Over in take over: metaphorical extensions from a functional-cognitive approach

Abstract

Under the light of Functional-Cognitive Linguistics, taking into account the fact that languageuse is motivated by contextual factors and human experience, we aimed at investigating theinfluence of both lexical verb (take) and particle (over) in the meaning formation of the multiwordverb take over. In order to accomplish such task, a sample of 1,412 occurrences of themulti-word verb was randomly selected by means of the R software for statistics purposes outof 14,128 concordance lines first obtained from the Corpus of Contemporary AmericanEnglish COCA. The verb take over was chosen due to the fact that it was the most recurrentmulti-word verb with the particle over (which, in fact, was the initial focus of this research) inCOCA. The studies of Lakoff (1987) and Tyler & Evans (2001, 2003) were the central pillarsthat inspired the present study. Whereas the account for over explaining its spatial senses andmetaphorical extensions by means of image schemas and the theory of conceptual metaphor(LAKOFF & JOHNSON, 2003; LAKOFF, 2006) provided by Lakoff was the starting point ofour analysis, Tyler & Evanss approach to the particle was equally important. The scholarsPolysemy Network for Over alongside their Principled Polysemy methodology to distinguishdifferent senses of over were of great relevance to the development of our analysis. Despitethe fact that, indeed, the approaches of Lakoff (1987) and Tyler & Evans (2001, 2003) aredivergent, especially with regard to the critique of the latter of the exaggeration in number ofsenses attributed to over by Lakoffs (1987) full-specification approach and of metaphoricalapproaches to over, both theories were of equal merit to this research. Thus, the AboveSchema (LAKOFF, 1987) was used to illustrate the conceptualization of spatial senses of overin take over and the conceptual metaphors underlying the process of metaphorical extensionsformation (in this case, the control sense of over) were taken into account. In the same vein,the polysemy network for over (TYLER & EVANS, 2001, 2003), encompassing fifteensenses and showing how the control sense of the particle stems from a prototypical spatialscene, or proto-scene, by means of implicature and reanalysis (conceptualizing power /control in terms of vertical elevation), was also considered. In such attempt to explain the waynon-spatial metaphorical senses extend from spatial meanings, the concepts of primary andcomplex metaphors (GRADY, 1997) as well as of trajector (TR) and landmark (LM) werealso relevant. The research questions that guided this study were as follows: 1) Given thatmetaphorical extensions of particles stem from spatial senses, how does this process occur inthe case of over and what is the impact of this in the senses of take over?; 2) How doesthe relationship between the TR and the LM contribute to the polysemy network of takeover?; 3) What is the role played by the primary senses of both verb and particle in the noncompositemeanings of the multi-word verb at stake?; 4) What may contribute to the retentionof spatial aspect in metaphorical uses of take over? The results suggested that not only theparticle (over), but also the lexical verb (take) play an important role in the meanings of takeover observed in the sample.