Reformulation of the domain-level semantic pattern of axiological evaluation in the lexicon of English verbs

The three-level hierarchy of values in Faber and Mairal‘s work (Constructing a Lexicon of English Verbs, Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 1999) is based on the scales of values given by Max Scheler or Józef Tischner, which are deeply rooted in the theory of the Great Chain of Being (employed by Aristotle in his scala naturae). Faber and Mairal also provide an account of the relationship between lexical structure and cognition. A key issue was the introduction of a cognitive axis and a typology of predicate schemas in the lexicon (at lexeme, sub-domain and domain level). Among the four domain-level semantic patterns proposed, axiology is considered to appear in many domains. However, in this article it is claimed that the axiological parameter needs further clarification and decomposition. Its structure is multidimensional, internally hierarchical and canonical. In consequence, the three-level hierarchy of values in the lexicon of English verbs is reformulated and the axiological parameter is divided into multilevel categories crossed by two layers of canonical axes. It is also claimed that the axiological formula incorporating this might improve the understanding of this parameter within the lexical architecture of the verbal lexicon.


Introduction
The developments of the Functional Grammar lexicon into a model which integrates semantic, syntactic and pragmatic aspects of lexemes within a framework combining both paradigmatic and syntagmatic patterning was the pioneering contribution of Leocadio Martin Mingorance (1990Mingorance ( , 1995) ) and his Functional Lexematic Model (FLM).However, because of his sudden death, he was not able to conclude this ambitious work. 1  The recent publication of the book Constructing a Lexicon of English Verbs (Faber and Mairal 1999) describes in great detail the most relevant aspects of that line of research. 2Faber and Mairal not only demonstrate the principled connections between meaning and patterns of conceptualization in the human mind in a lexically-based approach, but also the relationship between lexical structure and cognition.One of the key issues has been the introduction of a cognitive axis and a typology of predicate schemas at different levels of the lexicon (lexeme, subdomain and domain).Domain-level predicate schemas, in particular, may be sensitive to what these two linguists call domain-level semantic patterns, which are in turn responsible for their lexical architecture.These parameters also reflect the categorization of certain areas of meaning and are possible primitives with cross-cultural validity. 3aber and Mairal (1999, p. 234) claim to have found four recurrent macro-organizational patterns which appear across a wide range of domains: Space; Time; Sociocultural context and Axiological evaluation (positive/negative).Although axiology is accorded an important position in Faber and Mairal (1999), their book does not give an in-depth analysis of this parameter.
Consequently, the axiological axis needs further clarification and decomposition.Its structure is multidimensional, internally hierarchical and canonical, as shown in the recent work in axiological linguistics (Krzeszowski 1993(Krzeszowski , 1997;;Pauwels andSimon-Vandenvergen 1993, 1995;Felices Lago 1997a, 1997b).We thus propose that the three-level hierarchy of values in the lexicon of English verbs (referring to Tischner (1982) three-level hierarchy of values: sensory, life and health, spiritual) be reformulated and expanded.
In order to give a full account of the domain-level semantic pattern of axiological evaluation in the lexicon of English verbs, the following aspects will be explored: (i) the previous approaches to axiological evaluation in the cognitive and functional paradigm; (ii) the way this semantic pattern has been implemented by Faber and Mairal; (iii) our proposal on how to enrich and integrate the axiological pattern in the verbal lexicon of the FLM.

Axiological evaluation
In the last decade, Krzeszowski (1990Krzeszowski ( , 1997) ) pointed out that linguistic semantics was dominated by logic, or, more strictly, that aspect of logic which deals with truth values.In his opinion, the most central opposition in linguistic semantics should not be 'true-false,' but rather 'positive-negative'.Evidence has been provided by Osgood, Suci, and Tannenbaum`s research (1957) and their concept of 'semantic differential' (Osgood 1980).It is also assumed that the first categorization that a baby makes is evaluative in that it involves the division of all things into good and bad in the most primitive, sensory meaning of these terms.Humanisation is also evident in valuations.Our emotions are also connected with certain values.To appreciate the presence of values as well as to evaluate, we need to recognize some system of values.Valuations constitute an aspect of all categorizations, and categorizations directly manifest themselves in language.This establishes a direct link between values and language.Langacker (1988, p. 64) distinguishes four types of perspective that are relevant to valuation: (i) orientation, (ii) vantage point, (iii) directionality, and (iv) subjectivity.(i) The orientations RIGHT-LEFT, UP-DOWN, and FRONT-BACK can be metaphorically extended to valuation with the resulting difference in the axiological construal of various concepts.The SCALE schema is more or less explicitly present in every valuation as it can be understood in terms of the UP-DOWN or FRONT-BACK orientation.What makes the SCALE different is the PLUS-MINUS polarity, which is imposed on other schemata: UP/FRONT is PLUS and DOWN/BACK is MINUS.
(ii) Vantage point is closely connected with orientation.A particular scene may be construed positively or negatively, depending on the vantage point of the valuator.As a default-case option the speaker is the valuator.(iii) Different construals in valuation may also be due to contrasts in directionality.For example, given entities of different size, one can compare them by relating the size of entity A to the size of entity B or by relating the size of entity B to the size of entity A. (iv) Subjectivity is particularly relevant in all valuations.As Langacker observes, subjectivity is graded and varies on the scale from very subjective to very objective.In the functional paradigm, we give evidence that the axiological feature (positive or negative) is a permanent component in the definitional structure of many lexical entries (at lexeme-level predicate schemas) and should be specified in a systematic way (Felices Lago 1997a, b).We also maintain that axiologically-loaded terms result from intersubjectively uniform valuations of language users rather than from objective measurements or individual intuitions. 4A higher degree of intersubjective agreement increases the likelihood that a given linguistic expression will become axiologically conventionalized.

The axiological parameter in the lexicon according to
Faber and Mairal Faber and Mairal (1999, p. 242) underline the dominant function that values perform in the structure of concepts (Krzeszowski 1990;Felices Lago 1991;Escalier-Fournier 1997).They also follow Krzeszowski in his claim that most lexical items are assessable on an axiological scale and that, in general, words have a tendency to be axiologically loaded with positive or negative connotations in proportion to the degree of human factor associated with them.They have also observed that the opposition good and bad consistently appears in the lexical semantic structure of English verbs.

Verbs as axiological words
However, previous approaches to the nature of axiologically-loaded words have claimed that adjectives and adverbs, more than other words, carry a distinct axiological charge and, in this way, are more prototypically evaluative than nouns and verbs (Coseriu 1968;Stati 1979;Aarts and Calbert 1979;Krzeszowski 1990Krzeszowski , 1997;;Felices Lago 1991).
Although it is true that most specific research conducted so far has been devoted to adjectives 5 , there is no reason to consider verbs, for instance, as less of an axiological class.In this respect, recent publications use verbs to prove axiological implications in linguistic phenomena (see, for instance, Simon-Vandenbergen 1995;Krzeszowski 1997, pp. 205-208).Along this line, Faber and Mairal introduce the axiological parameter in the lexicon of English verbs.Faber and Mairal (1999, p. 242) refer to the interpretation of 'emotional' words as different from 'evaluative' words.Although they make this distinction, they do not give criteria for differentiating them in the verbal lexicon.This is hardly a new problem, but a historical one.For the last twenty years linguists have referred to 'connotative,' 'emotive,' 'affective,' 'emotional,' 'evaluative' terms in the same sense as axiological evaluation (see, for instance, Leech 1975, Nida 1975, Lyons 1977).Stati (1979) and Aarts & Calbert (1979) establish a clear distinction and provide several examples.Stati (1979, p. 97), for instance, states that:

The concept of hierarchy
Another crucial problem concerning the nature of axiological evaluation is related to the concept of hierarchy.The three-level hierarchy of values in Faber and Mairal (1999, pp. 243-248) is based on Krzeszowski's theoretical assumption that the scales of values given by Max Scheler or Tischner (classical axiologists) are deeply rooted in the theory of the Great Chain of Being and possess intersubjective validity.This model goes back to Plato and was also employed by Aristotle in his scala naturae.This is based on the hypothesis that the world as experienced by human beings consists of things arranged in a certain hierarchical order.This order is entailed in a cultural model of the world in which we live.Consequently, the myth of the Great Chain, as Lakoff and Turner (1989, p. 167) point out, is "essential to an understanding of the world views of classical authors [...] it still exists as a contemporary unconscious cultural model indispensable to our understanding of ourselves, our world, and our language."So the hierarchy of values would emerge from the Great Chain in the following order (Krzeszowski 1997, p. 74 Unlike Krzeszowski and Faber and Mairal, we think that, from a linguistic perspective, different axiological levels are not hierarchical according to the deterministic, religious or ideological point of view of philosophers or individuals (i.e.Tischner), even if their ideas are extremely well-presented.The only hierarchy that can be assumed for general purposes is built into language and depends, for its relevance (positive or negative), on what is perceived by the vast majority of speakers of a linguistic community as well as on the result of an exhaustive scrutiny of empirical data6 .In our opinion, there is an evident intralinguistic hierarchy among the most general and basic evaluative terms such as 'good'/'bad' or 'pleasant'/ 'unpleasant' and all those lexeme-level predicate schemas whose definiens is formed by any of the terms above as a result of the application of the principles of the FLM.The hierarchy within that scale would consist of the varying distance between predicate schemas (at paradigmatic level) from the extreme of the positive pole to that of the negative one, but only within the specific qualitative or bipolar axis under scrutiny7 .In this respect, the speaker (depending on his/her own scale of values) will confer a more or less intense axiological charge to any event, state, process, action or agent according to the intensity or evaluative scales provided by the language itself.Faber and Mairal (1999, pp. 240-241) have introduced the sociocultural context as one of the four domain-level semantic patterns.Although we agree with this decision, this pattern should be interrelated with the pattern of axiological evaluation.We have previously introduced the sociocultural hypercanon, a key component of the axiological evaluation classeme (Felices Lago 1997a, p. 112) and a crucial axis affecting a high proportion of axiologically-loaded lexical items.

The sociocultural context
Both domain-level patterns (axiological and sociocultural) are so close to each other that it is sometimes difficult to determine whether certain features of word meanings should be accounted as axiological or sociocultural.In consequence, sociocultural contexts such as biological/ social/ aesthetic norms often refer to values imposed by a given society.If in consumption, gobble encodes the violation of a socially-set aesthetic norm since the semantic parameters, quickly and greedily, are negatively evaluated with respect to our conceptualization of how people should eat, then we are saying that gobble, the same as wolf or gorge (consumption of large quantities of food), are verbs affected by the axiological evaluation pattern for exactly the same reasons as they are affected by the sociocultural pattern.In our opinion, this redundancy can be solved either by merging common aspects of both patterns or by creating a third one that accounts for such examples.

Axiological scales
According to Faber and Mairal (1999, p. 243), when the domain structure is polarized, positiveness and negativity are instantiated in various ways depending on the domain in question.These instantiations are structured only in three levels in accordance with Tischner and, possibly, with the Great Chain theoretical postulates.At the lowest level are those values associated with sensory experience, and which produce pleasure/ repulsion.At the middle level, we find those values having to do with life and health, and, finally, at the third level of the hierarchy are spiritual values such as truth, beauty, and goodness.However, we think that these distinctions are too limited to account for the complexity of values in the verbal lexicon.Table 41 in Faber and Mairal (1999, pp. 244-245) [lexical domain of SOUND] and table 42 (ibid.p. 247) [lexical domain of FEELING] represent the axiological evaluation pattern by a column parallel to the list of subdomains where the type of polarization is indicated (if relevant).This information is necessary, but we think that it should be more informative.The reason is that Faber and Mairal have highlighted the prominence of axiological information in the cognitive axis of the English lexicon, which is of utmost importance.However, the range of issues dealt with in their book is too extensive for them to include a more detailed analysis of this topic.Therefore, in the following lines we will try to complement and enrich their core principles as well as introducing our own postulates.
Axiological evaluation is based on a series of axes, scales and figures that contribute to outlining the prototypical features characterizing its structure.The first axis is preconceptual, lexicogenetic and dual, referring to its polar nature: positive (+) vs. negative (-) The second axis is a scale which can be integrated in the previous one and refers to the varying degrees of positiveness or negativity that are essential to domains, subdomains and lexemes affected by the axiological pattern: The third is a scale which refers to the hierarchy of axiological dimensions at intralinguistic level (Felices lago 1997a, p. 105).This scale does not presuppose the fact that certain values are higher (or better values) than others, because that depends on the position of each domain, subdomain or lexeme in the configuration of the verbal lexicon.It is also related to the speaker's individual value system or, at least, to the reliability of unbiased intersubjective sources (corpora, surveys, lexicographical studies, etc.).Generic positiveness, 'good' encapsulates all specific positive dimensions, regardless of the existence of prototypical positive items.
Generic negativity, 'bad' encapsulates all specific negative dimensions, regardless of the existence of prototypical negative items.
As can be observed, our multidimensional scale can be applied to the verbal lexicon domains in a more detailed way than the three-level hierarchy of Faber and Mairal 8   8 This statement is based on the evidence provided by the axiological classifications of philosophers, psychologists and linguists throughout the XX century.For a more detailed study, (Felices Lago 1991: chapters III and IV).

BAD
Axiological dimensions such as 'Function/Pragmatism/Adequacy,' or 'Economy/Material,' consistent with most of the leading axiological classifications collected so far, would have no place in a limited three-level hierarchy of values.
The sociocultural and the axiological domain-level semantic patterns are intertwined in many domains and require a consistent formalization and application.

Axiological components
We have encoded three hypercanons crossing practically all the axiologically-loaded lexical domains: Sensitive (affecting all domains related to psychophysical phenomena), Pragmatic-Functional (affecting domains related to some actions) and Sociocultural (affecting all the other domains).
The most general lexical representation of the 'sensitive' hypercanon is the polarization 'pleasant-unpleasant.' The most general lexical representations of the 'pragmatic-functional' hypercanon are the polarizations 'good-bad' or 'right-wrong.'The most general lexical representation of the 'sociocultural' hypercanon is the polarization 'good-bad.' The hypercanons are also divided into hypocanons that are dependent on the former and affect specific subdomains and lexemes.(Felices Lago 1997a, p. 112).For instance, in the domain of FEELING, there are subdomains and lexemes sensitive to hypocanons such as senso-hedonic, senso-emotive, bio-aesthetic, etc.

Examples of the representation of the axiological evaluation se-
mantic pattern at different levels.

Structure of the axiological evaluation pattern at domain-level
Although the axiological pattern is activated in specific subdomains and lexemes of all lexical domains, we have not referred to all of them below due to their marginal occurrence within their corresponding domains.To make a sound like an animal 1.1.To make a sound like a wild/angry animal (growl, howl, yowl, roar)  Faber and Mairal (1999) introduce axiological evaluation as one of the four recurrent macroorganizational patterns which appears across a wide range of domains, subdomains and lexemes in the verbal lexicon of the English language.This is a fact of paramount importance for a good understanding of the relationship between lexical structure and cognition.Despite the fact that the ambitious scope of their work does not allow them to analyze this complex phenomenon in detail, the core principles of Krzeszowski, upon which Faber and Mairal assumptions are based, have been reviewed and enriched in the following way:

Concluding remarks
• The structure of the axiological pattern is multidimensional, internally hierarchical and canonical.
• There is no reason to consider verbs as less of an axiological class than adjectives or adverbs.
• Emotional features in lexemes are different from axiological features in lexemes, even if both elements frequently overlap.
• The axiological levels are not hierarchical according to the religious or ideological point of view of philosophers or individuals (i.e.Tischner).
• The only hierarchy that can be assumed for general purposes is built into language and depends, for its relevance (positive or negative), on what is perceived by the vast majority of speakers of a linguistic community as well as on the result of an exhaustive scrutiny of empirical data.
• The axiological and sociocultural domain-level patterns are so close to each other that it is sometimes difficult to determine whether certain features of word meanings should be accounted as axiological or sociocultural.
• To conclude, it seems evident that, from a linguistic perspective, the axiological parameter is divided into multilevel categories and crossed by two layers of canonical axes.Therefore, the insertion of an axiological formula incorporating this improves the codification and formalization of this parameter within the lexical architecture of the verbal lexicon. ):