Metaphor and semantic change to the arrangement [V por terra]

Abstract

This article proposes an investigation of meaning changes to the arrangement [V por terra] in its constructionalization process, focusing on metaphorical meanings identified in uses that indicate semantic expansion. The theoretical basis that guided this research was the principles of Construction Grammar, a theory that understands the speaker's linguistic knowledge as a network of constructions, that is, FORM-MEANING pairs encompassing all linguistic levels. Additionally, the Conceptual Metaphor Theory guides us regarding the conventionalization of the metaphorical meanings of the arrangement [V por terra]. The corpus analyzed here is part of the genre/history of Corpus do Português (a large full-filled corpora of Portuguese) and comprises a set of 779 occurrences, distributed between the 14th to the 20th centuries. The study indicates that the arrangement [V por terra] went through a constructionalization process, provoking a new pairing between form and function. Therefore, the objectives are to analyze how diachronic transformations that affected meaning to the arrangement [V por terra] occurred and describe the contribution of metaphors in the process of change. The results indicate that the action of three primary metaphors in the process of semantic change was decisive. That means that TEMPO É ESPAÇO and RUIM É PARA BAIXO are two basic metaphors for conceptual mapping, and POR TERRA É RUÍNA /TÉRMINO is a metaphor that comes later, representing the most abstract functions of the arrangement.