Image schemas and category coherence: the case of the Portuguese verb deixar

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Abstract

This paper offers a conceptual analysis of the many different senses of the Portuguese verb deixar 'to leave, to let'. Two clusters of meanings are identified, corresponding, roughly, to English 'to leave' and 'to let'. The analysis applies force-dynamic notions and is framed in terms of image schemas and their transformations. In the second half of the chapter, the diachronic development of the present-day complex is traced from the Latin etymon laxare 'to let go'. Finally, methodological conclusions are drawn on the proper treatment of polysemous and multifunctional lexical items.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationCognitive approaches to lexical semantics
EditorsHubert Cuyckens, René Dirven, John Taylor
PublisherDe Gruyter Mouton
Pages281-322
Number of pages42
Volume23
ISBN (Electronic)9783110219074
ISBN (Print)9783110177091
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 20 May 2003
EventWorkshop on Cognitive Approaches to Lexical Semantics held at the 16th Scandinavian Linguistics Conference - University of Turku, Turku, Finland
Duration: 15 Sept 199615 Sept 1996

Publication series

Name Cognitive Linguistics Research
Volume23
ISSN (Print)1861-4132

Workshop

WorkshopWorkshop on Cognitive Approaches to Lexical Semantics held at the 16th Scandinavian Linguistics Conference
Country/TerritoryFinland
CityTurku
Period15/09/9615/09/96

Keywords

  • Dehomonymization
  • Deprototypicalization
  • Force dynamics
  • Homonymy
  • Image schema
  • Image-schema transformation
  • Prototypicality

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