Datos para una tipología del cambio lingüístico en los términos referidos al cuerpo humano

Resumen

In this paper we analyze the semantic and lexical change in the words related to the parts of the human body on the basis of the data from Slavic and Basque and the extension to other languages and families of languages. This study is developped in five steps: (i) revision of the theories of lexico-semantical change, with special regard to the theory ofprototypes; (ii) study of several classifying and perceptual parameters, in particular: atlas of anatomy, intuitions about the referent, religious beliefs, culture and fashions, the comparation with the body of animals, funcionality; (iii) introduction of the well-known lexico-semantic typology about the colours; (iv) proposal of a hierarchy of prominence of some parts of the body above others and establishment of four groups (taxonomical categories for big areas; categories for clearly distinguishable and prominent parts; categories for distinguishable but not prominent parts; categories for not distinguishable nor prominent areas); (v) observation of the predominance of some types of lexico-semantical change above others (depending on the kind of referent and the prototypical prominence of the related category) and establishment of some constants and many more typological tendencies.
   As a result, we find support for typological generalizations as the following: the words denoting distinguishable parts of the body tend to non-functional metaphors, while the non-distinguishable ones are more affected by generalizations; non prototypical categories often undergo metonymy. We explain many exceptions by means of theoretical internal reasons (irregularities get more and more often as the prominence of the terms descend -groups 3 and 4-, also due to the structure of the vocabulary itself, that is, to fluctuations in the prototypical limits of a category) and by extra-linguistic ones (linguistic fashions, taboo, cultural influences... ).