Cover not available

In:Perception Metaphors
Edited by Laura J. Speed, Carolyn O'Meara, Lila San Roque and Asifa Majid
[Converging Evidence in Language and Communication Research 19] 2019
► pp. 231–252

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
authorization required

Chapter 12
Polysemy of the Estonian perception verb nägema ‘to see’

 | University of Tartu
Published online: 21 February 2019
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/celcr.19.12pro
Abstract
This paper focuses on the polysemy of the Estonian perception verb nägema ‘to see’. The aim of the paper is to analyse polysemy using two different methods; and to show how and why the results of the two methods differ. The methods used are a sorting task and a behavioural profile analysis. Hierarchical cluster analysis is used to show which senses of nägema are more similar to each other based on each method, and why. The results show that the main differences stem from the fact that important elements of meaning for the language user are not necessarily objectively annotatable in the corpus. It is argued, however, that both experimental as well as corpus-based methods are valuable tools for polysemy research.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Sorting task
    • 2.1Method and participants
    • 2.2Results of the sorting task
      • 2.2.1nägema as a physical activity
      • 2.2.2nägema as meeting someone
      • 2.2.3nägema as understanding and nägema as having a presentiment
      • 2.2.4nägema as experiencing
  • 3.Behavioural profile analysis
    • 3.1Overview of the methods and material
    • 3.2Results of the BP analysis
      • 3.2.1Senses preferring a bounded entity as their object
      • 3.2.2Senses preferring an un-bounded entity as their object
  • 4.Discussion
    • 4.1Comparison of the results
    • 4.2Comparison of the methods
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Abbreviations
  • Notes
  • Corpus
  • References
References (51)
Corpus
BCE = Balanced Corpus of Estonian. Retrieved from [URL]
References
Alm-Arvius, C. (1993). The English verb see: A study in multiple meaning. Göteborg: Acta Universitas Gothoburgensis.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Beitel, D. A., Gibbs, Jr, R. W., & Sanders, P. (2001). The embodied approach to the polysemy of the spatial preposition on. In H. Cuyckens & B. Zawada (Eds.), Polysemy in cognitive linguistics: Selected papers from the fifth International Cognitive Linguistics Conference. (pp. 241–260). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Born, T. (1995). Eesti keele tajuverbid. Tähendusallikad ja tähendusmuutused [Estonian perception verbs. Meaning sources and meaning changes]. (Diploma thesis). Tartu: Tartu Ülikool.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Carlson, L. A., & Hill, P. L. (2007). Experimental methods for studying language and space. In M. Gonzalez-Marques, I. Mittelberg, S. Coulson, & M. J. Spivey (Eds.), Methods in cognitive linguistics (Vol. 18, pp. 250–276). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Croft, W. (1998). Linguistic evidence and mental representations. Cognitive Linguistics, 9(2), 151–173.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dąbrowska, E. (2008). Questions with long-distance dependencies: A usage-based perspective. Cognitive Linguistics, 19(3), 391–425.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Divjak, D. (2008). On (in)frequency and (un)acceptability. In B. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk (Ed.), Corpus linguistics, computer rools, and applications – State of the art (Vol. 17, pp. 213–233). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2010). Structuring the lexicon : A clustered model for near-synonymy. Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter GmbH&Co. KG.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Divjak, D., & Fieller, N. (2014). Cluster analysis. Finding structure in linguistic data. In D. Glynn & J. A. Robinson (Eds.), Corpus Methods for Semantics. Quantitative studies in polysemy and synonymy (pp. 405–441). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Divjak, D., & Gries, S. T. (2006). Ways of trying in Russian: Clustering behavioural profiles. Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory, 2–1, 23–60.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Erelt, M. (Ed.). (2003). Estonian language (Vol. 1). Tallinn: Estonian Academy Publishers.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Evans, N., & Wilkins, D. (2000). In the mind’s ear: The semantic extensions of perception verbs in Australian languages. Language, 76(3), 546–592.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Geeraerts, D. (2006). Words and other wonders. Papers on lexical and semantic topics. Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gibbs, Jr, R. W. (2006). Embodiment and cognitive science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gibbs, Jr, R. W., & Matlock, T. (2001). Psycholinguistic perspectives on polysemy. In H. Cuyckens & B. Zawada (Eds.), Polysemy in cognitive linguistics: Selected papers from the fifth International Cognitive Linguistics Conference (pp. 213–239). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gilquin, G., & Gries, S. T. (2009). Corpora and experimental methods: A state-of-the-art review. Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory, 5(1), 1–26.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gisborne, N. (2010). The event structure of perception verbs. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Glynn, D. (2014). Polysemy and synonymy. Corpus method and cognitive theory. In D. Glynn & J. A. Robinson (Eds.), Corpus methods for Semantics. Quantitative studies in polysemy and synonymy (pp. 7–38). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gries, S. T. (2006). Corpus-based methods and cognitive semantics: The many meanings of to run. In S. T. Gries & A. Stefanowitsch (Eds.), Corpora in cognitive linguistics: Corpus-based approaches to syntax and lexis (pp. 57–99). Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gries, S. T., & Divjak, D. (2009). Behavioral profiles: A corpus-based approach to cognitive semantic analysis. In V. Evans & S. Pourcel (Eds.), New Directions in Cognitive Linguistics (pp. 57–77). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ibarretxe-Antunano, B. I. (1999). Polysemy and metaphor in perception verbs: A cross-linguistic study (PhD thesis). University of Edinburgh.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ibarretxe-Antunano, I. (2008). Vision metaphors for the intellect: Are they really cross-linguistic? Atlantis. Journal of the Association of Anglo-American Studies, 30(1), 15–33.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jansegers, M., Vanderschueren, C., & Enghels, R. (2015). The polysemy of the Spanish verb sentir: A behavioral profile analysis. Cognitive Linguistics, 26(3), 381–421.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Johnson, M. (1987). The body in the mind. The bodily basis of meaning, imagination, and reason. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Johnson, M., & Lenci, A. (2011). Verbs of visual perception in Italian FrameNet. Constructions & Frames, 3(1), 9–45.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Klavan, J. (2012). Evidence in linguistics: Corpus-linguistic and experimental methods for studying grammatical synonymy (PhD thesis). University of Tartu, Tartu.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Labi, K. (2006). Eesti regilaulude verbisemantika [Verb semantics of Estonian runic songs]. Dissertationes Philologiae Estonicae Universitatis Tartuensis 18. Tartu: Tartu Ülikool.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lakoff, G. (1987). Women, fire, and dangerous things: What categories reveal about the mind. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Langacker, R. W. (1987). Foundations of cognitive grammar. Volume 1. Theoretical prequisites. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2008). Cognitive grammar. A basic introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Langemets, M., Tiits, M., Valdre, T., Veskis, L., Viks, Ü., & Voll, P. (Eds.). (2009). Eesti keele seletav sõnaraamat [Explanatory Dictionary of Estonian]. Tallinn.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Maechler, M., Rousseeuw, P., Struyf, A., Hubert, M., & Hornik, K. (2016). cluster: Cluster Analysis Basics and Extensions. R package version 2.0.5.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Proos, M. (2016). Mida ütleb korpus tähenduse kohta? Käitumisprofiili analüüsi ja klasteranalüüsi meetod eesti keele tajuverbi nägema tähenduse uurimisel [What can the corpus say about meaning? Applying behavioural profile analysis and cluster analysis to the study of the Estonian perception verb ‘see’]. (MA thesis). Tartu: Tartu Ülikool.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
R Core Team. (2016). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna, Austria: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Retrieved from [URL]
Robinson, J. A. (2014). Quantifying polysemy in cognitive sociolinguistics. In D. Glynn & J. A. Robinson (Eds.), Corpus methods for semantics. Quantitative studies in polysemy and synonymy (pp. 87–115). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
San Roque, L., Kendrick, K. H., Norcliffe, E., Brown, P., Defina, R., Dingemanse, M., Dirksmeyer, T., Enfield, N. J., Floyd, S., Hammond, J., Rossi, G., Tufvesson, S., van Putten, S., & Majid, A. (2015). Vision verbs dominate in conversation across cultures, but the ranking of non-visual verbs varies. Cognitive Linguistics, 26(1), 31.
Sandra, D., & Rice, S. (1995). Network analyses of prepositional meaning: Mirroring whose mind – the linguist’s or the language user’s? Cognitive Linguistics, 6(1), 89–130.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schmid, H.-J. (2010). Does frequency in text instatiate entrenchment in the cognitive system? In D. Glynn & K. Fischer (Eds.), Quantitative methods in cognitive semantics: Corpus-driven approaches (pp. 101–137). Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sepper, M.-M. (2006). Indirektaal eesti 19. sajandi lõpu ja 20. sajandi aja- ja ilukirjanduskeeles [Indirect speech in Estonian newspaper and fiction texts of the end of the 19th century and the beginning of 20th century]. (MA thesis). Tallinn: Tallinna Ülikool.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sjöström, S. (1999). From vision to cognition. A study of metaphor and polysemy in Swedish. In J. Allwood & P. Gärdenfors (Eds.), Cognitive Semantics. Meaning and Cognition (pp. 67–85). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Suzuki, R., & Shimodaira, H. (2015). pvclust: Hierarchical Clustering with P-Values via Multiscale Bootstrap Resampling. R package version 2.0-0.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sweetser, E. E. (1990). From etymology to pragmatics. Metaphorical and cultural aspects of semantic structure. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Talmy, L. (2000). Toward a cognitive semantics. Volume I: Concept structuring systems. Cambridge: The MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Taylor, J. R. (1995). Linguistic categorization. Prototypes in linguistic theory. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Usoniene, A. (2001). On direct/indirect perception with verbs of seeing and seeming in English and Lithuanian. Lund University, Dept. of Linguistics. Working Papers, 48, 163–182.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vanhove, M. (2008). Semantic associations between sensory modalities, prehension and mental perceptions. A cross-linguistic perspective. In M. Vanhove (Ed.), From polysemy to semantic change. Towards a typology of lexical semantic associations (pp. 341–370). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Viberg, Å. (1983). The verbs of perception: A typological study. Linguistics, 21, 123–162.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Whitt, R. J. (2010). Evidentiality, polysemy, and the verbs of perception in English and German. In G. Diewald & E. Smirnova (Eds.), Linguistic Realization of Evidentiality in European Languages (pp. 249–278). Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter GmbH&Co. KG.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (6)

Cited by six other publications

Granvik, Anton, Veera Hatakka, Olli O. Silvennoinen, Riku Erkkilä & Eveliina Mäntylä
2025. Beyond corpus data — complementary and alternative methods in cognitive linguistics. Review of Cognitive Linguistics 23:2 ► pp. 327 ff. DOI logo
Dai, Ying & Yicheng Wu
2024. The colexification of vision and cognition in Mandarin: controlled activity surpasses uncontrolled experience. Cognitive Linguistics 35:3 ► pp. 345 ff. DOI logo
Baranyiné Kóczy, Judit
2023. Cultural conceptualizations of sight and cultural values. Cognitive Linguistic Studies 10:2 ► pp. 313 ff. DOI logo
Wu, Shuqiong & Yue Ou
2023.  A quantitative study of the polysemy of Mandarin Chinese perception verb kàn ‘look/see’ . Australian Journal of Linguistics 43:3 ► pp. 191 ff. DOI logo
Damian, Mihaela Marieta
2022. The Metaphor of Light – Perspectives on Conceptual Metaphors. Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Philologica 14:3 ► pp. 92 ff. DOI logo
PROOS, MARIANN
2020. Feeling your neighbour: an experimental approach to the polysemy oftundma‘to feel’ in Estonian. Language and Cognition 12:2 ► pp. 282 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 5 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue