[Lexicog] Draining corpora

[Peter Kirk]

On 20/10/2004 04:53, Ron Moe wrote:

> We may be trying to be a bit more specific with the meaning of 'drain'
> than we should be. As with many words, 'drain' activates a
> prototypical scenario. Various aspects of the scenario can be
> commented on:
>
> 1. The bathroom sink is draining slowly.
> 2. I think I've got the sink fixed. At least the water is draining now.
> 3. You forgot to drain the water in the sink.
> 4. This is the pipe that drains the sink.
>
> In (1) the sink is draining, in (2) the water is draining, in (3) you
> are draining, and in (4) the pipe is draining. But all four refer to
> water running out of a sink under the influence of gravity, which my
> intuition tells me is the prototypical scenario. (Or maybe it is just
> that I had to fix a sink yesterday.) We understand each of the
> sentences, in spite of their apparent contradictions, because we have
> activated the scenario. Notice also that you can (3) drain water
> or (4) drain the sink.
>
> ...
>
> The variations in the examples above are by no means unusual.
> Fauconnier and Turner, in their book "The Way We Think," give the
> example of 'safe': "The child is safe," "The beach is safe," "The
> shovel is safe." The word 'safe' activates the scenario of 'danger'
> along with the features of 'savior' 'save' 'victim' 'dangerous
> person/instrument/time/place' 'safety'. It isn't that 'safe' has
> several meanings, or is modifying a person, place, or instrument
> respectively, but that it activates the scenario.
>
This is very interesting, but it seems to me also that it is rather
English-centred. At least in Azerbaijani, the language in which I am
currently working, these four different scenarios probably require four
different verb forms with passive, causative etc suffixes. It seems to
be one of the special riches (or poverties) of English that one verb
form can be used in such a variety of ways. But of course it may apply
also to many other languages.


--
Peter Kirk
peter at qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk at qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/




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