Abstract
Lexical typology research starts from concepts that commonly exist in human languages. In accordance with the cross-linguistic comparisons, both the shared characteristics and distinctions of these universal categories within the lexical systems of diverse languages are revealed. From a lexical typology perspective, this paper takes the spatial dimension adjectives “deep/shallow” as a case study, exploring the diachronic semantic evolution of “shen(深)/qian(浅)” in ancient Chinese. At the same time, the cross-linguistic comparisons of the lexicalization and semantic expansion patterns of “deep/shallow” in six languages are carried out at the synchronic level. The basic meanings and extended meanings of “deep/shallow” within these six languages are found to have a close-knit relationship. The spatial dimension adjectives “deep/shallow” exhibit the capacity to extend from the spatial domain to various other abstract domains, embodying the universality of human cognition. Being subject to the impact and constraint of national culture, the semantic expansion in these languages presents specific characteristics, shedding light on both the commonalities and distinctions in spatial perception and conceptual structures among different ethnic groups.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Beijing Social Science Foundation Project (Grant No. 17YYC019), the Major Programs of the National Social Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 20&ZD304 and 21&ZD310) and The National Youth Talent Support Program.
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Yi, J., Qiu, B. (2024). A Cognitive Semantic Analysis of the Spatial Dimension Adjective “Deep/Shallow” from the Perspective of Lexical Typology. In: Dong, M., Hong, JF., Lin, J., Jin, P. (eds) Chinese Lexical Semantics. CLSW 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 14514. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-0583-2_24
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