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• Slovak Verbs of Aquamotion (in Contrast with Other Slavic Languages)

  17 p.

  Kaname Okano

  Views:

  228

  This paper studies the semantics and distribution of Slovak verbs with the meaning of aquamotion in contrast with other contemporary Slavic languages. As pointed out in previous studies in lexical typology, the lexicalization pattern of the semantic field of aquamotion differs in many languages of the world and there are subtle but significant differences even between closely-related languages such as Slavic. As far as the Slovak language is concerned, there still does not exist a detailed study of aquamotion verbs and their lexicalization patterns. This paper applies the theoretical framework of lexical typology and analyses the lexicalization patterns of the following three semantic zones: the semantic zone of swimming and flowing (plávať, plaviťsa), the semantic zone of liquid motion (tiecť, prúdiť, liaťsa), and the semantic zone of diving and immersing (ponáraťsa, potápaťsa, topiťsa). This paper aims to reveal which semantic parameters are relevant for the lexicalization of the semantic field in question, and to demonstrate the distribution of the Slovak verbs describing aquamotion. In addition to that, our analysis deals with some contrastive aspects to point out similarities and differences between Slovak and other Slavic languages such as Russian, Polish, Serbian and Vojvodina Ruthenian.

• Diachronic Identity, Variability and Homonymy in the Etymologization of Soundsymbolic Words (on the material of Slavic languages)

  Zhivka Koleva-Zlateva

  Views:

  162

  In etymology, the diachronic identity of words and morphemes is proved by the joint application of the comparative historical method regarding sound form and the method of semantic typology (semantic parallels) regarding semantics. This rule is fully applicable, however, only for arbitrary signs of the languagein which the nonexclusivity of phonetic laws has been proved. The article shows that the definition of diachronic identity insound symbolic words is complicated by their very nature as iconic signs, processed by the right hemisphere of the brain, which predetermines their disobedience to phonetic laws, formal variability and the rather frequent presence of homonyms. The pragmatic, functional and structural properties of sound symbolic words are also taken into account.

• The Importance of Animacy-Inanimacy Category of the Noun and the Context

  11 p.

  Andrey Narushevich

  Views:

  218

  The article considers the semantic aspect of the of animacy-inanimacy category in nouns in Russian language, in particular, peculiarities of collocability of some nouns with verbs in terms of animacy-inanimacy category.The study of the semantic interaction of nouns and animate-inanimate marked verbs, which are collocating with these nouns, allows to detect combination of signs of “animate” or “inanimate” in meanings of some nouns with fluctuant grammatical indicator of animacy-inanimacy category. Thus, this study can raise the issues about the cognitive factor in meaning formation process and also about specific character of the process how peculiarities of cognitive experience, received from human exploration of the environment, are expressed.