LINGUIST List 19.3424

Mon Nov 10 2008

Qs: Looking for Mental Verbs

Editor for this issue: Dan Parker <danlinguistlist.org>

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        1.    Viola Voß, Looking for Mental Verbs

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Message 1: Looking for Mental Verbs
Date: 08-Nov-2008
From: Viola Voß <voss.violauni-muenster.de>
Subject: Looking for Mental Verbs
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Dear List Members,

For my PhD thesis I am comparing lexical denominations of mental activities(e.g. English 'to think'), processes ('to understand'), and states('to know'). In focus are similarities and differences in thelexicalization of this domain.

As these domains are accessed via metaphorical/metonymical expressions (ase.g. the immaterial from the material or the temporal from the spatialdomain), most of the relevant lexemes will be transparent or etymologicallyascertainable, as e.g. in English 'to grasp' or German 'begreifen',still showing the relation to physical grasping, German 'wissen' 'toknow' which can be traced back to a Indo-European form meaning 'havingseen' older several forms meaning 'to forget' which are related to 'losing'.

It can also be assumed that every language has at least one expression formental activities/processes/states (while the number of expressions and thedivision of the domain may vary in different languages), as many of theselexemes are related to linguistic communication: The interlocutor has to beable to express that he did (not) *understand* an utterance, that he does(not) *know* a fact or that he cannot *remember* it, even after*reflecting* on the matter.

So the central question for my comparative survey is: Which images(metaphors) can be found in different languages and cultures? That is, arethere certain ways of lexicalization in which the mental domain isaccessed? And are there perhaps ways which are uncommon or even hard tocomprehend?

For the data collection, not only information from dictionaries and theliterature are relevant, but also the view from the languages' speakers isinteresting.

So I would be glad if you would reveal some mental verbs of thelanguages(s) you speak using this form:

http://www.x-v-x.de/dissertation/formular_engl.php

or by contacting me directly via email (voss.violauni-muenster.de) mentale Verben ausder/den Sprache(n), die Sie sprechen, zukommen lassen würden.

Auch über weitere Informationen zu diesem Themenbereich würde ich mich sehrfreuen.

Vielen Dank!

Mit freundlichen Grüßen,

Viola Voß

Institut für Allgemeine SprachwissenschaftWestfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster

Linguistic Field(s): Semantics

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