A Conlanger’s Thesaurus
Author: William S. Annis
MS Date: 01-18-2020
FL Date: 09-01-2014
FL Number: FL-000024-01
Citation: Annis, William S. 2020. “A Conlanger’s
Thesaurus.” FL-000024-01, Fiat Lingua,
Copyright: © 2014 William S. Annis. This work is licensed
under a Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
Fiat Lingua is produced and maintained by the Language Creation Society (LCS). For more information
about the LCS, visit http://www.conlang.org/
A Conlanger’s Thesaurus
William S. Annis*
January 18, 2020 (Version 2.1)
Introduction
When I begin to create a new language, I rarely
have any trouble coming up with the first hundred
or so words. After that point, however, I start to
leave large gaps. This list started out as a tool to help
me deal with vocabulary creation beyond that first
hundred.
I just took the Minimum Buck list from
CALS, cleaned it up a little and sometimes expanded
it.1
However, a bare list of English words is not as
useful as it could be. I wanted a tool to help me avoid
careless relexicalization when creating vocabulary.
This document is the (ongoing) result of me hunting
down everything I can find on lexical typology, al-
though some other preoccupations of mine are also
evident. The motivating principles for this docu-
ment are,
• Don’t just be a collection of exotica, but note
cross-linguistic patterns and variation.
• Make clear how words might relate to other
words, semantically and derivationally.
• Consider historical development where rea-
sonable.
• View grammar and lexicon as a continuum.2
• Be concise. There are other resources for
complex matters.
For an example of things I have avoided, the Navajo
verb for “to see” rather infamously involves a stem
relating to round solid objects, with sight being de-
rived from the operation of the eyeballs. This is cer-
tainly different from English, but it is also very rare.
Reading the Entries and Maps
Many vocabulary items are, unfortunately, simply
an English word, with a part of speech left in place
mostly to disambiguate homophones. Where I have
good information on likely polysemies, I have made
a note (see the entry for sun, for example).
Some entries contain single notes about other
words the entry word may have become or come
from in some languages. These historical changes
are included on the assumption that a single lexi-
cal item might encompass more than one meaning
for a while, or might remain related by derivation.
These changes are marked with an arrow, as in “a
word for vessel can → head.” Similarly, common
paths of grammaticalization3 are marked, “hand n.
Gr.; agent ‘by’.”
Recent research in lexical typology with seman-
tic maps has been producing interesting results that
not only respect cross-linguistic variation but also
provide interesting and useful generalizations, as
well as a notation that lends itself to tinkering with
*This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. To see this license, visit CC BY-SA 2.5.
1I leave “Monday” in as a reminder, but removed the rest of the days of the week, for example.
2Generative conlangers can still find this a useful and productive artistic fiction, even if Construction Grammar offends.
3Most from Heine and Kuteva’s World Lexicon of Grammaticalization.
1
by language inventors. There are two sorts of maps
in this document.
The first sort of map is of common pairwise
polysemies. In this map any two connected items
are represented by a single word in at least some
languages. Most of these maps come from Perrin
2007 and List et al. 2013,4 which can be consulted
for even more details, but those marked “personal”
have been created by me with software and data de-
scribed at the link in the map.
When consulting the polysemy maps, consider
the possibility that certain meanings might only be
present in derived or compound uses of the root.
The second maps, and the most complex, are
those in which multiple connected items are rep-
resented by a single word or construction in at
least some languages. For example, the map below
describes the possible relationships between con-
structions to mark simultaneous time by units (“on
Monday, in July, in the spring”),
hour
year
day part
season
day
month
English, for example, uses “at” for hour and some
uses of day part (“at noon”), “in” for some uses of
day part, season, year and month (“in April”), and
uses “on” for day. French on the other hand uses
“en” for year, season and month, “à” for hour and
some uses of day part, and uses no marking for day
and some uses of day part. Notice how similar con-
structions are linked.
It is an assumption of these maps that if two
nodes share a common construction, they will be
either directly connected, or connected through
some intervening nodes which will also use the
same construction. Using this time map, if your
language marks “in 1992” and “on Monday” with
the same construction, there will be nodes between
them that use the same construction, say the hour
node, or the month one. This assumption is not al-
ways valid, but it is often enough to be interesting.
Both types of map are potentially useful for a
historical conlanger. The connecting lines provide
likely avenues for semantic shift over time. A few
of the maps have arrows on the connecting lines to
mark known routes of historical shift.
Cautions
The most interesting part of this thesaurus comes
from the work of lexical typologists. Very often,
these maps and hierarchies are part of ongoing re-
search programs, and most are probably incomplete
or misleading in some part. Also, typology nec-
essarily produces statistical results, leaving some
variation unaccounted for.
In one study of poly-
semy, fully 149 of the 257 sense pairings noted, 58%,
occured in but one language.
I have no problem
imagining a scenario where the word “peanut” also
means “mid-afternoon,” which certainly does not
occur in any paper or lexicon I’ve ever encountered.
Further, just because something doesn’t hap-
pen in human languages, doesn’t actually mean it’s
impossible to learn — it might just be harder. So
twisting the semantic maps and implicational hier-
archies into knots is probably non-fatal.
This collection is not intended to be a tool to
evaluate conlangs, nor would it produce very inter-
esting languages if used mechanically. But I do hope
others will find it a useful tool to knock their think-
ing out of well-worn, but barely conscious, semantic
ruts we inherit from our mother tongues.
4I have omitted minor connections in some maps in the interest of readability. See the recently (2019) updated CLICS3 for
more complete maps.
2
The Thesaurus
utter, speak
be on vacation
whisper
take a rest
(s.o.) blow
pause for breath
cease to do
(wind) blow
breathe
cold (air)
air in
motion, wind
act of
breathing
(breath
of) life
living being,
animal
vital force
oneself
(reflexive)
the person,
the self
smell, scent
magic power,
inspiration
(human) puff
of breath
divine breath,
supernatural
power
ghost
supernatural
being, spirit
(immortal) soul
mind, thought
seat of will,
feelings; heart
frame of
mind, mood
mental
skills, intel-
ligence, wit
strong passions: courage, pride, arrogance, wrath…
Map 1: François 2010, a map of variations on “breathe.” Note that no language from the sample has a word
with all meanings in this map, nor do most cover even half of the map with a single word.
The Physical World
fire n. See Map 4.
flame n.
fog n. See Map 5.
forest n. also woods
air n. See Map 1.
area, region n. Gr.; locative “around”.
ash, ashes n.
cave n. See Map 2.
cave
hole
grave, tomb
ditch
furrow
Map 2: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dashed
lines less common.
cloud n. See Map 5.
darkness n. See Map 57.
dust n. See Map 5.
earth (soil) n. See Map 9.
earth (land) n. Gr.; locative “down,” “below,” “under.”
See Map 9.
flow
current
river
stream
water
liquid
Map 3: Personal, 2012, common pairwise poly-
semies. It might be useful to think of “river” and
“stream” as a single node in very many languages.
gulf, bay n.
ice n. See Map 59.
3
island n.
lake n.
shore n. See Map 18.
sky n. Gr.; up.
light n. visible electro-magnetic radiation; See Map 7.
smoke n. See Map 5. See Map 9.
light, kindle, ignite v.
lightning n. In some languages of the Philippines, may
distinguish day from nighttime lightening; or “heat”
lightening (unheard, from a distant storm) from local
lightning with thunder.
mainland n. See Map 9.
match n. little fire-stick
mist n. See Map 5.
plant
grass
tree
trunk
stump
woods, forest
wood
firewood
root
staff, walk-
ing stick
post, pole
fire
club
beam
Map 4: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dark
lines very common, dashed lines less common.
moon n. The words for sun and moon interchange his-
torically only in the languages of North America.
mountain n. also: hill; can → forest. See Map 6. See
Map 54.
mud n. See Map 9.
plain, field n.
rain n. See Map 8.
smoke
steam
dust
cloud
fog/mist
Map 5: Urban 2011, on historical changes.
river n. also stream, brook. See Map 3. See Map 8.
sand n.
sea n.
shade, shadow n.
snow n. See Map 59.
spring, well n.
star n.
reef
cliff, precipice
stone, rock
mountain, hill
jewel
top
ornament, adornment
Map 6: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dashed
lines less common.
stone n. also: rock See Map 6.
sun n. The words for sun and moon interchange histori-
cally only in the languages of North America. See Map 7.
world
sun
light
day
weather
season
hour
time
age
year
Map 7: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dark
lines very common, dashed lines less common.
thunder n.
valley n.
water n. See Map 8.
rain n.
water
sap
glue
river, stream,
brook
spring, well
beverage,
drink
Map 8: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dashed
lines less common.
4
wave n.
weather n. See Map 7.
on their season, direction, strength or temperature.
wood n. See Map 4.
wind n. See Map 1. Winds may get special names, based
world n. See Map 7. See Map 9.
below, down
in, inside
city, town
place
world
floor
bottom
buttocks
village
country
earth, land
ground, soil
low
under
native country
mainland
clay
mud
dust
smoke
swamp
flour
Map 9: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dark lines very common, dashed lines less common.
ancestors n.
aunt n.
boy n.
Kinship
infant, baby n.
male adj. human
man adult male n. Gr.; male.
brother n.
child n. Gr.; diminutive. Children Gr.; plural (for an-
imates).
cousin n.
daughter n.
daughter-in-law (of a man) n.
descendants n.
family n.
father n. Gr.; male.
father-in-law (of a man) n.
female adj. human
girl n.
granddaughter n.
grandfather n.
grandmother n.
grandson n.
husband n.
marry v. There may be separate words (sometimes re-
lated, sometimes not) to describe a man getting married
vs. a woman getting married. For marriage See Map 29.
mother n. Gr.; female.
mother-in-law (of a man) n.
nephew n.
niece n.
offspring (son or daughter) n.
Gr.; indefinite pronoun,
orphan n.
parents n.
person, human being n.
“we”.
relatives, kinsmen n.
sister n.
son-in-law (of a man) n.
stepdaughter n.
stepfather n.
stepmother n.
5
stepson n.
uncle n.
widow n.
woman n. Gr.; female.
Animals
The vocabulary for domesticated animals can be quite
complex, with completely different words to distinguish
(1) male from (2) female, (3) adult from (4) young; for
males, whether they are (5) castrated or (6) intact; for
females, whether they have yet (7) given birth or (8) not.
There may be further subdivisions in age (see the large
Sami vocabulary for reindeer). I have collapsed the list
below to species.
animal n. See Map 1. See Map 13. See Map 24.
ass, donkey n.
bear n.
bee n. See Map 22.
camel n. See immense Somali vocabulary.
cat, kitten n.
chicken, hen, rooster, chick n.
cow, bull, steer, cattle, calf n. An ox is a castrated bull
used for work. Cattle can → wealth.
deer, stag, fawn n.
dog, bitch, puppy n.
duck, (drake), duckling n.
elephant n.
female animal adj.
fish n. See Map 13. See Map 12.
fly n.
fox, vixen, kit n.
goat, buck, wether, doe, kid n.
goose, gander, gosling n.
herdsman n.
horse, stallion, gelding, mare, foal/colt n.
insect n.
lion n.
livestock n.
manure n.
male animal adj.
monkey n.
mouse, rat n.
mule n.
pasture n.
pig, sow, boar, piglet n.
sheep, ram, ewe, lamb n.
snake n.
stable, stall n. See Map 31.
wing n. See Map 12. See Map 15.
wolf n.
worm n.
The Body
arm n. See Map 16. See Map 12.
back n. Gr.; after (temporal), behind, then (“after-
ward”). See Map 48.
bald adj.
beard n. See Map 10.
beard
cheek
eye
chin
jaw
face
forehead
Map 10: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, heavy
lines very common, dashed lines less common.
6
beget (of father) v.
bite v.
blind adj.
blood n.
expression
shape
eye
side
surface
face
appearance
front
“nerve”
color
blade
Map 11: Personal, 2012, common pairwise poly-
semies, dashed lines less common. The association
of “face” with “front,” “side” and “appearance” is
very strong, with “surface” nearly as strong. Here
“nerve” is from expressions like “you have some
nerve coming here.” Finally, “blade” refers specifi-
cally to it as part of a knife.
buttocks n. Gr.; locative “down” and “behind.” See
Map 9. See Map 17.
cheek n. See Map 10.
chest n.
chin n. See Map 10.
conceive v. See Map 67.
corpse n. See Map 13.
body
corpse
die, dead
animal
meat
flesh
fish
Map 13: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dark
lines very common, dashed lines less common.
cough v. See Map 59.
cure, heal v. See Map 70.
body n. Gr.; middle voice, reciprocal, reflexive and in-
tensive reflexive (“I myself did it”). See Map 13.
deaf adj.
bone n. See Map 17.
defecate, excrement v. , n.
die v. See Map 13.
head hair
pubic hair
pen
arm
dream n.
ear n. Gr.; locative “near,” “around the corner”.
fur
body hair
feather
wing
elbow n.
leather
skin, hide
wool
dorsal fin
eyebrow
eyelash
eyelid
(head hair)
eyeball
fish scale
bark
shell
Map 12: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dark
lines very common, dashed lines less common.
brain n.
break wind v.
breast n.
breathe, breath v. See Map 1.
bury (the dead) v.
Map 14: (2010 Conference Slides), historical seman-
tic shifts around the eye.
eye n. See Map 14. See Map 11. See Map 10. Gr.; “be-
fore”, “front.”
face n. See Map 11. See Map 10. Gr.; “front,” “up.”
finger n. See Map 16. toe and finger often the same; a lan-
guage may have a special word for one or more of index,
ring or little finger.
flesh n.
foot n. Gr.; bottom of, under. In African languages foot-
7
print may Gr.; locative “behind.” See Map 17.
waist
hip
bone
footprint
forehead n. See Map 10.
genitals n.
buttocks
leg
ankle
span, fathom
wrist
palm of hand
thigh
calf of leg
foot
heel
wing
arm
hand
shoulder
Map 17: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, heavy
lines very common, dashed lines less common.
five
forked branch
branch
lick v. See Map 26.
Map 15: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, heavy
lines very common, dashed lines less common.
grave, tomb n. See Map 2.
beard
human head
hair n. The word can be broken down into:
human body
animal fur
with contiguous elements possibly having the same
word. Swahili has a distinct word for each. (2010 Work-
shop Slides). See Map 12. See Map 54.
hand n. Gr.; agent “by,” locative, “five”. See Map 16.
See Map 15.
have sexual intercourse v.
head n. A word for vessel can → head. Gr.; front, mid-
dle, intensive reflexive, “up”. See Map 54.
heart n.
horn n. not the musical instrument
palm
forearm
upper arm
nail
finger
hand
arm
Map 16: (2010 Conference Slides), historical seman-
tic shifts around the hand.
intoxicated adj.
jaw n. See Map 10.
joint n. See Map 33.
kill v. See Map 75.
knee n.
lame adj.
lazy adj.
leg n. See Map 17.
life n. See Map 1.
lip n. Gr.; locative. See Map 18.
live be alive v. See Map 1. See Map 51.
liver n.
medicine, drug n.
mouth n. can → an opening. Gr.; front. See Map 18.
nostril
nose
beak
tooth
headland, point
mouth
lip
language
edge
shore
end
side
boundary
Map 18: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dark
lines very common, dashed lines less common.
mute adj.
naked, bare adj.
navel n. See Map 48.
neck n.
nose n. See Map 18.
perspire v.
physician n.
poison n.
pregnant adj. See Map 67.
rest v. See Map 1.
shoulder n. See Map 42. See Map 15.
sick, sickness n. , adj.
skin n. See Map 12.
8
skull n. See Map 54.
poor
easy
weak
light (weight)
thin, slim
fragile
Map 19: Perrin 2007, common pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.
sleep v.
sneeze v.
spit v.
stomach n. belly Gr.; in (“AT-belly OF-house”), even to
a temporal “in”.
strong, mighty, powerful adj. See Map 67.
tail n.
throat n.
thumb n.
tired, weary adj.
toe n. see finger.
tongue n.
tooth n. See Map 18.
udder n.
urinate v.
vomit v. See Map 38.
wake up v. See Map 45.
weak adj. See Map 19.
well, health adj.
womb n.
wound, sore n.
yawn, gape v.
bake cook or harden by means of dry heat, v. See Map 20.
cup, drinking vessel n. Vessel can → head. See Map 25.
Food and Drink
bean n.
beer n. See Map 22.
boil v. See Map 20.
dinner n.
dish n. See Map 25.
dough n.
ripe
boil
roast, fry
cooked
cook
bake
oven
Map 20: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, heavy
lines very common, dashed lines less common.
bowl n. See Map 25.
bread n.
breakfast n.
butter n. See Map 23.
cheese n.
drink v. May be identical to eat. Whatever word encom-
passes drink may also mean smoke (tobacco).
eat v. May also encode: texture of the food (esp. hard vs.
soft), manner of eating (“stuff oneself, nibble, eat com-
munally”), moment of eating (“have breakfast”), quan-
tity eaten (“devower”). Or, eat and drink may be the
same. Often used in metaphors of emotion. (2010 con-
ference slides) Gr.; passive.
fig n.
food n.
fork (tableware) n.
fruit n. See Map 21.
cook v. prepare by applying heat See Map 20.
grape n.
crush, grind v. See Map 35. See Map 75.
honey n. See Map 22.
9
hunger n.
kettle n.
game
nut
grain
vegetable
fruit
seed
bead
salt
sauce
meat
animal
Map 24: Boyeldieu 2008. The meaning shift in
dashed lines was one seen only in Central Sudanic
languages.
Map 21: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dark
lines very common, dashed lines less common.
pitcher, jug n. Vessel can → head.
knead v.
lunch n.
mead n. See Map 22.
wine
mead
honey
beer
beehive
basket
Map 22: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dark
lines very common, dashed lines less common.
meal n.
meal, flour n.
meat n. also flesh. See Map 24. See Map 13.
milk n. v. See Map 35.
mill n.
nut n. See Map 21.
oil n. See Map 23.
ointment
juice
lard
butter
oil
fat
grease
Map 23: Personal, 2012, common pairwise poly-
semies, dashed lines less common.
olive n.
oven n. See Map 20.
pan n.
pepper n.
plate n. See Map 25.
pot, cooking vessel n. Vessel can → head.
bee
wasp
cup
bowl
dish
gourd
plate
saucer
squash,
pumpkin
Map 25: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dark
lines very common, dashed lines less common.
potato n.
ripe adj. See Map 20.
roast, fry v. See Map 20.
salt n. See Map 24.
sausage n.
soup, broth n.
spoon n. See Map 27.
stir, mix v. See Map 45.
suck v. See Map 26.
lick
hang up
embrace
kiss
suck
stretch
pull
spread out
Map 26: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.
sugar n.
supper n.
thirst n.
vegetables n. See Map 21.
10
wine n. See Map 22.
Clothing and Grooming
Languages may have merely two verbs “put on” and
“take off” for clothing, but some may have many more,
usually coding for the relevant body part or shape of
item put on (things that encircle tend to cluster, as for
watches, necklaces, belts, etc.). There are generally more
verbs for putting on than taking off. (2013 Conference
Abstract)
awl n.
leather n. See Map 12.
linen, flax n.
loom n.
mirror n.
necklace n.
needle n.
belt, girdle n. See Map 48.
ointment n. See Map 23.
boot n.
bracelet n.
brush n. See Map 27.
button n.
cloak n.
cloth n.
clothing, clothes n.
coat n.
collar n.
comb n. See Map 27.
spoon
fork
rake
comb
tongs
broom
brush
Map 27: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.
cotton n.
dye v. See Map 34.
felt n.
fur n. See Map 12.
glove n.
handkerchief, rag n.
hat, cap n.
jewel n. See Map 6.
ornament, adornment n. See Map 6.
pin n.
pocket n.
razor n. See Map 36.
ring (for finger) n.
sew v.
yarn
sinew
filament
thread
fiber
string
cord
line
vine
wire
rope
Map 28: Personal, 2012, common pairwise poly-
semies, dashed lines less common. In a good num-
ber of languages words related to “thread, string”
are derived from “to twist.”
shirt n.
shoe n.
silk n.
skirt n.
soap n.
spin v.
spindle n.
11
stocking, sock n.
tailor n.
thread n. See Map 28.
towel n.
trousers n.
veil n.
weave v.
woman’s dress n.
wool n. See Map 12.
The House
bed n. See Map 29.
fireplace n.
lair
couch
bier
floor n. See Map 9.
house n. Gr.; locative. See Map 30.
stretcher
bed
marriage
hut n. See Map 30.
bench
table
desk
Map 29: Personal, 2012, common pairwise poly-
semies, dashed lines less common. The association
of “bed” with flat, horizontal furniture seems char-
acteristic of Papua New Guinea.
candle n.
chair n.
chimney n.
door, gate n.
grass
meeting house
thatch
house
room
roof
hut
garden house
key n.
lamp, torch n.
lock n. v.
roof n. See Map 30.
room n. See Map 30.
stove n.
table n. See Map 29.
tent n. See Map 31.
tower
fortress
wall
stable, stall
fence
yard, court
tent
Map 31: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.
Map 30: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.
window n.
wall n. See Map 31.
yard, court v. See Map 31.
dwell, live v. See Map 51.
acorn n.
bark n. See Map 12.
Agriculture and Vegetation
barley n.
beech n.
12
birch n.
branch n. See Map 15.
crop, harvest n.
cultivate, till v.
dig v.
farmer n.
field (for cultivation) n. Gr.; out(side), through.
fir n.
flower n.
fork n. pronged instrument for picking up things. See
Map 27.
furrow n. See Map 2.
garden n.
grain (barley, oats etc) n. See Map 21.
grass n. See Map 4. See Map 30.
hay n.
hoe n. See Map 42.
leaf n.
maize, corn n.
mow, reap n.
oak n.
anvil n.
ax n.
basket n. See Map 22.
bend v.
bore v.
break v. The sense cut/break can be partitioned over
this continuum of material and shape,
pop
break (stick)
break (flat)
tear/rip
(Majid, et al, 2007.)
broom n. See Map 27.
build v.
oats n.
pine n.
plant n. See Map 4.
plow v.
rake n. See Map 27.
rice n.
root n. See Map 4.
rye n.
seed n. See Map 21.
shovel n.
sickle, scythe n. See Map 36.
smoke (tobacco) v. See Map 5.
sow v.
spade n. See Map 42.
thresh v. See Map 75.
threshing-floor n.
tobacco n.
tree n. See Map 4.
vine n. See Map 28.
wheat n.
carpenter n.
carve v.
cast (metals) v. See Map 41.
chain n.
chisel n.
clay n. See Map 9.
copper, bronze n. adj.
cut v.
do, make v.
13
Basic Actions and Technology
burn v. often to describe pain (esp. in the skin or eyes),
fever or swelling.
flay, skin v.
fold v.
forge v. See Map 41.
glass n.
gold n.
hammer n.
color
paint n.
dye
paint v.
write
tattoo
Map 34: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.
potter n.
ideophone
pour v. cause to flow. See Map 41.
create
cause
ACT
happen
DO (GAV)
quotative
feel
property
inchoative,
“turn into,
become”
Map 32: Schultze-Berndt 2009, generalized action
verbs (“do”) can cover a range of functions. I make a
few interpretations of that paper in this map. “Ideo-
phone” means the verb used with ideophones and
“property” means a copula used to mark having a
property, such as “the rock does small” for “the
rock is small.” “ACT” is for phrasal verbs such as
Japanese suru, verbalizing nouns, etc.
hit v. also strike, beat
iron n. See Map 36.
knife n. See Map 36. For blade See Map 11.
knot n. See Map 33.
tie
commitment
parcel
package
bond
node
knot
difficulty
bundle
joint
Map 33: Personal, 2014, common pairwise poly-
semies, dashed lines less common.
mold (clay etc) v.
nail n. fastener, used with hammer
paint v. n. See Map 34.
press v. do pressure to; push upon with weight or force.
See Map 35.
milk v.
sieve, strain
twist
squeeze, wring
pinch
push, shove
press
pound with fist
crush, grind
Map 35: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, heavy
lines very common, dashed lines less common.
pull v. also draw. See Map 26.
rope n. See Map 28.
rub v. also wipe
saw n.
scissors, shears n.
sculptor n.
silver n.
sword
knife
iron
tin, tinplate
sickle, scythe
razor
lead n.
Map 36: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.
smith, blacksmith n.
split v.
spread out, strew v.
14
work magic
fetter
restrain
stretch v. See Map 26.
knit
tie, bind
fasten
sweep v.
tear v.
bundle
attach
tie v. also bind, See Map 37.
tin, tinplate n. See Map 36.
bandage
arrest
Map 37: Personal, 2014, common pairwise poly-
semies, dashed lines less common.
statue n.
tool n.
wash v.
weave, plait v.
wipe also rub v.
work n.
approach
come
reach, arrive
turn around
turn over
roll
come back
give back
vomit
Map 38: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dashed lines less common.
Motion
anchor n.
approach v. See Map 38.
axle n.
blow move/cause to move as a current of gas, v. See
Map 1.
boat n. See Map 39.
carriage, wagon, cart
raft
bring cause something to come along with one toward a
place, v. Occasionally take + cis- or translocative affixes,
or take + come, go in serial verbs. See Map 43.
carriage, wagon, cart n. See Map 39.
carry (bear) v. See Map 43. Often in the languages of
Asia (continental and insular) “carry” is elaborated even
more than in the map: “carry in clothing,” “carry in sev-
eral trips,” “carry on the back,” “carry something sus-
pended in the hand,” “carry a load” (of animals and vehi-
cles), “carry in the claws,” “carry or wear over the shoul-
der,” “carry over the shoulder on a pole,” “carry in the
mouth” (as a cat with kittens), etc.
canoe
ship
come v. See Map 38.
boat
outrigger
creep, crawl v. See Map 51.
dance v.
Map 39: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.
enter v.
fall v. Gr.; passive, locative “down.” See Map 40.
bridge n.
15
go down
drop
drip
dribble
land v.
fall
Map 40: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.
flee v. See Map 41.
float v.
pursue v. Gr.; “do often”.
push v. also shove. See Map 35.
raft n. See Map 39.
raise, lift v. See Map 45.
reach, arrive v. Gr.; ability, allative, succeed, until
(temporal). See Map 38.
ride v. sit/perch in/on a vehicle/horse/etc. and travel.
See Map 43. See Map 45.
flow v. travel in a current. See Map 41. See Map 45.
rise v. See Map 45.
forge
flee
slip, slide
roll v. move like a ball/cylinder by turning over and
over; See Map 38.
cast (metals)
retreat
run
pour
flow
go
row v.
rudder n.
Map 41: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, heavy
lines very common, dashed lines less common.
fly v. move through the air
follow v. can → act according to. Gr.; according to,
behind, comitative (“with”). See Map 73.
go v. move from starting point to elsewhere See Map 45.
See Map 40.
go away, depart v. See Map 45.
harbor, port n.
jump, leap v.
lead v. See Map 43.
mast n.
move v. engage in motion / cause to engage in motion.
See Map 45.
oar n. See Map 42.
shoulderblade
collarbone
oar
paddle n.
shovel
spade
hoe
Map 42: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, heavy
lines very common, dashed lines less common.
drive
ride
lead v.
bring
carry
carry in hand
take
carry on head
carry on shoulder
carry underarm
Map 43: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, heavy
lines very common, dashed lines less common.
run v. See Map 41.
sail n.
sail v.
send v. See Map 77.
shake v.
ship n. See Map 39.
sink v. See Map 44.
slide, slip v. See Map 41.
swim v.
throw v. Gr.; perfect, completive. See Map 75.
16
drowned
dive
sink
turn around v. can → become. See Map 38.
choke
walk v. See Map 45.
Map 44: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.
turn v. See Map 38.
wheel n.
wind, wrap v.
yoke n.
flow
move
stir, mix
go away, depart
go out
cease, stop
go
walk
wake up
rise
stand
climb
raise, lift
ride
go up
Map 45: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dark lines very common, dashed lines less common.
Possession
account, reckoning n.
See Map 38.
avaricious, stingy adj. See Map 60.
give back, return v. See Map 38.
beggar n.
borrow v.
buy v. See Map 47.
cheap adj.
coin n.
dear (costly, expensive) adj.
debt n.
destroy v.
earn v. See Map 47.
harm, injure, damage v.
have v. possess / be furnished with, See Map 47.
hire v.
hold v. See Map 47.
keep, retain v. See Map 47.
lend v.
lose v.
market (place) n.
merchant n. See Map 46.
find v. discover the location of, See Map 47.
get, obtain v. Gr.; ability, change of state, obligation,
passive, past, possibility, succeed; See Map 47.
give v. Gr.; benefactive, causative, dative, purpose; ex-
istential expressions (“there is”) and from there might be
used in passives. Different forms may exist for different
recipients, with, for example, one verb used for 1st and
2nd person recipients and another for 3rd persion recip-
ients, or a separate form for all three. The forms may be
related or suppletive (Linguist List 11.1166). See Map 46.
money n. various things may fulfill this role, which can
appear in the lexicon (cowry shells, cocoa beans).
owe v.
own, possess v. See Map 47.
pay v.
poor adj. See Map 19.
preserve, look after, keep safe, save v. See, look at can
→ look after, care for; See Map 47. See Map 70.
17
price n.
give
lie, tell lies
perjury
seek, look for v.
seize, grasp, take hold of v. can → understand. Gr.;
have.
trade, barter
sell
betray
deceit
sell v. See Map 46.
change
merchant
enemy
Map 46: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, heavy
lines very common, dashed lines less common.
release, let go v. See Map 77.
rich adj.
save, rescue v. See Map 70.
store, shop n.
take v. Gr.; causative, future, instrument, patient,
“have”; See Map 47. See Map 43.
tax, tribute n.
trade, barter v. See Map 46.
wages n.
wealth n. Cattle can → wealth.
find
earn
get, obtain
have
carry
own, possess
keep, retain
hold
preserve, look after
join, unite
buy
take
seize, grasp
catch (ball)
collect, gather
raise, lift
trap
pile up
pick up
Map 47: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dark lines very common, dashed lines less common.
Spatial Relations
big adj. See Map 52. See Map 53.
center n. Gr.; locative “between” or “in”.
some
side
change v. become/make different. See Map 46.
circle n.
navel middle, center
half
part, piece
collect, gather v. See Map 47.
belt, girdle
waist
back
spine
hip
outside
Map 48: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.
bottom n. See Map 9.
corner n.
cover v.
crooked adj.
cross n. Gr.; across.
deep adj.
divide v.
east, south, west, north n.
18
end n. See Map 18. See Map 54.
far adj.
flat adj.
grow v.
hide, conceal v.
high adj. See Map 54.
hole n. may distinguish between a hole that goes all the
way through something vs. one that does not.
hook n.
thin
narrow
tight
Map 49: Perrin 2007, common pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.
left adj.
like, similar adj.
line n.
long of much length adj.
low adj.
measure v. See Map 69.
middle n. See Map 48.
narrow adj. See Map 49.
short
small
near
young
little
Map 50: Perrin 2007, common pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.
near adj. adv. See Map 50.
open v. adj. See Map 77.
place n. See Map 9.
remain, stay v. Gr.; durative, habitual. See Map 51.
remains, left overs n. adj. See Map 51.
right adj.
round adj.
separate v.
live, living, life
dwell, live
remains, left overs
sit
remain, stay
crouch
creep, crawl
Map 51: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, heavy
lines very common, dashed lines less common.
shallow of little depth adj.
short of little length adj. See Map 50.
shut, close v.
side n. See Map 11. See Map 18. See Map 48.
sit v. Gr.; continuous. See Map 51.
small adj. also little
sphere, ball n.
square n.
stand v. Gr.; continuous, copula. See Map 54. See
Map 45.
straight not bent adj.
tall adj.
fat
old
solid (Map 63)
thick
heavy
big
large
wide
slow
cold
calm
wet
raw
Map 52: Perrin 2007, common pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.
thick adj. See Map 52.
thin adj. See Map 49.
top n. See Map 6.
wide adj. also broad; See Map 52.
19
Quantity
all adj. also every
alone, only adj. , adv.
empty adj. Might be separate lexical item specifically for
empty of people. See Map 64.
enough adj. See Map 53.
few adj. few in number, see also little
first adj.
full adj.
last adj. See Map 54.
little a small quantity of, see also few adj.
many adj. also much. See Map 53.
multitude, crowd
more
again
and
enough
much, many
large, big
or
Map 53: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.
more adj. , adv. See Map 53.
multitude, crowd n. See Map 53.
one Gr.; together, other.
three adj.
three times adv.
sharp
boundary
high
up, above
pointed
edge
mountain, hill
top
end
last
skull
head
end (temporal)
finish
ready
hair (of head)
stand
cease, stop
Map 54: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dark lines very common, dashed lines less common.
noon, midday
afternoon
late
retard, delay
quiet, silence
west
evening
slow
night
last, endure
be silent
calm (of sea)
Map 55: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dark lines very common, dashed lines less common.
Monday n. and the remaining days of the week.
again adv. See Map 53.
age n. See Map 7.
always adv.
Time
autumn n.
begin v. Gr.; first.
cease, stop v. See Map 1. See Map 54. See Map 45.
clock, timepiece n.
20
dawn n.
day n. may be separate words for day as 24 hour period
vs. daytime; See Map 7.
and non-human; or separate nouns for old man and/or
old woman.
ready adj. See Map 54.
early adj.
end (temporal) n. See Map 54.
evening n. See Map 57. See Map 55.
finish v. See Map 54.
hasten, hurry v. intr
hour n. See Map 7.
immediately, soon adv.
last, endure v. See Map 55.
late adj. See Map 55.
month n.
hour
day
day part
season
year
month
Map 56: Haspelmath 1997, on the markers used to
indicate simultaneous location in time. For exam-
ple, English uses “at” for hour and day part (e.g.,
morning), “on” for day and “in” for everything else,
with overlap with “at” for day part. Hausa, on the
other hand, uses dà for hour, day part and season,
à for year and month, and no marking for day. This
map has some exceptions.
morning n.
never adv.
new adj. May = young.
night n. See Map 57. See Map 55.
noon, midday n. See Map 55.
now adv.
often adv.
dark (color)
black
darkness
night
evening
obscure
secret
Map 57: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, heavy
lines very common, dashed lines less common.
retard, delay v. intr. See Map 55.
season n. See Map 7.
slow adj. See Map 55. See Map 52.
sometimes adv.
soon adv.
now
immediately
morning
today
soon
early
tomorrow
hasten, hurry
swift, fast, quick
yesterday
Map 58: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, heavy
lines very common, dashed lines less common.
spring n. the season
summer n.
swift, fast, quick adj.
time n. See Map 7.
today adv.
tomorrow adv.
week n.
winter n. See Map 59.
year n. See Map 7.
yesterday adv. Gr.; past tense.
old adj. See Map 52. May have separate items for human
young of little age adj. May = new. See Map 50.
21
Sense Perception
Not all languages have the five sensory verbs of English.
There is an implicational hierarchy,
dark (in color) adj. See Map 57.
dirty adj. See Map 60.
sight ← hearing ← touch ← smell, taste
In languages lower on the hierarchy, a general percep-
tion verb such as “feel” or “perceive” will be used with
an instrument for the modality. Only Kobon is known to
construct all perceptions this way (Ricci 2010, Maslova).
The implicational hierarchy for colors (WALS 133):
black, white ← red ←
yellow, green ← blue ← brown
purple, pink, orange, grey
acid
stingy
sour
nasty
bitter
bad
dirty
stinky
rotten
Map 60: Perrin 2007, common pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.
Verbs of perception may bleed into cognition (“I see”).
dry adj.
Words for temperature might make only two distinc-
tions (“hot/warm” vs. “cold/cool”), three (“cold/cool”
vs. “warm” vs. “hot”) or the four familiar in English.
Temperature words may have three domains:
tactile
(“the dish is hot”), ambient (“it’s hot here”) and per-
sonal feeling (“I feel hot”), with one word for all three,
three completely different roots, or some split between
them. The personal feeling words may only exist for un-
comfortable temperatures. There may be separate tac-
tile words for food and especially water.
acid, sour adj. May distinguish natural sourness (fruit)
from fermented sourness (yogurt, vinegar). See Map 60.
bitter adj. See Map 60.
black adj. See Map 57.
dull adj. also blunt
feel v. perceive with the tactile sense; See Map 32. See
Map 69.
fragrant, good smelling adj.
green adj.
hard adj.
taste
color
touch
dimension
smell
sound
blue adj. See Map 65.
bright with much light present adj. can → comprehen-
sible.
clean adj. Gr.; focus particle. See Map 64.
cold adj. See Map 59. See Map 52.
Map 61: Linguistic synaesthesia, in which terms
describing one sensory modality may be extended
metaphorically to other senses, “a loud shirt,” “a
big boom,” “smooth jazz,” “a sweet flower,” etc.
Williams 1976 produced this map first for English,
but Yu 2003 finds it works well with Chinese.
hear v. See Map 73.
cough
heavy adj. of much weight; See Map 52. See Map 67.
winter
ice
cold
cold (illness)
snow n.
mucus (nasal)
Map 59: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.
color n. See Map 11. See Map 34.
hot adj. also warm
light (in color) adj. See Map 64.
light (in weight) adj. See Map 19.
listen v. See Map 73.
look, look at v. See, look at can → look after, care for,
22
can → wait.
smell v. trans. and intrans.
tasty
pleasant
smooth adj. might distinguish visual from tactile;
metaphorically can → absence of defect or difficulty.
salty
sweet
genial
easy
nice
mild
Map 62: Personal, 2012, common pairwise poly-
semies, dashed lines less common.
soft adj.
sound, noise n.
stinking, bad smelling adj. See Map 60.
sweet adj. See Map 62.
taste v. perceive by tasting. See Map 69.
loud adj. of much sonic intensity. See Map 67.
touch v.
red adj. See Map 65.
wet, damp adj. See Map 52. See Map 65.
rough adj. might distinguish visual
from tactile;
metaphorically can → defects, difficulties. See Map 67.
salty adj.
scent n. See Map 1.
see v. See, look at can → look after, care for; can →
wait. Gr.; passive.
dry
stubborn
loud
light (of
color)
white
clean
empty
pure
true
difficult
hard
strong
Map 64: Perrin 2007, common pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.
painful
solid
healthy
white adj. See Map 64.
yellow adj. See Map 65.
thick (Map 52)
Map 63: Perrin 2007, common pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.
bruise
blue
wet, damp
green
unripe
raw
sharp adj. See Map 54.
shine v. radiate light
show v.
anger n. See Map 74.
anxiety, worry n.
bad adj.
egg yolk
yellow
red
Map 65: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, heavy
lines very common, dashed lines less common.
Emotions and Values
beautiful adj.
blame n.
brave adj.
23
correct also right adj.
cry, weep v. See Map 71.
danger (situation) n. See Map 66.
dare v.
deceit n. See Map 46.
desire, want v.
danger
anxiety
fear, fright
surprised, astonished
grief, sorrow,
sadness
regret,
be sorry
pity
Map 66: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.
envy, jealousy n.
faithful adj.
fault n.
fear n. To fear can → to respect. See Map 66.
forgive v. See Map 77.
good adj.
good fortune, luck n.
grief, sorrow, sadness n. See Map 66.
groan v. See Map 71.
hate v. See Map 74.
joyful, glad, happy adj.
kiss v. See Map 26.
laugh v.
lie, tell lies n. , v. See Map 46.
love v. Gr.; future, intention.
misfortune, bad luck n.
mistake, error n. , v.
mood n. See Map 1.
pain n.
pity n. See Map 66.
play v.
praise n.
proud adj.
regret, be sorry v. See Map 66.
shame n.
soul, spirit n. See Map 1.
tear n.
true adj. See Map 64.
ugly adj.
wrong adj.
believe v. accept as true. See Map 68.
difficult adj. See Map 67. See Map 63. See Map 33.
Cognition
cause n.
pregnant
conceive
rough
loud
heavy
difficult
hard
strong,
mighty,
powerful
Map 67: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.
clear, plain adj.
doubt n. See Map 68.
easy adj. See Map 19. See Map 62.
explain v. See Map 69.
foolish, stupid adj.
forget v.
idea, notion n.
insane, crazy adj.
intention, purpose n.
24
know v. May distinguish knowing people from other
sorts of knowledge. Gr.; ability, habitual. See Map 69.
learn v. See Map 69.
mind n. See Map 1. See Map 68.
remember v. See Map 68.
school n.
secret adj. See Map 57.
seem v.
mind
study v. See Map 69.
doubt
suspect
count
believe
think (reflect)
guess
think (be of
the opinion)
remember
Map 68: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dark
lines very common, dashed lines less common.
obscure adj. See Map 57.
pupil n.
sure, certain adj.
teach v. See Map 69.
teacher n.
think be of the opinion v. To calculate, count can →
have an opinion. See Map 68. See Map 69.
think (= reflect) v. See Map 68.
try, attempt v. See Map 69.
understand v. grasp, seize can → understand.
wise adj.
feel
taste
try, attempt
weigh
learn
know
imitate
measure
count
read
study
think (be of the opinion)
teach
explain
Map 69: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dark lines very common, dashed lines less common.
Speech and Language
admit, confess v.
announce v.
answer v.
ask, request v.
boast v.
book n.
cure, heal
safe, rescue
help, aid
preserve, look after
defend
hinder, prevent
forbid
deny
refuse
call, name v. See Map 71.
deny v. say that X is not true. See Map 70.
Map 70: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.
forbid v. See Map 70.
paper n.
language n. See Map 72. See Map 18.
pen n. See Map 12.
name n. “who is your name?” rather than “what?” is
possible in some languages; See Map 71.
poet n.
25
promise v. See Map 72.
read v. See Map 69.
refuse v. See Map 70.
sing
shriek, screech
groan
name
shout
call (name)
call (summon)
howl
cry, weep
Map 71: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.
say v.
shout, cry out v. See Map 71.
silent (be) adj. v. See Map 55.
sing v. See Map 71.
speak, talk v. See Map 1.
threaten v.
voice n.
whisper n. v. See Map 1.
word n. May also mean matter, affair, thing. See
Map 72..
write v. See Map 34.
utterance
promise
saying
discourse
statement
expression
word
message
talk
phrase
speech
language
Map 72: Personal, 2012, common pairwise polysemies, dashed lines less common.
boundary n. See Map 18. See Map 54.
host n.
Social and Political Relations
citizen, subject n.
city, town n. See Map 9.
command, order v. See Map 77.
conspiracy, plot n.
country n. See Map 9.
custom n. See Map 76.
enemy n. See Map 46.
friend, companion n.
guest n.
help, aid v. To prop up can → help. See Map 70.
hinder, prevent v. See Map 70.
king, queen, ruler n.
let, permit v. See Map 77.
master n.
meet v.
neighbor n.
noble, nobleman adj. n.
obey v. See Map 73. May distinguish compliant, rapid
obedience from a neutral sense.
one’s native country n. See Map 9.
people, populace n.
prostitute n.
26
submit
listen
obey
follow
hear
adapt to
comply (with)
Map 73: Personal, 2012, common pairwise poly-
semies, dashed lines less common.
rule, govern v. See Map 77.
servant n.
slave n.
stranger n.
strife, quarrel n. See Map 74.
tribe, clan n.
village n. See Map 9.
Warfare and Hunting
ambush n.
armor (defensive) n.
army n. See Map 74.
hate
anger
strife, quarrel
fight v.
fight v. See Map 74.
fisherman n.
fortress n. See Map 31.
game (prey) n. See Map 24.
gun, cannon n.
soldier
army
war, battle
attack
helmet n.
Map 74: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies,
dashed lines less common.
peace n.
retreat v. n. See Map 41.
arrow n.
attack n. See Map 74.
battle-ax n.
booty, spoils n.
bow n.
captive, prisoner n.
club n.
defeat n. Exceed, surpass, defeat Gr.; comparative,
“too.”
defend, defense v. n. See Map 70.
shield n.
sling n.
soldier n. See Map 74.
spear n.
surrender v.
sword n. See Map 36.
tower n. See Map 31.
victory n.
war, battle n. See Map 74.
weapons, arms n.
crush, grind
kick
divorce
pound with fist
strike (hit, beat)
shoot
throw
thresh
murder
kill
extinguish
Map 75: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, dark lines very common, dashed lines less common.
27
accuse v.
acquit v. See Map 77.
adultery n.
arson n.
condemn v.
convict v.
court n. See Map 76.
defendant n.
fine n.
guilty adj.
path
court
Law
law n. law in the abstract, general, a set of laws. Latin
ius. See Map 76.
murder n. v. See Map 75.
oath n.
penalty, punishment n.
perjury n. See Map 46.
plaintiff n.
open
untie
command, order
release, let go
acquit
road
law
way, manner
rule, govern
send
let, permit
forgive
custom
Map 77: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, heavy
lines very common, dashed lines less common.
Map 76: List, et al., 2013, pairwise polysemies, heavy
lines very common, dashed lines less common.
innocent adj.
judge n.
judge v. compare something to criteria
judgment n.
prison, jail n.
rape n.
steal v.
swear v.
witness n.
god n.
altar n.
Religion and Belief
idol n.
magic, witchcraft, sorcery n. See Map 1., See Map 37.
bless v. wish good upon
omen, portent n.
curse v.
pray v. communicate with god(s)
demon (evil spirit) n. See Map 1.
fairy, elf n.
fast v.
preach v.
priest n.
religion n.
ghost, phantom n. See Map 1.
sacrifice, offering n.
heaven n.
hell n.
holy, sacred adj.
sorcerer, witch n.
temple, church n.
worship v.
28
Other Implicational Maps and Hierarchies
This section has semantic maps, as well as some
implicational hierarchies, which didn’t sensibly fit
in the word list. Most address more purely gram-
matical matters.
First, derivational implications,
agent
instrument
locative
force
means
Map 78: Luján 2007, on the relationships between
different sorts of verbal nouns. For an example from
the English -er ending, a “winner” is someone who
wins, but a “poker” is a thing, not a person, that one
uses for poking.
Cases and Adpositions
The following maps deal with the relationships and
jobs of “cases,” some of which are also covered by
adpositions. First, there is an implicational hierar-
chy in case marking,
nom. ← acc., erg. ← gen. ← dat. ←
loc. ← abl., inst ← others
If your language has a dative case, you expect it also
to have a genitive and an accusative (or ergative).
Cases that encode goals have Map 79,
object
dative
allative
locative
Map 79: Blansitt 1988.
If a single case form marks both the dative and the
locative, it is expected to also encode the allative.
predicative
possessor
external
possessor
direction
recipient
beneficiary
judicantis
In the dative Map 80, “predicative possessor” is
for things like, “the book is mine,” and “judicantis”
is for things like “to me this is a bad idea.” The “ex-
ternal possessor” is an unusual construction where
a dative marks possession for a noun phrase it is
not next to, “to me he touched the hand” for “he
touched my hand.” It is common in parts of Europe,
but not unheard of elsewhere.
point in time
co-participant
duration
physical
proximity
location
route
cause, reason
recipient
companion
instrument
passive agent
possession
manner
ergative agent
material
source
temporal
“from”
Map 81: Narrog 2007, the instrumental/comitative
domain with diachronic information.
There is a common hierarchy for adpositions
(ATTACHED means things like “the fly on the wall”),
AT ← IN ← ON, UNDER ←
OVER (ABOVE), NEAR ←
ON TOP ← ATTACHED ← INSIDE
The further up the hierarchy one goes, the more
specific things lower down the hierarchy become.
So, in a language with many adpositions, the range
of uses for “AT” is minimized. There is a possi-
ble split below ATTACHED, between grouping {ON,
ON TOP, ATTACHED} vs. {OVER (ABOVE)} or group-
ing {ON, ON TOP, OVER (ABOVE)} vs. {ATTACHED}.
(2010 conference slides)
Intensifiers
purpose
experiencer
Map 80:
in Schmidtke-Bode, originally from Has-
palmath 2003, the conceptual space for typical da-
tive functions.
Noun and pronoun intensifiers (“I myself am go-
ing to talk to him,” “They didn’t see the book itself”)
are sensitive to animacy. There may be two intensi-
fiers, with a single cut separating domains. The divi-
29
sions are: (1) 1st/2nd pronoun, (2) 3rd pronoun, (3)
human noun, (4) animate noun, (5) concrete inani-
mate noun and (6) abstract inanimate noun. For ex-
ample, Japanese uses jisin for 1–4 and jitai for 5–6;
German selbst for 1–5, with nothing for 6; Malagasy
splits splits after 2, and Spanish uses one word for
all. (Gast 2007)
Negation
In map 82, delimitation matches English “no,” non-
occurrence is the most commonly understood nega-
tion, “he didn’t do his reading,” and non-property is
to negate adjective or other sorts of property predi-
cation, “the book isn’t good.” Finally, anterior non-
occurrence is like English “not yet.”
anterior non-
occurrence
non-property
non-occurrence
non-existence
non-equation
delimitation
prohibition
Map 82: Bond 2009, conceptual space of negation
(map somewhat modified from map in paper based
on other parts of the paper). The items connected
by the dashed line are not thought to have unique
strategies for negation. All the rest have a unique
negator in some language.
specific
known
specific
unknown
irrealis
non-specific
Conjunctions
The choice conjunction (“or”) is generally available
in two meanings, (1) a simple alternative and (2)
a choice-aimed alternative. The simple alternative
simply lists possible options without making any de-
mand on the listener (“I’ll either go to the book-
store, or order it online”). The choice-aimed alter-
native is a request for information (“will you stay or
go?”). A language may unite these sense in a single
conjunction, as English does, or it may have sepa-
rate forms (Somali, Chinese).
“Or” may grammaticalize to become a question
marker.
The range of senses between “and” and “but”
can be divided into six senses, (1) sequential com-
bination, “I shopped and came home,” (2) simul-
taneous combination, “she sang and danced,” (3)
atemporal combination, “I shop here and they shop
there,” (4) appositive contrast, “I bought a book,
but my sister bought CDs,” (5) corrective contrast,
“I didn’t buy a book but a CD,” and (6) counterex-
pectative contrast, “I bought the CD, but don’t like
the band.” Each of the senses except (3), atempo-
ral combination, may have an individual conjunc-
tion. Normally, the six senses are partitioned up,
with contiguous senses having the same word, such
as Hausa kuma covering 1–5 and amman for 6.
Several European languages have overlapping
forms, with a general term covering several mean-
ings while also having more sepecific forms avail-
able, such as Italian ma for senses 5–6, but bensì
and però optionally usable for 5 and 6 individually.
(Mauri 2010)
question
indirect
negation
direct
negation
conditional
comparative
free choice
Map 83: Haspelmath 1997, semantic map of indefinites. Specific known, “Somebody called. Guess who?” Spe-
cific unknown, “I heard something, but couldn’t tell what.” Irrealis, “you must try somewhere else.” Question,
“did anybody tell you?” Conditional antecedent, “if you see anybody, tell me.” Comparative, “John is taller
than anyone.” Indirect negation, “I don’t think anyone knows.” Direct negation, “John didn’t see anybody.”
Free choice, “You may kiss anyone.” See Migmaq for some examples.
30
Question Words
Speakers of Indo-European languages are used to
content question words containing an obviously
common element, such as wh- in English, or qu-/c- in
Romance languages. This turns out to be very rare
in most other languages, which can have quite dis-
similar forms for their core question words.
where
when
why
what
what kind of
how
how many
Map 84: Cysouw 2005, content question word pol-
ysemies, none especially common. Most languages,
even those not otherwise sensitive to animacy, will
distinguish “who” from “what.”
“Who,” “what” and “where” are most likely
to be non-derived, with “which” and “how much”
non-derived a bit more than half the time, and
“how” and “when” non-derived a bit less than half
the time.
cording to relative distance from the deictic center
(the people talking, or some location within a nar-
rative).
Demonstratives may also encode, in addition to
agreement marking such as number, gender and
classifier,
• visible vs. invisible; additionally, something
“phased out,” once in view but no longer; or
visible, invisible but present, and absent
• location relative to the body of the speaker,
addressee or some third person, in front of,
behind and beside.
• relative altitude, high vs. low; or high vs.
equal vs. low
• nominal tense (“former-,” “ex-”, “to-be”)
• relative cardinal direction, either a two pole
system (east vs. west, north vs. south), or four
pole
• relative geography, uphill vs. downhill; up-
river vs. downriver; inland vs. out to the shore
or sea
• relative motion, towards vs. away from, or
along some path
what
who
why
how
Demonstratives are also regularly used to talk
about what is being said, so that one form may refer
to things already said and another to things about
to be. (Gerner 2009)
when
which
how much
where
Map 85: Cysouw 2004, pathways of derivation for
content question words. “Which” only occurs in
about 60 of the world’s languages, with “who/what”
taking up the slack.
Demonstratives
Demonstrative pronouns and adjectives may distin-
guish two or three distances, either oriented to the
speaker, the addressee, and some third party, or ac-
Classification Prototypes
Certain prototypical distinctions appear in lan-
guages all over the world, though how and where
they are expressed may take very different forms.
It might be expressed in the noun gender sys-
tem of one language (Swahili), the numeral and
demonstrative classifier system of another (Chi-
nese, Mayan), or in verbs of handling in another
(Navajo). Some Austronesian languages have classi-
fying possessive markers, na mequ yaqona “my kava
(for drinking)” vs. na noqu yaqona “my kava (that I
grew or will sell)” (Fijian).
The variation in classifier types is huge, but
there are certain commonalities,
31
• Material: human, animate, female, tree(-
like), etc.
• Function: cutting or piercing tools, for drink-
ing, for eating, etc.
• Shape: long (saliently one-dimensional), flat,
round, etc.
• Consistency: rigid, flexible, in a mass, etc.
• Location: for inherently locative things like a
town, etc.
• Arrangement: in a row of, in a coil, in a heap,
in a container, etc.
Pluralization Hierarchy
If a language marks plurals for a particular category
below, it will also mark plural for everything to the
left,
speaker ← speech act participant ←
human ← animal ←
individual object ← mass ←
place ← abstraction
Some Verb Hierarchies
If TAM morphemes are not fused, the order of mor-
phemes tends to follow a certain pattern. The hier-
archy below marks distance from the verb stem,
stem ← aspect ←
tense ← mood ← person/number.
But see this survey for alternate orders.
Agreement marking hierarchy,
absolutive, subject ←
object, ergative ←
indirect obj., loc., inst. ←
ablative, committative
Copula hierarcy, with “copula” here referring to
any support word to take verbal inflections,
location ← object ←
property ← action
This hierarchy means that if a language requires a
support verb to say “he is angry,” then you expect
a similar structure for “he is at home.” If you invert
the copula hierarchy, you get the verbalization hi-
erarchy,
action ← property ←
object ← location
So, if a language has a verb-like form to say “he is a
doctor” (it takes tense or other verbal marking, for
example), then you also expect a verb-like structure
for “he is angry.”
Not all verb types may take causative morphol-
Inactive intransitive (unaccusative, “faint”)
ogy.
verbs are most likely to take morphological mark-
ing, then middles and ingestives (“eat”), then active
intransitives (unergatives, “work”) and then finally
transitives are least likely to take such marking. Or,
a language may mark intransitive causatives differ-
ently from transitive causatives.
related to
imitation
affection
member
small type of
exactness
pets
child
small
partitive
sympathy
female
contempt
intimacy
hedge
approximation
Map 86: Jurafsky 1996, by way of Appah & Amfo 2001 (p. 85), semantic map of the diminutive.
32
contact
pursuit
motion
effective
action
reflexive
interaction
middle
spontaneous
intransitive
affected agent
perception
cognition
emotion
sensation
Map 87: Malchukov 2005, transitivity splits (see also 2010). Verbs to the left are highly transitive and those
to the right are highly intransitive, with individual languages splitting verbs for transitive vs. intransitive con-
structions in different places. In fact, this map may have multiple splits, so that verbs of cognition and emotion
use yet a different construction than the basic transitive vs. intransitive split (such as with dative experiencers,
for example). “Effective action” is such things as “break, kill.” “Affected agent” is for acts in which the agent
is saliently affected, too, such as verbs of consuming (“eat,” etc.) and “see” and “learn.” “Contact” is for “hit,
touch.” “Pursuit” includes verbs like “wait for” and “look for” (which are in English not transitive, taking
prepositional objects). Some languages will allow some motion verbs to take canonical objects.
Adjectives
Some languages have no adjective word class at
all, instead using either verbs or nouns to han-
dle this function. However, some languages may
have a small or medium-sized set of true adjec-
tives. Small adjective inventories (8-12) will typi-
cally have words for four core semantic types, DI-
MENSION (“big,” “tall,” “deep”, etc.), AGE (“new,”
“young,” etc.), VALUE (“good,” “bad,” “real,” “cu-
rious,” etc.) and COLOR. Medium-sized adjective
inventories (12 to several dozen) will additionally
have terms for the semantic types PHYSICAL PROP-
ERTY (“soft,” “wet,” “hot,” “sweet,” etc.), HUMAN
PROPENSITY (“jealous,” “clever,” “ashamed,” etc.)
and SPEED (“fast,” “slow,” etc.). (Dixon 2004)
If a language has an open class of adjectives,
some of the types above may have special behavior,
such as the set of French adjectives that come before
rather than after their noun. A few Rotuman adjec-
tives of the above semantic type are the only ones
to take plural marking, and in Yurok some stative
verbs with these meanings take classifier marking
(humans, tools, long things, etc.).
Ideophones
What sense perceptions ideophones represent in
any particular language has an implicational hier-
archy (conference abstract),
sound ← motion ← visual patterns ←
other sense perceptions ←
inner feelings and cognitive states
33
