Polysemy of the Verbs “xesen” “to drop” and “kæften” “to fall” in Ilami Kurdish: a Cognitive Semantics Approach

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the polysemy of the Ilami Kurdish verbs “xesen” “to drop” and “kæften” “to fall” in light of cognitive semantics theory. Categorization, image, schema, and metaphor are used to analyze the polysemy of the verbs “xesen” and “kæften”. The data is collected from native speakers of Ilami Kurish through observation and interview. The findings show that the different meanings of the verb “xesen” and “kæften” have special semantic frames including “to fall”, “to decrease”, “to humiliate”, “to replace”, “to put” and “to throw”. The findings also depict the verb “kæften” is not used as the intransitive form of all meanings of the verb “xesen”. Based on Speakers’ attitude and by using their objective experiences, abstract concepts are conceptualized in containment schemas, path schemas, and force schemas. Path schemas have the highest frequency of occurrence according to the nature of the verbs “xesen” and “kæften”. Totally the findings confirm the systematization of the polysemy of the verb “xesen” and “kæften” in Ilami Kurdish in light of cognitive theory.

Keywords

• polysemy
• cognitive semantics
• cognitive theories
• ilami kurdish