Polysemy and metaphor in perception verbs: a cross-linguistic study
CROSS-LINGUISTIC DATA: BASQUE AND SPANISH
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- 2.2.2.1. Basque Perception Verbs
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2.2.2. CROSS-LINGUISTIC DATA: BASQUE AND SPANISH
In the previous section it is shown how perception verbs are classified in three groups according to the semantic role of the subject the verb takes. In Table 2.1 above, the basic paradigm for perception verbs in English is presented. In this section, I apply this classification to perception verbs in the other two languages under investigation: Basque and Spanish. 2.2.2.1. Basque Perception Verbs Table 2.2 shows the basic perception verbs in Basque. S ENSE MODALITY E XPERIENCE A CTIVITY P ERCEPT V ISION Ikusi Begira --- (Iruditu) H EARING Entzun /Aditu Entzun / Aditu --- T OUCH --- (Sumatu / Nabaritu) Ukitu --- S MELL Usaindu Usnatu/ Usaindu ---(Usain eduki / erion) T ASTE Dastatu (Sumatu / Nabaritu) Dastatu Dastatu (Zapore / Gustu eduki) Table 2.2: The basic paradigm of verbs of perception in Basque. These experiencer verbs in Basque are illustrated in (5) below: (5) a. Pellok txoriak ikusi zituen peter. ERG bird. ABS . PL see AUX ‘Peter saw the birds’ b. Pellok txoriak entzun zituen peter. ERG bird. ABS . PL hear AUX ‘Peter heard the birds’ 42 What I call here ‘prototypical’ meaning has been referred to by other authors as ‘ideal’ B. Iraide Ibarretxe-Antuñano Polysemy and metaphor in perception verbs 47 c. Pellok harri bat sumatu zuen bere oinpean peter. ERG stone one perceive AUX his footunder. INE ‘Peter felt a stone under his feet’ d. Pellok puruak usaitu zituen gelan peter. ERG cigar. ABS . PL smell AUX room. INE ‘Peter smelled cigars in the room’ e. Pellok baratzuria dastatu zuen janarian peter. ERG garlic. ABS taste AUX food. INE ‘Peter tasted garlic in the food’ In the first group of experiencer verbs Basque has a lexical item for every sense except for the sense of touch, where the verbs sumatu and nabaritu are to be used. These verbs both mean ‘to perceive’ and ‘to notice’. Although both verbs refer to general perception, it is very interesting to notice that the verb sumatu is related to the sense of smell. This verb comes from the noun suma, which means ‘smell, sense of smell’ (See Chapter 3). According to Viberg’s (1983, 1984) lexicalisation hierarchy in (6) below, a verb having a basic meaning belonging to a sense modality higher in the hierarchy can get an extended meaning that covers some, or all, of the sense modalities lower in the hierarchy. (6) sight > hearing > touch > smell / taste Based on this hierarchy, languages are classified in respect to the number of senses that they can lexicalise. For instance, English has the five modalities: see, hear, feel, taste and smell; Malay has four: lihat ‘vision’, dengar ‘hearing’, rasa ‘feel, taste’ and hidu ‘smell’; Swedish has three se ‘vision’, höra ‘hearing’ and känna ‘feel, taste, smell’. Basque is included in the group of languages with only three senses. Although sumatu no longer means ‘to smell’, the fact that it is derived from suma ‘smell’ seems to meaning (Herskovits 1986), and ‘primary nuclear sense’ (Austin 1961). B. Iraide Ibarretxe-Antuñano Polysemy and metaphor in perception verbs 48 contradict Viberg’s hierarchy at least in the case of Basque. This is because it is a verb from the sense of smell that is used for the sense of touch, which is higher up in the hierarchy. As a consequence, it cannot be included in the same group of languages as Swedish. For the group of activity verbs Basque has a complete paradigm as illustrated in (7) below: (7) a. Pellok txoriei begiratu zien peter. ERG bird. DAT . PL look AUX ‘Peter looked at the birds’ b. Pellok txoriei entzun zien 43 peter. ERG bird. DAT . PL listen AUX ‘Peter listened to the birds’ c. Pellok oihala ukitu zuen peter. ERG cloth. ABS touch AUX ‘Peter felt the cloth (/to see how soft it was/)’ d. Pellok purua usaindu zuen peter. ERG cigar. ABS smell AUX ‘Peter smelled the cigar (/to see if he could smoke it/)’ e. Pellok janaria dastatu zuen peter. ERG food. ABS taste AUX ‘Peter tasted the food (/to see if he could eat it/)’ 43 Although (7.b) is correct in Basque, native speakers feel more comfortable if the noun kantu ‘song’ is included as in (7.b’): (7.b’) Pellok txorien kantua entzun zuen peter. ERG bird. GEN . PL song. ABS listen AUX ‘Peter listened to the birds’ song’ B. Iraide Ibarretxe-Antuñano Polysemy and metaphor in perception verbs 49 In the case of percept verbs Basque is relatively poor. The sense of taste is the only one that can be lexicalised by means of a perception verb as example (8.c) shows. In the other cases it is necessary to use a related verb, e.g. iruditu ‘seem’, as in vision (8.a); or a perception noun followed by the verb eduki ‘to have’ as in the sense of smell (8.b) and also taste 44 (8.d), (8.e). (8) a. Pellok pozik zirudien peter. ERG happy seemed ‘Peter looked happy’ b. Pellok usain ona / puru usaina zeukan peter. ERG smell good. ABS / cigar smell. ABS had ‘Peter smelled good / smelled of cigars’ (lit. Peter had a good smell / a smell of cigars) c. Janariak ondo dastatu zuen food. ERG well taste AUX ‘The food tasted good’ d. Janariak gustu ona zeukan food. ERG taste good. ABS had ‘The food had a good taste’ e. Janariak baratzuri zaporea zeukan. food. ERG garlic taste. ABS had ‘The food had garlic taste’ In sum, Basque has a different lexical item for all experiencer perception verbs but touch. This sense modality is covered by a verb that refers to general perception 44 Note that gustu and zapore are borrowings from Romance. This is a further indication of the poverty of Basque in terms of percept verbs. |
