The Interplay of Synonymy and Polysemy

al asunto
authorities superiors of the hierarchy military dissolve the team and throw dirt to.the matter 
‘Superiors of the military hierarchy dissolve the team and cover up the matter’ 
The phrase 
echar tierra 
means to ‘hide or to try to erase the memory of 
something/one’ (DDFH). In (49), there is no act of physically putting soil/dirt over 
something. But this image is evoked. This figurative use could be a reference to burials, 
where a person is covered by soil (DDFH). One characteristic of 
echar
is that it produces 
several different idiomatic phrases, and these take up a good amount of the data for this verb.
Difference between 
Echar 
and the Other 
Throw-
verbs 
All four verbs can express the notion of throwing an object. In other words, all 
instantiate the 
THROWING 
schema that was posited as the central sense for all 
throw
-verbs. 
Arrojar
and 
tirar
occur much more frequently in the 
THROWING 
schema. There are few 
physical inanimate 
MOVANTS
with 
lanzar
, but most express a throwing event. Some other 
meanings are also possible. For example, 
tirar
can mean ‘to print’, ‘to pull’ and ‘to slam (a 
door)’ and 
lanzar
can mean ‘to present to the public’.
Echar 
behaves differently from the rest of the 
throw-
verbs. Though about 1/3 of its 
MOVANTS
are physical inanimate, the 
THROWING 
schema is not particularly common. Instead 
other schemas appear with this 
MOVANT 
type. 
Echar 
can express the pouring of a liquid, the 
locking of a latch and the growth of the parts of a plant. The verb also appears in idiomatic 
phrases such as 
echar raíces 
‘to establish in a new place’ and 
echar tierra 
‘to cover up’.
Additionally, the data seem to indicate that 
echar
shows some important semantic 
differences from the other 
verbs. 
Echar
seems, in some 
cases, to correspond more to 
the verb 
put
. Levin (1993:147) 
describes 
the 
action 
of 
throwing (in English) as an 
event where an agent imparts 
force on an entity that is set 
into 
motion 
and 
moves 
unaccompanied by that agent.