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Soundscapes in English and Spanish : A corpus investigation of verb constructions

Caballero, Rosario and Paradis, Carita LU orcid (2020) In Language and Cognition 12(4). p.705-728
Abstract

This corpus study explores how sound events are communicated in English and Spanish. The aims are to (i) contribute production data for a better understanding of the couplings of meanings and their realizations, (ii) account for typological differences between the languages, and (iii) further the theoretical discussion of how sound is conceptualized through the window of language. We found that, while there are significant differences between the languages with respect to how sound events are communicated, they are similar with respect to what domains the sound descriptions are instantiated in, namely perception, motion, manipulation, emotion-reaction, consumption, and cognition. One striking difference has to do with the conflation of... (More)

This corpus study explores how sound events are communicated in English and Spanish. The aims are to (i) contribute production data for a better understanding of the couplings of meanings and their realizations, (ii) account for typological differences between the languages, and (iii) further the theoretical discussion of how sound is conceptualized through the window of language. We found that, while there are significant differences between the languages with respect to how sound events are communicated, they are similar with respect to what domains the sound descriptions are instantiated in, namely perception, motion, manipulation, emotion-reaction, consumption, and cognition. One striking difference has to do with the conflation of sound for action, e.g., creak, squeak, and sound for motion, e.g., slam, crash. This finding supports the received view of English as a language that may lexicalize manner in those kinds of verbs, while Spanish expresses manner through qualifiers outside the verb. Moreover, both languages employ three different perspectives on the soundscapes: Producer-, Experiencer-, and Phenomenon-based. While English favours the Producer perspective, Spanish features an even distribution between Producer and Experiencer. Phenomenon-based descriptions are relatively few in both languages.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
sensory perceptions, embodiment, synaesthesia,, manipulatio, motion, lexicalization;, oncept-driven, hearing, Cognitive Semantics
in
Language and Cognition
volume
12
issue
4
pages
24 pages
publisher
Cambridge University Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:85085569319
ISSN
1866-9859
DOI
10.1017/langcog.2020.19
project
Maneras de actuar, pensar, hablar y sentir en inglés y español
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
6f59200c-3751-4753-a8af-0bd3feaefe6b
date added to LUP
2020-04-08 19:51:40
date last changed
2022-04-18 21:50:58
@article{6f59200c-3751-4753-a8af-0bd3feaefe6b,
  abstract     = {{<p>This corpus study explores how sound events are communicated in English and Spanish. The aims are to (i) contribute production data for a better understanding of the couplings of meanings and their realizations, (ii) account for typological differences between the languages, and (iii) further the theoretical discussion of how sound is conceptualized through the window of language. We found that, while there are significant differences between the languages with respect to how sound events are communicated, they are similar with respect to what domains the sound descriptions are instantiated in, namely perception, motion, manipulation, emotion-reaction, consumption, and cognition. One striking difference has to do with the conflation of sound for action, e.g., creak, squeak, and sound for motion, e.g., slam, crash. This finding supports the received view of English as a language that may lexicalize manner in those kinds of verbs, while Spanish expresses manner through qualifiers outside the verb. Moreover, both languages employ three different perspectives on the soundscapes: Producer-, Experiencer-, and Phenomenon-based. While English favours the Producer perspective, Spanish features an even distribution between Producer and Experiencer. Phenomenon-based descriptions are relatively few in both languages.</p>}},
  author       = {{Caballero, Rosario and Paradis, Carita}},
  issn         = {{1866-9859}},
  keywords     = {{sensory perceptions; embodiment; synaesthesia,; manipulatio; motion; lexicalization;; oncept-driven; hearing; Cognitive Semantics}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{705--728}},
  publisher    = {{Cambridge University Press}},
  series       = {{Language and Cognition}},
  title        = {{Soundscapes in English and Spanish : A corpus investigation of verb constructions}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/langcog.2020.19}},
  doi          = {{10.1017/langcog.2020.19}},
  volume       = {{12}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}