A cognitive analysis of the meanings of the English verbs 'get' and 'take'

Abstract

or not elaborated but internally specified as the trajector. The causation construction is also explained by applying the criteria of action chain. It seems that the dominion of the landmark2 over the abstract landmark1 (a relation instead of a thing) induces the energy flow from the landmark2 besides the energy from the trajectory, and thus forms the typical causation. The base meaning of ‘take’ is also improved by paying more attention to the locomotion of the trajector instead of the movement of the landmark. The base meaning of ‘take’ is defined as the process where the trajector grabs the landmark into its hand and carries it away from the initial position of the landmark. ‘take’ is rather specific in its manner of locomotion and thus the meaning of it extends with the shifting of the active zone from specific body parts to abstract region of dominion of the trajector. Since the locomotion of the trajector is given enough concern, the meaning extension of ‘take’ in the situation that the landmark does not move but only confined inside the region of dominion of the trajector is accounted for with the variation of level of scope. In the comparison of ‘get’ and ‘take’, according to the criteria of figure/ground relation, it is proposed that ‘get’ is comparatively more passive with the landmark1 as the figure, while ‘take’ is comparatively more active with the trajector as the figure. Different figures also explain the different direction of movement of the landmark1/landmark in relation to the conceptualizer. In ‘get’, the landmark1 moves towards the concepualizer, while in ‘take’, the landmark, which is inside the region of dominion of the trajector, moves away from the conceptualizer . In the last chapter, a network of the meaning relation between ‘get’ and ‘take’ has been constructed to reveal the range of conception for which they are normally employed.; The purpose of this work is to probe into the analysis of the base meanings and meaning extensions of ‘get’ and ‘take’ under the framework of Cognitive Grammar from the point of view which is oriented towards the revealment of the similarities and differences of them. First of all, some basic concepts of Cognitive Grammar are introduced to provide a theoretical basis for the following analysis. In Chapter 2, the previous studies, in which some aspects like the double objects of ‘get’, causation construction of ‘get’, activeness of ‘take’ and passiveness of ‘get’, et cetera, are not accounted for, are reviewed. In Chapter3-5, ‘get’ and ‘take’ are more thoroughly analyzed and compared by including all the above mentioned aspects neglected by the previous studies. By considering the double object structures of ‘get’ as one of the basic structures, the base meaning of ‘get’, is more schematically defined as a process where the trajector exerts energy on the landmark1 which makes it enter the region of dominion of the landmark2. This base meaning has three variants relative to the variation of landmark2 which can be elaborated by an entity which has nothing to do with the trajector; or by the self reflexive of the trajector