The Interplay of Synonymy and Polysemy

participant roles line up to the 
THROWING 
schema: an 
INITIATOR 
(Jiang), a 
MOVANT 
(the 
campaigns), and a 
DIRECTIONAL
(the communists), though the semantics of each participant 
differ from a normal 
THROWING 
schema.
Some sentences do not include a 
DIRECTIONAL 
(100). It is not a salient part of the 
meaning of this schema. Often, what is more salient is the reason or purpose, as seen in (101). 
Since we have not explored the possibility of expressing a purpose in a throwing event, there 
is not much we can say at the moment about this role being expressed in the 
POLITICS 
schema.
I want to argue that it is possible to semantically characterize the nonphysical 
MOVANTS
that combine with 
lanzar
. It may not be completely predictable what words will 
combine with 
lanzar
, but it is possible to motivate all the uses that do occur. The 
SOUNDS
18
The groupings are not meant to be exclusive. It is entirely possible for a noun to be a part of two categories 
For example, 
mordida 
‘bite’ could arguably be part of the facial expressions group. The word 
campaña 
‘campaign’ can also refer to attacks, and therefore be part of the violence grouping. It is also possible to posit 
smaller groupings. For example, Sounds/Speech can be separated into speech acts, animal sounds, screams, 
etc. The 
LOOKS
schema discussed earlier is included within the facial expressions category.

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85 | 
schema is the most frequent in the corpus. It represents the most salient schema. When 
screaming, saying a phrase or even grunting, one individual is able to express feelings, 
thoughts or emotions with another. Speech acts and sounds can be understood as a method for 
interacting and communicating with other humans.
The next schema, 
FACIAL EXPRESSIONS
, can also be understood this way. If I smile, I 
express that I am happy. If I give someone a look, I am interacting with another individual 
and can even express my feelings (with a grumpy look for example). It is this aspect of 
human interaction that I believe connects all these uses with 
lanzar
.