Mechanisms of Sense Extension in Verbs

In this paper, we examine some of the mechanisms at work which relate distinct senses of a predicate. Independent of whether one adopts a lumping or splitting approach to sense differentiation and granularity in word meaning, the issue of how senses relate to one another is relevant for both approaches. While we differentiate between the selection and the coercion of an argument by a predicate, type coercion is not the mechanism responsible for most of the sense extensions discussed here. We claim that the different degree of meaning extension (degree of metaphoricity), results from a number of formal processes operating on the predicate. These include: generalizing the type of the argument; changing the argument structure and relative prominence of arguments; and finally, abstracting the core meaning of the verb itself. We demonstrate such sense extensions with several diverse verb classes, including motion predicates and locative relations, We examine the hypothesis that metaphorical interpretations are structured and scalar in nature. This would have the consequence that abstract metaphoric readings for concrete predicates should be accompanied by intermediate senses, exhibiting less metaphoricity.