Polysemy and metaphor in perception verbs: a cross-linguistic study

2.3.4. SMELL 
The sense of smell is generally considered a weaker source domain for 
metaphorical meanings in comparison with the other senses (Caplan 1973; Viberg 1984; 
Sweetser 1990). Although the sense of smell in human beings is not as developed as 
other senses such as vision, Ibarretxe-Antuñano (1997, 1999a, 1999b) has shown that 
this sense does have several extended meanings. In this section these meanings are 
analysed. The verbs
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used in this analysis are smell and sniff in English, usaindu, 
usnatu
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and usmatu in Basque, and oler, olfatear and husmear in Spanish. 
In the first instance there is one physical extended meaning in the three 
languages, i.e. ‘to trail something’, illustrated in (104), (105) and (106). 
(104) The dog was sniffing the ground looking for the hare 
(105) Txakurra 
usnaka 
zebilen 
erbiaren bila 
dog.
ABS
smelling 
was 
hare.
GEN
search.
ABS
‘The dog was sniffing around looking for the hare’ 
(106) El 
perro estaba olfateando el suelo 
en busca
de la liebre 
the
dog
was
smelling
the
ground
in 
search
of the hare 
‘The dog was sniffing the ground looking for the hare’ 
In these examples the meaning of the verb of smell is still physical: the dog was 
actually physically smelling the ground and following the trail (i.e. smell) left by the 
hare. 
Apart from this physical meaning, smell verbs can have additional metaphorical 
senses. For instance smell can also mean ‘to suspect’ as in (107) and ‘to guess, to sense 
something intuitively’ as in (108): 
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In this study I only focus on verbs denoting neutral perception. Consequently verbs like Eng 
stink and stench (as well as their equivalent words in the other languages, Bq ufaztu, kiraztu; Sp apestar, † 
heder) are not included, despite the fact that in earlier stages of the language, they were used for indicating 
neutral smell (see for instance OE stinc). 
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This verb is more widely used in the Northern dialects. 

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B. Iraide Ibarretxe-Antuñano 
Polysemy and metaphor in perception verbs 
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(107) Things… wouldn’t always get past the sharp-eyed QC. If a case smelt,
he 
would 
smell it (OED-1973) 
(108) Mary 
can 
smell trouble a mile off (OSD) 
In (107) smell is used in two different ways. The meaning of the former is used 
as the indication of bad characteristics. It can be easily replaced by the verb stink. The 
second smell is the one that interests us because it means ‘to suspect’. (107) could be 
paraphrased as ‘if there was something wrong in the case, the QC would suspect it’. It 
has been suggested that the second smell could be paraphrased as ‘to know’ instead of 
‘to suspect’. Although it is true that there is a great deal of variability in the 
interpretation of this example, it is important to take into account that the information 
that we get when we use our sense of smell is not as reliable as that we have if we use 
another sense, such as vision. In (107) the QC did not know for sure that there was 
something wrong with the case and that is why the verb smell is used instead of see, in 
which case the sentence would not offer any doubt in respect of its meaning. 
The meaning of (108) is rather different from (107). What it says is not that Mary 
suspects that there is going to be trouble, but that in case there was, she would sense it, 
she would guess it beforehand. Although sometimes guess and suspect can be taken as 
synonyms, in these two examples they appear to be different. Suspect always carries a 
negative meaning. If we suspect something or somebody, there are always negative 
connotations implied. This is not the case with guess. What is guessed might be a 
negative or a positive thing. Its quality is not implied by the verb itself but by the fact 
that is foreseen. 
Both meanings are not restricted to English. They are also possible in Basque. In 
(109) smell has the meaning ‘to suspect’: 
(109) Sailburuaren 
kontuak 
zuzenak 
ez 
zirela
erraz 
usain zitekeen 
minister.
GEN
account.
ABS
.
PL
right.
ABS
.
PL
NEG
were.
COMP
easily 
smell 
could 
‘It was easy to suspect that the minister’s accounts were not clear’ 

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B. Iraide Ibarretxe-Antuñano 
Polysemy and metaphor in perception verbs 
79
As in (107), in this example the verb of smell comes to mean ‘to suspect’. We 
suspected that the minister’s accounts were not clear, that there was something wrong 
with them. This verb is always connected to negative connotations. 
And (110) smell has the meaning ‘to guess’. 
(110) Kanturako 
haren zera
ikusiz, 
(nik) mutrikuarra 
zela
usaindu nuen 
song.
ALL
.
ADN
he.
GEN
way.
ABS
seeing 
I.
ERG
mutriku.
GEN
was.
COMP
smell 
AUX
‘From his way of singing, I guessed he was from Mutriku’ (
HM
) 
(110) might be a more illustrative example than (108) above. In (110) there are 
no negative connotations or bad characteristics to be discovered, but only the fact that 
this person was from a town called Mutriku. In his particular way of singing there were 
some hints that make us guess where he came from. 
Finally, these same meanings are found in Spanish, ‘to suspect’ in (111) and ‘to 
guess’ in (112): 
(111) Me huelo 
que ella está detrás 
de todo esto 
I.
REFL
smell
that
she
is
behind of
all
this 
‘I suspect she is behind all this’ (
OSD
) 
As in the previous examples in English (107) and Basque (109), there are 
negative connotations implied in (111). These negative characteristics are not present in 
(112) below: 
(112) Juan ya 
se 
ha 
olido la
broma 
john already 
he.
REFL
has
smelt
the
joke 
‘(I think) John might have guessed that it’s a joke’ (
RCD
) 
‘To guess’ and ‘to suspect’ are not the only two possible metaphorical extensions 
in the domain of smell. Smell verbs can also mean ‘to investigate’ as in (113), (114) and 
(115). 
(113) The 
police 
have 
been