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Научни трудове на Съюза на учените в България-Пловдив Серия A. Обществени науки, изкуство и култура том IV, ISSN 1311-9400 (Print); ISSN 2534-9368 (On-line), 2017, Scientific works of the Union of Scientists in Bulgaria-Plovdiv, seriesA. Public sciences, art and culture, Vol. IV, ISSN 1311-9400 (Print); ISSN 2534-9368 (On-line), 2017.
PREFIXATION AND SPACE - A COGNITIVE ANALYSIS OF THE BULGARIAN PREFIX OT- AND SOME OF ITS ENGLISH
COUNTERPARTS Magdalena Gogalcheva University ofPlovdiv Paisii Hilendarski
Abstract: Prefixes are inherently spatial because etymologically they originate from prepositions. Yet desemantization and grammaticalization influence word formation and the meaning of the prefixes attached. The issue is to what extent the spatial meaning is preserved and whether the equivalent English prefix or prefixes also possess spatial characteristics. By analysing the prototypical meaning of the Bulgarian preposition ot in the sense of 'move away from' and the prototypical meaning of the highly productive prefix ot-, this paper tries to provide a cognitive counterpart of the prefix in English. The analysis of the prefix ot- falls mainly on the verb otdelyam in its literal spatial meaning and some of its metaphorical senses and the possible literal and metaphorical senses in English. Key Words: Cognitive analysis, image schema, Bulgarian verbal prefix
1. Introduction.
There is a vast number of Bulgarian prefixes that display spatial senses because their origin can be traced back to prepositions. This phenomenon is common to other South Slavic languages as well. Despite desemantization, the spatial meaning is still, to an extent, preserved in the prefixed verbs. Whereas in English, at least at first glance, this process is not that productive. Further research is required to establish whether any English prefixes originate from Old English or Middle English prepositions but this could be the subject of future publications. For the purposes of the current article, the focus falls solely on the current meanings of the Bulgarian preposition ot and the same is applied to the prefixes analysed.
In line with the theoretical premises of cognitive linguistics, this article uses image schemas and prototypical senses (see Langacker, 1987, Lakoff, 1987, Tyler and Evans, 2003). Through family resemblance, category members share attributes that might be different but common to each member which allows fuzzy boundaries between adjacent categories and a number of more or less prototypical members. The prototype of a category is a member or a group of members that best represents the whole category or in other words as defined by Rosch in the 1970's a prototype the most central member of a category. In relation to image schemas, Lakoff (1987) discusses the idealized cognitive models - this is a structure which represents reality from a specific point of view. Also, image schemas are based on pre-existing patterns of experience, abstract knowledge and concrete images (Johnson, 1987). Image schemas are characterized by two basic entities - the trajector (TR) and the landmark (LM). As defined by Langacker (1987) a trajector is a point of reference for locating the landmark, which is another salient member in a relational predication.
3. Objectives.
The main objective of this article is to provide an image schema for the Bulgarian
preposition ot1 but only in the spatial sense of 'move away from' and the prefix ot-. Because of the connection between the preposition and the prefix there should be a connection between their schemas. In the analysis of the prefix this article only focuses on the verb 'otdeltam '2, which in most cases translates as 'separate', because the verb serves as a salient example of the combination prefix ot- + verb where the spatial sense is profiled. Also, "[t]he majority of motion verbs in [...] Bulgarian can be prefixed with ot- to express the meaning 'away from a source' [...]. These verbs imply concrete, usually self-caused, motion by humans and other entities, which may be intentional or unintentional" (Saric and Tchizmarova, 2013). Since most of the motion verbs express this meaning, the verb 'otdeltam ' serves as a relevant starting point for the analysis of the prefix. A more detailed research on the prefix ot- is presented in Saric and Tchizmarova (2013) but it does not suggest English equivalents to said prefix. Based on the analysis and proposed schemas, the current article suggests some possible English prefixes as cognitive equivalents to the Bulgarian prefix ot-.
4. Analysis of the preposition ot.
Cognitive linguistics argues that the meaning of a conceptual item is derived from its conceptual structure (Tyler and Evans, 2003). Prepositions like any linguistic units usually exhibit a multitude of meanings ranging from literal to metaphorical. As mentioned above, the focus here mainly falls on the literal meaning of the preposition. According to BullNet, ot is a 'preposition meaning movement away from the inside of something, movement from inside to outside'. For example, 'Tya izbyaga ot kushtata' - 'She ran from the house'.
Another definition, still in the spatial meaning but rather metaphorical, is 'a preposition which introduces an exit state, a position or situation from which there is a movement to another one'. For example, 'Tezi strani taka i ne izvurshiha prehoda ot sotsializum kum kapitalizum' -'These countries have never made the transition from socialism to capitalism'.
Although one sentence is in the literal sense and the other in the metaphorical, they both exhibit the same idea of movement away from an object. In the first sentence this is the 'house' and in the second, the ideological regime. The 'house' is considered a container and 'socialism' is also considered a container. The image schema is presented in Figure 1.
LM
Fig. 1: The prototypical meaning of the preposition ot MOVEMENT+DISTANCE In the above image schema, the LM is the container (the house) and TR is the item moving away from the LM. Since the starting point of the path is not profiled, as it is with the English preposition in, a dotted line is used for the schematic representation. Also not profiled is the end point of the movement. The more prominent feature is the TR and its direction moving away from a LM. The same schema can be applied to both sentences.
The same idea of MOVEMENT+DISTANCE can be observed in the following example, 'Toy svali shapkata si ot glavata' - 'He removed the hat from his head'. In this example the LM
1 The preposition has many other senses which might be considered non-spatial but there is a possibility that even they exhibit at least some spatiality. This issue can be further discussed in future publications. The same can be argued in relation to the prefix.
2 There is a noticeable difference between the verb with and without the prefix. With the prefix 'otdelyam' gives more information about the way the parts are removed from the whole. Whereas without the prefix the verb 'delya' only provides information about the action of separating or cutting into two.
has been, in a way, broken into two parts. The possible schema has two stages and can be considered a more detailed schematization of the first one.
In this context the person's head and hat have been part of one LM and because the person took their hat off the LM was separated into two parts. The hat is the TR3 that is being moved away from the LM. Thus motion away from the LM is the central meaning and the motion of separation - an extension.
5. Analysis of the prefix ot-.
Separation can occur based on some sort of a principle. For example, in the sentence 'Otdelyam hubavite ot gnilite plodove' - 'I separate the good from the rotten fruit' as a first stage all the fruit is one and the same LM, and the second stage is MOVEMENT+DISTANCE. But the whole event presents SEPARATION. Because the spatial meaning is preserved, the image schema in Figure 2 can be used for the prefix as well.
Often the verb 'otdelyam' is used with a reciprocal pronoun as in the sentence 'Otdelyam se ot obshtestvoto' - 'I separate myself from society' or 'I sever ties with society'. The pronoun does not really change the meaning of the verb and the same image schema can be applied. In stage one the person and the society are one whole entity and in the second stage they are separated with the person distancing themselves from the LM.
As observed in the previous examples, a common translation of the verb 'otdelyam' is 'separate' or 'sever'. But in order to compare prefixes, verbs with prefixes in English are needed. Thus verbs with no prefix are not analysed. According to EuroDict, the verbs with prefixes are 'detach, disjoin, disunite, dissociate, disconnect'. Only judging by the linguistic items, possible equivalent prefixes are de- and dis- with the latter appearing more often.
7. Analysis of the prefixes de- and dis-.
According to BulNet, the definition of 'detach' is as follows 'cause to become detached or separated; take off'; for example, 'Detach the skin from the chicken before you eat it'. In the example given, the skin and the chicken are part of the same LM and in the second stage the skin is separated from the LM, which schematically can be represented with figure 3 - stage 1 and 2. Thus, the English prefix de- serves an equivalent to the Bulgarian prefix ot-.
'Disjoin' is defined as 'become separated, disconnected or disjoint' or according to Merriam-Webster 'to become detached', with the following example '... disjoined the two drinking glasses, which were stuck together, only with the greatest difficulty...'. The two glasses are
3 In a way, the LM that is separated becomes the TR in the second stage of the action.
Stage 1
in i
Stage 2
Fig. 2 An extension of the prototypical meaning of the preposition ot
originally part of one LM and in the second stage they become separated. Again the same figure 3 with stage 1 and 2 can be applied to the negative prefix dis-. In the sentence 'The issue disunited the party members' the verb 'disunite' has the metaphorical meaning 'sever the union of'. The issue made the party members break form their group, they separated from ideas they do not agree with. So it is a kind of metaphorical separation but still the same image schema can be applied.
Depending on the context, the verb 'disconnect' might mean 'unplug', 'sever relationships or bonds with society' and 'sever or terminate a connection'. No matter whether it is used in the literal or metaphoric sense, the idea of SEPARATION can still be observed. Therefore, the same image schema is applied, making the prefix dis- the other possible equivalent to the Bulgarian ot-.
7. Result.
After analysing the preposition ot and the prefix ot-, two English prefixes were established as cognitive equivalents to the Bulgarian prefix - de- and dis-. The central schema (MOVEMENT+DISTANCE) for the preposition did not give enough information for the analysis of the prefix but the extended one (SEPARATION) did.
8. Conclusion.
Although the two negative prefixes (de- and dis-) are not considered typically spatial, they definitely possess spatial qualities especially when analysed in connection with the Bulgarian prefix ot-. Future publication will deal with the issue whether negative prefixes in English possess not only negation but also the idea of separation. Establishing cognitive equivalents to prefixes in Bulgarian and English can also be the subject of future works.
References
Johnson, Mark. The Body in the Mind: The Bodily Basis of Meaning, Imagination, and Reason. The University of Chicago Press, 1987.
Lakoff, George. Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal about the Mind. The University of Chicago Press, 1987.
Langacker, Ronald W. Foundations of Cognitive Grammar, Volume 1, Theoretical Prerequisites. Stanford University Press, 1987.
Saric, L and I. Tchizmarova. "Space and metaphor in verbs prefixed with od-/ot- 'from' in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian and Bulgarian." Oslo Studies in Language (OSLa), ISSN 18909639. 5(1), 2013.
Tyler, Andrea & Vivian Evans. The Semantics of English Prepositions: Spatial Scenes, Embodied Meaning and Cognition. Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Rosch, E and C. B. Mervis. "Family resemblances: Studies in the internal structure of categories." Cognitive Psychology, vol. 7, 1975.
Dictionaries
BulNet - Lexical-semantic network of the Bulgarian language, http: //dcl.bas.bg/bulnet/
http://www.eurodict.com/
https://www.merriam-webster.com/
