“追逐”动词语义图

A Semantic Map for "CHASE"

语言中的"追逐"义动词常常具有多义性,这种多义模式在不同的语言中既有共性也有差异。语言类型学领域近二十年来兴起的语义图模型最初用来表征语法形式的多功能性,可以借鉴它来表征实词的多义性,使之成为词汇类型学研究的一个有价值的框架和工具。

Semantic Map Model has become a powerful methodological tool for typological studies in recent years, which has been used to represent various polysemies of grammatical elements. Based on a corpus of 50 lexical headwords in 29 languages or dialects, this paper uses Semantic Map Model to analyze the complex semantic network associated with the notion ＂chase＂. A universal conceptual space, including 27 nodes associated with 27 different uses of chasing verbs in these languages, is built in this paper. The different uses of each chasing verb can be related by their adjacency on the map. In other words, each verb covers a contiguous area. For example, in Mandarin Chinese there are two main chasing verbs, i.e. zhu~ ＂~_.~＂ andg^in＂~＂, which have various but related uses exhibited by their adjacency on the map, as illustrated below： In order to make an overall explanation for the map, four semantic elements, i.e. ORDER, FORCE, CATCHING and DEPARTING, can be extracted for the illustration of semantic extension among different uses. This map can also make predictions about diachronic change by showing that some changes presuppose others. For example, if a hunting verb （ such as the Archaic Chinese lexical item zhu “逐”） is extended to additional uses and comes to express ＂drive out＂, it must have been extended to the meaning of ＂chase＂ before. The case study on chasing verb shows that Semantic Map Model is compatible with the lexicon and can be a helpful tool for lexical typology.