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

2.3.5.1 The nouns of the sense of taste. 
In this section I review only those meanings conveyed by taste nouns that are not 
present in taste verbs in the three languages of the sample. The taste nouns analysed are 
taste in English, sabor and gusto in Spanish, and zapore and gustu in Basque
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. These 
meanings are represented in Table 2.9. 
Meanings 
taste sabor gusto zapore gustu 
‘Liking, preference’ 
√ 
√ 
√ 
‘Ability to perceive and enjoy what is 
beautiful and harmonious’ 
√ 
√ 
√ 
‘Judgements of aesthetic, intellectual 
artistic or social matters (standards)’ 
√ 
√ 
‘Discretion, delicacy’ 
√ 
√ 
Table 2.9: The nouns of the sense of taste in English, Spanish and Basque. 
As seen in Table 2.9, the Sp taste noun sabor and the Bq zapore are not very 
productive in terms of metaphorical extended meanings if compared with the other two 

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B. Iraide Ibarretxe-Antuñano 
Polysemy and metaphor in perception verbs 
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taste nouns, Sp gusto and Bq gustu. The etymological origin and semantic development 
of these words in Spanish may explain why this is so. Sp sabor is related to the verb 
saber. This verb has two meanings ‘to have a taste (percept)’ and ‘to know’ (see Section 
2.2.2). Sp gustu is related to the verb gustar, which nowadays means ‘to like’, but as 
explained in Chapter 3, it used to function as a taste activity verb in Middle Spanish. 
Therefore, it seems that only those nouns deriving from activity verbs have developed 
these metaphorical meanings summarised in Table 2.9. 
The relation between the sense of taste and personal likes and dislikes is only 
present in the nouns, as in examples (135) and (136). 
(135) She has a taste for foreign travel (
OAL
) 
This sentence means that she likes travelling in foreign countries. She prefers that 
kind of travelling. 
(136) Modern art is not to everyone’s taste (
OAL
) 
This means that not everybody likes modern art. 
However, some other meanings are possible too. In (137) and (138) it is not only 
that we like or dislike the fact that Peter has money or Mary’s clothes but also that we 
make judgements according to our standards or to the social or aesthetic standards of the 
time we live in. 
(137) Peter’s got more money than taste 
(138) Mary 
has 
no 
taste for clothes
Finally, another meaning is possible, that of delicacy and discretion.
(139) That 
remark 
lacks 
taste (
COL
) 
In this sentence, we are implying that that remark is rude, not appropriate for that 
moment. Again, in this sentence we are making judgements according to our standards.
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These two nouns are loanwords from Spanish (Bq dastatu ‘to taste’, also from Latin – see 
Chapter 3). 

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B. Iraide Ibarretxe-Antuñano 
Polysemy and metaphor in perception verbs 
88
It is worth noticing the fact that when the word taste, as well as its equivalents in 
the other languages of the sample, is not accompanied by any gradual modifier or 
qualifying adjective it always refers to positive characteristics. Therefore, if we say 
(140) Pedro 
tiene 
gusto para la
ropa 
peter
has
taste
for
the
clothes 
‘Peter has taste for clothes’ 
what we mean is that the clothes he chooses are nice, that he combines the 
colours very well and so on. 
In conclusion it can be said that the nouns of the sense of smell present two 
cognitive meanings: on the one hand, likes and dislikes, and on the other judgements 
based on social, aesthetic, intellectual and artistic standards.