Semasiology and Onomasiology: Empirical questions between meaning, naming and context

Résumé En

The semasiological-onomasiological distinction is arguably one of the most fundamental axioms of langauge science (Geeraerts 2010). Although the theoretical basis of the distinction is not questioned, this study shows that, analytically, it cannot not be strictly maintained within the framework of Cognitive Linguistics. The aim is to show that instead of discrete items in context, lexemes actually consist in onomasiological bundles of fine-grained morpho-syntactically varied constructions. The analysis examines the semasiological variation of the English preposition over. Applying multifactorial usage-feature analysis (Geeraerts et al. 1994) to 471 contextualised occurrences of the lexeme, the study demonstrates that fine-grained morpho-syntactic variation correlates with semasiological structure. The results reveal that specific lexical senses are significantly associated with specific morpho-syntactic patterns. Moreover, it is shown that semasiological structure more generally can be mapped using these fine-grained formal variations. The results are interpreted as evidence for the need to treat linguistic forms, not as discrete contextualized units, but as composite onomasiological bundles. This non-reified understanding of form parallels Greeraerts’ (1993) claim that we need to treat meaning as a non-reified phenomenon, but blurs the analytical line between onomasiology and semasiology sensu stricto.