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

6.1.1. The property  
The property  only applies to vision, hearing and 
smell. It does not apply to touch and taste because of the constraint: yes
> which 
is incompatible with . 
Let us see how this is expressed in language in the following sentences. 
(1)
I saw that there was going to be trouble 
(2)
I heard that there was going to be trouble 
(3)
I smelt that there was going to be trouble 
(4)
*I touched that there was going to be trouble 
(5)
*I tasted that there was going to be trouble 
As seen in these examples, the proposed constraint
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for touch and taste seems 
to work when we look at sentences such as (4) and (5). Both senses share the property 
yes
>, and it is precisely this characteristic that prevents these sentences from 
being felicitous, on the one hand it is not possible to touch or taste trouble without 
having a contact, either physical or metaphorical; on the other hand, the positive value of 
the property  in these two cases makes the formulation of hypotheses 
unnecessary. Whereas the first three sentences make sense, the last two are not 
acceptable. The meaning in (1), (2) and (3), however, is not the same. (1) can be 
paraphrased as ‘to know’, (2) as ‘to be told’ and, (3) as ‘to guess, to suspect’.
The degree of correctness between the hypotheses inferred from the Ps and the 
real object in each sentence varies accordingly. In the case of vision, it is me – the PR – 

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B. Iraide Ibarretxe-Antuñano 
Polysemy and metaphor in perception verbs 
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that figures out that there was going to be some trouble; I saw some indications that 
clearly pointed to me that there were going to be some problems. This reflects the 
properties yes
> and yes
> in vision. In (2), I myself did not see 
with my own eyes that there was going to be trouble, another person told me so; and as 
experience tells us, sometimes what other people say, especially when reporting some 
event, is not always very accurate. This reflects the property no
> in hearing. 
Finally in (3), I myself perceived that there was going to be trouble, but the indications 
to that conclusion were not very clear, the evidence for such an assumption is not strong 
enough for me to be sure of them. This reflects the property no
> in smell.