Keywords: verb, semantics, polysemy, construction, categorisation, linguistic methods
In this paper, the methodology of verb classification is addressed. The main aim is to provide an overview of the possible ways verbs and sentence patterns could be analysed for the purpose of verb classification, and to reveal the possible shortcomings of different methods and problems of verb classification in general. For that purpose, the rare verb classifications available for the languages of the world (mainly English) are introduced focusing on the methodological aspect. In addition, an overview is given of the treatment of verbs as belonging to several semantic classes in Estonian linguistic tradition. Finally, the possible research paths that lead to verb classification are discussed. The two main points of the discussion are as follows. (1) There are two main alternatives to reach a semantic classification of verbs. One is classifying verbs based on their core meaning and disregarding contextual information as much as possible. Such a classification can be based either on the intuition of a (single) researcher or on experiments. The other is classifying verbs based on their sentence patterns, assuming that this is where the semantic differences between verbs are ultimately reflected. Such an approach needs massive (corpus) data and the application of multivariate statistics. (2) The main problems associated with verb categorisation are related to the semantic complexity of the verbs (incl. polysemy), the multifactorial nature of language, disadvantages of particular methods that could be used for verb classification, and difficulties with data coding (e.g., coding non-discrete units as discrete). In summary, we propose that a blend of different approaches to verb meaning – including intuition based approaches, experiments, and corpus analysis – is needed for categorising verbs into semantic classes. Thus, the paper advocates methodological pluralism and triangulation.
Ilona Tragel (b. 1968), PhD, University of Tartu, Institute of Estonian and General Linguistics, Associate Professor of General Linguistics (Jakobi 2, 51005 Tartu), ilona.tragel@ut.ee
Piia Taremaa (b. 1982), PhD, University of Tartu, Institute of Estonian and General Linguistics, Research Fellow in General Linguistics (Jakobi 2, 51005 Tartu), piia.taremaa@ut.ee
References
Arppe, Antti, Gilquin, Gaëtanelle, Glynn, Dylan, Hilpert, Martin, Zeschel, Arne 2010. Cognitive corpus linguistics: Five points of debate on current theory and methodology. – Corpora, kd 5, nr 1, lk 1–27. https://doi.org/10.3366/cor.2010.0001
Baayen, Harald R. 2008. Analyzing Linguistic Data: A Practical Introduction to Statistics using R. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511801686
Biber, Douglas, Conrad, Susan, Reppen, Randi 1998. Corpus Linguistics: Investigating Language Structure and Use. (Cambridge Approaches to Linguistics.) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511804489
Bolinger, Dwight Le Merton 1968. Aspects of Language. New York–Chicago–San Francisco–Atlanta: Harcourt, Brace & World.
Creswell, John W., Plano Clark, Vicki L. 2007. Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research. Thousand Oaks–London–New Delhi: SAGE Publishing.
EKG I = Mati Erelt, Reet Kasik, Helle Metslang, Henno Rajandi, Kristiina Ross, Henn Saari, Kaja Tael, Silvi Vare. Eesti keele grammatika I. Morfoloogia. Sõnamoodustus. Tallinn: Eesti Teaduste Akadeemia Eesti Keele Instituut, 1995.
EKG II = Mati Erelt, Reet Kasik, Helle Metslang, Henno Rajandi, Kristiina Ross, Henn Saari, Kaja Tael, Silvi Vare. Eesti keele grammatika II. Süntaks. Lisa: kiri. Tallinn: Eesti Teaduste Akadeemia Keele ja Kirjanduse Instituut, 1993.
Erelt, Mati, Metslang, Helle (toim) 2017. Eesti keele süntaks. (Eesti keele varamu III.) Tartu: Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus.
Evans, Nicholas, Levinson, Stephen C. 2009. The myth of language universals: Language diversity and its importance for cognitive science. – Behavioral and Brain Sciences, kd 32, nr 5, lk 429–448. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X0999094X
Fillmore, Charles J. 1968. The case for case. – Universals in Linguistic Theory. Toim Emmon Bach, Robert T. Harms. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Fillmore, Charles 1982. Frame semantics. – Linguistics in the Morning Calm: Selected papers from SICOL-1981. Linguistic Society of Korea. Seoul: Hanshin, lk 111–137.
Fried, Mirjam, Östman, Jan-Ola 2004. Construction grammar: A thumbnail sketch. – Construction Grammar in a Cross-Language Perspective. (Constructional Approaches to Language 2.) Toim M. Fried, J-O. Östman. Amsterdam–Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, lk 11–86. https://doi.org/10.1075/cal.2.02fri
Geeraerts, Dirk, Grondelaers, Stefan, Bakema, Peter 1994. The Structure of Lexical Variation: Meaning, Naming, and Context. (Cognitive Linguistics Research 5.) Berlin–New York: Mouton de Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110873061
Goldberg, Adele E. 1995. Constructions: A Construction Grammar approach to argument structure. Chicago–London: The University of Chicago Press.
Goldberg, Adele 2006. Constructions at Work: The Nature of Generalization in Language. Oxford–New York: Oxford University Press.
Goldberg, Adele E. 2010. Verbs, constructions and semantic frames. – Lexical Semantics, Syntax, and Event Structure. Toim Malka Rappaport Hovav, Edit Doron, Ivy Sichel. Oxford: Oxford University Press, lk 39–58. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199544325.003.0003
Greenberg, Joseph H. 2005 [1966]. Language Universals. With a preface by Martin Haspelmath. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
Gries, Stefan Th., Divjak, Dagmar 2009. Behavioral profiles: A corpus-based approach to cognitive semantic analysis. – New Directions in Cognitive Linguistics. Toim Vyvyan Evans, Stéphanie Pourcel. (Human Cognitive Processing.) Amsterdam–Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, lk 57–75. https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.24.07gri
Habicht, Külli, Penjam, Pille, Tragel, Ilona 2010. Kas tahtma tahab abiverbiks? – ESUKA/JEFUL, kd 1, nr 2, lk 115–146. https://doi.org/10.12697/jeful.2010.1.2.07
Habicht, Külli, Tragel, Ilona 2014. Verbiga saama väljendatud leksikaalsed kategooriad ja konstruktsioonid. – Keel ja Kirjandus, nr 11, lk 826–844. https://doi.org/10.54013/kk684a2
Hanks, Patrick 1996. Contextual dependency and lexical sets. – International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, kd 1, nr 1, lk 75–98. https://doi.org/10.1075/ijcl.1.1.06han
Harris, Zellig S. 1954. Distributional structure. – Word, kd 10, nr 2–3, lk 146–162. https://doi.org/10.1080/00437956.1954.11659520
Haspelmath, Martin 2012. Escaping ethnocentrism in the study of word-class universals. – Theoretical Linguistics, kd 38, nr 1–2, lk 91–102. https://doi.org/10.1515/tl-2012-0004
Jentson, Indrek 2013. Eesti VerbNet’i loomise võimalikkusest. – Eesti Rakenduslingvistika Ühingu aastaraamat, kd 9, lk 75–83. https://doi.org/10.5128/ERYa9.05
Kaalep, Heiki-Jaan 2015. Eesti verbi vormistik. – Keel ja Kirjandus, nr 1, lk 1–15. https://doi.org/10.54013/kk686a1
Kasik, Reet 2015. Sõnamoodustus. (Eesti keele varamu I.) Tartu: Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus.
Kerner, Kadri, Orav, Heili, Parm, Sirli 2010. Growth and revision of Estonian wordnet. – Principles, Construction and Application of Multilingual Wordnets: Proceedings of the 5th Global Wordnet Conference. Toim Pushpak Bhattacharyya, Christiane Fellbaum, Piek Vossen. Mumbai: Narosa Publishing House, lk 198–202.
KipperSchuler, Karin 2005. VerbNet: A Broad-Coverage, Comprehensive Verb Lexicon. PhD dissertation. Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania.
Klaas, Birute 1999. Dependence of the object case on the semantics of the verb in Estonian, Finnish and Lithuanian. – Estonian: Typological Studies III. Toim Mati Erelt. (Tartu Ülikooli eesti keele õppetooli toimetised 11.) Tartu: Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus, lk 47–83.
Kuznetsova, Julia 2015. Linguistic Profiles: Going from Form to Meaning via Statistics. (Cognitive Linguistics Research 53.) Berlin–Boston: De Gruyter Mouton. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110361858
Labi, Kanni 2006a. Eesti regilaulude verbisemantika. (Dissertationes philologiae Estonicae Universitatis Tartuensis 18.) Tartu: Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus.
Labi, Kanni 2006b. Kui saan, virve, veeremaie. Liikumise väljendamine regilaulus. – Keel ja Kirjandus, nr 7, lk 538–556.
Langemets, Margit 2003. Polüseemia ja leksikograafia. – Emakeele Seltsi aastaraamat 49 (2003). Toim Mati Erelt. Tallinn: Teaduste Akadeemia Kirjastus, lk 97–124.
Lečič, Rada 2012. Basic Grammar of the Slovene Language: Language Manual. Cerkno: Gaya.
Levin, Beth 1993. English Verb Classes and Alternations: A Preliminary Investigation. Chicago–London: University of Chicago Press.
Levshina, Natalia 2015. How to do Linguistics with R: Data Exploration and Statistical Analysis. Amsterdam–Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. https://doi.org/10.1075/z.195
McEnery, Anthony M., Wilson, Anita 2001. Corpus Linguistics: An Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Metslang, Helle 2017. Sihitis. – Eesti keele süntaks. Toim Mati Erelt, H. Metslang. (Eesti keele varamu III.) Tartu: Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus.
Muischnek, Kadri 2006. Verbi ja noomeni püsiühendid eesti keeles. (Dissertationes philologiae estonicae Universitatis Tartuensis 17.) Tartu: Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus, lk 258–277.
Muischnek, Kadri, Kaalep, Heiki-Jaan 2010. The variability of multi-word verbal expressions in Estonian. – Language Resources and Evaluation, kd 44, nr 1–2, lk 115–135. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10579-009-9096-x
Orav, Heili, Kerner, Kadri, Parm, Sirli 2011. Eesti Wordnet’i hetkeseisust. – Keel ja Kirjandus, nr 2, lk 96–106.
Orav, Heili, Zupping, Sirli, Vare, Kadri 2015. Leksikosemantiliste suhete hägusus Eesti Wordnetis. – Emakeele Seltsi aastaraamat 60 (2014). Toim Mati Erelt. Tallinn: Teaduste Akadeemia Kirjastus, lk 171–193. https://doi.org/10.3176/esa60.09
Pajunen, Anneli 2001. Argumenttirakenne. Asian tilojen luokitus ja verbien käyttäytyminen suomen kielessä. (Suomi 187.) Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura.
Pajusalu, Renate 2001. Kas moos ja buss seisavad sarnaselt ehk väike katse verbiga seisma. – Keele kannul. Pühendusteos Mati Erelti 60. sünnipäevaks. Toim Reet Kasik. (Tartu Ülikooli eesti keele õppetooli toimetised 17.) Tartu: Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus, lk 250–274.
Pajusalu, Renate, Tragel, Ilona 2007. Word and construction as units of categorization: The case of change predicates in Estonian. – Mental States. Kd 2: Language and Cognitive Structure. Toim Andrea C. Schalley, Drew Khlentzos. (Studies in Language Companion Series 93.) Amsterdam–Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, lk 289–310. https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.93.15paj
Penjam, Pille 2008. Eesti kirjakeele da- ja ma-infinitiiviga konstruktsioonid. (Dissertationes philologiae estonicae Universitatis Tartuensis 23.) Tartu: Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus.
Rätsep, Huno 1978. Eesti keele lihtlausete tüübid. (Eesti NSV TA Emakeele Seltsi toimetised 12.) Tallinn: Valgus.
Tagliamonte, Sali A., Baayen, R. Harald 2012. Models, forests, and trees of York English: Was/were variation as a case study for statistical practice. – Language Variation and Change, kd 24, nr 2, lk 135–178. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954394512000129
Tamm, Anne 2007. Perfectivity, telicity and Estonian verbs. – Nordic Journal of Linguistics, kd 30, nr 2, lk 229–255. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0332586507001746
Tamm, Anne 2012. Scalar verb classes: Scalarity, thematic roles, and arguments in the Estonian aspectual lexicon. (Biblioteca di Studi di Filologia Moderna 14.) Firenze: Firenze University Press. https://doi.org/10.36253/978-88-6655-055-6
Taremaa, Piia 2017. Attention Meets Language: A Corpus Study on the Expression of Motion in Estonian. (Dissertationes linguisticae Universitatis Tartuensis 29.) Tartu: University of Tartu Press.
Tauli, Valter 1973. Standard Estonian grammar. Part I: Phonology, Morphology, Word-formation. (Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. Studia Uralica et Altaica Upsaliensia 8.) Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksell.
Tauli, Valter 1983. Standard Estonian grammar. Part II: Syntax. (Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. Studia Uralica et Altaica Upsaliensia 14.) Uppsala: Borgströms Tryckeri AB.
Tragel, Ilona 2003. Eesti keele tuumverbid. (Dissertationes linguisticae Universitatis Tartuensis 3.) Tartu: Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus.
Tragel, Ilona, Habicht, Külli 2017. Saama-verb grammatilistes konstruktsioonides. – Keel ja Kirjandus, nr 1, lk 22–40. https://doi.org/10.54013/kk710a3
Tragel, Ilona, Klavan, Jane (valmimas). Abstract verbs in free form drawing task.
Uiboaed, Kristel 2013. Verbiühendid eesti murretes. (Dissertationes philologiae estonicae Universitatis Tartuensis 34.) Tartu: Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus.
Viks, Ülle 2001. Muuttüübid eesti sõnastikes. – Leksikograafiaseminar: Sõna tänapäeva maailmas. Leksikografinen seminaari: Sanat nykymaailmassa. Toim Margit Langemets. (Eesti Keele Instituudi toimetised 9.) Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus, lk 157–185.
Õim, Haldur 1965. Tulema, saama ja pidama tähenduste strukturaalne analüüs. – Keel ja struktuur 1. (Töid strukturaalse ja matemaatilise lingvistika alalt.) Tartu: TRÜ, lk 27–45.
Õim, Haldur 1970. Eesmärk, taotlema, saavutama, tulemus. Semantiline analüüs. – Keel ja struktuur 4. (Töid strukturaalse ja matemaatilise lingvistika alalt.) Tartu: TRÜ, lk 71–108.
Õim, Haldur, Orav, Heili, Taremaa, Piia 2009. Lihtlause semantika: teoreetiline kontseptsioon ja arvutianalüüsi võimalused. – Keel ja Kirjandus, nr 7, lk 489–504.
Õim, Haldur, Orav, Heili, Taremaa, Piia 2010. Lausesemantikast üldkeeleteaduse ja eesti keele kontekstis. – Emakeele Seltsi aastaraamat 55 (2009). Toim Mati Erelt. Tallinn: Teaduste Akadeemia Kirjastus, lk 201–224.
Õim, Haldur, Saluveer, Madis 2002. Freimid keelekirjelduses. – Akadeemia, nr 12, lk 2663–2678.
Võrguviited
Eesti keele Wordnet. http://www.cl.ut.ee/ressursid/teksaurus/?lang=et (8. II 2018).
EKSS = Eesti keele seletav sõnaraamat. Veebiversioon. http://www.eki.ee/dict/ekss/index.cgi (7. II 2019).
FrameNet. https://framenet.icsi.berkeley.edu/fndrupal (7. II 2019).
German FrameNet. http://www.laits.utexas.edu/gframenet/ (7. II 2019).
Verbs Index. https://verbs.colorado.edu (7. II 2019).
VerbNet. http://verbs.colorado.edu/~mpalmer/projects/verbnet.html (7. II 2019).
WordNet. http://globalwordnet.org/wordnets-in-the-world/ (7. II 2019).
ÕS 2018 = Eesti õigekeelsussõnaraamat ÕS 2018. Veebiversioon. https://www.eki.ee/dict/qs/ (14. II 2019).
