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

7.3. HOW UNIVERSAL IS POLYSEMY? ................................................... 199 
7.4. CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................... 209 
CHAPTER 8: CONCLUSIONS ................................................. 211 
8.1. A NEW MODEL FOR POLYSEMY...................................................... 211 
8.2. POSSIBLE DIRECTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH.................... 215 
BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................................................... 216 
GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................... 216 
DICTIONARIES ........................................................................................... 232 
BASQUE ................................................................................................................ 232 
ENGLISH................................................................................................................ 233 
SPANISH................................................................................................................ 234 
LATIN ..................................................................................................................... 235 
MISCELANEOUS................................................................................................... 235 

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
The completion of this thesis has been possible thanks to the help and support of 
many people. People who were there for me before and while I was in Edinburgh. 
First of all, I am indebted to my supervisor Ronnie Cann, who was always 
stimulating, patient, and generous with comments, advice, and time. He encouraged me 
to go on, even in those moments when I was not sure where I was heading for. I also 
want to thank my second supervisor, Jim Miller, who gave me his support when I 
needed it most. My examiners, Keith Mitchell and Antonio Barcelona, for careful and 
constructive criticism. I do not want to forget Ethel Jack either, who provided me loads 
of inter-library loan vouchers, and Eddie Dubourg for his computer expertise. 
This thesis would not have been possible without the help and comments of 
many colleagues. Gontzal Aldai for his help with the etymology of Basque verbs. Jon 
Altuna for proof-reading my papers and my Basque data. Imanol Irizar and the other 
librarians in HABE Liburutegia for all the papers and books they sent me. Abraham 
Madroñal who gave me access to the corpora in the Real Academia de la Lengua 
Española. Susanne Schüle and the people at the Seminar für Sprachwissenschaft in 
Tübingen for their feedback on perception verbs. Miriam Urkia and the people in UZEI 
for all the data on Basque perception verbs. 
A big, big thanks to Matthew Aylett, Aaron Drews, Stephen Eglen, Kook-Hee 
Gill, Julie Hollis, and Max Louwerse for proof-reading this piece of work. 
Financial support is also very important. These years I have been able to survive 
thanks to the John Orr Research Award and the Scholarship that the Faculty of Arts, 
University of Edinburgh, granted me with. In the last year, this thesis has also been 
supported by a Scholarship for Postgraduate Studies from the Basque Government’s 
Department of Education, Universities and Research (BFI98.71). The Centre for 
Continuing Education (Con Gillen) also financed me for the LACUS conference.
My officemates, Ludovica Serratrice and Aaron Drews, who put up with my 
spider plants and me patiently, even when I was using them as my guinea pigs… Thanks 

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for your friendship and all those coffee breaks, when we suddenly realised that two 
hours had gone by… 
Oscar Vélez de Mendizabal was the first person who really understood what I 
wanted. He helped me to make up my mind and convinced me that coming to Edinburgh 
was the right choice. Thanks for being such a good friend! 
Jon Altuna Iraola was my best friend in Edinburgh. I shared with him all the 
good and the bad moments I went through in the first three years. You are in every bit of 
this thesis! 
Javi Ruiz Arizmendi was my escape at home. He made me forget the 
‘responsible’ side of a PhD student and showed me how to enjoy life at most. He 
provided me with the necessary energy and courage to go through the final stages of 
such a long-term project. Thanks for sharing with me all those great moments. 
I would also like to thank other friends and colleagues who were near me, helped 
me and cheered me up, while I was working on my thesis: Helena Alfaya, Gunther Auer, 
Matthew Aylett, Matthew Bull, Silvia Casertano, Marianna Chodorowska-Pilch, Nuria 
Eguiara, Stephen Eglen, Jon Franco Elorza, Roz Frank, Julie Hollis, Marta Jevenois, 
Charlotte Kemp, Iratxe Lopez, Anna Martin, John McKenna, Jabier Ozaeta, Mary 
Stewart, Volker Steuber, Murray Walker, and of course, all the people in Linguistics! 
Finally but most importantly, there are three people to whom this thesis is 
dedicated. My parents, Eusebio Ibarretxe and Edurne Antuñano, who always loved me 
and believed in me. ‘Hartzatxo arrosa’, the only one that has never been away from me 
since I was seven months old. Bihotzez maite zaituztet!

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