Harry Slapped Hugo, Tracey Smacked Richie: The Semantics of Slap and Smack
Date
2010
Authors
Sibly, Anne
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Volume Title
Publisher
Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
Abstract
This article analyzes and compares the meanings of two English contact verbs: slap and smack. Although they are sometimes regarded as synonymous in their primary senses, evidence is adduced to show that each verb has a distinct meaning. Corpus data are used to identify the everyday patterns of each verb's use and the analysis and discussion focus on the syntactic and semantic implications of these patterns. Attention is also given to the social and cultural factors that have influenced the way people think about the actions described by the verbs. Meanings are expressed in explications using the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM), which uses reductive paraphrase to describe each verb in terms of simpler prime concepts; this allows direct comparison of their semantic content. Slap and smack are shown to share many salient semantic features but, at the same time, to have unique characteristics which make them capable of distinctive description. Their prototypical meanings provide a strong conceptual foundation for other senses, including metaphorical uses.
Description
Keywords
Keywords: Corpus Linguistics; Culture; Lexicology; NSM; Physical Contact Verbs; Polysemy; Semantic Template; Semantics
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Source
Australian Journal of Linguistics
Type
Journal article
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Restricted until
2037-12-31