<p>This thesis examines usage of English colour terms in context, based on an extensive computerised text corpus, the Bank of English. It describes the ways in which English colour terms may be used to refer to nuances outside their normal area of designation and to attributes outside the colour domain. Usage patterns are analysed on three different levels: with regard to the overall frequency of occurrences, nominal domains and individual tokens, respectively. </p><p>Cognitive linguistics supplies the theoretical framework employed in the analyses of the observed patterns. The study identifies three types of usage where colour terms refer to peripheral colour nuances or to concepts outside the colour domain: classifying, figurative and marked usage. </p><p>When a colour term has a classifying function, it can be used outside the normal area of designation. This usage is analysed as a type of reference-point construction where a term referring to a salient point in the colour domain is used to subcategorise an entity whose actual colour may be only a peripheral member of the category named by the colour term. An analysis of the OED and the Bank of English shows that this type of usage is primarily restricted to a few of the most salient basic terms. </p><p>This study points to the close affinities between classifying and figurative usage. Figurative expressions of colour terms frequently have a classifying function. I argue that figurative meanings are derived through two types of metonymy: +SALIENT ATTRIBUTE FOR OBJECT+ and +SALIENT CONCRETE ATTRIBUTE FOR SALIENT ABSTRACT ATTRIBUTE+. </p><p>Marked usage arises when specific colour terms are used in nominal domains where the specificity is not expected. This phenomenon is consequently confined to non-basic colour terms. </p><p>On the basis of the established patterns of usage and the frequency of occurrences, this thesis suggests that the colour category may be analysed as a radial category, with the basic colour terms forming the centre. </p>

This thesis examines usage of English colour terms in context, based on an extensive computerised text corpus, the Bank of English. It describes the ways in which English colour terms may be used to refer to nuances outside their normal area of designation and to attributes outside the colour domain. Usage patterns are analysed on three different levels: with regard to the overall frequency of occurrences, nominal domains and individual tokens, respectively. Cognitive linguistics supplies the theoretical framework employed in the analyses of the observed patterns. The study identifies three types of usage where colour terms refer to peripheral colour nuances or to concepts outside the colour domain: classifying, figurative and marked usage. When a colour term has a classifying function, it can be used outside the normal area of designation. This usage is analysed as a type of reference-point construction where a term referring to a salient point in the colour domain is used to subcategorise an entity whose actual colour may be only a peripheral member of the category named by the colour term. An analysis of the OED and the Bank of English shows that this type of usage is primarily restricted to a few of the most salient basic terms. This study points to the close affinities between classifying and figurative usage. Figurative expressions of colour terms frequently have a classifying function. I argue that figurative meanings are derived through two types of metonymy: +SALIENT ATTRIBUTE FOR OBJECT+ and +SALIENT CONCRETE ATTRIBUTE FOR SALIENT ABSTRACT ATTRIBUTE+. Marked usage arises when specific colour terms are used in nominal domains where the specificity is not expected. This phenomenon is consequently confined to non-basic colour terms. On the basis of the established patterns of usage and the frequency of occurrences, this thesis suggests that the colour category may be analysed as a radial category, with the basic colour terms forming the centre.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-07-29T16:29:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Kenia Mara de F Siqueira.pdf: 8244663 bytes, checksum: d2dac0850022f2b52cc53ac3fa1d99ac (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-05-31 / The need to describe and document the languages threatened with extinction has been gaining importance in the last decades, given the growing risks of cultural loss and the knowledge accumulated by indigenous people. The purpose of continuity of each one of these languages is ensured by actions based on the results of studies which focus on the description of the sociolinguistic problem, as well as on the description and analysis of the linguistic aspects which characterize the language of a determined linguistic family, since the death of a language means, among many other things, an undetermined loss of the science of Linguistics and, above all, the disrespect for the rights of these people to preserve their immaterial richness. The present research has as objective to answer some questions regarding the use of classifiers, terms of classes and names in classifying function as components of the classifying system of the language Akwe&#63720;-Xerente (Jê), spoken by the indigenous people of the same name. The Akwe&#63720;-Xerente add up to about 3,100 people and inhabit indigenous lands in the region of Tocantinia, in the Tocantins State. The description of the system of the Xerente classification is based on theoretical functional references for the recognition and differentiation of some nominal radicals which may occur in the function of classifying or organizing the classes which show common characteristics amongst the designated items such as form, size, aspect, consistence and function. This research is structured in the following way: In Chapter 1 are presented some proposals of elaboration of typology of sociolinguistics, to outline the contact situation in which the Xerente language is found nowadays; the chapter also gives a description of the methodology used to collect, select, and the process of systematization of the data. These procedures are constituted of a sequence of steps based on the methods of research for the Linguistic of field of synchronic base. In Chapter 2 an exposition is made of the theoretical views used in the description and analysis of the aspect of the nominal classifying system of the language. Chapter 3 shows the morphological criteria used in the definition and delimitation of the concepts of the words in the Xerente language, of the name, the compound name (compound word), and some characteristics of the name referring to the possibility of marking the possession/possessor in a certain group of Xerente names. In Chapter 4, the focus is in the description of aspects of nominal classifying in relation to the nominal stems which act as terms of classes and names in classifying function. This research is part of the LIBA Project Brazilian Indigenous Threatened Languages: Documentation (description and analysis and sociolinguistic typology) and means for offering subsidies in the linguistic range for the education program, as well as contributing in the scientific recognizance of related aspects to the classifying systems and linguistic category. / A necessidade de se descrever e documentar línguas ameaçadas de extinção vem, nas últimas décadas, ganhando contornos mais significativos face ao iminente risco de perda da cultura e do conhecimento acumulado pelos povos indígenas, no sentido de que a continuidade de cada uma dessas línguas seja assegurada por ações pautadas nos resultados de estudos que visem tanto à descrição da situação sociolinguística, quanto à descrição e à análise dos aspectos linguísticos que a caracterizem como língua de uma determinada família linguística, já que a morte de uma língua significa, entre tantos outros aspectos, uma perda inestimável para a ciência Linguística e, sobretudo, uma violência contra o direito desses povos de preservarem seus bens imateriais. O presente estudo tem como objetivo descrever algumas questões acerca do uso de classificadores, termos de classe e nomes em função classificadora como componentes do sistema de classificação nominal da língua Akwe-Xerente (Jê), falada pelo povo indígena de mesmo nome. Os Akwe&#63720;-Xerente somam, aproximadamente, 3100 pessoas e vivem em terras indígenas na região de Tocantínia, no Estado do Tocantins. A descrição do sistema de classificação xerente fundamenta-se em referenciais teóricos funcionais para o reconhecimento e diferenciação de certas raízes nominais que podem ocorrer com funções de classificação ou na organização de classes, que indiquem características em comum entre os itens designados, tais como forma, tamanho, aspecto, consistência e função. Este estudo estrutura-se da seguinte maneira: no Capítulo 1, são apresentadas propostas de elaboração de tipologias sociolinguísticas para o delineamento da situação de contato em que se encontra a língua xerente; o capítulo traz também a descrição da metodologia usada para coleta, seleção e procedimentos de sistematização dos dados. Esses procedimentos constituem-se numa sequência de passos ancorados nos métodos de pesquisa da Linguística de Campo de base sincrônica. No Capítulo 2, é feita uma exposição do quadro teórico usado para descrição e análise de aspectos do sistema de classificação nominal da língua. O Capítulo 3 demonstra os critérios morfológicos utilizados para a definição e delimitação dos conceitos de palavra na língua xerente, de nome, de nome composto (palavra composta) e algumas características dos nomes no que concerne às possibilidades de marcação de posse/possuidor em certo grupo de nomes xerente. No Capítulo 4, o foco é a descrição de aspectos da classificação nominal em relação às raízes nominais que atuam como termos de classe e nomes em função classificadora. Este estudo faz parte do Projeto LIBA Línguas Indígenas Brasileiras Ameaçadas: documentação (descrição e análise e tipologias sociolinguísticas) e visa oferecer subsídios, em âmbito linguístico, para a elaboração de programas de educacão escolar xerente, bem como contribuir para o conhecimento científico de aspectos relacionados aos sistemas de classificação e categorizações linguísticas.