Polysemy and metaphor in perception verbs: a cross-linguistic study
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PhD-Thesis-99
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seeing each other for a year (
AMGD ) (40) (Haiek) Ihaz hasi ziren elkar ikusten they. ABS lastyear start AUX REC see. HAB ‘They started to see each other last year’ 49 Doctors do visit their patients, but in these examples it is implied that the patient goes to the practice. B. Iraide Ibarretxe-Antuñano Polysemy and metaphor in perception verbs 60 (41) Se ven desde hace un año they. REC see.3. PL since made a year ‘They have been seeing each other for a year’ Another meaning is ‘to get on badly’ as in (42), (43) and (44). In this case it is necessary to have a negative construction in order to indicate that the people involved do not get on well. (42) They can’t see each other (43) (Haiek) Ezin dute elkar ikusi they. ERG cannot AUX REFL see ‘They can’t see each other’ (44) No se pueden ni ver NEG REC can.3. PL not.even see ‘They can’t see each other’ A third group of meanings is that which links vision to reliability, and assurance. Meanings such as ‘to ascertain, to find out’ as in (45), (46) and (47), ‘to make sure’ as in (48), (49) and (50) and ‘to take care’ as in (51), (52) and (53) are included in this group. (45) Please see who’s knocking ( AM ) (46) (Hark) Mendiaren gailurrera iritsita behean zegoen herri hura ikusi zuen he. ERG mountain. GEN top. ALL arrive. PAR down. INE was. REL town that. ABS see AUX ‘When he reached the top of the mountain he discovered the town that was down there’ ( ELH ) (47) Mira a ver quién llama a la puerta look to see who calls to the door ‘See who’s at the door’ B. Iraide Ibarretxe-Antuñano Polysemy and metaphor in perception verbs 61 Another meaning included in this group is ‘to make sure’. (48) See that it gets done right away ( AM ) (49) Mira que los niños hagan los deberes look COMP the children do. SUBJ the homeworks ‘See that the children do their homework’ Finally the meaning ‘to take care’ is also included in this group. (50) He looked 50 after his younger brother ( AM ) (51) Begira iezadazu umea kanpoan nagoen bitartean look AUX . IMP child. ABS outside. INE am. COMP while ‘Look after the child while I’m away’ ( IS ) (52) Mira por tí misma, los demás que se las arreglen look for you. DAT REFL the others that they. REFL the fix. SUBJ .3. PL ‘Just take care of yourself, and let the others sort out their own problems’ ( OSD ) Another meaning possible in vision verbs is ‘to witness’. In this meaning the emphasis is on the person that is looking. This acts as a ‘passive witness’ of the events that happen, i.e. they do not personally take part in what is going on. (53) He has seen much unhappiness in this life 51 ( COL ) 50 In some Southern English dialects, saw can be used in this example as in He saw to his younger brother (Cann p.c.). 51 This example can have another interpretation as well. The subject can be a ‘passive witness’ that sees all this unhappiness as an observer, but on the other hand, the subject can be an ‘active witness’ who has experienced this unhappiness in his own flesh (See (60) and (61) below). B. Iraide Ibarretxe-Antuñano Polysemy and metaphor in perception verbs 62 (54) Vieron confirmadas sus sospechas saw.3. PL confirmed. PL their suspicions ‘They saw their suspicions confirmed’ ( OSD ) Another possible meaning is ‘to refer to’ as in the examples below: (55) Persons interested in the book’s history should see page one of the preface ( AM ) (56) Véase el capítulo siguiente see. IMP . REFL the chapter next ‘See the following chapter’ ( LAR ) (57) (Zuri) Gai hori gustatzen bazaizu, liburu hau ikusi behar duzu you. DAT topic this like. HAB if. AUX book this see must AUX ‘If you like this topic, you should see this book’ Apart from the cross-linguistic extended meanings just revised, each language has developed further meanings. For instance, in English, it is possible to say (58) with the meaning ‘to escort’: where the person is accompanying Nellie to her house. (58) I’m seeing Nellie home ( AM ) In (59), there is another possible meaning in English ‘to bring’, and ‘to last’ 52 . (59) $500 should see you to the end of the month ( OSD ) In Basque, the verb ikusi ‘to see’ can have the meaning ‘to suffer’ 53 as in (60). 52 In a way this meaning can be derived from the one before, as this can be interpreted as meaning the money should accompany this person for a month. 53 This meaning is somehow similar to (50) discussed above. In this case, as in one of the interpretations in English, the subject is not only a witness of the suffering, but he experiences them in his own flesh. This is what I have previously called ‘active witness’. B. Iraide Ibarretxe-Antuñano Polysemy and metaphor in perception verbs 63 (60) (Hark) Istilu gorriak ikusi zituen he. ERG difficulty red. ABS . PL see AUX ‘He suffered a great deal’ ( ELH ) It can be argued that the meaning ‘to suffer’ in (60) is carried out by the direct object istilu gorriak, not only in the word istiluak ‘difficulties’, but also in the word gorri ‘red’, which metaphorically means ‘terrible, awful, extreme’ in Basque 54 . However, as seen in (61) it is possible to infer this meaning without having it implied in any other word in the sentence. (61) Neureak ikusita nago mine. ABS . PL see. PAR am ‘I’ve suffered a lot’ ( AR ) Finally, in Spanish we have the meaning ‘to be involved’, and ‘to be related’ as in (62) 55 . (62) Y Schneider, ¿qué tenía que ver con la obra? and scheider what had.3. SG COMP see with the play ‘And what did Scheider have to do with the play?’ ( CORDE ) In this section I have analysed the related and non-related extended meanings of vision in English, Basque and Spanish. These are summarised in Table 2.4. 54 See Perurena (1992) and Frank and Susperregi (1999) for more information about the Basque colour system. 55 In Basque, it is also possible to have sentences like (1), but the meaning is more ‘to be related’ than ‘to be involved’ as in Spanish. (1) Honek ez du horrekin zer ikusirik this. ERG NEG AUX that. COM what see. Download 1.39 Mb. Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: 
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