Is a 'friend an 'enemy'? Between 'proximity' and 'opposition'

Sergueï Sakhno (1) , Nicole Tersis (2)

1 CRPM - Centre de recherches pluridisciplinaires multilingues
2 SeDyL - Structure et Dynamique des Langues

The article focuses on recurring semantic associations for the terms meaning 'friend' in different genetic stocks. The data show a distinction between several semantic networks which partially overlap, and in which 'friend' is linked to different terms designating the 'other' in a dual relation. The presentation is threefold, according to the semantic associations of 'friend' with the following semantic fields: proximity, complementarity, and opposition. The study is based on three types of semantic and formal links as attested in the data: synchronic polysemy, heterosemy (derivation, composition), historical depth (i.e. diachronic links when available). The typological approach also allows to back up some tricky cases of diachronic reconstructions, and to consider new semantic networks which were thought before as doubtful.

Mots clés: complementarity; diachrony; duality; friendship; opposition; proximity; sharing; similarity

Domaines: Linguistique

Sergueï Sakhno, Nicole Tersis. Is a 'friend an 'enemy'? Between 'proximity' and 'opposition'. M.Vanhove. From Polysemy to Semantic Change, J.Benjamins, pp.317-339, 2008, Studies in Language Companion Series, ⟨10.1075/slcs.106.16sak⟩. ⟨halshs-00724577⟩