The Semantic Network of the Latin Preposition per: a Diachronic Investigation

The article proposes a corpus-based analysis of the semantics of the Latin preposition per ‘through’ from the 3rd century BCE to the 4th century CE. Based on the insights of Cognitive Grammar, it will be argued that the diachronic shifts occurred within the semantic network of the preposition can be explained in the light of its basic spatial content. Starting from the original spatial meaning, the whole semantic network of per develops in diachrony along a continuum from spatial to abstract values via metonymical shifts. We will discuss these paths of development, focusing attention on the causal roles and on the feature of Animacy.

Proponiamo qui i risultati di uno studio corpus-based sugli slittamenti diacronici osservabili nel network semantico della preposizione perin la-tino. Sulla base della Cognitive Grammar, descriviamo la semantica di persituandola lungo un continuum che procede dal concreto all’astratto, a partire da un contenuto schematico originario; discutiamo, quindi, i per-corsi attraverso i quali i nuovi significati astratti emergono attraverso slit-tamenti metonimici, focalizzando la nostra attenzione sui ruoli causali e sulla caratteristica di animatezza