Chapter published in:
Analogy and Contrast in Language: Perspectives from Cognitive Linguistics
Edited by Karolina Krawczak, Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk and Marcin Grygiel
[Human Cognitive Processing 73] 2022
► pp. 159–192

Chapter 6
From nouns to verbs

Analogy across parts of speech

| UiT The Arctic University of Norway

A conceptual metaphor motivates an analogy between nouns and verbs, here termed the Noun → Verb Analogy. The metaphor maps properties from the source domain of space for nouns to the target domain of time for verbs. Three case studies present evidence for this metaphorical analogy using data from Russian. The first study examines the metaphor that underlies the Russian system of verbal aspect. The second study catalogs parallels between numeral classifiers and aspectual markers in Russian. The third study, of the distribution of grammatical forms, shows that aspect in verbs behaves much like number in nouns. Recognition of the Noun → Verb Analogy facilitates a more orderly and straightforward understanding of Russian verbs.

Keywords: aspect, classifier, metaphor, Russian
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Native speakers always know which aspect to use, and, in fact, even children never make errors in the use of aspect
    • 1.2Perfective vs. Imperfective is a simple binary distinction
    • 1.3Aspectual markers are semantically empty
  • 2.The properties of spatial and temporal objects
  • 3.Classifiers for spatial and temporal objects
  • 4.Number and aspect as the identifying features of spatial and temporal objects
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 27 October 2022
https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.73.06jan
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