Maria del Mar Martínez Céspedes

LEXICOLOGÍA Y SEMÁNTICA INGLESAS (15/10/20)

UNIT 4: FROM IDIOMS TO CONSTRUCTION GRAMMAR, ISSUES FOR FURTHER

THOUGHT AND EXERCISES

A. Read the sentences

1. The porter counted our bags.

2. I count to ten before screaming.

3. Fifty dogs, counting the puppies.

4. He still counts as a child.

5. I do not count him as a friend.

6. Your feelings count little with him.

7. Do not count on me.

B. Translate into Spanish the English sentences in A:

1. El botones contó nuestras maletas.

2. Yo cuento hasta diez antes de gritar.

3. Cincuenta perros, contando los cachorros.

4. El todavía cuenta como niño.

5. No lo cuento como amigo.

6. Tus sentimientos cuentan poco con él.

7. No cuentes conmigo.

C. Analyse the lexeme “count” in each sentence looking for the following information:

a) Semantic information (meaning and its literal, extended or figurative

motivation)

- The porter counted our bags: ‘count things’, prototypical meaning

- I count to ten before screaming: ‘count to x number’, specific meaning or ‘calm
down’, extended meaning (metaphor)
- Fifty dogs, counting the puppies: ‘including x’, extended meaning (metonymy)
- He still counts as a child: ‘classify or have x quality’, extended meaning (metonymy)
- I do not count him as a friend: ‘have x quality’, extended meaning
- Your feelings count little with him: ‘metaphoric counting, in the sense to be worth’,
figurative meaning

- Do not count on me: ‘metaphor consider, it would be count on me’, figurative

meaning

b) Syntactic information (the structure of the sentence that allows it. Eg. S+V+O)

1. The porter counted our bags: NP + VP + NP

2. I count to ten before screaming: NP + VP + (TO) PP

3. Fifty dogs, counting the puppies: VP (ING) + NP

4. He still counts as a child: NP + VP + (AS) PP

5. I do not count him as a friend: NP + VP + NP + (AS) PP

6. Your feelings count little with him: NP + VP (INTRANSITIVE) + ADVP +

(WITH) PP

7. Do not count on me: VP + (ON) PP

c) Idiomatic information (following Table 9.1 of Unit 4)

1. The porter counted our bags: Regular syntactic expression

2. I count to ten before screaming: Regular syntactic expression (if specific meaning)
or Familiar piece familiarly arranged ( if extended meaning)

3. Fifty dogs, counting the puppies: Familiar piece unfamiliarly arranged

4. He still counts as a child: Familiar piece familiarly arranged

5. I do not count him as a friend: Familiar piece familiarly arranged

6. Your feelings count little with him: Unfamiliar piece unfamiliarly arranged

7. Do not count on me: Familiar piece familiarly arranged

 D. Use the sentences to draw the radial network (concentric orbit) containing (a), (b) and (c)
information for each of its elements.

2) a R 2) b R
Specific meaning Extended meaning
(Maths) (metaphor)
‘count to x number’ ‘calm down’
NP + VP + (TO) PP NP + VP + (TO) PP
Agent + Event + Goal Agent + Event + Goal

7) a FF 3) FU
Figurative meaning Extended meaning
Metaphor ´consider’ (metonymy)
‘count on me’ ‘including x’
NP + VP + (ON) PP VP (ING) + NP
Agent + Event + Undergoer (sb) Event + Undergoer

1) R
Prototypical Meaning
‘count things’
7) b FF NP + VP + NP 4) FF
Figurative Meaning Agent + Event + Undergoer Extended meaning
Metaphor ‘consider’ (metonymy)
‘count on an inheritance’ ‘classify or have x quality’
NP + VP + (ON) PP NP + VP + (AS) PP
Agent + Event + Goal (sth) Agent + Event + Goal

6) UU 5) FF
Figurative meaning Extended Meaning
metaphor ‘ be worth’ (metonymy)
NP + VP (INTRANSITIVE) + ADVP + (WITH) ‘have x quality’
PP NP + VP + NP + (AS) PP
Agent + Event + Goal + Undergoer Agent + Event + Undergoer + Goal