. Korogaru is related to korobu ‘fall over while moving’, but while korobu has lost the meaning of rotation, korogaru describes falling and rolling as a continuous situation. It does not distinguish between falling from above and toppling. Chiru ‘scatter; fall’ prefers multiple trajector but can metonymically be applied to a single leaf or petal. Tareru ‘hang; drip, fall’ prototypically describes liquids falling in a thin stream, but is also attested with a single drop. Neither of these verbs has any significant semantic shifts, but they may be of interest in the study of adjacent domains.
