Continuity and discontinuity in the semantics of the Latin preposition per: a cognitive hypothesis
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2011 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | STUF. Linguistic typology and language universals (Sprachtypologie und Universalienforschung) |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1524/stuf.2011.0013/html |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1524/stuf.2011.0013 |
| Keywords | Early Latin; Grammaticalisation; Cognitive grammar; Prepositional phrase; Semantic map; Spatial meaning |
| Attached files | |
| Description | We propose a description of the semantic network of the Latin prepositional phrase per ‘through’ + Accusative in the early stage of this language. Drawing upon the insights of Cognitive Grammar, we analyze the role of the schematic import in the spread from basic to abstract meanings. Finally, we draw a map of the polysemous network of per, showing that the continuity of the different, but con- sistently linked, meanings does not necessarily imply the unidirectionality of the concrete-to-abstract shifts. |