Chapter Fifteen
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arguments while they prompt the co-occurrence of these verbs with other
arguments. For this purpose, insight is given into the nature of the causes
Eruption constituent in the construction template ‘a VOLCANO
is_a_type_of LANDFORM made_of MAGMA that causes ERUPTION’ because
this constituent is activated and substantiated by volcano verbs.
Specifically, it is shown that causes ERUPTION is dependent on: (i) the
semantic specifics (semes) in the dictionary definition of each of these
verbs; (ii) the arguments specific to and activated by each verb in the
specialized discourse of volcanology, arguments that bring the verb’s
semes into a terminological context. Consequently, it is the particular
information encapsulated in the definition of each verb and the arguments
that instantiate this information in terminological settings that make each
verb different from the rest of volcano verbs and not fully interchangeable
in all volcanic event usage contexts.
For example, in the collocation the volcano belches lava, volcano takes
belch, which irremediably designates lava/magma being forced out of the
volcano. However, it is also true, as shown by definitions (1) and (2) from
the American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language (AHDEL),
that belch not only combines with noun phrases designating something
being expelled out of an orifice, but it also entails the semantic specifications
noisily, violently and abruptly (in bold in definitions 1 and 2). The
dictionary definition (3), extracted from Wordnet Thesaurus, and the
subject-specific usage context (4) provide evidence of the occurrence of
belch in collocation with volcano in the specialized field of volcanology:
(1) To expel (gas) noisily from the stomach through the mouth
(2) To eject violently, abruptly
(3) To become active and spew forth lava and rocks
(4) Carefully engraved composition shows the landscape of the event; on
the right, we see a volcano belching flame and smoke from its three
craters (The Illustrated History of Natural Disasters, 2010)Definitions (5) to (6), extracted from Collins English Dictionary
(CED) and AHDEL, respectively, show the semantic specifics of dribble
and the domain-specific usage context (7) provides textual evidence of the
usage of this verb when it collocates with volcano in the NATURAL
VOLCANIC DISASTER domain:
(5) To allow saliva to trickle from the mouth
(6) To move or proceed slowly or bit by bit
(7) Italy's Mount Etna and Mexico's Popocatépetl volcano have been [...]
spewing plumes of ash and dribbling lava in the latest flare-ups of
eruptive activity (LiveScience website)