Polysemy

About fifty years ago, Stephen Ullmann wrote that polysemy is 'the pivot of semantic analysis'. Fifty years on, polysemy has become one of the hottest topics in linguistics and in the cognitive sciences at large. The book deals with the topic from a wide variety of viewpoints. The cognitive approach is supplemented and supported by diachronic, psycholinguistic, developmental, comparative, and computational perspectives. The chapters, written by some of the most eminent specialists in the field, are all underpinned by detailed discussions of methodology and theory.

Autorentext

Brigitte Nerlich is Senior Research Officer at the University of Nottingham, UK.

Zazie Todd is Lecturer at Leeds University, UK.

David D. Clarke is Professor at the University of Nottingham, UK.

Vimala Herman is Reader at the University of Nottingham, UK.

Zusammenfassung

TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS is a series of books that open new perspectives in our understanding of language. The series publishes state-of-the-art work on core areas of linguistics across theoretical frameworks, as well as studies that provide new insights by approaching language from an interdisciplinary perspective.

TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS considers itself a forum for cutting-edge research based on solid empirical data on language in its various manifestations, including sign languages. It regards linguistic variation in its synchronic and diachronic dimensions as well as in its social contexts as important sources of insight for a better understanding of the design of linguistic systems and the ecology and evolution of language.

TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS publishes monographs and outstanding dissertations as well as edited volumes, which provide the opportunity to address controversial topics from different empirical and theoretical viewpoints. High quality standards are ensured through anonymous reviewing.

To discuss your book idea or submit a proposal, please contact Birgit Sievert.

Inhalt

Setting the scene

Polysemy and flexibility: introduction and overview
Brigitte Nerlich and David D. Clarke

Cognitive models of polysemy
John R. Taylor

Polysemy: past and present
Brigitte Nerlich

Cognitive approaches

Polysemy and conceptual blending
Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Turner

Reconsidering prepositional polysemy networks: the case of over
Andrea Tyler and Vyvyan Evans

Polysemy as flexible meaning: experiments with English get and Finnish *pitää
*Jarno Raukko

Metonymic polysemy and its place in meaning extension
Ken-ichi Seto

Synchrony/diachrony approaches

Polysemy in derivational affixes
Adrienne Lehrer

The role of links and/or qualia in modifier-head constructions
Beatrice Warren

Polysemy and bleaching
Jean Aitchison and Diana M. Lewis

Polysemy in the lexicon and in discourse
Andreas Blank

Psycholinguistic approaches

Irony in conversation: salience, role, and context effects
Rachel Giora and Inbal Gur

Young children's and adults' use of figurative language: how important are cultural and linguistic influences?
Ann Dowker

Emerging patterns and evolving polysemies: the acquisition of get between four and ten years
Brigitte Nerlich, Zazie Todd and David D. Clarke

Computational approaches

"I don't believe in word senses"
Adam Kilgarriff

Senses and texts
Yorick Wilks