A system of spatial categorization represented in the semantic relations between prepositions

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A system of spatial categorization represented in the semantic relations between prepositions

著者別名 Keiko TAKEHANA

journal or

publication title

Otemae journal of humanities

volume 5

page range A69‑A78

year 2004

URL http://id.nii.ac.jp/1160/00000581/

Creative Commons : 表示 ‑ 非営利 ‑ 改変禁止 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by‑nc‑nd/3.0/deed.ja

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Asystemofspatialcategorizationrepresentedin thesemanticrelationsbetweenprepositions

TAKEHANAKeiko

Summary

TheinvestigationofspatialcategorizationinEnglish,especiallythelinguistic categorizationofspatialconcepts,hasbeendevotedtothestudyofprepositions.

Previousliterature(Leech1969;Bennett1975;Miller&Johnson‑Laird1976,Rule 1989)couldnotcapturethepolysemousrelationsofmeaningsofeachpreposition, andLexicalNetworkModelhasbeenemerged(Brugman1981;Lakoff1987;John‑

son1987;Taylor1990;Tyler&Evans2003).Whatthesestudieslackisthesystem‑

aticanalysisofsemanticsbetweenprepositions.Spatialcategorizationcanbe clarifiedbyinvestigatingnotonlythepolysemousmeaningsofeachpreposition,but alsothesystematicrelationsofsemanticsofprepositions.WhileLexicalNetwork Modelsmaybefeasibleforthesemanticanalysisofeachpreposition,feature analysisservesbettertofigureoutthesystematicrelationsofprepositions,andI usedsemanticfeaturestoshowtheirrelations.Englishprepositionsformsystem‑

aticcategorizationintermsofantonymy,synonymityanddistinction.

Keywords:cognitivesemantics,spatialcategorization,prepositions.

1.Introduction

TheCognitiveinvestigationofthesemanticnetworksofEnglishprepositions wasbegunbyLakoff(1987),whichanalyzedthepolysemyofoverintermsof

image‑schema.Relatedlinguisticliteraturehasbeendevotedonthesameline;

Tyler&Evans(2001},Kreitzer(1997}andVandeloise(1990).Experimentalpsy一

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chology,ontheotherhand,hasbeguntoconfirmthoselinguisticanalysesbymeans ofpsychologicalexperimentsusingcomputergraphics,ex.Kojima&Kusumi(2002).

Sincecognitivelinguisticsisbasedonthepsychologicalrealitybynature,itstheory shouldbescrutinizedbythesekindofexperiments.

Theaimofthispaperistoshowaclearsemanticanalysisoftherelation betweenprepositions.Thisattemptisimportantbecausetherelationbetween

spatialconceptsandlinguisticrepresentationscannotbescrutinizedbyexperiments withoutreliablelinguisticanalyses.IanalyzethesemanticnetworkofEnglish spatialprepositionsintermsofthesemanticfeaturesandshowthesynonymy, antonymyandothersemanticrelations.Iwilladoptthefeatureanalysistomake therelationappearmuchclearer.

Forthepurposeofthispaper,across‑linguisticanalysisisalsoessential.The natureofspatialexpressionsdiffersfromlanguagetolanguage.AsLevinson,

Meiraetal(2003)shows,Languagesareplacedonascaleaccordingtotheir

abundanceofspatialadpositions.Englishisplacedonahighlevel,andJapaneseon alowlevel.IwillexaminethespatialexpressionsofJapaneseandshowthenature oftheirsystemtoconcatenatethesystematicanalysisofEnglishprepositionstothat ofspatialadpositionsingeneral.

Insection2,relatedpsychologicalexperimentsareintroduced.Insection3,the semanticnetworkofEnglishspatialprepositionsisanalyzedintermsoftheseman‑

ticfeatures,showingthesynonymy,antonymyandothersemanticrelations.In section4,Iwillshowabriefcross‑linguisticanalysisofspatialexpressions.

2.Psychologicalexperimentsconcerningspatialrelations

Whatsortofexperimentsdopsychologistsundergoonthebasisoflinguistic analyses?Theanswertothisquestionmayhelpuslinguiststoclarifythegoalof ourinvestigation.Thefirstexperimentexaminesacognitivesemanticanalysisof theprepositionDueyinLakoff(1987)>andthesecondexperimentaimstodepictthe relationbetweenthespatialconceptandthevalueconceptofthehumanmind.

2.1Anexaminationofacognitivesemanticanalysisoftheprepositionover Kojima&Kusumi(2002}examinedtheimage‑schemaofoverasin(1)usingthe 3dimensionalcomputergraphicstofindouttheimportanceofthefeature"Path"in

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Asystemofspatialcategorizationrepresentedinthesemanticrelationsbetweenprepositions

recognition.

(1) a.Thebirdflewovertheyard.

b.Samdroveoverthebridge.

c.Theplaneflewoverthehill.

d.Samwalkedoverthehill.

e.Samclimbedoverthewall.

f.Thebirdflewoverthewall.

g.Sausalitoisoverthebridge.

h.Samlivesoverthehill.

(Lakoff(1987)(2001))

(eXtended‑NoContact) {eXtended‑Contact)

{Vertical‑eXtended‑NoContact) (Vertical‑eXtended‑Contact}

(Vertical‑Contact) (Vertical‑NoContact}

(eXtended‑Contact‑Endpointfocus)

(Vertical‑eXtended‑Contact‑Endpointfocus)

Theirresultsshowthatthefeature"Path"

conceptualizationofover.

playsacrucialroleinthespatial

2.21ntegratingspatialandemotionalinformation

OrientationalmetaphorsthatassociateGOODwithUPandBADwithDOWN suggestthatspatialconceptsareusedtorepresentpositivityandnegativity.L.

ElizabethCrawfordexaminedhowtheassociationbetweenvalenceandverticality influencesmemoryandevaluationofspatiallydistributed,emotionallyevocative stimuli.Memoriesofstimuluslocationsaresystematicallybiasedbystimulus valence,suchthatpositiveitemsareshiftedupwardrelativetonegativeitems.In contrast,thereisnoevidencethatspatialinformationaffectshowstimuliare evaluated.Theresultsprovidesupportforametaphoricalmediationofaffect,even duringnon‑linguistictasks,andoffernewevidencethatstimulusvalencebiases spatialmemory.

3.ThesemanticnetworkofEnglishspatialprepositions

IanalyzethespatialprepositionsofEnglishbasedonthesemanticanalysisof Bennett{1975)andclarifytheirsemanticnetworkintermsofsynonymy,antonymy andothersemanticrelations.Prepositions:over,under,above,below,up,down,at, on,in,away,offandout,willbeanalyzedsincetheyhavespatialuse.Iwilladopt thefeatureanalysistomaketherelationappearmuchclearer.

3.1Superior/highervs.inferior/lower

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Letmeexamineover,under,above,below,upanddown, highervs.inferior/lowerrelations.

whichshowsuperior/

3.1.10verandunder

Thesemanticrepresentationofthespatialuseofoverisanalyzedasbelow, Bennett(1975:50).Iwillusetheabbreviations;G:goal,L:locative,P:pathand S:source.

(2)a.Myhandisoverthetable.

[L[superioroftable]place]

b.Iremovedthelampfromoverthecounter.

[S[L[superiorofcounter]place]]

c.Pleaseputthelampoverthecounter(ie.via}.

[P[L[superiorofcounter]place]]

d.Pleaseputthelampoverthecounter(ie.to}.

[G[L[superiorofcounter]place]]

e.Thepostofficeisoverthehill.

[L[P[L[superiorofhill]place]]place]

f.Acarappearedfromoverthehill.

[S[L[P[L[superiorofhill]place]]place]]

Thecommonsemanticfeatureofoveranalyzedaboveis̀locativesuperior', whichistheantipodesofunderwhosecommonsemanticfeatureis̀locativeinferior' asexemplifiedbelow.Theysharetheidenticalsemanticfeaturèlocative'butone candrawadistinctionbetweeǹsuperior'and̀inferior'.

(3) a.Thedogisunderthetable.

[L[inferioroftable]place]

b.Thedogemergedfromunderthetable.

[S[L[inferioroftable]place]]

c.Thedogranunderthetabletothedoor.

[P[L[inferioroftable]place]

d.Thedogranunderthetable(ieto).

[G[L[inferioroftable]place]]

e.Thecathedralisunderthebridge.

[L[P[L[inferiorofbridge]place]]place]

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f.Arabbitappearedfromunderthehedge.

[S[L[P[L[inferiorofhedge]place]]place]]

3.1.2aboveandbelow

Locative,sourceandgoaluseofaboveisexemplifiedbelow,Bennett(1975:57).

(4)a.John'spictureisabovetheshelf.

[L[higherofshelf]place]

b.1'veremovedJohn'spicturefromabovetheshelf.

[S[L[higherofshelf]place]]

c.1'veputJohn'spictureabovethefireplace.

[G[L[higheroffireplace]place]]

Thecommonsemanticfeatureofaboveanalyzedaboveis̀locativehigher', whichistheantipodesofbelowwhosecommonsemanticfeatureis̀locativelower' asexemplifiedbelow.Theysharetheidenticalsemanticfeaturèlocative'butone candrawadistinctionbetweeǹhigher'and̀lower'.

(5) a.ThevaseisbelowJohn'spicture.

[L[lowerofpicture]place]

b.1'veremovedthevasefrombelowJohn'spicture.

[S[L[lowerofpicture]place]]

c.1'veputthevasebelowJohn'spicture.

[G[L[lowerofpicture]place]]

3.1..3upanddown

Thespatialuseofupanddownareexemplifiedbelow,Bennett (1975:88).

{6)a.Trevorwalksupthehilleveryday.

[G[L[higherofhill]place]]

b.Gwynethlivesupthehill.

[L[G[L[higherofhill]place]]]

(7)a.Thedoghasjustrundownthestairs.

[G[L[lowerofstairs]place]]

b.Thedogisdownstairs.

[L[G[L[lowerofstairs]place]]]

Thecommonsemanticfeatureofupis̀goallocativehigher'andthatofdown is̀goallocativelower'.Theysharetheidenticalsemanticfeaturègoallocative'

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butonecandrawadistinctionbetweeǹhigher'and̀lower'.

3.21nterior/exteriorandattachment

Letmeexamineat,on,in,away,offandoutwhichshowinterior/exteriorand attachmentrelations.

3.2.1at,on,in

Theirspatialuseisexemplifiedbelow,Bennett(1975:66,67).

(8)a.Gwynethisatthesupermarket.

[L[supermarket]place]

b.Thebookisonthetable.

[L[surfaceoftable]place]

c.Gwynethisinthesupermarket.

[L[interiorofsupermarket]place]

At,onandinhassemanticfeaturèlocative',̀locativesurface',and̀locativeinterior' respectively.Theircommonsemanticfeatureis̀locative',andonecandrawa

distinctionbetweeǹφ',̀surface',and̀interior'.

3.2.2away,off,out

Theirspatialuseisexemplifiedbelow,Bennett(1975:72) (9}a.Trevorisawayfromhome.

[G[L[someplacefromhome]place]]

b.Theballisoffthegrass.

[G[L[offofgrass]place]]

c.Gwynethisoutoftheroom.

[G[L[exteriorofroom]place]]

Away,offandouthassemanticfeaturègoallocativesomeplace',̀goallocativeoff', and̀goallocativeexterior'respectively.Theircommonsemanticfeatureis̀goal locative',andonecandrawadistinctionbetweeǹsomeplace',̀off'and̀exterior'.

3.3Thesemanticnetworkofprepositions

ThesemanticnetworkoftheEnglishprepositionsanalyzedaboveissummar‑

izedinthetablesbelow.Tablelshowssuperior/highervs.inferior/lowerrelations analyzedin3.1.Table2showsinterior/exteriorandattachmentrelationsanalyzed

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in3.2.

synonymity distinction

Prep at on zn

Table1.SuperiorJhighervs.inferior/lower (P:path,L:locative,G:goal) featurePrepfeatureantonymy

Laway(from)GLsomeplaceφ/Gsomeplace LsurfaceoffGLoffsurface/Goff

Linteriorout(of)GLexteriorinterior/Gexterior LGL

φ/surface/interiorsomeplace/off/exterior

synonymity distinction

Prep over above

up

Table2,lnteriorJexteriorandattachment featurePrepfeature

(P)Lsuperiorunder(P)Linferior LhigherbelowLlower

GLhigherdownGLlower

superior,higherinferior,lower (P)L/L/GL(P)L/L/GL

antonymy

superior/inferior higher/lower higher/lower

4,Spatialexpressionsacrosslanguages

Spatialcategorizationcanbeclarifiedbyinvestigatingnotonlythepolysemous meaningsofeachpreposition,butalsosystematicrelationsofsemanticsofpreposi‑

tions.Theimportanceofthispointofviewcouldbenoticedifwelookatthe

spatiallanguagecross‑linguistically.Relatedliteratureshowshowvariedthesys‑

ternsofspatialexpressionsarefromlanguagetolanguage.Asthetypological studyofspatialadpositionalsystemsbyLevinson,Meiraetal(2003)shows,every languagedoesnotnecessarilysharetherichvarietyofadpositionsorprepositions, illustratedinfigure1(ibid.:510}

Figure1:Implicationalscaleoveradpositionalnotions.

AT<IN<ON,UNDER<OVER,NEAR<ON‑TOP<ATTACHED<INSIDE<SPIKED, HANGING,DISTRIBUTED‑OVER

ThisimplicationalscalepredicstthatanylanguagethathasanINSIDEadposition alsohasanON‑TOPandanOVER,aswellasIN.Althoughsomeadjustmentneeds

tobemade,Englishenjoysalmostthefull,richscaleofprepositions,whileJapanese

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hasonlythevariantsofAT,i.e./de/and/ni/.Forexample,inuenìon',/ue/means upperplace,whileinnakadèin',/naka/meansinside.Thus,inJapanese,spatial nouns‑1‑spatialparticlesserveasspatialterms,exceptfor̀source'and̀goal'terms like/kara/,/wo/,/made/and/he/.Table3showsthecounterpartJapaneseexpres‑

sionsfortheprepositionsintablelandtable2.

Table3.SpatialexpressionsinEnglishandJapanese

Prep at Oフ￠

zn over aろove

ψ

Japanese /ni/

/ue‑NOUNni/

/naka‑NOUNni/

/ue‑NOUNni/

/sita‑NOUNhe/

Prep away(from) げ out(of) under below down

Japanese

/hanare‑VERBte/

/soto‑NOUNni/

/sita‑NOUNni/

/sita‑NOUNhe/

Inthecasesofawayandoffintable3,Japaneseexpressesspatialrelationsinterms 1)

ofmotion,thatis,verbsandconnectingparticles.

Ontheusagelevel,Japanesespatialexpressionsgivenintable3aresometimes takentoberedundant,andthesentencesasawholeillustratethespatialrelations exemplifiedbelow,Tanaka(1997:22).

(10)a.Tarohadaidokoroniiru.

Taro‑SUBkitchenatis (Taroisinthekitchen.) b.Tsukueniringogaaru.

Tableatapple‑SUBis

(Thereisanappleonthedesk.) c.Konokawanisakanagatakusanniru.

Thisriveratfish‑SUBplentyis

(There'splentyoffishinthisriver.)

5.Conclusions

IanalyzedthesemanticnetworkofEnglishspatialprepositionsintermsofthe

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semanticfeaturesandshowedthesynonymy,antonymyandothersemanticrela一

tions,adoptingthefeatureanalysistomaketherelationappearmuchclearer.Thus Imadethespatialexpressionsdiscerniblebytherelatedpsychologicalexperiments.

AsthecomparisonbetweenEnglishandJapanesespatialexpressionsdepict,spatial relationsareillustratednotonlyintermsofadpositionsbutinrelatedmotionverbs.

Thisfactrevealsthecomplexityandthediversityofconceptualspaceacross languages.

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Note

Otherthaǹattachment',̀path'expressionsinJapanesehavesamesortoftendency.

̀Path'isexpressedasmotionexemplifiedbelow . i.Karehadourowoyokogitta.

He‑SUBroad‑OBJwent‑across‑VERB (Hewentacrosstheroad.)

ii.Kanojohatonnneruwotorinuketa.

She‑SUBtunnel‑OBJwent‑through‑VERB (Shewentthroughthetunnel.)

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