Making do with minimal lexica: Light verb constructions with make/do in pidgin lexica
2016 (engelsk)Inngår i: The Lexical Typology of Semantic Shifts / [ed] Päivi Juvonen, Maria Koptjevskaja-Tamm, Mouton de Gruyter, 2016, s. 223-248Kapittel i bok, del av antologi (Fagfellevurdert)
Abstract [en]
One of the most characteristic features of pidgin languages is the small size of their lexica. Normally, a pidgin makes do with less than 2000 common lexical items. How can one make do with so few words? The present study focuses on how pidgin lexica may allow for a systematic expansion of their minimal lexica by using a light verb meaning ‘make’ or ‘do’, or both, and investigates the polysemy that arises as a result of semantic shifts in 32 mostly unrelated pidgin varieties. The main results of the semantic analysis show that 1) two thirds of the analysed varieties make use of the light verb construction studied and, 2) those that make use of it are distributed all over the world, represent different combinations of languages in contact, favour effect metonymies and context metonymies over other types of semantic shifts and, use the construction to different degrees. These results are discussed mainly in terms of grammaticalization: in some of the languages the light verb make/do is argued to have become a verbaliser, in others, the constructions (if attested) are best described as conventionalised idiomatic expressions, i.e. verb idioms.
sted, utgiver, år, opplag, sider
Mouton de Gruyter, 2016. s. 223-248
Serie
Cognitive Linguistics Research, ISSN 1861-4132 ; 58
Emneord [en]
Typology, Pidgin languages, Lexical semantics
HSV kategori
Forskningsprogram
lingvistik
Identifikatorer
URN: urn:nbn:se:su:diva-123658DOI: 10.1515/9783110377675-008ISBN: 9783110377521 (tryckt)ISBN: 9783110377675 (digital)OAI: oai:DiVA.org:su-123658DiVA, id: diva2:954202
2016-08-212015-12-012022-02-23bibliografisk kontrollert