Laura A. Janda

What constructional profiles reveal about synonymy: A case study of Russian words for SADNESS and HAPPINESS

Abstract We test two hypotheses relevant to the form-meaning relationship and offer a methodological contribution to the empirical study of near-synonymy within the framework of cognitive linguistics. In addition, we challenge implicit assumptions about the nature of the paradigm, which we show is skewed in favor of a few forms that are prototypical for a given lexical item. If one accepts the claim of construction grammar that the construction is the relevant unit of linguistic analysis, then we should expect to find a relationship between the meanings of words and the constructions they are found in. One way to investigate this expectation is by examining the meaning of constructions on the basis of their lexical profile; this line of research is pursued in collostructional analyses. We have taken a different approach, examining the meaning of near-synonyms on the basis of what we call their “constructional profile”. We define a constructional profile as the frequency distribution of the constructions that a word appears in. Constructional profiles for Russian nouns denoting sadness and happiness are presented, based upon corpus data, and analyzed quantitatively (using chi square and hierarchical cluster analysis). The findings are compared to the introspective analyses offered in synonym dictionaries.

A metaphor in search of a source domain: The categories of Slavic aspect

Abstract I propose that human experience of matter provides the source domain for the metaphor that motivates the grammatical category of aspect in Russian. This model is a version of the universal TIME IS SPACE metaphor, according to which SITUATIONS ARE MATERIAL ENTITIES, and, more specifically, PERFECTIVE IS A DISCRETE SOLID OBJECT versus IMPERFECTIVE IS A FLUID SUBSTANCE. The contrast of discrete solid objects with fluid substances reveals a rich array of over a dozen properties; the isomorphism observed between those properties and the complex uses of aspect in Russian is compelling. This model presents a more finely articulated account of Russian aspect than feature analysis can achieve. Although some of these properties overlap significantly with the count versus mass distinction often associated with aspect, the properties provide more detail and ground the metaphor to concrete experience. Properties of matter can be divided into three groups: inherent properties such as edges, shape, and integrity (which correspond to inherent situation aspect); interactional properties such as juxtaposition, dynamism, and salience (which correspond to discourse phenomena of aspect); and human interactional properties such as graspability and impact (which correspond to pragmatic phenomena of aspect). The interactional and human interactional properties can be used to motivate subjective construal, whereas the inherent properties serve as default motivators. The model will be demonstrated in detail using Russian data, followed by a survey comparing Russian with the other Slavic languages, which will show that deviations consist of either non-implementation of a given property, or the implementation of an inherent (default) property in place of an interactional or human interactional property. This model will be contrasted with a brief discussion of a selection of non-Slavic languages. The specific metaphor in this model does not apply beyond Slavic, but perhaps it will encourage investigation into the source domain of aspect in other languages. There appears to be a correlation between the relatively heavy morphological investment Slavic languages make in nominal individuation and the individuation of situations presented in this metaphorical model.

Metonymy in word-formation

Abstract A foundational goal of cognitive linguistics is to explain linguistic phenomena in terms of general cognitive strategies rather than postulating an autonomous language module (Langacker 1987: 12–13). Metonymy is identified among the imaginative capacities of cognition (Langacker 1993: 30, 2009: 46–47). Whereas the majority of scholarship on metonymy has focused on lexical metonymy, this study explores the systematic presence of metonymy in word-formation. I argue that in many cases, the semantic relationships between stems, affixes, and the words they form can be analyzed in terms of metonymy, and that this analysis yields a better, more insightful classification than traditional descriptions of word-formation. I present a metonymic classification of suffixal word-formation in three languages: Russian, Czech, and Norwegian. The system of classification is designed to maximize comparison between lexical and word-formational metonymy. This comparison supports another central claim of cognitive linguistics, namely that grammar (in this case word-formation) and lexicon form a continuum (Langacker 1987: 18–19), since I show that metonymic relationships in the two domains can be described in nearly identical terms. While many metonymic relationships are shared across the lexical and grammatical domains, some are specific to only one domain, and the two domains show different preferences for source and target concepts. Furthermore, I find that the range of metonymic relationships expressed in word-formation is more diverse than what has been found in lexical metonymy. There is remarkable similarity in word-formational metonymy across the three languages, despite their typological differences, though they all show some degree of language-specific behavior as well. Although this study is limited to three Indo-European languages, the goal is to create a classification system that could be implemented (perhaps with modifications) across a wider spectrum of languages.

The radial network of a grammatical category — its genesis and dynamic structure

This paper presents an account ofthe semantic category ofthe dative case in Czech in the framework ofcognitive grammar. A hierarchy oftypes of Variation involved in the structuring of case categories is suggested, äs well äs appropriate notationsfor captioning case semantics. All types of case usage, whether traditionally identified äs grammatical, semantic or affective, are shown to have a logical, well-motivated role in the structure of the case category. In particular, affective uses of case are demonstrated to be regulär, predictable metaphorical extensions of basic case usage. A sei of possible universal strategies in the evolution and structure of case categories is postulated in the conclusion.

Cognitive Linguistics in the Year 2015

Cognitive linguistics views linguistic cognition as indistinguishable from general cognition and thus seeks explanation of linguistic phenomena in terms of general cognitive strategies, such as metaphor, metonymy, and blending. Grammar and lexicon are viewed as parts of a single continuum and thus expected to be subject to the same cognitive strategies. Significant developments within cognitive linguistics in the past two decades include construction grammar and the application of quantitative methods to analyses.

Two ways to get out : radial Category Profiling and the Russian Prefixes vy- and iz-

Abstract We undertake a detailed analysis of the two closely related Russian aspectual prefixes vy- and iz. The meanings of these prefixes are analyzed in terms of networks of related subcategories, termed radial categories. This method facilitates precise comparison of submeanings and statistical analysis. Our analysis sharpens the traditional insight that elements of Church Slavic origin like iz- have a more abstract meaning than historically East Slavic elements like vy-. Furthermore, the distribution of meanings attested gives support to the hypothesis that the meanings of base verbs and prefixes overlap in the formation of prefixed aspectual partner verbs, contra the tradition of the so-called “empty prefix”.

Capturing correlational structure in Russian paradigms: A case study in logistic mixed-effects modeling

Abstract This study addresses the statistical analysis of a phenomenon in Russian verbal paradigms, a suffix shift that is spreading through the paradigm and making it more regular. A problem that arises in the analysis of data collected from the Russian National Corpus is that counts documenting this phenomenon are based on repeated observations of the same verbs and, moreover, on counts for different parts of the paradigms of these same verbs. Unsurprisingly, individual verbs display consistent (although variable) behavior with respect to the suffix shift. The non-independence of the elementary observations in our data has to be taken into account in the statistical evaluation of the patterns in the data. We show how mixed-effects modeling can be used to do this in a principled way, and that it is also necessary to do so in order to avoid anti-conservative evaluation of significance.

Grammatical Profiles and Aspect in Old Church Slavonic

We employ a new empirical approach to an enduring controversy concerning the development of a system of imperfective vs. perfective verbs in Slavic. While scholars once claimed that this is an ancient inherited system, dating from the prehistoric era, most now believe that the Slavic aspect-pair system is an innovation. Different opinions concerning the date of this innovation range from the time of the earliest Slavic texts to the late middle ages. We use two different statistical models to sort Old Church Slavonic data from the PROIEL corpus and compare the results to distributions of verb forms in modern Russian. This comparison shows that there are indeed differences among verbs in Old Church Slavonic that suggest a division into imperfective vs. perfective verbs, although this division is clearly not identical to the division found in modern Russian.

Paradigm structure: Evidence from Russian suffix shift

Abstract In this article we apply one of the key concepts in cognitive linguistics, the radial category, to inflectional morphology. We advance the Paradigm Structure Hypothesis, arguing that inflectional paradigms are radial categories with internal structure primarily motivated by semantic relationships of markedness and prototypicality. It is possible to construct an expected structure for a verbal paradigm, facilitating an empirical test for our hypothesis. Data tracking an on-going morphological change in Russian documents the distribution of conservative vs. innovative forms across the cells of the verbal paradigm. A logistic regression model that takes into account the sources of variation (the frequencies of individual verbs and paradigm slots, and individual verb preferences) shows that the language change is implemented differently across the paradigm forms, confirming the expected structure. In addition to markedness and prototypicality, we investigate the impact of frequency and show that there is a good, albeit not perfect match between the expected hierarchy and frequency. We conclude that the diachronic change analyzed in this article gives evidence for the structure of paradigms modeled on the radial category.

Semantic Profiles of Five Russian Prefixes: po-, s-, za-, na-, pro-*

We test the hypothesis that Russian verbal prefixes express meaning even when they are used to create a “purely aspectual pair” (čistovidovaja para). This is contrary to traditional assumptions that prefixes in this function are semantically “empty.” We analyze the semantic tags independently established in the Russian National Corpus (www.ruscorpora.ru) for 382 perfective partner verbs with five of the most common verbal prefixes in Russian: po-, s-, za-, na-, and pro-. Statistical tests show that the relationship between prefixes and semantic tags is significant and robust, and further identify which relationships constitute attractions, repulsions, and neutral relationships. It is possible to specify a unique meaning for each prefix in terms of the semantic tags it attracts or repulses. A detailed analysis of all the verbs in the study shows that the meanings of the prefixed perfective partners yield consistent patterns. Even verbs in repulsed semantic classes are consistent with these patterns. The meaning patterns of verbs with “purely aspectual” prefixes can be compared with the meanings of the prefixes as established on the basis of previous scholarship, which was primarily focused on the meanings of prefixes in their “non-empty” uses. This comparison shows that the verb meanings that appear with “purely perfectivizing” prefixes are the same as those found for “non-empty” uses of prefixes. We conclude that verbs select the prefix that is most compatible with their meanings when forming “purely aspectual” perfective partners, confirming our hypothesis.