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A Frame-based methodology for lexical typology
The article deals with the methodology and techniques of lexical typological studies. It focuses on the cross-linguistic analysis of semantic areas that are deeply involved in semantic derivation processes, i.e. they either make a wide use of words coming from other semantic domains (as is the case with pain predicates) or frequently give rise to extended meanings (as e.g. rotation verbs, sound verbs, aqua-motion verbs, adjectives of quality). Based on these data, we propose a general approach to a lexical-typological study – a frame-based approach. It is argued that semantic comparison should rely on a set of conceptual frames that underlie the domains under examination and that can be revealed through the analysis of word combinability in natural texts (corpora, spontaneous speech, etc.). The results obtained by this approach can be easily visualized as semantic maps, in which nodes are associated with frames. This technique is illustrated by several examples, which testify to its applicability not only to well-attested domains of semantic typology (like colors, body parts, cutting and breaking, etc.), but also to less observable and highly metaphorical domains. The typological analysis of these areas is appealing, as it allows not only to investigate their lexical organization, but also to compare, in a systematic way, the semantic shifts observed in different languages.