FROM GESTURE TO ADVERBIAL - SWEDISH 'DET' AS AN EXAMPLE OF LINGUISTIC POLYSEMY

• Authors: Data-Bukowska E.
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

Every grammar of the Swedish language provides more or less precise information concerning various ways of using the unit 'det'. The Swedish 'det' can be used both pronominally and adnominally. It may occur, among other things, as a neuter demonstrative pronoun, a third-person neuter pronoun, an anaphoric pronoun in the case of the so-called impure text deixis, and, as linguists often put it - as a meaningless, but nevertheless necessary element fulfilling the function of the subject or object in a number of different constructions. However, in traditional grammar one does not pay attention to the links and mutual relations between the individual uses of this language unit. Thus, within such a framework, the Swedish 'det' can be treated as an extreme example of homonymy in language. Is that possible in language? The main goal of this article is to show the semantic value of the unit 'det' in contemporary Swedish, adopting the perspective of Cognitive Grammar. The authoress tries to prove that all uses of this unit are linked to each other semantically. Thus, the meaning ascribed to 'det' constitutes a complex network of senses rooted in the prototype, which is a cognitive reference point within the category. The article can be interpreted in a wider context of the research concerning the using of units which are functionally 'related' to the Swedish 'det' in various languages, e.g. the English 'it', the German 'es', the Polish 'to' etc.

Keywords

EN

COGNITIVE GRAMMAR; SETTING-SUBJECT CONSTRUCTION; USAGE OD 'DET' IN SWEDISH

Discipline

• PHILOLOGY_&_LINGUISTICS: PHILOLOGY & LINGUISTICS

• Publisher: Polskie Towarzystwo Językoznawcze; UNIVERSITAS Towarzystwo Autorów i Wydawców Prac Naukowych; Wydawnictwo LEXIS
• Journal: Biuletyn Polskiego Towarzystwa Językoznawczego
• Year: 2008
• Volume: 64
• Pages: 125-162
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Data-Bukowska E.

• E. Data-Bukowska, Uniwersytet Jagiellonski, Wydzial Filologiczny, Instytut Filologii Germanskiej, al. Mickiewicza 11, 31-120 Kraków, Poland

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

09PLAAAA05929