An Inquiry into the Polysemy of the Preposition "bær" (on) in the Framework of Cognitive Semantics

Polysemy is one of the most controversial arguments in lexical semantics. Some disagreements between linguists are derived from the consistency or dynamicity of the lexical meaning and the ways for determining distinct definitions of a conceptual unit. These conflicts become more critical in declaring the various concepts that prepositions represent because apart from concrete concepts, prepositions represent a wide variety of abstract ones. Due to proposing a modified version of practical principles in determining distinct meanings of polysemous words, especially prepositions, the principled polysemy theory by Tyler and Evans (2001 &2003) in the cognitive linguistic approach is an efficient method for explaining the polysemy. In this method, the primary and distinct meanings of prepositions are determined by means of obvious and defined principles, after that, all concepts are depicted in a semantic cluster around the primary meaning and form the semantic network.Studying the research literature has shown that despite the wide usage of /bær/ (on), whether as a preposition or in the structure of various nominal and verbal compounds, no independent research has been done about its semantic implications yet. In addition, while most ofthe semantic studies have a synchronic approach, the evidence of this research is not only based on the usage of /bær/ (on) in contemporary Persian but in historical Persian.In this study, the polysemy of /bær/ (on) is studied based on cognitive lexical semantics with the method introduced by Tyler and Evans; called principled polysemy, and the purpose is determining the core meaning, displaying the semantic network of/bær/ (on) and scrutinizing the role of spatial and non-spatial elements in forming the peripheral concepts.

This research is descriptive-analytical, and the data was studied from the principled polysemy theory point of view. The Dehkhoda lexicon and the Sokhan dictionary were selected as corpora for choosing raw data. Because the Dehkhoda lexicon proposes some examples of historical usages for any entry and the Sokhan dictionary covers the sample sentences in Modern Persian, these two sources complete each other and have relative comprehensiveness. After choosing corpora, the examples of using /bær/ (on) as a preposition in each corpuse were categorized, and they were evaluated and criticized in terms of the structure and accuracy of definitions. Next, by applying the principled polysemy and considering the history of /bær/ (on) and its recent application, the primary meaning of this preposition was determined. For finding the radial categories at first, the diverse and scattered meanings of /bær/ (on), which were pointed out in two dictionaries, were conceptually categorized. In the next step, the mechanism of perception of the mentioned meanings was explained according to the theory of principled polysemy, along with historical and contemporary evidence. Finally, the semantic network of /bær/ (on) was drawn using the analyzed data.

Among the words of a language, prepositions are semantically more complicated in comparison with other word categories because they have a more pronounced grammatical function than the lexical function. In the history of the Persian language, from ancient Persian to now, /bær/ has had a prepositional meaning and has played numerous grammatical and semantic roles. In this paper, the polysemy of the preposition /bær/ was investigated using the principled polysemy theory of Tyler and Evans(2003).The primary meaning of /bær/ is “above” and “on”. The trace of this meaning is apparent in all concepts expressed by /bær/, derived from the primary meaning. All of these meanings form a semantic network around the primary meaning. The distance of peripheral concepts from the center of the network depends on the mechanism of their derivation. Some mechanisms like abstraction, changing the relationship between landmark and trajectory and focusing on each segment of configuration elements of proto-scene play an efficient role in creating the radial categories. There are six radial concepts for /bær/ as a preposition. “Causality” is one of the radial categories of /bær/ results from the abstraction of its primary meaning. In creating this concept, the focus is on the function of trajectory. The next radial category represents “duty and responsibility”, which is non-spatial and abstract too, but it is the result of focusing on the position of the landmark. Another member of the radial categories of /bær/ is “confrontation and opposition”. Abstraction, de-spatialization and emphasizing conceptual spatial relation between the landmark and the trajectory, creates this radial category of /bær/. “Accumulation” is the next radial category around the primary meaning of /bær/, created by abstraction and iteration of the conceptual spatial relation between the landmark and the trajectory. In addition, emphasizing this recent relation is the main point in shaping this concept. “Concomitance and companionship”, which is the consequence of changing the relationship between landmark and trajectory, and is the result of paying attention to the conceptual spatial relation between the landmark and the trajectory, is the fifth radial meaning of /bær/. The last concept that this preposition conveys is “conformity and compatibility”. Both mechanisms of changing the relationship between the landmark and the trajectory and in the next stage, abstraction and de-spatialization, have influenced the primary meaning and created this radial category. In this concept, the new concept relies on concentrating on the trajectory. As we expected, all the distinct meanings of /bær/ interact with the proto-scene of this preposition and result from the expansion of this spatial structure.Out of the six distinct meanings we listed for /bær/ (on), four results from the process of abstraction and de-spatialization of the primary meaning. Abstracting and de-spatialization of the primary meaning is a process started in Ancient Persian, when / bær/ had a partial tendency to express the concept of "based on, according to", in addition to "above and on" and in each era, its function and consequently, the number of the peripheral concepts that it represents has increased. So that in Modern Persian, scholars such as Khanlari, Anvari, and Givi have given up to ten different meanings for this preposition, which in other dictionaries also grow to twenty. According to the principled polysemy theory, the distinct meanings of a word should be independent of the context in which they are used and independent of the semantic influence of adjacent lexical elements. Considering this principle, regardless of the context-dependent meanings given in the dictionaries in the entry of /bær/, the context-independent meanings, except the primary meaning, semantically overlaps with one of the six radial concepts stated for /bær/.Considering the efficiency of the principled polysemy theory of Tyler and Evans in determining the polysemy of prepositions, which is semantically one of the most complex categories of language, it can be a suitable basis for writing a dictionary and compiling a comprehensive and accurate list of words of a language.

Using the Principled Polysemy theory in determining the primary meaning and radial concepts of /bær/ (on) has shown that “over and on” is the primary meaning of /bær/. Following some mechanisms such as abstraction, changing the relationship between the landmark and the trajectory, and focusing on each segment of configuration elements of proto-scene, six distinct meanings have been formed for /bær/, which are: 1- causality 2- duty and responsibility, confrontation and opposition 3- accumulation 4-concomitance and companionship 5- conformity and compatibility. Changing the relationship between the landmark and the trajectory and abstraction of the primary meaning are the main mechanisms in forming the radial categories in a way that four of these six distinct concepts, i.e., causality, duty and responsibility, confrontation and opposition, as well as conformity and compatibility, are the result of abstraction and non-spatialization of the primary meaning. Accumulation and companionship originate from changing the relationship between spatial elements, i.e., the landmark and the trajectory.