Putting radial categorization to test: what can we learn from Brazilian Portuguese verbs of separation?

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18364/rc.2022n62.519

Keywords:

Categorization, Verbs of separation, Semantic structure, Brazilian Portuguese

Abstract

When it comes to categorization, Cognitive Linguistics is well known for rejecting the aristotelic ideal of classical definability. Such a rejection, however, still seems to lack empirical support. In this paper, we report an elicited production experiment aimed at investigating the semantics of three Brazilian Portuguese (BP) verbs of separation: “cortar” (‘to cut’), “quebrar” (‘to break’) and “rasgar” (‘to tear’). In this experiment, 49 native speakers of BP were asked to provide oral descriptions of video-recorded separation scenes. The results provide empirical support to the rejection of classical definability as well as allow for the description os the semantic structure of the three verbs at stake.

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Author Biographies

Diogo Pinheiro, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)

Professor da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, lotado no Departamento de Linguística e Filologia. Membro permanente do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Linguística da UFRJ. Membro do LinC - Laboratório de Linguística Cognitiva.

Jéssica Cassemiro Muniz, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)

Mestre em Linguística pelo Programa de Pós-Graduação em Linguística da UFRJ.

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Capa da Confluência 62

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Published

2022-02-13

Issue

2022: Issue 62

Section

Articles

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Copyright (c) 2022 Diogo Pinheiro, Jéssica Cassemiro Muniz

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