Commencement, continuation, cessation : a conceptual analysis of a set of Englsih and French verbs from an axiological point of view

Abstract

The aims of the present work are manifold and various. It has been the author’s intention to provide a contribution to the study of linguistic meaning by lightly adapting the methodology of conceptual analysis (i.e., Anna WIERZBICKA’S approach to semantics), and looking at it firm the point of view of axiology (i.e. Andre MARTINET’S approach to semantics); furthermore, to investigate the meaning of a set of verbs according to the methodology just referred to; finally, to indicate how conceptual axiology can promote the study of lexical relations (and, possibly, the study of translational adequacy as well). Part One, essentially, describes how conceptual axiology differs from conceptual analysis. One difference is that the former makes distinction between “formulas” and “glosses”: a formula reflects the meaning of a word in a particular syntactic frame (e.g., “X began to Y), whereas a gloss expresses the meaning of a word in a particular sentence (e.g. “John began to run”). A gloss, therefore is a “realised formula”. Formulas and glosses constitute a hypothesis of what speakers want to convey to their addressees. Another difference between conceptual axiology and conceptual analysis resides in the role that linguistic economy plays within the former. It is argued, among other things, that no two words can permanently have the same value (inherent economy of the language). Part Two is the “backbone” of the investigation. It applies the methodology of conceptual axiology to verbs denoting a commencement, a continuation, or a cessation in English and in French. Part Three provides a summary and an outlook. In the latter part, it is claimed that the empirical study of sixteen verbs undertaken in Part Two can, and as a matter of fact should, be enlarged to include all words denoting a commencement a continuation or a cessation. The result would be a study of what the author, in earlier publications, has called an axiological field. A few remarks on the possibility of checking translational adequacy conclude the dissertation. It is hoped that a more comprehensive study of this kind could eventually lead to the publication of new translations, which are better than the existing ones.