Cross-linguistic variation in polysemy: A window on grammar

In this talk, based on ongoing work with Alexandra Spalek, I show how verbal polysemy sheds light on the syntax/semantics interface. Extensions of meaning from the concrete to the abstract domain manifest striking patterns of both similarity and contrast across languages. These patterns suggest that grammar shapes our categorization of eventualities in ways that we may not be aware of. It also highlights the complexity of the relationship between so-called “grammatical” and “root” components of verb meaning. I close with a brief discussion of the implications of the data for different views of these two components, such as those in Borer 2003, Levin and Rappaport Hovav 2010, Harley 2014 and replies, and Carston 2018.

此次报告基于讲者与Alexandra Spalek正在合作开展的研究，展示动词多义现象对于理解句法-语义界面的意义。当词义从具体事物延伸到抽象领域中时，我们可以通过跨语言比较中的相似与不同观察到一些显著的规律。从这些规律中，能够看到语法潜移默化地塑造着我们对事件进行分类的方式。同时这些现象表明，虽然动词语义传统上被划分为“语法结构”与“词根”两个组成部分，但这两个部分之间的关系相当复杂。最后，讲者将简单探讨以上观察到的现象对文献中不同的动词语义理论的影响（如Borer 2003，Levin & Rappaport Hovav 2010，Harley 2014及其回复和Carston 2018）。