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The Linguistics of Olfaction: Typological and Diachronic Approaches to Synchronic Diversity
Edited by Łukasz Jędrzejowski and Przemysław Staniewski
[Typological Studies in Language 131] 2021
► pp. 251–276

An overview of olfactory expressions in Formosan languages

This chapter presents an overview of smell lexicon and olfactory expressions in Formosan languages (i.e., the Austronesian languages spoken in Taiwan) and their typological significance. The linguistic structure of olfaction in these languages is divided into abstract smell terms and source-oriented construction. Abstract smell terms include both generic and specific smell terms. Source-oriented construction in these languages is represented by the morphological schema [PREFIX-/PROCLITIC=(REDUPLICATION) X]. The factors [± human], [± polite], and [± visible] play a role in the choice of smell terms and olfactory constructions, which pragmatically pertain to euphemistic usage and verbal abuse. Olfactory expressions are categorized cognitively in relation to pragmatic functions and metaphorical mappings.

Keywords: olfaction, olfactory expressions, Formosan languages
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background
    • 2.1Language distribution and the speakers
    • 2.2An outline of grammatical characteristics
    • 2.3Data collection
  • 3.Abstract smell terms
    • 3.1Generic smell terms in Formosan languages
    • 3.2Specific smell terms in Formosan languages
  • 4.Source-oriented construction
  • 5.Analytical strategies
  • 6.Concluding remarks
  • Acknowledgments
  • Abbreviations
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 26 April 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.131.09lee
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