STRUCTURE OF LEXICO-SEMANTIC GROUP OF ENGLISH SOMATIC VERBS

Abstract

The article deals with the lexico-semantic group of somatic verbs in the English language. It investigates the peculiarities of the group’s structure. The investigation focuses on subgroups of somatic verbs, which are based on B.Levin’s verbal classification according to syntactic frames. The most homogenous and the least homogenous subgroups are established. The constituents of the core and periphery of subgroups, as well as dominating and differential semes, are indicated. The peripheral composition of subgroups of somatic verbs reflects their tight systemic relations. During the investigation it is revealed that syntactic frames are regulated by common semantic components of meaning. Characteristic features of the lexico-semantic group of somatic verbs are established with the help of componential analysis. Due to possible inconsistency and vagueness of the correlation between the dictionary definition and the actual meaning of a word, the analysis is based on the definitional data from different dictionaries. The results of the analysis are tabulated.