Chapter published in:
Surprise at the Intersection of Phenomenology and Linguistics
Edited by Natalie Depraz and Agnès Celle
[Consciousness & Emotion Book Series 11] 2019
► pp. 139–170

Chapter 8
Looking at ‘unexpectedness’

A corpus-based cognitive analysis of surprise & wonder

The nouns surprise and wonder have often been included in the subclass of potentially polysemous psych nouns, which can denote a psychological state and have a derived source reading. Our corpus-based analysis leads us to conclude that these nouns tend to refer to sources of surprise, and as such could rather be termed “source nouns” instead. First, we show that a metonymic link can be established between the primary source sense and the derived state sense of the nouns. We argue that this reversed link can be re-analysed as involving a synecdoche. We then look at the discourse functions of these nouns, notably at their role as “shell nouns”, which confirms our analysis of these nouns as characterizing sources of surprise.

Keywords: prototype semantics, shell nouns, corpus, surprise, psych nouns
Article outline
  • 1.Corpus & background
    • 1.1Theoretical framework
    • 1.2Corpus
    • 1.3Coding
      • 1.3.1Four criteria
      • 1.3.2Referential vs. predicative
      • 1.3.3Patterns
  • 2.Overview of results & resulting semantic analysis
    • 2.1Results of coding
      • 2.1.1Source/state
      • 2.1.2Mention of experiencer and source in the immediate context of occurrence
      • 2.1.3Referential/predicative functions
      • 2.1.4Patterns
    • 2.2A new metonymic analysis
  • 3.The discourse functions of surprise & wonder: Characterizing objects of discourse
    • 3.1“Shell nouns” uses
      • 3.1.1 Surprise and wonder: peripheral shell nouns?
      • 3.1.2Semantic gaps: Relating shell nouns and shell contents
      • 3.1.3Referring to complex or abstract objects: Reification
    • 3.2Characterization: Foregrounding the speaker’s point of view
      • 3.2.1Compound nouns (“NN”)
      • 3.2.2Predicative structures (“th- be a/no (Adj) N”)
        • a.Characterizing a topical referent (the pattern th- be a/no (Adj) N)
        • b.The extraposition construction (“it be a/no (Adj) N Clause”)
      • 3.2.3Verbless sentences and speaker’s comments
  • 4.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 06 November 2019
https://doi.org/10.1075/ceb.11.08jug
References
Archer, Dawn, Andrew Wilson & Paul Rayson
(2002) “Introduction to the USAS Category System.” University of Lancaster. http://​ucrel​.lancs​.ac​.uk​/usas​/usas%20guide​.pdf.Google Scholar
Balvet, Antonio, Lucie Barque, Marie Hélene Condette, Pauline Haas, Richard Huyghe, Rafael Marin & Aurélie Merlo
(2011) “La Ressource Nomage. Confronter Les Attentes Théoriques Aux Observations Du Comportement Linguistique Des Nominalisations En Corpus.” Traitement Automatique Des Langues 52 (3): 129–152.Google Scholar
Barbiers, Sjef
(2000) “The Right Periphery in SOV Languages: English and Dutch.” In Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, edited by Peter Svenonius, 31:181. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. https://​benjamins​.com​/catalog​/la​.31​.08bar.Google Scholar
Barcelona, Antonio
ed. (2003) Metaphor and Metonymy at the Crossroads : A Cognitive Perspective. Topics in English Linguistics 30. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Barque, Lucie, Antonio Fábregas & Rafael Marín
(2012) Les Noms D’état Psychologique et Leurs “objets”: Étude D’une Alternance Sémantique. Lexique. https://​129​.242​.170​.252​/munin​/bitstream​/handle​/10037​/4603​/article​.pdf​?sequence​=3.Google Scholar
Biber, Douglas, Susan Conrad & Randi Reppen
(1998) Corpus Linguistics : Investigating Language Structure and Use. Cambridge Approaches to Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Blank
(2003) “Polysemy in the Lexicon and in Discourse.” In Polysemy : Flexible Patterns of Meaning in Mind and Language, edited by Brigitte Nerlich, Zazie Todd, Vimala Herman, and David D. Clarke, 267–98. Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs ; 142. Berlin ; Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Celle, Agnès & Laure Lansari
(eds) 2015 Expressing and Describing Surprise. Review of Cognitive Linguistics, Special Issue 13(2).Google Scholar
(2014) “ ‘Are You Surprised?’ / ‘I’m Not Surprised’. Surprise as an Argumentation Tool in Verbal Interaction.” In Nouvelles Perspectives En Sémantique Lexicale et En Organisation Du Discours, edited by Peter Blumenthal, Iva Novakova, and D. Siepmann, 267–80. Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Charolles, Michel
(2002) La référence et les expressions référentielles en français. Paris/Gap: OphrysGoogle Scholar
Church, Kenneth Ward & Patrick Hanks
(1990) “Word Association Norms, Mutual Information, and Lexicography.” Computational Linguistics 16 (1): 22–29.Google Scholar
Davies, Mark
(2008) The Corpus of Contemporary American English: 520 Million Words, 1990-Present. Available online at http://​corpus​.byu​.edu​/coca/.
Flowerdew, John
(2003) “Signalling Nouns in Discourse.” English for Specific Purposes 22 (4): 329–46.Google Scholar
Francis, Elaine J.
1999 “A Conceptual Semantic Analysis of Thematic Structures in Predicate Nominals.” Texas Linguistic Forum. http://​web​.ics​.purdue​.edu​/~ejfranci​/Francis1999​_prednom​.pdf.
Francis, G
(1993) “A Corpus-Driven Approach to Grammar – Principles, Methods and Examples.” In Text and Technology: In Honour of John Sinclair, edited by Mona Baker, Gill Francis, Elena Tognini-Bonelli, and John Sinclair, 137–56. Philadelphia: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Goldberg, Adele E.
(1996) “Construction Grammar.” In Concise Encyclopedia of Syntactic Theories, edited by Keith Brown & Jim Miller, 68–71. Oxford: Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
Gries, Stefan Thomas & Anatol Stefanowitsch
(2004) “Extending Collostructional Analysis: A Corpus-Based Perspective on `alternations.” International Journal of Corpus Linguistics 9 (1): 97–129.Google Scholar
Halliday, M. A. K. & Ruqaiya Hasan
(1976) Cohesion in English. English Language Series ; 9. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Hilpert, Martin
(2006) “Keeping an Eye on the Data: Metonymies and Their Patterns.” In Corpus-Based Approaches to Metaphor and Metonymy, edited by Anatol Stefanowitsch and Stefan Thomas Gries, 123–51. Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs ; 171. Berlin ; M. de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Hoad, T. F.
(1993) The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. Oxford Paperback Reference. Oxford ;New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hooper, J. B.
(1975) “On Assertive Predicates.” In Syntax and Semantics, edited by J. B. Kimball, 4:91–124. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Hunston, Susan & Gill Francis
(2000) Pattern Grammar: A Corpus-Driven Approach to the Lexical Grammar of English. John Benjamins Publishing.Google Scholar
Ivanic, R.
(1991) “Nouns in Search of a Context.” International Review of Applied Linguistics 29: 93–114.Google Scholar
Kleiber, Georges
(1999) Problèmes de sémantique. La polysémie en questions" in italics. Villeneuve d’Ascq: Presses Universitaires du Septentrion.Google Scholar
Langacker, Ronald W.
(1987) Foundations of Cognitive Grammar: Theoretical Prerequisites. Stanford: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Lefeuvre, F.
(1999) “Les ‘marqueurs de Prédication’ dans La Phrase averbale En Français.” Verbum XXI (4): 429–38.Google Scholar
L’Hôte, Emilie
(2014) Identity, Narrative and Metaphor: A Corpus-Based Cognitive Analysis of New Labour Discourse (1994–2007). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Manning, Christopher D. & Hinrich Schütze
(1999) Foundations of Statistical Natural Language Processing. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
McArthur, Tom
(1981) Longman Lexicon of Contemporary English. Harlow: Longman.Google Scholar
OAD
(2009) Oxford American Dictionary and Thesaurus. 2nd ed. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
“Online Etymology Dictionary.”
2016 Accessed May 31. http://​www​.etymonline​.com/.
Plantin, Christian
(2011) Les Bonnes Raisons Des Émotions: Principes et Méthode Pour L’étude Du Discours Émotionné. Vol. 94. Sciences Pour La Communication,. Bern, New York: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Radden, Günter & Zoltán Kövecses
(1999) “Towards a Theory of Metonymy.” In Metonymy in Language and Thought, edited by Klaus-Uwe Panther and Günter Radden, 17–59. Human Cognitive Processing, 1387–6724; v. 4. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins.Google Scholar
Rayson, Paul
(2009) Wmatrix: A Web-Based Corpus Processing Environment. Computing Department, Lancaster University. http://​ucrel​.lancs​.ac​.uk​/wmatrix/.Google Scholar
Ruiz de Mendoza Ibanez, Francisco José
(2000) “The Role of Mappings and Domains in Understanding Metonymy.” In Metaphor and Metonymy at the Crossroads : A Cognitive Perspective, edited by Antonio Barcelona, 109–32. Topics in English Linguistics ; 30. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Schmid, Hans-Jörg
(2000) English Abstract Nouns as Conceptual Shells: From Corpus to Cognition. Topics in English Linguistics ; 34. Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Seto, Ken-Ichi
(2003) “Metonymic Polysemy and Its Place in Meaning Extension.” In Polysemy : Flexible Patterns of Meaning in Mind and Language, edited by Brigitte Nerlich, Zazie Todd, Vimala Herman, and David D. Clarke, 195–216. Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs ; 142. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Simons, Mandy
(2007) “Observations on Embedding Verbs, Evidentiality, and Presupposition.” Lingua 117 (6): 1034–56. DOI logo.Google Scholar
Sinclair, John
(1991) Corpus, Concordance, Collocation. Describing English Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Stefanowitsch, Anatol & Stefan Thomas Gries
(2003) “Collostructions: Investigating the Interaction of Words and Constructions.” International Journal of Corpus Linguistics 8 (2): 209–43.Google Scholar
Urmson, J. O.
(1952) “Parenthetical Verbs.” Mind 61 (244): 480–496.Google Scholar
Weeber, Marc, R. Harald Baayen & Rein Vos
(2000) “Extracting the Lowest-Frequency Words: Pitfalls and Possibilities.” Computational Linguistics 26 (3): 301–317.Google Scholar