Conceptualization of events, semantic relations between constructions and topology : a catastrophe theoretic study of "get" and "be"

Authors

  • Juana Isabel Marín Arrese Complutense University of Madrid

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18172/jes.45

Abstract

The existence of syncretisms in the marked coding patterns for variations in the domains of transitivity and voice presumably indicate the interrelation between constructions involving different event views and voice alternations and voicerelated phenomena, such as inchoative and stative resultative morphosyntax. This paper will examine deviations from the prototypical event view, variations in transitivity and their relation to voice distinctions in constructions with be and get. It will be argued that the relations between these constructions and the position they occupy in semantic space are best understood in terms of the interaction between the conceptual status of participants as 'controller' or 'affected' (Klaiman 1988) and the conceptual property 'relative elaboration of events' (Kemmer 1993; 1994), correlating with different event views (Croft 1990; 1994).

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Published

29-05-1999

How to Cite

Marín Arrese, J. I. (1999). Conceptualization of events, semantic relations between constructions and topology : a catastrophe theoretic study of "get" and "be". Journal of English Studies, 1, 97–117. https://doi.org/10.18172/jes.45