Formal and semantic derivation of the Proto-Slavic verbal root *met-(*mot-/*mǫt-) in the Macedonian and Polish languages

Abstract

The subject of analysis in this paper is the verbal root *met-(*mot-/*m?t-), whose formal and semantic development can be traced back to the Proto-Slavic period. The research is based on anthropocentric-spatial language theory, which helps to analyze how the basic semantic component embedded in some verbal roots representing basic human positions, movements and activities involving the movement of the hand can transfer and rise through the evolution of the conceptualization (of the material and mental world). The authors analyze the derivatives of the Proto-Slavic verbal root *met- (*mot-/*m?t-) with the embedded semantic component ?human activity involving the movement of the hand in all directions?, which in the course of the evolution of language decomposed into a number of other basic semantic components: ?(fast) movement of objects and natural forces?, ?throw?, ?put?, etc. The authors also analyze how the formal verbal and nominal derivatives have carried this semantic information throughout the evolution of language, both in the real and mental world.