Epäilemisen merkitys : Epäillä-sanueen polaarinen kaksihahmotteisuus kiellon ja kielteisyyden semantiikan peilinä

This study examines the auto-antonymy of the Finnish verb epäillä and its nominal derivatives epäily and epäilys. This is referred to as polar ambiguity in the study, meaning that the assessment expressed with the examined lexemes may incline either to negation (e.g. epäile-n projekti-n onnistumis-ta, epäillä-1SG project-GEN success-PAR ‘I doubt the success of the project’) or to affirmation (e.g. epäile-n vilppi-ä, epäillä-1SG deceit-PAR, ‘I suspect that deceit has taken place’). Furthermore, the interpretation of the lexemes under study often involves evaluative negativity (e.g. the unfavorableness of the complement proposition). This meaning aspect is examined and shown to be linked to the polar variation, that is, whether an epäillä expression is affirmation-inclining or negation-inclining. Moreover, evaluative negativity receives a prominent role in tokens lacking a clear polar inclination. This phenomenon becomes evident especially in the analysis of the nouns. The study draws on a usage-based theoretical framework and utilizes the ideas of meaning construal developed in Cognitive Linguistics. Following the methodological interpretation of the usage-based model, the analysis is based on corpus data. The examination of the verb epäillä relies on a data set compiled from several corpora and divided into three periods: Old Finnish data (263 tokens, approx. 16th to 18th c.), Early Modern Finnish data (1231, approx. 19th c.), and Modern Finnish data (500, approx. 20th c. to present). The analysis of the nouns draws from the HS.fi News Comment Corpus illustrating Modern Finnish use (epäily: 603, epäilys: 173). The methodological core of the study lies in a qualitative contextual meaning analysis. In addition, quantitative collocational analysis is applied in the examination of the nouns. In the study, the synchronic variation in the usage of the verb epäillä as well as the diachronic changes in its polar meaning are examined. The main analytic units are complement constructions, i.e. combinations of the verb and its complement (e.g. an että ‘that’ clause or a NP object). The diachronic analysis shows that especially in the constructions with an että clause and the corresponding non-finite complement, the typical interpretation has changed from negation-inclining to affirmation-inclining during the history of written Finnish. In addition to the change and variation analysis, the usage patterns of epäillä are set in proportion to the syntagmatic behavior of inherently negative verbs in general. This analysis shows how a double negative (epäillä että ei ‘doubt that not’) can develop as a functionally motivated construction. Finally, the division of labor of the two nominal derivatives is under examination: although in a suitable context they are both capable of affirmation- and negation-inclining meanings, the data show specialized tendencies for both epäily and epäilys. The analysis of the polar ambiguity is based on two schemata indicating the role of the complement: target and content schema. In the target schema, the complement is in the scope of negation deriving from the inherently negative epäillä lexeme (verb or noun), whereas in the content schema no scope relation exists, as the complement verbalizes the thought or words of the one who doubts/suspects. The construction receives then an affirmation-inclining interpretation, in case the content complement itself contains no indication of negation. In this study, the two schemata serve mainly as a tool for analyzing the polar ambiguity of epäillä lexemes. They are, however, shown to be applicable also more broadly to the analysis of varying syntagmatic behaviors of different predicates. Finally, as the epäillä lexemes may receive the interpretation of both negation and evaluative negativity, the semantics of these words sheds light on the mutual relation of the named meaning concepts: the meaning variation both illustrates the intertwined nature of negation and e-negativity in language use and shows the importance of their conceptual differentiation. Keywords: cognitive semantics, auto-antonymy, polarity, negation, evaluative negativity, semantics of complementation

Grantor dc:publisher

Helsingin yliopisto

Year dc:date.issued

2020

Author dc:creator

• Salminen, Jutta

• suomen kieli

Statement dc:rights

• Julkaisu on tekijänoikeussäännösten alainen. Teosta voi lukea ja tulostaa henkilökohtaista käyttöä varten. Käyttö kaupallisiin tarkoituksiin on kielletty.
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Language dc:language.iso

fin

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10138/312218

OAI record oai:identifier

https://helda.helsinki.fi/server/oai/request?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=dim&identifier=oai%3Ahelda.helsinki.fi%3A10138%2F312218