"This volume presents novel cross-linguistic insights into how olfactory experiences are expressed in typologically (un-)related languages both from a synchronic and from a diachronic perspective. It contains a general introduction to the topic and fourteen chapters based on philological investigation and thorough fieldwork data from Basque, Beja, Fon, Formosan languages, Hebrew, Indo-European languages, Japanese, Kartvelian languages, Purepecha, and languages of northern Vanuatu. Topics discussed in the individual chapters involve, inter alia, lexical olfactory repertoires and naming strategies, non-literal meanings of olfactory expressions and their semantic change, reduplication, colexification, mimetics, and language contact. The findings provide the reader with a range of fascinating facts about perception description, contribute to a deeper understanding of how olfaction as an understudied sense is encoded linguistically, and offer new theoretical perspectives on how some parts of our cognitive system are verbalized cross-culturally. This volume is highly relevant to lexical typologists, historical linguists, grammarians, and anthropologists"--.

• The Linguistics of Olfaction Typological and Diachronic Approaches to Synchronic Diversity
• Editorial page
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Table of contents
• Preface and acknowledgments
• List of contributors
• 1. Rendering what the nose perceives
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. On the variation of olfactory terms
    • 2.1 Lexical repertoires
    • 2.2 Non-literal meanings
    • 2.3 Morphology
    • 2.4 Evidentiality
    • 2.5 Diachrony
  • 3. The structure of the volume
  • 4. Conclusion and future directions
  • Abbreviations
  • Acknowledgments
  • References
• 2. Why is smell special?
  • 1. Introduction
    • 1.1 Verbs of perception
    • 1.2 Phenomenon-based sensory words
  • 2. The neurophysiology and psychology of smell
  • 3. Olfaction and language: State of the art
  • 4. The semantic field of smell in Swedish
    • 4.1 The basic structure
    • 4.2 Conceptualization of smell as a moving entity
    • 4.3 Towards a formalized model
  • 5. Quantitative overview
  • 6. Metaphorical and other extended uses
  • 7. Talking about odors in Swedish
    • 7.1 What odors are talked about
    • 7.2 What situations are commented on by using an odor verb?
    • 7.3 The noun lukt ‘odor’
  • 8. Why then is smell special?
  • Abbreviations
  • Electronic sources
  • References
• 3. The domain of olfaction in Basque
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Olfactory expressions: The case of smell verbs in Basque
  • 3. Beyond verbs: Smell nouns in Basque
  • 4. The semantic scope of olfactory vocabulary
    • 4.1 Physical meanings
    • 4.2 Figurative meanings
    • 5. Just a word on the use of olfactory vocabulary
  • 6. Final remarks and future work: smell in language and culture
  • Abbreviations
  • Acknowledgments
  • Primary sources
  • Dictionaries
  • References
• 4. On olfactory terminology in Georgian and other Kartvelian languages
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Georgian perception verbs
  • 3. The system of olfactory terminology in Georgian and Megrelian
    • 3.1 The modality of smell in Georgian
    • 3.2 The modality of smell in Megrelian
    • 3.3 Georgian and Megrelian olfactory terminology in a wider context
  • 4. On the formation and origin of olfactive terminology in the Kartvelian languages
  • 5. Concluding remarks
  • Abbreviations
  • Primary sources
  • References
• 5. Let me count the ways it stinks
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Background to ‘smell languages’
  • 3. Introduction to Purepecha
    • 3.1 Purepecha language
    • 3.2 Spatial location suffixes
  • 4. Smell terms in Purepecha
    • 4.1 Abstract terms
    • 4.2 A matter of taste
    • 4.3 Descriptive terms
    • 4.4 Source-based terms
    • 4.5 Generic verbs meaning ‘to smell’
  • 5. Historical perspective
  • 6. Conclusions
  • Acknowledgments
  • Abbreviations
  • References
• 6. Olfactory, gustatory and tactile perception in Beja (North-Cushitic)
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Some basic aspects of Beja morphosyntax
  • 3 Olfaction
    • 3.1 Organization of the lexicon
    • 3.2 Syntactic constructions
    • 3.3 Metaphors
  • 4 Taste
    • 4.1 Organization of the lexicon
    • 4.2 Syntactic constructions
    • 4.3 Metaphors
  • 5. Touch
    • 5.1 Organization of the lexicon
    • 5.2 Syntactic constructions
    • 5.3 Metaphors
  • 6. Conclusion
  • Funding
  • Acknowledgments
  • Abbreviations
  • References
• 7. How to smell without a verb “to smell” in Fon
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Grammatical outline
  • 3. Olfactory nominal expressions
  • 4. Phenomenon-based constructions
  • 5. Experiencer-based constructions
  • 6. The olfactory activity expression
  • 7. The language of love, hate and shame
  • 8. Conclusion
  • Abbreviations
  • References
• 8. How to talk about smell in Japanese
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Core lexicon
  • 3. Expanding the core
    • 3.1 Collocations of basic vocabulary
      • 3.1.1 kagu
      • 3.1.2 niou
      • 3.1.3 kusai
      • 3.1.4 nioi
      • 3.1.5 kaori
      • 3.1.6 Summary of collocational information
    • 3.2 Morphology: -kusai
    • 3.3 Sensory smell descriptors: Mimetics
      • 3.3.1 pun, puun, punpun
      • 3.3.2 tsun, tsuun, tsuntsun
      • 3.3.3 Other mimetics: kunkun
      • 3.3.4 Summary of mimetics
  • 4. Beyond the core
    • 4.1 Other smell verbs: kaoru
    • 4.2 Other smell adjectives
    • 4.3 Other smell nouns
      • 4.3.1 Derived nouns in -kusasa
      • 4.3.2 Complex nouns with bound roots -ga, -koo-, -shuu-
      • 4.3.3 Derived nouns with suffixoid -shuu
  • 5. Conclusion
  • Abbreviations
  • Acknowledgments
  • References
• 9. An overview of olfactory expressions in Formosan languages
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Background
    • 2.1 Language distribution and the speakers
    • 2.2 An outline of grammatical characteristics
    • 2.3 Data collection
  • 3. Abstract smell terms
    • 3.1 Generic smell terms in Formosan languages
    • 3.2 Specific smell terms in Formosan languages
  • 4. Source-oriented construction
  • 5. Analytical strategies
  • 6. Concluding remarks
  • Abbreviations
  • Acknowledgments
  • References
• 10. Olfactory words in northern Vanuatu
  • 1. Olfaction in northern Vanuatu
    • 1.1 The problem
    • 1.2 The languages of northern Vanuatu
    • 1.3 Data sources for the present study
    • 1.4 The environment in Vanuatu
    • 1.5 Two different approaches
    • 1.6 The present study
  • 2. A corpus-based observation of olfactory verbs
    • 2.1 One central root
      • 2.1.1 Verbal uses
      • 2.1.2 Nominal uses
      • 2.1.3 Forms derived from the same root
    • 2.2 Complementary roots
      • 2.2.1 Active and passive smelling
      • 2.2.2 Breath, smell
    • 2.3 Synthesis
  • 3. Langue vs. parole: Two different approaches
    • 3.1 A reduced lexical domain?
    • 3.2 The apparent exception of Mota
  • 4. Connotations and cultural associations of smells
    • 4.1 Life and death
      • 4.1.1 The smell of death
      • 4.1.2 The smell of life
    • 4.2 From smell to kiss
    • 4.3 The fragrance of nature
  • 5. Conclusion
  • Abbreviations
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
• 11. Alternating smell in Modern Hebrew
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. The perception of smell
    • 2.1 Modern Hebrew perception verbs: An overview
    • 2.2 The morpho-syntactic alternation of Modern Hebrew perception verbs
    • 2.3 Factivity
    • 2.4 Belief formation
    • 2.5 Indirect perception
    • 2.6 Non-literal uses
    • 2.7 An account for the alternating perception le-hariax in Modern Hebrew
  • 3. Smell and taste verbs in Modern Hebrew
    • 3.1 le raxreax ‘to sniff out’ and le hasnip̄ ‘to sniff’
    • 3.2 Odor emission le-hariax
    • 3.3 li-t’om ‘to taste’
  • 4. From Biblical smell to Modern Hebrew smell
  • 5. Conclusions
  • Acknowledgments
  • Abbreviations
  • References
• 12. Syntactic patterns for Romanian olfactive verbs
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Perception verbs in Romanian: short overview
  • 3. Romanian olfactive verbs: the data
  • 4. Matching configurations and interpretations
    • 4.1 Mono-clausal configurations
    • 4.2 Bi-clausal configurations
  • 5. Analysis
    • 5.1 Background
    • 5.2 Beyond compositionality
    • 5.3 Tests for [evid]
    • 5.4 Typology
  • 6. Conclusions
  • Abbreviations
  • Old Romanian texts
  • References
• 13. Smelling over time
  • 1. Introduction: Olfaction in culture and language
  • 2. The lexicon of olfaction: Properties and organization
  • 3. Latin
    • 3.1 Verbs
    • 3.2 Nouns
    • 3.3 Adjectives
  • 4. Old Italian
    • 4.1 Verbs
    • 4.2 Nouns
    • 4.3 Adjectives
  • 5. Contemporary Italian
    • 5.1 Verbs
    • 5.2 Nouns
    • 5.3 Adjectives
  • 6. Discussion and conclusions
    • 6.1 The overall size of the olfactory lexicon did not change
    • 6.2 There has been a shift toward the negative pole of evaluation
  • Abbreviations
  • Acknowledgments
  • Primary sources (corpora and dictionaries)
  • References
• 14. To what extent can source-based olfactory verbs be classified as copulas?
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Copula verbs
  • 3. Perception verbs
  • 4. Perception verbs – Copulas, semi-copulas or pseudo-copulas?
  • 5. Analysis
    • 5.1 Subject construction
      • 5.1.1 Constructions of the type subject + source-based smell verb + adjective/adverb
      • 5.1.2 Construction of the type subject + source-based smell verb
      • 5.1.3 Construction of the type subject + source-based smell verb + prepositional phrase/instrumental noun phrase
    • 5.2 Impersonal construction
  • 6. Conclusions
  • Acknowledgments
  • Abbreviations
  • References
• 15. Typology of metaphors with the olfactory target domain in the Polish perfumery discourse
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Method
    • 2.1 Corpus
    • 2.2 Types of synesthetic metaphors
    • 2.3 Method of analysis
  • 3. Results
    • 3.1 Perfumery discourse in the Synamet corpus – Statistics
    • 3.2 Atypical metaphors in the corpus
      • 3.2.1 Mixed metaphors
      • 3.2.2 Entangled metaphors
      • 3.2.3 Narrative (extended) metaphors
  • 4. Discussion
    • 4.1 Mixed metaphors
    • 4.2 Entangled metaphors
    • 4.3 Narrative (extended) metaphors
  • 5. Conclusion
  • Abbreviations
  • Acknowledgments
  • References
• Languages Index
• Subjects index