Patterns of correspondence between elements of language (forms) and elements of meaning (e.g., agent, patient, number, gender, definiteness, time, location or trajectory). Such patterns are typically many-to-one or one-to-many: a given form, such as the English ‘my’ can express more than one meaning (here, possession by 1st person, definiteness), and a given meaning, such as number (one, more than one, can be marked by more than one form, e.g., “A duck is eating my sandwich”). Form-meaning correspondences differ systematically across languages. Compare, for example, the characteristic ‘packaging’ of the notions of trajectory and manner of motion in English and Spanish: ‘run out\/dance down\/swim across’ versus ‘salir corriendo (exit running)\/bajar bailando (descend dancing)\/cruzar nadando’ (cross swimming). <\/p>\n
See Form<\/a>, Iconic mapping<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/body><\/html><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Patterns of correspondence between elements of language (forms) and elements of meaning (e.g., agent, patient, number, gender, definiteness, time, location or trajectory). Such patterns are typically many-to-one or one-to-many: a given form, such as the English ‘my’ can express more than one meaning (here, possession by 1st person, definiteness), and a given meaning, such as number … <\/p>\n