engleski

From prototypical meanings to metaphorical extensions: Verbs from the semantic field of speaking in Croatian

In this paper we analyse the semantics of verbs that belong to the semantic field of 'speaking'. Since these verbs refer to the basic channel through which humans exchange thoughts, ideas, information and feelings, it would be interesting to study them from the cognitive-linguistic point of view. Here we focus on verbs that denote any action that results in a product that could be construed as belonging to the sphere of human speech from the pragmatic point of view. This criterion served as the basis for compiling a list of speaking verbs which consists of verbs found in the three largest monolingual dictionaries of the Croatian language whose meanings were checked and attested with the help of the hrWaC web corpus. The final list contains about 500 speaking verbs. After the analysis of the verbs, a semantic network accommodating all the verbs was created. The core group consists of ‘neutral’ verbs which are not marked for direction and do not express the manner of speaking and are present in all types of discourse. The remaining verbs indicate that the network develops in two major directions: ‘mutual verbs’ (verbs that imply the obligatory presence of at least two interlocutors) and ‘directed verbs’ (communication is directed towards an interlocutor) which are linked to the ‘neutral verbs’ via ‘transitional verbs’ (an interlocutor is not obligatory). The semantics of the ‘directed verbs’ indicate development in seven main directions: ‘manipulation’, ‘detrimental/nasty speech’, ‘small talk’, ‘sound prominence’, ‘query’, ‘positive’ and ‘negation of the action’. In addition to these verbs which are used in various discourses and everyday conversation, there are also those that are used in specialized discourses (academic/publicist/business ; artistic ; sacral). In our network they form a special group and are related to ‘directed verbs’ both because they have the potential to be directed and because some of them are used in everyday speech. Finally, our analysis has revealed that the semantic network of speaking verbs is quite complex, with the ‘richest’ branch being that of ‘directed verbs’, which confirms that speaking is conceptualised primarily as a transmission directed towards an interlocutor/listener. We can notice that the verbs can describe the type, mode, quality, meaningfulness, target, speed and strength/volume of human speech. The network is also much richer in verbs which have an overall negative meaning than in those that are neutral or positive (especially if the verbs that belong to specialized discourses are viewed separately). The obtained results are compared to a study carried out on the verbs of writing – another key process of human communication.

Croatian, verbs of speaking

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